Ten years in Equatoria; . of acacias, Fagonia spinosa, colocynth, senna,and dragon-trees; but after Obak it disappears almost entirely,and the soil has the appearance of a real desert. The road iscrossed by a number of Wadys—that is to say. beds of rivers—which retain for a while sufficient moisture to sustain a stuntedvegetation; the most prominent of these are Omareg, Akamet,Arab, Kokreb, Laemby, .and Selim. In the rainy season (pari/)they flood the land around, making the road impracticable, andinterrupting commercial intercourse ; in fact, in February severalwells, to be met with daily, co
Ten years in Equatoria; . of acacias, Fagonia spinosa, colocynth, senna,and dragon-trees; but after Obak it disappears almost entirely,and the soil has the appearance of a real desert. The road iscrossed by a number of Wadys—that is to say. beds of rivers—which retain for a while sufficient moisture to sustain a stuntedvegetation; the most prominent of these are Omareg, Akamet,Arab, Kokreb, Laemby, .and Selim. In the rainy season (pari/)they flood the land around, making the road impracticable, andinterrupting commercial intercourse ; in fact, in February severalwells, to be met with daily, contain plenty of water ; but beyondObak, one must travel two davs before arriving at tlie wells ofAbu-Taker. However, the nature of the soil is such that in consequence ofthe permeable strata the water passes through readily, and is to beprocured in almost eveiy locality without much trouble. The chief points to be met with on the route are Sinkat, thefirst station after Suakim, situated at an altitude of 985 feet (300. CAMELS OF THE SOUDAN. 7 metres); Omareg in the Valley of Omareg; the table-land ofAkmet, altitude 2625 feet (800 metres) ; Kokreb, 2460 feet (750metres); Derumkat, 1970 feet (600 metres) ; and the wells ofAbu-Taker, 1215 feet (370 metres), a short distance from Berber. The distance between the Red Sea and the Nile, according tothe route taken by me, may be reckoned at about 250 miles (400kilometres), that is to say, about 100 hours journey with loadedcamels, as the later can travel ten hours a day. With saddle-camels, runners {harjin)^ the length of the journey might be underseven days, but the camel, which naturalists teach us to consideras endowed with most precious qualities, is far, at least in thisregion, from possessing those one would expect, either because therace is in a state of decay here, or on account of the bad food andwater with which they have to be supplied : anyhow, it is certainthat here they are not possessed either of much strength orcapa
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