Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/328

 258 NORTH-EAST AFRICA. respects the level of the land, which varies from a mean height of 1,330 to 1,660 feet, varies but slightly in a large portion of the country ; in many places the running waters are said to follow an uncertain course before excavating a regular channel towards the Nile. Throughout nearly the whole of its extent Kordofan is a gently undulating steppe, whose hills, seldom more than a few feet high, serve as landmarks during long hours of march. It would be easy to drive vehicles here, and thus replace the use of camels as a means of transport. Isolated peaks rising from the middle of the plain present an imposing appearance, thanks to the general uniformity of the spaces which they command. One of them, the Jebel-Kordofin (2,830 feet), which has given its name to the country, rises about 12 miles east of the capital, El-Obeid ; near it is the almost regular pyramid of Jebel-el-Ain. The upper strata consist almost entirely of granitic sand, the decomposed remains of mountains which contain in abundance particles of mica mixed with impure clays. At a depth varying from 100 to 166 feet are found rocks of mica schist. At a mean distance of 120 miles to the west of the Nile, the central region of Kordofan rises into mountainous masses, whose crests attain a height of many hundreds of feet above the plain. To the north-west the Jebel-Katul and the Jebel-Kaja are protected on the side of the plains by rocks sufficiently inac- cessible to afford the independent tribes a refuge against their neighbours. To the north some isolated granite cliffs, amongst others the Jebel-Haraza, command the winding caravan route between El-Obeid and Dongola. In the centre of Kordofan the Jebel-Deyer, covering a space of about 200 square miles, raises its crests to an altitude of over 2,660 feet, or 1,000 feet above the surrounding steppes. Its outer walls, pierced with a few breaches, form a complete rampart round it ; but inside, the natives say, there is a deep valley, a basin flowing with water and well wooded, which the surrounding nomads describe as an earthly paradise. To the south of this elevation the steppe no longer continues in monotonous undulat- ing hillocks, as in the north-west of Kordofan, having no other arborescent vegetation than a few groves of stunted acacias and here and there a baobab, whose twisted branches stand out against the horizon. It now becomes a level, fertile, and well-wooded plain, from which the bluish cones of Mounts Tagala are visible, girdled with verdure at the base and running southwards, towards the steppes inhabited by the Baggara, for a distance of at least 30 miles. Farther west, the other mountainous masses, also formed of granite rocks, have taken the general name of Jebel-Nuba, or Dar-Nuba, that is to say, ** Country of the Nubas," after the people inhabiting them. Hydrographic System. The mountains of Southern Kordofan receive a much larger quantity of water than those of the north. The showers which fall in the Jebel-Nuba are sufficiently heavy to give birth to a khor, the Ab(!l-IIableh, which flows to the east and north- east for a distance of over 180 miles before finally disappearing in the ground. It is even said that during certain very rainy years a little water from Kordofan has A