Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/337

 immediate vicinity with renewed life. El-Obeïd is built in one of the parts of Kordofân where the rainfall is most abundant; the heat there is also less overpowering

than elsewhere, since the town lies at a height of 2,030 feet, although there are no mountains to be scaled before reaching its basin.

In this region the mountains, either isolated or disposed in parallel ridges, leave the way open in every direction, and the caravans converge there without meeting with any obstacles. To the west of the Nile El-Obeïd is the first station where the caravans rest and reform on the way to Dar-Foôr, Waduï, and Western