Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/343

 extremity, it bears the name of Kerakeri, which signifies "rubbish," or "rabbit-burrow," which term has been procured for it by the thousands of crumbling blocks covering its slopes.

At the highest point, which is crossed by the route from Wadaï to El-Fasher, Nachtigal determined an approximate height of 3,553 feet, which the neighbouring summits exceed by from 500 to 1,000 feet. During their short occupation of the country the officers of the Egyptian army, notably Mason, Purdy, and Messedaglia, partially explored the interior of the uplands, measuring some of the crests which overlook the rest of the lofty granite masses. One of them, that of Tura,

in the northern part of the chain, rises to a height of 4,800 feet. According to Mason, the culminating point of the Marrah range attains an altitude of 6,100 feet, or about 2,660 feet above the low-lying plains of Dar-Fôr. The rocks of Marrah contain numerous caverns, several of which formerly served as prisons, some for the sons of princes, others for the viziers.

To the north and south are secondary chains and isolated masses like those of Kordofân. Such are the superb Gurger Mountains to the north-west, and the Jebel-Si, standing quite alone in the plain and terminated by an enormous crag in the shape of a throne. A village is perched round these escarpments, protected by