Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/352

 280 NORTH EAST AFRICA. KordoMn and Wadai, on tne regular caravan route. It is not the largest town in the country, being merely a group of clay huts thatched with straw, with, accord- ing to Ensor, a population in 1875 of merely 2,650 persons. The principal city, which was also the " residence " towards the end of the last century, is Kobeh, also lying on the caravan route some 30 miles to the north- west. Of all the towns of Dar-F6r, it is the only place which boasts of a few stone houses, a proof of the influence of a remote civilisation. These houses belong to the merchants or the heads of the caravans, and are surrounded by huts similar to those which are found in all other towns and villages of this coimtry. Towards the end of last century, Brown estimated its population at 6,000 persons. Onuhangn, situated nearly midway between El-Fasher and El-Obeid, at the junction of the Shekka route, is also a large town, provided with an abundance of excellent water, which is contained in wells 130 feet deep. South-west of El- Fasher, in an upland mountain valley, the town of Tora, Torra, or Toran, which has given its name to the central province of For, is also said to be regarded as a kind of capital, and here are all the royal tombs. Since the Egyptians have obtained possession of the country, new towns have been founded, the most important of which is Fojeh or Foj'a, the arrival station of the Egyptian caravans. The oasis of Om-Bedr, about 60 miles to the north, has no settled villages, although it is the centre of the Homr populations. At times over six thousand persons and fifty thousand camels assemble together on the temporary camping-ground. Dara — Shekka — Tuesha. Dam, in the northern region of the province, till recently enjoyed some little distinction as the residence of an Egyptian mudir or governor, and as the caravan station between Dom-Suleiman and El-Obeid. A mere group of tokuls, it lies near the left bank of the Wady-Amur, on which also stands the village of Menovachi, about 60 miles farther north. Near here in 1874 was fought the decisive battle which cost King Brahim his life, and converted Dar-F6r into an Egyptian province. To the south-east the town of Shekka or Shakka, which still lies within the limits of the ancient kingdom of For, was the chief town of the province of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, under the khedival rule. It is peopled with Jellabis or "mer- chants," as is also the case with a small group of villages, bearing the general name of Kohesh, but which is usually termed Kalaka, like the surrounding coimtry. Midway between Shekka and El- Fasher, the principal caravan station is Tuenha, a second group of villages whose name is but too well known throughout the Mussulman world. It is a depot for slaves, who are here generally made eunuchs before being forwarded to Egypt. The routes converging on Tuesha aje covered with the bleaching bones of these unfortunate people, whom no one thinks it worth while to bury. In its western division, beyond the Marrah Mountains, Dar-For appears to