Chapter XXXVI: Section 1: Desert West of Nile, North and West of Wadi El Gab

The country west of the Nile from Halfa to Kerma merits little description. Desert of the most arid description comes down close to the banks of the river, west of which all is uninhabited and waterless, with the exception of the few oases, for as far as is known upwards of 300 to 400 miles. The desert itself varies from hard, often stony sand or gravel-covered plains, to undulating moving sand dunes and rocky hills of lime, granite, or basalt. Remains of petrified forests are occasionally met. The amount of mineral wealth discovered in this inhospitable region is not yet definitely known.

Here and there a very limited amount of vegetation is met, at some spot where the water of one of the rare rainstorms that pass over this district has chanced to collect, but more often one may travel for miles and miles over country devoid of any vestige of animal or vegetable life.

The whole of this desert region, including the wells and oases, is uninhabited. It is, however, visited occasionally by roving bands of Hawawir and Kababish in search of natron or wild dates, as also by raiding parties of the Bedaiat, a tribe living to the north of Darfur, who only recently drove off camels grazing within 80 miles of Dongola.

The following is an extract from a report by Captain H. Hodgson, February, 1903, descriptive of the country west of the Wadi El Gab.

“Beyond the limits of the Wadi El Gab, on the western side, there seems to be a belt of country in which water is easily found, but is undrinkable. Of the two water pans I have tried, namely Murrat and Butta, the one is very bitter and the other has a distinct smell of sulphuretted hydrogen—Arabs use these waters medicinally as purgatives.

[Sidenote: Jebel Abiad.]

“I reached and ascended the plateau of Jebel Abiad at what I reckon, roughly, to be 100 miles west from the river at Khandak. In 1901 I found the northern extremity of this range to be 98 miles from the river at Dongola. It is, on the eastern side, a high steep bluff, exposing the white rock (gypsum) from which it gets its name. It extends continuously from where I stood, both north and south, as far as the horizon.

“The surface of the plateau is shingle and sand; it slopes gently down on the western side.

[Sidenote: Wadi Natrun.]

“I reached the Natrun valley on the 31st January. It is not literally a valley, but an undulating plain stretching south and south-west as far as the horizon. From south-east to north-east it is bounded by a high range of steep hills of black rock; from north-east to north-west by high broken rocky ground with isolated conical hills; to the west, by low gravel hills. On the distant horizon, north-west, is a high range of hills. Close under the bluff on the eastern side of the plain are two thickets of selem bushes, growing luxuriantly and suffering in places from over supply of water. This is very plentiful and near the surface, the sand being brown and damp, but it is not the best water in the valley. The southern of these two thickets is called Melani. An isolated peak in the northern centre of the plain, called Jebel Kashaf, lies at a bearing of 315° mag. from Melani. The best water, called Bir Sultan, lies 3 miles from Melani at a bearing of 278° mag. and due south of Jebel Kashaf. On the ground called Bir Sultan (which includes an area of about ¼ square mile, covered with tussocks of Halfa grass, etc.), I found three or four pans of good water, the soil below the sand being white clay. There is a small clump of date seedlings near the biggest spring.

There is plenty of evidence of natron in the valley, but the place, where most of the digging is done and where the thickest seam of natron is reported to be, is 2,400 yards from Jebel Kashaf and to the west of it, at a bearing of 310° (mag.). The diggings are in what looks like a dry salt pan left by the sea, except that the sand is very red. The method of collecting it is as follows: About 2 to 4 inches depth of sand is cleared away until the natron, a substance resembling a yellowish rock salt, is reached; the top part is usually bad, being half sand. Then there is a seam ½ to 2 inches thick, of good natron, and again below a little bad natron, and then below all sand again. Sometimes all the natron is spoilt by being mixed with sand. Near the natron diggings is a large thicket of selem bushes, and besides this and at Melani, there is a clump of date trees and selem north-east of Jebel Kashaf and another thicket of “littel” scrub, besides plenty of halfa, tamam, taklis, and halaf grass etc. A party of 400 or 500 camels could live some months in the valley on the grazing only. Good shelter can be obtained from the wind, and there are plenty of garids etc. to make tukls. Gazelle plentiful.

[Sidenote: Arbain road.]

“The Arbain road lies along very high land, and anyone traversing the road during the winter months should, if possible, march with the wind, _i.e._, from north to south. The cold was intense, and the shelter from north wind nil, as all hills are steep on the north side and slope gradually away to the south.

“At Sultan, Lagia, and Selima this is reversed, and the hills are steep on the south side. This change in formation accounts probably for the presence of water.”

[Sidenote: Game.]

This desert region is the haunt of the Addax, the rarest of Sudan antelopes. Specimens have been killed near Tundubi.

_Wells and Oases._

[Sidenote: Sheb-Nakhla district.[132]]

NAKHLA.—Situated about 80 miles north-west of Halfa. Named after the single date palm overhanging the wells. Surrounding the hill on which this date palm stands is a narrow valley about 80 yards wide. Throughout this depression water can be obtained at a depth of 3½ to 5 feet. The water is of better quality than that of any of the neighbouring wells and is abundant. There is practically no grazing or fuel here; the latter can be obtained, however, at a distance of 2 to 3 miles.

HASSAB EL GABU.—About 10 miles west (?) of Nakhla. This well is situated on the top of a circular sandhill 30 yards in diameter. Good water is found at a depth of 2 feet, as it may be almost anywhere between Nakhla and Sheb. Good grass for camels.

BIR SULEIMAT.—11 miles (?) from Nakhla. Good grazing. Water bitter, but plentiful.

BIR SEDERI.—28 miles from Nakhla. Water bitter. Little grazing. Dom palm covered sandhills 100 yards from well.

EL HAAD.—33 miles from Nakhla (direction uncertain). No well, but good grazing on “Haad” grass.

SHEB.—40 miles W.S.W. of Nakhla. Is the southernmost water in the Sheb district. Well 4 feet deep and same in diameter (October, 1902). Water plentiful, but brackish and aperient. Good grazing and plenty of firewood. This is a watering place on the Arbain road.

TERFAUI (I).—About 6 miles north of Sheb, situate in a small oasis in a broad wadi said to lead from the oasis of Selima to the Nile by way of Kurkur. This valley is bounded on the west by precipitous sandstone cliffs. There is a group of trees here 250 by 300 yards. Good grazing for camels. The water is drinkable. Immediately to the west of Terfaui is a pass over which the usual road to the northern oases of Beris, etc., passes. This is usually a watering place on the Arbain road.

ABU HUSSEIN.—About 35 miles north-west of Sheb. Consists of a clump of trees and bush-covered mounds about 30 feet high. There are three more places exactly similar to Abu Hussein, two being to the eastward and one to the west. They are all about 5 miles apart and lie in a general line from east to west. Water may be found at a depth of 1½ feet at any of them, and here and there between them. Good water and plentiful. Grazing also good.

TERFAUI (II).—16 miles north-west of Abu Hussein or about 50 miles north-west of Sheb. It consists of small mounds of sand covered with long green grass. Water plentiful at depth of 4 to 5 feet, grazing good, consisting of tufts of long grass, over an area of about 1 mile by ¾ mile. There used to be three dom palms here, but these were burnt down by Captain Ross in 1894 on account of the snakes which infested them.

KASSABA.—The northernmost well in the Sheb district is at Naseib, 15 miles north of Kassaba. At Kassaba the water is not good, but many old wells point to its having been much used in former days. Situated in an open plain about 26 miles N.N.W. of Sheb. A watering place on the Arbain road.

SELIMA OASIS.—Selima lies on the Arbain road about 78 miles south of Sheb and 55 miles west of the river at Sagiet El Abd. Halfa is about 120 miles to the north-east. It is perhaps the most important oasis in the western desert of the Sudan, as not only must caravans using the Arbain route almost necessarily stop here for water, but its dates and salt are probably of considerable value from a commercial point of view.

Mr. James Currie, who visited this oasis in October, 1901, thus describes it:—

“A most beautiful place. It would be most difficult to find without a guide, as it is really only a large hole in the desert. The descent to it is very steep indeed. There are three wells, a good many date trees, and good grass. One sees the remains of an old Christian convent, moderately well preserved, but the point of interest attaching to it is that it has apparently been built out of the ruins of something much older, to judge from the inscribed stones one notices. There are abundant salt deposits near, and a huge petrified forest, which extends further than I had time or inclination to go.”

Captain H. Hodgson (February, 1903) writes with reference to this oasis:—

“Besides the old salt workings, which are capable of considerable development, there are some 2,000 fruit-bearing date trees. My estimate may not be very near, but I spent two hours with two other men counting in order to get this idea, and in this time counted 685 female trees, and covered only about one third of the ground. The trees are uncleaned with very thick undergrowth, and are being ruthlessly hacked in order to enable the Arabs (Hassanab from Kosha) to get at the fruit. Dates of the following species were collected: Kulma, Agwa, Barakawi, and Gawa. The first and second are both of considerable commercial value: the Agwa trees seem the most numerous.”

TUNDUBI.—For description of this oasis _vide_ Route Report Dongola to Bir Sultan, Vol. 2. The addax is found near here.

LAGIA.—_Vide_ Route Report Dongola to Lagia, Vol. 2.

BIR SULTAN.—_Vide_ Route Report Dongola to Bir Sultan, Vol. 2.

TURA.—An oasis said to lie about 150 miles south-west of Lagia, which is approximately 160 miles north-west by west from Dongola. Here there is said to be a sulphurous lake about ½ mile long, known as Tura El Bedai. Water, if obtained from holes dug on the margin of the lake, is said to be tolerably sweet and drinkable. There are many wild date trees here, for the fruit of which the Kababish and Bedaiat have been long accustomed to fight.