The Columbus journal., 1885-04-08
KNARTOUM.

on the western bank of the Blue Nile.
and about a mile above its junction
with the White Nile, is situated the
now famous city of Khartoum. tt
river frontage is about one and . halt
miles; its depth inward from the river
about mile. As its site is somewhat
lower that the point reached by both
rivers when in food, q dyke fifteen to
twenty feet in height has been made
along the banks of the Blue Nile, and
another somewhat lower, Immediately
ut the back of the town, to protect it
against overflow of the White Nile.
When at their lowest point both
streams are from six hundred to eight
hundred yards in width, and have sew
eral islands, which are cultivated. The
White Nile is unfordable, except in one
or two places far up the river, but the
Blue can be forded in many places
above the town. When in food. tho
White Nile increases its width to q very
great extent, but not SO the Blue Nile.
a. its banks are much sleeper. Around
Kharto1m are several small villages.
Both above and below the town are
small plantations Of date palms and
plantains, also number of vegetable
gardens. According to the old custom.
or privilege, none of these gardens pay
any taxes. With the exception OF tho
river banks the country u bare and
treeless.
During the hot season, which lasts
from the beginning of April to tho
~n;Adl~ of Noyovnbop thA hook IN a.
we're, averaging in the shade from
ninety to ninety-five degrees Fahren-
heit. The rains generally begin about
the middle of July and last till Sep
tember. They are, however, said to b
very irregular, and sometimes there il
little or no rainfall. In the rainy sea-
son the barren ground stretching be-
tween the two rivers Is covered with
grass, affording very good pasture:
The rivers begin to rise on the LIST OF
June, and reach their highest point
about the beginning Of September.
They remain stationary at that point
till about the 18th, and then begin to
fall. The cold weather begins about
the middle of December, and lasts till
the middle of February. From No
vember to March high north winds pre-
vail, and during the remainder, south.
In the winter the thermometer some
times goes down as low as forty-six de-
grees Fahrenheit; except in the regular
rainy season there is no rain. Tho
unhealthy season is during the months
of June, July, October and November,
when typhoid fevers and dysentery are
prevalent The winter il the healthy
season.
The resident population h generally
estimated at from fifty thousand to
fifty-five thousand souls, Of which two
thirds are slaves. There is also float
ing population estimated from one
thousand five hundred to two thousand
souls, and consisting of Europeans,
Syrians, Copts, Turks, Albanians and .
few Jews. The free resident population
are mostly Makhass or aborigines,
Dongolawees, from Dong ola; Shag.
hives, from a district along the Nile,
north of Khartoum, and the Rubatat,
q district north of the Bcrber. The
slaves belong mostly to the Nuba,
Dinka, Sulook, Berta and other negro
tribes. Both the free population and
the slaves are Mohammedans of the
Maliki school of divinity, and are also
followers of either the Rufai, Kadri,
Hamdi or Saadi sect of dervishes. They
are very superstitious. Their political
creed is to side with whichever side is
the strongest. The free inhabitants are
mostly engaged in trade or commerce,
and the slaves in agriculture, or else
hired out as daily laborers by their
masters. But few are employed as
domestic servants. 1t is said that
master always makes a point of marry
ing his slave as soon as possible. 1t is
also reported that slaves born in the
country improve greatly in appearance
as compared with the parent stock. O
the floating population the Copts are
mostly employed in Government service
or trade. The Turks, Albanians, ETC.,
are generally irregular soldiers or loaf
ers. The European element is repre-
sented by about one hundred individ-
uals, mostly Greek. There are also
some Italians. The chief export and
import trade is in the hands of the
Europeans, Copts and Syrians.
Except the manufacture of mats. cot
ton cloths, q rope made from palm
leaves and some filigree silver-work,
there is no manufacture worth speak
ing of. The bazaar is of considerable
size, and is tolerably well supplied with
Manchester goods, cheap cutlery, etc.
The export and import trade is con.
siderable, and, besides numerous cara
vans, is said to employ over three hum
dred boats of various size. A con-
siderable trade in grain is also carried
on with SEMINAR and Karkotsch. These
districts are practically the granaries Of
the Soudan.
In shape Khartoum is very irregular.
Its appearance Is also poor and miser-
able. Except the Government house
and one or two other buildings, there
is hardly house worthy of the name.
The houses are mostly built of sun.
dried brick, generally without an upper
story, and nearly all surrounded by
court yards with mud walls.
To prevent these crumbling away
during the rairis, they are every
year plastered over with dung
before the rainy season commences.
This plastering process is doubtless the
cause of good deal of illness. As the
town is so low, there is no drainage,
and the consequence is that during the
rains the whole place is deep in water,
and it is almost impossible to move
about. As there is no stone through
ont the whole district, the streets are
full Of dust during the summer and
mud during the rains. The chief build
ings are: U Government house and
Office, large brick buildings on the
banks of the Blue Nile; (2) arsenal,
with smithy, carpenters shop. smelt-
ing-furnaces, stoves, etc.; attached to
this arsenal are some fourteen steamers
for the navigation of the rivers, and
also boats of various kinds; (3) large
commodious hospital built by Colonel
Gordon; (D mosque or jami built by
Kurshid Pasha; (5) a sibil or small
mosque. provided with q well, and
some rooms for the convenience of
travellers and poor people; (6) large
barrack of mud without an upper story
and a large barratk square; O pow
der magazine and workshop for the re-
n