The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-10


peace. lair government ana the dev.r-
Ht u our agricultural resource
s Hiouern lines. the future may
orSond our conception"
In kordofan and Darfur
-FOUR excellency has been travelling
IN camel back through Kordofan l.
- eouhtry likely TO be vaiuabIe in
I do not see why II should no. he
ispied the governor general. 1T is
one OF the stock rearing ravio,.z Of
ms part OF the world. producing a
.ast number Or cattle and carneis
Much o the meat now used in Khar-
I'm co"es from kordofan and camels
~ reared there for use Throughout
the Lioyan and Nubian deserts The
southern half Of the country is devoted
70 cattle. and IL inhabited by stock
rearing people. Every tribe has its
nerds' ana many tribes are nomadtc.
drlVlng their stock from pasture to
pasture North or latitude thirteen the
camel country begins. and one finds
camels by the thousands The COM
Try seems 70 be especially adapted 10
them"
What is the nature Of the land west
Of Kordofan?"
Il suppose you mean Darfur. That
country is ruled by a Sultan who pays
tTlDute 10 US. It Is q hiilv land. ira
Nersed by a mountain range furnish
ing numerous streams. 1t is well pop
ulated, and was for a long time a
center Of the slave trade. n natives
there are comparatively quiet at pres
eht, although every now and tnen a
war breaks out between some of the
tribes. This Is likewise so in Kordo-
ian. The people are brave and proud
ana they have frequent vendettas. The
Cntet want Of I[LrIaran fn rasrn--.
communication, and we hope TO supply
that as soon as we can"
h Minerals Of the Sudan.
here asked the sirdar to tell me
something Of the minera deposits re-
Gently discovered in this part Of the
world. He replied:
have not prospected the coun-
try as yet, although we are beginning
to do SO. We expect TO make a thor
ough geological survey and have be-
gun by plating some of the provinces
and rawin maps which show every-
lhlng IN connection with them. | re
fer to maps like these.
The sirdar here showed me careful
sketches of the several provinces, re-
duced to a small scale, and much like
those which our geological survey is
making of the United States. AS /
looked over them he ven on:
Our surveys at present are chiefly
l. III 1oG y
and to data as to their and
people. We have not done much in
the way of mineral investigation. We
know, however, that some of the prov
lnces contain iron and copper. This is
SO of the Bahrel-Ghazil. where the
people use iron IN steel implements
made from the native ore. They have
been mining copn@r there for a long
time. 1t is generally believed that
there is gold in the different parts of
4 ~ 40 ln xA c,.a -
number of concessions to mining syn
dicates. They have their men out
prospecting, but so far no valuable de-
posts have been discovered"
American Trade With the Sudan.
'Have we much to hope for in the
future trade of the Sudan?" I asked.
"Why not?' replied the sirdar, w
are using many things that the United
states makes. and are glad to welcome
American goods and American raiders.
American cottons are popular with the
AbysSinianS, and do not see why
they might not compete with those Of
Manchester in the Sudan. In our de-
velopment we shall need railroad ma
~terials, and, if irrigation works are
undertaken, as they will be. we shall
require drills for artesian wells, en-
gines, pumps and other machinery of
that nature. BY our new road to the
Red Sea ships from your country can
land their goods at Port Sudan within
a short railway haul of Khartum, and
from here they can be sent almost to
the heart of Central Africa by river"
The Sirdar May Write a Book.
The conversation here took a per-
sonal turn by my asking his excellency
if he would not some day write a book
on the Sudan. He is, you know. one
of the leading authorities on all mat
tiers connected with this part Of the
world. He wrote "Mahdism and the
Egyptian Sudan eighteen years ago;
and a few years later published a
work entitled. Ten Years Captivity in
the Mahdi's Camp" He also trans
lated and edited Stains Pasha's Fire
and sword in the sudan In 1895,
and. since then, his life has been a
part of the history OF the country and
his experiences such that no man, Hv-
ing knows all about it better than he.
n sirdar replied:
Il may write another book some
+ day. have kept notes of such things
as have observed and which have
occurred from time to time, and the
putting of them together may give me
! occupation when I retire. At present
my chief interest is in the develop
ment Of the country, n | am too
much occupied with that and with my
duties here to find any time for liter
airy work.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.
An Old "a Shioned Xmas.