The Holbrook news., 1912-03-22

regions as Kordofan, Sennar, the Blue
 and White Niles, the Bahr-el-Ghazal
 and the wild hills ringing the Red
 sea.
 South of Khartoum the railways has
 now been extended through Wad Me
 dani to Sennar, where it turns from
 the Blue Nile and cuts across coun-
 try to the westward to Kosti on the
 White Nile This extension will short
 ly reach El Obeid. at one time the
 headquarters of the Mahdi, in the cen
 ter of a region from which already
 vast quantities of grain. gum, cattle
 and foodstuffs are being exported
 The towns and markets of these wild
 and little known regions are extra
 ordinarily interesting; yet the latter
 day tourist Is brought easily, cheaply
 and expeditiously to these places, and
 may contemplate as safely as if he
 was in Cairo the manners and modes
 of life of savage peoples to whom lesa
 than a score of years ago the white
 man was utterly unknown. For those
 who wish to push yet further into the
 heart of Africa, the Sudan government
 steamers now ply far up the White
 Nile until Rejaf. in the Uganda counr
 try, Is reached. On this expedition.
 which is made on a roomy, comfort
 able boat, carrying a chef and fitted
 with electric light, baths. mosquito
 shelters and so forth. an infinite va
 riety of wild life and savage scenery
 Is to be met with. After reaching
 Eoz Abu-Guma, one hundred and sew
 enty-five miles from KhartOum. the land of the pastoral Arabs and culti- vators is left behind. and the country of negroid races is entered upon Forests creep right up to the Nile, and game Is plentiful. Hippos. croco- diles and antelope are often seen, and further on giraffes, elephants and oth- CT interesting beasts may frequently be noted. Waterfowl of innumerabIe varieties give life and charm to the riverscape. and strange and huge fishes, for which Father Nile has al- ways been famous, will be observed among the native hsher-folk The Dinkas and Shilluks live mainly by fishing and hunting. and pursue their business in long, narrow "dug-outs" or small ambach rafts, equally as rick ety as the canoes. Accidents to these wild sportsmen often hap pen, their most troublesome neigh bors being the hippos, which are very Passing Kodok, once fa- nous as Fashoda in Major Marchand's time, Tanfkia, the headquarters of the troops on the Upper Nile, is reach ed, at five hundred and thirty miles distance from Khartoum. Four miles further, the Sobat, which has found it's way from the highlands of joins the Nile. Presently the Bahr-el-Zeraf Give hundred and sixty-fve miles) is reached Here buffalo, hartebeest, water buck and reedbuck are plentiful, and the rare and beautiful Mrs. Gray's wa terbuck is to be heard of for the first time At six hundred and fifteen miles from Khartoum, Lake No is en- tered, and turning sharply to the south the steamer bears into the Bahr- el-Jebel, the main stream of the Upper White Nile system. This stream. once choked with "sudd," is now cleared of that obstacle; the sudd it. self is being specially treated and turned into a valuable and marketa- ble commodity in the shape of fuel
 On through the sudd regions speeds the steamer; lakes and lagoons abound, and papyrus reeds form the chief vegetation From Kiech, on the lagoon, route lies to Wau. the tiny capital of the Bahr-el-G -Ghazal province. Beyond the old site of Kenissa, once an Austria mission sta lion, the scenery changes, the vege- -ation becomes more tropical, and the Bari negroes are to be observed The 1ado Enclave is reached at one thou sand and seventy-two miles, and pres sntly Gondokoro and a garrison of Uganda rifles. The next and last stop ping place is Rejaf, whence the steam sr returns to Khartoum. The whole ,f this interesting White Nile expe- iition, including the return journey, ,an now be made in a round trip of days. As a revelation of Iavage Africa there Is nothing to com pare with it in modern travel. Of Ihorter expeditions. one of the most is the round trip from Cairo to Khartoum, returning by Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.