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The White and Blue Niles: The Barrage: Clearing the Sudd: The Suez Canal: Ancient and modern irrigation: The Dam at Aswan: The modern exploration of the Nile. Between the Sudan and the Mediterranean the only perennial stream is the Nile, a word probably derived from the Semitic root nahal, meaning a valley or a river-valley, and subsequently a "river," in a pre-eminent and exclusive sense.
Before leaving, the Sirdar sent a formal written document to Major Marchand, protesting against any usurpation by another Power of the rights of Great Britain and Egypt to the Nile Valley. He stated that he would refuse to recognise in any way French authority in the country. There was found to be large quantities of grass weed and sudd in the Nile at no great distance from Fashoda.
Do not try to make your life's path across the weeds, or as they call it in Egypt, the 'sudd, that floats on the surface of the Nile, compacted for many a mile, and yet only a film on the surface of the river, to be swept away some day. Build on God. And the last lesson is, let us see to it that our wills are in harmony with His, and the work of our hands His work.
"The boatmen say the rats drag out the rags with which the vessels are caulked from within, thus occasioning sudden and dangerous leaks; but in such a case, why does not the captain run his vessel ashore to prevent sinking? "Before starting, I despatched a letter by a vessel to Suleiman Effendi at the sudd, with orders to commence clearing the channel without loss of time.
On June 9, eight vessels of Agad's hove in sight, and with a fair breeze they arrived opposite the island at 2.30 p.m. Abou Saood was in one of these vessels. June 10, Abou Saood presented himself to me this morning. His vessels, being without cargoes, benefited much by our work in the sudd.
In several places the clear channels were less than 150 yards wide. As the steamers made southing, the river became narrower and the obstacles to navigation more serious floating islands of weeds and banked sudd blocking the fairway, leaving it but 50 yards or less in width. It is about 62 miles from Fashoda to the Sobat river, that Abyssinian tributary to the Nile.
We cut through the sudd, and all the vessels entered the broad waters of the lake and anchored in the evening opposite some native huts, close to the channel that we must open to-morrow. These huts are the first habitations that we have seen for more than two months; they are now deserted by the frightened fishermen who had occupied them. "March 18.
The importance of this event may be measured by the fact that whereas the journey to Gondokoro, with the "sudd" in existence, took twenty months and even two years to perform, it was reduced by its dispersal to twenty-one days.
We have now been hard at work for thirteen days with a thousand men, during which time we have travelled only twelve miles! "March 22. Wind S.W. foul. The people are all lazy and despairing. Cleared a sudd. I explored ahead in a small boat. As usual, the country is a succession of sudds and small open patches of water.
"January 19.-Sailed four miles, at which place we found a new channel coming from the south, while our channel of last year from south-east appeared to be closed at half a mile distance. Explored the new channel for about two miles; in appearance it was a river of 200 or 300 yards wide. At length we arrived at a sudd of small dimensions with open water beyond.
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