Abstract
DR. MATTEUCCI sends home some interesting details of the observations made by him in Kordofan during the march of the expedition under Prince Borghese. In Kordofan, he says, water is as dear as the wine of Barletta. In the rainy season liowever things are different; from June to September almost every inch of the country is covered with water, when, if one anay not die of thirst, there is a chance of his dying of malaria. Vegetation along the line of march of the expedition was as melancholy and infertile as it could well be; stunted skeleton acacias alternating with a few euphorbias in constant monotony; neither mountains nor hills, and not even plains. In Kordofan the ground presents continuous undulations, no doubt in consequence of the geological formation of the soil, which is a bottom of sand slightly mixed with peroxide of iron. The water of the rainy season is husbanded in wells, but so valuable is it that the expedition had often to force the natives to give them access to these wells. Kordofan is about 600 metres above the level of the sea, and 380 above that of the Nile. Not a river, not a torrent, not a brook waters this immense territory, which is about 500 miles long and a little less broad. The mean tern perature is not less than 920. At the surface the ground is so sandy that animals on the march sink to a depth of 30 centimetres. The rains are irregular and never abundant. Some years ago there were no wells in Kordofan; the want of water owas not felt, for the natives, in the rainy season, collected the water in large reservoirs, and a sufficient quantity was found in them at each station and village. But the seasons, even in Africa, tend to change. Eight years ago there was no rainy season in Kordofan, and for several months the people feared they would all die of thirst. Then they thought of digging wells, which gave very good results. Everywhere water was found at a depth of 20 inches. But things have sadly changed during the past eight years, and now, instead of finding water at a depth of 20 inches, it is often not found at a depth of 160 feet. In all the wells Dr. Matteucci found the following succession of strata:—From 50 to 30 metres of depth, sand with traces of sulphate of lime; above 30 extends the granite, with a great abundance of quartz in proportion to feldspath and mica. The granitic mass rarely exceeds one metre in thickness, and above is again found the sand.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Geographical Notes . Nature 22, 455 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/022455a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/022455a0