belt up to 1921 yielded very little, for the negroid tribes which inhabit it showed scant inclination to do more than supply their own needs, while the lack of communications over enormous distances and the difficulties of administration rendered develop- ment by outside agencies extremely hazardous. Timber was however, obtained from the forests of the Bahr el Ghazal and Lado and a (diminishing) quantity of ivory.
Apart from the tribes of this southern zone and even among them progress in civilization was made the people of the Sudan, negro and "Arab," 1 showed willingness, in many cases eagerness, to benefit by Western civilization. Their standard of living became more exacting and their desire for education greater. Moreover, the possibilities and advantages of trade through the World War, had been brought home to a larger number of the population than before. "There has been," wrote the governor-general, Sir Lee Stack, in April 1920, " an advance in energy and initiative, particularly among those who make their living by cultivation."
Products and [Trade. Gum arabic is perhaps the most character- istic product of the Sudan, which provides the bulk of the world's supply. Formerly the only Sudan product in which Germany had a direct interest, the largest share of the gum trade is now with Great
f.T^S: i I9 ' 3 - the expor t of gum was 336,000 kantars, it fell to 258,000 kantars m 1915 and was 344,000 kantars in 1910 (a kantar equals 99-049 pounds). The value of the gum varied in the period named from 314,000 to 744,000. The principal crops are durra (millet) and cotton. As the area cultivated depends upon an uncertain rainfall and an equally uncertain Nile flood, the amount produced is liable to great variations. In 1915 the total area under cultivation was 2,463,000 feddans, in 1916 it fell to i ,489,000 feddans was over 2 000,000 in 1917 and but 1,669,000 in 1919 (a feddan equals 1-038 acre). Nor in respect to durra does the export corre- spond to the crop raised. Much of the grain is home-consumed and only the surplus sent abroad. The durra exported in 191-5 was 2 080 ton, 3 ' !j* '914 only 530 tons. Exports rose to 84,000 tons in 1917 and fell to 1,650 tons in 1919. The total export of durra for the five years 1915-9 was 245,300 tons, against 53,500 tons in 1910-4.
Great expectations were held as to the development of the area under cotton by irrigation, but the financial situation created by the war rendered any large extension impossible for the time being The variation in output was great 9,400 bales (of 400 Ib.) in 1914- 23900 bales in 1915; 12,300 bales in 1919. The total export of cotton in the 10 years 1910-9 was 161,000 bales. The yearly fluctua- tion was mainly due to the variation in the crop of flood-grown cotton in the Tokar district, Red Sea province. Only by irrigation works and by the building of railways to afford the cotton districts rapid and cheap means of access to the world's markets could any
crop * "p*** 1 (sce below:
, gum cotton and durra the chief exports were cattle and sheep, Hides and skins and sesame. The extent to which the export
- live stock was stimulated during the war is shown by the follow-
ing figures: Total number of cattle exported 1910-4 64400- in
- Jf r %L? fi0 'i 2 o same P 0113 the number of sheep exported
was 459,000 and 648,000 respectively. The export of hide and skins however, decreased being 1,928,000 in the five years 1910-4 and 1,552,000 m 1915-9. . The very large number of camels exported thP t H USB ? EpPt/an Expeditionary Force is not included in
exnnrt.rl ' r rnS ' S T pl '? S f IV0 7 decrea sed; 2,792 kantars were exported m 1913 and only 1,105 kantars in 1919; Dates, wood charcoal, gold and senna were minor exports. '
wJn - fourth ! of , the total ex Prts go in the first place to Egypt whence a considerable proportion is reexported to Europe. Nlariy all the rest of the exports go to Arabia, Abyssinia or Eritrea. Im-
Trngahon.The cultivator in the Sudan depended mainly o the rainfall and only to a less extent on the Nile flood and onartfficS irrigation. While these conditions continued the area cut vated " a year of good rams, could not much exceed 2,500,000 feddans while cultivable land, given irrigation, has been estimated as high a fourth of the total area of the Sudan. The Sudan Government elaborated schemes for irrigating a small portion of this um-uldvited land, namely the Gezira plain and the Tokar area. In add-on
fcSdTjffn ?hi?T? n ? SChCme f 1 irrigatin an a dditiona K feddans in the Dongola province by annual flooding on the system In 1917 as an emergency measure to meet war needs 19.000 feddans in Berber and Dongola provinces were put cultivation by means of pump irrigation.
The Gezira scheme was of much importance. The Gezira ( = island) the land lying between the White and Blue NileTS was original y proposed to irrigate 100,000 feddans Experiment undertaken m 1911 at Tayiba. near Wad Medani, on the Blue Me having proved conclusively that Egyptian cotton of the bes quality could be grown commercially in that district, irrigation work was started early m 1914, with funds advanced by the British Natio^a Debt Commissioners. The intention then was to raise in London ban of 3,000 ooo to meet the expense of the work, but owing to the World War the scheme had to be held in abeyance. Eventually! /? 2^1 i 6 ' 000 ' 000 *** authorized by the British Parliament 4,900 ooo to be spent on the Gezira works. Meanwhile it had been decided to increase the area to be irrigated to 300,000 feddans The f M i, me P r vlded for the erect 'n of a dam on the Blue NU at Makwar, near Sennar, so as to raise the river to a level sufficient to feed a great canal excavated across the plain. Work on the ca the levelling survey and the necessary buildings was continued at a snail s pace (owing to war exigencies) until I 9 ? 7 , when a fresh start was made. In thelnterval the Egyptian Government had intervened with irrigation projects intended for the benefit of Egypt and M 1916 investigations were conducted in connexion with the water supply of both the Blue and White Niles. The result was a Ian project, for which Sir Murdoch Macdonald, then adviser to the Egyptian Ministry of Public Works, was responsible. In addition to the Gezira scheme it was decided to build a dam across the Whi e
able ?o OM' AU ' Ia a ^ 2 ?, m ' S u Uth f Kha rtum, which should be able to hold up nearly double the quantity of water stored bv the
ten dam rJt' 8 1 Whit l Nile dam being L the benefit Egypt Drawings of the two dams, both engineering works of the first magnitude were completed in 1917. Cement hiving been found at convenient spot near Makwar, a factory was erected there in 1919 and the preliminary work pushed forward on both dams some of the workmen engaged .being brought from the Yemen. Sir Wl iam Willcpcks, the engineer of the Aswan dam, having very sever criticized the schemes, a Nile Projects Commission, composed o^ eminent engineers unconnected with the Egyptian or Sudan serv ices, made a thorough investigation during 1920. The commission t^t b oth schemes were sound and the last obstacle to the building of the dams appeared to be overcome. In 1921, however, the Egyptian Government was compelled, owing to the serious financial situation, to order the discontinuance of work on the Gebe Auha dam; the Gezira operations were continued but at a greatly reduced rate. Up to June 30 1921 some 3,264 ooo had Been spent upon the Gezira schemes. Meanwhile a pal to increase the Sudan loan to 9,500,000, owing to the increased cost of labour, material and transport, had been rejected The Tote area irrigation works fnr whirh ni, r, . ... estim t H fad
lue of external trade
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Year
Imports
Exports (including Reexports)
Total
1910
1913 1918* 19192
1,348,000 2,109,000 4,024,000 4,8os,ooo
E 977,000 1,278,000
4,210,000
3.009.000
2,325,000 3,387,000 8,234,000 7,814 ooo
' Most of the "Arab" tribes in the Sudan are of Hamitic stock
Communications. As a corollary to the irrigation schemes at Tokar a railway from that town to the seaport of Suakin was sanctioned m 1919. The distance is about 60 miles. The rail south from Khartum to Sennar and thence, crossing the Whi Nile at Kost, westward to El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan-a SffP t f I' 4 . m .'- was completed in 1911. It had the immediate effect of stimulating the trade in gum arabic for which Kordofan s lamous. both railways and steamers are State-owned in 1918 the tC ?u le u S ri d -f Part ^ n Dl ltt ^, h , ich con trolled the whole of the' river traffic
i the White and Blue Niles and their tributaries south of Khartum, was incorporated with the railways department, which had taken V?r f the administration of the harbour of Port Sudan in I 9I4 . The chief difficulty of the department during 1914-20 was in maintaining regular services efficiently Great difficulty was experienced in keeping the Bahr el Ghazal free from sudd blocks, which caused much delay to steamers.
The upkeep of existing roads and the building of new roads entailed heavy labour and expense. In the northern and central zones wells had to be dug to make many of the tracks usable; in the south there was superabundance of water and dense forests to be cut through. One of the most important trade roads was that from Kejat the southern limit of navigability of the Nile from Khartum westward to the Belgian Congo border. Good work was done on this road m 1916-8. Eighty streams had to be crossed in 125 m.; a g le :?P. an steel bridge 193 ft. long was erected over the river Yei. 1 he difficulty of keeping the roads practicable in the equatorial regions in the long rainy season was great. It was largely on the opemng-up of roads, and more roads, that the complete pacification oi the southern provinces depended. From 1916 onward experiments
