Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎45r] (92/154)

RAILWAYS IN AFRICA.
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sure the compiler would he the first to admit. On the same map are marked the
navigable parts of riveis. I should like to have shown the dense forests also, but
the difficulty of giving them with any approach to correctness is at present
insuperable.
Here, then, is the kind of map we want in order to consider the broad outline
of the questions connected with the advisability of attempting to push lines of
communication into the interior. The problem is how to connect the inland parts
of Africa, which are coloured grey on this map, with the coast, by practicable lines
of communications, at the least cost, with the least amount of dense forest to be
traversed, and, in the case of railways, whilst avoiding as far as possible all thinly
populated districts.
It is, of course, quite impossible here to discuss all the great routes into the
interior, and I should like to devote the remaining time at my disposal to the
consideration of this problem as far as a few of the most important districts are
concerned, confining myself, as I have said, to trade with existing native races
within the tropics. Taking the East Coast first, and beginning at the north, the
first region sufficiently populous to attract our attention is the Valley of the Nile,
and parts ol the Central Sudan. Wadai, Darfur, and Kordofan are but scantily
inhabited, according to our map, and this is probably the case now that the Khalifa
has so devastated these districts; but, without doubt, much of this country could
support a teeming population, and is capable of great commercial development.
The Bahr-el-Ghazal districts are especially attractive, being fertile and better
watered than the somewhat arid regions further north. These remarks remind me
how difficult it is at this moment to touch on this subject without trenching on
politics. Few will deny that the sooner this region is connected with the civilized
world the better, and it is only as to the method of opening it up, and as to who is
to undertake the work, that burning political questions will arise. The geographical
problems connected with the lines of communication to the interior can be con
sidered whilst leaving these two points quite on one side.
A glance at the map reminds us of the well-known fact that below Berber the
Nile is interrupted by cataracts for several hundred miles, whilst above that town
there is a navigable waterway at high Nile until the Fola rapids are reached, a
distance of about 1400 miles, not to mention the 400 to 600 miles of the Blue
Nile and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, which are also navigable. The importance of a rail
way from Suakin to Berber is thus at once evident, and there is perhaps only one
other place in Africa where an equal expenditure would open up such a large tract
of country to European trade. This route, however, is not free from difficulties.
Suakin is hot and unhealthy. Then the railway, about 260 miles in length, passes
over uninhabited or thinly inhabited districts the whole way. Though the hills
over which it would pass are of no great height, the highest part of the track being
under 3000 feet above the sea, it is often said that the desert to be traversed would
add greatly to the difficulty of construction. According to Colonel Watson, r.e.,
however, these difficulties have been greatly exaggerated, for the water-supply would
give no great trouble. The sixth cataract, between Metemma and Khartum, would,
it is said, make navigation for commercial purposes impossible when the waters are
low; if this is so, it is probable that this impediment could be overcome by erecting
locks, but it is impossible to estimate the cost of such works. Then again, the Nile
above Khartum is much obstructed by floating grass or sudd, making navigation at
times almost impossible; but it was Gordon’s opinion that a line of steamers on the
river, even if running at rare intervals, would keep the course of the stream clear;
this, however, remains to be proved.
If the canalization of the sixth cataract should prove to be a necessary, but too
2 L 2