SOUDAN, or Sdalasr (BRAE' es-Sficlan, "Country of the a navigable waterway from the Gulf of Guinea to the Blacks "), a term applied by mediaeval Arab geographers to • southernmost limits of Baghirmi.

the region of Africa south of the Sahara mainly inhabited From the Kong highlands, some of whose peaks appear by peoples of Negro blood, hence corresponding to the ex- to attain elevations of 6000 to 7000 feet, Western Soudan pressions Nigritia, Negroland, at one time current amongst falls gradually towards the north and north-east down to European writers. It lies mainly between 5° and 18° N. the Great Desert, where the city of Timbuktu still mainlat., consequently entirely within the tropics, and in its tains an altitude of 770 feet above sea-level (Lenz). South-widest sense stretches right across the continent from east of the Niger the land rises in terraces of 1000 and Cape Verd on the Atlantic to Massowah on the Red Sea. even 3000 feet, above which isolated crests range from But the term is more usually restricted to the region 5000 to 9000 feet. This little-known western highland bounded N. by the Sahara, S. by Upper Guinea and the region, comprised between the Binue and the lower Niger, and extending from Adamawa to the Cameroons on the Bight of Biafra, corresponds with the eastern highland region of Abyssinia, lying between the Blue Nile and the Tagazze and dominating the Red Sea. North of Adamawa the land falls rapidly down to the vast depression of Central Soudan, whose lowest part is flooded with the waters of Lake Tchad (Chad or Tsad), the largest area of inland drainage, next to the Aral-Caspian basin, in the flood-waters of its great feeders, - the Logon-Shari sea, the ground rises again eastwards in the direction of Wadai and Dar-Fur, to heights of 3000 feet and upwards, culminating in the volcanic Jebel Marrah (6000 feet), which forms the natural eastern limit of Central Soudan, and the great divide between the Tchad and Nile basins. But politically the line between Central and Eastern Soudan is usually drawn more to the west along the conventional frontiers of Wadai and Dar-Fur, the latter province, although never completely reduced, being claimed as part of Egyptian Soudan. This region constitutes two distinct physical divisions - the first comprising the pro- vinces of Dar-Fur and Kordofan, bounded E. by the White el-Arab southwards to the Monbuttu uplands, a vast plain watered by the numerous south-western headstreams of the White Nile. This plain rises gradually towards the south and south-west to the highlands, which appear to culminate in Mount Baginze, and which form the water-parting rising southwards to the Fazokl and Berta highlands.

The prevailing geological formations are the crystalline rocks, such as granites, diorites, slates, gneiss, underlying the old and new alluvia of the plains, and found associated with sandstones in the highlands. In the Kong Mountains the granites underlie the sandstones, but in the Tagale group (South Kordofan) they pass over to porphyries and syenites, interspersed with extensive diorites and auriferous quartz veins. Volcanic rocks (basalts, lavas, tufas) appear to be restricted to the isolated Defafaung and Alantika Mountains (Adamawa), although solfataras occur in the Tagale district, where sulphur abounds. Mineral waters are also found in Dar-Fur and Adamawa. The most widely diffused minerals are iron and copper, the oxides of iron occurring almost everywhere from the White Nile to the Niger, while pure copper is met especially in Dar-Fur and Fertit. Gold is chiefly restricted to the Tagal6 and Kong Mountains, Bambarra, and Adamawa ; and lead, antimony, and tin are confined to a few isolated districts. Characteristic is the apparently total absence of limestones, coal, salt, and natron, the supplies of salt being imported mainly from the Sahara. Report, however, speaks of a large lake in the Jebel Marrah, from which salt is obtained.

The climate of Soudan is distinctly tropical, with two well-defined seasons, hot and rainy from April or May to October, warm and dry for the rest of the year. The former is accompanied by tremendous thunderstorms and continuous downpours flushing all the khors, wadies, and other watercourses, flooding large tracts along the lower courses of the Shari, Logan, Komadngu, and Niger, and interrupting the communications for weeks together in Baghirmi and Bornu. Before the rains set in the glass seldom falls below 98° or 100° F., rising at noon to 104°, while the mean annual temperature at Kuka (Bornu) is about 82° F. But in the dry season it is often lowered to 53° or 60°, and under the influence of the cool north-east winds water often freezes on the uplands, snow falls in Dar-Fur, and fires are kept up iu the houses in the central districts of Kano. The chief ailments are ague and other marsh fevers in the low-lying tracts subject to inundations, the Guinea-worm, cutaneous diseases, and leprosy. The fevers are dangerous alike to Europeans and natives.

An exuberant forest vegetation is favoured by the rich alluvial soil and tropical heat wherever moisture abounds. Of large growths the most characteristic and widespread are - the baobab (Adansonia), reaehing north to the 13th parallel and attaining a girth of 80 feet ; the superb deleb palm, covering extensive tracts especially in the east, where it grows to a height of over 120 feet ; the shea or butter tree (Bassiabutyracea), in the Niger basin and Kong uplands ; the cotton-tree, dum palm, tamarind, several varieties of euphorbias, acacias, and mimosas, the heglyg (Balanitcs mgyptiaea) and jerjak of Wadai, which yields a kind of vegetable honey. dwing to the absence of salt the date-palm is very rare. The chief cultivated plants are cotton, maize, several kinds of durrah (Sorghum vselgare, S. eernuum, &c.), hemp, tobacco, gourds, water-melons, indigo (of excellent quality and growing everywhere, wild and cultivated), and lastly the guru or kola nut (Sterezdia aeunzinata and S. macrocarpa), which in Soudan takes the place of the coffee berry. Cotton of the finest quality has been raised on the rich alluvial plain of Taka and Senaar.

The beasts of prey, nowhere very numerous, are chiefly represented by the lion, panther, hyena, and jackal. Elephants in herds of 400 or 500 frequent the swampy districts about Lake Tehad, but are not found- farther north than the 12th or 13th parallel. The ordinary African rhinoceros is common, and the rare one-horned species appears to have been met with in Wadai. The wild ass, zebra, giraffe, and antelopes in considerable variety abound on the eastern steppe lands, and endless species of monkeys in the forest districts. Crocodiles, some of great size, from 16 to 18 feet long, iufest all the large rivers, the sangwai, - a web-footed variety, occurring in the Niger. The hippopotamus also abounds in these waters, which teem with fish, mostly of unknown species. These attract numerous flocks of waterfowl, - pelicans, spoonbills, cranes, ducks, and many unknown species. In the Tchad, Fittri, and other districts the fish are captured, dried, and exported in large quantities to Fezzan and the countries beyond the Niger. Flies and mosquitoes swarm in the marshy, and locusts in the dry districts ; and in the woodlands insect life is represented by myriads of termites and some very large species of bees, wasps, and ants, besides beetles and butterflies in considerable variety.

The term Bilad es-SUdan is fully justified by the ethnical conditions of this region, which may be regarded as the true home of the Negro variety of mankind. Here this still everywhere forms the substratum of the population, constituting the distinct aboriginal element, in many places exclusively, in others intermingled with foreign intruders from the north and east. As far as can now be determined, these intruders belong to two separate branches of the Caucasic stock - the Hamitic and the Semitic. The Hamitic is represented by three divisions - Fulahs,' Tibus, and Berbers - all of whom arrived in remote prehistoric times ; the Semitic by one division - the Arabs, who arrived at various periods since the spread of Islam in North Africa. The bulk of the Arab tribes appear to have penetrated front the Nile basin through Kordofan to Dar-Fur and Wadai, or from the Mediterranean seaboard through Fezzan and across the Sahara to the Tchad basin, and hence are still mostly restricted to the central and eastern districts. Owing to their later appearance and stronger racial sentiment they have kept more aloof from the surrounding populations than the Hamites, who have everywhere intermingled with the aboriginal Negro element. The result is that the present inhabitants of Soudan are of a very mixed character, - more or less pure Negro peoples predominating in the Niger basin, in Adamawa, Baghirmi, Wadai, parts of Dar- Fur and 'Kordofan, and in the Nile basin south of 10° north latitude ; half-caste Negroes and Fulahs especially in Western Soudan ; half-caste Negroes and Berbers in the northern districts of Western and Central Soudan ; half-caste Negroes and Talus (Dasas) mainly in Kanem and Bornu ; true Fulahs scattered in isolated groups between the Niger and Tchad basins ; true Berbers (Tuaregs) in the Timbuktu and Moassina districts ; true Arabs chiefly in Baghirmi, Wadai, Dar-Fur, and Kordofan.

In the subjoined table of the chief Sondanese races the Negro divisions have little more than a linguistic value.

Negro and Negroid Peoples.

Mandingoes : Mandinka, Malinke, 'and in the east Vangarawa, the dominant race between the Joliba (Upper Niger) and Kong Mountains, where their simple and harmonious speech is everywhere current as the chief medium of intercourse ; fine Negro type, tall, very dark complexion from coffee-brown to black, lung frizzly and woolly hair ; agriculturists and traders; mostly Mohammedans outwardly; population six to eight millions. Chief subdivision the Ilambarras, whose capital is Sego on the Joliba ; population 2,000,000.

&neva or Songhai: An historical race whose empire stretched in the 16th century from the northern bend of the Niger to the Atlantic and Morocco ; speech of a monosyllabic type, still current in the Timbuktu district and oases of Western Sahara ; population 2,000,000.

Tombo, .Rosso, Gurma: Three little known Negro peoples west of the Niger, within the great bend ; affinities uncertain ; form semi-independent petty states, apparently tributary to Moassina and Gando.

Nape or Nufe: Large Negro nation along both sides of the Niger from Rabba to the Binue confluence, subject to Gando.

Yoruba: Powerful Negro people between lower Niger and Dahomey ; capital Basin; Mohammedans, pagans, and Christians (Protestant).

Batts: The chief Negro people in Adamawa, now subject to the Fulahs; pagans and Mohammedans.

Hama: Largest, most widespread, and intelligent of all the Sudanese Negro peoples, mainly between the Niger and Bornu ; speech very musical, the chief commercial medium in Western and Central Soudan, and current in parts of Tripolitana; shows distinct traces of Hamitic influences (Krause); mostly Mohammedans.

Mosgu or Masa : Widespread Negro family between Lake Tchad and Adamawa and stretching east to the Shari; chief subdivisions - Mandara, Margi, Logon, Gamergu, Margomi, Keribitta; mostly pagans and uncultured.

(Budanta) and Bari: Predatory Negro tribes in the islands of Lake Tchad; appear to be related to the Kolokos or 3Iekari of Logon and Bornu; nominal Mohammedans ; population 30,000.

Baghirmi; The dominant people in Baghirmi ; cultured Mohammedans; very industrious and skilled weavers and dyers; population over a million.

Maba ; The chief Negro nation in Wadai, mainly in the Warn and Abcshr districts, about the headstreams of the Batha.

Far or Fer The dominant race in Dar-Fur, which takes its name from them ; akin to the Nubas; chief subdivision Kunjara.

Nubas : Large Negro nation ; Jebel Nuba, and other parts of Kordofan, the original stock of the Nile Nubians; chief subdivisions - Kargo, Kulf an, Kolaji, Tuniali. Nilotic Negroes: Shilluks, Dinkas, Bongos, Bails, A-Mad! (Mittu), and many others about the Bahr el-Jebel and south-western tributaries of the White Nile. Funj: A very mixed Negroid race, Senaar.

Hamiles - Pure and .,Vi.red.

Tuaregs : A main branch of the Berber race, dominant throughout the Western Sahara and southern steppes ; powerful, especially in the Timbuktu district and on the north frontier of Bonn].

Sorinka or Assuanek: Called also Serckull or Serrakolet, i.e., " white people "; half-caste Tuareg and Negro nation sentleved in small communities from the Niger to the Atlantic, and numerous especially in Senegambia and MoassIna ; cultured Mohammedans, and active traders.

Fulahs: The most powerful, intelligent, and widespread of all the Soudanese peoples ; from their original home in Senegambia (Futa-Toro, Futa-Jallo) have spread since the 1Sth century throughout Western and Central Soudan, and as far east as Dar-Fur, everywhere propagating Islam, overthrowing the native Hamm and other states, and founding new kingdoms In the Niger basin, In Adarmiwa, and Central Soudan • are called Fellani by the Hanssas, Fulda by the Arabs, Felldta by the Kanuri, the term meaning "fair" or "light coloured"; ; pure type, distinctly Caucasic, regular features, long black hair, brown or ruddy complexion, slim well-proportioned figures; but the language, which presents several remarkable features, shows only faint traces of Berber influence, and appears on the whole to be essentially a Negro form of speech, adopted probably dating residence from the remotest times in Negroland ; population seven to eight millions.

Dasas: The southern branch of the Tibus, chiefly in Kanem and northern Bonn; type and speech show distinct Negro influences.

Kanembu: The people of Kanem, with settlements in eastern Bornu ; also originally Ttbus, but betraying still more decided Negro influence.

Kanuri: The ruling race in Bornu ; speech a development of the Dasa and Kanem ; type half-caste Tibu and Negro.

Zoghthea, Baele, Ennedi: Mixed Tibu and Negro tribes; northern Dar-Fur, originally from Borku and Wanganya, Eastern Sahara ; speech akin to Dasa.

Aulad Spielman Arabs: In Kanem.

Aulad Rashid, Malaimid: South-east of Borku, and in Dar-Far.

Salami t, Aulad Hamed: Between the lower Shari and Bahr el-Ghaztfl. Ilamr, Hamran: Kordofan.

Kabdish: "Goatherds ; " widespread along west side Nile, from Kordofan to Dongola.

Bakkara: "Cowherds;" south of the Kababish to left bank of Bahr el-Arab.

Politically Western and Central Soudan are divided into eight independent and semi-independent states, which in their order from west to east are as under :- Bambarra, divided into two nearly equal sections oy the Joliba, which traverses it from south-west to north-east, is ruled by the Negro Bambarras of Mandingo stock. It has recently been brought under the influence of the French penetrating eastwards from their possessions on the Senegal. The capital is Sego, on the right bank of the Joliba.

Moassina, Gando, Sokoto, Adamawa, the four so-called "Fulah States," occupy the Niger basin between Bambarra and the Binue confluence, the whole of the Binue basin, and the region lying between the Niger and Bornu. Illoassina (Massina) lies on both banks of the Niger from Bambarra to Kabara, the port of 'Timbuktu, and is peoPled. by Fulahs, Bambarras, and Sonrhais ; capital Hamda-Alalii' on the right bank of the Niger, below Jenne, which is its chief trading place. Timbuktu, with surrounding district constitutes a separate territory governed by a kadia, or hereditary mayor, who lately sent an envoy to Paris for the purpose of seeking French protection against the rival Tuareg and Fulah tribes. Gando, so called from its capital on an eastern tributary of the Niger, stretches along the main stream southwards to the Binuc confluence, including the Nufe territory and part of Yoruba. The lower part is extremely fertile, abounding in cotton, indigo, rice, and all varieties of African grains. It comes within the limits of the region over which the British protectorate has recently been extended. Besides the capital, there are several large towns, such as Bida (30,000 to 50,000 inhabitants) in the north ; Rabba (40,000 to 50,000), head of the steam navigation on the Niger, and a chief station on the great trade route running from Lagos on the Guinea Coast northwards to Gando and Sokoto ; Egga (8000), on -the left bank of the Niger, centre of the British trade ; Lokoja, facing the Binue confluence, an English factory, headquarters of an Anglican mission and seat of a Negro bishop. Sokoto, sometimes spoken of as the "empire of Sokoto, is the largest and most powerful of all the Soudanese states, stretching from Gando to Bornu, and from the Binue northwards to the Sahara (see Soitoro). In it arc absorbed all the former " Haussa States," and to it Adamawais also tributary. The inhabitants are chiefly Fulahs and Haussas, intermixed with many aboriginal Negro peoples, especially in the south and south-east. The land is generally fertile, yielding rich crops of cereals, cotton, tobacco, indigo, sugar, yams, black pepper, ginger, melons. The capital and residence of the sultan is Sokoto, in the extreme north-west. Other large towns are - Katseua, before the Fulah invasion a place of 100,000 inhabitants, now reduced to 7000; Kano, in Barth's time the "London of Soudan," and still with 50,000 souls (Matteucci) ; Wurnu (15,000) ; Gombe, in the province of Calam (20,000) ; Yakoba, or Garu n-Bauchi (150,000) ; Keffi Abd es-Senga (30,000), in Zegzeg, a great centre of the ivory trade, and converging point of the two great caravan routes from the north (Kano) and the west (Egga). Adamawa, so named from its Fulah conqueror Adama, and formerly known as Fumbina, or "Southland," is ruled by a Fulah vassal of Sokoto, who keeps in subjection the Battas and innumerable other Negro peoples; it lies between Sokoto, Bornu, and Baghirmi, merging southwards in the unexplored equatorial region back of the Cameroons. The capital is Yola, at the northern foot of Mount Alantika. Adamawa appears to be one of the finest and healthiest regions in Africa, splendidly diversified with lofty highlands, fertile valleys, and grassy plains, overgrown in some places with forests of bananas, baobabs, and plantains, in others yielding abundant harvests of cereals, cotton, and indigo. The horses and cattle introduced by the Fulahs thrive well on the rich pastures, and elephants abound in the woodlands. Barn a, with Kanem, in the north, now reduced, and the tributary state of Logon in the south, completely encircles Lake Tchad, except at the south-east corner, where Baghirmi is wedged in between Loon and Wadai • it is mostly a flat low-lying region with fertile plains yielding durrah, maize, cotton, and indigo, watered by the Komadugu, Logon, and Shari, all of which flood their banks for miles during the rainy season. The ruling race are the Kanuri, cultured but fanatical Mohammedans of mixed Tibu and Negro stock. The capital of Bornu is Kuka (50,000 to 60,000 inhabitants), near the west coast of Lake Tchad, a great centre of the Soudanese trade with the Sahara and Tripolitana, and terminus of the main caravan route from Murzuk (Fezzan) across the desert to the Tchad basin ; the capital of Logon is Logon-birni, residence of a vassal prince. Population of Bornu estimated at 5,000,000.

Bagliirmi, a Negro state, since 1871 tributary to Wadai, comprises the rich and well-watered plains of the lower Shari, with undefined southern limits. Capital Masena ; population about 1,500,000, of whom three-fourths Baghirmi, the rest Kotokos, Faiths, and Arabs.

JVadai, a powerful Mohammedan state occupying the whole region between Baghirmi and Kanem in the west and Dar-Fur in tho cast, and claiming exclusive ivory and slave-hunting rights in the southern (upper) Shari basin. The capital is Abeshr, on a head-stream of the Batha. The country is mainly a hilly plateau rising to 3000 feet above the sea, and yielding good crops of maize, durrah, cotton, indigo. Population four to six millions, chiefly Mabas and other Negroes, and numerous Arab tribes, with some scattered Baghirmi, Fulah, and Kanuri settlements.

Eastern Soudan, comprising Dar-Fur, Kordofan, Senaar, Taka, and the Negro countries on the White Nile and its south-western tributaries, respectively called the Equatorial and Bahr-Gazal Provinces, belonged politically to Egypt till the rebellion of the late Mandi. Since his death in 1885 most of these provinces appear to have lapsed into a state of anarchy and barbarians, in which few vestiges remain of the peace and order introduced by the European officers of the khedive. The Equatorial Province, however, and the Suakin district have been exempt from these troubles, - the former being still held till 1886 by the governor, Emiu Bey, for the khedive, while in the latter the natives themselves succeeded in the same year in putting down the "rebels" or party of Osman Digma. For details of Eastern Soudan, see articles NILE, NUBIA, and SENAAR. (A. H. K.)