There Is A Uniformity In Dress Throughout All The
Nubian Tribes Of Arabs, The Simple Toga Of The Romans This Is
Worn In Many Ways, As Occasion May Suggest, Very Similar To The
Scotch Plaid.
The quality of cotton produced is the same as that
of Lower Egypt, and the cloths manufactured by the Arabs,
although coarse, are remarkably soft.
The toga or tope is
generally ornamented with a few red stripes at either extremity,
and is terminated by a fringe.
As we approached within about twenty-five miles o Cassala, I
remarked that the country on our left was in many places flooded;
the Arabs, who had hitherto been encamped in this neighbourhood
during the dry season, were migrating to other localities in the
neighbourhood of Soojalup and Gozerajup, with their vast herds of
camels and goats. As rain had not fallen in sufficient quantity
to account for the flood, I was informed that it was due to the
river Gash, or Mareb, which, flowing from Abyssinia, passed
beneath the walls of Cassala, and then divided into innumerable
ramifications; it was eventually lost, and disappeared in the
porous soil, after having flooded a large extent of country. This
cause accounted for the never-failing wells of Soojalup--doubtless
a substratum of clay prevented the total escape of the water,
which remained at a depth of forty feet from the surface. The
large tract of country thus annually flooded by the river Gash
is rendered extremely fruitful, and is the resort of both the
Hadendowa and the Hallonga Arabs during the dry season, who
cultivate large quantities of dhurra, and other grain.
Unfortunately, in these climates, fertility of soil is
generally combined with unhealthiness, and the commencement of
the rainy season is the signal for fevers and other maladies.
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