166 SOODAN it, which slopes gently toward its shores. (See TCHAD, LAKE.) The principal tributary is the Sliary, flowing into the lake from the south. The plain is subject to frequent inundation in the vicinity of the streams, but is fertile and thickly inhabited. In Waday, which borders it on the east, the country becomes hilly again, and so continues some distance beyond the con- fines of Darfoor. The Nyam-Nyam country, lying principally S. of lat. 5 30' N. and E. of the 25th meridian, is drained by the westward- moving river Welle, discovered by Schwein- furth, and belongs geographically to Soodan, if that stream is connected with the system of Lake Tchad. The geology of Soodan is but little understood, and the mineral wealth seems limited to iron, which appears to be widely diffused, and gold, which is found in the rivers. The climate is everywhere charac- terized by extreme heat and moisture. The maximum temperature is attained in the level region of central Soodan, where the annual mean is over 83 F., while the more western hilly country is remarkable for its excessive moisture and a greater range of the thermom- eter. The rainy season, which abounds in thunder storms and tornadoes, lasts from the middle of May or June, varying with the re- gion, to November, when the northerly winds set in, and the weather becomes fair and dry. The natural products comprise palm oil, cocoa- nuts, dates, figs, and many other tropical fruits. The chief cultivated crops are maize, millet, yams, rice, wheat, beans, tobacco, cotton, in- digo, and various vegetables. The fauna of Soodan embraces the larger mammalia, such as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros ; the lion, leopard, and spotted hyaena, among the carnivorous animals ; numerous species of antelopes ; and the ostrich, on the borders of the desert. Domestic animals are extensively raised, including several breeds of horses and innumerable cattle, as well as goats, sheep, asses, and poultry. The honey made by wild bees is gathered in large quantities, and forms an important article of native traffic. The external trade of Soodan is carried on princi- pally by means of caravans, which journey to and from Algeria and Morocco. The exports comprise attar of roses, gold dust, gum arabic, indigo, ivory, and ostrich feathers and skins, of which about 1,500,000 worth annually reaches Algeria ; the imports from that coun- try average about the same amount, mainly in cotton goods, cutlery, and weapons. Inferior iron utensils and coarse cotton cloth are the only noteworthy articles of native manufac- ture. The population consists chiefly of ne-' proes, but in the west the Mandingoes predomi- nate, and the Foolahs are the ruling people in Gando, Sackatoo, and Adamawa. In many parts of the country the Arabs are extremely influential. Soodan has yet to be thoroughly and exhaustively explored throughout. Among the more prominent European travellers who have visited or traversed some portion of the SOOLOO country are Mungo Park, Denham and Clap- perton, Caillie, Lander, Earth, Vogel, Rohlfs, and Nachtigal (1869-74). The last named entered Bornoo from the Sahara N. of Lake Tchad, and made his way thence eastward through Waday and Darfoor to the Nile, an undertaking never before accomplished. The explorations of Petherick and Schweinfurth relate to regions S. of the limits usually as- signed to Soodan. II. A province of Egypt, distinguished from the preceding, of which it is but a continuation eastward, by prefixing the definite article (the Soodan). It comprises Kordofan, Nubia proper, Sennaar, Taka on the east, and some Nile districts further south ; pop. estimated by Sir Samuel Baker at over 1,000,000. The soil is fertile, and would be productive under just rule, but the exactions of the gov- ernment have been so excessive as greatly to retard the development of the province. The khedive has undertaken the construction of a railway from Shendy, N. of Khartoom, the capital, down the Nile a distance of about 220 m., to a point below the second cataract. The products of the Soodan have hitherto found their way to Cairo mainly by means of cara- vans occupying four months on the journey. According to an official statement of such pro- ducts sold in that city in 1873-'4, they were valued at 1,550,600, and comprised ostrich feathers (worth 824,013), gums, ivory, calf skins, coffee, senna, wax, tamarinds, and many other articles. This statement did not include exports from the Soodan through the Eed sea ports. The province has been gradually an- nexed by Egypt since 1821. SOOFEES. See SUFIS. SOOLOO, or Sole, the general name of a pic- turesque chain of islands in the Indian archi- pelago, known also as the Sooloo archipel- ago, extending about 250 m. from S. W. to N. E., between Borneo and Mindanao, from lat. 4 40' to 6 45' N., and from Ion. 119 to 122 20' E., separating the Celebes sea on the south from the Sooloo or Mindoro sea on the north ; esti- mated area, 1,300 sq. m. ; pop. about 200,000. They lie outside the volcanic belt of the Indian archipelago. The entire number of islands is about 150, most of which are small and unin- habited. There are three large islands : Tawi, near the coast of Borneo ; Basilan, close to the S. "W. extremity of Mindanao; and Sooloo, about midway between them. Each is about 40 m. long and from 6 to 20 m. wide, richly clothed with tropical vegetation, and rising into peaks of considerable height, those in Sooloo being 2,000 ft. above the sea. The island of Cagayan Sooloo, 140 m. N. W. of the main chain, is sometimes included within the Sooloo archipelago, although it does not prop- erly belong to it. Balambangan island, further west, near Maludu bay in Borneo, is noted for the two unsuccessful attempts of the British to establish themselves there. It Avas ceded to England in 1763, but the fortifications were destroyed by the Spaniards in 1775 ; it was re-
