ABSTRACT
The Bari country east of the Nile consists of a flattish plain about 1,700 ft. above sea level, intersected by shallow ravines. Occasional outcrops of rock occur, the most important of which are the hills of Shindiru and Belinian, the tribal rainmaking centres. Vegetation is described by Seligman as “ bushy parkland/' with grassy areas, and swampy near the Nile. Baker, referring to Gondokoro, wrote that “ the distant mountains relieve the eye accustomed to the dreary flats of the White Nile; and evergreen trees scattered over the face of the landscape, with neat little native villages beneath their shade, form a most inviting landing-place after a long and tedious voyage. " 3 E. B. Haddon, writing about 45 years ago, and comparing Bari land of that day with its state in the 1860’s and '70’s, estimated that owing to the depredations of Arabs and Dervishes there might be only one family where once there were six or eight.4 Baker described the Bari country as consisting in general of “ rolling park-like grasslands-very little actual flat, but a series of undulations, ornamented with exceedingly fine timber-forests of consider able extent, and mountains rising to about 2,500 or 3,000 ft. above their base. From these mountains numerous streams drained to the Nile; these were generally dry in the summer season. The soil was poor in the neighbourhood of Gondokoro, but at a distance from the river the country was fertile; the rocks were throughout granitic; the mountains yielded the finest iron ore, especially those of Belinian, 12 miles from Gondokoro, where the natives were expert blacksmiths. " 5 The altitude of Bari land is mostly under 2,000 f t . : Juba is at 1,485 ft., Belinian is 2,790 ft., and Lungyi 2,098 ft. The wet season is from April to October; the average rainfall at Juba is about 38 ins. a year. A study of the topography of this area is badly needed.
