| | |in and out of khors and up gentle | | |slopes through bushes, till at 2 | | |or 3 miles it emerges on to the | | |plain, which is of good soil | | |covered with scattered bush. The | | |general direction is straight for | | |J. Kassala. | | | | | |At about 6 miles the track from | | |Suweihil joins in on the right, | | |and from this on, the road is well | | |marked. Many ariel and gazelle, | | |and a few ostriches seen. | | | Um Siteiba | 21 | 258 |At 21 miles, Um Siteiba, commonly | | |called half way is passed. Here is | | |a large natural pond for about 4 | | |months in the rains, but now dry. | | |Serut fly bad when there is water | | |here. | | | | | |About 6 miles from Kassala, the | | |track turns N.E. and traverses | | |more thickly wooded country, till | | |it reaches the bed of the Gash, | | |now dry, some 700 yards wide, | | |immediately beyond which lies the | | |old town of Kassala. | | | Kassala | 17 | 275 |The old name, Taka, may now be | | |regarded as obsolete. The former | | |town is a complete ruin, of which | | |nothing remains except the | | |circular bastions. The new town | | |has been built close by the S.E. | | |and consists largely of Tukls. The | | |Fort, built by the Italians, is | | |just E. of the N. end of the old | | |town. | | | | | |Telegraph lines from Suakin,