ing. It was captured in the Tai-ping rebellion, and retaken by “Chinese” Gordon in 1863, when many of its finest buildings were destroyed. Population 500,000.
Suck′er (in plants), a very strong-growing branch which arises in an unusual position, as from the older parts of trees and shrubs, often at the base, or in connection with wounds. The process known as pollarding is for the purpose of inducing the development of suckers by means of wounds. Suckers are often called watersprouts.
Sucker, the name given a number of freshwater fishes of North America, with thick, fleshy lips bordering a sucking mouth. There are about 60 species in the family, which embraces the buffalo-fishes of the Mississippi Valley, the common suckers and the mullet or red horse. They feed on plants and small water-animals. The common or white sucker reaches a length of 18 inches, and is very abundant in streams from Canada to Montana and Florida. They are eaten, but the flesh is rather tasteless and bony. The remora (q.v.), having a sucking-disk on the back of the head, is also sometimes called a sucker, and the name is also applied to the hag and certain other fishes.
Sucre (so͞o′krȧ), a name for Chuquisaca, the capital of Bolivia (q. v.).
Sudan (so͞o-dän′), a vast region in Africa, stretching from the Atlantic to the Red Sea and from Egypt and the Sahara almost to the equator. The Arabic name, Beled-es-Sudan, means Land of the Blacks. It is the home of the true negro race. Its area is estimated at 2,000,000 square miles, its population at 20,000,000. There are three divisions — eastern, western and central Sudan. Eastern Sudan is sometimes called the Egyptian Sudan, which until 1882 was a province, with Khartum for its capital. It is now divided into 13 provinces, which are subdivided into districts and include Bahr-el-Ghazal, Berber, Blue Nile, Khartum, Kordofan, Red Sea, Senaar, Upper Nile, White Nile and other provinces. (Darfur, though within Egyptian Sudan and paying tribute, has a hereditary sultan and manages its internal affairs almost independently.) The regions watered by the Nile are very fertile, yielding great crops of cotton, indigo, sugar, rice, corn and tobacco. Other parts are bare, though covered with grass in the rainy season, when they afford pasture to large flocks of camels, sheep and goats. Other products are ivory, ostrich-feathers, gums, india-rubber, iron, gold, honey and wax.
Egyptian Sudan covers 950,000 square miles, and has a population of about 2,000,000. The Egyptians for 60 years after 1819 extended their power over the regions around Khartum and even to the Wellé and to Lake Victoria, but in 1877 and 1882 the native tribes rebelled. General Gordon, sent out by the English government to the help of Egypt, was shut up in Khartum, and his mission ended in disaster. In 1896 the Anglo-Egyptian army again sought to recover the lost provinces, and after two years were successful. A convention between the British and Egyptian governments followed, in which it was agreed that they should govern Sudan jointly through a governor-general. Khartum is in railway and telegraphic communication with Cairo, and on Dec. 12, 1899, Sudan was declared open for general traffic. Western Sudan includes the valleys of the Niger, Senegal and other rivers draining into the Atlantic and the countries known as French Sudan. Central Sudan covers the valleys of the rivers that drain into Lake Tsad. Consult Schweinfurth's Heart of Africa and Nachtigal's Sahara and Sudan. See Africa, Egypt, French Sudan, Niger River, Nigeria, Nile, Senegal, Sokoto and Timbuktu.
Sue (sū), Marie Joseph Eugene, a French writer, was born at Paris, Dec. 10, 1804. He practiced surgery for some years in the army, in Spain and at Navarino, using his experience in his novels. The Mysteries of Paris, a famous novel, was his first success. It was printed in 1842, and appeared first in The Journal of Debates. The Wandering Jew, with which Sue's name is most associated, was also printed first in a newspaper, and issued afterward in ten volumes. He later wrote Seven Capital Sins and Mysteries of the People. The last work was condemned by the court at Paris as immoral and seditious. In 1850 he was elected a deputy to the assembly, but went into exile after the accession of Napoleon III and died in Savoy, Aug. 3, 1857.
Suez (so͝o-ez′) Canal, a passage connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was begun in April, 1859, under the French engineer, Lesseps (q. v.). Half the money for the great work was raised by subscription in Europe, and the other half by the khedive of Egypt. The canal was finished in 1869. It cost about $100,000,000, and is 87 miles long and originally from 150 to 300 feet wide at the top and 26 feet deep. In 1886 it was widened and deepened. The highest point cut through is not more than 50 feet above the ocean. Sidings, side-basins to allow vessels to pass each other, are built every five or six miles. Since 1887 the canal has been lighted by electric light. It costs a vessel about $500 to make the passage, and takes a little over 24 hours. In 1910, 4,533 vessels, exceeding 23 million gross tons, passed through the canal, and the number of passengers, military and civilian, was 394,253. Population of Suez, Port Said and Canal Environs 75,149.
Suffrage is the right and act of voting, either for the election of public officers of
