There had been moments of hopelessness and despair;
days of misery, when the future had appeared dark and fatal; but we had
been strengthened in our weakness, and led, when apparently lost, by an
unseen hand. I felt no triumph, but with a feeling of calm contentment
and satisfaction we floated down the Nile. My great joy was in the
meeting that I contemplated with Speke in England, as I had so
thoroughly completed the task we had agreed upon.
We had heard at Gondokoro of a remarkable obstruction in the White Nile
a short distance below the junction of the Bahr el Gazal. We found this
to be a dam formed by floating masses of vegetation that effectually
blocked the passage.
The river had suddenly disappeared; there was apparently an end to the
White Nile. The dam was about three-quarters of a mile wide, was
perfectly firm, and was already overgrown with high reeds and grass,
thus forming a continuation of the surrounding country. Many of the
traders' people had died of the plague at this spot during the delay of
some weeks in cutting the canal; the graves of these dead were upon the
dam. The bottom of the canal that had been cut through the dam was
perfectly firm, composed of sand, mud, and interwoven decaying
vegetation. The river arrived with great force at the abrupt edge of the
obstruction, bringing with it all kinds of trash and large floating
islands.
