The water below the sudd was quite clear from
floating vegetation, as it had been filtered through this extraordinary
obstruction.
I will not fatigue the reader by a description of this voyage. We were
as usual in a chaos of marshes. We found a small channel, which took us
to the Bahr Gazal. This swampy and stagnant lacustine river was much
changed since I had last seen it in 1865. It was now a succession of
lakes, through which we steamed for several hours, but without
discovering any exit, except the main passage coming from the west,
which is the actual Bahr Gazal.
This was the third time that I had visited this river. Upon the former
occasions I had remarked the total absence of current; this was even
still more remarkable at the present time, as the river was not only
full, but the surface, formerly clogged and choked with dense rafts of
vegetation, was now clear. I sounded the depth of the lakes and main
channel, which gave a remarkable mean of seven feet throughout, showing
that the bottom was remarkably flat, and had not been subjected to the
action of any stream that would have caused inequalities in the surface
of the ground.
When the vessels lay at anchor, the filth of the ships remained
alongside, thus proving the total absence of stream.
