"March 31.-As We Proceeded, The Banks Became Drier.
The two steamers had
arrived during the night, and the whole fleet is coming up astern.
The
river is now about fifty yards wide, but I am getting nervous about the
depth; the water is very shallow in some of the bends, and I fear there
will be great difficulty in getting through with the steamers and heavy
vessels. My diahbeeah, which is of iron, although roomy, is exceedingly
light, and only requires two feet three inches of water. We have been
fifty-one days from Khartoum. Never have I known so miserable a voyage.
Wind fresh from the south."
CHAPTER III
THE RETREAT
"April 1. - All the vessels are stuck fast for want of water! This is
terrible. I went on in advance with my diahbeeah, accompanied by Mr.
Baker, for about three miles to explore. Throughout this distance the
greatest depth was about four feet, and the average was under three
feet. At length the diahbeeah, which drew only two feet three inches,
was fast aground! This was at a point where two raised mounds, or
dubbas, were on opposite sides of the river. I left the vessel, and with
Mr. Baker, I explored in the rowing boat for about two miles in advance.
After the first mile, the boat grounded in about six inches of water
upon firm sand. The river, after having deepened for a short space, was
suddenly divided into three separate channels, all of which were too
shallow for the passage of the diahbeeah, and two were even too shallow
to admit the small boat. The boatmen jumped out, and we hauled her up
the shallows until we reached the main stream, above the three channels,
which ran from the S.S.E., but having no greater mean depth than about
two feet six inches.
"We continued for some distance up the stream with the same unfortunate
results. The banks, although flooded during the wet season, were now
dry, and a forest was about a mile distant. Having left the boat and
ascended a white ant-hill, about eight feet high, in order to take a
view of the country, I observed a herd of very beautiful antelopes, of a
kind that were quite un known to me.
"By careful stalking on the flat plain from one ant-hill to another, I
obtained a fair shot at about 140 yards, and killed. Both male and
female have horns, therefore I found it difficult to distinguish the sex
at that distance. I was delighted with my prize; it was a female,
weighing, I should estimate, about twenty stone, clean. The hide was a
deep reddish yellow, with black shoulders and legs, also black from the
hind quarters down the hind legs. It belonged to the species
hippotragus, and had horns that curved backwards, something similar to
the hippotragus niger, but much shorter.[*]
[*Footnote: Vide Appendix. This antelope, which I considered to be a
new species, proved to be the Damalis Senegalensis of Western Africa.]
"We soon cut it into quarters, and carried it to the boat.
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