"December 23. - I sent the steamer up the White Nile to bring down the
wind-bound kyassas (vessels). When she returned with them, all hands
were immediately employed in discharging cargo and taking down masts and
yards in readiness for operations on the sunken vessel.
"December 21. - Thermometer, 6 A.M., 67 degrees; noon, 82 degrees.
Abdullah, the Shillook, arrived. The natives have not forwarded my
letter to the governor of Fashoda, as they fear to pass certain villages
with which they have been lately quarrelling. To-day is the close of the
Ramadan fast, and the first of the Bairam, therefore it is kept as a
holiday. All my people have turned out in new clothes.
"December 25. - Christmas Day. Thermometer, 6 A.M., 65 degrees. We began
work at the sunken vessel. By filling the barges with water and sinking
them within a foot of the surface, and then securing them by chains to
the wreck, we obtained a firm hold. The water having been baled out of
the barges, they gradually rose and lifted the vessel several feet.
Having thus raised her, we hauled her a few feet nearer the bank, and
the day's work concluded by proving that with care and additional force
we shall be able to manage her.
"December 26. - We continued the same operations as those of yesterday.
Having lashed the masts of the barges transversely across the gun-wales,
to these we attached chains secured by divers beneath the bottom of the
wreck. This was not possible yesterday until we had lifted her from the
ground. At the same time that we were thus engaged, the men, by diving;
secured ropes to the heavier pieces of iron sections, and we saved
several tons of her cargo, which we placed upon the steamer and upon my
diahbeeah. This lightened the wreck, and we then prepared a bed for her
by cutting away the abrupt bank, and forming a shelf on the flooded
shore in a depth of three feet of water, upon which we might be able to
haul her when floated to the surface. We laid out the steamer's purchase
with an anchor secured upon the shore, and the day ended successfully by
hauling the wreck exactly parallel to the bank, with her stem and
stern-post above the surface. As the current was very powerful, the bow
of the wreck had throughout the operation been firmly secured by two
anchors laid out up stream. It is very hard work, as we are in the sun
from early morning till night. Julian (Lieutenant Baker), being a
sailor, is just the fellow for this sort of work, and no other person
knows how to make fast the ropes and chains so that they shall not slip.
Higginbotham, as usual, is very energetic. Colonel Abd-el-Kader, who is
my only reliable Egyptian officer, has been diving all day like a wild
duck, and bringing up heavy boxes of rivets which few men but himself
can lift. Altogether the men have worked famously, especially the black
soldiers.
"December 27. - Julian is laid up with fever to-day; this is the effect
of daily exposure to the sun. I laid out the steamer's second purchase
at right angles fastened to the bow of the wreck; we thus had her bow
and stern secured in the same manner. Having manned both purchases, we
could manage her as she became lighter. About 250 Shillooks came to
assist us under the command of old Quat Kare, who sat in his canoe and
directed his people. Having lightened the vessel by taking out more
cargo, I divided the labour; Higginbotham sinking two kyassas and making
them fast as lifters, while other men cut away the flooded bank with
spades and improved the shelf.
"After breakfast, the sunken kyassas being well-secured to the wreck
with chains, we baled them out for the last time, and the vessel thus
supported came bodily to the surface. All hands now hauled on the
purchases, while the Shillooks, with screams and yells, tugged at four
ropes fastened amidships, and we succeeded in dragging the vessel from
the river's bed, and placing her upon the new shelf that we had prepared
for her in little more than three feet of water. During this time many
men had been baling out with large buckets, and now that she was safe, a
general rush was made on board to empty the water with every conceivable
utensil - gourd-shells, basins, cooking pots, &c.
"When baled out, we discovered and stopped the leaks, and floated her.
She was one of the largest and finest vessels of the fleet, perfectly
new, and was laden with steamer sections and machinery, the loss of
which would have been fatal to the object of the expedition.
"I ran a flag up the mast as a signal to those at the station that she
was safe. I then ordered the steamer to light her fires, and the wreck,
together with the two kyassas and my diahbeeah, were taken in tow, and
delivered at the bank that we had made our head-quarters. Thus we have
happily saved the vessel and cargo that had been so disgracefully
abandoned, when a large force was at hand to have assisted her.
"During the morning, a vessel arrived from Khartoum, laden with goods on
speculation, from a French trader of my acquaintance, Monsieur Jules
Poncet. She also brought the section of the lifeboat which my officers
had neglected on the wreck, and which the governor had taken to Fashoda.
"December 28. - I sent the steamer to Fashoda for the sail and yard of
the wrecked vessel. All hands are engaged in caulking ship, re-hoisting
yards, rigging, &c., and refitting. Thermometer, 6 A.M., 66 degrees;
noon, 81 degrees.
"December 29.-Thermometer, 6 A.M., 66 degrees; noon, 81 degrees.
