The king of beasts, as usual, would not stand to show fight
in the open, but bounded off in the direction of the rocky hills.
It will be necessary to give a few extracts from my journal to convey an
exact idea of the Bahr Giraffe. The river was very deep, averaging about
nineteen feet, and it flowed in a winding course, through a perfectly
flat country of prairie, diversified with forest all of which, although
now dry, had the appearance of being flooded during the rainy season: -
"February 23. - Steamed from 6 A.M. till 7 P.M. Vast treeless marshes in
wet season - now teeming with waterfowl: say fifty miles accomplished
to-day through the ever-winding river. The wood from the last forest is
inferior, and we have only sufficient fuel for five hours left upon the
steamer. The diahbeeah in tow carries about twenty hours' fuel: thus,
should we not arrive at some forest in twenty-five hours, we shall be
helpless.
"The river was exceedingly narrow about fifteen miles from our starting
point this morning. The stream was strong but deep, flowing through the
usual tangled grass, but divided into numerous small channels and
backwaters that render the navigation difficult.
