"January 1st, 1871. - At 1.30 P.M., I started the kyassas, having kept
back twenty men from their complement of troops to man the vessel we
have saved. Abdullah, the Shillook, came, and I gave him an order to
receive half the corn that I left at Tewfikeeyah. This is a reward for
Quat Kare, for having assisted to raise the sunken vessel with his
people. The extraordinary rise in the river this season has destroyed a
large portion of the Shillook crops, therefore the present of corn will
be most acceptable to the old king.
"January 2. - At 8.35 A.M., we started in tow of the steamer. Wind fresh
from the north. At 2.40 P.M. we passed the second of the three noggurs
that sailed yesterday, and at 3 P.M. we passed the third exactly at the
Giraffe junction. We have thus been six hours and twenty-five minutes
from the Sobat to the Giraffe junction. Thermometer, 6 A.M., 66 degrees;
noon, 86 degrees.
"January 3. - Last midnight stopped at a forest cutting wood; we started
at 3.50 P.M. One of the rear boats came in sight at 11 A.M., which
reached us at 3.40 P.M.
"January 4. - At 5.50 A.M. we actually overtook the nine vessels with
Tayib Agha that we had left seventeen days ago; these miserable people
have thus been wasting their time. The trading vessel of Jules Poncet,
that left the Sobat only six days ago, is in sight ahead; thus she has
in six days passed the boats that have been twenty-four days from the
same starting-point. I took the sail belonging to the wrecked noggur
from one, and passed ahead of all, except one that I kept back for
repairs while we cut wood at the forest.
"January 5. - Arrived at Kutchuk Ali's station at 10.30 A.M., and took in
wood. The country is all flooded, and both the natives and the traders
are without corn, the crops having been destroyed by the extraordinary
rise of the river. The people have no other grain than the scanty supply
yielded by the seeds of the lotus, which they collect from the river. I
met several men who had formerly served under Ibrahim, when we
accompanied Khoorshood Agha's party to Unyoro many years ago.
"January 6. - Cutting wood. I wrote to Colonel Tayib Agha, desiring him
to take in as much fuel as his vessels can stow, as there is no wood
ahead. The vakeel of the station supplied five cows and six goats. I
gave him five urdeps of dhurra (22 bushels). We started at 4 P.M.
"January 7. - During the night, at 12.40 A.M., to my intense disgust, we
passed a great number of our vessels with Raouf Bey. Shortly after, we
passed others, together with the boat of Achmet Effendi, bimbashi.
