I shall report this affair to the
Khedive direct; but I feel sure that the exposure of the governor of
Fashoda will not add to the popularity of the expedition among the lower
officials.
"April 23. - I started with two steamers and two diahbeeahs to explore a
favourable spot for a permanent station. We reached the Sobat junction
in three hours and a quarter, about twenty-five miles. From the Sobat,
down stream, we steamed for forty minutes, arriving at a forest, on a
high bank to the east, where some extraordinary high dome palms (palma
Thebaica), together with dolape palms (Borassus Ethiopicus), gave an air
of tropical beauty to a desolate and otherwise uninviting spot.
"I fixed upon this place for a station as the ground was hard, the
position far above the level of high floods, and the forest afforded a
supply of wood for building purposes and fuel.
"April 24. - We steamed for half-an-hour down stream to a large village
on the west bank, named Wat-a-jook. Thence I went down stream for one
hour to the grove of dolape palms and gigantic India rubber trees. This
was formerly a large village, known as Hillet-el-dolape, but it has been
entirely destroyed by the governor of Fashoda.
