The Range Of Mountains Running South From Ellyria Is The Watershed
Between The East And West Drainage; The Sobat Receiving
It on the one
hand, and the White Nile on the other, while the Nile eventually
receives the entire flow
By the Sobat, as previously mentioned, in lat.
9 degrees 22 minutes. Having scrambled up the steep bank of the Kanieti
river, we crossed a large field of dhurra, and arrived at the village of
Wakkala. The village, or town, is composed of about seven hundred
houses, the whole being most strongly protected by a system of palisades
formed of "babanoose," the hard iron wood of the country. Not only is it
thus fortified, but the palisades are also protected by a hedge of
impervious thorns that grow to a height of about twenty feet. The
entrance to this fort is a curious archway, about ten feet deep, formed
of the iron-wood palisades, with a sharp turn to the right and left
forming a zigzag. The whole of the village thus fenced is situated in
the midst of a splendid forest of large timber. The inhabitants of
Wakkala are the same as the Ellyria, but governed by an independent
chief. They are great hunters; and as we arrived I saw several parties
returning from the forest with portions of wild boar and buffalo.
From Gondokoro to this spot I had not seen a single head of game, but
the immediate neighbourhood of Wakkala was literally trodden down by the
feet of elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, rhinoceros, and varieties of
large antelopes.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 174 of 662
Words from 47567 to 47827
of 178435
