I Sounded The River In Many Places, The Depth Varying Very
Slightly, From Twenty-Seven To Twenty-Eight Feet.
At 5 P.M. set sail
with a light breeze, and glided along the dead water of the White Nile.
Full moon - the water like a mirror; the country one vast and apparently
interminable marsh - the river about a mile wide, and more or less
covered with floating plants.
The night still as death; dogs barking in
the distant villages, and herds of hippopotami snorting in all
directions, being disturbed by the boats. Course west.
5th Jan. - Fine breeze, as much as we can carry; boats running at eight
or nine miles an hour - no stream perceptible; vast marshes; the clear
water of the river not more than 150 yards wide, forming a channel
through the great extent of water grass resembling high sugarcanes,
which conceal the true extent of the river. About six miles west from
the Sobat junction on the north side of the river, is a kind of
backwater, extending north like a lake for a distance of several days'
boat journey: this is eventually lost in regions of high grass and
marshes; in the wet season this forms a large lake. A hill bearing north
20 degrees west so distant as to be hardly discernible.
The Bahr Giraffe is a small river entering the Nile on the south bank
between the Sobat and Bahr el Gazal - my reis (Diabb) tells me it is
merely a branch from the White Nile from the Aliab country, and not an
independent river. Course west, 10 degrees north, the current about one
mile per hour. Marshes and ambatch, far as the eye can reach.
At 6.40 P.M. reached the Bahr el Gazal; the junction has the appearance
of a lake about three miles in length, by one in width, varying
according to seasons. Although bank-full, there is no stream whatever
from the Bahr el Gazal, and it has the appearance of a backwater formed
by the Nile. The water being clear and perfectly dead, a stranger would
imagine it to be an overflow of the Nile, were the existence of the Bahr
el Gazal unknown. The Bahr el Gazal extends due west from this point for
a great distance, the entire river being a system of marshes, stagnant
water overgrown by rushes, and ambatch wood, through which a channel has
to be cleared to permit the passage of a boat. Little or no water can
descend to the Nile from this river, otherwise there would be some
trifling current at the embouchure. The Nile has a stream of about a
mile and a half per hour, as it sweeps suddenly round the angle,
changing its downward course from north to east. The breadth in this
spot does not exceed 130 yards; but it is impossible to determine the
actual width of the river, as its extent is concealed by reeds with
which the country is entirely covered to the horizon.
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