To Every Herd Of Cattle There Is A Sacred Bull,
Which Is Supposed To Exert An Influence Over The Prosperity Of The
Flocks; His Horns Are Ornamented With Tufts Of Feathers, And Frequently
With Small Bells, And He Invariably Leads The Great Herd To Pasture.
On
starting in the early morning from the cattle kraal the natives address
the bull, telling him "to watch over the herd; to keep the cows from
straying; and to lead them to the sweetest pastures, so that they shall
give abundance of milk," &c.
Jan. 21st. - Last night a sudden squall carried away Koorshid Aga's
mast by the deck, leaving him a complete wreck. The weather to-day is
dull, oppressive, and dead calm. As usual, endless marshes, and
mosquitoes. I never either saw or heard of so disgusting a country as
that bordering the White Nile from Khartoum to this point. Course S.E.
as nearly as I can judge, but the endless windings, and the absence of
any mark as a point, make it difficult to give an accurate course - the
river about a hundred yards in width of clear water; alive with floating
vegetation, with a current of about two miles per hour.
Jan. 22d. - The luxuries of the country as usual - malaria, marshes,
mosquitoes, misery; far as the eye can reach, vast treeless marshes
perfectly lifeless. At times progressing slowly by towing, the men
struggling through the water with the rope; at other times by running
round the boat in a circle, pulling with their hands at the grass, which
thus acts like the cogs of a wheel to move us gradually forward.
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