swollen limb. From our remnant of medical comforts
we were able to give bim some plaster, and be went
gaily away on one leg, so pleased, tbat be sent us a
plate of rice and some tomato. I bave a recollection
of seeing strewed on tbe broken ground about Kaka,
curious formations, wbicb may bave been ancient relics,
or concrete ; but, in order to direct attention to tbem,
I may mention tbat Dr Falconer, tbe fossil authority
of tbe day, suggests tbat they may bave been fossil
TP .T n a .in a . The whole depot of Kaka turned out to
greet our captain, calling bim by name “ Diab.” They
intrusted bim with messages, billets-doux, and money,
till be seemed astonished at their number. Even
after we bad sailed, two men ran along tbe shore
with letters, which were thrown at our boat, and
cleverly caught by one of tbe crew.
Tbe evening before our arrival at Kaka we saw
twenty boats at anchor in a river said to be a branch
of tbe Sobat, on tbe right bank of tbe Nile. They
lay one mile up its stream, and tbe people were on
their way to punish some Denka, having with tbem
camels, donkeys, and ponies. I could not learn tbe
name of this unexpected river, but our captain assured
us that it was not a branch of tbe Nile, wbicb, indeed,
it did not appear to be. Hence Captain Speke has
written of it as a second Sobat; while Consul Pethe-
rick asserts tbat it only exists in Captain Speke’s
imagination. Tbe windings of tbe river in this latitude,
about 12° N., were very eccentric: sometimes
our “ bead ” was west, at other times direct upon tbe
polar star, as when passing a solitary bill, a strange
sight in tbe Denka country. Tbe beat was excessive
—94° in tbe shade, making tbe bilge-water very disagreeable,
though causing no sickness. Indeed, tbe
native sailors considered tbe smell to be healthy.
Our boat was full of cockroaches, climbing about at
all hours; musquito also abounded. Our crew were
sometimes put into a flutter by seeing a harmless
water-snake making for tbe boat with bead erected
out of tbe water. These creatures steer along so
direct tbat they seem to see nothing before tbem; but
tbe natives imagined tbat they were purposely making
for tbe boat to get on board! Tbe shores were
often lined with thousands of black and white geese,
or tbe solitary fish-eagle might be seen standing
apart. He is a bird of remarkable beauty; bis general
colour is black, but bis bead is white, and tbe
sboulder-tips and feathered thighs are a glossy red.
Although highly favourable for cultivation by
means of irrigation, not a single field or village is to
be seen as you glide down tbe splendid, almost lakelike
stream some 400 yards wide. Either side is a
flat dry country of alluvial soil, covered with natural
bowers of climbers connecting tbe trees. Tbe banks
reminded me of tbe beautiful Garden Keach on tbe
Hoogly at Calcutta. One evening, in tbe distance, I
thought a range of swelling hills was visible, but their
outline seemed suddenly to change into a cloud!
This mystery was soon explained: tbe forms I bad
seen were myriads of finches covering part of tbe
horizon : tbe creatures were migrating, and resembled
swarms of bees in tbe air, quite darkening tbe sky.
A day or two afterwards, one night on deck, I was
startled by a sound as if wind blew through a forest,
and was about to beat upon our boat; but we bad
only disturbed tbe birds, wbicb in their flight had