the ford. The hanks were very abrupt and about
fifteen feet deep, the bed between forty and fifty
yards wide; thus a considerable volume of water is
carried down to the river Sobat by this river during
the rains. The whole drainage of the country tends:
to the east, and accordingly flows into the Sobat. 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° 22'.
Having scrambled up the steep bank of the Kanieti
river, we crossed a large field of dhurra, and arrived
a t 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 ziggag.
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 boai
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.
Having examined the village, I ordered my people
to unload the animals in the forest about a quarter of
a mile from the entrance. The soil was extremely
rich, and the ground being shaded from the scorching
rays of the sun by the large trees, there was abundance
of fine grass, which accounted for the presence of the
game : good pasturage, extensive forests, and a plentiful
supply of water insuring the supply of wild
animals.
In a few minutes my horses and donkeys were
luxuriating on the rich herbage, not having tasted
grass for sotne days; the camels revelled in the
foliage of the dark green mimosas; and the men,
having found on the march a buffalo that had been
caught in a trap and there killed by a lion, obtained
some meat, and the whole party was feeding. We