of delay ; worked with my own hands until 9 p.m. ;
spliced thè yard, bound it with rhinoceros thongs, and
secured the whole splice with raw bull’s hide. Posted
sentries—two on each boat, and two on shore.
28th Dec.—At work at break of day. Completed the
repair of yard, which is disgracefully faulty. Re-rigged
the mast. . Poor Johann will die, I much fear. His
constitution appears to be quite broken up; he has
become deaf, and there is every symptom of decay.
I have done all I can for him, but his voyage in this
life is nearly over. Ship in order, and all sailed together
at 2.15 p.m. Strong north wind. Two vessels
from Khartoum passed us while repairing damages.
I re-arranged the donkeys, dividing them into , stalls
containing three each, as they were such donkeys that
they crowded each; other unnecessarily. Caught a
curious fish (Tetrodon physa of Geof.), that distends
itself with air like a. bladder ; colour black, and yellow
stripes ; lungs ; apertures' under the fins, which open
and shut by their movement, their motion being a semirevolution.
This fish is a close link between fish and
turtle; the head is precisely that of the latter, having
no teeth, but cutting jaws of hard bone of immense
power. Many minutes after the head had been severed
from thè body, the jaws nipped with fury anything that
was inserted in the mouth, ripping through thin twigs
and thick straw like a pair of shears. The skin of the
belly is white, and is armed with prickles. The skin is
'wonderfully tough. I accordingly cut it into a long
thong, and bound up the stock of a rifle that had.
been split from the recoil of heavy charges of powder.
The flesh was strong of musk, and uneatable. There
is nothing so good as fish-skin——or that of the iguana,
or of the crocodile—for lashing broken gun-stocks.
Isinglass, when taken fresh from the fish and bound
round a broken stock like a plaster, will become as
strong as metal when dry. Country as usual—flat
and thorny bush. A heavy swell creates a curious
effect in the undulations of the green rafts upon the
water. Dinka country on east bank ; Shillook on the
west; course south; all Arab tribes are left behind,
and we are now thoroughly among the negroes.
29 th Dec.—At midnight the river made a bend
westward, which continued for about fifteen miles.
The wind being adverse, at 5 a.m. we found ourselves
fast in the grass and floating vegetation on the lee
side. Two hours’ hard work at two ropes, alternately,
fastened to the high grass ahead, of the boat and
hauled upon from the deck, warped us round the
bend of the river, which turning due south, we again
ran before a favourable gale for two hours; all the
boats well together. The east bank of the river is