bone. As usual with buffaloes, he had not rested content
until he had pounded the breath out of the body,
which was found imbedded and literally stamped
tight into the mud, with only a portion of the head
above the marsh. Sali had not even—- cocked his og un,>
the hammer being down on the nipples when found.
I will not allow these men to come to grief in this
way; they are a reckless set of thoughtless cowards,
full of noise and bluster, fond of firing off their guns
like children, and wasting ammunition uselessly, and
in time of danger they can never be relied u p o n th e y
deserted their comrade when in need, and cried aloud
like infants at his death; they shall not again be
allowed to move from the boats.
In the evening I listened to the men conversing
over the whole affair, when I learnt the entire truth.
It appears that Richarn and two other men were with
the unfortunate Sali when the brute charged him, and
the cowards all bolted without firing a shot in defence.
There was a large white ant-hill about fifty yards
distant, to which they retreated; from the top of this
fort they repeatedly saw the man thrown into the air,
and heard him calling for assistance. Instead of hastening
in a body to his aid, they called to him to “ keep
quiet and the buffalo would leave him.” This is a
sample of the courage of these Khartoumers. . The
buffalo was so disabled by my shot of yesterday that
he was incapable of leaving the spot, as, with a broken
shoulder, he could not get through the deep mud. My
Reilly No. 10 bullet was found under the skin of the
right shoulder, having passed in at the left shoulder
rather above the lungs.
The windings of this monotonous river are extraordinary,
and during dead calms in these vast marshes
the feeling of melancholy produced is beyond description.
The White Nile is a veritable “ Styx.” When
the wind does happen to blow hard, the navigation is
most difficult, owing to the constant windings; the
sailors being utterly ignorant, and the rig of the vessel
being the usual huge “ leg of mutton ” sail, there is an
amount of screaming and confusion at every attempt
to tack which generally ends in our being driven on
the lee marsh ; this is preferable to a capsize, which is
sometimes anything but distant. This morning is one
of those days of blowing hard, with the accompaniments
of screaming and shouting. Course S.E. Waited
half a day for the “ Clumsy,” which hove in sight just
before d a rk ; the detentions caused by this vessel are
becoming serious, a quick voyage being indispensable
for the animals. The camels are already suffering
from confinement, and I have their legs well swathed
in wet bandages.