- Thermometer at 6 A.M. 66 degrees; noon, 78 degrees; the
water in the goolah (cooler), 59 degrees. The wind blows a gale from the
north daily.
"I have just heard that Raouf Bey and the two colonels, Tayib Agha and
Achmet Effendi, together with about 400 men, actually abandoned, not
only the wrecked vessel and her invaluable cargo, but they also left a
section of one of the lifeboats upon the mud bank of the river and
forsook it. Such conduct is incredible, and could only be found in this
country.
"At 3.15 P.M., the steamer having replenished her wood, we started and
arrived at the wreck at 4.35 P.M. After a careful examination we passed
the night at the high ground near the Sobat junction.
"The section of the lifeboat is no longer on the mud, but I have no
doubt it has been secured by the governor of Fashoda, together with the
yard and sail. This entails the necessity of my sending him a letter
seventy miles distant to order the return of the boat section
immediately.
"December 21. - Thermometer at 6 A.M., 63 degrees; water in goolah, 52
degrees. I sent Abdullah Uz Bashi to Tewfikeeyah with a letter to the
governor of Fashoda, which the Shillooks were to forward immediately.
The letter demands eight oxen, ten sheep, the section of lifeboat saved
from the wreck, together with the yard and sail.
