- Arrived at Kutchuk Ali's station at 10.30 A.M., and took in
wood. The country is all flooded, and both the natives and the traders
are without corn, the crops having been destroyed by the extraordinary
rise of the river. The people have no other grain than the scanty supply
yielded by the seeds of the lotus, which they collect from the river. I
met several men who had formerly served under Ibrahim, when we
accompanied Khoorshood Agha's party to Unyoro many years ago.
"January 6. - Cutting wood. I wrote to Colonel Tayib Agha, desiring him
to take in as much fuel as his vessels can stow, as there is no wood
ahead. The vakeel of the station supplied five cows and six goats. I
gave him five urdeps of dhurra (22 bushels). We started at 4 P.M.
"January 7. - During the night, at 12.40 A.M., to my intense disgust, we
passed a great number of our vessels with Raouf Bey. Shortly after, we
passed others, together with the boat of Achmet Effendi, bimbashi. These
officers and people are incorrigible; they have idled their time on the
road to such an extent that I can only conclude it is done purposely. We
wasted about an hour during the night in stopping to make inquiries.
