"March 14. - Should we succeed in reaching Gondokoro without serious
loss, it will be the greatest possible triumph over difficulties, which
no one can understand who has not witnessed the necessities of the
journey.
"A diahbeeah arrived in the lake, breaking her yard in a sudden shift of
wind, and giving a man a fall from aloft, which was fatal.
"The steamer and fleet are coming through the sudd as fast as the troops
clear the channel.
"March 15. - The steamer arrived in the lake at 3.30 P.M.
"March 16. - Thermometer, 6 A.M., 61 degrees; noon, 82 degrees. Eleven
vessels entered the lake last night. The wind has been very variable for
the last few days, and the true north wind appears to have deserted us;
the absence of a fair breeze delays us sadly in pushing through the
narrow channels against the stream.
"Dysentery and scurvy are prevalent among the Egyptians. Four Egyptian
soldiers and two Soudanis have deserted. Where these wretched fools
intend to wander is quite a speculation; - they appear to have yielded
to a temptation to run away upon the first dry land that they have seen
for months.
"The fleet assembled in the lake. The Egyptian troops cut a passage for
fifty yards through a sudd in a channel through which the fleet must
pass, as there is a shallow that will prevent them from taking the main
course of the lake.
