- 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.
"I shot two small antelopes, also some guinea-fowl, francolin partridge,
and five pelicans.
"December 22. - Waiting for the arrival of Quat Kare and his Shillooks.
Shot two geese and knocked over a large antelope, but lost him in the
high grass. The country is all flooded, except for a space of about a
mile from our little camp on the Sobat dubba, which is the highest
ground for a great distance, being about fourteen feet above the maximum
level of the river. A few Shillooks started off after my wounded
antelope, and quickly brought me the head: it was a fine specimen of the
new species of Hippotragus.
"December 23. - I sent the steamer up the White Nile to bring down the
wind-bound kyassas (vessels). When she returned with them, all hands
were immediately employed in discharging cargo and taking down masts and
yards in readiness for operations on the sunken vessel.
"December 21. - Thermometer, 6 A.M., 67 degrees; noon, 82 degrees.
Abdullah, the Shillook, arrived. The natives have not forwarded my
letter to the governor of Fashoda, as they fear to pass certain villages
with which they have been lately quarrelling. To-day is the close of the
Ramadan fast, and the first of the Bairam, therefore it is kept as a
holiday. All my people have turned out in new clothes.
"December 25. - Christmas Day. Thermometer, 6 A.M., 65 degrees. We began
work at the sunken vessel.
