40 PETHERICK'S JOURNEY UP THE WHITE NILE, [Jan. 9, 1860, 



On the 27 til of December, 1857, Mr. Petherick sailed from Khartum 

 on his last and most important expedition. He started with two 

 boats, the one a large three-sailed dahabyeh, and took with him about 

 80 men in all. He had previously dispatched 20 men in a third boat 

 to await him at the Bahr el Ghazal. 



He reached this lake in 11 days from Khartum. The White 

 Nile, on leaving it, was only 40 yards wide, 15 to 20 feet deep, and 

 running at i mile an hour. The lake is a large sheet of water, 

 estimated by Mr. Petherick at about 180 miles in length, over- 

 grown with reeds and lilies, and full of hippopotami, that are even 

 dangerous to boats from their fierceness. The waters of the lake 

 are contributed by many rivulets and by a river running from the 

 south-west, which is prevented only by the masses of reeds that 

 choke it, from affording a navigable highway to the far interior. 



Mr. Petherick skirted the northern shore of the Bahr el Ghazal. 

 It was covered with coarse rank grass, and was apparently unin- 

 habited. The expedition anchored at an island at the extreme end 

 of the lake, where he formed a depdt. From this point Mr. 

 Petherick proceeded direct to the southward, with a strong native 

 escort, well armed, and carrying beads and other articles of barter. 



The first seven days' march from the lake, lay through strictly 

 pastoral tribes. South of these the tset-se fly appeared, and the na- 

 tives were wholly agricultural. There was difficulty in travelling 

 among them, as it was impossible to engage porters for greater dis- 

 tances than single days' marches and from village to village. 



Twenty-six days of actual travel, from the lake, brought Mr. 

 Petherick to the Niam Niam tribe of cannibals. These people use 

 iron boomerangs, just as the natives of Australia use wooden ones. 

 Here the rains commence in February and last to the end of October. 



This was Mr, Petherick's farthest point, whence, after a success- 

 ful barter for ivory, he returned and reached his boats in safety. 



The difficulties and danger of travel in these parts, are brought 

 out in strong relief by the incidents of the personal narrative, con- 

 tained in Mr. Petherick's paper. 



The President was sure lie should express not only his own feelings, but 

 those of the meeting also, when he said that they were very much indebted 

 to Mr. Consul Petherick for the very interesting paper which he had just read. 

 It was marked by that spirit of commercial enterprise which was peculiarly 

 the characteristic of our country, and from which undoubtedly the Society 

 had upon so many occasions derived the greatest advantage. It was curious 

 that as their attention had recently been directed to a neighbouring portion 

 of the Continent of Africa, they should now have Mr. Petherick coming among 

 them to read a paper which might be said to form almost the necessary com- 

 plement to those which, during the last Session, had been communicated to 

 them by Captains Burton and Speke. They might fairly hope now that by 



