1871.] INGENIOUS CONTRIVANCE. 113 



■weight on the key of the watch, and so helping it on : I will 

 try this in. a quiet place to-morrow. The people all fear 

 us, and they have good reason for it in the villainous 

 conduct of many of the blackguard half-castes which alarms 

 them : I cannot get a canoe, so I wait to see what will 

 turn up. The river is said to overflow all its banks 

 annually, as the Nile does further down. I sounded across 

 yesterday. Near the bank it is 9 feet, the rest 15 feet, 

 and one cast in the middle was 20 feet : between the 

 islands 12 feet, and 9 feet again in shore : it is a mighty 

 river truly. I took distances and altitudes alternately with 

 a bullet for a weight on the key of the chronometer, taking- 

 successive altitudes of the sun and distances of the moon. 

 Possibly the first and last altitudes may give the rate 

 of going, and the frequent distances between may give 

 approximate longitude. 



4th April. — Moon, the fourth of the Arabs, will appear 

 in three or four days. This will be a guide in ascertaining 

 the day of observing the lunars, with the weight. 



The Arabs ask many questions about the Bible, and 

 want to know how many prophets have appeared, and pro- 

 bably say that they believe in them all ; while we believe 

 all but reject Mohamad. It is easy to drive them into a 

 corner by questioning, as they don't know whither the 

 inquiries lead, and they are not offended when their know- 

 ledge is, as it were, admitted. When asked how many 

 false prophets are known, they appeal to my knowledge, 

 and evidently never heard of Balaam, the son of Beor, or 

 of the 250 false prophets of Jezebel and Ahab, or of the 

 many lying prophets referred to in the Bible. 



6th April. — 111 from drinking two cups of very sweet 

 malofu, or beer, made from bananas : I shall touch it no 

 more. 



1th April. — Made this ink with the seeds of a plant, 

 •called by the Arabs Zugifare ; it is known in India, and is 



VOL. II. I 



