Chap. LXIV. CHARACTER OF THE CREEK. 379 
west, at others more to the east ; till about an hour 
after noon we reached the small town of Fatta, situ- 
ated on the eastern shore, and surrounded bv exten- 
sive rice-grounds, where the people were busy with 
the labours of the field. 
The river here changes its direction to the west, 
being probably joined by another branch, which, 
however, I did not see, and we began steering in that 
direction, soothing our disappointment at not moving 
directly towards the object of our voyage with the 
animated songs of our boatmen, who accompanied the 
movements of their oars with a barbarous, but not 
unmelodious, account of the deeds of the great A'skia. 
A great many herds of cattle were to be seen on 
the left or southern side of the river, and gave life to 
the scenery. Our living also was not so bad, a couple 
of fine fishes, which we had succeeded in buying from 
some fishermen, having been prepared over the fire 
and affording us an excellent dinner. 
The farther we proceeded onward the more the 
channel widened, becoming free from reeds, although 
occasionally adorned by a floating layer of water-lilies. 
However, beyond the village of Gurijigge, or Guri- 
digge, the current became so strong that, in order to 
avoid it, we chose rather to enter the reeds, which 
broke the force of the water. It is natural that, as 
this is not a river of itself fed by its own sources, but 
merely a backwater caused by the overflow of the 
great river, the current in general must come from 
the latter, and proceed inland. 
