TORTUOUS COURSE OF THE NILE. 
379 
Mr Moorlang, in the fulness of his heart, was 
unbounded in his kindness and liberality. Candles, 
wine, and goats were pressed upon us by the generous 
Tyrol mountaineer. He was to be in our wake to 
Khartoom; and Speke having taken the latitude of 
Kitch, we roused our crew, asleep on the shore, and 
rowed during moonlight to Abu Kuka station. Here 
was another miserable swampy spot ; not above six 
huts of grass, closely surrounded by water ; not a tree, 
only high grass and reeds. The place was unworthy 
of the name of a station. From this point Consul 
Petherick had gone across the country to his trading 
depot of Neambara, in Moro. We came upon another 
station in this Kitch country, known as Mr Binder s, 
late De Malzac's ; its latitude was 7° 8' 18" N. It 
was rather pleasantly situated on flat ground, and 
consisted of a dozen round huts, plastered outside, 
and having a neat thorn fence surrounding them : but 
the natives were about the most wretched I had ever 
seen. They brought us their small loads of firewood 
to exchange for grain, and seemed like living skele- 
tons. They had bead ornaments upon them ; but of 
what use were they ? — there was no grain for them to 
purchase. Before reaching this point the river had 
been winding in the most fantastic manner ; a gentle 
breeze blew ; and over the tops of the tall reeds we 
could perceive by the sails of our other two boats that 
we three were sailing in a circle, or that the stream 
ran in the shape of the letter S. 
From the 5th till the 9 th of March, while passing 
the Nouer country, we lost sight of our two other 
boats. The wind had been contrary, and the hands 
were reduced by sickness. A breeze luckily came 
