CHAP. 1.1 USES OF FISH-SKIN . 41 
and thick straw like a pair of shears. The skin of the 
belly is white, and is armed with prickles. The skin is 
wonderfully tough. I accordingly cut it into a long 
thong, and bound up the stock of a rifle that had 
been split from the recoil of heavy charges of powder. 
The flesh was strong of musk, and uneatable. There 
is nothing so good as fish-skin—or that of the iguana, 
or of the crocodile—for lashing broken gun-stocks. 
Isinglass, when taken fresh from the fish and bound 
round a broken stock like a plaster, will become as 
strong as metal when dry. Country as usual—flat 
and thorny bush. A heavy swell creates a curious 
effect in the undulations of the green rafts upon the 
water. Dinka country on east bank ; Shillook on the 
west; course south; all Arab tribes are left behind, 
and we are now thoroughly among the negroes. 
29 th Dec .—At midnight the river made a bend 
westward, which continued for about fifteen miles. 
The wind being adverse, at 5 a.m. we found ourselves 
hist in the grass and floating vegetation on the lee 
side. Two hours’ hard work at two ropes, alternately, 
fastened to the high grass ahead of the boat and 
hauled upon from the deck, warped us round the 
bend of the river, which turning due south, we again 
ran before a favourable gale for two hours; all the 
boats well together. The east bank of the river is 
