40 
THE CLUMSY ON THE STYX . 
[chap. I. 
Reilly No. 10 bullet was found under the skin of the 
right shoulder, having passed in at the left shoulder 
rather above the lungs. 
The windings of this monotonous river are extra¬ 
ordinary, and during dead calms in these vast marshes 
the feeling of melancholy produced is beyond descrip¬ 
tion. The White Nile is a veritable “ Styx.” When 
the wind does happen to blow r hard, the navigation is 
most difficult, owing to the constant windings ; the 
sailors being utterly ignorant, and the rig of the vessel 
being the usual huge “ leg of mutton ” sail, there is an 
amount of screaming and confusion at every attempt 
to tack which generally ends in our being driven on 
the lee marsh ; this is preferable to a capsize, which is 
sometimes anything but distant. This morning is one 
of those days of blowing hard, with the accompani¬ 
ments of screaming and shouting. Course S.E. Waited 
half a day for the ft Clumsy,” which hove in sight just 
before dark; the detentions caused by this vessel are 
becoming serious, a quick voyage being indispensable 
for the animals. The camels are already suffering 
from confinement, and I have their legs well swathed 
in wet bandages. 
This marsh land varies in width. In some portions 
of the river it appears to extend for about two miles 
on either side ; in other parts farther than the eye 
can reach. In all cases the main country is a dead 
flat; now blazing and smoking beyond the limit of 
marshes, as the natives have fired the dry grass in all 
directions. Reeds, similar in appearance to bamboos 
but distinct from them, high water-grass, like sugar- 
canes, excellent fodder for the cattle, and the ever¬ 
present ambatch, cover the morasses. Innumerable 
mosquitoes. 
Jan. 12 th .—Fine breeze in the morning, but obliged 
to wait for the “Clumsy,” which arrived at 10 a.m. How 
absurd are some descriptions of the White Nile, which 
state that there is no current ! At some parts, like 
that from just above the Sobat junction to Khartoum, 
