CHAP. I.] 
FISH-SPEJIUNG. 
47 
distance with the above rib; the steel should be of 
extra thickness, and screwed through to the upper 
piece; thus the two, being connected by screws above 
and below, no fall could break the stock. 
Jan. 19 th .—At 8 a.m. we emerged from the appa¬ 
rently endless regions of marsh grass, and saw on the 
right bank large herds of cattle, tended by naked 
natives, in a country abounding with high grass and 
mimosa wood. At 9.15 a.m. arrived at the Zareeba, 
or station of Binder, an Austrian subject, and White 
Nile trader; here we found five noggors belonging to 
him and his partner. Binder s vakeel insisted upon 
giving a bullock to my people. This bullock I resisted 
for some time, until I saw that the man was affronted. 
It is impossible to procure from the natives any cattle 
by purchase. The country is now a swamp, but it 
will be passable during the dry season. Took equal 
altitudes of sun producing latitude 7° 5' 46." The 
misery of these unfortunate blacks is beyond descrip¬ 
tion ; they will not kill their cattle, neither do they 
taste meat unless an animal dies of sickness ; they will 
not work, thus they frequently starve, existing only 
upon rats, lizards, snakes,, and upon such fish as they 
can spear. The spearing of fish is a mere hazard, as 
they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds ; thus, 
out of three or four hundred casts, they may, by good 
luck, strike a fish. The harpoon is * neatly made, and 
is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet long, 
secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a 
monster, as there are varieties of fish which attain a 
weight of two hundred pounds. In the event of 
harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is 
the result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs 
out the entire length of line; they then swim after 
him, holding their end of the line, and playing him 
until exhausted. 
The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a leopard- 
skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white 
beads, with a crest of white ostrich-feathers ; but the 
