The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile by Sir Samuel White Baker
page 58 of 545 (10%)
page 58 of 545 (10%)
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covered with floating plants. The night still as death; dogs barking in
the distant villages, and herds of hippopotami snorting in all directions, being disturbed by the boats. Course west. 5th Jan.--Fine breeze, as much as we can carry; boats running at eight or nine miles an hour--no stream perceptible; vast marshes; the clear water of the river not more than 150 yards wide, forming a channel through the great extent of water grass resembling high sugarcanes, which conceal the true extent of the river. About six miles west from the Sobat junction on the north side of the river, is a kind of backwater, extending north like a lake for a distance of several days' boat journey: this is eventually lost in regions of high grass and marshes; in the wet season this forms a large lake. A hill bearing north 20 degrees west so distant as to be hardly discernible. The Bahr Giraffe is a small river entering the Nile on the south bank between the Sobat and Bahr el Gazal--my reis (Diabb) tells me it is merely a branch from the White Nile from the Aliab country, and not an independent river. Course west, 10 degrees north, the current about one mile per hour. Marshes and ambatch, far as the eye can reach. At 6.40 P.M. reached the Bahr el Gazal; the junction has the appearance of a lake about three miles in length, by one in width, varying according to seasons. Although bank-full, there is no stream whatever from the Bahr el Gazal, and it has the appearance of a backwater formed by the Nile. The water being clear and perfectly dead, a stranger would imagine it to be an overflow of the Nile, were the existence of the Bahr el Gazal unknown. The Bahr el Gazal extends due west from this point for a great distance, the entire river being a system of marshes, stagnant water overgrown by rushes, and ambatch wood, through which a channel has |
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