”January10——Atday-breakwedistinguishedeightsailonthenorthernhorizon。”January11——Brisknorthwind。RaoufBeyarrivedintheevening。”January12——Startedandpassedthechokedriverwithmuchdifficulty，andenteredthechanneloflastyear’sclearing。”January13——Weonlymadeabouttwomilesyesterdayandto-day，beingstoppedbyvegetation。”January14——Cuttingpartially，butthechannelismuchimprovedsincelastyear。Madetwoandahalfmiles。”January15——Madethree-quartersofamile，andhavingreachedthelakeTimsahcrocodilelakewefoundtheriverblockedup；wethereforecutourwayintoanopenbutshallowchannelwhichlastyearwasimpassablefromwantofdepth。”January16-Thediahbeeahwentahead，butthesteamerandheavyvesselsweremuchdelayedbyshallows。Iwentonanddetermineduponthepassage，theopenlakebeingvisibleabout600yardsdistant。”January17-Madeabout300yardsofheavycuttingthroughraftsofvegetation。Thelakeoflastyearnearlychokedup；about100acresofraftshavingcompletelydestroyedit。”January18-Cutabout350yards，andat3。30p。m。weenteredthelake。Fromthemast-headitappearsthatanunbrokensheetofwaternowexistsforsomemiles。Itrustthismaybetrue，andthatnomiragedeceivesus。”January19-Sailedfourmiles，atwhichplacewefoundanewchannelcomingfromthesouth，whileourchanneloflastyearfromsouth-eastappearedtobeclosedathalfamiledistance。Exploredthenewchannelforabouttwomiles；inappearanceitwasariverof200or300yardswide。Atlengthwearrivedatasuddofsmalldimensionswithopenwaterbeyond。Wereturnedtothejunction，andpassedthenightatasuddhalfamileupouroldchannel。”January20-At7a。m。Itookthedingy，andwithmuchdifficultypushedaboutamilethroughthegrassuntilIfoundthewholecountryclosedbyvegetation。Ithinktheriverhasopenedanewchannel，andthatthepassageofyesterdaywilltakeustonearlythesamespotabovethesuddthatwereachedbyanotherroutelastyear。”Manyvesselshavingarrived，IvisitedtheEnglishmenandphysickedRamsallandMr。Higginbotham。At4。15p。m。westarted，polingroundtheangletoenterthenewchanneldiscoveredyesterday。Intheeveningweallsailedwithalightbreeze，andfoundtheriveropenforthreeandahalfmilesahead。Haltedforthenight。”January21-Theriverbeingclosedahead，Itookthedingy，andaftermuchtroublesucceededinreachingouroldchannelintheclearriver。
Havingstartedat7a。m。，Ireturnedat1p。m。Ihadsoundedthechannelthewholedistance，andIhavedeterminedtocutapassagethroughto-morrow。”January22-Cut350yardsthroughheavysudd。Lastyearthispiecewas600yards。Weatlengthreachedthesmalllakewherewelastyearburiedthetwoartillerymeninanant-hill。”January23-Itookthediahbeeahamileandaquarteruptheriver，whilethefleetwasbeingsqueezedthroughourspongychannel。”January24-YesterdaythefivevesselsthatwereleftbehindbyRaoufBeyarrived，andthefleetassembled。”IamingreatanxietyaboutTayibAghawhohastwelvevesselswithhim，noneofwhichareyetinsight。”Thisblackcolonelisnotclever，andshouldanaccidentoccur，hewillbeatalosshowtoact。Julianisunwellwithfever，butHigginbothamisbetter。”Iwentalongwayinthedingy，andsucceededinfindingthetruechannelofthestreambyprobingwiththetwelve-footpolethroughthegrass。To-morrowweshallbegincutting，asthewholecountryisclosed。”Thetreethatmarkstheopenwateroflastyearisaboutamileandahalfdistant。Thereisasolitarydryspotnearthis，theheartofdesolation——atumulusofabouthalfanacre，likethebackofahugetortoise，israisedaboutfivefeetabovethehighestwaterlevel。Uponthiscrocodileslovetobaskinundisturbedsleep。”January25-Themencutabout300yards。”January26-Weagainaccomplishedabout300yards，andpushedthevesselswithinthechannel。”January27-Wearethankfulforacomparativelyopenditch，deep，butcoveredwithgrass，throughwhichthediahbeeahcutherpathbysailingbeforeastrongbreeze，andweenteredthelakeat11。20a。m。Thereisnochangeheresincelastyear。Thesteamerandfleetarecloseup，butthereisalittledeepeningnecessaryatthemouthofthechannel。Thediahbeeahwentaheadforsixmilesalongthelakeandbroadriver，andanchoredforthenight。”January28-Withalightbreeze，thediahbeeahsailedfourmiles，andstoppedatthethreedubbas，whenceweturnedbacklastyear。Evennowthereisonlythreefeetandahalfofwater，andweshallhavegreattrouble。Ourfisherman，Howarti，caughtagreathauloffineboultiwiththecasting-net。”January29-Ishotsomeducksandgeese。Aslightshowerfellinearlymorning。Iexploredaboutsevenmilesoftheriverinadvance。Thedepthisveryunsatisfactory，varyingfromshallowstodeepchannels。”January30-Thefleetjoinedinsectionsduringlastnightandto-day。
Settoworkwiththelong-handledhoes，andcutachannelthroughtheshallowsforfiftyyards，andtookthevesselsforward。”January31-Cutachannelthroughtheshallows，butwecouldnotgetthesteameralong。”February1-About1，200menatworkcuttingachannelandtowingthesteamerandnoggursthrough。Thediahbeeahandtwonoggurspassedaheadforaboutamile。Wethenstoppedtoawaitthesteamerandothervesselsthatweredelayedbythepowerfulcurrent。”February2-Stoppedalldaywaitingforthesteameraboutamileaheadofthenoggurs。Whenweleftthedubba，Ihadleftaletterinabottle，addressedtoTayibAgha，toorderhimtocomeonwithoutdelay，anddeepenthechannelswehavecut，shoulditbenecessary。”February3-Thesteamercameupat10a。m。At10。45thediahbeeahmadesail，andaftertwomileswasdelayedbyasmallsudd。Caremustbetakentosailbythewestbranchofthetwostreams，asthereisnowaterintheeastchannel。”Forsixmileswehavehadnothingbutshallows。Evenatthisseasonthereisonlyadepthoffourfeetinmanyplaces，andamonthhencetheriverwillbeimpassable。”TayibAgha’sboatsareinsight，aboutfourmilesdistance，bearingnorth。Wecutthroughthesmallsudd，andinaquarterofamile，wearrivedatanopenwater，veryshallow：inmanyplacesonlythreefeetdeep。Stoppedforthefleet，anduponarrivalofthesteamerandothers，Ihadmarkedoutthechanneltobecleared。Themensettoworkimmediately。Ithenpassedaheadwiththediahbeeahforaboutamileandahalf，thedepthofwater，asusual，varying，butoftenaslowasfourfeet。Wewereatlengthstoppedattheconfluenceoftwochannels，eachshallow。Thesunwassetting，thereforewehaltedforthenight。A
buffalocrossedtheriverabout200yardsahead。”February4-Itookthedingyearlyinthemorningandexploredbothchannels；thatontherighthasnowaterbeyondadepthofabouttwofeet。Theleftisthetruestream，butthedepthinsomeplacesisonlythreefeet；thusthereismoreworkforthemenupontheirarrival。Hadwearrivedhereamonthearlier，wecouldhavejustpassedtheshallows，asourvesselsdrawanaverageofalittleoverfourfeet。Novesselsshouldarriveherelaterthan1stofJanuary；theentireriverisaridiculousimposition；amonthlater，thebedwillbenearlydry。Amileahead，bothchannelsareclosedbyasuddofvegetation，wemustthusawaituntiltheboatsarrive。AltogethertheentirejourneybytheBahrGiraffeisapainfulabsurdity，andmyexpeditionwillbefruitlessinallbutgeographicalresultsunlesstheauthoritiesoftheSoudanwillclearthemainchanneloftheWhiteNile。”February5-Noneofthevesselsarrivedyesterday。Iwentbackandfoundtheminaterriblefix，asthewaterisleavingusrapidly，andwemustcutafreshchannelthroughthesand，aboutonehundredyardslong。”February6-Itookthediahbeeahamileandaquarteraheadtoasudd，passingoverseveralshallowsofonlytwofeeteightinches，andthreefeet，whichwillagaincausegreatdelayandlabour。Ireturnedtothefleetandassistedinthetediousworkofdraggingthevesselsovertheshallows。IntheeveningIreturnedtothediahbeeah，andhavingdraggedthedingyacrossthesudd，Iexploredthechannelaheadforanhour，foraboutthreemiles；passedoverdistressingshallowsforaspaceofaquarterofamileaheadofthediahbeeah，afterwhichIenteredadeep，narrowchannelwithveryrapidcurrent。”Itisquiteimpossibletosaywhereweareastheprofessedguidesseemtoknownothingofthishorriblechaos，whichchangesitsappearanceconstantly。Itismostharassing。”February7-LasteveningIbroughtthediahbeeahbacktothefleet，soastopushtheworkforwardpersonally。Thesoldiersandofficershopeweshallreturnasfailures，inthesamemanneraslastyear。Ihave，therefore，informedthemandRaoufBeyofficially，thatnoboatsshallretreat，butthatshouldtheriverrundry，theyshallremainhereuntiltheriseofthewaterduringthenextwetseason，whentheyshallgoontoWat-el-Shambi。Thisdecisionhasfrightenedthem，andtheyareworkingto-daywithbetterspirit。”Iunpackedandservedoutahundredspadesfordiggingchannels；andI
haveorderedthemtocommenceto-morrowmorninganddigoutastraightpassageforthethirtyonevesselsthatstillremainintheshallows。”February8-ThisisthedateofdeparturelastyearfromKhartoum；aninconceivablemadnesshadanyoneknownthecharacteroftheriver。Allhandsasusualtugging，hauling，anddeepeningtheriverwithspadesandhoes；butthemorewedig，thefasterthewaterrunsoutofthebed，whichthreatenstoleaveushighanddry。”February9-Theworkasusual。Allhandsthoroughlydisgusted。Iamobligedtolightenthevesselsbydischargingcargointhemud。Ourwaggonsmakeexcellentplatformsfortheluggage。Evenwiththisassistanceweonlydrewsevenvesselsthroughtheshallowsintothetrueriverchannel。”To-morrowwemustdischargemorecargo。”Theanxietyofleading1，600men，andfifty-eightvesselswithheavycargoes，throughthishorriblecountryisverydistressing。”WhenIshallhavesucceededindraggingthevesselsintothetruechannel，Ishallconstructadamintherear，soastoretainthewateratahigherlevel。IhavenodoubtthataseriesofsuchdamswillberequiredtoenableustoreachtheNile。Shoulditbeimpossibletoproceedwiththeheavyvessels，Ishallleavethemthatchedoverasfloatingstores，withasmallguard，untilthenextwetseasonshallraisetheriverlevel。”February10-Igaveorderstodischargeallcargoes，sothatnovesselshoulddrawmorethanthreefeet。Allhandsarenowemployedatthiswork，asitisimpossibletocutachannelthroughthesand，whichfillsinasfastasitisdeepened。”February11-Twenty-sevenvesselspassedthediahbeeah，havinglightenedtheircargoes；thesevesselsmustdischargeeverythingatKhor，oneandahalfmileahead，andreturntofetchtheremainingbaggage。Theworkistremendous，andtheriskgreat。Thedamageofstoresiscertain，andshouldaheavyshowerfall，whichthecloudystateoftheweatherrendersprobable，thewholeofourstores，nowlyingonthesoftmud，willbedestroyed。”To-dayIcutadeeperchannelnearthediahbeeah，anddividedthemenintogangsonthevariousshallowspots，totoweachboatpastasshemayarrive。Thesteamerishardandfast，althoughshehasdischargedeverything，andshemustbeliterallydugoutofthepassage。”