28 Bahr ez Zeraf and El GhazaL

during the rainy season and is cut up in every direction with marshy channels.

Baker in 1870, owing to the sudd near Lake No, tried a short cut via the Bahr ez Zeraf to the upper Bahr el Jebel ? but was stopped by the accumulation of grass and swamp. The following year he tried again, and after being left

high and dry in parts by the sinking of the waters, he succeeded after immense difficulties in cutting his way out through 80 miles of sudd and mud in two and a half months (January to March, 1871).

Marno in 1872 penetrated to within 28 miles of the Bahr

el Jebel, but was obliged, by shallows and obstructions r to turn back ; and Gordon in 1874, after going a certain

distance, had to do the same ; he described it as a " ditch. "

The district is sparsely inhabited by the Nuer tribe. Up to Zeriba Kawer, a former station of the Chief Kutchuk Ali, about halfway, 80 miles, up the river, the

latter is navigable, but beyond this it rapidly gets shallow

(January and February). Heeds very cutting. Boats have to be hauled along here by main force. Marshy, stinking banks and water; millions of mosquitos, black,

biting ants, and damp heat ; monotonous outlook. River

gradually becomes a bankless swamp. Occasional raised

dry bits of land, called " dabba." Only one outlet from

this into the Bahr el Jebel and the channel very difficult

to find, being narrow, though deep, and often blocked with floating vegetation. Rainy season, April to July. In 1874 the Bahr ez Zeraf was blocked up, and it is

very probable that it is not now navigable.

(d) Bahr el Ghazal.

The Bahr el Ghazal is navigable as far as Meshra er Rek. It flows into the White Nile through a narrow channel and through Lake No (r. p. 14). The river becomes wider above the mouth, but the breadth is frequently only sufficient for a single vessel,, while the depth is 30 feet or more. During the rains, the

surrounding country becomes like a vast lake.

Passing through the Nuer land, the river wends its way through a finely wooded country to the mouth of the Bahr el Arab ; here it has a width of 1,000 feet, but narrows immediately on passing this affluent.