84 Bohr el Ghazal.

in the ordinary sense of the term. The ' Kit,' as this section is called, presents the appearance of a boundless sea of grass and sedge, with an open expanse winding away to the head of the steam navigation at Meshra er Req. The real navigable channel can be detected only by those familiar with the locality, so sluggish is the current, though the Kit is joined farther south by the lolmul. This relatively flat expanse, spreading out like an inland sea, is to be regarded as a result of the pent-up waters of the Jur, increased by the contributions of the Molmul also from the south-west, and probably by a br-inch of the Tonj, which permanently flows to the southeastern part of this labyrinth of water, grass, and sedge."

(a. plan and sketch of this locality is given by Dr. Junker, Vol. II, p. 49.)

[The shores of the Kit are firm ; its waters rise and fall, but have no other motion. It widens at its extremity into a basin of papyrus frequently choked by weed. In this basin are numerous islands, which serve as refuges for boats from hostile attack. The regular landing-place is on the southern shore of the basin. The first boat which entered the Bahr el Ghazal was that of a Khartum merchant surnamed El Habeshi, in 1854. Two years later Consul Petherick followed, and was the first to open mercantile transactions with the tribes.]

" Early on the 28th I was showri the spot, indicated by no particular landmark, to which, and even beyond which, the waters had retired after the heavy rainfall of 1878. The steamer from Khartum had on that occasion to cast anchor at this place, where, the water still continuing to subside, it was soon left high and dry above the stream. At that time people could go all the way by land to Meshra from this station, which stands at the head of the low- water navigation, and which has received the name of Matrak el Vapor, or ' Place of the Steamer.' "The almost stagnant expanse of the Kit is in many places carpeted with the superb lotus nymphcea, and other aquatic plants. Of an evening the peculiar crackling sound is frequently heard, with which the magnificent milk-white calyx of these huge water-lilies bursts into bloom. Here and there the surface is broken by dry