FLOATING ISLANDS. Ill thus tlie evil and the good are closely blended. A considerable part of the Nuer tribe actually live on this floating mass of vegetation ; fish and the stalks of a species of water-lily (Nymphasa stellata and NymphBea lotus) forming their only food. The surface of the -ater is covered by a dense tangled mass of papyrus, ambatch, and other water-plants, which, in jDlaces, grow to a height of from fifteen to thirty feet, so that from the deck of the steamer nothing can be seen but water, grass, and blue sky.

There are millions of mosquitoes and other flies to torment the traveller. In such a cul-de-sac the boat in which I made the up-voyage to Uganda was stuck fast for forty days, during which we endured misery which can be better imagined than described. Sixteen of every twenty-four hours had to be spent within mosquito curtains ; we had no fresh meat, and very little food of any description ; most of the crew had fever ; the water was of the worst ; indeed, by the time we escaped from our imprisonment we were convinced that in such a place a negative was the only answer possible to the oftrepeated question, " Is life worth living ? " The dreary stillness, and the hot, sultry, humid atmosphere, with no sound but the unceasing buzz of countless insects, are almost unbearable. In such surroundings we saw that ugly bird, the Balpeniceios rex, who seems to love the solitude ; the Arabs call him Abu Markub, or the Father