_27th December._—Set out immediately after sunrise towards N.N.W. The sun rises of a dark red colour, exactly behind us, out of the river, into the red humid atmosphere, and yet there is the main direction of the river; we have, therefore, a real labyrinth of circuitous routes to work through. If yesterday, no object disclosed itself in the south, for the eye to rest upon, so now in the left, the arm flowing round the island is only to be seen; there is nothing besides but reeds, and the water which we are navigating. The high reeds may, it is true, here and there conceal from the eye a tree or a hut, because, on the whole, we go lower between the dried-up shores. The N.E. wind is slack, and we assist the sails by rowing in S.W., where, about eight o’clock, a small village of twelve tokuls starts up, on the left side of the river, the river coming from S.E. A dog barks from the neighbouring reeds, and betrays the hiding-place of the people who had fled, which the blacks, accustomed to similar signs, corroborated, and wanted even to shoot into the reeds. Our Abù Hashiss barked lustily against the animal, and it really appeared as if several large and small dogs were barking. About an hour’s distance beyond the village some trees are to be seen; whilst, on the left, where the river now winds to S.E., we do not observe anything. This also appears to be a fishing village, for we do not remark any trace of the tread of cattle in the grass. These poor Icthyophagi have, according to their usual custom, wretched huts, and their tokuls are also partly plastered with Thin. This thin, or Nile slime, naturally affords a good material for plastering the reed walls. It would be good for airstones, if these should be generally considered a suitable building material in places where the violent periodical rains of the tropics only too often shew the contrary. I myself have experienced this in Khartum, where in _one_ night some thirty houses fell. The storm of rain was so violent, that it broke through the wall of our bed-room, three feet thick, built of airstones, and in a short time tore an opening the size of a window. It was only with the greatest difficulty that I was able to save my brother (the servants being at a distance), by carrying him away. He was dangerously ill at the time, and, bursting out into a clear loud laugh, vigorously resisted my endeavours to lay him upon a table under the door-way, in order that he might not be buried by the fall of the roof.