Thermometer, Sunrise 23° to 24°. Noon 27°. A quarter of an hour later an island five minutes long shews itself to the left in the middle of the river. We go N.N.W. At the foot of this island, another one, small and low, and, as it appeared to me at first, cultivated; but this, however, was not subsequently confirmed. Our course passes between yellow and light-green copse and other trees. Only here and there, there is still a dome-palm, quite small or young; yet they probably serve for the canoes here, for I observed several of these boats on the shore. Two o’clock. N.W. An island in the centre of the river which we leave at our right; then N.N.W. I have convinced myself, by _new_ ant-hills, that these insects, which are somewhat larger here than the common ant, raise the earth from a depth where it is entirely wet, black, and without admixture of sand (such as on the level of the Nile, and in its neighbourhood), to make their buildings durable. On the other hand, I remember the fallen-down craters of the ant-hills among the Dinkas. It is now evident to me that they openly seek a protection against the weather by getting under the trees when there are any in their neighbourhood. The shores shew here already a little oxyde earth. Half past two o’clock. From N.N.E. to N., whereupon we halt at the right shore; for the Frenchmen want to go hunting. _16th February._—Thermometer yesterday evening, 24°; this morning, 19°. I made an excursion into the interesting forest: it lies upon slightly-elevated sandy bottom, on which the dome-palms do not grow so luxuriantly as in the country of the Tshièrrs, where I counted sixty lances on one leaf, whilst here there are only from forty-two to forty-six. I had preserved previously a vegetable, though not knowing the nature of its root: here the sailors grubbed up some of the same sort, and I saw tubers on them three feet and a quarter thick, running towards the upper part to a round form, but appearing to branch out below like enormous roots. Slender roots shoot from these main tubers, and on them rises an insignificant-looking vegetable, a foot high, covered at the top with small oval pale-green leaves, like those of the box-tree: the clusters of gossamer-flowers are of a yellowish colour. It is called “Irg-el-moje” (water-root)—in Nuban, “Otto;” is very full of juice, but of a nauseous, sweet taste, and is sold in Kahira. The suckers, properly speaking, must by virtue of the soil here, go to a great depth. Our liquorice tastes perhaps better, owing to its dryness. The large specimens were cut to pieces and torn, by reason of their softness, and in consequence of the greediness of our crew, who are like children, and yet laugh at the blacks. I took a specimen for myself. The beautiful red peas or vetches were also found. This vegetable was gathered; but no one at first knew the foliage, until I discovered at last a few slender tendrils of vetches, which were still green, and hung together with