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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW
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Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,

and Medicine. 2016. Accounting for social risk factors in Medicare
payment: Identifying social risk factors. Washington, DC: The
National Academies Press.
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by
an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private,
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 COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTING FOR SOCIOECONOMIC
STATUS IN MEDICARE PAYMENT PROGRAMS

DONALD M. STEINWACHS (Chair), Professor, Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Public Health
JOHN Z. AYANIAN, Alice Hamilton Professor of Medicine, Director,
Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of
Michigan
CHARLES BAUMGART, Senior Medical Director, xG Health
Solutions
MELINDA BUNTIN, Chair, Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt
University School of Medicine
ANA V. DIEZ ROUX, Dean and Distinguished Professor of
Epidemiology, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health
MARC N. ELLIOTT, Senior Principal Researcher, RAND Corporation
JOSÉ J. ESCARCE, Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of
Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles
ROBERT FERRER, Dr. John M. Smith, Jr. Professor, Department of
Family & Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science
Center at San Antonio
DARRELL J. GASKIN, Associate Professor, Department of Health
Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health
MARK D. HAYWARD, Professor of Sociology, Centennial
Commission Professor in the Liberal Arts, Faculty Research
Associate, Population Research Center, University of Texas at
Austin
JAMES S. JACKSON, Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor
of Psychology, Research Professor, Institute for Social Research,
University of Michigan
DANIEL POLSKY, Executive Director, Leonard Davis Institute of
Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania
MEREDITH ROSENTHAL, Professor of Health Economics and
Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
ANTHONY SHIH, Executive Vice President, The New York Academy
of Medicine

Study Staff
KATHLEEN STRATTON, Study Director
LESLIE Y. KWAN, Associate Program Officer
EMILY VOLLBRECHT, Senior Program Assistant
REBECCA MORGAN, Senior Research Librarian
DORIS ROMERO, Financial Associate
HOPE HARE, Administrative Assistant
ROSE MARIE MARTINEZ, Senior Board Director, Board on
Population Health and Public Health Practice
SHARYL NASS, Board Director, Board on Health Care Services
 Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen

for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of
this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments
that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound
as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional
standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study
charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain
confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We
wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

JACK EBELER, Independent Consultant

LEE FLEISHER, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
DEBORAH A. FREUND, Claremont Graduate University and RAND
Corporation
PAMELA HERD, University of Wisconsin–Madison
LISA I. IEZZONI, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts
General Hospital
DAVID R. NERENZ, Henry Ford Health System
THOMAS RICE, University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding
School of Public Health
JOSHUA M. SHARFSTEIN, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many

constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to
endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the
final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report
was overseen by GEORGES C. BENJAMIN, American Public Health
Association, and CHARLES E. PHELPS, University of Rochester.
They were responsible for making certain that an independent
examination of this report was carried out in accordance with
institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully
considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests
entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
 Contents

ACRONYMS

SUMMARY
Current Status of Value-Based Payment in Medicare
Potential Unintended Consequences of Value-Based Payment on
Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities
Statement of Task
Committee Process and Overview of This Report
Definitions and Findings from the Literature Search
Concluding Remarks
References

1 INTRODUCTION
Overview of the Medicare Program
Current Status of Value-Based Payment in Medicare
Potential Unintended Consequences of Value-Based Payment on
Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities
Statement of Task
Committee Process and Overview of This Report
References

2 SOCIAL RISK FACTORS

Conceptual Framework
Definitions and Literature Search
Concluding Remarks
References

A OVERVIEW OF MEDICARE VALUE-BASED PAYMENT

PROGRAMS
 Medicare Value-Based Payment Programs for Hospital Inpatient
Care
Medicare Value-Based Payment Programs for Ambulatory Care
Medicare Value-Based Payment Programs for Health Plans
Medicare Value-Based Payment Programs for Post-Acute Care
References

B COMMITTEE BIOSKETCHES
 Acronyms

ACA Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

ACO accountable care organization
ADL activity of daily living
AHRQ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AMI acute myocardial infarction
APM alternative payment model

BY benchmark year

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers

CAHPS
and Systems
CAUTI Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CHIP Children’s Health Insurance Program
CLABSI Central-Line Associated Bloodstream Infection
CMS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
CY calendar year

ED emergency department
ESRD end-stage renal disease

FY fiscal year
GAO Government Accountability Office

HAC hospital-acquired condition

HCAHPS Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare
Providers and Suppliers
HCC hierarchical condition categories
HF heart failure
HHS Department of Health and Human Services
HRRP Hospital Readmission Reductions Program

IADL instrumental activity of daily living

IMPACT Act Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care
Transformation Act of 2014
IOM Institute of Medicine
IPPS Inpatient Prospective Payment System

LEP limited English proficiency

MA Medicare Advantage/Medicare Part C

MIPS Merit-Based Incentive Payment System

MedPAC Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

MIPPA Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers
Act
MLR minimum loss rate
MSPB Medicare spending per beneficiary
MSR minimum savings rate
MSSP Medicare Shared Savings Program

NHSN National Healthcare Safety Network

NQF National Quality Forum
PN pneumonia
PQRS Physician Quality Reporting System
PSA prostate-specific antigen
PSI patient safety indicator

SEP socioeconomic position

SES socioeconomic status
SNF Skilled Nursing Facility
SSI Surgical Site Infection
STEMI ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

VBP value-based payment
 Summary

Medicare is the government’s health care program for the elderly

(individuals age 65 years and older), those with permanent kidney
failure (end-stage renal disease [ESRD]), and some individuals with
long-term disability. Recent health care payment reforms aim to
improve the alignment of Medicare payment strategies with goals to
improve the quality of care provided, patient experiences with health
care, and health outcomes, while also controlling costs. These efforts
move Medicare away from the volume-based payment of traditional
fee-for-service models and toward value-based purchasing, in which
cost control is an explicit goal in addition to clinical and quality goals
(Rosenthal, 2008). Specific strategies include pay-for-performance
and other quality incentive programs and risk-based alternative
payment models, such as bundled payments and accountable care
organizations. In this report, these types of strategies will be
referred to broadly as “value-based payment” (VBP). The Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act)
prompted widespread adoption of VBP at the federal level by
directing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to
implement payment reforms in the Medicare program and by
establishing a number of tools CMS can use to achieve VBP goals.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was commissioned to provide input
into whether socioeconomic status (SES) and other social risk factors
could be accounted for in Medicare payment and quality programs.
The IOM convened an ad hoc committee to conduct a series of five
reports related to this task, of which this is the first report.
CURRENT STATUS OF VALUE-BASED PAYMENT
IN MEDICARE
The Affordable Care Act and subsequent legislation, including the
Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014
(IMPACT Act) and Medicare and CHIP [Children’s Health Insurance
Program] Reauthorization Act of 2015, require CMS to implement
VBP programs for Medicare inpatient hospital care, ambulatory care,
health plans, and postacute care. Currently, there are eight VBP
programs in Medicare, with two post-acute care programs in
proposal or planning:

Hospital Readmission Reductions Program

Hospital-Acquired Condition Payment Reduction
Hospital Value-Based Purchasing
Medicare Shared Savings Program
Physician Value-Based Modifier
End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program
Medicare Advantage/Part C1
Medicare Part D1
Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (in planning)
Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (in planning)2

POTENTIAL UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF

VALUE-BASED PAYMENT ON VULNERABLE
POPULATIONS AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

Improving Value-Based Payment to Address

Unintended Consequences
While the impact of VBP strategies on providers serving vulnerable
populations and on health disparities continues to be monitored both
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pleased with these things, than, laughing at my scrupulous
conscience towards these “Abit,” they stole some of the utensils
behind my back, whilst we were sitting and eating together, and
carried them to the ships. They said afterwards that the Shilluks
must have left these things lying in their houses for us to take them.
On this excuse, I remembered what the Bedouins (Beduàn, sing.
Bedaùi) did, when Mohammed Ali forbade them to take tribute from
the pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem and Mecca; they forced the
pilgrims to drop upon the ground as much money as they thought
sufficient, and then, pretending to find it after the caravan had
passed, took possession of it.
Besides some pretty platted mats, we found here larger and
more beautiful clay vessels, in the form of the Burma, than in
Sennaar. They were extraordinarily light, and of a black colour, for
the slimy clay there, piled up in strata, and kneaded together into
balls, as thick as the fist, displayed a dark colour, and must undergo
an excessive cleansing before being used for that purpose. As there
are no stones here, between which meal can be ground, they make
use of a murhàka of clay, a plate three or four fingers thick, blunted
at the four corners, having a rough, solid crust, and on which they
grind their corn off hand with an artificial stone. In the land of Sudan
they use for a murhàka a block of granite, presenting above a flat
surface, so that the corn poured on it, by handfuls, rolls off neither
to the right nor to the left. A female slave kneeling triturates the
corn to a meal, with an oval stone, which she holds in both hands.
From the sloping position of the granite block, this meal runs off,
and is received in a piece of leather or cloth, laid under this simple
mill. I saw a Murhàka of this form in the Museum at Berlin. These
last-mentioned stones are found on the Island of Rügen, and have a
hole in the middle, owing to the continual rubbing, exactly as we see
in Inner Africa. This grinding is a very troublesome process, and the
arms of the poor creatures condemned to it acquire an unusual
form.
As bread is the mainstay in these lands, in the form of flat cakes,
often as fine and thin as wafers, a slave can only make meal for
eight persons, if she works from morning to evening; and this is
even taken as a standard. Besides that murhàka of clay, which is
mixed with slime and roots, although the pure blue clay lies at a
small depth, I saw also large broken mortars in the earth, made of
the very same materials. In order to repair these, they make a hole
in the ground, smearing the inside with clayey thick slime, and light
a fire in it, when the mortars become as smooth and dark as if they
were made of cast iron. A pestle of hard wood is used to prepare an
oil from the simsin and garrua (ricinus).
We also found a large net used for the chase, with bells, made of
the fruit of the doum-palm, which is similar to that of the cocoa-tree.
They spread this net around the gazelles and antelopes, who, on
touching the meshes (made of the inner bark of trees) are
frightened at the clattering of the bells, and rush along it to the
hostile ambush, where they are killed with javelins. They have also
another method of seizing the gazelles and taking them alive. They
know the foot-prints of these animals, and what food, in the way of
shrubs, is most pleasing to them. Here the huntsmen lay under the
dense foliage of brushwood, large traps, which are covered round
about to their centre with small lanceolate flat bamboo plants, in
such a manner that an opening remains in the middle, where the
points concentrate, and this gives way on anything stepping on it, so
that the animal is caught by his leg in this prickly plate, and thereby
being hindered from escaping, is easily taken.
We found also some well-baked and polished pots, filled with
tobacco, the before-named rice of the Shilluks, and other seeds of
grasses. The strip of shore whereon we found ourselves was narrow,
and a few days previously had been deserted by the water; the
lower part of the tokuls not having suffered from it, because, even at
high water, there is but little current.
All up the country are grass swamps, with sunt-trees, and
between them some huts, which could not have been then
inhabited. Boats, with people in them, rowed here and there in the
grass, to watch us. On the right shore we remark five villages—the
largest might contain 200 houses. The bank of the river here is
gently elevated to about 10 feet, as is the case nearly always in the
direction of villages a little distant. Some of our soldiers, native
Shilluks, who were like slaves among the troops, have been sent out
to treat with the people.
The Sultan or Bando of the Shilluks, in the preceding year, on the
arrival of the first expedition, fearing a hostile invasion, collected
here several thousand men. On that occasion the Turks remained
two or three days, in order to come to terms with him; and he
presented them with cattle and sheep. We expect, therefore, now,
the arrival of the Bando, to whom a present of a red upper garment,
red cap (tarbùsh, in Turkish, fessi), and glass beads, has been sent.
A heavy boat, or rather a periagua, hollowed out from the trunk of a
tree, lies here. Thibaut, in his spiritual humour, wanted, or pretended
to want, dry wood, and ordered his servants to hew to pieces this
boat, which, perhaps, had been made half a year; but the sunt-wood
having become black from being in the water, was as strong as iron,
and defied all the efforts of the hatchet. A canoe of this kind is called
sürtuk.
7th December.—We have not yet seen the king of this great
nation, which may amount to 2,000,000 people, according to
Suliman Kashef’s declaration, if it be true, that there are large gohrs
fed by the Nile in the interior, whereon the villages lie equally as
crowded as here on the main stream, who has not made his
appearance. He dwells, however, only two or three hours’ distance
from the river; and we hear throughout the night the large war-
drums (Nogàra) beating in our neighbourhood—a proof that they
mistrust us. I am also persuaded that if Suliman Kashef had once
got the dreaded Bando of the Shilluks on board, he would have
certainly sailed away with him. I read this in his countenance when
he received the intelligence that the Bando would not appear.
Willingly as I would have seen this negro king, yet I rejoiced at his
not coming for this shameful treachery to be practised upon him.
Besides, he had also no cause to welcome the Muslims, these sworn
enemies of his people; for, shortly before our departure for the white
stream, he had sent three ambassadors to Khartùm, to place himself
on a friendly footing with the Turks, and thus to check the
marauding expeditions of his Arab neighbours, in which Kurshid
Basha and Suliman Kashef had played a principal part. These three
Shilluks, who were masters of the Arabic language, were treated in
the divan with the usual contempt, as “Abit,” and were handed over
to the Sheikh el Beled of Khartùm, to be entertained as common
men. This Sheikh, who, receiving no pay, and having to bear the
burden of everything, performs the duties of his office more from
fear than for the honour, regaled these imperial messengers so
magnificently that they came to us Franks, and begged some girsh
(piasters) for bread and merissa. To procure them a better reception
in the divàn, I represented to Abdalla Effèndi that he would by such
treatment draw upon him the anger of the Basha, who was absent in
Taka. He really would have presented them on the next day with
dresses of honour, but they went away by stealth on the same
evening. Now, I heard privately, through my servants, from our
messengers to the Shilluks, that the Bando accepted, indeed, the
garments, but abused the donors, and said that he would receive
and welcome his equals, such as Mohammed Ali, and not his slaves.
I had not seen the baobàb-tree, which, as I learned in
conversation, was in the neighbourhood of our landing-place. This
gigantic tree, attaining a circumference of 60—nay, even of 120 feet,
as one is said to be, near Fàzogl, is called in the land of Sudàn
Homera, and its fruit Gungulés. So also the date-tree is called
Naghel, and its fruit Tammer, or Bellàgh.
Half an hour before sunrise this morning, we left the prodigious
sunt-trees, which had yesterday afforded us such excellent shade.
With a fresh north wind we sail S.W. by W., and make four miles.
The idea of enticing the king of the Shilluks by a new experiment,
was abandoned. On the level surface of the right side of the river we
observe ten pastoral villages, appearing to be surrounded with
enclosures (Seriba), as a protection against wild beasts. No villages
containing tokuls are seen; these are found further up the country,
in the Gallas, as our Dinkas tell me. In the land of the Shilluks
twenty-one villages shew themselves within an hour and a half. We
pass by twelve villages in an hour. On the contrary, we see only four
in the land of the Dinkas, on the opposite side. Eight o’clock, W.S.W.,
five miles. The villages of the Shilluks are in a line, close to one
another, and form many pretty groups between the trees, whilst the
huts of the Dinkas cover monotonously the flat shore, upon which
few or no trees rise. I counted again, up to ten o’clock, fifteen
villages, the last of which was distinguished by its picturesque
position and large trees. Three baobàbs stand before the hut, which
extend in two groups upon a gently curved neck of land, with their
small cupola roofs. One of these trees is dead; the second a ruin;
the third, as well as a fourth, in the upper part of the village, is in a
living-dead state, for it has only a few leaves. This is the already
known African giant-tree (Adansonia digitata).
One of the things especially giving a beautiful effect to the
landscape, besides the doum-palms, protruding over the mimosas, is
the aspiring slender Dhelleb-palm. It has a stem like that of the
date-tree, which swells somewhat in the middle, and decreases
towards the top. In the inlets, from whence these picturesque necks
of land project into the stream, I perceived, to the left side of the
shore, villages in all directions, forming a magnificent whole, whilst
the right shore was bare, and at this time had only two villages to
shew. The river forms its grass-islands, as before, and the villages
unfortunately retreat to the old line of the shore from east to south;
whilst we, with a brisk north wind, sail W.S.W. six miles. Half an hour
beyond, the villages, green, marshy meadow-land, up to the old
shore, appearing to denote the forest, to which the Nile approaches
in an extensive curve, and forms near us, on the right, a grassy river
pasture. I should like to see a map, accurately marking these creeks,
subordinate arms, and natural canals, extending into the country,
with the proximity and distance of the villages from the shore.
Whilst we approach the forest on the left bank, we observe
several crocodiles before us, who are not alarmed at the rustling of
our ships through the water. At half-past ten I stand on deck, and
count again seventeen new villages of the Shilluks. It is very certain
that the bay before alluded to spreads to nearly an hour’s breadth in
the left shore. At eleven o’clock I see, on this side, an unlimited
thriving grass plain, extending on a level with the water, at the most
distant point of which a city is seen, said to be about three hours
distant. The verdure shews that the river overflows the whole
country; therefore it may be possible for individual families, during
the inundation, to remain in the tokuls, lying close to the river,
because they are always somewhat elevated, and the water can
spread itself over a place of such a nature, but cannot ascend to any
height.
On every side rise dhellèb-palms, but most of the villages are
without them, and generally without trees at all. It seems
inconceivable that none should be planted, for their shade is so
extremely grateful in this climate. The natives always take the
nearest trees, for the building materials of their tokuls, and never
reflect that they may be sorry for this when the sun ascends the
horizon. In their most pressing necessities they only provide for the
moment, and therefore may not be inclined to plant for the future,
or for their children. Immediately after eleven o’clock we sail close to
the right shore, where two villages lie on yellow bare elevated
downs; they are distinguished from those of the Shilluks by pointed
roofs and a slovenly construction. Near the upper miserable Dinka
city, where the lower walls of the tokuls are not even plastered, nine
dhellèb-palms are found; eight stand together, and afford a beautiful
sight. Four of these bear fruit; the others are male trees. The
horizon, towards the left shore is covered with sixteen villages, and
again we have a beautiful group of dhellèb-palms, mimosas, and
baobàbs. The dhellèb, as far as it was known to the Ethiopians of
Meroë, might have given the form to the pillars swelling in the
middle; otherwise such columns appear to be contrary to nature; but
we also find the same form in the Ambak.
About twelve o’clock we see, on the right side of the river, six
ostriches walking about. This sight Suliman Kashef cannot withstand.
We go ashore therefore, but the ostriches do not seem to trust us
strangers: they stride up the country, and run away, directly the first
shot sounds in their ears. The shore here gently rises from ten to
twelve feet; and the hill, which might once have counted many huts
where now only a few cabins are seen, rose some six feet higher.
Behind it, the whole surface of the earth falls away, and the Nile is
seen at a distance flowing near other Dinka villages, and ending in a
narrow channel, deep in the land. A number of potsherds lay
around; and those small heights I had taken at a distance for ant-
hills, as these had often come before me in the Taka country, were
hills of ashes. The Dinkas, who here chiefly lead a pastoral life, make
on these hills their fires, and raking away the warm ashes, and
collecting them in a circular form, lie down and sleep upon them, on
account of the damp nights, for they go naked like the Shilluks. The
cattle also are tied to stakes, in a circle around these hills of ashes.
Now I could explain the livid colour of the people; for no religious
custom enjoins the strewing of ashes on the body; and washing is
not one of their practices, as is only too plainly remarked by the
slaves coming from thence.
Opposite to us lay seven villages of the Shilluks. We had seen, at
an earlier period, several of those Sürtuks (boats) erected within the
shade of trees, in the country of the Shilluks; but here they are of an
unusual length, and seem to be made of the dhellàb-palm. In the
afternoon, level land abounded on all sides. We again approached
the left shore. The stream flows in a picturesque semicircle before a
beautiful pasture-ground, upon which are found doum and dhellèb-
palms, mimosas, and other trees, forming a strong contrast to the
blue sky. Between them eight villages are scattered, at which several
people have collected under the protecting shade of two baobàbs,
and gaze at us with astonishment. The Haba, or forest, either loses
itself here, or extends beyond the horizon. Opposite, only one
village, containing tokuls, with more pointed roofs, lies upon the arid
ground; and a small river there seems to flow into the great stream,
if it be not itself an arm of the river, having a considerable fall. We
sail S.W., and make three miles whilst the river has the rapidity of
one mile. On the right shore merely a doum-palm rises here and
there from the immeasurable plain, whose low grey circumference,
untouched by water, can scarcely be seen on account of the
distance. At three o’clock five villages, in a low country, rich in
palms; on the right shore, in front, only one village is to be seen,
and the horizon before us is closed by nine villages. About four
o’clock S.S.W.; on the left all flat to the forest, which again
approaches nearer in an extensive sweep, but consists only of bad
trees and underwood.
It is five o’clock, and we sail S.W. to the mouth of a river coming
from Habesh, and on that account called Bahr el Makada. We halt,
and Selim Capitan and our engineers ascertain the latitude, in order
to determine the mouth of this river, which may be here five
hundred paces broad. It has six fathoms in depth, and two miles in
rapidity; whilst the Nile has only three fathoms in depth, and half a
mile in velocity. It is said to come from the east, but that remains to
be proved on our return voyage. The Arabic name of the river is
Sobàt, though we hear it called also Sibàt and Subàt. Downs rise
before and on it, from whence we perceive, at the setting sun,
eleven villages between doum-palms, on the right shore of the
White Stream, which, dividing here far and wide into several arms,
raises a doubt which we shall choose to-morrow. The river Sobàt
forms the limits of the country of the Dinkas.
The nation of the Nuèhrs begins on its left shore, and dwells up
the Nile from hence—the Shilluks still continuing on the left shore.
We learn from our negroes that the Sobàt is called Tah by the
Dinkas, who give the name of Kir to the white stream, and Tilfi by
the Shilluks dwelling opposite. It disembogues itself under 9° 11′
north latitude. When I returned to the vessel from my excursion, at
sunset, I had an attack of fever, which is very inconvenient for me
here on the white river. We chose our anchorage far from the shore,
in a kind of lake; therefore the fires or torches of the Shilluks in the
grass, flickering here and there, might keep the crew awake, but
could not frighten them. The continual drumming must indeed have
destroyed the illusion of the Shilluks, that they could swim to us, or
surprise us with their canoes whilst we were sleeping.
 CHAPTER VI.
ANT-HILLS. — TRIBE OF THE NUÈHRS. — THE JENGÄHS. — KAWASS OR
SERJEANT MÁRIAN FROM MOUNT HABILA. — DESCRIPTION OF HIM. —
TOKULS OF THE JENGÄHS. — FIRST APPEARANCE OF GAZELLES. — THE RIVER
N’JIN-N’JIN. — WORSHIP OF TREES. — THE GALLAS OR STEPPES. — BLACK
COLOUR OF THE RIVER. — NEW SPECIES OF PLANTS. — THE BITTERN AND
IBIS. —“BAUDA” OR GNATS: THEIR DREADFUL STING. — LIEUT. ABD-ELLIÀB’S
CRUELTY TO HIS FEMALE SLAVE. — THE TOKRURI OR PILGRIM. — CURIOUS
SUPERSTITION WITH REGARD TO THESE MEN. — MOUNTAIN CHAIN OF NUBA.
— PAPYRUS ANTIQUUS OR GIGANTIC RUSH. — GAZELLE RIVER. — DEAD
FISH. — DIFFERENT SPECIES OF SNAKES. — ARABIC SONGS AND FESTIVITY
ON BOARD. — JENGÄHS SUPPOSED TO BE WORSHIPPERS OF THE MOON:
THEIR MANNER OF TATOOING. — STRIFE BETWEEN THE SOLDIERS AND
SAILORS. — ANTIPATHY OF THE FRENCH ENGINEERS TO EACH OTHER. —
LOCUSTS. — TORMENT OF THE GNATS: THEIR VARIOUS SPECIES. —
BARBARITY OF THE TURKS ON THE FORMER EXPEDITION. — MARVELLOUS
STORIES OF THE ARABS. — HATRED OF THE NATIVES TO THE TURKS.

8th December.—At day-break we proceed towards S.W. with north-

west wind; three miles. At nine o’clock N.N.W. We see from the deck
sixteen villages on the left shore; on the right, close to the border of
the river, a number of little hills, overgrown with sward, and
therefore, perhaps, formerly strongholds of ants, like those
characteristic hills of ashes, which would seem to denote an ancient
pastoral station. Further inland are distinguished, on the ancient old
shore, up to which all is bare, two large villages. The stately palms
also on the right, appear now to lose themselves in the extensive
plain. We go N.W., and make five miles.
About ten o’clock, I surveyed on the right twenty-one villages, in
the country of the Shilluks, on a green plain, in which, with the
exception of some palms, there were no trees, and which took up
the whole horizon from W. to N.E. Ou the left hand, the
neighbouring right shore was nearly bare. Whilst we sail to N.W.,
two mountains, the one in front appearing to be covered with wood,
rise in the S.W., at a distance of three or four hours.
 At half-past eleven o’clock, we go on shore to the left, in the
country of the Nuèhrs, to take in wood for ten or fourteen days, as it
is said that there are merely reeds further up. No sunt presented
itself here, but stunted geïlids and miserable ebony, which, however,
cannot be cut, owing to its hardness. On the left shore here, are the
boundaries of the Shilluks, and the Jengähs follow. An extensive
green meadow, with neither trees nor houses on it, separates these
two tribes.
The Kawass (serjeant) on board our vessel, gives me much
welcome information on the condition of this people. He is called
Màrian, from Mount Habila, and is the son of the murdered Mak, or
King of all the mountains of Nuba, a hundred and eighty in number,
according to him, and subject formerly to his father, who was slain
by the Turks. He was made a slave, and was obliged, as being such,
to change his name from Uadassa to that of Marian. He is of middle
height, has a regular black countenance, with vertical streaks on the
temples; on the forehead he is tattooed, and has ten holes at the
edge of each ear, from which the Turks have taken his gold rings. He
is a sensible and modest man; has been in the service thirteen
years, and understands it, but has not been able to gain promotion,
because he is entirely forgotten, and has no one to make the
necessary intercession for him: his young son, however, was
preserved at the time, and Marian’s uncle, who pays tribute to the
Turks, has appointed him his deputy. Marian perceives that his tribe
cannot do anything, even with the greatest bravery, against fire-
arms, and therefore does not wish to acquire his freedom again by
deserting. Besides this man, there are two Dinkas, a Shillkaui, and a
Jengäh, on board, though hitherto I have found it impossible to
learn the slightest thing from them about the manners and customs
of their country, because they consider that such information would
be treachery to their countrymen.
At one o’clock, we got again under weigh towards S.W., and kept
more to the left side of the river. About half-past two o’clock, we saw
the first tokuls of the Jengähs, which are far more slovenly built than
those of the Shilluks; they stand a quarter of an hour distant from
the shore, near a single dhellèb palm: we landed near them. A
sürtuk lay there, forty feet long, with vertical sides and pointed
ends; the stern of the boat, although made of hard timber, is closed
diagonally by a piece of wood: it appeared to be hewn out of the
trunk of a dhellèb palm. A beautiful kind of mimosa, with thick
foliage and yellowish red flowers, like floss silk, struck me especially.
The blue clay soil was full of foot-prints of river buffaloes, several of
whom shewed themselves yesterday evening, and blew their
sackbuts stoutly.
We saw also this morning, for the first time, two giraffes, called,
however, Saràff, and said to be very abundant here. As there was
nothing to be gained, and no people shewed themselves, we left the
place. Soon afterwards we saw a village on the same side, with
some dhellèb and doum palms; near it a river, running from N.W. by
W., flows into the white stream, which, however, was taken for an
arm of the latter. I subsequently ascertained from our Jengäh Bachit,
that the name of this little river is N’jin-N’jin, and goes far in his
country towards W. He called the white stream Kih, and afterwards
Kidi. The sounds in their language are really inarticulate, and they
can hardly pronounce an Arabic word so sharply as our characters
require.
Up to five o’clock, we had on the right shore, before which a
green margin lies in the water, thirty-four villages of the Nuèhrs,
each containing from twenty to a hundred and more tokuls. Only a
few of these enjoy the shade of trees. I believe it to be certain, that
where Nature has once planted propitiously a shoot, and this shoot,
by its growth, has triumphed over the voracity of beasts, and the
wantonness of man, or stood beyond the reach of their necessities,
the tree may easily become an object of veneration to people living
in a state of nature, owing to the shade it affords to meetings in the
open air.
We sail continually N.W., with slight deviations to one side or the
other. We advance three miles, an arm of the Nile scarcely 200 paces
broad. There is said to be a larger arm on the left side, as appears
also to be the case on the right, where we saw a man take his little
canoe on his head, and carry it to the houses near at hand. The
right shore has here no habitations of the Nuèhrs; beyond the river’s
edge, and also behind the houses the Galla, or Steppe, is visible.
The before-named mountains on the right shore, the larger one of
which is almost covered with masses of rock, appearing at a
distance like large trees, and behind which three smaller curly heads
follow, have vanished towards the south. We sail N.W. by W., and
another considerable mountain appears on the flat grassy scene
towards N.W., whilst we anchor, at sunset, in the middle of the river.
Our Bakhi (who was taken prisoner from Bakhara, and was
previously called Denn) did not know the name of the hilly ridge
lying in the mountainous country of the Jengähs. The N’jin-N’jin,
however, which he also calls Kih, meaning the same as river, or
water, is said to flow past the foot of high mountains. I was told that
when the reed-grass, standing from three to six feet above the
water, and becoming very dry from the sun, soon after the
inundation has run off, although the roots may be still under water,
is ignited, a young and tender grass springs forth, of which cattle are
said to be very fond.
The white stream here, and indeed since yesterday, might be
really called the Black River. The latter colour arises partly from the
Thin, that heavy clayey morass with which the bed of the river is
covered, instead of floating sandy particles; and partly also from the
dark kind of moss, that we see among the reeds, continuing to the
bottom of the river, for the current (amounting here to less than half
a mile), is not able to keep its course clear. This long marshy lake, of
some two hours in breadth, discloses a new world of plants, in
various high grasses and bog-shrubs. The swarms of little birds
seem to find their nourishment in the ripening seeds. I remarked
two bitterns, having the greatest resemblance to our water-hens—
silver-grey, with a white wing: and also the black Ibis. The small
detached islands, linked together by marsh-plants, floated only very
slowly, although the contrary wind had quite subsided.
 9th December.—The latitude, yesterday evening, was 9° 4′. The
river, or Kih N’jin-N’jin, would therefore disembogue itself between
9° 12′ and 9° 4′. Our Gohr, as it pleased them to call the arm of the
Nile, which we navigated yesterday evening, and which was scarcely
fifty paces broad, has increased this morning to 100 and 150 paces
in breadth, ever according to the caprice of the reed-grass,
predominant here, and impudently intruding itself, for the stream
has scarcely anything to do with it. A very strong dew hung on the
grass in large pearly drops, very refreshing to the eye at sunrise.
The thermometer shewed 20° heat. The distant shore of this marshy
lake was denoted by isolated trees and a few small villages. We were
obliged to take again to the oars, as on yesterday evening, and went
N.W.
A dreadful pest has made its appearance in these lakes. “Baùda”
is the horrible name, and means nothing else than gnats, which,
when a calm sets in, make the people, and especially the half-naked
sailors, nearly mad. On the right side of the Nile we perceive no
human habitations. The nation of the Nuèhrs is said, thus far, to
dwell more towards the interior, on the left shore of the Sobàt, and
may therefore keep at a distance these frightful swarms of gnats,
that torment man and beast. On the left bank we saw, at an hour’s
distance beyond the reed-lake, eleven small villages; yet the nation
of the Jenjähs is said to be very numerous, and to inhabit the shores
of their N’jin-N’jin in populous villages, situated on inaccessible
mountains. At nine o’clock we sailed, with a tolerably favourable east
wind, W. by S., and made three miles, whilst the rapidity of the
current might have been about a mile. Clouds had collected in the
sky, and we feared rain, to which the Egyptian inhabitants of the Nile
are so sensitive.
At eleven o’clock the S.E. wind set in, when we went due N.W.
The river, which has, up to this place, a breadth of from four to five
hundred paces, widens again to about an hour’s breadth. A marshy
swamp, however, soon again intrudes: its pointed angle springs from
the right shore, so that the latter can be only an hour distant, even
to the trees over the green grass-land, whilst the left shore, on the
contrary, has retreated this hour and a half into an immeasurable
bay, the limits of which cannot be reached by the eye, even from the
mast. That we should not remark any villages in the vicinity of this
marshy land, is naturally to be expected.
The right shore becomes wooded, and we see, everywhere,
rising pillars of smoke, said to be signals, as the natives can discern
our vessels from thence. At 1 o’clock, the right shore, on the
foreground of which groups of ambaks rise, is about two hours’
distant. We noticed numerous morass birds collected on this wide
plain. This marsh-tree, towards the left side of the shore, appears to
delude us in the same manner, since it assumes the form of groups
of trees, belonging, at other times, to firm ground. A new morass-
plant, rising to a great height, with large corollas, similar to a tuft of
reeds, elevates, here and there, its long bare stalks. Its external
appearance indicates it, even from afar, to be the papyrus
antiquorum.
We go W.S.W., and a little before two o’clock W.N.W. One of the
vessels chose another road to the left of us, and is separated an
hour’s distance from us by the grass. About two o’clock, every tree
(being the sign of firm ground) on the left also vanishes, and we
see, therefore, nothing but the sky and grass sea, surrounded or
intersected by the arms of the Nile. We sail N.W. with two miles and
a half rapidity of current, and probably in the larger central arm,
although it is scarcely four hundred paces broad. We conjecture that
the main stream is to the right side of the shore, from whence the
vessel before mentioned has returned, fearing to lose us altogether
from the horizon.
My servants had given some durra to the female slave of our first
lieutenant, Abd-Elliab, to prepare merissa from, of which drink the
rest of the crew partook. The Paradise-Stormer,—formerly, according
to his own confession, a staunch toper,—had no sooner learned that
his slave had set to make this liquor, than he ordered this
unfortunate creature, who was kneeling just before the murhàka,
and grinding the corn, so that the perspiration was pouring off in
streams from the bared upper part of her body, to remain quiet
where she was: whereupon she crossed her arms over her naked
breast. At the very same moment he drew forth the kurbàsh from
under his angereb, and swinging it backwards and forwards, brought
it down with fearful violence upon her back. As he did not attend to
my call from the cabin, but struck so furiously that her skin broke
and blood poured down in streams, I jumped out and pulled him
backwards by his angereb, so that his legs flew in the air. However,
he sprang up again immediately, bounded to the side of the ship,
and shouted, with a menacing countenance, “Effendi,” instead of
calling me “Kawagi,” which is the usual title for a Frank and a
merchant. I had scarcely, however, returned to my cabin, ere he
seized his slave again to throw her overboard. I immediately caught
up my double-barrel, stood in the doorway, and called out “Ana
oedrup” (I’ll fire), whereupon he let her go, and said, with a pallid
countenance, that she was his property and he could do as he liked
with her. He at last suppressed his anger, when I explained to him
that his own head as well as all his Harim, belonged to the Basha.
Subsequently he ventured to complain of me to the commandant,
who, knowing his malignant and hypocritical character, removed him
to the little sandal, to the great delight of the whole crew. On our
return to Khartùm he was cringing enough to want to kiss my hand
and ask my pardon, (although he had become a captain in the
Basha’s guard), because the Basha distinguished me.
A few days previously I had had an opportunity of gaining the
affection and confidence of our black soldiers. One of them, a
Tokruri or pilgrim from Darfùr had, in a quarrel with an Arab, drawn
his knife and wounded him. He jumped overboard to drown himself,
for he could not swim, and was just on the point of perishing when
he drifted to our ship, where Feïzulla-Capitan no sooner perceived
him than he sprang down from behind the helm and saved him, with
the assistance of others. He was taken up and appeared nearly
dead, and on intelligence being conveyed from the other vessels that
he had murdered a Muslim, some of our people wished to throw him
again immediately into the water. This, however, being prevented,
they thought of making an attempt to resuscitate him, by standing
him up on his head. I had him laid horizontally upon his side, and
began to rub him with an old ferda belonging to one of my servants.
For the moment no one would assist me, as he was an “Abit,” until I
threatened the Captain that he should be made to pay the Basha for
the loss of his soldiers. After repeated rubbing, the tokruri gave
some signs of life, and they raised him half up, whilst his head still
hung down. One of the sailors, who as a faki, pretended to be a sort
of awakener of the dead, seized him from behind, under the arms,
lifted him up a little, and let him, when he was brought into a sitting
posture, fall thrice violently on his hinder end, whilst he repeated
passages from the Koràn, and shouted in his ears, whereupon the
tokruri answered with a similar prayer. Superstition goes so far here,
that it is asserted such a pilgrim may be completely and thoroughly
drowned, and yet retain the power of floating to any shore he
pleases, and stand there alive again.
On the right we noticed N.W. by W., at a great distance, a
considerable chain of mountains, to all appearance, over the invisible
left shore. According to Selim-Capitan’s declaration this must be
called Tickem. The crew even think that it is either the Tekeli or the
Tira, which, however, is impossible, as we have long ago left them
behind in the North. Both mountains are well known by our Kawass
Màrian, and belong indeed to the mountain chain of Nuba. This
mountain, however, is called, according to Màrian, Morre, and its
high rocks are inhabited by a valiant, pagan, Negro race; they lie
beyond the Nuba chain, and far isolated from it. Màrian had more
than once travelled through the country, and had also been into
these parts, when Sultan Fadl fled to them from Kordofàn, on the
invasion of the Turks. Half-past three o’clock, W.N.W. Still in the
grass-sea. We halted at sun-set, where the arm of the Nile goes
from E. to W. The far distant and scarcely visible mountain lies now
to the N. of us, and appears to be nearly twenty hours’ distant; this
agrees with Màrian’s statement. Neither land nor tree to be seen,
even from the mast; but back on the right shore, large clouds of
smoke, which we have seen in many places throughout the day, and
which I rather take to be signal-fires, than kindled for the purpose of
driving away the gnats that first make their appearance towards
evening.
10th December.—A dead calm throughout the night. Gnats!!! No
use creeping under the bedclothes, where the heat threatens to
stifle me, compelled as I am, by their penetrating sting, to keep my
clothes on. Leave only a hole to breathe at; in they rush, on the lips,
into the nostrils and ears, and should one yawn, they squeeze
themselves into the throat, and tickle us to coughing, causing us to
suffer real torture, for with every respiration again a fresh swarm
enters. They find their way to the most sensitive parts, creeping in
like ants at every aperture. My bed was covered in the morning with
thousands of these little tormenting spirits—compared with which
the Egyptian plague is nothing—which I had crushed to death with
the weight of my body, by continually rolling about.
As I had forgotten to take with me from Khartùm a mosquito-net,
or gauze bed-curtains, for which I had no use there on account of
the heat, to keep off these tormentors, there was nothing for it but
submission. Neither had I thought of leather gloves, unbearable in
the hot climate here, but which would have been at this moment of
essential advantage, for I was not only obliged to have a servant
before me at supper-time, waving a large fan, made of ostrich-
feathers, under my nose, so that it was necessary to watch the time
for seizing and conveying the food to my mouth, but I could not
even smoke my pipe in peace, though keeping my hands wrapt in
my woollen Burnus, for the gnats not only stung through it, but even
crept up under it from the ground. The blacks and coloured men
were equally ill-treated by these hungry and impudent guests; and
all night long might be heard the word “Bauda,” furious abuse
against them, and flappings of ferdas to keep them off; but in spite
of this, the face and body were as if bestudded, and swollen up with
boils. The Baudas resemble our long-legged gnats, although their
proboscis, with which they bore through a triple fold of strong linen,
appears to me longer. Their head is blue; the back dun-coloured,
and their legs are covered with white specks, like small pearls.
Another kind has shorter and stronger legs, a thicker body, of a
brown-colour, with a red head and iris-hued posteriors.
The crew are quite wearied from sleepless nights, and rowing
must be given up if the calm continues, although we find ourselves
in a canal whose water propels us so little that we do not cast
anchor. Here I got a specimen of the gigantic rush (papyrus
antiquus) before mentioned. The stalk is prismatic, somewhat
rounded, however, on one side; it runs in a conical form, to the
length of from ten to twelve feet, and bears on the top a corolla like
a tuft of reeds, the ray-formed edges of which branch out, and are
more than a span long: the greatest thickness of the stem is one
inch and a half, and never less than half an inch thick, and under the
green rind there is a strong pith. Subsequently, however, I saw this
papyrus, which our Arabs were not acquainted with, from fifteen to
twenty feet long, and two inches thick, so that the longer reeds on
the top shot forth from their little clusters of flowers and seeds, five
to six new spikes, the length of a span. The Ambak was known to
the old Egyptians; there is no doubt, therefore, that it, as well as this
rush, was split, glued to one another, and used for a writing
material, because it afforded the advantage of a greater extent of
surface.
We row again a little, and wait till ten o’clock for Hüssein Aga’s
clumsy kaiàss, although a slight N.E. wind has set in. We then sail
N.W. and make two miles and a half. At three o’clock we go W.S.W.
slowly into the great lake, wherein the Gazelle river (Bahr el Gasáll)
disembogues itself. This river is said to flow here from the country of
the Magrabis (Berbers), as some soldiers affirmed, who had served
under Mustapha Bey, and pretended to have pressed forward to its
shores. Touching this lake and the river, the name of which we could
not learn, for its borders are entirely covered with reeds, and
therefore cannot be inhabited, the declaration of the soldiers was
only a confirmation of what Mustapha Bey told me in Khartùm. On
account of the dead calm, we halt on the right reedy shore of the
stream, in the lake itself, beyond which we do not yet distinguish
land, any more than to the left. Over a yellowish tract, there, which
the water may have left, like an island, green grass and the
ascending smoke, announcing human life, shew themselves again
and denote a firm shore. The lake may be from eighteen to twenty
sea miles square.
In the evening, the smoke appeared like long-extended peculiar
fireworks, rising equally high; and there was no doubt that this was
ignited high grass, a sight which, from Sennaar to this place, was no
longer new to me. The Gazelle river glimmered far beyond, the
grasses impeding its mouth; and I distinguished plainly, from the
elevated poop, that it emptied itself into two arms, S.W. by W. and
S.W., forming a delta, obtuse at the top. My servant, who was at the
mast-head, confirmed me in the opinion of this more extensive
direction, by stretching out his arm to that region.
Dead fish, of the species called garmùt (Heterobranchus,
bidorsalis Geoff.), real monsters in size, had already previously
floated towards us; they were said to have been harpooned by the
inhabitants of the shore, as very probably was the case. Our angling,
however, procured us few or no fish. It was not so much the north
wind, as the abundance of food brought by the inundation, that kept
them away from our bait.
We had already seen and caught several snakes, and twice I saw
how this reptile let itself be carried by the stream, coiling itself up
and holding its head above water. Here a small blackish snake
appeared, before which we threw a piece of wood, when it became
irritated, and drove repeatedly against our vessel, although we
thrust at it with poles. The first-named were mostly those I had
already seen and made a collection of in Taka—the Naja Haje
(Coluber Haje Hasslq.) Vipera Cerastes Daud, Python Subae, &c. The
large snakes were generally called Assala, and the small ones
sometimes Hannesh and Debib, and sometimes Dabàhn. It is only
the viper that has the name of Haigi among these people as its
peculiar one. We had seen here and there in these marshes serpents
which might be described as equal in bulk to a moderate tree. I had
in Taka heard a similar comparison from Sheikhs whose word could
be relied on; and also that the snakes were of such a size that they
could easily carry a man from his angereb, and swallow him very
comfortably.
I remarked in the reeds many ant-hills, such as are seen in Taka;
they were eight to ten feet high, but whether inhabited or not I
cannot say. If they were so, their height might be explained by the
supposition that the insects sought to protect themselves in their
upper cells from the high water; that is, if the Nile did not formerly
make another bend here, so as not to overflow this marsh-land.
Besides, I had already had the opportunity of observing these
termites and their ingenious strongholds, whereby I convinced
myself that they are not very much afraid of the water; but, on the
contrary, they descend deep into the earth, to fetch up damp soil, in
order to give a smooth surface to the apparent labyrinth of their
cells, which, in the lower part of their habitations, are as thick as
one’s fist. These little whitish insects are also themselves full of
water, and burst as soon as they are touched. These ants are called
arda. They will perforate in one night, from the bottom to the top, a
trunk filled with clothes, if it is not placed upon a stone; for they
dread daylight, and are afraid to climb up stones on the earth.
Owing to the ants, we, towards evening, left the shore, and
anchored in the middle of the lake, which has a greater breadth in
the direction of the west, and where only a few ants shewed
themselves, and these, from the weight of the blood they had
sucked in, were not able to fly away from the reeds, and had stuck
to the ship. We remarked also a great number of glowworms among
the reeds. Suliman Kashef sent me the sandal, and I repaired with
Feïzulla Capitan to him.
Every one was overjoyed at escaping from the gnats. The sailors
swam here and there, but desisted from this vocation when
crocodiles appeared in our neighbourhood. There was mad shouting
and singing, and the Hippopotami appeared indignant at this noise,
for they bellowed in opposition on all sides. Suliman Kashef ordered
his men to squat down before the cabin, and sing. Several Arabic
songs were chanted, such as that of the Bedoaui (Bedouins), in
which there is really a pretty refrain. “La Volèt, el Juhm” (O youth
the day). The variation of “l’Eli, l’eli” (the night, the night), being in
trioles, is adapted to very soft modulations, and is introduced as a
melody, awakening the feelings in the same manner as the modern
Greek “Mana” (composed from the Turkish “Amàhn,” and denoting a
cry for mercy). It is not, however, executed in the horrible and
purely barbarian manner of the so-called Hellenes. They had also
satirical songs on Melek Kambal and Ahmed Basha: these, however,
they were not allowed to sing to the end. Suliman Kashef related
anecdotes of his former journeys, and did not seem to think it
impossible to overthrow and supplant his friend and countryman
Ahmed Basha. He had an old sailor as a jester or Dèli on board, who
was obliged to make jokes before the whole crew, and therefore was
called Abu Hashis, which means a man who drinks a decoction made
of hemp, having the same effect as opium, and who plays the
buffoon.
Suliman Kashef was very much excited by the liquor. He fired in
the air, or at the hippopotami emerging from the water, and had his
gun continually loaded. It was really wonderful to see these animals,
bellowing on all sides, as if challenging him to the combat. Their
time of coition appeared, however, to have set in, and these fearful
trombone sounds might have pertained to the period of rutting.
Towards evening we had also seen numerous fish bustling about
amid the reeds, and heard them the whole night springing up,
without thinking of catching them, because they are considered
unclean in the coition-season by our Turks and Arabs. A number of
green islands, worn off by the floating water colossus from the
marshy shore, being driven by the wind, floated by us, and made us
believe that we were sailing. There was such a shouting of bad
witticisms from the jesters privileged here, that we could not help
laughing. If our Abu Hashis failed in his tropes, he was unanimously
called “Abu! abu!” and if the chief Abu Hashis of Suliman Kashef was
not quiet at this, and went on to make fun of the others with his
stentorian voice, he was asked what his Harim consisted of, at which
question he always became quiet, not wishing to joke on such a
subject.
This vast water-basin had, some two hundred paces from the
Nile, which passes through on the east side, only one fathom and a
half in depth, the latter having three fathoms and a half, and a
current of a quarter of a mile. The latitude here was given by Selim
Capitan as 9° 16′, and 28° 55′ east longitude from Paris. I hear that,
in the preceding year, they sailed round the mouth of the Gazelle
river for two days, being unable to enter it by reason of the reeds. I
did not grudge the trouble of asking a question twenty times; and at
last, I learned from our Iengäh that the head of the river is called in
his country Iak, although he refused to give me the name of his
abode or of the capital or city.
I could extract equally as little information from him about his
religion; yet these people must be, as Professor Ehrenberg, who had
a Iengäh as a servant, asserts, worshippers of the moon. The moon
is generally more or less an object of veneration in these hot
countries. The distinctive characteristics of the Iengäh nation consist
of a cross incision immediately over the eyebrows as far as the
temples, and over this, several vertical cuts close to one another, an
inch in length. The manner of tattooing amongst them consists in
slitting or cutting open the skin, the scars on which protrude like
basso-relievos. The dignity of Sultan and Sheikh is hereditary. It
almost seems to me that Marian is also unwilling to give information
concerning his Nuba, since I shewed him a map of his country. The
offer I made him to solicit the Basha to promote him to the rank of
an officer, and to send him back into his own country to enlist
troops, seemed very agreeable to him, and easy to be accomplished,
for his countrymen must and would willingly follow him, because the
Basha pays well. The Basha subsequently promoted him to the rank
of a lieutenant, but thought it somewhat hazardous to raise a
regiment of Nuba negroes, since he must have given the supreme
command to this man as their native Mak or King; although he
values the slaves from this country more than all the others, and
keeps many of them on his estate, whom he rewards with pretty
wives.
12th December.—Before sunrise this morning we left the Lake,
sailed with a faint N.E. wind a short tract S.W., and then W. by S.,
with two miles rapidity of current, into a canal, surrounded by a
border of reeds on both sides, and 100 to 150 paces broad. High
reeds, but more low ones, water couch-grass and narrow grass, the
pale-green aquatic plant, the lilac convolvulus, moss, water-thistles,
plants like nettles and hemp, formed on the right and left a soft
green mixture, upon which groups of the yellow-flowing ambak-tree
rose, and which itself was partly hung round with luxuriant creepers,
covered with large cup-like flowers, of a deep yellow colour. To my
sorrow, I see that my collection of plants, in spite of my great care,
has commenced the fermenting process, leaving but little hope of
preserving any of them, for these children of the marshes speedily
rot. I am especially grieved about the white lotus-flowers, which I
have not seen for some days; as well as for the Nymphæa cærulea,
which do not appear at all.
From W. by S.; soon again to S.W. by S.; and at nine o’clock,
S.W.—four miles. The ambaks rising from the immeasurable expanse
of reed-grass, at times deluded us into the belief that they were
trees of distant shores. High reeds are no longer to be seen, and
even that reed-grass appears to be lost here, but, instead of it,
luxuriant long grass, two to three feet high, sprouts out of the water.
Eleven o’clock, S.W. by S.—two miles. Towards S. we observe
isolated trees, and the tops of dwellings, in the country of the
Nuèhrs, where soon afterwards smoke ascends,—a sign that they
see our masts, although they are an hour distant from us. The
channel is again about 300 paces broad. There is everlasting strife
between the Egyptian sailors and the few Egyptian soldiers, who
shew, even here, the quarrelsome nature of the Fellàhs. Feïzulla
Capitan is very indifferent to it; a thorough slave to his crew and to
his passions; yet, at times he makes them tow, or orders the
braggarts to be gagged by a piece of wood fastened behind the ear,
which they are obliged to take in their mouths; but this is done,
however, more to please himself, and to make the crew laugh, than
to acquire respect by good sound reprimands. Where a laudable zeal
is displayed on no side, this apathy appears to me, generally, to
promise us very little honour in the conclusion of our expedition;
even Arnaud testifies but little pleasure at the prospect of a further
advance. Selim Capitan is afraid of the natives, and Suliman Kashef
is the only one from whose ambition and courage I have anything to
expect. The Frenchmen continue to have their windows covered,
that, forsooth, they may not see the melancholy, monotonous
country. Mutually cool towards one another, they are continually
opening collections of anecdotes, and comic publications, to fill up
the gaps in their insipid conversation. Arnaud seems to look upon
Selim Capitan as the abler man, for he consults him, and watches
the chronometer, whilst the latter handles the instruments.
At noon, W. by W., and at one o’clock S. Towards the east, we
see the vessels that have remained behind, in the extensive sea of
reeds, and we likewise, for the first time, rightly remark the winding
of this passage. The gigantic rush shews itself here and there like
little pine-forests; also isolated parcels of high reeds over the old dry
low reeds, which spring forth again fresh from their stalks. The
spikes of the grass are here cropped, and before us there rises an
enormous swarm of locusts, who move up the river. These may be,
for the moment, welcome food to the fish mostly seen here, which
are wide-mouthed, but otherwise similar to an eel (Clarias
anguillaris). All those that we caught, had locusts in their belly. The
wind, as is usual about noon, has almost entirely slackened; the
crew row, keeping time with songs to their oars, S.W. by S. About
three o’clock, we halt at the right shore of the reeds, which are dry
here, although on the right they are of a soft green. Now I see that
we must not be deceived by the yellow tracts, with the belief that
firm ground exists there, for the grasses here, standing in the water,
are also dry.
Although the thermometer, as yesterday, is only 28°, yet it feels,
when the dead calm sets in, as close and confined as in Khartùm,
with a heat of 42°, to which, perhaps, the exhalations from the
marshes may mostly contribute. An unusual perspiration has not
only made its appearance upon me, but even the crew, especially
the rowers, are dripping, as if with water. About nine o’clock in the
evening, we cast anchor in a depth of two fathoms, and half a mile
current.
I had resigned to Feïzulla Capitan the pleasure of preparing the
bill of fare for us, and therefore there was so much cooked (“Alla
Kerim”), that not only he, but half the crew, were feasted. The Kurd
had previously withdrawn himself from this community; and I found
it advisable, as I had been robbed by his people into the bargain, to
be economical with my provisions, in order that they might last to
the end of the voyage, giving my servant, Sate Mahommed, from
Mahass, the most necessary directions for cooking.
13th December.—If a regular visitation of gnats took place three
days ago, it was nothing to be compared with that of yesterday
evening. Even this morning, when the sun had risen, we had no
rest; it was impossible for me to write even if my head had been less
confused, after such a painful night. This was the smaller species,
not having legs, with spots like pearls. Neither fans, nor entire
masses of tobacco, which we kindled on an iron platter, keep these
little beasts away from us.
Millions of glowworms fluttered around in the rushes and
ambaks, accompanied by the shrill cry of locusts. The croaking,
however, of frogs was wanting, for they do not appear to be
forthcoming here. A little before sunrise, we again rowed towards
the west; and the whole crew, though exhausted, really used their
utmost endeavours to get away from this region. We advanced,
however, but slowly, for the current had become a little stronger.
About eight o’clock, to our great delight, a strong N.E. wind set in,
and we made four miles. The horizon was covered, towards the right
shore, from E. to S., with tokuls, and there was a considerable
village at the point where the river approaches from E. and E.S.E.
Unfortunately we are obliged to wait for the vessels left behind; and
this is so much the more to be regretted because the strong north
winds seem altogether to be lost here. We are only separated from
this shore by a few reeds, but prevented from landing, as the water
reaches far above a man’s head. Low bushes of mimosas stand there
upon dry ground, scarcely elevated above the surface of the Nile,
but rising, however somewhat towards a village in which a tokul is
distinguished, from its unusual size. The little sandal has,
nevertheless, discovered a narrow road, made by the natives, or by
the large aquatic animals to the land, and brings off with it twenty-
five sheep, which it has procured on shore.
The inhabitants of this village were harshly used by the former
expedition. At that time they brought four oxen as a present, and
gave a sheep to Thibaut, who, because it was somewhat swollen,
took it to be poisoned. This circumstance was sufficient cause to
incite the crew to go ashore, to surround the village on all sides, and
to shoot down, in a shameful manner, the Sheikh, and several others
who had fled with him into the neighbouring marshes. Thibaut made
a very pretty booty here, consisting, amongst other things, of a
square quiver, somewhat curved at the top, altogether of antique
form; besides large felt caps, very similar to the ancient Egyptian
caps of the priests, high and obtuse in front; bread collars for bulls,
set round with iron spindle-shaped ornaments, which were hung up
in the great tokul, and may have been hung therefore round their
Apis, as signs of adoration or affection, only on certain festive
occasions.
In the neighbourhood, we saw far and wide, towards the left side
of the village, the smoke assume a magnificent form. We see from
the deck flames moving towards us, the wind being favourable, in
long battle array, and steam and black ashes spread near us,
apparently arising from the dry grass. Thousands of birds driven
thence swarm in the air around the vessels. A number of turtle-
doves remain quite innocently in our neighbourhood, perched on the
ambak-bushes. It may indeed be called fortunate that the wood
there was low and generally thin, for, had it been otherwise, this
conflagration, probably caused by the frightened inhabitants, might
easily have set the sails on fire. The fatalism, however, of the Turks
causes us to squat in the very same place till about sunset, in order
to fill our ships again with gnats, although we see the vessels, left
behind, coming at a distance. The river winds here from E.S.E. to
S.S.W. At last they apply themselves to their oars, but we gain very
little, for the current amounts to more than one mile, and the wind,
which had set in over night, holds scarcely on for a moment.
14th December.—After a restless night, we did not put ourselves
in motion this morning till an hour after sunrise. I see that we have
scarcely advanced this night two miles, calculating from the trees
standing towards N.E., behind us, which I remarked yesterday at the
village of the Nuèhrs, who, indeed, had fled from us behind the
burning wood. We sail slowly to the west, and we should scarcely
distinguish the right shore, if some tokul-tops were not seen peeping
out at a distance of an hour and a half. From want of wind we halt
for a time, and sail then with the shifting N.E. wind, further
westward, till we go, at ten o’clock, S.W., and make two miles. At
eleven o’clock the wind becomes so strong that we fly by, as it were,
the reeds close at hand, and for the first time make six miles. We
went here W.S.W.
The right shore was marked out by three or four large trees
standing at equal distance from each other, like ancient monuments
of the victory gained here with difficulty over the moist element.
Twelve o’clock, N.W. by N., four miles: again sky, water, and reeds;
in the latter, solitary bunches of ambaks and high reeds. Soon we go
gradually S.W. by S., and the stream, although it is only some 200 or
250 paces broad, appears not to have, near this part, any
considerable arms, as none such are visible from the mast-head.
From this reason the greater current is explained. The white river
traverses these reed-lakes in meandering windings, and river
buffaloes can break any other road for themselves in this shoreless
expanse. The thermometer shews at three o’clock 28°, at noon 25°,
and this morning at sunrise 20° Reaumur. It is now nearly a dead
calm, and we are scarcely able to move from N.W. to S.W.
 My servant Fadl informs me from the mast, that he sees land,
indeed, behind us; but at the side, and before us, nothing but gesch
(reeds or grass). The great mass of water of the white stream so
suddenly making its appearance, is explained partly from this long
lake (the breadth of which cannot be determined from the ship
without an air-balloon), forming a great basin. This basin (after the
reed or marsh-ground of its flat edge being scarcely superficially
dried, is in some degree saturated) collects immediately the water
streaming from above, below, and the sides, until, becoming a mass,
it surmounts its natural flood-gates, as these machadas may be
called, like a breach of a dike.
At four o’clock the cry is “El hauer galàss” (the wind has ceased),
and we halt on the right shore of the reeds, where another dreadful
night of gnats awaits us. Where it has been possible, and I have
thought of it at the moment, I have planted date-stones, or thrown
them, when passing by, on the inundated shores; for this beneficial
tree never presents itself, and may, indeed, never thrive here again.
15th December.—We remained yesterday evening actually till
after sunset in the reeds, and our vessel was full of musquitos. I
mentioned previously these insects as being of two distinct species,
and not as male and female. I am confirmed in my former opinion;
for in the nights of the 12th and 13th December the smaller kind
was so prevalent, that I could only find, after much searching, some
bodies of the pearled long-legs on my bed. We therefore suffered
again from the usual plague from evening to this morning at eight
o’clock, although we had left the reeds. The river had here three
fathoms and a quarter in depth, and a rapidity of about one mile and
a quarter. We waited this morning for the kaiass, left behind as
usual, when it was rowed, owing to its large, clumsy oars; and being
a broad-built ship of burden, it had cost us already a pretty time
during our voyage. It was not till half-past eight o’clock that a slight
east wind set in, and we move slowly on towards S.W., again to
W.S.W. after a quarter of an hour, and at nine o’clock to the S., and
make two miles.
 We remark, on the whole, few land-birds; however, we have seen
various species of storks, among which was one of a moderate size,
unknown to our crew, with a dark-red back shield. We notice
pelicans here and there, and I think what a feast these catchers of
fish must have when the Nile, in the dry season, partly deserts the
reeds wherein we have observed scarcely any fish but of one
species, with flat heads, striped. I had seen already here a dark-
brown species of swallow, about twice the size of our house-
swallow, and remarked their very short legs, which prevent them
from soaring again in the air when they have fallen down in short
grass, similar to what I saw in Taka. At ten o’clock we make three
miles, and at eleven o’clock four miles, for the east wind was
blowing fresh, and we sail towards S.S.E.
The river has resumed its former breadth of some three hundred
paces, and the vessels run against one another, according to the
dear old custom, always breaking something or getting stuck
together. Our captain, nevertheless, does not fall into a passion: the
vessel may crack and shake for what he cares; for his sewing-needle
appears to him of more importance, and he handles it with an air of
determination, as if all his work must be done within the very next
hour. Every one wishes to avail himself of the wind; consequently we
rush by on reeds, or right into them, and out then pours a myriad of
gnats like clouds.
We ought to have the log continually in our hands, with these
eternal windings of the river, as the vessel more or less sails
according to the ever varying stream, and with the very same winds.
Even the most detailed chart can afford but little to be relied upon in
such a circular dance of the stream, although the engineer may
confine himself to assume as the direction of the course of the river,
not the real shores, but the ephemeral borders of reeds. At noon
E.S.E., when the wind, passing over into N.E., is somewhat contrary,
if the stream does not soon make again another bend. We lend a
helping hand with oars to the sails, and the river winds again on the
right towards south. Low reeds with tufts of high reeds; little woods
of these large crown or paper rushes, and tracts of ambaks.
 As the river appeared for a time to hold on its course to the
south, being exceedingly weary after these sleepless nights, and not
able longer to keep my eyes open, I sank back as it were
involuntarily upon my bed, but told my men, however, to wake me
without mercy, when the river took another direction. We remained
till Asser (three o’clock in the afternoon), in a southern direction,
when, covered with perspiration, I awoke of myself, for the cooling
N.E. wind had subsided, as usual, after mid-day, and was entirely
stagnant. I had dreamt of being very comfortably on my travels in
Germany with my brother; and this dream had the effect of
consoling me in this miserable position, and of making me look
forward with joy to the future. During my sleep they had seen a
swimming-bird, said to be as large as a young camel, with a straight
beak like a pelican, but no crop under it: they had not shot it, lest
they should awake me, and because they thought that this bird,
unknown to them, would appear again. Whoever knows the manner
of comparing things in this country, will know also how to appreciate
the size of this bird.
We lie on the reeds, wait for the ships tarrying behind, and as
usual delay to take to the middle of the river, till all the holds of the
vessel are full of gnats. At the distance of about an hour we see to
the right shore the margin of firm land with tokul-tops, whilst the
grass-sea extends still to the other side, upon which, however, in the
far distance clouds of smoke ascend. The country here may, on the
whole, lie lower, whereby the objects upon it remain under the
horizon.
16th December.—The sun ascends, and we sail slowly towards it
with a faint N.E. wind. I drew two thin cowls, which I had had made
in Taka as a protection against the sun, over my face, to be free at
least from gnats at the sides, leaving just room enough in the front
for my eyes and pipe. These insects torment us up to nine o’clock,
morning: at night they are always singing and buzzing, and they
have even contrived, this evening, to pierce through to the fleshy
part of my face. The skin on the parts stung by them, principally the
hands and feet, begins to itch so that one could scratch it to pieces.