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Design of Hydroelectric Power
Plants – Step by Step
Design of Hydroelectric Power
Plants – Step by Step

Geraldo Magela Pereira

Cover image: Tucuruí Hydroelectric Power Plant, Tocantins river, Brazil

CRC Press/Balkema is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK
All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information
contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior
permission from the publisher.
Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this
publication and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed
by the publishers nor the author for any damage to the property or
persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/ or the
information contained herein.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data
Names: Pereira, Geraldo Magela, author.
Title: Hydroelectric power plants : step by step / Geraldo Magela Pereira.
Other titles: Projeto de usinas hidrelétricas. English
Description: Boca Raton : CRC Press, [2022] | Translation of: Projeto
de usinas hidrelétricas. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: LCSH: Hydroelectric power plants--Design and construction.
Classification: LCC TK1081 .P397 2022 (print) | LCC TK1081 (ebook) |
DDC 621.31/2134 — dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021010794
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021010795
Published by: CRC Press/Balkema
Schipholweg 107C, 2316 XC Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: Pub.NL@taylorandfrancis.com
w w w.crcpress.com – w w w.taylorandfrancis.com

ISBN: 978 - 0 -367-75172-2 (Hbk)

ISBN: 978 - 0 -367-75173-9 (Pbk)
ISBN: 978 -1- 003-16132-5 (eBook)
DOI: 10.1201/9781003161325
Typeset in Times New Roman
Typeset by codeMantra
Contents

About the author xiii

Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
Acronyms xxi
Symbols xxvii
Greek symbols xxxi

1 Hydroelectric powerplants 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The history 2
1.3 Hydroelectric plants – outstanding events 6
1.4 Hydroelectric powerplants in Brazil 8
1.5 Energy transformation 19
1.6 Component structures of a hydroelectric 20
1.7 Largest hydroelectrics in the world 21

2 Planning hydropower generation 25

2.1 Catchment areas and multiple uses of water 25
2.2 Generation expansion planning 28
2.3 Phases of studies 29
2.3.1 Inventory hydroelectric studies 32
2.3.2 Integrated environmental assessment 34
2.3.3 Basic project of mini plants 34
2.3.4 Basic project of small plants 34
2.3.5 Feasibility studies 35
2.3.6 Environmental impact studies 35
2.3.7 Consolidated basic engineering project 35
2.3.8 Environmental basic project 36
2.3.9 Detailed project 36
vi Contents

2.4 Budget and evaluation of plant’s attractiveness 36

2.4.1 Standard budget 37
2.4.2 Budgets after privatization 37
2.4.3 Assessment of plant’s attractiveness 38

3 Types of power plants and layouts 39

3.1 Introduction 39
3.2 Types of power plants 39
3.2.1 Function of the type of operation 39
3.2.2 Function of type of use 40
3.2.3 Function of the head 41
3.3 Types of layouts 41
3.3.1 Dam layouts 42
3.3.2 Canal drop layouts 42
3.4 Notes on the spillway positon in the layout 47

4 Hydrological studies 53
4.1 Introduction 53
4.2 Hydrological studies 54
4.2.1 Basin characterization 54
4.2.1.1 Drainage area54
4.2.1.2 Shape of the basin54
4.2.1.3 Mean bed slope55
4.2.1.4 Time of concentration55
4.2.2 Hydrometeorology 56
4.2.2.1 Temperature57
4.2.2.2 Relative humidity57
4.2.2.3 Precipitation57
4.2.2.4 Climate classification57
4.2.3 Fluviometric measurements 57
4.2.4 Tailwater elevation curve 59
4.2.5 Flow-duration curves 60
4.2.6 Extreme flows 64
4.2.6.1 Powerhouse design flow67
4.2.6.2 Diversion flows67
4.2.6.3 Risk analysis67
4.2.7 Minimum flows 67
4.2.8 Regularization of discharges 67
4.2.9 Determination of sanitary flow 68
4.3 Curves quota × area × volume 68
4.4 Reservoir flood routing 69
4.5 Backwater studies 69
4.6 Free board 70
4.7 Reservoir filling studies 74
4.8 Reservoir useful life studies 75
 Contents vii

5 Power output 81
5.1 Available head 81
5.2 Power output 81
5.3 Turbine type selection 83
5.4 Energy simulation 83
5.5 Energy-economic dimensioning 85
5.6 Number of generating units 85
5.7 Determination of physical guarantee 87

6 Geological and geotechnical studies 91

6.1 Introduction 91
6.2 Investigations/study phases 92
6.3 Material parameters 109
6.4 Foundation treatment methods 112
6.5 Drainage systems 117
6.5.1 Drainage system of earth and rockfill dams 117
6.5.2 Drainage system of the concrete dams 122
6.6 Instrumentation of foundations 122
6.7 Construction materials 123

7 Dams 125
7.1 Types of dams 125
7.2 Earth dams 125
7.2.1 Design criteria and section type 127
7.2.1.1 Principle of flow control127
7.2.1.2 Principle of stability127
7.2.1.3 
Principle of compatibility of deformations of the
various materials127
7.2.2 Percolation analysis 130
7.2.2.1 Internal drainage system132
7.2.2.2 Transitions132
7.2.2.3 Foundation waterproofing133
7.2.3 Stability analyses 133
7.2.4 Tension and strain analysis 134
7.2.4.1 Deformability and displacements135
7.2.5 Slopes protection 138
7.3 Rockfill dams 138
7.3.1 Rockfill dam with clay core 140
7.3.2 Concrete face rockfill dams 143
7.3.3 Asphalt concrete face rockfill dams 146
7.3.4 Asphalt core rockfill dams 149
7.4 Concrete gravity dam 150
7.4.1 Gravity dam – conventional concrete 150
7.4.2 Gravity dam – roller compacted concrete (RCC) 155
7.5 Concrete arch dam 160
viii Contents

8 Spillways 171
8.1 Types of spillways and selection criteria 171
8.2 Hydraulic design 175
8.2.1 Design of the tucuruí spillway 182
8.2.2 Physical model studies 185
8.3 Energy dissipation 185
8.3.1 Ski jump dissipators 187
8.3.2 Hydraulic jump energy dissipators – stilling basins 197
8.3.3 Efforts downstream of dissipators 208
8.3.4 Erosion pit dimensions assessment 208
8.4 Cavitation 211
8.4.1 Conceptualization and characteristic parameters 211
8.4.2 Cavitation caused by irregularities 212
8.4.3 Protective measures specifications 213
8.4.4 Cavitation cases 218
8.5 Aeration 223
8.6 Operating aspects in spillway monitoring 234

9 Hydraulic conveyance design 239

9.1 Introduction 239
9.2 Power canal 239
9.3 Intake 241
9.3.1 Geometry 241
9.3.2 Minimum submergence 243
9.3.3 Ventilation duct 243
9.3.4 Vibration in the trashracks 244
9.3.5 Head losses 244
9.4 Penstocks 246
9.4.1 Head losses 246
9.4.2 Economic diameter 248
9.4.2.1 Annex support and anchor blocks250
9.4.3 Waterhammer 258
9.4.3.1 Overpressure calculation due to instant closing261
9.4.3.2 
Calculation of overpressure (h) due to gradual
closure without surge tank264
9.5 Tunnel 269
9.5.1 General design criteria 269
9.5.1.1 Tunnel alignment269
9.5.1.2 Covering criteria271
9.5.2 Criteria for hydraulic tunnel dimensioning 274
9.5.3 Design application 278
9.5.4 Assumptions for tunnel lining dimensioning 281
9.6 Surge Tanks 282
9.6.1 Types of surge tanks 282
9.6.2 Criteria used in inventory studies (Canambra) 283
9.6.3 Canambra criteria 284
 Contents ix

9.6.4  Rotating masses inertia 284

9.6.5  Interconnected system operation 286
9.6.6  Surge tank need – summary 288
9.6.7  Minimum dimensions of the surge tank 288
9.7 Powerhouse 289
9.7.1  Outdoor powerhouses 292
9.7.1.1  Powerhouse at the foot of the dam292
9.7.1.2  Powerhouse as part of the dam297
9.7.1.3  Powerhouse downstream of the dam297
9.7.2   Underground powerhouses – examples299
9.8 Tailrace 302

10 Mechanical equipment 309

10.1 Gates and valves 309
10.1.1  Preliminary considerations 309
10.1.2  Gates 310
10.1.2.1 Types of gates311
10.1.2.2 Gate classification312
10.1.2.3 Selection of the type of gates312
10.1.2.4 Usage limits313
10.1.2.5 Outlet discharge coefficients314
10.1.2.6 Discharge coefficients – spillways segment gates318
10.1.3  Valves 322
10.2 Turbines 330
10.2.1  Generalities 330
10.2.1.1 Action turbines331
10.2.1.2 Reaction turbines331
10.2.2  Design conditions and data 331
10.2.3  Turbine efficiency and plant efficiency 335
10.2.4  Turbine equation 336
10.2.5  Hydraulic similarity and speed number 338
10.2.6  Specific numbers 339
10.2.7  Operation out of design head 339
10.2.8  Runaway speed 340
10.2.9  Hydraulic thrust 341
10.2.10   Suction height and cavitation 341
10.2.11   Cavitation limits 343
10.3 Pelton Turbines 344
10.3.1  Application range 344
10.3.2  Basic principle 345
10.3.3  Dimensions 345
10.3.4  Performance data 345
10.4 Francis turbines 346
10.4.1  Application range 346
10.4.2  Basic principle 346
10.4.3  Dimensions 346
10.4.4  Performance data 348
x Contents

10.5    Kaplan turbines 349

10.5.1  Application range 349
10.5.2  Basic principle 350
10.5.3  Dimensions 350
10.5.4  Performance data 351
10.6    Bulb turbines 352
10.6.1  Application range 352
10.6.2  Basic principle 353
10.6.3  Dimensions 353
10.6.4  Performance data 353
10.7    Tubular turbines 354
10.8    Straflo turbines 354
10.9    Open flume turbine 356
10.10    Turbine performance tests 357
10.10.1   Performance guarantees 357
10.10.2   Field test 358
10.10.3   Model tests 358
10.11    Turbine control 359
10.12    Mechanical auxiliary equipment 360

11 Electrical equipment: operation and maintenance 361

11.1   Synchronous generator 361
11.1.1  Synchronous machines 361
11.1.2  The energy conversion 363
11.1.3  Generator main elements 365
11.1.4  Generator rated capacity 366
11.1.5  Dimensioning factors 367
11.1.6  Design principles 370
11.1.6.1 The stator core372
11.1.6.2 The stator winding373
11.1.6.3 The poles and pole windings373
11.1.6.4 The bearings373
11.1.6.5 The cooling system375
11.1.7  Monitoring and instrumentation 377
11.1.8  Transport of turbine-generator and assembly 377
11.1.9  Tests 379
11.2   Layout of the generating unit 379
11.3   Main transformers 388
11.4   Auxiliary electrical systems 389
11.4.1  Alternating current system (AC) 390
11.4.2  Direct current system (DC) 390
11.5   Protection systems 391
11.5.1  Protective relays 391
11.5.2  Current protection criteria 391
11.5.3  Protection of generating nits 392
11.5.3.1 Electrical faults392
11.5.3.2 Mechanical faults393
 Contents xi

11.5.4 Protection of elevator transformers 393

11.5.5 Transmission line protection 394
11.5.6 Breaker failure protection 395
11.5.7 Substation bar protection 395
11.6 Substation interconnection of the plant to the system 396
11.6.1 Switchyard, or substation, equipment 396
11.6.2 Other components and installations 397
11.6.3 Switchyard types 397
11.6.4 Equipment arrangements 397
11.6.5 Maneuvering schemes 397
11.6.5.1 Simple bar398
11.6.5.2 Main transfer bar, single breaker398
11.6.5.3 Double bar, single breaker398
11.6.5.4 
Double bar, single circuit breaker with bypass
disconnecting switches400
11.6.5.5 Double bar and transfer bar401
11.6.5.6 Double bar, one breaker and a half401
11.6.5.7 Double bar, double breaker402
11.6.6 Maneuvering scheme selection criteria 403
11.6.7 Powerplant connection to electrical system 404
11.6.7.1 Receiving substation405
11.6.7.2 Transmission line405
11.7 Operation and maintenance 405

12 Construction planning 407

12.1 Construction phases 407
12.1.1 First phase diversion 407
12.1.2 Second phase diversion 407
12.2 River diversion design 409
12.2.1 Discharges and risks 409
12.2.2 Phases of river diversion 415
12.2.3 River diversion dimensioning 416
12.2.4 River diversion – execution 417
12.2.5 Hydraulic models 418
12.3 Construction planning 418
12.4 Assembly or erection planning 422
12.5 Accesses to the construction site 423
12.6 Contracting procedures 423
12.6.1 Classical modality 423
12.6.2 Turn-Key 425
12.6.3 Alliance 428
12.6.4 Guaranteed maximum price 428
12.6.5 Final considerations 429

13 Risks and management of patrimony 431

13.1 Introduction 431
13.2 Dam breaks causes statistics 431
xii Contents

13.3 Main accidents in the world 432

13.3.1 Malpasset dam (Southeast France) 433
13.3.2 Vajont dam (Italy) 437
13.3.3 Teton dam (USA) 438
13.3.3.1 US dam safety439
13.3.4 El Guapo dam (Venezuela) 440
13.3.5 Lower San Fernando dam (USA) 440
13.3.6 Sayano-Shushensk accident (Russia) 443
13.3.7 Bieudron plant – breakdown of the penstock (Switzerland) 445
13.4 Risks associated with hydroelectric plants 448
13.4.1 Risks of dam breaks – submersion waves 448
13.4.2 Dam breaks risk prevention – regulatory and legal aspects 455
13.4.3 Flood risks 456
13.4.4 Geological and geotechnical risks 456
13.4.5 Risks related to the constructive aspects 457
13.4.6 Risks related to penstocks 457
13.4.7 Risks related to turbine start-up 457
13.4.8 Risks during operation and maintenance 457
13.5 Management of hydroelectric patrimony 457
13.5.1 Context evolution 457
13.5.2 The three issues of asset management in
hydraulic production 458
13.5.3 Risk management: key issues 458
13.5.3.1 The technical questions458
13.5.3.2 The coordination of actions458
13.5.3.3 Decision support for measurement of issues posed459
13.5.3.4 principles governing the development of decision
approaches459
13.5.4 Risk hierarchy 459
13.5.4.1 Operations prioritization process460
13.5.4.2 Define unwanted events460
13.5.4.3 Evaluate occurrences461
13.5.4.4 The impacts per question462
13.5.5 A multicriteria decision support 464
13.6 Conclusion 465

References 467
Glossary 473
Appendix: Chapter 3 – Additional examples of layouts 497
Index 585
About the author

Geraldo Magela Pereira is a Civil Engineer, graduated from

the Brasília University (July 1974), with 45 years of experience
in hydroelectric powerplants projects (HPPs). He has received
his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Civil Defense
Protection at the Fluminense Federal University, Niterói –
Rio de Janeiro State (2017).
  He has worked in the geotechnical and hydraulic areas,
including studies on hydraulic models, arrangements and
plan-coordination and direction of projects, in its various
phases: Inventory Studies, and Feasibility Studies, along with
Basic Projects and Executive Projects. He has also worked in
the commercial area between 1998 and 2012, developing business for the implementa-
tion of projects in EPC Contracts. He published one paper in the XVI ICOLD of San
Francisco (USA) in 1988, about the “Historic Food During the 2nd Phase of Tocantins
River Diversion for the Construction of Tucuruí HPP”, Q. 63, R. 2, and several papers
in Brazilian seminars of large dams. He also published three books in Portuguese lan-
guage: Hydroelectric Power Plants Design Step by Step (2015), Spillways Design Step by
Step (2016), and Accidents and Ruptures of Dams (in pdf form) (2018). He also published
again the book Spillways Design Step by Step in 2020 in English language.

The main companies/projects he has been part of are as follows:

Federal Railway Network, Rio de Janeiro (1974/1975): third line in the eastern region
of São Paulo city;

Hidroesb, Rio de Janeiro (1975/1976): Physical Hydraulic Models,

Enge-Rio, Rio de Janeiro (1977/1979): Balbina HPP (250 MW), Eletronorte;

Milder Kaiser Engineering, São Paulo (1980/1981): Rosana HPP (320 MW), Cesp;

Engevix, Rio de Janeiro (1981–2012): Tucuruí HPP (first phase -4,000 MW), Eletro-
norte, including 2 years training the team of operation of the spillway gates of the
spillway; Santa Isabel HPP (2,200 MW), Eletronorte; Salto da Divisa HPP and Ita-
pebi HPP Studies, Furnas; Canoas I HPP (72 MW) and Canoas II HPP (82.5 MW),
Cesp; Capim Branco I HPP and Capim Branco II HPP – EPC; Baguari HPP – EPC.
xiv About the author

Magela Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro since October 1994:

• Design of several small hydroelectrics (PCHs) for several clients, totaling 1,000
MW, approx.
• Inventory studies of the rivers Sucuriú, Verde, Iguatemi and Paraíso (MS): Ara-
guaia/Tocantins – revision (TO); Teles Pires (MT); Fetal and Prata (MG).
• Consultant of Engevix Eng.: the implementation of the Monte Serrat (25 MW),
Bonfante (19 MW) and Santa Rosa (30 MW) SHPs in the Rio de Janeiro;
• Consultant of Leme Eng, Belo Horizonte. (1997) for projects in Chile (Laja I/Laja
II) and Panama (Teribe and Changuinola);
• Coordinated for Eletrobras the revision of the Manual of Small Hydroelectric
Plants (PCHs-1997/1998);
• Consultant of SGH – ANEEL, for analysis of SHP projects (2000);
• Consultant of CPFL Energia to develop business with SHPs (2008–2010).
Another random document with
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 We soon go S.E., and endless swarms of swimming birds come to
meet us, and appear to fly down with the river. The pelicans also
follow the very same direction, but rest every moment upon the
water. It appears that these birds are fonder of live fish, and leave
the dead ones to birds of prey, and on that account seek for the
inundated parts of the lower course of the stream. In a very short
time we go S.W., but immediately again, at eight o’clock, S.E. The
wind passes over to the E. in order to gain strength. Like yesterday
afternoon, the right shore, from N.E. to S.E., is now covered with
tokul-tops, partly collected together as villages, partly lying singly on
the line of the horizon, upon which also some dhellèb-palms may be
remarked.
To follow the shore of the river, and to define the limits of the
bed of the White Stream, over which it here and there rolls, the
principal thing would be to follow the line of the villages and old
trees, for these determine the peculiar marks of high water, elevated
by the river itself. From this high water we might, perhaps, be able
to ascertain the mean breadth of the river. But such a difficult
journey by land will be certainly, for a long time, an intricate
problem. The Turks themselves have also here, without perhaps
wishing it, failed in the first impression; so that from “children of
heaven” they have become “white devils,” in the eyes of the people.
Therefore we see on every side pillars of smoke ascending, which
are to be considered as signals of approaching danger, according to
the statement of our heroes; whilst the kindled reed-straw, or the
high grass of the savannah prairies, spreads its smoke horizontally.
Innumerable birds are perched round, in the ambaks; among them a
number of turtle-doves are cooing very peaceably, reminding me
more of the great Campo in Constantinople than of the lower shores
of the Nile.
Ten o’clock. Fadl told me, from the mast, that firm land was
approaching the shore from both sides. It was not long before we
perceived, whilst making three miles’ course, some tokuls also on
the left shore, part of them appearing to be of peculiar size. We see
also, in the middle of the reeds, on small eminences, two such huts,
said to serve fishermen for temporary abodes. Four men and a
woman make signs, or greet us, by raising up their arms high in the
air; but even with the best will, we are not able to force our way to
them, although they may have something we could pillage.
Nevertheless, the right shore retreats again, and we distinguish only
the palms of the last-mentioned village.
We continue S.S.E., and as the right shore goes back towards
S.E., the left shore approaches nearer with S.W. by S. The stream is
now more than 400 paces broad; its water is still very dark, and the
broad reeds, with the other aquatic plants, present such a verdant
appearance, that it is quite refreshing; and they shoot forth with
such vigour, that we imagine we see them growing. It is eleven
o’clock. The N.E. wind has again slackened. Our direction is S.E. The
water is stagnant in the reeds, not only shut out by them from the
current, but also kept back from the stream, which, notwithstanding
the narrowness of its bed, has only one mile in rapidity. An influx of
this stagnant water into the narrow river-bed can only, therefore,
take place according to the proportion in which the stream gradually
runs off, and is absorbed into this, its bed.
The Frenchmen pretend, when they return from the mast, to
adjust the genuine river-bed, but they will not believe that the water
has fallen so that one cannot see over the reeds and the marsh-
trees. The company was to have dined with us, but Feïzulla Capitan,
who had undertaken to invite the others, had gone first with the
sandal to Suliman Kashef, and had there caroused to such excess
that he even forgot to invite Suliman himself. Yet, this morning, he
thought that he had not only invited him, but also Selim Capitan and
the Frenchmen. We made, therefore, the necessary provision for this
repast, and waited for the vessels preceding us to bring up; until I
heard at last from Selim Capitan as he passed us, that Feïzulla had
not been to him.
The latitude yesterday was 8° 36′ 30″, and to-day, 8° 36′. We
remained generally, with small declinations, in the south-easterly
direction. The hygrometer indicated at three o’clock 40′, and after
five o’clock 50′, of atmospheric moisture, whilst in the night it had
70′ to 80′. The dew constantly shews itself first towards morning,
and the carpet lying upon the deck is as wet as if it had been dipped
in water. The cheerful verdure is explained from this cause, yet it will
be extremely monotonous if the same vegetation continues for any
distance. We supped together in our vessel, and the Russian
renegade, Captain Selim Aga, shewed his usual good scent, and
likewise appeared. We were merry, and had two Abu Hashis to
contend in witticisms; during which they wished each other to be
troubled with all the gnats, and kept up a continual scoffing.
 CHAPTER VII.
QUESTION OF THE NAVIGATION OF THE NILE. — KING OF THE SNAKES. —
OFFERINGS TO HIM BY THE ARABS. — KURDISTAN. — MÀRIAN’S AUTHORITY
OVER THE NEGROES. — THE TAILOR CAPTAIN AGAIN. — DHELLÈB-PALMS. —
WANTON DESTRUCTION BY THE CREW. — ELEPHANTS: WHITE BIRDS ON
THEIR BACKS. — POISON-TREES. — THE NATION OF THE KÈKS: CUSTOMS
AND DESCRIPTION OF THEM. — FLESH OF CAMELS AND GIRAFFES. —
MERISSA PREPARED FROM ABRÈ. — THIBAUT DISCOVERED TO BE AN OLD
ACQUAINTANCE. — RECOLLECTIONS OF GREECE. — WILD CUCUMBERS. —
FEIZULLA CAPITAN’S DRINKING PROPENSITIES.

17th December.—Immediately after sunrise we sailed S.S.E.; at

eight o’clock, S.S.W., and at nine o’clock, S.W. by S. The stream we
navigate is tolerably broad, and appears, so far as we can see over
the reedy-sea, to be the only one. On the right shore we have still
the dhellèb-palms of yesterday in sight; the land retreats towards
S.E., whilst the left shore comes nearer, and lets us see individual
tokuls and villages. Some blacks stand on the shore, which
approaches us at nine o’clock within gun-shot. They greet us and
make signs, but we cannot go to them on account of the reeds,
willingly as we would make their acquaintance, in order to provide
ourselves again with meat. Ten o’clock. The left shore appears to go
S.W. with the river, calculating from some trees and dhellèb-palms.
The east wind is tolerably strong; we make three miles. A large
pelican was shot, and there were found in the pouch under its bill
twenty-four fresh fish, the size of moderate herrings. This burden
had impeded its flight from our vessels, and prevented it from
swallowing its prey, on the death-shot, as is usual with these birds.
If we consider this enigmatical stream territory, we ask ourselves
whether the white river, of and by itself, with such a weight of water,
can maintain these lagoons under an African sun? Were the Nile one
stream, it must flow off faster; for the rains have already ceased
here, and previously, indeed, under the Equator itself. How could the
Nile, which still shews its peculiar disposable mass of water, in its
main-stream, supply, quite alone, that enormous mass of water, and
even to the present time maintain under water these immense reedy
lakes, unless other tributary streams, the mouths of which stagnate,
owing to the level nature of the ground, and the counter-pressure of
the main-stream, supplied a nourishment great beyond belief, to
this, with which it equally rises and falls? For the whole mass of
water in complexu must suffer an incredible diminution during such
a long tract in its slow ebbing, under a burning sun, or this Bahr-el-
Abiad must have real giant-springs in its source.
A steam-boat here might surmount many difficulties, and give us
the necessary corrections for a map, which cannot be effected by
sailing with a constant wind, owing to the often diametrically
opposite windings, and the endless difficult calculations. In order to
bring such a steam-vessel safe over the upper cataracts of Wadi
Halfa, or even of Es-Suan, it must be constructed in such a manner
that the paddle-wheels could be entirely taken out, so that it might
be towed over by ropes, or it must be built in Khartùm, which,
indeed, might be difficult from want of good timber, as the sunt-tree,
though very strong, affords but brittle wood. The greatest difficulty
would be the establishment and protection of coal-magazines; and
with regard to applying charcoal to this purpose, although the White
Stream in its lower course has forests enough, yet not so on its
middle and upper part: and even if the requisite wood should be
found, much time must be lost in felling and preparing it for
charcoal. A considerable number of men also would be always
necessary for the protection of these establishments, and their
consumption of victuals would be so great, that their provisions
would leave no room for the charcoal, as the vessels could not be
heavier laden. There is another very great consideration,—these
labyrinths go through the marshy regions. If only a few men,
therefore, should be embarked, and other vessels employed to take
up coals, their crews must consist entirely of men selected for the
purpose, and known to one another, in order that they might
communicate with the inhabitants of the shore, and be able to aim
at something more than simply ascertaining the course of the river.
Europeans only are fit for this, as they have ideas of humanity, and
subjection to the will of One.
At last we have determined to take the clumsy kaiàss in tow, at
the droll request of Hässeïn Aga. Our vessel began with it, in order
to form a line with the other larger Dahabiës. At eleven o’clock we
discerned, upon a marsh island, near the left shore, some thirty
talle-trees; this genus we had missed for some time. Here we turn
S.S.E., and with a small bend E.S.E., and then E. by S. We were
driven by the east wind close to the right bank of the reeds before
we had reefed the sails. The only remaining hope that the river may
follow its winding course, and bring us, with the assistance of rowing
a short way, into a more favourable direction.
Hüsseïn Aga, who is on board our vessel, with another Kurd of
Suliman-kashefs, confirms what we had already heard from the Kurd
Abdul-Elliàb, and which all these people firmly believe,—namely, that
derwishes know how to prepare a liquor, which, if but once drunk of,
is a preventive thenceforward of the bite of a snake, or of rendering
it harmless. Such a derwish is said to be found even in Khartùm. But
some few words, which they assert to be a secret, are requisite to
exorcise or find out where snakes are. I then heard that the King of
the Snakes is called Shah Maràn. They cannot say, however, where
this Sultan lived or died before he assumed the form of a snake, nor
do they know his fixed residence, for he sometimes appears in one
place, sometimes in another, like the two tutelar deities by water and
land, Abu Seïd and Abd-el-Kader. The Arabs are also said to adjure
this Snake King in their exorcisms. Even the long sailor, Salem,
whom I had patronised on account of his German countenance, and
to whom I had given some piasters for the snakes he brought me,
one of which he even seized with naked hands before my eyes,
affirmed by his silence that he would not trust me, even under the
greatest promises of secrecy, with this mystery, inherited from his
father. The country of this Shah Maràn is in Turkish Kurdistàn, not
very far from Adana, where there are two villages exempted from
paying tribute on condition of supplying the snakes there with milk.
 Abd-Elliab had himself offered milk to the snakes in that region,
and swore that he had seen with his own eyes this King, unless it
was a Wokil or deputy, of whom Maràn has many. Abd-Elliab poured
his milk into one of the basins there formed by nature, whereupon,
in the first place, a large snake, with long hair on its head, rolled out
from the hole in the rock, and drank of it. This great chief then
retired, without, however, speaking a word to him, as it had done to
others; because, at that time, he had not abjured strong drinks.
Afterwards other snakes crawled out from all the clefts of rocks, and
took the remains of the milk, as being subjects of the former one.
The two other Kurds (sing. Kurd plur. Krat), who were not friends
with this Koran-hero, vouched for the truth of their countryman’s
statement, and gave it as their opinion that the great Maràn only
shewed himself to a saint, or a Sultan; and that he had a human
face, for that otherwise he could not speak and give advice.
They related, likewise, more credible histories of their country;
how their capital city, Nausùd, stands upon a high, impregnable
rock, where the Sultan Haidar resides, and has six Bashas under
him; that all the warriors wear armour, and are mounted, and that
the mountaineers themselves have never been subdued. Then they
spoke of their manner of hunting, and their hawking for hares and
gazelles, and said that a good falcon costs 2000 piastres. They suffer
no Jews to reside in their state, and assert that the latter kill and
drink the blood of prisoners, when they happen to be Krat (Kurds).
At half-past four Selim Capitan returned to us, because he
thought some accident must have happened; the ships which had
preceded having waited for us three hours. Feizulla Capitan, with the
same zeal that he read, a short time ago, the Koràn, so that he
neither heard nor saw, now sits at his tailoring, and lets the crew do
what they like. They therefore never think of exerting themselves
and seizing the oar, but draw the vessel forward on the reeds,
slinging a rope round it to tow it. We had scarcely made one mile,
when the river wound towards the right side from E. by S. to S.S.E.,
and we saw beyond the reeds, projecting in a sharp angle, the other
vessels with their glittering sails.
 That the reeds have sufficient strength to encroach in this
manner on the path of the river, or that a counterpressure from the
left shore, although no tributary stream is visible in the
neighbourhood takes place, indicates the weakness of the current.
So far it is established, that if a straighter bed here could be
assigned to the river, by removing the reeds, it would have a fall,
and, by that means, a more rapid flow. These marsh lakes might be
made dry at certain seasons of the year, and an immeasurable,
fertile, low country would be gained, such, perhaps, as exists not
elsewhere in the world. And this cutting through of the reeds does
not lie beyond the reach of possibility, if once ideas of cultivation of
land spread even here. Some miserable tokuls, on small elevated
spots, peep out from the reeds; their vicinity to snakes, gnats, and
other vermin, is not to be envied. We follow the course of the river,
at four o’clock, towards S.S.W., and set three more oars on, without
Feïzulla Capitan’s orders.
Again there is contention among the blacks, who are of different
tribes. Prince Mariàn, the serjeant, lashes away in a very vigorous
manner between them, with his nabùt, and by his simple look calms
the wild, inflamed passions of these Negroes, which neither the
Captain, nor Abd-Elliab (if even the latter had been still on board),
could have succeeded in doing. They have all a peculiar veneration
for this man, whom they call their Mak, and he had needs only
express a wish, and it would go hard with us whites.
We soon went S.S.W., and at sun-set, E.S.E. The rowers then rest
on their laurels, for Feïzulla must wind up his thread, and he never
once looks up to see whether the other vessels are going a-head. At
last I myself take to the oars, as well as Mariàn, in order to set the
people a good example. The tailor-captain sat up on the deck near
the lantern, and had himself fanned, for the gnats will not respect
his artistical fingers. He was never vexed at bringing down Selim
Capitan’s reproaches, for his tarrying behind, but only annoyed at
being obliged, though for a short time, to leave his sewing
implements, to which he faithfully stuck, with an incredible indolence
and indifference to every thing else. The people rested every
moment, and we did not reach the vessels waiting for us, where the
river goes S.E., till nine o’clock.
18th December.—Half an hour before sunrise we followed our
course towards S.E., and the east wind blew so faintly that it
scarcely swelled the sails, and we moved but with difficulty from the
spot. My mast-watcher, Fadl, says that a river, from the trees of the
left shore, which I see, upon the deck, behind us, towards N.W.,
enters into the land in a basin far above an hour; that this land is
covered with trees, and again approaches the river towards the
south, and that many tops of tokuls are visible upon the right tree-
less shore, away beyond the reeds and grass, at a distance of two
hours. We are therefore again in a lake, wherein this large village,
according to his account, lies upon a neck of land which corresponds
with the bay of the left bank.
After an hour and a half, we take to our oars, and double, for the
first time, a corner towards E., and immediately afterwards to E. by
N. The damp yesterday evening was so great that it penetrated our
clothes. In the reeds there was continual croaking, chirping,
waddling, and springing up of the spawning-fish, such as we had not
before heard. Birds also flew over us, uttering a shrill and whistling
sound, said to announce a storm. We torment ourselves till eleven
o’clock by slowly moving along the right shore of the reeds; and in
order to get the crew into some activity, I have forced the tailor out
of his shop, for the east wind has become stronger, and the river
makes a bend before us to the south, as we perceived by the masts
of the ships waiting for us. We sail, therefore, towards the south, to
the other vessels, which have already got a considerable start of us.
We quit this southern direction at the end of an hour, go for half an
hour towards S.E., and then more eastward and E. by S., where
again we are obliged to take to our oars. The group of the thirteen
dhellèb-palms, which previously stood south of us, retreats to the
left shore. We saw here four fishing-huts in the reeds, near which
some blacks were occupied in fishing. At noon S.E., and at two
o’clock towards E., sailing.
 One can scarcely form an idea of the continual and extraordinary
windings of the river. Half an hour ago we saw, on the right, the
Muscovite’s vessel, and on the left the other vessels a-head on a line
with us, separated, however, by the high grass, from which their
masts and sails joyfully peeped forth. I could scarcely persuade
myself that we had proceeded from the one place, and shall steer to
the other. There is something cheerful and tranquilizing in this life-
like picture of ships seeking and finding each other again in the
immeasurable grass-sea, which gives us a feeling of security. It must
be a sight to the people of this region that they cannot comprehend,
owing to the distance.
Those sixteen dhellèb-palms have at last approached to within
gun-shot. I had counted them four times, and every time found
another, so exactly does one trunk cover the other. I do not call
them handsome trees, because they stand there in the green
wilderness; no, I find them really beautiful, for there is a peculiar
charm in them. They rise like double gigantic flowers upon slender
stalks, gently protruding in the middle, and not like those defoliated
date-palms, which stand meagerly, like large cabbage-stalks. It is
impossible that the latter should delight my poor heart, full of the
remembrance of shady trees,—the oaks and beech-trees of
Germany; the planes near Parnassus; the cypress on the Bosphorus,
and the chestnuts on the Asiatic Olympus. About three o’clock we
landed on the left shore, and found it dry, to our astonishment, but
still green, and covered with high grasses. Near the palms were four
ant-hills, on the tops of which we found the wet blue clay worked
up. Some miserable tokuls also stood around, but they were
deserted by the inhabitants. To my sorrow, I see again a sürtuk
destroyed, for the sake of some splinters of wood, merely to keep up
a fire the whole night for amusement, on board the sandal,—not to
drive away the gnats, for they let the fire burn in a clear flame.
Wherever they have the opportunity of displaying their petulance,
our blacks also are ever ready. They are not ever ashamed to have
always in their mouths the word “Abit,” although they themselves
are slaves, and will be so while they live, though clad in the soldier’s
smock frock, for the Turkish soldiery have not yet qualified
themselves for an honourable condition.
It shews a want of order, nautical policy, and tact, on the part of
the commanders, to allow the poor inhabitants of the left shore to
be injured. They are said for some days past to belong to the nation
of the Nuèhrs. Suliman Kashef has made over some of his own crew
to us, to assist in rowing our vessel; but Feïzulla plays tauola
(tavola), or backgammon, with a Turk, and thinks, when he does not
hear the stroke of the oar, that we are sailing. I had collected some
pretty plants near those villages, and found wild cucumbers, without
prickles, as well as a kind of aloe, seeming here to thrive on marshy
soil. About five o’clock we had to be towed a short distance; then we
took a little to our oars, and at sun-set joined the other ships in the
east. The river has a depth of three fathoms and about three-
quarters of a mile rapidity in the intersection. I appeal to Suliman
Kashef to prevent the taking away and hewing up of sürtuks. He
himself confesses that the Icthyophagi dwelling here in the reeds,
being entirely cut off from the rest of the world, would be lost, as it
were, without their fishing-boats, since they can neither swim nor
wade through the marshes; he promises therefore to forbid it.
19th December.—We had cast anchor in the middle of the
stream, and the right shore was raised above the grass, to the
distance of a quarter of an hour; it was quite bare, notwithstanding
its row of palm-trees. It is a dead calm, and we do not put ourselves
in motion till half-past seven o’clock, assisting the slackened sails by
rowing. We bend immediately to the W., and I see before me, to my
astonishment, the sixteen palms again standing and the row of
palms just mentioned behind us, as well as the vessels preceding us
on the left towards the E. Near the palms of the right shore, we
remarked not a family, but a small army of elephants, moving slowly
here and there under the trees, apparently for the purpose of tasting
the dhellèb-fruit. This is not yet grown to its full size, nor ripe; but
perhaps they will shake it down by the weight of their body, as I
have seen them in Taka, do with the doum-palms. Two elephants
were previously shewn me in the country, where we saw the giraffes
and ostriches, appearing in the far distance like hills, until they
began to move.
At half-past eight o’clock, S.E. by E., north-east wind, but faint,
and only one mile and a half course. In the space of half an hour, we
shall be advancing to the south, where the other ships are already.
The serpentine winding of the Nile would have a beautiful
appearance from an air-balloon, striving, as it does, to break a road
through the reeds in all directions.
The steersman would often be puzzled what direction to take if
we did not push against the stream, which requires labour and
exertion. If it were otherwise, they would let themselves drift with
“Allah Kerim,” and most certainly would fall every moment with the
high water into unknown paths among the reeds, and pass several
islands by force, or remain sticking therein.
At half-past nine o’clock we proceed westwards, in order to go
again southwards after a quarter of an hour, as we see by the
vessels sailing before us. At eleven o’clock to S.W. two miles and a
quarter, and at twelve o’clock only one mile and a quarter. At one
o’clock the wind has almost entirely died away, when we again turn
towards the south. The sixteen palms are still visible behind us, and
we must have advanced in little curves, as we see by the vessels
behind us, during my short sleep, caused by the nightly epileptic fits
of Feïzulla Capitan. Wonderful to relate, we have sailed by them, the
captain having roused himself, for a short time, from his apathy.
Bushes of high reeds, and little forests of ambaks in Nile grass;
before us a long group of palms, which, as Fadl at the mast-head
thinks, belongs to the right shore.
From south we make a small bend towards east, and turn a little
corner of the left shore of reeds to S.W., where we again derive
some advantage from the nearly exhausted wind. I hear from the
mast that the left shore winds back to south, and that the right
again approaches the river in a semicircle.
 For some days past the stream has appeared whitish or clouded
to the superficial observer. Viewing it however, through the glass, we
find it quite clear. It is also well tasted, which was not the case
throughout the marshy lakes. If we find the river, having here a
breadth of five hundred paces, and a depth of from three to four
fathoms, we continue to ask the question, from whence does this
enormous mass of water come?
We have already passed the limits wherein the Mountains of the
Moon have been placed. It would almost seem the river is
accumulated in a cauldron-shaped valley, the declivities of which
encroach with long arms on the African world, and from which the
discharge after the periodical rains would be also only periodical.
Unless it has an immeasurable tributary stream as an unfailing
source from a south-westerly ramification of the Abyssinian high
lands, because the level ground, notwithstanding its tropical
vegetation, has too little power of attraction to justify such an
enormous power of throwing out water by the instrumentality of a
lake, under the absorbing African sun.
The breadth of the current amounts generally here to about five
hundred paces; its reed-lakes are always at the side. At half-past
two o’clock we move slowly S.S.E. with the north wind, which has
nearly died away, and set to work with the oars. We are glad that it
is a north wind, thinking that it may become constant before the end
of this month. Four o’clock. What Fadl said three hours ago is
confirmed even now, inasmuch as I see from the deck the right
shore more than a quarter of an hour distant, though I am not able
from the cabin to look over the reeds. The palms stand here in
graceful rows, and satisfy the wandering eye in search of something
to rest upon; an isolated dhellèb is also seen far up the river. We sail
W. by S., and a skirt of trees with some dhellèbs behind approaches
us, but is lost soon again in the distance to S.W. There is nothing to
be distinguished on the left shore. Ant-hills are visible in the reeds,
among which, in spite of their fresh green, there are dry spots.
 On the right shore we noticed a giraffe and twenty elephants, the
latter teazed in an impudently friendly manner by white birds,
against whom they tossed up their trunks: their tormentors,
however, always returned to their heads and high backs, in order to
pick the ticks out of their thick skins, like the crows on the pigs in
Greece. They appear to me to be the very same birds we saw in
Egypt perched on cows and camels. When the last-named animals
have old wounds on their backs, they are visited by birds of prey. I
was never allowed to shoot them, because the Arabs believe that
they pick out only the tainted flesh, and even contribute to heal the
wounds, when the unmerciful cauterization of these people proves
ineffectual. Mariàn shewed me some trees, of singular shape, having
a corolla like that of a cactus. They are called Shudder el Simm, or
poison-trees. On the left bank of the river I saw fourteen miserable
tokuls upon the partly dried up morass, projecting between the
reeds, and various iron pots lying about. They had the usual pointed
roof of straw or halfa; the lower wall of reeds was plastered over
with morass. Judging from this plaster, which had fallen off three
feet high from the earth, the water had only risen here four feet,
reckoning the height of the island at a foot. This, the highest water-
line, had not been able to carry away an old thatched roof of some
four feet high, and six feet diameter.
Beyond these fishing-huts, spread far and wide in the water, is
reed grass, overtopped like a bush by high rushes. Now I find it
explained why the White Stream on the efflux of these slime-lakes,
wherein thousands of animals miserably die, stands in such bad
repute in Khartùm, because we found ourselves a short time ago,
when in a tributary arm of the river, in a nonplus,—the water being
really undrinkable. A microscope might generally give interesting
results in these places. The lakes must not be considered as similar
to the slime-lakes of the Blue Nile, Rhine, and Rhone.
Sunset, six o’clock.—From the mast the right shore is seen
retreating to the distance of an hour, and approaches again before
us, whilst the left bank comes near us for a moment, so that a round
basin with a wide mouth is created. We hoist sails, and row to S.E.
by S.
It is evident that the Nile, which we traverse, in spite of all its
circular windings, can never go out of the path of that old shore so
often denoted. It is certain that these windings enclose the gigantic
bed of the stream in vast curved lines; for the primitive stream could
not be arrested by a paltry opposition, as the present one is, even
by the reeds. If a journey by land were practicable on the old border
of the Nile, the road would be far shorter. The thermometer has now
got up to 25°. We stay behind during the night, because the crew
will not work any more. Feïzulla Capitan retreats ashamed into the
cabin and says not a word.
20th December.—Even before daybreak I went out of the cabin
to watch the weather; but the mist which melted away yesterday
morning at the rising-sun, did not make its appearance.
Nevertheless, I watched for the third time the dawn of morning, and
found I could read a printed book three-quarters of an hour before
sunrise. The morning dawn is, therefore, not so very short as is
generally believed. I had previously remarked this also in Khartùm.
We had 26° Reaumur, yesterday afternoon, in spite of the dead calm
only 25°. The fall of dew was considerable, and wetted my guns
even through the window, which I had scarcely opened. The
hippopotami put their heads above water, as if to consider the
appearance of our ships.
Immediately after the sunrise a gentle wind arose, directly
increasing, however, to a strong breeze, and we sailed from the
north, S.W.; but soon rounded a sharp corner of the reeds on the
right shore towards E. A group of high rushes of twenty feet high
above the water was entwined picturesquely with the blooming
convolvulus, which also floated in long tendrils with numerous
flowers upon the water, intersected, likewise, by high aquatic herbs
and low plants. The water hurries partly in cheerful flowing rivulets
through this group, in order to seek the nearest channel. The left
shore surrounds us at a distance of half an hour or an hour, in a
beautiful arch, with palm clumps and isolated trees, from N. to S. by
E.
Our course amounts to two miles and a half, and the rapidity of
the river here is generally half a mile. Nine o’clock.—Just as I lift up
my eyes, we go again from S.W. to E. by S., and immediately to
S.W., where we see some strong trees before us. Half-past nine
o’clock, S., then S.W., subsequently S., and then S.E., with four miles’
course.
Once more we see, after a lapse of a long time, a certain number
of people, said to form a considerable nation, under the name of
Kèks. The little village yonder contains only thirteen wretched tokuls;
the pointed roofs are low, and, like the walls, of straw. Among the
trees there are some which branch out vigorously, and have a thick
green foliage; they are said also to be found in upper Kordofàn or
Nuba, where, according to Mariàn, they are called Tihls. Their fruit is
long and large, like the pumpkin, and edible. Possibly a Nuba negro
may think them relishing; but subsequently, when we found a
number of such trees, called by the Arabs elephant-trees, I found
the unripe fruit not eatable. The Arabs also, who themselves eat
locusts, although not from choice, never eat this fruit even when
ripe. Isolated poison-trees also stand round about there. A second
village lay back in the reeds. The people were of a livid colour, and
naked; they smear themselves, as the Shilluks are said partly to do,
with Nile slime, as a protection against the sting of gnats.
It was affecting to see how these poor creatures raised both
hands high in the air, and let them slowly fall, by way of greeting. A
woman likewise, naked to the girdle, greeted us, placing her elbows
somewhat close to her body, and made with her hands, the flat side
upwards, the motion of saluting usual also with us. She had an ivory
ring round her head, and another round the neck; which last must
have been either ingeniously put together, or slipped over her head
in her youth. The men wore ivory rings around one arm. A man
turned towards his hut, as if inviting us in; another stood alone,
lifted his hands, and jumped round in a circle upon one spot.
 DOUM-PALMS. DHELLEB-PALMS. BAOBABS. BAOBABS.
A VILLAGE OF THE SHILLUKS, ON THE LEFT SHORE OF THE NILE.
25TH MARCH, 1841.

Our Dinkas (whose language is allied to that of the Nuèhres and

Keks), said that they wanted durra from us, and told us that their
cows were far away, and would not return till evening. (Durra is
called in Bellet-Sudàn, esh, which denotes bread in Egypt, and
plainly indicates to the primeval bread-corn of the Egyptians found
still in the old tombs; but it is also here used for bread in the
Egyptian manner, whilst the pancake-bread is called kisra.) Our
Dinkas, as well as Mariàn, asserted in the most positive manner that
these Kèks kill no animal, but only live on grains of seed and milk. I
could distinguish no hair on their heads, and heard that they coat it
with clay, and let it dry in the sun. I greeted them with my hand,
and two of them repeatedly jumped in the air, and gave me to
understand that they recognised my salute. These must be the real
happy Ethiopians, for they seem to lead a blameless life, and they
do not even have festivals, like the Homeric ones. I could not
ascertain, with certainty, whether this sparing of animal life extends
also to game and fish; it was generally asserted, however, that they
eat cattle that die a natural death. The latter also is partly done in
the land of Sudàn, but not by the genuine Arabs; it is even contrary
to the Koràn, to eat a beast struck by a bullet, unless its throat has
been cut whilst it yet lived, to let out the blood: this is scouted also
by the Hebrews.
At Khartùm, I saw, one morning, quite early, two dead camels
lying on a public square; the men were cutting off large pieces to
roast, and the dogs stood mournfully around. I myself, with Drs.
Fisher and Pruner, helped to consume, in Kàhira, a roasted portion of
Clot Bey’s beautiful giraffe, which had eaten too much bersim (white
clover): the meat is very tender, and of tolerably fine grain; the
tongue appeared to me a real delicacy. I could never acquire a taste,
however, for the course fibrous flesh of camels, even when they
were young. A German cook might, however, know how to make it
palatable by a suitable sauce. We ourselves have dressed very
tolerable sauerbraten[6] from the tough beef in Khartùm.
Half past ten o’clock. We row round a corner N.E. by N., and are
obliged, owing to the north wind, which is against us in this short
passage, to make use of the sandal as a leader, in order to drag
after us the Kaiàss. We wind then S.S.W.: the wind has freshened,
and we make four miles. At noon a short track to the S.E., but only
for a short time, and we halt on the reeds, opposite to the right
shore. Thibaut visited and invited me to a Burma of merissa, which
he had prepared from Abrè. This Abrè is a very fine kind of bread; it
is baked on the usual pan (Docka), by pouring liquid dough of durra
meal on it, and immediately scraping it down with a knife; to free it
from the clay or iron-pan, some butter is put over it now and then. If
a handful of these broken wafers are thrown into a gara, with water,
they give a wonderful coolness to what they float in, and a pleasant
acid taste. On this account it is the usual drink in the land of Sudàn,
and a welcome draught to the thirsty traveller.
Thibaut had made a large Burma of water in a state of
fermentation with this fine bread, and let it work for three days, till
the bread part had sunk to the bottom. This merissa must, however,
be quickly drank, or else it becomes sour. Naturally enough, it was
far better than that prepared in the usual way from warm bread, and
withal uncommonly strong and intoxicating. Even the finer kind of
merissa, called in Sennaar Billbill, is inferior to it. Abrè Nareïn, as the
corpulent Sheikh Defalla prepared it for us during the campaign in
Taka, and as it is drank by the kings of Sennaar, is only superior to
it. This liquor is like beer, and twice put on the fire (Nar), whereby it
acquires its name Abrè Nareïn.
Thibaut’s Reïs (steersman) exhibited the first proofs of the
intoxicating effects of this merissa, and was persuaded to delegate
the task of steering the ship to the former; but Thibaut, who had
begun even earlier to test its strength, was still less capable of
commanding his vessel. The wind had thrown us, in a trice, towards
the other side of the little lake, which forms part of the river. I had
previously remarked the dazzling contrast which the water of the
basin made, through its dark-blue colour, to our course. We think
that we discern in the three segments of that water, three mouths of
a river, separated by the reeds. Beyond this, we also see a real water
track, coming from S.S.E., which may be a river of less importance,
but we could not approach close enough to discover this. It was only
with a great deal of difficulty that we got loose again from the reeds,
and came into the stream.
We saw Selim Capitan, somewhat behind this little lake, halting
at a village; and a man, who was soon after followed by four
women, wading through the water and going on board. This village,
on the left shore, was called Baiderol, and its Sheikh, Ajà. They gave
presents to these people, but could not learn from them the name of
the great lake; and were soon obliged to ship off, for all the tribe
poured down to get presents of glass beads. These people belonged
to the nation of the Kèks, who are always at war with the Nuèhrs. I
remarked here a new construction of tokuls; as usual, of reeds and
straw, but with flat, cupola-shaped roofs. In the former expedition,
the Turks came here also to Shàmata (contention-war) with the
natives, because the latter had incautiously fired arrows in the air,
which the Turks looked upon as a declaration of war, and therefore
shot down several people.
 Thibaut read me the description he has given of Arnaud in his
journal; and I found in the course of conversation, that we had, in
1822, been together at Philhellenes, in Greece. We lodged close to
one another in Tripolizza, when the Greek heroes (who at that time
very modestly called themselves Romanians, and were unacquainted
with the name of Hellenes) began suddenly to murder, in a base
manner, at the Bazaar, fifty-four unarmed Turkish prisoners, who for
some time had managed to prolong their wretched existence in the
city. We Franks saved three of the wounded Turks in our house, and
would not give them up, though the blood-thirsty people collected
before the door. On this occasion, Dr. Dumont (familiar with the
modern Greek language), and the brave Captain Daumerque,
beloved by us all, (subsequently gloriously known in the Egyptian
army by the name of Khalim Agà,) distinguished themselves in the
manner most honourable to mankind in general, and man in
particular.
We remembered very well, that in the everlasting quarrels which
took place, the word “Greek” surpassed all other insults, and was
inevitably followed by a duel, without any other reparation of the
injured honour ever being thought of.
Without the knowledge of my parents, who fancied that I would
exchange Bonn for another university, I had travelled with my friend,
the now Professor Dieffenbach, of Berlin, to Marseilles. George
Thibaut had done the same thing, and thrown up his clerkship in
Paris. I found my books, the Pandects of Mackeldey, with the
Archbishop of Argos, turned into cartridges, in order that I might
beat the Turks blue with the Roman Corpus juris civilis, &c. It was a
dangerous and adventurous undertaking. Thibaut went with the
other Frenchmen and Italians to Egypt, to offer the Basha his
services. I learnt eventually to find out the fellows, who are even
now figuring away as robbers, and returned from Smyrna to my dear
native land, like an undeceived Phillhellene who had known,
however, how to distinguish the unworthy cause of these Synclides.
Ten years afterwards I again found the old people in celebrated
Hellas, only better laced up and combed, in high Turkish caps.
 The river makes from this basin a strong bend to N.N.E.; we had
sometimes, therefore, to use oars, sometimes the towing-rope. The
breadth of the river, including the reeds, is from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred paces. The rapidity of the current below that
little lake is one mile; it decreases, however, to half a mile in the
basin, and amounts now to one mile and a half. Our course was very
troublesome, slow, and so irregular, that it would be difficult to
calculate the length of this short passage. We sailed then a short
tract to the S.W., then S. and E., rowed N.W., and after sunset to the
north, without having advanced further to the south. The latitude is
7° 48′, and the longitude 27° 41′ east of Paris.
21st December.—I passed the night on board Thibaut’s vessel,
for mine had remained behind. This morning we worked towards the
east. We found in the little lake of yesterday such beautiful clear
water as only the Blue Nile displays at low ebb. Its dark water is
kept back in a sharp cut by the current of the still high Nile. It may
be inferred that the goodness of it arises from a neighbouring
spring-lake, or from a mountain-river, the blue water of which may
flow, even in other places, imperceptibly through the reeds to the
Nile: this is the case also with the Gazelle River. It was a pity that,
when we drank of the beautiful water, the village of Baiderol lay
behind us. My vessel will not even yet work up; I visit, therefore, the
Frenchmen, to inspect the hygrometer. It was about eight o’clock,
and the hygrometer shewed 70°: at night, however, it had got up to
75°, and usually went back at noon to 20°: which may be taken as
the average in these lakes. For a long time there have been only
very few streaky clouds in the horizon, which were scarcely to be
distinguished from the firmament.
I saw yesterday evening the first shooting-stars; but none had
been remarked by any of the rest. At ten o’clock I jumped on Selim-
Capitan’s vessel, who had invited me by dumb show whilst I was
with Thibaut, during the dead calm. We sail with the north wind S.E.,
but the pleasure was soon at an end. Yet no! Selim-Capitan did me
the favour of sailing east by north with the north wind; but the oars,
however, were obliged to be used to assist us, in order to prevent
our running ashore. This manœuvre succeeded; and the others, who
had reefed their sails, followed the example. It lasted, however, only
a short time, for a strong S.E. wind getting up, threw us on the left
shore of the reeds on the right hand.
Selim-Capitan shews far more energy and attention than I should
have given him credit for, comprehends everything very quickly, and,
with the exception of his Greco-Turkish faults, which I will touch
upon afterwards, his character has been entirely mistaken. We
reckon our number of miles from yesterday at noon till to-day at the
same time, to be fifteen; and find, after the necessary reduction,
that we have advanced only two miles in direct line towards S. The
land retreats on all sides. From the deck I still discover the dark
vigorous trees of yesterday, called by Mariàn Tihl, and otherwise
named Shudder el Fill (elephant-tree), the large fruit of which is said
to be welcome food to elephants. At noon we towed southwards—a
very troublesome labour, for there are sloughs and gohrs on every
side in the reeds, which the crew must swim through in order to get
firmer ground for a short time. Even this presents many difficulties,
owing to the reeds and their great unevenness. Nevertheless, the
food of the crew is not so bad as in Khartùm, although for several
days we have been in want of meat; thus they are not very much
spoiled from their birth upwards. The N.E. wind, which was slack at
mid-day, freshens at three o’clock; we sail E.S.E., and in five minutes
again S.W by S., and make three miles. But already again we see the
river going eastward, and we follow it, really S.E. and E.S.E., and
then E. within a short time, for it makes eternal bends here, of two
hundred paces, or less, in breadth.
Four o’clock.—To S.; ten minutes after, to W. We see towards the
south, on the right shore, from aloft, a small land-lake, the white
basin of which denotes some depth, and appears not to be fed by
the main stream. We observe in the back ground, two villages, with
dhellèbs and other trees, and in the distance other villages upon a
bare whitish shore, skirted with some trees. The vessels coming
after us reach to our right side, where the left shore ought to lie, a
good gun-shot distance from the reeds—and, O illusion and fancy!—
the old shore on the right, with its villages and trees, is Sherk (East)
—that is, the right shore of the river.—Five o’clock, from S.W. to S.
We make only half a mile, whilst the current is not more rapid. At
sunset we remark a number of birds, mostly long-shanks, moving in
two divisions near one another from west to east, and perhaps
repairing to the already more exposed sources of the Nile.
Thermometer 17°, 25°—27°, and 22°, at the three different times of
the day. The river three fathoms in depth.
22nd December.—I remained last night on board Selim Capitan’s
vessel. From S.E., which direction we reached yesterday evening, we
now went with a faint north wind to east, and our course had one
mile and a half in rapidity. At last I saw on the low ground in the
south, a village, with a large tree, apparently a baobàb, and further
on the old right shore, with palms and other trees; when,—at half-
past eight o’clock,—no more was to be seen of the left shore. At
half-past nine o’clock we went to the right shore to fetch wood. The
crew landed under a suitable guard, with axes, for we remarked a
village in the neighbourhood, and feared the old acquaintance of this
people. There were, moreover, no regular trees to be seen here, but
only stunted and decayed trunks, standing on or near the countless
ant-hills. These serve the natives as watch-towers, as we had
already seen, but no person appeared on them. The stumps were
said to be torn and disfigured by the elephants; indeed we saw
several deep impressions made by the feet of these colossi, for the
river had flowed off from hence some time.
The wind has gone round to E., and is very favourable;
whereupon we sail also at half-past ten o’clock from this place S.E.
towards S., but soon draw to the E. and row; then sail to N.E., and
assist with the oars. At noon, owing to the dead calm, we are towed
in a south-easterly direction, and at three o’clock we make use
slightly of our sails to S.W. by S., and soon afterwards S.E. by S. On
the left shore, a long row of isolated trees is visible, also groups of
trees themselves, among which, afar off, are distinguished dhellèb-
palms. They mark, indeed, as usual, the real old shore, for they do
not thrive in the morass, but frequently also they may denote, like
other trees, the ephemeral margin of the river. The dhellèb-palms
come nearer before us in a wide bend, which, however, may be only
so in appearance. The reeds are already on dry ground, and a lower
border of the same forms the momentary limits of the river. We
remark also here on the right shore of the reeds, where we halt
about five o’clock, in a southerly direction, several deep foot-prints
of elephants, who have trod down and eaten away every thing, so
that only single bushes of high rushes remain. Ant-hills, of eight to
ten feet high, rise indeed around, but neither tree nor house—a real
elephant pasture-ground.
I went on board Suliman Kashef’s ship, and found there my
Feïzulla Capitan again, but in such a state of intoxication, that he
fancied I was lost from his ship. He regretted me, and I played also
this time again the “achùl el bennàt,” and carried him safely home. It
is a wonder that his crew, who have worked themselves tired the
whole day, and with whom he is always joking in his Turkish
drunkenness, do not thoroughly lose their patience and respect.
23rd December.—Instead of sailing at daybreak with the
favourable wind, one vessel went after the other to the left shore,
but we soon heard that the vessel of the commander, Selim Capitan,
was full of water, having drawn so much during the night, that if the
morning had not brought this circumstance to light, it would
inevitably have sunk. Biscuit, durra, wheat, and all the other
provisions were taken out, and dried on the sails spread on the
shore. Sale made a capital shooting excursion, and is very proud of
it: he requests his comrades not to shoot any more, for they only
throw away powder. The birds are generally the very same as those
we found in Taka. I shall return to this subject hereafter.
We could plainly remark near the numberless ant-hills, of eight to
ten feet high, and thirty to thirty-six paces in circumference, by the
difference of the same vegetation, how far the water has washed
over these hills, and how inconsiderably it has reached up to the
same, although the whole earth, in which there are many foot-
prints, and marks of elephants, rose itself only two feet above the
present surface of water. Even here, therefore, where a lake must
always disclose itself when the water is at its greatest height, the
ascent of the river is only slight, owing to its overflowing in an
immeasurable space. In a more extended excursion, I lighted upon a
low green plot of ground with water, and as I had remarked from the
deck and mast-head, these verdant tracks are found again in the
half-dug elephant-pasture. They may be old beds of the Nile, choked
up by reeds and slime.
Wild cucumbers were very frequently met with here, and with
their yellow flowers, often take the high rushes on the water into
their friendly embrace. The under stratum of the ground is formed
here also, as elsewhere, by blue clay, mixed with a little sand,
whereon a covering of humus lies, the vegetable parts of which are
visible in masses, less from their being decomposed by the
atmosphere, than from being worked up by the feet of animals.
Hygrometer, at eight o’clock, eighty degrees.
24th December.—After everything had been dried and packed up
again yesterday, we make, towards the evening, a very short track,
in order to secure ourselves somewhat more from the gnats, which
have, on the whole, decreased, and we cast anchor. Our clock, put
at six at sunset, shewed also six o’clock, when the sun rose S.E. by
E. The trombetta (drummers) beat a reveillée at the first tinge of
dawn; that is here an hour and a quarter before the sun; yet I could
not read for the first half hour.
The whole sky has been clouded since we left the country of the
Shilluks; and although they are not our heavy white clouds, the sun
cannot penetrate through them. A mist, in appearance like a coast
cut off from the horizon, surrounded us on all sides, without visibly
extending itself in our neighbourhood. This layer of mist, however,
was open from S. to S.W., where the river probably flows, with which
the mist nearest to us melted away before daybreak, as I have so
often remarked on the Rhine. The hazy streak of the rising sun is
splendidly irradiated from E. to S., and therefore deludes us to
believe that it is a broad luminous stream, or white lake, contrasted
with the dark edge of the sky. I had remarked, the evening before
last, a similar misty veil to the east, and, as I expected, there were
light mists yesterday morning, before sunrise, on the river, and
slowly floating down with it.
We went this morning E.S.E., and at seven o’clock S.W., without
having got ahead, for the very feint north wind had not yet made up
its mind. One of our vessels sails towards E. in the grass, and
appears to have struck into another road, in order to cut us off.
Isolated dhellèb-palms on the right shore, and towards N.E. a whole
group of them; whilst on the left shore a great wood is visible,
drawing into the land, as I hear, from the west. Before this forest
shady Tihl-trees, with broad branches, in our neighbourhood; the
right shore retreats again here, with its blooming ambak-thicket.
The lakes seem, in some measure, to be at an end; but the
gigantic bed of the stream remains, although the old high shores are
not, perhaps, to be discovered, for we cannot approach the real dry
ground, as the river does not extend so far. This must, however,
have been an extensive margin of the river, separated from it,
between which, towards the sides, the water flows and ripples in
small rivulets, like a meadow under water. It is said that there are no
more doum-palms here, although I would take some trees in the
distance for them, having, it is true, a stunted appearance compared
with those in Taka, but similar to those commonly found on the
White River.
Half-past eight o’clock. To S.E. by S.; then an easterly direction,
with the usual deviations, and at last S. From the mast is seen, near
the before-named shady elephant-trees, a whole herd of these
lovers of their fruit,—the white birds on their massive backs, whom
they are trying to drive away with their trunks.
About ten o’clock S.E. by E. and S.E. I think I see on the right
shore, a small river, discharging itself in the reeds, for the colour in
the little basin is different from that of our water. Immediately
afterwards, a small village, composed of low, wretched tokuls. A dog
looked at us, but did not bark, much as he was teased; he was a
large-boned greyhound, such as are seen generally in Taka and
Sennaar. This fishermen’s village stands some three feet above the
water, and we see by the fresh repairing of the huts with Nile slime,
that the river must have washed against this place. Four sails go on
the right, at a regular distance W., in the reeds, whilst the vessels
sailing a-head in S.E., also look over the reeds, and move towards
the E. The ambak-wood continues almost uninterruptedly on our left.
About eleven o’clock, from S.W., is an extensive bend to the E., and
afterwards to N.E., as it appears from the other vessels. On the right
stands an enclosed dhellèb-palm, quite solitary in the wide green
lake; and yet it delights the eye as a resting-point, like the sails far
and near.
From the undulating eastern direction, swerving to the N.E.,
where the towing-path is now made through the reeds, we wheel,
according to the dear old custom, towards S., in which direction we
halt at noon on the right shore, to wait for the other vessels. The
north-wind having become stronger since half-past eight o’clock,
promises to be favourable for the two windings we see before us.
We see over those vessels, towards S.E., clouds of smoke arise in
the forest, about half an hour distant, as we did yesterday and the
day before. Over the green-flat, to the E., from which bushes of high
rushes and ant-hills rise, several dhellèb-palms.
At three o’clock we set sail towards W.S.W., yet soon again
S.S.W., and at four o’clock S.E. by S.
One mile rapidity. Five o’clock. To W. On the right thirteen tokuls,
which, like the four on the opposite side, near our landing-place, are
partly new, partly restored, for the high-water rises above these new
shores. There are neither human beings nor anything else living to
be seen near the poor, badly built huts. The river navigated by us
has here a breadth of some four hundred paces. To the N. we at last
observed the vessels which had remained behind, and from yonder
the Haba shews itself, with groups of trees jutting out in a circle to
some distance; in N.W. smoke ascends in different places: as on the
left, to the E., in the far distance over the trees, although no villages
can be seen even from the mast.
These pillars of smoke are considered by the crew not as aerial
angels of peace and friendship, but rather as a general signal against
us. It seems more probable to me, however, judging from analogy
with the people, dwelling in Taka, that this kindling of high grasses
and pines is done by the tribes of the place to free their territory
from insects, snakes, and other noxious animals, or to give air and
nourishment to the sprouting grass, in order to make it fit for
pasture. In these forest-burnings we must seek for the cause of the
bad and stunted condition of the wood.
I thought that the river made a bend to the S., because I saw
water there; but they tell me from the mast, that this water is a
broad gohr, or Birke, (land-lake). It shews itself a gun-shot distance
from the river, and quite parallel to it from E. to W., and is, at this
moment, only divided from it by the reeds under water, and an
ambak-thicket. A water-course meandered through the rushes to the
eastern end of the lake. The crew affirmed that the lake receives its
water from the river by this road (sikka): this, indeed, is not
impossible, but it is improbable, for the river must propel its current
against the water from W. to E. I believe rather that the lake feeds
itself from S.W., where incisions are remarked in the reeds, and
behind, a long and broad marsh-land. The lake and the river have
now an equal level, and there is neither an influx nor outflux to be
seen in the so-called little water-road. If it be not an outlet of the
lake, discharging its higher surface of water through the reeds, it is a
road for crocodiles and river-buffaloes. The broken rushes and the
scattered borders of the lower vegetation, &c. make me believe the
latter supposition. I have also remarked, at this moment, a large
hippopotamus wallowing about there.
There can scarcely be a doubt that this waterpath serves the
fishing-boats as a channel. The lake is from E. to W. about an hour
long. There may be numbers of such collective lakes and tributaries
which the reeds hide from us; for these waters, when the Nile is at
its height, do not rush into it, and cannot force a road through the
luxuriant and strongly articulated world of plants. These plants
perhaps allow a conjunction of water; but no open tributary stream
for the rise and fall of the waters takes place at the same time. Fadl
tells me that the lake is only twice as broad as the Nile, which is
here three hundred paces; and the head of the lake is said to draw
towards the south, thereby shewing itself to be an old bed of the
river.
No large fish are found here; for if there were any we must have
heard them at times in the evening splashing up; that is, supposing
they were very abundant in these lakes. However, in the land of the
Shilluks several fish of uncommon size, such as are seen in the
markets at Kàhira and Khartùm, floated towards us, dead. The crew
eat them, although they stank. Standing at the helm, above the
cabin, I noticed, before sun-set, seven elephants, with two young
ones, feeding on the right in the reed-grass, and, for this once,
unmolested by their feathered friends. We halt on account of the
faint breeze, towards the west, in order to wait for the vessels, the
sun going down before us and throwing all its charms on the
limitless watery expanse. Throughout the whole day it had never
shone through those misty veils, which appeared so lightly floating.
Feïzulla Capitan has found a new consolation, by establishing a
small brandy distillery. For this purpose he used dates, a great
quantity of which fruit we carried with us. One burma forms the
boiler, and another, with a reed in it, the head of the still. As,
however, he only once draws off this araki, there remain too many
lees in it to be pleasant; but this does not offend the taste and smell
of the bold captain. The thermometer before sunrise 19°, from noon
to afternoon 25-26°; after sunset 24°. The hygrometer had fallen
from 80° to 30°.
 CHAPTER VIII.
ARNAUD’S IGNORANCE AND SELIM CAPITAN’S CUNNING. — HATRED OF THE
THREE FRENCHMEN TO EACH OTHER. — THE ENDERÀB TREE. — THE POISON
TREE HARMLESS. — REMARKS ON THE LAKES IN CONNEXION WITH THE
WHITE NILE. — THE WOOD OF THE AMBAK TREE. — FONDNESS OF THE
ARABS FOR NICK-NAMES. — THE AUTHOR DEFENDED FROM GNATS BY A CAT.
— INTERVIEW WITH A KÈK. — HUSSEÏN AGA’S DRINKING BOUTS WITH
FEÏZULLA CAPITAN. — DESCRIPTION OF A SUN-RISE. — VISIT OF THE KÈKS.
— SOLIMAN KASHEF AND THE LOOKING-GLASS.

25th December.—We are still waiting for the Kawàss and Sandal. A
man had been given to each of these ships to assist them; but we
have gained nothing by it; and therefore Selim Capitan intends to
tow both of them. Thibaut and I visited the invalid, Sabatier, who
scarcely knew how to keep himself from laughing when Selim-
Capitan took upon himself to give lessons anew to the learned
Arnaud, who very boldly asserted in our presence, that the
“altitudine” and “amplitudine” of the sun were one and the same
thing. As we then well understood, Selim Capitan wants Arnaud and
he to agree in their calculations, and grudges no instruction to the
latter for that purpose. He tells us, that such a coincidence with the
French engineer is the more necessary, because the Viceroy would
sooner credit the reckonings of a scientific Frenchman than of a
Turk, who had never seen Frankestàn. According to Sabatier, Arnaud
has not made yet a single calculation, because he is not capable of
doing so, but loads his back with these burdens, notwithstanding
Sabatier’s feverish state of health. Unfortunately, this appears to be
exactly the case, for Arnaud always agrees with Selim-Capitan, who
is exceedingly reserved in speech; and therefore it is really fortunate
that the Turk, being a naval officer, understands something at least
of these matters.
The three French gentlemen mutually conceal their journals, in
which one abuses the other; but they each fetch them out from their
hiding-places, in order to read them to me, and I am obliged to