I felt no triumph, but with a feeling of calm contentment and satisfaction we floated down the Nile.

My great joy was in the meeting that I contemplated with Speke in England, as I had so thoroughly completed the task we had agreed upon.
We had heard at Gondokoro of a remarkable obstruction in the White Nile a short distance below the junction of the Bahr el Gazal.

We found this to be a dam formed by floating masses of vegetation that effectually blocked the passage.
The river had suddenly disappeared; there was apparently an end to the White Nile.

The dam was about three-quarters of a mile wide, was perfectly firm, and was already overgrown with high reeds and grass, thus forming a continuation of the surrounding country.

Many of the traders' people had died of the plague at this spot during the delay of some weeks in cutting the canal; the graves of these dead were upon the dam.