Depth.The average depth for the first 130 miles was found to be about 20 feet, but in the next 40 miles the river gradually shoaled to about 15 inches, and the direction of its course was then only faintly distinguishable by the band of light-green grass which blocked its bed and precluded further progress.
Current.The current varied from ¾ to 2 miles per hour, the rise and fall of the river apparently depending largely on the local rainfall. In the dry season the plain, and, according to the Agibbas, the river itself dries up.
Fuel.Fuel is plentiful everywhere, the river being fringed with a belt of talh and heglig trees for the greater part of its course.
J. Atin.J. Atin, standing on the left bank, about 1½ miles from the river and about 100 miles from the Akobo junction, forms a conspicuous landmark. It is a solid rocky mass about 2 miles in circumference, and has twin peaks some 400 feet above the plain.
Gordon is said to have marched up the right bank in 1878 (?) and to have crossed to J. Atin, and to have marched thence westwards to the Nile through the Beir or Beri country.
Inhabitants.As is stated on [p. 136] the inhabitants of the Lower Pibor are Nuers and a few of the less powerful Anuaks. On the Upper Pibor or Natila a tribe known as the Agibba were found, their first village being Nyanabek, about 70 miles S. of the Akobo. For the next 60 miles villages were frequently seen.
Agibba tribe.Lieutenant Comyn gives the following account of the Agibba tribe, who appear to strongly resemble the Nuers, and also in some respects the Turkana:—
“The Agibbas are a warlike tribe, feared by and fearing the Nuers. Their other neighbours, the Anuaks and Dinkas, they look on with contempt, and buy their suksuk from them. The Abyssinians do not harry this part of the tribe. A few men know the Nuer, Dinka and Anuak dialect. Their physique is good, but their stature is not uniform. Many seem to suffer from hydrocele, and I saw one man with elephantiasis in the leg. They are armed with roughly-made spears of various shapes, wrist knives, and an oblong shield of giraffe hide, and invariably carry their head-rest to sit upon. Their huts are rudely built, of a bee-hive shape, and about the same size as an ordinary tukl.”
“They appear to have no canoes, and I saw no fishing-spears, though plenty of fish baskets. Their ivory ornaments are old and small. The principal men wear over the right elbow a bunch of giraffe tails, the band ornamented with cowrie shells. Their clothing consists of a belt round the waist, and, in front and behind (if a man is well off), a skin often embroidered and edged with beads—most wear a 3½-inch band of red beads with a 1-inch line down the centre across their foreheads. Some of the older men had a bead-covered bowl on their heads instead. The hair of the younger men was dressed very neatly, like an inverted soup plate with the part over the forehead cut oft. They have all sorts of suksuk. What they asked for were (in order of preference) cowrie shells, beads (janitor), brass wire, red, white and other beads. The head sheikh, whose name I think is Nadgweir (they were very averse to telling it) seems a man of character. All seem afraid of him, and said if they took up spears without his permission he would cut their throats. I saw but half-a-dozen of women and no children.”