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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

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TORRINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, & CO, NEW YORK

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ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF TRAVEL,
EXPLORATION, AND ADVENTURE,.

THE LAKE REGIONS

CENTRAL AFRICA.

COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY

BAYARD TAYLOR.

WITH MAP AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

NEW YORK:
SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG, AND CO.
1873.

BI VEB.SIDE, CAMBRIDGE!
PBIKTED BY B. O. HOUGHTOH AHD COMPAHY.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. FAQS
First Attempts at Exploration  1
CHAPTER IL
Burton's Preparations for his Journey  7
CHAPTER m.
Burton. — Traversing the Coast Region of Eastern Africa. ... 13
CHAPTER IV.
Burton. — Crossing the Mountain Ranges  28
CHAPTER V.
Burton. — The Land of Ugogo  48
CHAPTER VL
Burton. — Dhyamwezi, the Land of the Moon  70
CHAPTER VH.
Biirton. — Discovery and Exploration of Tanganyika Lake. . . 92
CHAPTER VIH.
Burton. — Return to Kazeh — Discovery of the Victoria Nyanza 122

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX. PAGE
Burton.— The Return to the Coast  133
CHAPTER X
Speke's Second Journey to the Victoria Nyanza  149
CHAPTER XL
Speke.— The March to Kazeh  157
CHAPTER XIL
Speke.— Detention in the Land of the Moon  169
CHAPTER Xm.
Speke.— March through Uzinza and Usui  183
CHAPTER XIV.
Speke. — The Kingdom of Karagwe  203
CHAPTER XV.
Speke. — The Victoria Nyanza and the Kingdom of Uganda. . 225
CHAPTER XVI.
Speke. — Four Months in Uganda  247
CHAPTER XV1X
Speke. — The White Nile and the Kingdom of Unyoro  260
CHAPTER xvrrx
Speke.— Successful Conclusion of the Journey  273
CHAPTER XIX
Baker starts in search of Speke and finds him  286

CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER XX. PAGE
Baker. — The March to EUyria aud Latooka  296

CHAPTER XXI.
Baker. — -Residence in Latooka and Obbo  321
CHAPTER XXIL
Baker. — The March to Kamrasi's Country  341
CHAPTER XXm.
Baker. — Discovery of the Albert Nyanza  360
CHAPTER XXIV.
Baker. — Exploration of the Albert Nyanza  373
CHAPTER XXV.
Baker. — Detention in Unyoro and return to Gondokoro  386

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. — • —
PAOE
Departube of Captains Speke and Gbant . . Frontispiece
A Mrima Village  13
The Encampment in Ugogo  48
Navigation on Lake Tanganyika  107
Speke chased by a Buffalo ... . 161
Ukalima's Village  179
Natives of Uzui bbinging Pbo visions . . . .199
Types of Natives of Uzui .... . . 208
Kibuga, ok Residence of the King of Uganda . . 233
A Queen led to Execution  252
Grant on his Way fbom Karagwe  254
Ripon Palls . .  264
Animals stabtled while deinking in the Nile . . 268
Kakuma Palls of the Nile  275
The Nile above Asua Junction  280
Sib Samuel and Lady Bakek  285
Tetel in Dangek .  318
Bokie, Wife of Mot .  321
Harpooning a Hippopotamus  337
Scene at the close of a Hippopotamus Hunt . . . 340
A Lion Hunt  . . 346
Bakeb's Examination by the Chiefs on entering Unyobo 353
A Rhinoceros at Bay  . . 356
Escape of two Rhinoceroses ..... 358
The Departure from M'rooli for the Lake . . . 360
The Albert Nyanza during a Storm .... 377
Cbocodile in the Nile  384
Mubchison Palls .  386
The Welcome on Baker's return to the Camp at Shooa 391
Elephant returning Home  395

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CHAPTEE I.
FIRST ATTEMPTS AT EXPLOKATION.
WHAT is now known as the " Lake Regions of
Central Africa," appears to have been also
known to the ancient Egyptians, though probably ra
ther from report than from actual explorations. The
descriptions of the course of the Nile, given both by
Herodotus and Eratosthenes, can only be identified
as far as the River Sobat, in latitude 9° N., and from
the time of the Caesars until quite recently, the
sources of the great African river seemed , to be
veiled in impenetrable mystery. Yet it is evident,
from the ruins at Mefoe, and those at Naga, near
the modern Khartoum, that Egyptian civilization
extended to the junction of the White and Blue
Niles, and possibly some distance beyond that
point ; while the former branch afforded a direct
and easy communication with the regions further
south, almost to the equator.

2 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
The map of the geographer. Ptolemy (in the sec
ond century) represents the Nile as flowing from
two large lakes, lying on and extending to the
southward of the equator. This map, which was
published in Rome in 1508, and is partly included
in the chart of Africa given in " Purchas's Pil
grims," (1625,) is incorrect in many details, but
the correctness of its main features has been
verified by the latest discoveries. The. Moun
tains of the Moon, which Ptolemy places be
tween these lakes and the Indian Ocean, were
long supposed to be a myth ; but the discovery of
those mountains, and the tableland of Unia-mezi,
(The Land of the Moon,) preceded that of tho
lakes lying beyond, and the connection of the Nile
with the lakes followed, completely verifying the re
port of the old Egyptian geographer.
Rumors of large lakes, lying in the interior of
Equatorial Africa, were first received, in modern
times, through the Portuguese. The existence of
Lake Nyassa, for instance, was well known long be
fore it had been visited by any European traveller,
and many maps of Africa, published in the early
part of the "present century, contain a conjectured
outline of it, (usually much larger than the reality,)
under the name of Maravi — a name which really
belongs to the tableland to the westward of it.
The Portuguese traveller, Lacerda, who left Tete,
on the Zambesi River, in 1797, at the head of an
exploring party, and reached the capital of the
kingdom of Cazembe the following year, where he

FIRST ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORATION. 3
died, probably saw Lake Nyassa, and must have
heard of the existence of Lake Tanganyika — since
the country of Cazembe lies to the westward of the
latter lake, between it and the Moluwa country,
visited by Magyar and skirted by Livingstone.)
The two interior kingdoms, in fact, have been
sometimes confounded. Lacerda's manuscripts, un
til recently, were lying unpublished in the Govern
ment archives, at Lisbon ; and at the present time
(1872) Captain Burton, the discoverer of Lake Tan
ganyika, is endeavoring to raise a fund for the pur
pose of having them translated and published in
England. Two German missionaries, Krapp and Rebmann,
who were stationed at Mombas, on the Zanzibar
coast, learned, through their intercourse with the
natives, of the existence of high mountains, covered
with snow, in the interior ; and, in the year 1850,
the former succeeded in penetrating far enough to
attain a distant view of the great peak of Kiliman-
djaro, the height of which has since been estimated
at 20,000 feet above the sea. Although Dr. Krapp,
in subsequent journeys, did not reach the mountain
range, he established its existence, with the fact that
the peaks of Kilimandjaro and Kenia (the latter
supposed to be a volcano) rose above the limit of
perpetual snow. He also brought reports of a large
lake beyond the mountains, and waters flowing
northward, which he conjectured to be the sources
of the Nile.
Baron van der Decken, of Holland, devoted him-

4 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
self with singular enthusiasm to the task of reach
ing Kilimandjaro ; but after spending large sums of
money, and giving several years to his repeated
efforts, he only succeeded in reaching an elevation
of about 13,000 feet, on the slopes of the great
mountain, and was soon afterwards murdered by
the natives. The romantic interest which these re
discovered Mountains of the Moon possessed for his
mind led him to neglect opportunities of more ex
tensive exploration, which, with the means at his
command, he might have attempted with a fairer
chance of success.
Lake Tanganyika must have been known, for a
long time past, to the Arab traders of Zanzibar.
They were not "likely, however, to give much volun
tary information, and the actual exploration of the
region might have been long delayed, but for the
interest excited among geographers by the disco
veries of Krapp and Rebmann, and the simultane
ous attempt to reach the source of the White Nile,
which, at that time, had been followed to the parallel
of 5° N., where it was still navigable and of such a
volume as to suggest that its fountains were south
of the Equator.
It is true that the first attempt made to reach the
interior from Zanzibar occurred a few years earlier ;
but it was so immediately unfortunate as to have
deterred all later explorers from venturing on the
same ground, without the new stimulus given to
them by the reports of the Nile lakes. M. Maizan,
a midshipman in the French navy, conceived the

FIRST ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORATION. 5
idea of penetrating into the African continent,
while cruising along the eastern coast, in 1843.
On returning to France, his project was approved
by the Government ; he returned to Zanzibar, where
he spent eight months in studying the language of
the coast tribes. During this time he made prepa
rations, of a somewhat ostentatious character, con
trary to the advice of the foreign residents ; and at
last, fearful of being recalled, started on his expe
dition without waiting for the escort with which
tlie Sultan had promised to furnish him.
Landing at Bagamoyo, on the mainland, opposite
Zanzibar, in the autumn of 1845, he left there his
private guard of forty armed men, and pressed for
ward, accompanied by only a few followers, to visit
the chief of the Wakamba tribe, at a village called
Dega la Mhora, about twenty-seven miles from the
coast. He was received with treacherous cordiality,
and hospitably entertained by the chief for some
days. The latter then suddenly pretended that
M. Maizan had given richer presents to the other
chiefs than to himself, had him seized and bound
by a crowd of natives who were lying in wait, and
then cut him to pieces. The savage was disap
pointed in his hope of plunder, and the conse
quences of the murder were felt by him and his
tribe for years afterwards. The French Govern
ment sent a frigate to Zanzibar, to demand punish
ment for the deed, although the native tribe was
not subject to the Sultan. The latter, nevertheless,
was forced to send an armed expedition te the

6 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
place ; a skirmish ensued, the chief's son was wound
ed, and one of the natives concerned in the murder
was captured and bronght to Zanzibar, where he
remained for two years, chained in front of the
French consulate.
Moreover, the direct route to the interior through
the village of Dega la Mhora was for a long time
avoided by the natives, who believed that the ghost
of the murdered traveller haunted it in the form a
terrible dragon, and the savage chief himself, tor
mented by the same spirit, withdrew into a kind of
exile. Thus the deed gradually avenged itself, and
this first sacrifice helped, in the end, to make the
route safer for the European explorers who fol
lowed.

CHAPTER II.
BURTON'S PREPARATIONS FOR HIS JOURNEY.
AFTER Captain Burton's successful journey to
Medina and Mecca* in 1853, his passion for ex
ploration instigated him to seek new fields in which
his unusual qualifications might be of service.
His military duties in India interfered with his
more ambitious plans, for a time ; but, having ob
tained a brief leave of absence towards the close of
1854, he landed on the Somali coast of Africa, near
the mouth of the Red Sea, and in his assumed cha
racter of an Arab merchant, succeeded in reaching
the independent Mahometan city of Harar, in Janu
ary, 1855. He was not only the first European who
visited this singular colony, but the first to give an
exact description of its situation and history.
Harar is a petty state, about 175 miles inland
from the port "of Zeyla, on the coast. It was found
ed by Arab invaders, who in the seventh century
conquered and colonized the region lying between
the Gulf of Aden and the Abyssinian mountains.
* Vide "Travels in Arabia," Vol. HI. of the "Illustrated Li
brary of Travel, Exploration and Adventure. "

8 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
The state has now shrunk to very small propor
tions—the greater part of the territory having been
re-conquered by the Gallas— and the capital city
has a population of about 8,000. It is situated on
a table-land, 5,500 feet above the sea, whence the
climate is dry, temperate and healthy. The city,
which is a mile in length by half a mile in breadth,
is inclosed by an irregular wall, built of granite or
freestone, with occasional towers for defence, and
five large gates. The private residences of the bet
ter classes of citizens are of stone, and two stories
in height ; the poorer people inhabit thatched
huts. Harar has a large mosque, and many smaller
ones, and enjoys a high reputation throughout
Mahometan Africa, for its sanctity. Its school of
Moslem theology is still kept up, though the lan
guage spoken by the people is an Arabic much cor
rupted by native African dialects. It has also some
literature of its own, mostly songs and stories. The
people show in their bodies the same mixture of
descent as in their language : the men are coarse
and unprepossessing in their appearance, with a
dark, treacherous expression of the face, while the
women are more regular in their features and agree
able in their manners. They are yellow in com
plexion, and fond of brilliant colors in their dress,
immoral in their habits, and very fierce, bigoted and
suspicious of strangers. Burton's undertaking was
one of great hardship and peril, when we consider
the limited amount of territory which he traversed.

BURTONS PREPARATIONS FOR HIS JO URN EX'. <J
His narrative of the journey was published in 1856,
under the title of " First Footsteps in East Africa."
On reading England, however, and before the
pubhcation of this work, Captain Burton made a
proposition to the council of the Royal Geographi
cal Society, to undertake an expedition for the pur
pose of ascertaining the limits of the " Sea of Ujiji,
or Unyamwezi Lake," and secondarily to report
upon the exportable produce of the interior and the
ethnography of its tribes. At the same time, the
missionary Ehrhardt, who had returned from Mom
bas, apphed to the society for an outfit of a few
hundred dollars, in order to strike inland from
Quiloa, (or Kilwa,) on the coast, and reach the un
known lake, which he evidently confounded with
Lake Nyassa, since the latter was afterwards reach
ed from Quiloa by the German traveller, Dr.
Roscher. This conflict of aims and claims caused some de
lay, but early in 1856 Burton's proposal was accept
ed by the Society ; the Foreign Office granted £1,000
for the expenses of the exploration, and the Direc
tors of the East India Company allowed him two
years of absence. The instructions of the Geo
graphical Society, nevertheless, named Quiloa as
the starting-point for the expeditipn. At that time,
nothing was known of the interior, beyond the first
mountain-range parallel to the coast, except from
the reports of the Arab traders. The country of
Unia-mezi, (or Unyamwezi, as Burton calls it), the
Land of the Moon, was believed to be inhabited by

10 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
a branch of the Galla race, very fierce and barbar
ous in character, for which reason a more southern
route was considered advisable.
Burton reached Bombay in November, 1856, and
was there joined by Captain Speke, also of the
Bombay army, who was appointed surveyor to the
expedition. Burton seems to have conceived a sin
gular personal dislike to Speke, almost at the start,
and the slighting manner in which he invariably
mentions the latter, throughout his narrative, im
presses the reader, at last, as an annoyance which
might better have been spared.
They reached Zanzibar on the 19th of December,
1856, but were unable to set out on the expedition
for nearly six months. Burton convinced him
self that the most feasible route was not by way of
Quiloa, but by crossing directly to the mainland,
opposite Zanzibar, and pushing westward into the
interior, on the track of the native traders. Having
reached the neighborhood of the unknown region, he
found that many features of the plan arranged in
London were impracticable, and finally determined
to organize his expedition without reference to it.
As the favor and assistance of the Sultan of Zanzi
bar was indispensable, he even avoided meeting Mr.
Rebmann, of the Mission at Mombas, since the lat
ter had given offence to the Sultan.
While making these preparations, Burton picked
up information from the natives which satisfied him
that the " Sea of Ujiji " and the Maravi Lake were
two distinct bodies of water ; that the former was

BURTONS PREPARATIONS FOR HIS JOURNEY. U
much the larger of the two ; and that there was no
regular caravan route between them. This con
firmed him in his determination to make Zanzibar
the starting-point, and endeavor to reach the former
lake only. Col. Hamerton, the English consul, pro
posed that he should be escorted through the dan
gerous coast tribes by a strong guard furnished by
the Sultan, and then left to pursue the ordinary
caravan route through the Land of the Moon.
Much time was also required to collect donkeys
porters, guides, etc., and to procure the great variety
of articles, for supplies, presents, and barter with
the native tribes, which were prescribed for a jour
ney of unknown length and emergencies. The
jealousy of the traders in Zanzibar interposed many
annoying obstacles, and the month of June arrived
before all the preparations were completed. In
deed, without the favor of the Sultan of Zanzibar^
the expedition could not have been successfully set
on foot.
About the middle of June, 1857, a part of the
supplies were sent to Bagamoyo, on the mainland,
to be forwarded thence by porters to the town of
Zungomero, at the foot of the mountains, some 145
miles inland ; while Burton and Speke, with their
most important outfit, crossed the broad sea-channel
to Kaol, a small village and fortress near the mouth
of the Kingani river. Here, after a delay of eight
or ten days, the expedition was roughly organized.
It consisted of Sayd bin Salim, an officer appointed
by the Sultan, who accompanied the travellers very

12 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
much against his will, and partly consoled himself
by taking a wife and four slaves witii him ; Bom
bay and Mabruki, negroes from India ; two Por
tuguese half-caste servants from Goa ; thirteen
Baloch soldiers, commanded by a Jemadar, fur
nished by the Sultan ; eight interpreters, guides and
" war-men," under an African freeman, named Ki-
dogo ; five donkey-men, thirty-six porters, and a
few supernumeraries, making a total of 88 persons.
After a great variety of minor worries, every one
of which symbolized a greater trouble to come, all
the heterogeneous elements of the party were col
lected and arranged in a temporary order ; and the
travellers finally set their faces towards the unknown
interior, on the 28th June. Only a year had elapsed
since Livingstone reached the Indian Ocean, after
his journey across Southern Africa ; and this was
the beginning of a new series of discoveries, only
less wonderful than his own.

A MRIMA VILLAGE-

CHAPTER HI.
BURTON. — TRAVERSING THE COAST REGION OF EASTERN
AFEICA.
THE eastern coast of Africa is very low, and lined
with innumerable bays, reefs and lagoons. The
flat soil of sand and crumbled rock is overgrown
with a dense bed of plants, the result of tropical
suns and abundant rains. All the creeks and coves
are bordered with forests of mangrove trees ; when
the tide is out, the conical base of branching roots
supporting each tree, rises naked from the ooze,
often covered, at the water-line, with clusters of oys
ters. Where the coast rises a little higher above
the ocean level, it is a mass of verdure. Clusters of
bald old trees, bent by the trade-winds, indicate
the position of native settlements, which, generally '
hidden from sight, crowd along the coast like the
suburbs of a populous city. Four or five miles in
land there is an earher sea margin, where the land
rises a little, making that blue line on the horizon
which is visible from Zanzibar. The territory of
the native tribes commences here, only the narrow
coast-line being subject to the Arab sultan.
After all the difficulty of getting his caravan in
motion, Burton only made a march of an hour and

14 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
a half to the frontier-village of Bimani, the first
day. Here he was obliged to halt again, and at
tempt to reorganize his men. " In Asia," he says,
" two departures usually suffice ; in Africa there
must be three — the little start, the great start, and
the start of the leaders. Some clamored for tobac
co— ^1 gave up my cavendish ; others for guitar-
strings — they were silenced with beads ; and all,
born donkey-drivers, complained loudly of the
hardship and indignity of having to load and lead
an ass." The guide, after receiving twenty dollars,
refused to accompany the expedition, and even the
Baloch soldiers — a name given to the mixed breed
along the coast; — began to speak insultingly of the
two European travellers. In fact, during the sub
sequent progress of the exploration, there was not
one person attached to the party who did not, at
some time or other, attempt to desert.
The departure from Bimani was effected on the
1st of July, with some trouble ; it was hke driving
a herd of wild cattle. At length, by ejecting skulk
ers from their huts, by dint of promises and threats,
of gentleness and violence, occasionally backed by
an application of the whip — all these methods em
ployed for nine hours without intermission — the
sluggish and straggling body was set in motion.
After a march of only two miles, they reached a
village where provisions and muddy water were
plentiful, and where, consequently, the caravans are
accustomed to halt, have the weapons polished, and
prepare for encounters with the Wazaramo, as the
native tribes are called. Here, however, Burton ob-

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 15
tained the services of Muinyi Wazira\ the nephew
of the chief, as guide and interpreter.
The next morning they made the final start, get
ting under way at dawn. " On the wayside ap
peared for the first time the Khambi, or substan
tial kraals, which give evidence of unsafe travelling
and the unwillingness of caravans to bivouac in the
villages. In this region they assumed the form of
round huts, and long sheds or booths of straw or
grass, supported by a framework of rough sticks
firmly planted in the ground and lashed together
with bark strips. The whole was surrounded with
a deep circle of thorns, which — the entrance or en
trances being carefully closed at nightfall, not to
reopen until dawn — formed a complete defence
against bare feet and naked legs."
At the village of Nzasa, the first belonging to the
independent tribes, Burton was met by three p'ha-
zi, or head men of the place.
They came to ascertain whether he was bound
on peaceful errand, or — as the number of the guns
suggested — he was marching to revenge the mur
der of his " brother," (M. Maizan.) Assured of his
unwarlike intentions, they told him that he must
halt on the morrow and send forward a message
to the next chief. As this plan invariably loses
three days — the first being a dies Tion, the second be
ing expended in dispensing information to all the
lieges squatting in solemn conclave, while on the third
the real message is privily whispered into the
chieftain's ear — Burton replied through Said that
he could not be bound by their rules, but was ready

16 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
to pay for their infraction. The proposition was
accepted, the head men received a handsome pre
sent, and one of them agreed to accompany the
party through the territory belonging to the tribe.
The advantage of this arrangement was made
evident the very next day. At a village further
on, they found the natives drawn up in line across
the road, and prepared to dispute their passage.
The Baloch were greatly alarmed, but the new
guide and interpreter, Muinyi Wazir£, with the
head man, soon persuaded the natives to fall back
and let the caravan pass. In the evening the lat
ter reached a district called Kiranga-Ranga, which
was considered dangerous. Before camping, the
Baloch soldiers and a temporary guard sent from
the coast, began to quarrel, and thirteen men, led
by a jemadar, (subaltern officer,) declared their in
tention of returning immediately. Burton sum
moned them before him, and wrote in their pre
sence a letter to the Consul, describing their con
duct ; thereupon they instantly changed their mind,
and decided to remain. The difficulty, however,
obliged the caravan to remain a day longer at the
place. The weather already began to be unfavor
able; rains set in, and the exhalations from the
dense vegetation of this low 'region invariably
produce fevers. ¦*•
A march of two days further brought the expedi
tion to a place called Muhogive, one of the most
dreaded in the whole Uzaramo country. Being
thinly inhabited, on account of its malarious climate,
it abounds in wild animals. "The guides," says

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 17
Burton, " speak of lions, and the cry of the fisi or
cynhyena was frequently heard at night, threaten
ing destruction to the asses. The fisi, the wuraba
of the Somal, and the wilde honde of the Cape, is
the wolf of Africa, common throughout the country,
where it acts as scavenger. Though a large and
powerful variety, it seldom assaults man, except when
sleeping, and then it snatches a mouthful from the
face, causing a ghastlier disfigurement even than
the scalping of the bear. Three asses belonging to
the expedition were destroyed by this beast. In all
cases they were attacked by night with a loud
wrangling shriek, and the piece of flesh was rag
gedly torn from the hind quarter. After affording
a live rump-steak, they could not be driven like
Bruce's far-famed bullock."
Struggling on through the low, unhealthy district,
greatly delayed by the difficulty of procuring pro
visions, they reached, on the 8th of July, what the
Arabs call the " Valley of Death and the home of
Hunger " — the broad plain traversed by the Kin
gani River. Here the water was everywhere bad,
and a mortal smell of decay was emitted by the
dark, wet soil. Speke was already so affected with
fever that he was unable to walk. The next day
the road was again barred by a band of fifty natives,
posted across it; but they were dispersed by a
present, as on the former occasion.
At a place called Tunda, it almost seemed as if
the expedition would fail. Burton says : " After a
night passed amid the rank vegetation, and within
the malarious influence of the river, I arose weak

18 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
and depressed, with aching head, burning eyes, and
throbbing extremities. The new life, the alterna
tions of damp heat and wet cold, the useless fatigue
of walking, the sorry labor of waiting and reload
ing the asses, the exposure to sun and dew, and last,
but not least, of morbific influences, the wear and
tear of mind at the prospect of imminent failure, all
were beginning to tell heavily upon me. My com
panion had shaken off his preliminary symptoms,
but Said bin Salim, attacked during the rainy gusty
night by a severe mkunguru or seasoning- fever,
begged hard for a halt at Tunda — only for a day —
only for half a day — only for an hour. Even this
was refused. I feared that Tunda might prove
fatal to us."
They fortunately passed the village where M.
Maizan was murdered without encountering any
difliculty. The next day's march brought them to
a camping-place near a small hill, on the banks of
the river, beyond which commenced a new region,
called K'hutu, which is no longer considered dan
gerous by the caravans. Although the distance
from the coast, by the road, was only 118 miles, the
expedition had consumed 18 days in the journey,
and was already greatly reduced by sickness and/
anxiety. Here the route left the main valley of the
Kingani River, and followed a southern branch, the
Mageta. A range of mountains, called the Duthumi,
the summits of which had an altitude of between
three and four thousand feet, now appeared in the
northwest. " Resuming our march on the 15th July, we en-

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 19
tered the ' Doab,' (tract between two rivers) on the
western bank of the Mgeta, where a thick and
tangled jungle, with luxuriant and putrescent vege
tation, is backed by low, grassy grounds, frequently
inundated. Presently, however, the dense thicket
opened out into a fine park country, peculiarly rich
in game, where the calabash and the giant trees of
the sea-board gave way to mimosas, gums, and
stunted thorns. Large gnus, whom the porters re
gard with a wholesome awe, declaring that they
are capable of charging a caravan, pranced about,
pawing -the ground, and shaking their formidable
manes ; hartebeest and other antelopes clustered
together "on the plain, or travelled in herds to slake
their thirst at the river. The homely cry of the
partridge resounded from the brake, and the guinea-
fowls looked like large blue-bells upon the trees.
Small land-crabs took refuge in the pits and holes,
which made the path a cause of frequent accidents ;
while ants of various kinds, crossing the road in
close columns, attacked man and beast ferociously,
causing the caravan to break into a halting, trotting
hobble, ludicrous to behold."
At Kiruru, the first village in this region, they
were obliged to wait two days ; then the march was
continued through a deep jungle, full of nearly im
passable marshes. The fever which had already
seized upon the travellers was so much increased
by this travel that they were detained a whole week
at Duthumi, near the foot of the mountains. Bur
ton was in a semi-delirious state, and Speke had
symptoms of sun-stroke. Both were so weak that,

20

LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.

while they were scarcely able to walk, they could
not bear the fatigue of riding upon asses. Burton's
account shows that the African ass must be even
more stubborn and intractable than his brethren in
other parts of the world. "We had Zanzibar
riding-asses, but the delicate animals soon chafed
and presently died ; we were then reduced to the
koroma or half-reclaimed beast of Wanyamwezi.
The laden asses gave us even more trouble. The
slaves would not attend to the girthing and the
balancing of parcels— the great secret of donkey-
loading — consequently the burdens were thrown at
every mud or broken ground : the unwilling Baloch
only grumbled, sat down and stared, leaving their
jemadars with Said bin Salim and ourselves to re
load. My companion and I brought up the rear by
alternate days, and sometimes we did not arrive
before the afternoon at the camping-ground.
At Duthumi Burton prepared his first report to
the Royal Geographical Society, and sent it to the
coast with the temporary guard, which it was not
considered necessary to retain. Although the goods
and supplies with which the caravan started had
been much reduced, — the stock for three months
having been expended in as many weeks, — there was
some consolation in knowing that both the most un
healthy and the most dangerous part of the route
was now behind them. Luckily the travellers were
provided with hammocks slung to poles, in which,
carried by the native porters, they set forward again
on the 24th of July. After two days more, through
jungles where the earth constantly emitted a fetid

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 21
odor, like that of decaying animal-matter, they
reached the chief caravan station of Zungomero,
at the foot of the first ranges of mountains.
This is the great centre of traffic for the eastern
region. It hes upon the main route to the interior,
communicating also with Quiloa on the coast, and
during the caravan season, several thousand men
pass through it every week. Burton found several
companies encamped there, with their piles of ivory
and crowds of porters. The place is on a plain of
immensely fertile black soil, nearly enclosed by
mountains. The air is veiy close and damp, soon
corroding metal and reducing paper to a pulp : a
prolonged halt always causes much sickness in a
caravan. Moreover, provisions are not abundant,
and proportionately dear. Burton's plan, therefore,
was to move on as soon as possible ; but he was first
obliged to procure additional porters, and he was
daily expecting the arrival of the additional stock of
goods, which were to have been forwarded from

Here, reviewing his route, he gives the following
account of the geography and population of what
he calls the maritime region of Eastern Africa :
" The first, or maritime , region, extends from the
shores of the Indian Ocean in E. long. 39° to the
mountain chain forming the land of Usagara in E.
long. 37° 28' ; its breadth is therefore 92 geographi
cal miles, measured in rectilinear distance, and its
mean length, bounded by the waters of the Kingani
and the Rufiji Rivers, may be assumed at 110. The
average rise is under four feet per mile. It is di-

22 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
vided into two basins ; that of the Kingani easterly,
and westward that of the Mgeta stream, with its
many tributaries ; the former, which is the princi
pal, is called the land of Uzaramo ; the latter, which
is of the second order, contains the province .of
K'hutu, by the Arabs pronounced Kutu, and Uzira-
ha, a minor district. The natives of the country
divide it into the three lowlands of Tunda, Dut'hu-
mi, and Zungomero.
" The present road runs, with few and unim
portant deviations, along the whole length of the
fluviatile valleys of the Kingani and the Mgeta.
Native caravans, if lightly laden, generally accom
plish the march in a fortnight, one halt included. On
both sides of this line, whose greatest height above
the sea-level was found to be 330 feet, rises the
rolling ground, which is the general character of
the country. Its undulations present no eminences
worthy of notice ; near the sea they are short and
steep, farther inland they roll in longer waves, and
everywhere they are covered with abundant and
luxuriant vegetation, the result of decomposition
upon the richest soil. In parts there is an appear
ance of park land ; bushless and scattered forests,
with grass rising almost to the lower branches of
the smaller thorns ; here and there clumps and
patches of impassable shrubbery cluster round knots
and knolls of majestic, and thickly-fohaged trees.
The narrow foot-paths connecting the villages often
plunge into dark and dense tunnels, formed by over
arching branch and bough, which delay the file of,
laden porters ; the mud lingering long after a fall of

COAST REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 23
rain in these low grounds fills them with a chilly,
clammy atmosphere. Merchants traverse such spots
with trembling : in these, the proper places for am
buscade, a few determined men easily plunder a
caravan by opposing it in front, or by an attack in
rear. " The climate is hot and oppressive, and the daily
sea-breeze, which extends to the head of the Mgeta
valley, is lost in the lower levels. About Zungo-
mero rain is constant, except for a single fortnight
in tte month of January ; it seems to the stranger
as if .the crops must infallibly decay, but they do
not. At most times the sun, even at its greatest
northern declination, shines through a veil of mist
with a sickly blaze and a blistering heat, and the
overcharge of electricity is evidenced by frequent
and violent thunderstorms. In the western parts
cold and cutting breezes descend from the rugged
crags of Dut'humi.
" The negroids of this region are able-bodied men,
tall and straight, compared with the coast-clans,
but they are inferior in development to most of the
inner tribes. The complexion, as usual, varies
greatly. The chiefs are often coal-black, and but
few are of light color. This arises from the coun
try being a slave-importer rather than exporter ; and
here, as among the Arabs, black skins are greatly
preferred. The Mzaramo never circumcises, except
when becoming a Moslem convert ; nor does this
tribe generally tattoo, though some adorn the face
with three long cicatrized cuts, hke Mashali of
Mecca, extending down each cheek from the ear-

24 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
lobes to the corners of the mouth. Their distinctive
mark is the peculiarity of dressing their hair. The
thick wool is plastered over with a cap-like coating
of ochreish and micaceous clay, brought from the
hills, and mixed to the consistency of honey with
the oil of the sesamum or the castor-bean. The
pomatum, before drying, is pulled out with the
fingers, to the ends of many httle twists, which cir
cle the head horizontally, and the mass is separated
into a. single or a double line of knobs, the upper
being above and the lower below the ears.
"The habitations of the Wazaramo, who inha
bit the region nearer the sea, are far superior in
shape and size to those of K'hutu, and, indeed, to
any on this side of Unyamwezi. Their buildings
generally resemble the humbler sort of English
cow-house, or an Anglo-Indian bungalow.. In
poorer houses the outer walls are of holcus canes,
rudely puddled ; the better description are built of
long and broad sheets of bark, propped against
strong uprights inside, and bound horizontally by
split bamboos, tied outside with fibrous cord. The
heavy pent-shaped roof, often provided with a dou
ble thatch of grass and reeds, projects eaves, which
are high enough to admit a man without stooping ;
these are supported by a long cross-bar resting
on perpendiculars, tree-trunks, barked and smoothed,
forked above, and firmly planted in the ground.
Along the outer marginal length of this veranda
lies a border of large logs polished by long sit
tings. The interior is dark and windowless, and

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 25
party -walls of stiff grass-cane divide it into seve
ral compartments.
" The Wazaramo are an ill-conditioned, noisy,
boisterous, violent and impracticable race. A few
years ago they were the principal obstacle to Arab
and other travellers entering into East Africa.
But the seizure of Kaole and other settlements by
the late Sultan Sayyid of Zanzibar has now given
strangers a footing in the land. After tasting the
sweets of gain, they have somewhat relented ; but
quarrels between them and the caravans are still
frequent. The p'hazi, or chief of the district, de
mands a certain amount of cloth for free passage
from all merchants on their way to the interior ;
from those returning he takes cattle, jembe, or iron
hoes, shokah or hatchets, in fact, whatever he can
obtain. If not contented, his clansmen he in am
bush and discharge a few poisoned arrows at the
trespassers : they never have attempted, like the
Wagogo, to annihilate a caravan ; in fact, the loss
of one of their number causes a general panic."
Two singular customs prevail among these tribes.
The first is that of adopted brotherhood, which has
some resemblance to a former custom in Scotland,
and one which is still found in some parts of In
dia. It seems to spring from a natural social pas
sion in the human race, as a partial remedy for the
feuds and discords of savage life. " In fact," says
Burton, " it is a contrivance for choosing relations
instead of allowing Nature to force them upon
man, and the flimsiness of the tie between brothers
born in polygamy has doubtless tended to perpet-

26 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
uate it. The ceremony, which is confined to adults
of the male sex, is differently performed in the dif
ferent tribes. Among the Wazaramo, the Wazegu-
ra, and the Wasagara, the two ' brothers ' sit on a
hide face to face, with the legs outstretched to the
front and overlapping one another ; their bows and
arrows are placed across their thighs ; while a third
person, waving a sword over their heads, vocifer
ates curses against any one that may ' break the
brotherhood.' A sheep is then slaughtered, and
its flesh, or more often its heart, is brought roasted
to the pair, who, having made with a dagger inci
sions in each other's breasts close to the pit of the
stomach, eat a piece of meat smeared with the
blood. Among the Wanyamwezi and the Wajiji
the cut is made below the left ribs or above the
knee. Each man receives in a leaf his brother's
blood, which, mixed with oil or butter, he rubs into
his own wound. An exchange of small presents gen
erally concludes the rite. It is a strong tie, as all
men believe that death or slavery would follow its
infraction. The Arabs, to whom the tasting of
blood is unlawful, usually perform it by proxy.
The slave ' fundi,' or fattori, of the caravans, be
come brothers, even with the Washenzi, whenever
they expect an opportunity of utilizing the rela
tionship. " The second custom is more peculiar,. The
East African dares not appropriate an article
found upon the road, especially if he suspect that
it belongs to a fellow-tribeman. He believes that
a 'kigambo,' an unexpected calamity, slavery or

COAST REGION OF EASTERN AFRICA. 27
death, would follow the breach of this custom. At
Zungomero, a watch, belonging to the expedition,
was picked up by the country people in the jun
gle, and was punctually returned, well wrapped
round with grass and leaves. But subsequent ex
perience makes the traveller regret that the super
stition is not of a somewhat more cathohc and
comprehensive character."

CHAPTER IT.
BURTON — CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES.
THE expedition halted two weeks at Zungomero,
to await the arrival of supplies from the coast,
and to obtain twenty-two porters who had been
promised for the journey across the mountain ranges.
It was the height of the rainy season, and the "
place was a hot-bed of pestilence. The travellers
were lodged in a native hut, the roof of which was
like a sieve, and the floor was a sheet of mud.
This halt was demoralizing to the native guards
and porters, and there was a repetition of the diffi
culties which had accompanied the first start of the
caravan. When the necessary natives had at last been col
lected and organized, the party numbered 132 in
dividuals. On the 7th of August they left Zungo
mero and set out for the first ascent of the Usagara
Mountains, now only distant a journey of five hours.
Burton and Speke were so reduced by miasmatic
fever that they could scarce sit upon the riding-
asses, and their hearing, even, was much impaired.
Crossing the M'geta River, they worked their way
through the dense vegetation of the plain, and in

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 29
three hours reached the commencement of a dry,
open region. Here the slaves and porters had
already housed themselves for the night, but they
were dislodged and made to advance. In the after
noon the caravan ascended the first slant of the
mountains, rising three or four hundred feet, and
reached a station called Mzizi Mdogo, or " the
little tamarind," to distinguish it from " the great
tamarind," which lies further in the mountains.
There was no vestige of building upon the spot ; no
sight nor sound of man ; the blood-feud and the
slave-trade had made desert of the land. They
found, however, a hut erected by a former caravan,
and encamped upon the spot.
Two of the laden asses had gone astray during
the day, and when they were recovered, the salt
and sugar had melted away, from their baths in the
river ; soap, cigars, and other articles were reduced
to a paste, tea and gunpowder were spoiled, and
even vegetables in water-tight cans became musty.
On the other hand, there was much to console them
in their troubles : " There was a wondrous change
of climate at Mzizi Mdogo; strength and health
returned as if by magic ; even the Goanese shook
off the obstinate bilious remittents of Zungomero.
Truly delicious was the escape from the nebulous
skies, the f%-driving gusts, the pelting rain, the
clammy mists veiling a gross growth of fetor, the
damp raw cold, rising as it were from the earth, and
the alternations of fiery and oppressive heat; in
fact, from the cruel climate of the river-valley, to
the pure sweet mountain-air, alternately soft and

30 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
balmy, cool and reviving, and to the aspect of clear
blue skies, which lent their tints to highland ridges
well wooded with various greens. Dull mangrove,
dismal jungle, and monotonous grass, were sup
planted by tall solitary trees, among which the
lofty tamarind rose conspicuously graceful, and a
card-table-like swamp, cut by a net-work of streams,
nullahs, and stagnant pools, gave way to dry healthy
slopes, with short steep pitches and gently shelving
hills. The beams of the large sun of the equator —
and nowhere have I seen the rulers of night and
day so large — danced gayly upon blocks and pebbles
of red, yellow, and dazzling snowy quartz, and the
bright sea-breeze waved the summits of trees, from
which depended graceful llianas, and wood- apples
large as melons, while creepers, like vine tendrils,
rising from large bulbs of brown-gray wood, clung
closely to their stalwart trunks. Monkeys played at
hide-and-seek, chattering behind the bolls, as the
iguana, with its painted scale-armor, issued forth
to bask upon the sunny bank ; white-breasted
ravens cawed when disturbed from their perching-
places; doves cooed on the well-clothed boughs,
and hawks soared high in the transparent sky. The
field-cricket chirped hke the Italian cigala in the
shady bush, and everywhere, from airi from earth,
from the hill slopes above, and frodPthe marshes
below, the hum, the buzz, and the loud continuous
voice of insect life, through the length of the day
spoke out its' natural joy. Our gipsy encampment
lay

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 31
" By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals."
" By night, the soothing murmurs of the stream
at the hill's base rose mingled with the faint rust
ling of the breeze, which, at times broken by the
scream of the night-heron, the bellow of the bull
frog in his swampy home, the cynhyena's whimper,
and the fox's whining bark, sounded through the
silence most musical, most melancholy. Instead of
the cold night rain, and the soughing of the blast,
the view disclosed a peaceful scene, the moonbeams
lying hke sheets of snow upon the ruddy highlands,
and the stars hanging like lamps of gold from the
dome of infinite blue. I never wearied with con
templating the scene, for, contrasting with the
splendors around me, still stretched in sight the
Slough of Despond, unhappy Zungomero, lead-
colored above, mud-colored below, wind-swept, fog-
veiled, and deluged by clouds that dared not ap
proach these delectable mountains."
After halting a day at this spot they pushed on
over a succession of short, steep hills, dotted with
clumps of tamarinds, aloes and thorny bushes.
Along the path lay the skeletons, and even recent
corpses, of porters who had perished of fatigue or
starvation. A caravan which had lost fifty of its
number from small- pox passed them, communicating
the infection to a few of Burton's party, who halted
at the lonely huts or tents set apart for those
affected with the disease, and were never heard of
afterwards.

32 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Two more days were occupied in passing the first
range of hills and the broken country beyond. The
journey was very toilsome, on account of the fre
quent necessity of unloading the asses in order to
cross the ravines and dry river-beds. The little
beehive villages of the natives were visible all
around, peeping out from the forests on the hill
sides, but the country immediately bordering the
road was deserted. For this reason it was almost
impossible to procure provisions.
On the 12th of August they crossed a second
range, the summit of which was 2,235 feet above the
level of the sea. Rations had been issued to. the
natives for three days, but, with their usual improv
idence, they had consumed everything as soon as
possible, and were still a long day's.journey distant
from a place called Muhama, where the first sup
plies could be obtained. But, after a toilsome
march which lasted the whole day, the native leader,
Kidogo, led the caravan astray, and they were com
pelled to return some distance and camp at a little
village called Zonhwe, where, by sending men out
into the country in all directions, a partial supply
of provisions was finally procured. This was the
turning-point of the difficulties of the expedition.
The Baloch guard revolted, making additional
claims for their services, which Burton refused.
Then they went off in a body, declaring they would
return to Zanzibar. The natives promised to be
faithful, although they also — as Burton afterwards
discovered — had made up their minds to desert.
Burton and Speke, however, had determined, in

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 33
case of necessity, to bury their baggage, and push
forward alone, accompanied only by the porters
from Unyamwezi, the Land of the Moon. They
therefore refused to submit to the new exactions
which were attempted ; the Baloch and their officers
left the camp, and the remainder of the party, after
a detention of three days at Zonhwe, started for the
mountains. About noon the next day the deserters suddenly
made their appearance, submissive and penitent.
They were now compelled to resume their services
on the former terms, and Burton's independence on
this occasion prevented a repetition of the same
troubles. Muhama was reached the same evening,
and after a halt there of three days to lay in a good
stock of provisions, the expedition set out to cross
a wide deserted tract of "land which intervened be
tween the place and the next range of mountains.
For three days they travelled through an undulating
region, sometimes interrupted by deep and difficult
gullies, or the low, malarious beds of streams ;
sometimes a beautiful open park, where herds of
zebras and antelopes grazed under the trees, and
then a jungle of decaying reeds and exasperating
thorns. At a place called Mbumi, they found a
village which had been plundered and ruined only
ten days before, apparently by some Arab slave-
hunter. On the 24th of August they reached the valley
of the Mukondokwa River, a northern affluent of the
Kingani. " The path was slippery with mud, and
man and beast were rendered wild by the cruel

34 T.ATTE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
stings of a small red ant and a huge black pismire.
The former cross the road in dense masses, like the
close columns of an army. They are large-headed,
showing probably that they are the defenders of the
republic, and that they perform the duties of
soldiers in their excursions. Though they cannot
spring, they show great quickness in fastening them
selves to the foot or ankle as it brushes over them.
The pismire, known to the people as the ' chungu-
fundo,' is a horse-ant, about an inch in length,
whose bull-dog-like head and powerful mandibles
enable it to destroy rats and mice, lizards and
snakes. It loves damp places upon the banks of
rivers and stagnant waters ; it burrows but never
raises hills, and it appears scattered for miles over
the paths. Like the other species, it knows neither
fear nor sense of fatigue ; it rushes to annihilation
without hesitating, and it cannot be expelled from a
hut except by fire or boiling water. Its bite, which
is the preamble to its meal, burns hke a pinch with
a red-hot needle ; and when it sets to work, twisting
itself round and ' accroupi ' in its eagerness for
food, it may be pulled in two without relaxing its
hold. The favorite food of this pismire is the ter
mite : its mortal enemy is a large ginger-colored
ant, called from its painful wound ' maji m'oto,' or
'hot-water.' In this foul jungle our men also
suffered severely from the tzetze. This fly, the tor
ment of Cape travellers, was limited, by Dr. Living
stone, to the regions south of the Zambezi River.
A specimen brought home by me and submitted to
Mr. Adam White, of the British Museum, was pro-

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 35
nounced by him to be a true Glossina morsitans, and
Mr. Petherick has fixed its hmits about eight degrees
north of the equator."
They forded the river and camped in the low, damp
valley. The next morning, crippled by the night-
cold that rose from the water, and then wet through
by the chilly dew which dripped from the tall
jungle-grass, they traversed some fields of newly-
reaped grain and tobacco, and heard the fright
ened owners calling to each other from the neigh
boring hills. The path led up the valley of the
Mukondokwa, traversing broad marshes, and occa
sionally passing over the shoulders of stony hills.
The country was almost entirely depopulated, and
the parties sent out in search of provisions found
the people drawn up in battle array, to repel them.
The asses diminished in number, succumbing to
the hardships of the journey, and the natives suf
fered very much from the raw wind and chilly cold,
the result not of low temperature, but of humidity
and rapid evaporation.
Finally, on the 29th of August, the caravan
reached- Rumuma, a favorite resting-place for
traders, on account of the comparative abundance
of its supplies. They halted there two days to
rest and feed the starving porters, and to repair
the sacks, pack-saddles and other articles. Here,
for the first time, the country people came in crowds
from the hills, bringing fowls, hauling along small,
but beautifully-formed goats, lank sheep and fine
bullocks, and carrying on their heads baskets full
of beans and ground-nuts. The climate of the

36 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
place is distinguished by its extremes. At night
the thermometer, under the influence of dew and
wind, sank to 48°, a killing temperature in those
latitudes for half-naked and houseless men ; while
during the day the mercury ranged between 80° and
90°, with a fiery sun and strong south winds.
The natives of the region are described by Bur
ton as " short, black, beardless men. They wear
their hair combed off the forehead, and twisted into
a fringe of little pig-tails, which extend to the nape
of the neck. Few boast of cloth, the general body
contenting themselves with a goatskin flap some
what like a cobbler's apron tied over one shoulder,
as we sling a game -bag. Their ornaments are zinc
and brass ear-rings in rolls, which distend the ear-
lobe, bangles, or armlets of similar metal, and iron
chains with oblong links as anklets. Their arms
are bows and arrows, assegais with long lanceated
heads, and bull-hide shields three feet long by one
broad, painted black and red in perpendicular
stripes. I was visited by their Sultan Njasa, a
small grizzled old man, with eyes reddened by
liquor, a wide mouth, a very thin beard, a sooty
skin, and long straggling hair, ' a la malcontent.' He
was attired in an antiquated barsati, or blue and
red Indian cotton, tucked in at the waist, with an
other thrown over his shoulders, and his neck was
decked with many strings of beads. He insisted
upon making ' sare ' or brotherhood with Said bin
Salim, who, being forbidden by his law to taste
blood, made the unconscientious Muinyi Wazira his
proxy."

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 37
On the 2nd of September the travellers reached
another halting-place, near a spring of brackish
water. The road lay through a plain which sepa
rates the second range from the Rubeho, or third
and highest range of the mountains. The medium
elevation of this plain is about 2,500 feet, which
raises it above the fever-level ; the dew diminishes,
the fierce extremes of temperature disappear, and
rain seldom falls heavily. Water, however, is scarce,
and the caravans adopt the habit of starting at mid
day, and marching during the hours of greatest
heat, in order fb shorten the next morning's march
to a watering-place. After camping one night in
the thorny jungle, and hastening onward all the
next day, the caravan rested in the valley of Inenge,
at the very foot of the Rubeho, or " Windy " Moun
tains. In this basin, under the heights, the temperatures
of day and night were again extreme, but the neigh
boring people brought in abundant supplies, includ
ing milk, butter, and honey. The next morning a
caravan of 400 porters from the interior arrived, on
their way to the sea, and Burton was enabled to
procure some fresh supplies from the Arab mer
chants, together with asses and a few native porters.
The merchants, moreover, kindly waited a few days
to superintend Burton's preparations for crossing
the Rubeho range ; they gave useful hints for keep
ing the caravan together at places famous for deser
tion, and gave much valuable information in regard
to travel in the interior. Burton took advantage of
their departure to Zanzibar, to propose that the

38 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
four most intractable members of his Baloch guard
should be sent back with them, but the latter, with
many protestations of fidelity, refused to 'make use
of the opportunity. Dispatches for the Royal Geo
graphical Society were also prepared at this place,
and nothing remained but to make a new start and
overcome the final barrier between the dangerous
coast region and the unknown Land of the Moon.
" The great labor still remained. Trembling with
ague, with swimming heads, ears deafened by weak
ness, and limbs that would hardly support us, we
contemplated with a dogged despair the apparently
perpendicular path that ignored a zigzag, and the
ladders of root and boulder, hemmed in with tan
gled vegetation, up which we and our starving,
drooping asses were about to toil. On the 10th of
September we hardened our hearts, and began to
breast the Pass Terrible. My companion was so
weak that he required the aid of two or three sup
porters ; I, much less unnerved, managed with one.
After rounding in two places wall-like sheets of rock
— at their bases green grass and fresh water were
standing close to camp, and yet no one had driven
the donkeys to feed — and crossing a bushy jungly
step, we faced a long steep of loose white soil and
rolling stones, up which we could see the Wanyain-
wezi porters swarming, more like baboons scaling a
precipice than human beings, and the asses falling
after every few yards. As we moved slowly and
painfully forward, compelled to he down by cough,
thirst, and fatigue, the ' sayhah ' or war-cry rang
loud from hill to hill, and Indian files of archers and

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 39
spearmen streamed like lines of black ants in all
directions down the paths. The predatory Wahuin-
ba, awaiting the caravan's departure, had seized the
opportunity of driving the cattle and plundering the
villages of Inenge. Two passing parties of men,
armed to the teeth, gave us this information ; where
upon the negro ' Jelai ' proposed, fear-maddened, a
sauve qui peut — leaving to then- fate his employers,
who, bearing the mark of Abel in this land of Cain,
were ever held to be the head and front of all
offence. Khudabakhsh, the brave of braves, being
attacked by a slight fever, lay down, declaring him
self unable to proceed, moaned hke a bereaved
mother, and cried for drink hke a sick girl. The
rest of the Baloch, headed by the jemadar, were in
the rear ; they levelled their matchlocks at one of
the armed parties as it approached them, and, but
for the interference of Kidogo, blood would have
been shed.
" By resting after every few yards, and by cling
ing to our supporters, we reached, after about six
hours, the summit of the Pass Terrible, and there
we sat down among the aromatic flowers and bright
shrubs — the gift of mountain dews — to recover
strength and breath. My companion could hardly
return an answer ; he had advanced mechanically
and almost in a state of coma. The view from the
summit appeared eminently suggestive, perhaps un
usually so, because disclosing a retrospect of severe
hardships, now past and gone. Below the fore
ground of giant fractures, huge rocks, and detached
boulders, emerging from a shaggy growth of moun-

40 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
tain vegetation, with forest glens and hanging woods,
black with shade gathering in the steeper folds, ap
peared, distant yet near, the tawny basin of Inenge,
dotted with large square villages, streaked with
lines of tender green, that denoted the water-courses,
mottled by the shadows of flying clouds, and patched
with black where the grass had been freshly fired.
A glowing sun gilded the canopy of dense smoke
which curtained the nearer plain, and in the back
ground the hazy atmosphere painted with its azure
the broken wall of hill which we had traversed on
the previous day.
" Somewhat revived by the tramontana which
rolled like an ice-brook down the Pass, we advanced
over an easy step of rolling ground, decked with
cactus and the flat-topped mimosa, with^reen grass
and bright shrubs, to a small and dirty camp, in a
hollow flanked by heights, upon which several settle
ments appeared. At this place, called the ' Great
Rubeho,' in distinction from its western neighbor, I
was compelled to halt." Speke had become deliri
ous from fever, but fortunately recovered sufficiently
to push on the next day. An ascent almost as diffi
cult as the first pass led to the dividing-ridge of the
mountains, 5,700 feet above the sea.
On this ridge there was a small village of thievish
natives. The caravan was delayed there a whole
day, at great inconvenience, since all the water had
to be carried from the ravines below. Burton's men
had furious quarrels with other parties, on account
of the danger of infection from small-pox, and it
was with great difficulty that any of the natives

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANOES. 41
could be persuaded to carry Speke in a hammook
slung to a pole.
" On the 14th of September," Burtou continues,
" our tempers being sensibly cooled by the weather,
we left the hill-top and broke ground upon the
counter-slope or landward descent of the Usagara
Mountains. Following a narrow footpath that
wound along the hill-flanks, on red earth grow
ing thick clumps of cactus and feathery mimosa,
after forty -five minutes' march we found a kraal in ,
a swampy green gap, bisected by a sluggish rivulet
that irrigated scanty fields of grain, gourds, and
watermelons, the property of distant villagers. For
the first time since many days I had strength enough
to muster the porters and to inspect their loads.
The outfit, which was expected to last a year, had
been half exhausted in three months. I summoned
Said bin Salim, and passed on to him my anxiety.
Like a veritable Arab, he declared, without the least
emotion, that we had enough to reach Unyanyembe,
where we certainly should be joined by the escort
of twenty-two porters. ' But how do you know
that ?' I inquired. ' Allah is all-knowing,' replied
Said ; ' but the caravan will come.' Such fatalism
is infectious. I ceased to think upon the subject.
" On the 15th, after sending forward the luggage,
and waiting as agreed upon for the return of the
porters to carry my companion, I set out about
noon, through hot sunshine tempered by the cool
hill-breeze. Emerging from the grassy hollow, the
path skirted a well-wooded hill and traversed a
small savanna, overgrown with stunted straw and

42 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
hedged in by a bushy forest. At this point massive
trees, here single, there in holts and clumps, foliaged
more gloomily than church-yard yews, and studded
with delicate pink flowers, rose from the tawny sun
burned expanse around, and defended from the fiery
glare braky rings of emerald shrubbery, sharply
defined as if by the forester's hand. The savanna
extended to the edge of a step, which, falling deep
and steep, suddenly disclosed to view, below and
far beyond the shaggy ribs and the dark ravines
and folds of the foreground, the plateau of Ugogo
and its eastern desert. The spectacle was truly
impressive. The vault above seemed ' an ample
aether,' raised by its exceeding transparency higher
than it is wont to be. Up to the curved rim of the
western horizon, lay, burnished by the rays of a
burning sun, plains rippled like a yellow sea by the
wavy reek of the dancing air, broken toward the
north by a few detached cones rising island-like
from the surface, and zebra'd with long black fines,
where bush and scrub and strip of thorn jungle,
supplanted upon the water-courses, trending in mazy
net-work southward to the Rwaha River, the
scorched grass and withered cane-stubbles, which
seemed to be the staple growth of the land. There
was nothing of effeminate or luxuriant beauty,
nothing of the flush and fullness characterizing
tropical nature, in this first aspect of Ugogo. It
appeared, what it is, stern and wild — the rough
nurse of rugged men— and perhaps the anticipation
of dangers and difficulties ever present to the minds
of those preparing to endure the waywardness of its

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 43
children, contributed not a httle to the fascination
of the scene."
There was another forced halt of a day on the wes
tern dechvity of the mountains ; then, resuming the
march, the path fell into a deep glen, down which
the caravan wandered until night, finally encamping
among the rocks. A march of fours hours more, on
the 18th, brought them to the plains of Ugogo, the
point beyond which the Arab merchants of Zanzi
bar had predicted they would be unable to pene
trate. Here the tent was pitched under a group of
mimosas, and all members of the party prepared
for a brief rest, new supplies, new disputes and dif
ficulties. From Burton's account of this second or moun
tain region, and the tribes who inhabit it, we take
the following particulars : " The second or moun
tain region extends from the western frontier of
K'hutu, at the head of the alluvial vaUjy, in E. long.
37° 28', to the province of Ugogi, the eastern por
tion of the flat tableland of Ugogo, in E. long.
36° 14'. Its diagonal breadth is 85 geographical
and rectilinear miles ; the native caravans, if lightly
laden, generally traverse it in three weeks, including
three or four halts. Its length cannot be esti
mated. According to the guides, Usagara is a
prolongation of the mountains of Nguru, or Ngu,
extending southward, with a gap forming the fluvia-
tile valley of the Rwaha or Rufiji River : thus the
feature would correspond with the Eastern Ghauts
of the Indian Peninsula. The Usagara chain is of
the first order in East Africa ; it is indeed the only

44 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
important elevation in a direct line from the coast
to Western Unyamwezi ; it would hold, however, but
a low grade in the general system of the earth's
mountains. The highest point above sea-level, was
5,700 feet ; there are, however, peaks which may rise
to 6,000 and even to 7,000 feet, thus rivalling the in
habited portion of the Neilgherries, in southern
India. " From the mingling of lively colors, Usagara is
delightful to the eye, after the monotonous tracts
of verdure which pall upon the sight at Zanzibar
and in the river valleys. The subsoil, displayed in
the deeper cuts and ravines, is either of granite,
greenstone, schiste, or a coarse incipient sandstone,
brown or green, and outcropping from the ground
with strata steeply tilted up. In* the higher eleva
tions the soil varies in depth from a few inches' to
thirty feet ; it is often streaked with long layers of
pebbles, apparently water-rolled.
" The plains, basins, and steps, or facets of table
land found at every elevation, are fertilized by a
stripe-work of streams, runnels, and burns, which,
anastomosing in a single channel, flow off into the
main drain of the country. Cultivation is found in
patches isolated by thick belts of thorny jungle, and
the villages are few and rarely visited. As usual in
hilly countries, they are built upon high ridges and
the slopes of cones, for rapid drainage after rain, a
purer air and fewer mosquitoes, and, perhaps, pro
tection from kidnappers. The country people bring
down their supplies of grain and pulse for caravans.
There is some delay and difficulty on the first day

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 45
of arrival at a station, and provisions for a party
exceeding a hundred men are not to be depended
upon after the third or fourth marketing, when the
people have exhausted their stores. Fearing the
thievish disposition of the Wasagara, who will at
tempt even to snatch away a cloth from a sleeping
man, travellers rarely lodge near their settlements.
Kraals of thorn, capacious circles inclosing straw
boothies, are found at every march, and, when
burned or destroyed by accident, they are rebuilt
before the bivouac. The roads, as usual in East
Africa, are tracks trodden down by caravans and
cattle, and the water-course is ever the favorite
pass. Many of the ascents and descents are so
proclivitous that donkeys must be relieved of their
loads ; and in fording the sluggish stream's, where
no grass forms a causeway over the soft, viscid
mire, the animals sink almost to the knees. The
steepest paths are those in the upper regions ; in
the lower, though the inclines are often severe, they
are generally longer, and consequently easier. At
the foot of each hill there is either a mud or a
water-course dividing it from its neighbor. These
obstacles greatly reduce the direct distance of the
day's march.
"The clans now tenanting these East African
ghauts are the Wasagara — with their chief sub-
tribe the Wakwivi — and the Wahehe ; the latter a
small body inhabiting the southwestern corner, and
extending into the plains below.
" The hmits of Wasagara have already been laid
down by the names of the plundering tribes that sur-

46 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
round them. These mountaineers, though a noisy and
riotous race, are not overblessed with courage : they
will lurk in the jungle with bows and arrows to
surprise a stray porter ; but they seem ever to be
awaiting an attack — the best receipt for inviting it.
In the higher slopes they are fine, tall, and sturdy
men ; in the lowlands they appear as degraded as
the Wak'hutu. They are a more bearded race than
any other upon this line of East Africa, and, pro
bably from extensive intercourse with the Wamri-
ma, most of them understand the language of the
coast. The women are remarkable for a splendid
development of limb, while the bosom is lax and
pendent. " The Wasagara display great varieties of com
plexion, 'some being almost black, while the others
are chocolate-colored. This difference cannot be
accounted for by the mere effects of climate — level
and temperature. Some shave the head ; others
wear the Arab's shushah, a kind of skull-cap growth,
extending more or less from the poll. Among them
is seen, for the first time on this line, the classical
coiffure of ancient Egypt. The hair, allowed to
attain its fullest length, is twisted into a multitude
of the thinnest ringlets,. each composed of two thin
lengths wound together ; the wiry stiffness of the
curls keeps them distinct and in position. Behind,
a- curtain of pigtails hangs down to the nape ; in
front the hair is either combed off the forehead, or
it is brought over the brow and trimmed short. No
head-dress has a wilder nor a more characteristically
African appearance than this, especially when,

CROSSING THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. 47
smeared with a pomatum of micaceous ochre, and
decorated with beads, brass balls, and similar orna
ments, it waves and rattles with every motion of the
head. Young men and warriors adorn their locks
with the feathers of vultures, ostriches, and a va
riety of bright-plumed jays, and some tribes twist
each ringlet with a string of reddish fibre. It is
seldom combed out, the operation requiring for a
head of thick hair the hard work of a whole day."

CHAPTER V.
BURTON — THE LAND OF UGOGO.
BURTON halted three days at the camp called
Ugogi, to recruit the party and to lay in rations
for four long desert marches. Apparently there was
an abundance of provisions, but the people at first
declined to part with their grain and cattle, even at
exorbitant prices. The travellers received a visit
from Sultan Makande, a Ugogo chief, settled at
the place, who came, as he said, to offer his ser
vices. But he walked like an idiot ; he begged for
every article that met his eye ; and he tried to per
suade Burton to follow the longest of the three
roads leading onward to Unyamwezi, evidently since
he hoped to share some additional plunder with the
many chiefs living on that road.
Ugogo is the half-way district between the coast
and Unyanyembe (the central province of the Land
of the Moon), and it is usually reached in two
months by the caravans travelling inland. The
people are a mongrel race, mixed of the tribes of the
mountains and the interior table-land. The plains
are rich in grain and the hills in cattle, when not

THE ENCAMPMENT IN UGOGO.

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 49
plundered by the neighboring tribes. The inhabi
tants offer for sale milk and honey, eggs and ghee,
or clarified butter, but in such a condition that the
articles are hardly fit for use. There is a good sup
ply of game : guinea fowls are in abundance, and
elephants and giraffes are frequent in the plains.
The place is about 2,760 feet above the sea-level,
and the climate, after the raw cold of the mountain-
range, is agreeable from its elastic air and dry,
healthy warmth. The nights are fresh and without
dew, and the rays of a tropical sun are tempered
by the winds which sweep down from the moun
tains, as regularly as the monsoons of the coast.
Burton and Speke both began to improve in health,
and the partridges and guinea-fowls which the
latter furnished for their table, were a welcome
change from their lean fare of the .previous months.
The Baloch guards, the native servants and porters,
began to throw off the effects of the pleurisies and
other complaints which they attributed to hardship
and exposure on the mountain-tops.
" Immediately before our departure," says Bur
ton, " when almost in despair at the rapid failure
of our carriage — the asses were now reduced to
nine — I fortunately secured, for the sum of four
cloths per man, the services of fifteen Wanyamwezi
porters. In all a score, they had left at Ugogi
their employer, in consequence of a quarrel con
cerning the sex. They dreaded forcible seizure
and sale if found without protection travelling
homeward through Ugogo ; and thus they willing
ly agreed to carry our goods as far as their own

50 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
country, Unyanyembe. Truly is travelling like
campaigning — a pennyweight of luck is better than
a talent of all the talents ! And if marriages, as
our fathers used to say, are made in the heavens,
the next-door manufactory must be devoted to the
fabrication of African explorations. Notwithstand
ing, however, the large increase of conveyance,
every man appeared on the nextr march more hea
vily laden than before ; they carried grain for six
days, and water for one night.
" We left Ugogi on the 22d September, at three
P. M., instead of at noon. As all the caravan hur
ried recklessly forward, I brought up the rear, ac
companied by Said bin Salim, the jemadar, and
several of the sons of Ramji, who insisted upon
driving the asses for greater speed at a long trot,
which, after lasting a hundred yards, led to an in
evitable fall of the load. Before emerging from
Ugogi, the road wound over a grassy country,
thickly speckled with calabashes. Square dwell
ings appeared on both sides, and there was no
want of flocks and herds. As the villages and
fields were left behind, the land became a dense,
thorny jungle, based upon a sandy red soil. The
horizon was bounded upon both sides by gradually
thinning lines of lumpy, outlying hill, the spurs of
the Rubeho Range, that extended, like a scorpion's
claws, westward ; and the plain, gently falling in
the same direction, was broken only by a singl'a.
hill- shoulder and by some dwarf descents. As we
advanced through the shades — a heavy cloud-
bank had shut out the- crescent moon — our diffi-

THE UGOGO COUNTRY. 51
culties increased ; thorns and spiky twigs threat
ened the eyes : the rough and rugged road led to
many a stumble, and the frequent whine of the
cynhyena made the asses wild with fear. About 8
P. M., directed by loud shouts and flaring fires, we
reached a kraal, a patch of yellow grass, offering
clear room in the thorny thicket. That night was
the perfection of a bivouac, cool from the vicinity
of the hills, genial from their shelter, and sweet as
forest air in these regions ever is.
" On the next day we resumed our labor betimes ;
for a dreary and thirsty stage lay before us. Toil
ing through the sunshine of the hot waste I could
not but remark the strange painting of the land
around. At a distance the plain was bright yellow
with stubble, and brown-black with patches of leaf
less wintry jungle based upon a brick-dust soil. A
closer approach disclosed colors more vivid and dis
tinct. Over the ruddy plain lay scattered untidy
heaps of grey granite boulders, surrounded and
capped by tufts of bleached white grass. The
copse showed all manner of strange hues, cala
bashes purpled and burnished by sun and rain,
thorns of a greenish coppery bronze, dead trees
with trunks of ghastly white, and gums of an un
natural sky-blue, the effect of the yellow outer pel
licle being peeled off by the burning rays, while al
most all were reddened up to a man's height, by the
double galleries, ascending and descending, of the
white ants."
In the afternoon they climbed a steep, stony
range of hills, and after a few hours' travel reached

52 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
a western slope, descending to the great, rolling ta
ble-land of Central Africa. The caravan encamped
at night in the wilderness, having still a long day's
march to a small pond called the Ziwa, the first
place where a good supply of water could be found.
The next morning Burton learned that he had sus
tained an apparently irreparable loss. A part of
the caravan had been attacked by a swarm of wild
bees, and a porter who had been engaged at Menge
took the opportunity of deserting. He carried a
portmanteau, containing the Nautical Almanac, the
surveying books, and most of the paper, pens and
ink. The caravan was delayed several hours, a
search was made at the placet where the man must
have deserted, but without result. Much saddened
by the disaster, Burton pushed on until sunset, and
encamped on the dry plain, within a few miles of
the pond of Ziwa.
Before settling for the night, Kidogo, the native
leader and guide, stood up, and to loud cries of
" Maneno ! maneno !" — words ! words ! equivalent
to the parliamentary hear ! hear ! — delivered him
self of the following speech :
" Listen, O ye whites ! and ye children of Sayyi-
di Majidi ! and ye sons of Ramji ! hearken to my
words, O ye offspring of the night ! The journey
entereth Ugogo — Ugogo (the orator threw out his
arm westward.) Beware, and again beware (he
made violent gesticulations.) You don't know the
Wagogo, they are  s and  s ! (he stamped.)
Speak not to those Washenzi pagans ; enter not
into their houses (he pointed grimly to the ground.)

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 53
Have no dealings with them, show no cloth, wire,
nor beads (speaking with increasing excitement.)
Eat not with them, drink not with them, and make
not love to their women (here the speech became a
scream.) Kirangozi of the Wanyamwezi, restrain
your sons ! Suffer them not to stray into the vil
lages, to buy salt out of camp, to rob provisions, to
debauch with beer, or to sit by the wells !" And
thus, for nearly half an hour, now violently, then
composedly, he poured forth the words of wisdom,
till the hubbub and chatter of voices which at first
had been silenced by surprise, brought his elo
quence to an end.
" We left the jungle-kraal early on the 26th Sep
tember, and, after hurrying through thick bush, we
debouched upon an open stubbly plain, with herds
of gracefully-bounding antelopes and giraffes, who
stood for a moment with long outstretched necks to
gaze, and presently broke away at a rapid, striding
camel's trot, their heads shaking as if they would
jerk off, their hmbs loose, and their joints apparently
dislocated. About 9 P.M. we sighted the much-
talked-of Ziwa. . The Arabs, fond of ' showing a
green garden,' had described to me at Inenge a
piece of water fit to float a man-of-war. I was not
therefore surprised to find a shallow pool, which in
India would barely merit the name of tank.
" The Ziwa, which lies 3,100 feet above the sea,
occupies the lowest western level of Marenga
Mk'kali, and is the deepest of the many inundated
grounds lying to its north, northeast and northwest.
The extent greatly varies : in September, 1857, it

54 LAKE REGION" OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
was a slaty sheet of water, with granite projections
on one side, and about 300 yards in diameter ; the
centre only could not be forded. The bottom and
the banks were of retentive clay; a clear ring,
whence the waters had subsided, margined the
pool and beyond it lay a thick thorny jungle. In
early December, 1858, nothing remained but a sur
face of dry, crumbling, and deeply- cracked mud,
and, according to travellers, it had long, in conse
quence of the scanty rains, been in that state. Ca
ravans always encamp at the Ziwa when they find
water there. The country around is full of large
game, especially elephants, giraffes, and zebras.
" At the Ziwa the regular system of kuhonga, or
black-mail, so much dreaded by travellers, begins in
force. Up to this point all the chiefs are contented
with little presents ; but in Ugogo tribute is taken
by force, if necessary. None can evade payment ;
the porters, fearing lest the road be cut off to them
in future, would refuse to travel unless each chief is
satisfied ; and when a quarrel arises they throw down
their packs and run away. Ugogo, since the closing
of the northern line through the Wahumba and the
Wamasai tribes, and the devastation of the southern
regions by the Warori, is the only open line, and the
sultans have presumed upon their power of stopping
the way. There is no regular tariff of taxes : the
sum is fixed by'the traveller's dignity and outfit,
which, by means of his slaves, are as well known to
every sultan as to himself. Properly speaking, the
exaction should be confined to the . up-cara vans ;
from those returning, a head or two of cattle, a few

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 55
hoes, or some similar trifle, are considered ample.
Such, however, was not the experience of the expe
dition. When first travelling through the country
the ' Wazungu ' (white men) were sometimes mulcted
to the extent of fifty cloths by a single chief, and
the Arabs congratulated them upon having escaped
so easily."
When the chief of the place had been propitiated
by a present of cloth, and beads, the country people
made their appearance, bringing bullocks, sheep,
goats, and poultry, watermelons and pumpkins,
honey, buttermilk and curds, and an abundance of
holcus and calabash flour. The latter is made from
the hard, dry pulp surrounding the seeds in the ripe
gourd : its taste is slightly acid, and it is considered
very nourishing. On account of the supplies, the
caravan halted four days, and there was the usual
amount of quarrelling between the leaders of the
various nationalities composing it. The detention,
however, proved to be fortunate. On the last day,
September 30th, a caravan headed by several Arab
traders arrived from the coast, bringing not only
later news from the world, but — a singular good
fortune — the valuable portmanteau which had been
lost. Burton's caravan joined the latter for the journey
to the Land of the Moon, making a total of 190
men, thus affording greater security to both. They
had chosen the middle route through Ugogo, for the
reason that it was the beaten path, and only infest
ed by four chiefs to whom black-mail must be paid.
" On the 1st of October, (1857,)" Burton continues,

56 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
" we left the Ziwa late in the morning, and after
passing through the savannas and the brown jungles
of the lower levels, where giraffe again appeared,
the path crested a wave of ground and debouched
upon the table-land of Ugogo. The aspect was
peculiar and unprepossessing. Behind still towered
in sight the delectable mountains of Usagara, mist-
crowned and robed in the lightest azure, with streaks
of a deep plum-color, fronting the hot low land of
Marenga Mk'hali, whose tawny face was wrinkled
with lines of dark jungle. On the north was a ta
bular range of rough and rugged hill, above which
rose three distant cones pointed out as the haunts
of the robber Wahumba : at its base was a deep
depression, a tract of brown brush patched with
yellow grass, inhabited only by the elephant, and
broken by small outlying hillocks. Southward,
scattered eminences of tree-crowned rock rose a few
yards from the plain which extended to the front,
a clearing of deep red or white soil, decayed vege
tation based upon rocky or sandy ground, here and
there thinly veiled with brown brush and golden
stubbles : its length, about four miles, was studded
with square villages, and with the stately but gro
tesque calabash. This giant is to the vegetable
what the elephant is to the animal world : the Per
sians call it the " practice-work of nature " — its dis
proportionate conical bole rests upon huge legs ex
posed to view by the washing away of the soil.
"From the day of our entering to that of our-
leaving the country, every settlement turned out its
swarm of gazers, men and women, boys and girls,

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 57
some of whom would follow us for miles with ex
plosions of Hi ! — i ! — i ! screams of laughter and
cries of excitement, at a long high trot — most un
graceful of motion ! — and with a scantiness of toil
ette which displayed truly unseemly spectacles.
The matrons, especially the aged matrons, and the
old men were ever the most pertinacious and in
trusive, the most surly and quarrelsome. Vainly
the escort attempted to arrest the course of this
moving multitude of semi-nude barbarity. I after
ward learned that the two half-caste Arabs who
had passed us at Muhama, had, while preceding us,
spread through Ugogo malevolent reports concern
ing the Wazungu (wrhite men.) They had one eye
each and four arms; they were full of 'know
ledge,' which in these lands means magic ; they
caused rain to fall in advance and left droughts in
their rear ; they cooked watermelons and threw
away the seeds, thereby generating small-pox ; they
heated and hardened milk, thus breeding a murrain
among cattle ; and their wire, cloth, and beads
caused a variety of misfortunes ; they were kings
of the sea, and therefore white-skinned and straight-
haired — a standing mystery to these curly-pated
people — as are all men who live in salt water ; and
next year they would return and seize the country.
Suspicion of our intentions touching ' territorial
aggrandizement ' was a fixed idea : everywhere the
value attached by barbarians to their homes is in
inverse ration to the real worth of the article.
Hence mountaineers are proverbially patriotic.
Thus the lean Bedouins of Arabia and the lank

58 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Somal, though they own that they are starving,
never sight a stranger without suspecting that he is
spying out the wealth of the land. 'What will
happen to us ?' asked the Wagogo ; ' we never yet
saw this manner of man !" But the tribe cannot now
forfeit intercourse with the coast : they annoyed us
to the utmost, they made the use of their wells a
daily source of trouble, they charged us double
prices, and when they brought us provisions for
sale, they insisted upon receiving the price of even
the rejected articles ; yet they did not proceed to
open outrage.'
•At a station called Kilfukuru they were detained
a day, and at the next, Kanyenye, four days, to set
tle the amount of black-mail with the chiefs. Ma-
gomba, the chief of the latter district, was one of
the most powerful and dreaded in the Land of Ugo
go, and was not satisfied until he had received, from
first to last, presents of the value of fifty dollars.
Burton's account of his meeting with this rapacious
" head man " will serve as a specimen of an expe
rience which was renewed, every few days, during
his progress through the country. "I received,
when encamped at the Ziwa," he says, " a polite mes
sage declaring his desire to see white men ; but — ' the
favor of the wind produces dust' — I was obliged to
acknowledge the compliment with two cottons. On
arrival at his head-quarters I was waited upon by
an oily cabinet of viziers and elders, who would not
depart without their ' respects' — four cottons. The
next demand was made by his favorite wife, a pecu
liarly hideous old princess, with more wrinkles than

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 59
hairs, with no hair black and no tooth white, and
attended by ladies in waiting as unprepossessing as
herself : she was not to be dismissed without a fee
of six cottons. At last, accompanied by a mob of
courtiers, who crowded in like an African House of
Commons, appeared in person the magnifico. He
was the only sultan that ever entered my tent in
Ugogo — pride and a propensity for strong drink
prevented other visits. He was much too great a
man to call upon the Arab merchants, but in our
case curiosity had mastered state considerations.
Magomba was a black and wrinkled elder, drivelling
and decrepit, with a half-bald head, from whose
back and sides depended a few straggling corkscrews
of iron grey ; he wore a coat of castor-oil and a loin
cloth, which grease and use had changed from blue
to black. A few bead strings decorated his neck,
large flexible anklets of brass wire adorned his legs,
solid brass rings, single and in coils, which . had
distended his ear-lobes almost to splitting, were
tied by a string over his cranium, and his horny
soles were defended by single-soled sandals, old,
dirty, and tattered. He chewed his quid and he
expectorated without mercy ; he asked many a silly
question, yet he had ever an eye to the main
chance." On the 8th of October, during the delay at Kan-
yenye, a caravan bound for the coast arrived from
the interior, and Burton was enabled to send dis
patches home. On the 10th he set forward again,
over a plain covered with thorny jungles which were
very difficult to pass. Two days of such marching

60 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA..
brought the caravan to the territory of the next
chief, where there was another forced halt of five
days, partly to arrange the inevitable black-mail,
and partly to lay in provisions for four days through
a desert region. Every such halt was accompanied
with quarrels and attempts at desertion, many of
which Burton describes in detail, until, from their
continual repetition, they finally become as weari
some to the reader as they must have been to the
explorer. Leaving the pestilent jungle, where they had been
encamped, they journeyed- onward in the heat,
stung by the tsetse fly, and annoyed with swarms of
wild bees and gadflies. On one occasion an army
of large poisonous ants drove them out of the tent,
until they were banished by the use of boiling wa
ter. The nights were cold and raw, and almost
every morning they found that some valuable arti
cle had been rendered useless by the termites. Dur
ing the first night, fifteen porters who had been
hired at Ugogi deserted, Burton's riding-ass was
torn by a hyena, and his fever returned. The next
day he was obliged to walk over the burning soil,
through a wild country where the frankincense was
used for fuel, lying down every half hour to rest ;
but late in the evening he reached the district of
Mdaburu, the westernmost part of the Land of
Ugogo, where another halt of two days was pre
scribed. Here there was less difficulty in settling
with the resident chief. The risk of being attacked
seemed to diminish, in proportion as the caravan
penetrated further into the interior.

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 61
A wide desert tract called Mgunda Mk'hali —
"the Fiery Field" — separates Ugogo from Un
yamwezi, the Land of the Moon. It is traversed
by three roads, of which Burton chose the central
one. Eight marches are required to cross it, only
the first three of which, however, are especially fa
tiguing, although caravans are threatened with
drouth and the death of cattle during the whole
journey. The natives, for their own safety, adopted
a better organization on entering this region.
"From east to west," says Burton, " the diago
nal breadth of the Fiery Field is 140 miles. The
general aspect is a dull uniform bush, emerald-col
ored during the rains, and in the heats a network
of dry and broom-like twigs. Except upon the
banks of nullahs — ' rivers ' that are not rivers — the
trees, as in Ugogo, wanting nutriment, never afford
timber, and even the calabash appears stunted. The
trackless waste of scrub, called the 'bush' in South
ern Africa, is found in places alternating with thin
gum-forest ; the change may be accounted for by
the different depths of water below the level of the
ground. It is a hardy vegetation of mimosas and
gums mixed with evergreen succulent plants, cacta-
ceae, aloes, and euphorbias ; the grass, sometimes
tufty, at other times equally spread, is hard and
stiff ; when green it feeds cattle, and when dry it is
burned in places by passing caravans to promote
the growth of another crop.
" On the 20th October we began the transit of
the ' Fiery Field,' whose long broad line of brown
ungle, painted blue by the intervening air, had, for

62 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
two days previous, formed our western horizon.
The waste here appeared in its most horrid phase.
The narrow goat-path serpentined in and out of a
growth of poisonous thorny jungle, with thin, hard
grass-straw, growing on a glaring white and rolling
ground ; the view was limited by bush and brake,
as in the alluvial valleys of the maritime region,
and in weary sameness the spectacle surpassed
everything that we had endured in Marenga Mk'-
hali. We halted through the heat of the day at
some water-pits in a broken course ; and resuming
our tedious march early in the afternoon, we arrived
about sunset at the bed of a shallow nullah, where
the pure element was found in sand-holes about five
feet deep."
On the 22d of October they reached Jiwe la
Mkoa, the half-way station in the desert. A few
villages, inhabited by emigrants of mongrel tribes,
were passed on the way, but no incident occurred
beyond the usual fatigues of such a journey. Jiwe
Mkoa, or the Round Rock, is a dome-shaped hill
of grey syenite, two miles in length and about 300
feet high. Here a little water is obtained from pits,
and there is a small village, which does not furnish
any supplies to caravans.
After six days more of slow and toilsome pro
gress, the caravan exchanged the dry, thorny plains
for a region of jungle, tall grass and scattered for
ests, with indications of abundance of water. At
the first appearance of cultivation the natives halt
ed, in order to form in orderly style, and present a
more dignified character. " Then," says Burton,

THE LAND OF UGO.GO. 68
" ensued a clearing, studded with large stockaded
villages, peering over tall hedges of dark-green
milk-bush, fields of maize and millet, manioc,
gourds, and watermelons, and showing numerous
flocks and herds, clustering around the shallow pits.
The people swarmed from their abodes, young and
old hustling one another for a better stare ; the man
forsook his loom and the girl her hoe, and for the
remainder of the march we were escorted by a tail
of screaming boys and shouting adults ; the males
almost nude, the women bare to the waist and
clothed only knee-deep in kilts, accompanied us,
puffing pipes the while, with wallets of withered or
flabby flesh flapping the air, striking their hoes with
stones, crying ' Beads ! beads !' and ejaculating their
wonder in strident explosions of ' Hi ! hi ! — Hui !
ih !' and ' Ha ! — a ! — a !' It was a spectacle to make
an anchorite of a man — it was at once ludicrous
and disgusting.
"At length the kirangozi (leader) fluttered his red
flag in the wind, and the drums, horns, and larynxes
of his followers began the fearful uproar which in
troduces a caravan to the admiring ' natives.' Lead
ing the way, our guide, much to my surprise — I
knew not then that such was the immemorial cus
tom of Unyamwezi — entered uninvited and sans
ceremony the nearest large village ; the long string
of porters flocked in with bag and baggage, and we
followed their example. The guests at once dis
persed themselves through the several courts and
compounds into which the interior hollow was di
vided, and lodged themselves with as much regard

64 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
for self and disregard for their grumbling hosts as
possible. We were placed under a wall-less roof,
bounded on One side by the bars of the village pali
sade, and the mob of starers that relieved one an
other from morning till night made me feel like the
denizen of a menagerie."
This was at last Unyamwezi, the Land of the
Moon, and Burton and Speke were the first Euro
peans who ever visited it. Before accompanying
them to new adventures, we will give the most in
teresting particulars of Burton's account of the ge
ography and ethnology of Ugogo.
" The third division of the country visited is a
flat table-land extending from the Ugogi valley, at
the western base of the Wasagara Mountains, in
E. longitude 36° 14', to Tura, the eastern district of
Unyamwezi, in E. longitude 33° 57'; occupying a
diagonal breadth of 155 geographical rectilinear
miles. The length from north to south is not so
easily estimated. The average of the heights ob
served is 3,650 feet, with a gradual rise westward
to Jiwe la Mkoa, which attains an altitude of 4,200
feet (?).
" This third region, situated to leeward of a range
whose height compels the southeast trades to part
with their load of vapors, and distant from the suc
cession of inland seas which, stationed near the cen
tre of the African continent, act as reservoirs to re
store the balance of humidity, is an arid, sterile
land, a counterpart in many places of the Kalahari
and the Karroo, or South African desert-plains.
The general aspect is a glaring yellow flat, dark-

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 65
ened by long growths of acrid, saline, and succulent
plants, thorny bush, and stunted trees, and the col
oring is monotonous in the extreme. It is sprin
kled with isolated dwarf cones, bristhng with rocks
and boulders, from whose interstices springs a thin
forest of gums, thorns, and mimosas.
" The climate of Ugogo is markedly arid. Dur
ing the transit of the expedition in September and
October, the best water-colors faded and hardened
in their pans ; India-rubber, especially the prepared
article in squares, became viscid, like half-dried
bird-lime ; ' Macintosh ' was sticking-plaster, and
the best vulcanized elastic bands tore like brown
paper. During almost the whole year a violent east
wind sweeps from the mountains. There are great
changes in the temperature, while the weather ap
parently remains the same, and alternate currents
of hot and cold air were observed.
" Arab and other travellers unaccustomed to the
country at first suffer from the climate, which must
not, however, be condemned. They complain of
the tourbillons, the swarms of flies, and the violent
changes from burning heat to piercing cold, which is
always experienced in that region when the ther-
meter sinks below 60°-55° F. Their thin tents,
pitched under a ragged calabash, cannot mitigate
the ardor of an unclouded sun ; the salt-bitter wa
ter, whose nitrous and saline deposits sometimes
tarnish a silver ring like the fumes of sulphur, af
fects their health ; while the appetite, stimulated by
a purer atmosphere and the coolness of the night
air, is kept within due bounds only by deficiency in

66 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
the means of satisfying it. Those who have seen
Africa farther west are profuse in their praises of
the climate on their return-march from the interior.
" The superiority of climate, and probably the
absence of that luxuriant vegetation which distin
guishes the eastern region, have proved favorable to
the physical development of the races living in and
about Ugogo. The Wagogo, and their northern
neighbors the Wahumba, are at once distinguishable
from the wretched population of the alluvial valleys,
and of the mountains of Usagara ; though living in
lower altitudes, they are a fairer race — and therefore
show better blood — than the Wanyamwezi. These
two tribes, whose distinctness is established by dif
ference of dialect, will be described in order.
" The Wagogo display the variety of complexion
usually seen among slave-purchasing races : many
of them are fair as Abyssinians ; some are black
as. negroes. In the eastern and northern settle
ments they are a fine, stout, and light-complexioned
race. Their main peculiarity is the smallness of
the cranium compared with the broad circumfer
ence of the face at and below the zygomata : seen
from behind, the appearance is that of a small half
bowl fitted upon one of considerably larger bias ;
and this, with the widely-extended ears, gives a re
markable expression to the' face. Nowhere in east
ern Africa is the lobe so distended. Pieces of cane
an inch or two in length, and nearly double the
girth of a man's finger, are so disposed that they
appear like handles to the owner's head. The dis
tinctive mark of the tribe is the absence of the two

THE LAND OS UGOGO. 67
lower incisors ; but they are more generally recog
nized by the unnatural enlargement of their ears.
In Eastern Africa the ' aures perforates ' are the
signs not of slavery, but of freedom. There is no
regular tattoo, though some of the women have two
parallel lines running from" below the bosom down the
abdomen, and the men often extract only a single
lower incisor. The hair is sometimes shaved clean,
at others grown in mop-shape ; more generally it is
dressed in a mass of tresses, as among the Egyp
tians, and the skin, as well as the large bunch of
corkscrews, freely stained with ochre and micaceous
earths. " The strength of the Wagogo hes in their com
parative numbers. As the people seldom travel to
the coast, their scattered villages are full of fighting
men. Moreover, uchawi or black magic here num
bers few believers, consequently those drones of the
social hive, the waganga, or medicine-men, are not
numerous. The Wagogo seldom sell their children
and relations, yet there is no order against the
practice. They barter for slaves their salt and ivo
ry, the principal produce of the country.
"The Wagogo are celebrated as thieves who
will, like the Wahehe, rob even during the day.
They are importunate beggars, who specify their
long list of wants without stint or shame : their
principal demand is tobacco, which does not grow in
the land ; and they resemble the Somal, who never
sight a stranger without stretching out the hand for
' bori.' The men are idle and debauched, spending
their days in unbroken crapulence and drunkenness,

68 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
while the girls and women hoe the fields, and the
boys tend the flocks and herds. They mix honey
with their pombe, or beer, and each man provides
entertainment for his neighbors" in turn. After
midday it would be difficult throughout the coun
try to find a chief without the thick voice, fiery
eyes, and moidered manners, which prove that he
is either drinking or drunk.
" The Wahumba are a fair and comely race,
with the appearance of mountaineers, long-legged
and lightly made. They have repeatedly ravaged
the lands of Usagara and Ugogo ; in the latter
country, near Usek'he, there are several settle
ments of this people, who have 'exchanged the
hide-tent for the hut, and the skin for the cotton
cloth. They stain their garments with ochrish
earth, and their women are distinguished by wear
ing kitindi of full and half size above and below
the elbows. The ear-lobes are pierced and dis
tended by both sexes, as among the Wagogo. In
their own land they are purely pastoral ; they grow
no grain, despise vegetable food, and subsist en
tirely upon meat or milk according to the season.
Their habitations are hemispheres of boughs lashed
together and roofed with a cow's hide ; it is the pri
mitive dwelling-place, and the legs of the occupant
protrude beyond the shelter. Their arms, which
are ever hung up close at hand, are broad-headed
spears of soft iron, long ' sine,' or double-edged
daggers, with ribbed wooden handles fastened to
the blade by a strip of cow's tail shrunk on, and
' rungu,' or wooden knob-kerries, with double bulges

THE LAND OF UGOGO. 69
that weight the weapon as it whirls through the air.
They ignore and apparently despise the bow and
arrows, but in battle they carry the pavoise, or
large hide-shield, affected by the Kafirs of the
Cape. The Arabs, when in force, do not fear their
attacks. [Note. — Burton, in describing the different regions of Central
Africa and their inhabitants, always makes use of the prefixes pe
culiar to the native languages. U signifies the country, Wa the
tribe occupying it, Ki the language, and M an individual of the
tribe. Thus, Ugogo, the first region west of the mountains ;
Wagogo, the general designation of the inhabitants ; Kigogo,
their language, and Mgogo, a single individual.]

CHAPTER VI.
BURTON — UNYAMWEZI, THE LAND OF THE MOON.
AFTER the gloomy jungles and interminable
thornforests of the " Fiery Field," the fair open
country, bounded on either hand by low, rolling hills,
with a succession of villages and fields of sesame,
maize, millet, watermelons and pumpkins, seemed like
a veritable Paradise to the weary caravan. No halt
.was made at Tura, however ; supplies were certain
each day, and the travellers pushed on to reach
Unyanyembe, the central district of the Land of the
Moon,- where the Arab merchants have built a small
town, called Kazeh, as an entrepot for their trade
with all the interior regions.
At the end of the third day's march from Tura,
they were overtaken by a flying caravan, belonging to
an Arab who had left the coast nearly three months
after their departure. He warned them against re
turning beyond Kazeh, on account of the great dan
gers of the journey. At a village called Rubuga, the
chief gave Burton a splendid fat bullock, and the
native porters so gorged themselves that they were
hardly able to march. Advancing slowly through a

THE LAND OF THE MOON. fl
fertile and populous country, on the 6th of Novem
ber, they entered a dreaded forest, beyond which
lay Unyanyembe. One of the neighboring chiefs, a
sort of African Rob Roy, was in the habit of way
laying caravans in this forest, and almost every Arab
merchant had been plundered. Burton therefore
started at 1 A.M., but in spite of every precaution
against surprise, one of the porters was robbed of a
leathern portmanteau, containing clothes, books,
notes of travel and botanical collections.
Finally the wilderness of. granite hills, gum trees,
and mimosas was left behind, and the caravan en
camped on the banks of a stream, in a pleasant and
well-cultivated country. The next day, — the 7th
of November, 1857, the 134th day from the date of
leaving the coast, they approached Kazeh, the one
important town of Unyamwezi. Burton's account
of his arrival, and his reception by the Arab mer
chants, is both interesting and refreshing after his
long catalogue of quarrels and suspicions :
" About 8 A.M. we halted for stragglers at a little
village, and when the line of porters, becoming
compact, began to wriggle, snake-like, its long length
over the plain, with floating flags, booming horns,
muskets ringing like saluting-mortars, and an uproar
of voice which nearly drowned the other noises, we
made a truly splendid and majestic first appear
ance. The road was lined with people who attempt
ed to vie with us in volume and variety of sound :
all had donned their best attire, and with such
luxury my eyes had been long unfamiliar. Ad
vancing, I saw several Arabs standing by the way-

72 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
side ; they gave the Moslem salutation, and cour
teously accompanied me for some distance. Among
them were the principal merchants.
" I had directed Said bin Salim to march the
caravan to the tembe kindly placed at my disposal
by the Arabs met at Inenge. The caravan-leader
and the porters, however, led us on by mistake to
the house of'" Musa Mzuri " — handsome Moses — an
Indian merchant settled at Unyanyembe, for whom
I bore an introductory letter, graciously given by
H. H. the Sayyid Majid of Zanzibar. As Musa
was then absent on a trading journey to Karagwah,
his agent, Snay bin Amir, came forward to perform
his guest-rites, and led me to the vacant house.
After allowing me, as is the custom, a day to rest
and to dismiss the porters, who at once separated
to their homes, all the Arab merchants, then about
a dozen, made the first ceremonious call, and to
them was officially submitted the circular addressed
by the Prince of Zanzibar to his subjects resident
in the African interior. Contrary to the predictions
of others, nothing could be more encouraging than
the reception experienced from the Omani Arabs ;
striking, indeed, was the contrast between the open-
handed hospitality and the hearty good-will of this
truly noble race, and the niggardness of the savage
and selfish African — it was heart of flesh after
heart of stone. A goat and a load of the fine white
rice grown in the country were the normal prelude
to a visit and to offers of service which proved
something more than a mere vox et jprasterea nihil.
Whatever I alluded to, onions, plantains, limes, ve-

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 73
getables, tamarind-cakes, coffee from Karagwah,
and similar articles, only to be found among the
Arabs, were sent at once, and the very name of pay
ment would have been an insult. Snay bin Amir,
determined to surpass all others in generosity, sent
two goats to us and two bullocks to the Baloch and
the sons of Ramji : sixteen years before, he had be
gun life a confectioner at Muscat, and now he had
risen to be one of the wealthiest ivory and slave
dealers in Eastern Africa.
" Unyanyembe, the central and principal province
of Unyamwezi, is, like Zungomero in Khutu, the
great bandari or meeting-place of merchants, and
the point of departure for caravans which thence
radiate into the interior of Central Intertropical
Africa. Here the Arab merchant from Zanzibar
meets his compatriot returning from the Tanganyika
Lake and from Uruwwa. Northward well-travelled
lines diverge to the Nyanza Lake, and the powerful
kingdoms of Karagwah, Uganda, and Unyoro ; from
the south Urori and Ubena, Usanga and Usenga,
send their ivory and slaves ; and from the south
west the Rukwa Water, K'hokoro, Ufipa, and Ma-
rungu must barter their valuables for cottons, wires,
and beads.
" Unyanyembe, which rises about 3,480 feet above
sea-level, and hes 356 miles in rectilinear distance
from the eastern coast of Africa, resembles in its
physical features the lands about Tura. The plain
or basin of Ihar£, or Kwihard, a word synonymous
with the ' bondei ' or lowland of the coast, is bound
ed on the north and south by low, rolling hills,

74 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
which converge toward the west, where, with the
characteristically irregular lay of primitive form
ations, they are crossed almost at right angles by
the Mfuto chain. The position has been imprudent
ly chosen by the Arabs ; the land suffers from alter
nate drought and floods, which render the climate
markedly malarious. The soil is aluminous in the
low levels — a fertile plain of brown earth, with a
subsoil of sand and sandstone, from eight to twelve
feet below the surface ; the water is often impreg
nated with iron, and the higher grounds are unin
habited tracts covered with bulky granite boulders,
bushy trees, and thorny shrubs.
" It is difficult to average the present number of
Arab merchants at Unyanyembe, who, hke the
British in India, visit but do not colonize; they
rarely, however, exceed twenty-five in number ; and
during the travelling season, or when a campaign is
necessary, they are sometimes reduced to three or
four ; they are too strong to yield without fighting,
and are not strong enough to fight with" success.
Whenever the people have mustered courage to try
a fall with the strangers, they have been encouraged
to try again. Hitherto the merchants have been on
friendly terms with Fundikira, the chief. Their
position, however, though partly held by force of
prestige, is precarious.
"The Arabs live comfortably, and even splendidly,
at Unyanyembe. The houses, though single-storied,
are large, substantial, and capable of defence.
Their gardens are extensive and well planted ; they
receive regular supplies of merchandise, comforts,

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 75
and luxuries from the coast ; they are surrounded
by troops of concubines and slaves, whom they
train to divers crafts and calhngs ; rich men have
riding-asses from Zanzibar, and even the poorest
keep flocks and herds. At Unyanyembe, as at
Msene, and sometimes at Ujiji, there are itinerant
fundi, or slave artisans — blacksmiths, tinkers,
masons, carpenters, tailors, potters, and rope-
makers — who come up from the coast with Arab
caravans. These men demand exorbitant wages.
" One drawback to the Arab's happiness is the
failure of his constitution ; a man who escapes ill
ness for two successive months boasts of the immu
nity ; and, as in Egypt, no one. enjoys robust health.
The older residents have learned to moderate their
appetites. They eat but twice a day — after sun
rise, and at noon. The midday meal concluded,
they confine themselves to chewing tobacco or the
dried coffee of Karagwah. They avoid strong
meats, especially beef and game, which are consid
ered heating and bilious, remaining . satisfied with
light dishes, omelets and pillaus, harisah, firni, and
curded milk ; and the less they eat the more likely
they are to escape fever.
" From Unyanyembe, twenty marches, which are
seldom accomplished under twenty-five days, con
duct the traveller to Ujiji, upon the Tanganyika. Of
these the fifth station is Msene, the great bandari of
Western Unyamwezi. " It is usually reached in
eight days ; and the twelfth is the Malagarazi River,
the western limit of the fourth region.
" Throughout Eastern Africa made roads, the first

76 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
test of progress in a people, are unknown. The
most frequented routes are foot-tracks, hke goat-
walks, one to two spans broad, trodden down during
the travelling season by man and beast, and during
the rains the path, in African parlance, ' dies,' that
is to say, it is overgrown with vegetation. In open
and desert places four or five lines often run parallel
for short distances. In jungly countries they are
mere tunnels in thorns and under branchy trees,
which fatigue the porter by catching his load.
Where fields and villages abound, they are closed
with rough hedges, horizontal tree-trunks, and even
rude stockades, to prevent trespassing and pilferage."
These difficulties, added to the short marches of the
caravan-porters, render it almost impossible for an
exploring party to advance at a more rapid rate
than six geographical miles per day.
Burton was detained at Kazeh from the 8th of
November to the 14th of December, and the delay
was one long trial of patience. It is customary for
caravans proceeding towards Ujiji, on the Tangan
yika Lake, to make a halt of six weeks or two
months, for rest, reorganization, and the enjoyment
of a more civilized society. Burton was anxious, on
account of the approaching rainy season, to push
onward as rapidly as possible, but all circumstances
combined to prevent him. On the morning after
his arrival at Kazeh, the native porters, hired at the
coast, all left for their homes; the guide took a
leave of absence for fifteen days ; and the Baloch
guards, with the remaining servants, persisted in
declaring Unyanyembe, and not the Lake, to be the

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 77
limit of the expedition. Kazeh, in fact, proved to
be a second point of departure, only less difficult
than the original start, because the travellers had
gained much experience in the meantime. The
greatest trouble was occasioned by Said bin Salim,
the officer furnished by the Sultan of Zanzibar ; and
without the hearty and unremitting assistance of
the Arab merchant, Snay bin Amir, the expedition
might have been prevented from advancing beyond
Kazeh. The rainy season commenced in November, but,
although it is considered healthy in those interior
regions, Burton was so prostrated by malarious
fever that he felt more dead than alive. He was
attacked by partial paralysis of the limbs, the effects
of which he felt for more than a month afterwards.
After reaching Yombo, two short marches west of
Kazeh, the prospect of going onward gradually im
proved. Twenty porters were hired, five of whom
immediately deserted, and eleven of the Baloch
guards joined the party. Three more short marches
brought Burton to a village called Irora, where, on
the 22nd of December, he was joined to Speke, who
had remained behind to receive some scanty sup
plies which had arrived from the coast, and who
had also engaged an additional number of porters.
The latter, contrary to the usual habits of the class,
were clamorous to proceed to the district of Msene
without delay.
In three days more Burton, who had been carried
in a hammock slung upon poles, regained strength
enough to ride upon an ass. The day's stages were

78 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
very short ; the country through which he passed
was moderately populated and supplied the most ne
cessary food. On the 30th of December he reached
the country of Msene, which is the chief trading-
place of Western Unyamwezi. It is governed by
a ruler who calls himself Sultan Masanza, and who
is not hostile to strangers. " This chief," says Bur
ton, " has considerable power, and the heads of
many criminals elevated upon poles in front of his
several villages show that he rules with a firm Tiand.
He is never approached by a subject without the
clapping of hands and the kneeling which, in these
lands, are the honors paid to royalty. He was a
large-limbed, gaunt, and sinewy old man, dressed in
a dirty subai or Arab check over a coating of rancid
butter, with a broad brass disk, neatly arabesqued,
round his neck, with a multitude of httle pig-tails
where his head was not bald, and with some thirty
sambo or flexible wire rings deforming, as if by
elephantiasis, his ankles. Like the generality of
sultans, he despises beads as an article of decoration,
preferring coils of brass or copper. He called seve
ral times at the house occupied by the expedition,
and on more than one occasion brought with him a
bevy of wives whose deportment was, I regret to
say, rather naive than decorous.
" There was ' cold comfort ' at Msene, where I
was delayed twelve days. The clay-roof of the tem
be was weed-grown like a deserted grave, and in
the foul central court-yard only dirty puddles set in
black mud met the eye. The weather was what
only they can realize who are familiar with a

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 79
rainy monsoon. The temptations of the town ren
dered it almost impossible to keep a servant or a slave
within doors ; the sons of Ramji vigorously engaged
themselves in trading, and Muinyi Wazira in a de
bauch, which ended in his dismissal."
The delay at least enabled Burton to celebrate
New Year's day, 1858, with a roast of beef, and a
pudding in which there was neither flour nor plums.
When he started again, on the 10th of January, the
usual experience with runaway guides, refractory
porters, and quarrels between the leaders of the
various portions of the party, was repeated. Three
whole days elapsed, during which they made short
marches to the westward, before the natives were
tolerably organized and reduced to obedience. The
country was generally open and rolling, with here
and there a forest, a tract of thorny jungle, or a
marsh. The native villages were simply circles of
low huts, shaped like bee-hives, and surrounded
with thickets of euphorbia. Burton's fever returned,
with another partial paralysis, which prevented
him from walking ; so there was another detention
until hammock-bearers could be procured. The
native leaders, believing him to be at the point of
death, became both careless and insolent, so that it
was the 21st of January before they reached the
village of Usagozi, a little more than one third of
the distance from Kazeh to the Tanganyika Lake.
Here they were detained four days by an inflam
mation of Speke's eyes, which temporarily clouded
his sight. Finally, after crossing a fertile and pop
ulous region, where, nevertheless, it was difficult to

80 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
procure provisions, on the 31st of January they saw
before them the broad plain of the Malagarazi
River. This stream, which rises among mountains
far to the northward, and winds through yet unex
plored regions of Central Africa, empties into the
Tanganyike Lake on its eastern side. It is- not na
vigable, but so rapid and broken in its current, and
so infested with crocodiles, that the natives rarely
attempt to ford it.
At Ugaga, where the travellers struck the river
(which is there about 50 yards wide), the chief who
owned the ferry subjected them to fresh exactions.
The boats were miserable canoes of bark, five to
seven feet in length, and could only support the
weight of two persons. Nevertheless, after a great
deal of time and trouble, the whole caravan was
safely transported to the northern bank, and there
was now no serious physical obstacle thenceforward
to the lake.
Although the nominal western frontier of the
Land of the Moon had been crossed a few days -be
fore, Burton considers the Malagazi River the boun
dary of the fourth region which he traversed. The
name of Unyamwezi, which it retains, was first
mentioned by the Portuguese navigators, nearly
three centuries ago, and there can be little doubt
that the " Mountains of the Moon " of Ptolemy re
ferred to the range which bounds this central table
land on the east and the highest peaks of which are
Kilimandjaro and Kenia. Burton's account of the
geography of the region, and the tribes which in
habit it, must now be given, before we follow him

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 81
on his toilsome but successful march to Lake Tan
ganyika. The fourth division is a hilly table-land, extend
ing from the western skirts of the desert Mgunda
Mk'hali, in E. long. 33° 57', to the eastern banks of
the Malagarazi River, in E. long. 31° 10'; it thus
stretches diagonally over 155 rectilinear geographi
cal miles. Bounded on the north by Usui and the
Nyanza Lake, to the southeastward by Ugala, south
ward by Ukimbu, and southwestward by Uwende, it
has a depth of from twenty-five to thirty marches.
Native caravans, if lightly laden, can accomplish it
in twenty-five days, including four halts. The maxi
mum altitude observed was 4,050 feet, the minimum
2,850. This region contains the two great divisions
of Unyamwezi and Uvinza.
" There is the evidence of barbarous tradition for
a belief in the existence of Unyamwezi as a great
empire united under a single despot. The elders
declare that their patriarchal ancestor became after
death the first tree, and afforded shade to his chil
dren and descendants. According to the Arabs, the
people still perform pilgrimage, to a holy tree, and
believe that the penalty of sacrilege in cutting off a
twig would be visited by sudden and mysterious
death. All agree in relating that during the olden
time Unyamwezi was united under a single sover
eign, whose tribe was the Wakalaganza, still inhabit
ing the western district, Usagozi. According to the
people, whose greatest chronical measure is a masika,
or rainy season, in the days of the grandfathers of
their grandfathers the last of the Wanyamwezi

82 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
emperors died. His children and nobles divided
and dismembered his dominions, further partitions
ensued, and finally the old empire fell into the
hands of a rabble of petty chiefs. Their wild com
putation would point to an epoch of 150 years ago
— a date by no means improbable.
" These glimmerings of light thrown by African
tradition illustrate the accounts given by the early
Portuguese concerning the extent and the civiliza--
tion of the Unyamwezi empire. Moreover, African
travellers in the seventeenth century concur in
asserting that, between 250 and 300 years ago,
there was an outpouring of the barbarians from the
heart of ^Ethiopia and from the shores of the Cen
tral Lake toward the eastern and southern coasts of
the peninsula, a general waving and wandering of
tribes, which caused great ethnological and geo
graphical confusion, public demoralization, dismem
berment of races, and change, confusion, and cor
ruption of tongues.
"The general character of Unyamwezi is roll
ing ground, intersected with low conical and tabu
lar hills, whose lines ramify in all directions. No
mountain is found in the country. The superja
cent stratum is clay, overlying the sandstone based
upon various granites, which in some places crop
out, picturesquely disposed in blocks and boulders,
and huge domes and lumpy masses ; iron-stone is
met with at a depth varying from five to twelve
feet, and at Kazeh, the Arab settlement in Un
yanyembe, bits of coarse ore were found by dig
ging not more than four feet in a chance spot.

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 83
Daring the rains a coat of many-tinted greens
conceals the soil ; in the dry season the land is grey,
lighted up by golden stubbles, and dotted with wind-
distorted trees, shallow swamps of emerald grass,
and wide sheets of dark mud. Dwarfed stumps
and charred ' black-jacks ' deform the fields, which
are sometimes ditched or hedged in, while a thin
forest of parachute-shaped thorns diversifies the
waves of rolling land and earth-hills spotted with
sun-burnt stone. The reclaimed tracts and clear
ings are divided from one another by strips of pri
meval jungle varying from two to twelve miles in
length. As in most parts of Eastern Africa, the
country is dotted with ' fairy mounts ' — dwarf
mounds, the ancient sites of trees now crumbled to
dust, and the debris of insect architecture ; they
appear to be rich ground, as they are always dili
gently cultivated. The yield of the soil, according
to the Arabs, averages sixty-fold, even in unfavor
able seasons.
" The Land of the Moon, which is the garden of
Central Inter-tropical Africa, presents an aspect of
peaceful rural beauty which soothes the eye like a
medicine after the red glare of barren Ugogo, and
the dark monotonous verdure of the western pro
vinces. The inhabitants are comparatively numer
ous in the villages, which rise at short intervals
above their impervious walls of the lustrous green
milk-bush, with its coral-shaped arms, variegating
the well-hoed plains ; while in the pasture-lands fre
quent herds of many-colored cattle, plump, round-
barrelled, and high-humped, like the Indian breeds,

81 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
and mingled flocks of goats and sheep dispersed
over the landscape, suggest ideas of barbarous com
fort and plenty. There are few scenes more soft
and soothing than a view of Unyamwezi in the
balmy evenings of spring. As the large yellow sun
nears the horizon, a deep stillness falls upon earth :
even the zephyr seems to lose the power of rust
ling the lightest leaf. The milky haze of midday
disappears from the firmament, the flush of de
parting day mantles the distant features of scenery
with a lovely rose-tint, and the twilight is an orange •
glow that burns like distant horizontal fires, pass
ing upward through an imperceptibly graduated
scale of colors — saffron, yellow, tender green, and
the lightest azure — into the dark* blue of the infi
nite space above. The charm of the hour seems
to affect even the unimaginative Africans, as they
sit in the central spaces of their villages, or, stretched
under the forest-trees, gaze upon the glories
around. " The rainy monsoon is here ushered in, accom
panied, and terminated by storms of thunder and
hghtning, and occasional hail-falls. The bhnding
flashes of white, yellow, or rose color play over the
firmament uninterruptedly for hours, during which
no darkness is visible. In the lighter storms thirty
and thirty -five flashes may be counted in a minute :
so vivid is the glare that it discloses the finest
shades of color, and appears followed by a thick
and palpable gloom, such as would hang before a
blind man's eyes, while a deafening roar, simulta
neously following the flash, seems to travel, as it

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 85
were, to and fro overhead. Several claps some
times sound almost at the same moment, and as if
coming from different directions. The same storm
will, after the most violent of its discharges, pass
over, and be immediately followed by a second,
showing the superabundance of electricity in the
atmosphere. " Travellers from Unyamwezi homeward returned
often represent that country to be the healthiest in
Eastern and Central Africa : they quote, as a proof,
the keenness of their appetites, and the quantity
of food which they consume. The older residents,
however, modify their opinions : they declare that
digestion does not wait upon appetite ; and that,
as in Egypt, Mazanderan, Malabar, and other hot-
damp countries, no man long retains rude health.
The sequelae of their maladies are always severe ;
few care to use remedies, deeming them ineffica
cious against morbific influences to them unknown ;
convalescence is protracted, painful, and uncertain,
and at length they are compelled to lead the hves
of confirmed invalids. The gifts of the climate,
lassitude and indolence, according to them, predis
pose to corpulence ; and the regular warmth induces
baldness, and thins the beard, thus assimilating
strangers in body as in mind to the aborigines.
They are unanimous in quoting a curious effect of
chmate, which they attribute to a corruption of the
' humors and juices of the body.' Men who, after
a lengthened sojourn in these regions, return to
Oman, throw away the surplus provisions brought
from the African coast, burn their clothes and bed-

86 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ding, and for the first two or three months eschew
society ; a peculiar effluvium rendering them, it is
said, offensive to the finer olfactories of their com
patriots. "The races requiring notice in this region are
two, the Wakimbu and the Wanyamwezi.
" The Wakimbu, who are immigrants into Un
yamwezi, claim a noble origin, and derive them
selves from the broad lands running south of Un
yanyembe as far westward as K'hokoro. About
twenty masika, wet monsoons, or years ago, accord
ing to themselves, they left Nguru, Usanga, and.
Usenga, in consequence of the repeated attacks of
the Warori, and migrated to Kipiri, the district ly
ing south of Tura ; they have now extended into
Mgunda Mk'hali and Unyanyembe, where they hold
the land by permission of the Wanyamwezi. In
these regions there are few obstacles to immigrants.
They visit the sultan, make a small present, obtain
permission to settle, and name the village after their
own chief ; but the original proprietors still maintain
their rights to the soil. The Wakimbu build firmly-
stockaded villages, tend cattle, and cultivate sor
ghum and maize, millet and pulse, cucumbers and
watermelons. Apparently they are poor, being
generally clad in skins. They barter slaves and
ivory in small quantities to the merchants, and
some travel to the coast. They are considered
treacherous by their neighbors, and Mapokera, the
Sultan of Tura, is, according to the Arabs, prone to
commit ' avanies.' They are known by a number of
small lines formed by raising the skin with a needle,

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 87
and opening it by points laterally between the hair
of the temples and the eyebrows. In appearance
they are dark and uncomely ; their arms are bows
and arrows, spears, and knives stuck in the leathern
waistbelt ; some wear necklaces of curiously-plaited
straw, others a strip of white cowskin bound around
the brow — a truly savage and African decoration.
Their language differs from Kinyamwezi.
" The Wanyamwezi tribe, the proprietors of the
soil, is the typical race in this portion of Central
Africa: its comparative industry and commercial
activity have secured to it a superiority over the
other kindred races.
" The aspect of the Wanyamwezi is alone suffi
cient to disprove the existence of very elevated
lands in this part of the African interior. They are
usually of a dark sepia-brown, rarely colored like
diluted Indian ink, as are the Wahiao and slave
races to the south, with negroid features markedly
less Semitic than the people of the eastern coast.
The effluvium from their skins, especially after ex
ercise or excitement, marks their connection with
the negro. The hair curls crisply, but it grows to
the length of four or five inches before it splits ;
it is usually twisted into many little ringlets or
hanks ; it hangs down like a fringe to the neck,
and is combed off the forehead after the manner
of the ancient Egyptians and the modern Hotten
tots. " There are but few ceremonies among the Wan
yamwezi. A woman about to become a mother re
tires from the hut to the jungle, and after a few

88 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
hours returns with a child wrapped in goat-skin
upon her back, and probably carrying a load of
firewood on her head. The medical treatment of
the Arabs with salt and various astringents for
forty days is here unknown. Twins are not com
mon as among the Kafir race, and one of the two
is invariably put to death ; the universal custom
among these tribes is for the mother to wrap a
gourd or calabash in skins, to place it to sleep
with, and to feed it like, the survivor. If the wife
die without issue, the widower claims from her pa
rents the sum paid to them upon marriage ; if she
leave a child, the property is preserved for it.
When the father can afford it, a birth is celebrat
ed by copious libations of pombe. Children are
suckled till the end of the second year. Their
only education is- in the use of the bow and ar
row ; after the fourth summer the boy begins to
learn archery with diminutive weapons, which are
graduaUy increased in strength. Names are given
without ceremony, and, as in the countries to the
eastward, many of the heathens have been called
after their Arab visitors. Circumcision is not prac
ticed by this people. The children in Unyamwe
zi generally are the property not of the uncle but
of the father, who can sell or slay them without
blame ; in Usukuma or the northern lands, how
ever, succession and inheritance are claimed by the
nephews or sisters' sons. The Wanyamwezi have
adopted the curious practice of leaving property to
their illegitimate children by slave-girls or concu
bines, to the exclusion of their issue by wives ; they

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 89
justify it by the fact of the former requiring their
assistance more than the latter, who have friends
and relatives to aid them. As soon as the boy
can walk he tends the flocks ; after the age of ten
he drives the cattle to pasture, and, considering
himself independent of his father, he plants a to
bacco-plot and aspires to build a hut for himself.
There is not a boy ' which can not earn his own
meat.' " Another peculiarity of the Wanyamwezi is the
position of the wahar& or unmarried girls. Until
puberty they hve in the father's house ; after that
period the spinsters of the village, who usually
number from seven to a dozen, assemble together
and build for themselves at a distance from their
homes" a hut where they can receive their friends
without parental interference. There is but one
hmit to community in single life ; if the mhara or
' maiden ' be likely to become a mother, her ' young
man' must marry her under pain of -mulct ; and if
she die in childbirth, her father demands from her
lover a large fine for having taken away his
daughter's life. Marriage takes place when the
youth can afford to pay the price for a wife ; it
varies, according to circumstances, from one to ten
cows. " The habitations of the Eastern Wanyamwezi
are the tembe, which in the west give way to the cir
cular African hut ; among the poorer sub- tribes the
dwelling is a mere stack of straw. The best tembe
have large projecting eaves supported by uprights :
cleanliness, however, can never be expected in

90 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
them. Having no limestone, the people ornament
the inner and outer walls with long lines of ovals
formed by pressure of the finger-tips, after dipping
them in ashes and water for whitewash, and into
red clay or black mud for variety of color. With
this primitive material they sometimes attempt rude
imitations of nature — human beings and serpents.
In some parts the cross appears, but the people ap
parently ignore it as a symbol. Rude carving is
also attempted upon the massive posts at the en
trances of villages, but the figures, though to ap
pearance idolatrous, are never worshipped.
" The characteristic of the Mnyamwezi village is
the iwdmd " — a convenience resulting probably from
the instinct of the sexes, who prefer not to mingle,
and for the greater freedom of life and manners.
Of these buildings there are two in every settle
ment, generally built at opposite sides, fronting the
normal mrimba-tr.ee, which sheds its filmy shade
over the public court-yard. That of the women
being a species of harem, was not visited ; as tra
vellers and strangers are always admitted into the
male iwanza, it is more readily described. This
public house is a large hut, somewhat more sub
stantial than those adjoining, often smeared with
smooth clay, and decorated here and there with
broad columns of the ovals before described, and
the prints of palms dipped in ashes and placed flat
like the hands in ancient Egyptian buildings. The
roof is generally a flying thatch raised a foot above
the walls — an excellent plan for ventilation in these
regions. Outside, the iwanza is defended againsts

THE LAND OF THE MOON. 91
the incursions of cattle by roughly-barked trunks
of trees resting upon stout uprights : in this space
men sit, converse, and smoke. The two doorways
are protected by rude charms suspended from the
lintel, hares' tails, zebras' manes, goats' horns, and
other articles.
" The Wanyamwezi have won for themselves a
reputation by their commercial industry. Encou
raged by the merchants, they are the only profes
sional porters of East Africa ; and even among them
the Waklaganza, Wasumbwa, and Wasukuma are
the only tribes who regularly visit the coast in this
capacity. They are now no longer 'honest and
civil to strangers' — semi-civihzation has hitherto
tended to degradation. They seem to have learned
but httle by their intercourse with the Arabs.
Commerce with them is still in its infancy. They
have no idea of credit, although in Karagwah and
the northern kingdoms payment may be delayed for
a period of two years. They cannot, like some of
their neighbors, bargain : a man names the article
which he requires, and if it be not forthcoming he
will take no other."

CHAPTER VII.
BURTON — DISCOVERY. AND EXPLORATION OF THE
TANGANYIKA LAKE.
AFTER crossing the Malagarazi River, the jour
ney lay through a howling wilderness, once
populous and fertile, but now laid waste by hostile
tribes. Snay bin Amir, the friendly Arab merchant
at Kazeh, had warned Burton that it would be the
most difficult part of the route. The expedition
made a short march, the first day, and then, on the
5th of February, set out, over the marshy lowlands
on the northern bank of the river and the bordering
hills, which were difficult on account of the steep
ascents and descents.. The soil was marvellously
fertile, and the same endless luxuriance of vegeta
tion clothed the heights as the valleys.
For two or three days they pushed onward
through this region, sometimes drenched with
showers of rain, and exposed to accident from the
asses falling in the deep and slippery ravines. Then
they reached the Rusugi River, a northern affluent
of the Malagarazi, about 100 yards wide, very swift
and breast-deep. The porters plunged boldly into
the stream, for their numbers protected them from

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 93
the crocodiles, while the two travellers were trans
ported across on the shoulders of men. When they
reached the camping-place, it appeared that one of
the Goanese servants, with six porters, and some of
the supplies of baggage, were missing. The native
guides, however, insisted on advancing, and it was
a week before the lost men rejoined the caravan, on
the banks of the lake.
On the 9th of February they descended from the
ridge beyond the Rusugi River, and traversed a
deep swamp of black mud, dotted in the more ele
vated parts with old salt-pans and pits, where bro
ken pottery and blackened lumps of clay still
showed traces of human labor. Then foUowed deep
and rocky ravines, with luxuriant vegetation abovt.
and rivulets at the bottom, all very difficult to cross.
The porters, who were in a place of famine, in
sisted on pushing on to the utmost of their
strength ; but after a march of six hours they were
persuaded to halt on a rocky hill, with water near
at hand. The guide succeeded in procuring a
kaffer ox from a neighboring valley, in the even
ing, which was a welcome addition to the nearly-
exhausted supplies.
The next day there was a similar experience of
travel, but it led them to the Ruguvu River, which
was crossed with some difficulty, all the goods be
ing thoroughly soaked in the water. Here, however,
Burton procured some ears of corns from a native
caravan. Then, "a desert march, similar to the
stage last travelled, led us to the Unguwwe River
a shallow, muddy stream, girt in, as usual, by dense

94 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
vegetation ; and we found a fine large kraal on its
left bank. After a cold and rainy night we resumed
our march by fording the Unguwwe. Then came
the weary toil of fighting through tiger and spear
grass, with reeds, rushes, a variety of" ferns before
unseen, and other lush and lusty growths, clothing
a succession of rolhng hills, monotonous swellings,
where the descent was ever a reflection of the ascent.
The paths were broken, slippery, and pitted with
deep holes ; along their sides, where the ground lay
exposed to view, a conglomerate of ferruginous red
clay — suggesting a resemblance to the superficies of
Londa, as described by Dr. Livingstone — took the
place of the granites and sandstones of the eastern
countries, and the sinking of the land toward the
lake became palpable."
The next day they found grapes and plantains
growing wild : scattered fields and plantations gave
token of habitation, although no villages were visi
ble. The country was still rough and difficult to
traverse, but cliffs and mountains rose in the far
distance, like beacons announcing the existence of a
vast lake at their feet. Finally, on the 13th of
February, after entering an open, grassy plain, thin
ly sprinkled with trees, Burton saw one of the
native guides run forward and change the direction
of the caravan. He rode on to ascertain the mean
ing of this manoeuvre, and presently reached a steep
and stony hill, in climbing which Speke's riding-ass
fell and died. When they gained the summit, the
other animals, utterly exhausted, refused to proceed.
Burton turned to his servant, Bombay, and asked :

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 95
" What is that streak of light which lies below ?"
" I am of the opinion," said Bombay, " that that is
the water." Burton gazed in dismay; the remains of
his temporary blindness, the intervening veil of
trees, and a broad ray of sunshine illuminating but
one reach of the lake, seemed to have greatly dimin
ished its extent. Somewhat prematurely he began
to lament that he had risked life and lost health for
so poor a prize : it was all Arab exaggeration, and
his first thought was to return immediately and en
deavor to reach the Nyanza, or Northern Lake.
But, after advancing a few yards further, the
whole scene suddenly burst upon his view, filling
him with admiration, wonder and delight. " Nothing,
in sooth," he says, " could be more picturesque
than this first view of the Tanganyika Lake, as it
lay in the lap of the mountains, basking in the gor
geous tropical sunshine. Below and beyond a
short foreground of rugged and precipitous hill-
fold, down which the footpath zigzags painfully,
a narrow strip of emerald green, never sere and
marvellously fertile, shelves toward a ribbon of
glistening yellow sand, here bordered by sedgy
rushes, there cleanly and clearly cut by the break
ing wavelets. Farther in front stretch the waters,
an expanse of the lightest and softest blue, in
breadth varying from thirty to thirty-five miles, and
sprinkled by the crisp east wind with tiny crescents
of snowy foam. The background in front is a
high and broken wall of steel-colored mountain,
here flecked and capped with pearly mist, there
standing sharply pencilled against the azure air ; its

96 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
yawning chasms, marked by a deeper plum-color,
faU toward dwarf hills of mound-like proportions,
which apparently dip their feet in the wave. To
the south, and opposite the long low point behind
which the Malagarazi River discharges the red loam
suspended in its violent stream, lie the bluff head
lands and capes of Uguhha, and, as the eye dilates,
it falls upon a cluster of outlying islets speckling a
sea-horizon. Villages, cultivated lands, the fre
quent canoes of the fishermen on the waters, and
on a nearer approach the murmurs of the waves
breaking upon the shore, give a something of va
riety, of movement, of hfe to the landscape, which,
like all the fairest prospects in these regions, wants
but a little of the neatness and finish of art —
mosques and kiosks, palaces and villas, gardens and
orchards — contrasting with the profuse lavishness
and magnificence of nature, and diversifying the
unbroken coup d'ceil of excessive vegetation, to rival,
if not to excel, the most admired scenery of the
classic regions, the riant shores of this vast crevasse
appeared doubly beautiful to me after the silent
and spectral mangrove-creeks on the East African
sea-board, and the melancholy, monotonous expe
rience of desert and jungle scenery, tawny rock and
sun-parched plain or rank herbage and flats of
black mire. Truly it was a revel for soul and
sight." That evening they reached a village on the
shore, called Ukaranga, somewhat to the south
ward of Ujiji, their destination, having been led
astray by the native guide. Burton, however, lost

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 97
no time in procuring a boat for the remainder of
the journey, and set off next morning over the
quiet, beautiful water, enjoying the views of the dis
tant purple mountains which enclose it. He was
greatly disappointed in finding no signs of an im
portant commercial mart, on approaching Ujiji.
Only a few log canoes, and some groups of curious
fishermen, denoted the landing-place, and the ghaut
or quay of disembarkation was the sand of the
shore. " Around the ghaut a few scattered huts, in the
humblest bee-hive shape, represented the port-town.
Advancing some hundred yards through a din of
shouts and screams, tom-toms, and trumpets, which
defies description, and mobbed by a swarm of black
beings, whose eyes seemed about to start from their
heads with surprise, I passed a relic of Arab civil
ization, the ' bazaar.' It is a plot of higher ground,
cleared of grass, and flanked by a crooked tree ; there
between 10 A.M and 3 P.M. — weather permitting —
a mass of standing and squatting negroes buy and
sell, barter and exchange, offer and chaffer with a
hubbub heard for miles, and there a spear or dag
ger-thrust brings on, by no means unfrequently, a
skirmishing faction-fight. The articles exposed for
sale are sometimes goats, sheep, and poultry, gener
ally fish, vegetables, and a few fruits, plantains, and
melons ; palm-wine is a staple commodity, and oc
casionally an ivory or a slave is hawked about ;
those industriously disposed employ themselves dur
ing the intervals of bargaining in spinning a coarse
yarn with the rudest spindle, or in picking the cot-

98 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ton, which is placed in little baskets on the ground.
I was led to a ruinous tembe, built by an Arab
merchant, Hamid bin Salim, who had allowed it to
be tenanted by ticks and slaves. Situated, how
ever, half a mile from, and backed by, the httle vil
lage of Kawele, whose mushroom -huts barely pro
truded their summits above the dense vegetation,
and placed at a similar distance from the water in
front, it had the double advantage of proximity to
provisions, and of a view which at first was highly
enjoyable. The Tanganyika is ever seen to advan
tage from its shores ; upon its surface the sight
wearies with the unvarying tintage — all shining
greens and hazy blues — while continuous parallels
of lofty hills, like the sides of a huge trough, close
the prospect and suggest the idea of confinement.-
" At Ujiji terminates, after twelve stages, which
native caravans generally finish in a fortnight, all
halts included, the transit of the fifth region. The
traveller has now accomplished a total number of
85 long, or 100 short stages, which, with necessary
rests, but excluding detentions and long halts, oc
cupy 150 days. The direct longitudinal distance
from the coast is 540 geographical miles, which the
sinuosities of the road prolong to 955, or in round
numbers 950 statute miles. The number of days
expended by the expedition in actual marching was
100, of hours 420, which gives a rate of 2.27 miles
per hour. The total time was seven and a half
months, from the 27th of June, 1857, to the 18th of
February, 1858 ; thus the number of the halts ex
ceeded by one third the number of the marches. In

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 99
practice Arab caravans seldom arrive at the Tan-
g'anjdka, for reasons before alluded to, under a to
tal period of six months. Those lightly laden may
make Unyamyembe in between two and a half and
three months, and from Unyanyembe to Ujiji* in
twenty -five stages, which would reduce their jour
ney to four months.
" Ujiji — also called Manyofo, which appears, how
ever, peculiar to a certain sultanat or districts — is
the name of a province, not, as has been represent
ed, of a single town. It was first visited by the
Arabs about 1S40, ten years after they had pene
trated to Unyamwezi ; they found it conveniently
situated as a mart upon the Tanganyika Lake, and
a central point where their depots might be estab
lished, and whence their factors and slaves could
navigate the waters and collect slaves and ivory
from the tribes upon its banks.
" Abundant humidity and a fertile soil, evidenced
by the large forest-trees and the profusion of ferns,
render Ujiji the most productive province in this
section of Africa : vegetables, which must elsewhere
be cultivated, here seem to flourish almost sponta
neously. Rice of excellent quahty was formerly
raised by the Arabs upon the shores of the Tan
ganyika ; it grew luxuriantly, attaining, it is said,
the height of eight or nine feet. The inhabitants,
however, preferring sorghum, and wearied out by
the depredations of the monkey, the elephant, and
the hippopotamus, have allowed the more civiUzed
cereal to degenerate.
" The bazaar at Ujiji is well supplied. Fresh

100 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
fish of various kinds is always procurable, except
during the violence of the rains : the people, how
ever, invariably cut it up and clean it out before
bringing' it to market. Good honey abounds after
the wet monsoon. By the favor of the chief, milk
and butter may be purchased every day. Long-
tailed sheep and well-bred goats, poultry and eggs —
the two latter are never eaten by the people — are
brought in from the adjoining countries : the Arabs
breed a few ManiUa ducks, and the people rear, but
will not seU, pigeons.
" The Wajiji are a burly race of barbarians, far
stronger than the tribes hitherto traversed, with
dark skins, plain features, and straight; sturdy limbs :
they are larger and heavier men than the Wanyam
wezi, and the type, as it approaches Central Africa,
becomes rather negro than negroid. Their feet and
hands are large and flat, their voices are harsh and
strident, and their looks as weU as their manners
are independent even to insolence. The women,
who are held in high repute, resemble, and often
excel, their masters in rudeness and violence ; they
think Uttle in their cups of entering a stranger's
hut, and of snatching up and carrying away an arti
cle which excites their admiration. Many of both
sexes, and all ages, are disfigured by the small-pox
— the Arabs have vainly taught them inoculation —
and there are few who are not afflicted by boUs and
various eruptions.
" The lakists are an almost amphibious race, ex
cellent divers, strong swimmers and fishermen, and
vigorous ichthyophagists all. At times, when ex-

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 101
cited by the morning coolness and by the prospect
of a good haul, they indulge in a manner of merri
ment which resembles the gambols of sportive wa
ter-fowls : standing upright and balancing them
selves in their hoUow logs, which appear but little
larger than themselves, they strike the water furi
ously with their paddles, skimming over the surface,
dashing to and fro, splashing one another, urging
forward, backing, and wheeling their craft, now cap
sizing, then regaining their position with wonderful
dexterity. They make coarse hooks, and have
many varieties of nets and creels. Conspicuous on
the waters and in the villages is the dewa, •or ' otter '
of Oman, a triangle of stout reeds, which shows the
position of the net. A stronger kind, and used for
the larger ground-fish, is a cage of open basket-
work, provided hke the former with a bait and two
entrances. The fish once entangled cannot escape,
and a log of wood used as a trimmer, attached to a
float-rope of rushy plants, directs the fisherman.
" The Wajiji are considered by the Arabs to be
the most troublesome race in these black regions.
They are taught by the example of their chiefs to
be rude, insolent, and extortionate ; they demand
beads even for pointing out the road ; they will de
ride and imitate a stranger's speech and manner be
fore his face ; they can do nothing without a long
preliminary of the fiercest scolding; they are as
ready with a blow as with a word ; and they may
often be seen playing at ' rough and tumble,' fight
ing, pushing, and tearing hair, in their boats. A
Mjiji uses his dagger or his spear upon a guest with

102 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
little hesitation ; he thinks twice, however, before
drawing blood, if it wiU cause a feud. Their rough
ness of manner is dashed with a curious ceremoni-
ousness. When the sultan appears among his peo
ple, he stands in a circle and claps his hands, to
which all respond in the same way. Women cour
tesy to one another, bending the right knee almost
to the ground. When two men meet, they clasp
each other's arms with both "hands, rubbing them
up and down, and ejaculating for some minutes,
' Nama sanga ? nama sanga ? — art thou weU ?' They
then pass the hands down to the forearm, exclaim
ing, ' Wahke ? wahke ? — how art thou ?' and finaUy
they clap palms at each other, a token of respect
which appears common to these tribes of Central
Africa. The chfldren have all the frowning and un
prepossessing look of their parents ; they reject
httle civilities, and seem to spend life in disputes,
biting and clawing like wild-cats. There appears
to be little family affection in this undemonstrative
race. "My first care after settling in Hamid's tembe,
was to purify the floor by pastiUes of asafcetida and
fumigations of gunpowder ; my second was to pre
pare the roof for the rainy season. Improvement,
however, progressed slowly ; the ' children ' of Said
bin Salim were too lazy to work ; and the Wanyam
wezi porters, having expended their hire in slaves,
and fearing loss by delay, took the earliest oppor
tunity of deserting. By the aid of a Msawahili ar
tisan, I provided a pair of cartels, with substitutes
for chairs and tables. Benches of clay were built

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. log
round the rooms, but they proved useless, being
found regularly every morning occupied in force by
a swarming, struggling colony of the largest white
ants. The roof, long overgrown with tall grass, was
fortified with an extra coat of mud ; it never ceased,
however, leaking like a colander ; presently the floor
was covered with deep puddles, then masses of
earth dropped from the sopped copings and sides
of the sohd waUs, and, at last, during the violent
showers, half the buUding fell in. The consequence
of the extreme humidity was, that every book which
had English paste in it was rendered useless by de
cay ; writing was rendered fllegible by stains and
black mfldew ; moreover, during my absence while
exploring the lake, Said bin Salim having neglected
to keep' a fire, as was ordered, constantly burning
in the house, a large botanical coUection was irre
trievably lost.
" At first the cold damp cUmate of the Lake Re
gions did not agree with us ; perhaps, too, the fish
diet was over-rich and fat, and the abundance of
vegetables led to little excesses. AU energy seemed
to have abandoned us. I lay for a fortnight upon
the earth, too bhnd to read or write except with
long intervals, too weak to ride, and too iU to con
verse. My companion who, when arriving at the
Tanganyika Lake was almost as ' groggy ' upon his
legs as I was, suffered from a painful ophthalmia,
and from a curious distortion of face, which made
him chew sideways, like a ruminant. Valentine
was nearly blind ; and he also had a wry mouth, by
no means the properest for the process of mastica-

104 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
tion. Gaetano, who arrived at Ujiji on the 17th of
February, was half starved, and his anxiety to make
up for lost time brought on a severe attack of fever.
The Baloch complained of influenzas and catarrhs :
too lazy to build huts after occupying Kannena's
' Traveller's Bungalow ' for the usual week, they
had been turned out in favor of fresh visitors, and
their tempers were as sore as their lungs and
throats." Burton's preparations for exploring the lake
were greatly hindered by the suspicion and rapa
city of the chief, Kannena, who levies a duty upon
all trade, and could not understand the motive of
the traveller in refusing to purchase ivory and
slaves. The latter endeavored to make up by pre
sents for the chief's possible loss, but he admits
that his policy was a mistake, and that he ought
to have feigned some commercial character. Since
it seemed almost impossible to procure a large
boat for navigating the lake, at Ujiji, Burton dis
patched Speke on the 2nd of March in a large
canoe across the water, to hire a saUing boat which
was reported to be owned by an Arab merchant on
the other side.
Speke returned on the 29th, having reached the
opposite shore at the island of Kivira, about 70
miles south of Ujiji. But he did not succeed in
obtaining the boat : aU his supplies were ruined by
the rains, and he was, physicaUy, in a melancholy
plight. By this time, however, Burton was very
anxious to examine the northern end of the lake,
where, he was assured by the natives, there was a

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 105
large river flowing out of it to the north. This, he
naturally supposed, could only be one of the affluents
— if not the main stream — of the Nile. By making
renewed presents to the chief, and paying an exor
bitant hire, he finaUy obtained two large canoes and
fifty-five oarsmen. Preparations were hastened, on
account of the approaching departure of an armed
Arab caravan to the northern end of the lake, and
on the 9th of AprU everything was in readiness.
" Early on the next morning," he writes, " we em
barked on board the canoes : the crews had been
coUected, paid, and rationed ; but as long as they
were near home it was impossible to keep them
together. Each man thinking solely of his own
affairs, and disdaining the shghtest regard for the
wishes, the comfort, or the advantage of his employ
ers, they objected systematically to every article
which I had embarked. Kannena had filled the
canoes with his and his people's salt, consequently
he would not carry even a cartel. Various points
settled, we hove anchor, or rather hauled up the
block of granite doing anchoral duty, and, with the
usual hubbub and strife, the orders which every
man gives, and the advice which no man takes, we
paddled in half an hour to a shingly and grassy
creek defended by a sand-pit and backed by a few
tall massive trees. Opposite, and but a few yards
distant, rose the desert islet of Bangwe, a quoin-
shaped mass of sandstone and red earth, bluff to
the north, and graduaUy shelving toward the water
at the other extremity : the prolific moisture above
and around had covered its upper ledge with a

106 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
coat of rich thick vegetation. Landward the coun
try rises above the creek, and upon its earth-waves,
which cultivation shares with wUd growth, appear a
few scattered hamlets."
For the first three days they had calm weather,
except at night, and slowly coasted along the
eastern shore, to a village called Nyasanga. " This
is the place," says Burton, " for a few words con
cerning boating and voyaging upon the Tanganyika
Lake. The Wajiji, and indeed aU these races,
never work sUently or regularly. The paddling is
accompanied by a long, monotonous melancholy
howl, answered by the yeUs and shouts of the
chorus, and broken occasionally by a shriU scream
of delight from the boys which seems violently to
excite the adults. The bray and clang of the horns,
shaums, and tom-toms, blown and banged inces
santly by one or more men in the bow of each
canoe, made worse by brazen-lunged imitations of
these instruments in the squeaking trebles of the
younger paddlers, lasts throughout the Hvelong
day, except when terror induces a general silence.
These 'W&na M£ji' — sons of water — work in
' spirts,' applying lustily to the task tiU the perspi
ration pours down their sooty persons. Despite my
remonstrances, they insisted upon splashing the
water in shovelfuls over the canoe. They make
terribly long faces, however, they tremble like dogs
in a storm of sleet, and they are ready to whimper
when compeUed by sickness or accident to sit with
me under the endless cold wave-bath in the hold.
After a few minutes of exertion, fatigued and worn,

NAVIGATION ON LAKE TANGANYIKA.

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 107
they stop to quarrel, or they progress languidly tUl
recruited for another eflbrt. When two boats are
together they race continually till a bump — the sig
nal for a general grin — aud the difficulty of using
the entangled paddles afford an excuse for a little
loitering, and for the loud chatter and violent abuse
without which apparently this people cannot hold
converse. At times they halt to eat, drink, and
smoke : the bhang-pipe is produced after every hour,
and the paddles are taken in whUe they indulge in
the usual screaming convulsive whooping-cough.
They halt for their own purposes but not for ours ;
aU powers of persuasion fail when they are re
quested to put into a likely place for coUecting
sheUs or stones. For some superstitious reason
they aUow no questions to be asked, they will not
dip a pot for water into the lake, fearing to be fol
lowed and perhaps boarded by crocodiles, which are
hated and dreaded by these black navigators, much
as is the shark by our seamen, and for the same
cause not a scrap of food must be thrown over
board — even the offal must be cast into the hold.
" Whittling" is here a mortal sin : to chip or break
off the smaUest bit of even a condemned old tub
drawn up on the beach causes a serious distur
bance. By the advice of a kind and amiable friend,
I had supplied myself with the desiderata for
sounding and ascertaining the bottom of the lake :
the crew would have seen me under water rather
than halt for a moment when it did not suit their
purpose. The wUd men lose half an hour, when
time is most precious, to secure a dead fish as it

108 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
floats past the canoe entangled in its net. They
never pass a village without a dispute ; some wish
ing to land, others objecting because some wish it.
The captain, who occupies some comfortable place
in the bow, stern, or waist, has little authority ; and
if the canoe be allowed to touch the shore, its men
will spring out, without an idea of consulting aught
beyond their own inclinations. Arrived at the halt
ing-place they pour on shore ; some proceed to ga
ther firewood, others go in search of rations, and
others raise the boothies."
' On the 15th of April they reached a viUage caUed
Wafanya, the southernmost settlement in a new re
gion, called Urundi. The inhabitants were noisy
and troublesome, but not hostile, and provisions
were abundant. Beyond this point, however, the
people are reported to be robbers, and the trading-
boats therefore cross the lake, which is much nar
rower to the northward. The transit is divided into
two stages by an island called Ubwari, which is
eighteen miles from the eastern and seven from the
western shore. This is the only island near the
centre of the Tanganyika Lake — a long, narrow
ridge of rock, from twenty to twenty-five miles in
length. It is' covered with the most luxuriant veg
etation, and there are signs of cultivation upon its
slopes ; but the boatmen only touch at one or two
points at the northern extremity, believing that can
nibals inhabit the main portion.
After a rest of two days at Wafanya, the expedi
tion prepared to cross the lake, but was again de
layed by an altercation among the natives and the

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 109
threatening appearance of the sky. Finally, on the
19th, the men rowed westward towards Ubwari,
" which appeared a long strip of green direotly op
posite Urundi, and distant from eighteen to twenty
miles. A little wind caused a heavy chopping
sweU ; we were wet to the skin, and as noon drew
nigh, the sun shone stingingly, reflected by a mir-
rory sea. At 10 A.M. the party drew in their pad
dles and halted to eat and smoke. About two P.M.
the wind and waves again arose — once more we
were drenched, and the frail craft was constantly
baled out to prevent water-logging. A long row of
nine hours placed the canoes at a roadstead, with
the usual narrow line of yeUow sand, on the west
ern coast of Ubwari Island. The men landed to
dry themselves, and to cook some putrid fish which
they had caught as it floated past the canoe, with
the reed triangle that buoyed up the net. It was
' strong meat ' to us, but to them its staleness was
as the ' taste in his butter ' to the Londoner, the
pleasing toughness of the old cock to the Arab, and
the savory ' fumet ' of the aged he-goat to the Ba
loch. After a short halt we moved a little north
ward to Mzimu, a strip of low land dividing the
waters from their background of grassy rise, through
which a swampy line winds from the hills above.
Here we found canoes drawn up, and the islanders
flocked from their hamlets to change their ivory and
slaves, goats and provisions, for salt and beads, wire
and cloth. The Wabwari are a pecuhar, and by no
means a comely race. The men are habited in the
usual mbugu, tigered with black stripes, and taUed

110 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
like leopard-skins : a wisp of fine grass acts as fillet,
and their waists, wrists, and ankles, their knob
sticks, spears, and daggers, are bound with ratan-
bark, instead of the usual wire."
They halted another clay on the opposite side of
the island, and then made for a point on the western
shore of the lake, which appeared to be 15 miles
distant. The village of Murivumba was reached
after a row of nine hours, but the native boatmen
refused to stop there, asserting that the people were
cannibals. The party encamped on the sand at a
safe distance, and the next day the boatmen paddled
northward for ten hours along the shore, the in
creasing nearness of the mountains in the east
showing that they were approaching the head of the
lake. Still another long day of paddling against a
.head-wdnd, another night on the sand, and a row of
three hours and a half, on the 26th of April, landed
them at the little roadstead, where the trade of the
Uvira country is carried on, — the point generally
reached by Arab merchants from the coast.
" Great rejoicings ushered in the end of our out
ward bound voyage. Crowds gathered on the shore
to gaze at the new merchants arriving at Uvira,
with the usual concert, vocal and instrumental,
screams, shouts, and songs, shaums, horns, and
tom-toms. The captains of the two canoes perform
ed with the most solemn gravity a bear-like dance
upon the mat-covered benches which form the
" quarter-decks," extending their arms, pirouetting
upon both heels, and springing up and squatting
down till their hams touched the mats. The crews.

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. m
with a general grin which showed aU their ivories,
rattled their paddles against the sides of their
canoes in token of greeting, a custom derived pro
bably from the ceremonious address of the lakists,
which is performed by rapping their elbows against
their ribs.
" We had now reached the " ne plus ultra," the
northermost station to which merchants have as yet
been admitted. The people are generally on bad
terms with the Wavira, and in these black regions
a traveUer coming direct from an enemy's territory
is always suspected of hostile intentions — no trifling
bar to progress. Opposite us stiU rose, in a high
broken line, the mountains of inhospitable Urundi,
apparently prolonged beyond the northern extremity
of the waters. The head, which was not visible
from the plain, is said to turn north-northwestward,
and to terminate after a voyage of two days, which
some informants, however, reduce to six hours. The
breadth of the Tanganyika is here between seven
and eight miles. On the 28th of April aU my hopes
— which, however, I had hoped against hope — were
rudely dashed to the ground. I received a visit
from the three stalwart sons of the Sultan Maruta :
they were the noblest type of negroid seen near the
lake, with symmetrical heads, regular features, and
pleasing countenances ; their weU-made limbs and
athletic frames of a shiny jet black, were displayed to
advantage by their loose aprons of red and dark-
striped bark-cloth, slung, like game-bags, over their
shoulders, and were set off by opal-colored eye
balls, teeth hke pearls, and a profusion of broad,

112 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
massive rings of snowy ivory round their arms, and
conical ornaments like dwarf marling-spikes of
hippopotamus-tooth suspended from their necks.
The subject of the mysterious river issuing from the
lake was at once brought forward. They all de
clared that they had visited it, they offered to for
ward me, but they unanimously asserted, and every
man in the host of bystanders confirmed their
words, that ' Rusizi ' enters into, and does not flow
out qf the Tanganyika. I felt sick at heart. I had
not, it is true, undertaken to explore the Coy Foun
tains by this route ; but the combined assertions of
the cogging shaykh and the false Msawahili had
startled me from the proprieties of reason, and — this
was the result.
" Uvira is much frequented on account of its
cheapness ; it is the great northern depot for slaves,
ivory, grain, bark cloth, and iron-ware, and, in the
season, hardly a day elapses without canoes coming
in for merchandise or provisions. The imports are
the kitindi, salt, beads, tobacco, and cotton cloth.
Rice does not grow there, holcus and maize are sold
at one to two fundo of common beads per masuta
or small load — perhaps sixteen pounds — and one
khete is sufficient during the months of plenty to
purchase five pounds of manioc, or two and even
three fowls. Plantains of the large and coarse
variety are common and cheap, and one cloth is
given for two goodly earthen pots full of palm-
oil." Burton spent nine days at Uvira, vainly endeavor
ing to reach the northern extremity of the lake,

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE 113
which according to some accounts was distant two
days' journey, and according to others, only six
hours. The native boatmen could be neither bribed
nor bullied into accompanying him, and two Arab
agents at the place equally refused. The people of
Urundi, on the opposite shore, are dreaded by those
of Uvira, and there appeared to be no regular trade
opened with the northern regions. Moreover, Bur
ton was suffering from an ulceration of the tongue,
which made speaking very painful, and the tongue,
in those parts, is the traveUer's chief offensive and
defensive weapon. It is a characteristic of African
travel that the explorer may be stopped on the
very threshold of success, by a single remaining
stage, as effectively as if aU the waves of the Atlan
tic or the sands of Arabia lay between.
There were signs of gales brewing in the north,
and on the forenoon of the 6th of May, they set
out on the return voyage. The boats touched at
the same points on the western shore, and crossed
the western arm of the lake to the island of Ubwari,
with no other trouble than that arising from occa
sional rough weather. Near their former camping-
place on the island the crews procured a large sup
ply of palm-ofl from the natives. On the 10th, the
sky was gloomy, the air oppressive, and all things
foreboded a violent storm ; the traveUers wished to
wait a day longer at the island, but the natives were
so anxious to reach home that they insisted on
crossing the lake.
" We left Mzimu at sunset," says Burton, " and for
two hours coasted along the shore. It was one of those

114 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
portentous evenings of the tropics — a calm before a
tempest — unnaturally quiet ; we struck out, how
ever, boldly toward the eastern shore of the Tan
ganyika, and the western mountains rapidly lessened
on the view. Before, however, we reached the mid-
channel, a cold gust — in these regions the invari
able presage of a storm — swept through the deep
ening shades cast by the heavy rolling clouds, and
the vivid nimble lightning flashed, at first by inter
vals, then incessantly, with a ghastly and 'bhnding
glow, iUuminating the ' vast of night,' and followed
by a palpable obscure and a pithy darkness, that
weighed upon the sight. As terrible was its ac
companiment • of rushing, reverberating thunder,
now a loud roar, peal upon peal, like the booming of
heavy batteries, then breaking into a sudden crash,
which was presently followed by a rattling dis
charge like the sharp pattering of musketry. The
bundles of spears planted upright amidships, like
paratonnerres, seemed to invite the electric fluid
into the canoes. The waves began to rise, the rain
descended, at first in warning drops, then in tor
rents, and had the wind steadily arisen, the cockle-
sheU craft never could have lived through the short,
chopping sea which characterizes the Tanganyika in
heavy weather. The crew, though bhnded by the
showers and frightened by the occasional gusts,
held their own gallantly enough ; at times, however,
the moaning cry, " Oh, my wife !" showed what was
going on within. Bombay, a noted Voltairian in
fine weather, spent the length of that wild night in
reminiscences of prayer. I sheltered myself from

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 115
the storm under my best friend, the Mackintosh,
and thought of the far-famed couplet of Hafiz —
with its mystic meaning I will not trouble the
reader :
' ' This collied night, these horrid waves, these gusts that sweep
the whirling deep !
What reck they of our evil plight, who on the shore seourely
sleep ?"
Eortunately the rain beat down wind and sea,
otherwise nothing short of a miracle could have
preserved us for a dry death."
On the morning of the 10th they reached Wafan
ya, where the welcome rest after the storm, was
broken by a violent altercation among the natives.
During the confusion, one of the Goanese servants
fired a pistol into the crowd, shooting one of the
Ujiji boatmen through the body. Burton considered
himself lucky in paying a fine of cloth and beads,
of the value of forty-eight doUars. It was fortunate
for him that the man was a slave ; had it been a free
native, the trouble, expense, and possible, danger,
would have been far greater. Three days after
wards the boats returned triumphantly to Ujiji,
welcomed by all the people of the place, men, wo
men and chfldren, who rushed into the water to
greet their relatives or friends among the crews.
" We had expended upwards of a month," Burton
writes, from the 10th of April to the 13th of May,
1858, in this voyage of 15 days outward bound,
nine at Uvira, and nine in returning. The boating
was rather a severe trial. We had no means of

116 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
resting the back ; the holds of the canoes, besides
being knee -deep in water, were disgracefully
crowded : they had been appropriated to us and
our four servants by Kannena, but by degrees he in
troduced, in addition to the sticks, spears, broken
vases, pots, and gourds, a goat, two or three small
boys, one or two sick sailors, the httle slave-girl and
the large sheep. The canoes were top-heavy with
the number of their crew, and the shipping of many
seas spoUed our tents, and, besides, wetted our salt
and soddened our grain and flour ; the gunpowder
was damaged, and the guns were honey-combed
with rust. Besides the splashing of the paddles
and the dashing of waves, heavy showers fell almost
every day and night, and the intervals were bursts
of burning sunshine.
" The discomfort of the halt was not less than
that of the boat. At first we pitched tents near the
villages, in taU fetid grass, upon ground never level,
where stones were the succedanea for tent-pegs
stolen for fuel, and where we slept UteraUy upon
mire. The temperature inside was ever in extremes,
now a raw rainy cold, then a steam-bath that damped
us like an AprU shower. The viUagers, especiaUy
in the remoter districts, . were even more trouble
some, noisy, and inquisitive than the Wagogo. A
' notable passion of wonder ' appeared in them. We
felt like baited bears : we were mobbed in a moment,
and scrutinized from every point of view by them ;
the inquisitive wretches stood on tiptoe, they squat
ted on their hams, they bent sideways, they thrust
forth their necks hke hissing geese to vary the pros-

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE 117
pect. Their eyes, ' glaring lightning-like out of
their heads,' as old Homer hath it, seemed to devour
us ; in the ecstasy of curiosity they shifted from
one muzungu to his ' brother,' till, hke the well-
known ass between the two bundles of hay, they
could not enjoy either. They were pertinacious as
flies ; to drive them away was only to invite a return,
whUe — worst grief of aU— the women were plain,
and their grotesque salutations resembled the ' en
counter of two dog-apes.' "
In spite of aU these privations, the health of the
explorers was much improved by the voyage. Speke
was stiU hard of hearing, but he had fuUy recovered
his sight, and Burton's paralysis had almost left
him. The rainy season broke up, the day after
their return to Ujiji, and the climate became dry,
bracing and agreeable. Everything was favorable,
except the almost exhausted state of their supplies.
They could neither make preparations for the ex
ploration of the southern portion of the lake, nor
for the return to Kazeh, before the arrival of fresh
goods from the latter place. Suddenly, on the 22nd
of May, a discharge of muskets announced the ar
rival of a caravan, and the hut was presently sur
rounded with boxes and bales, slaves and porters.
Most welcome of aU, the traveUers received letters
and papers from Zanzibar and England, their first
maU in eleven months. Among other packages,
there was a " Low Church " tract, sent by the
American Consul at Zanzibar !
" This was an unexpected good fortune, happen
ing at a crisis when it was reaUy wanted. My joy

118 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
was somewhat damped by inspecting the packs of
the fifteen porters. Twelve were laden with ammu
nition which was not wanted, and with munitions
de bouche, which were : nearly half the bottles of
curry-powder, spices, and cognac were broken, tea
coffee, and sugar had been squeezed out of their
tin canisters, and much of the rice and coffee had
disappeared. The three remaining loads were one
of American domestics — sixty shukkahs — and the
rest contained fifteen coral bracelets and white
beads. All were the refuse of their kind : the good
Hindoos at Zanzibar had seized this opportunity to
dispose of their flimsy, damaged, and unsalable ar
ticles. This outfit was sufficient to carry us com
fortably to Unyanyembe. I saw, however-, with re
gret, that it was whoUy inadequate for the purpose
of exploring the two southern thirds of the Tangan
yika Lake, much less for returning to Zanzibar, via
the Nyassa or Maravi Lake, and Kilwa, as I had
once dreamed."
Burton thus sums up his observations of the size
and character of the lake : " The Tanganyika occu
pies the centre of the length of the African conti
nent, which extends from 32° N. to 33° S. latitude,
and it lies on the western extremity of the eastern
third of the breadth. Its general direction is par
allel to the inner African line of volcanic action
drawn from Gondar southward through the regions
about Kilima-ngao (Kilimanjaro) to Mount Njesa,
the eastern wall of the Nyassa Lake. The general
formation suggests, as in the case of the Dead Sea,
the idea of a volcano of depression — not, Uke the

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. ng
Nyanza or Ukerewe, a vast reservoir formed by
the drainage of mountains. Judging from the eye,
the waUs of this basin rise in an almost continu
ous curtain, rarely waving and infracted, to 2,000 or
3,000 feet above the water-level. The lower slopes
are weU wooded : upon the higher summits large
trees are said not to grow ; the deficiency of sofl,
and the prevalence of high, fierce winds would ac
count for the phenomena. The lay is almost due
north and south, and the form a long oval, widen
ing in the central portions and contracting system
atically at both extremities. The length of the bed
was thus calculated : From Ujiji (in S. lat. 4° 55')
to Uvira (in S. lat. 3° 25'),' where the narrowing of
the breadth evidences approach to the northern
head, was found by exploration a direct distance of
1° 30'= 90 nines, which, allowing for the interval
between Uvira and the River Rusizi, that forms
the northernmost hmit, may be increased to 100
rectilinear geographical mUes. According to the
Arab voyagers, who have frequently rounded the
Lake Ujiji in eight stages from the northern and
twelve from the southern end of the lake, the ex
tent from Ujiji to the Marungu River, therefore, is
roughly computed at 150 miles. The total of length,
from Uvira, in S. lat. 3° 25', to Marungu, in S. lat.
7° 20', would then be somewhat less than 250 rectili
near geographical mUes. About Ujiji the water ap
pears to vary in breadth from 30 to 35 miles, but the
serpentine form of the banks, with a succession of
serrations and indentations of salient and re-entering
angles — some jutting far and irregularly into the

120 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
bed — render the estimate of average difficult. The
Arabs agree in correctly stating, that opposite Ujiji
the shortest breadth of the lake is about equal to
the channel which divides Zanzibar from the main
land, or between 23 and 24 miles. At Uvira the
breadth narrows to eight mUes. Assuming, there
fore, the total length at 250, and the mean breadth
at 20 geographical mUes, the circumference of the
Tanganyika would represent, in round numbers, a
total of 550 miles ; the superficial area, which
seems to vary little, covers about 5,000 square miles ;
and the drainage from the beginning of the great
Central African depression in Unyamwezi, in E.
long. 33° 58', numbers from the eastward about 240
mUes. " By B. P. thermometer the altitude of the Tan
ganyika is 1,850 feet above the sea-level, and about
2,000 feet below the adjacent plateau of Unyamwezi
and the Nyanza, or northern lake.
" A careful investigation and comparison of state
ments leads to the behef that the Tanganyika re
ceives and absorbs the whole river-system — the net
work of streams, nullahs, and torrents — of that por
tion of the Central African depression whose water
shed converges toward the great reservoir. Geo
graphers wiU doubt that such a mass, situated at so
considerable an altitude, can maintain its level with
out an effluent. Moreover, the freshness of the
water would, under normal circumstances, argue the
escape of saline matter washed down by the in
fluents from the area of drainage. But may not
the Tanganyika, situated, like the Dead Sea, as the

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE. 121
reservoir for supplying with humidity the winds
which have parted with their moisture in the barren
and arid regions of the south, maintain its general
level by the exact balance of supply and evapora
tion ? Aud may not the saline particles deposited
in its waters be wanting in some constituent which
renders them evident to the taste ?" ;
This statement of Burton is entirely corroborated
by more recent discoveries. The Victoria Nyanza,
according to Speke, is 3,308 feet above the sea, and
the Albert Nyanza, discovered by Baker, 2,720 feet.
It is therefore impossible that the Tanganyika dis
charges into the latter lake, or, in fact, northward.
Although the great lake Nyassa, explored by Living
stone, has an altitude of only 1,300 feet above the
sea, yet its northern end is enclosed by an unbroken
sweep of high mountains, beyond which, according
to aU native accounts, there are dry table-lands.
The probabiUty of a connection between the Tan
ganyika and the Kasai River, or some other affluent
of the Congo, or Zaire, is almost too shght to be
entertained : the lake is undoubtedly the centre of a
Central Africa basin belonging to itseU.

I CHAPTER VIII. "
BURTON. — RETURN TO KAZEH — DISCOVERY OF THE VIC
TORIA NYANZA.
IMMEDIATELY after the arrival of the cara
van, Burton made preparations for quitting
Ujiji. During the three months and a half which
had elapsed since his first view of the lake, every
one of the attendants hired at the coast — the Ba
loch guards, guides and servants — had been invest
ing in slaves, and they united in turning the depart
ure into a sort of flight, fearing lest their human
merchandise should seize the opportunity to run
off with itself. On the 26th of May the traveUers
saw the Tanganyika Lake at sunrise, for the last
time. Masses of brown clouds, luminously fringed
with purple, covered the eastern sky, and behind
them the sun shot out his rays hke the spokes of a
huge aerial wheel, pouring a broad flood of gold
over the hght blue water. The consciousness of
having succeeded in the main object of the jour
ney balanced their regret at being obliged to leave
something undone, and they turned eastward with
light hearts.
An Arab merchant, Said bin Majid, joined them

DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 123
with his caravan for the return to Kazeh. But
ton's own party, however, had hurried onward with
such nervous haste, leaving part of the stores be
hind, that he did not overtake and succeed in orga
nizing them for two days, during which time many
things were lost. Said bin Majid insisted, also, on
hurrying past the appointed stations, and by his ne
glect to lay in the necessary supphes was detained
afterwards. The caravans took a more northerly
route, in order to avoid the deeper portions of the
affluents of the Malagarazi River, but the coun
try, though less broken, was very simUar in charac
ter to what they ha'd afready seen. After a few
violent thunder-storms, the land rapidly dried up,
and as they approached the river, conflagrations
became frequent. A sheet of flame, beginning with
the size of a spark, would overspread the hUl-side,
advancing on the wings of the wind with the roar
ing rushing sound of many hosts where the grass
lay thick ; shooting huge forky tongues high into
the dark air where the great trees were caught ;
smouldering and darkening as it struck a line of
rocks, then blazing and soaring again until, topping
the brow of a hill, the sheet became a thin line of
fire and graduaUy vanished from the view.
Resuming their march along the cold and foggy
valley of the Malagarazi, they reached the old and
dreaded ferry-place on the river, on the 4th of
June. The stream was much broader and deeper
than before, which gave the fierce native chief an
opportunity of making greater exactions. The
crossing occupied seven hours ; but when it was

124 LAKE REGIONS OF VENTRAL AFRICA.
finished the caravans were at ease, for no further
obstacle now intervened between them and Kazeh.
" An eventless march of twelve days led from the
Malagarazi Ferry to Unyanyembe. Avoiding the
detour to Msene we followed this time the more di
rect southern route. I had expected again to find
the treacle-like surface over which we had before
crept, and perhaps even in a worse state ; but the
inundations compelled the porters to skirt the httle
hiUs bounding the swamps. Provisions — rice, hol-
cus, and panicum, manioc, cucumbers, and sweet
potatoes, pulse, ground-nuts, and tobacco — became
plentiful as we progressed ; the arrow-root and the
bhang-plant flourished wild, and plantains and pal
myras were scattered over the land. On the 8th of
June, emerging from inhospitable Uvinza into neu
tral ground, we were pronounced to be out of dan
ger, and on the next day, when in the meridian of the
Usagozi, we were admitted for the first time to the
comfort of a viUage. Three days afterward we sep
arated from Said bin Majid. Having a valuable
store of tusks, he had but haU loaded his porters ;
he also half fed them : the consequence was that
they marched like madmen, and ours foUowed like a
flock of sheep. He would not incur the danger
and expense of visiting a settlement, and he
pitched in the bush, where provisions were the
least obtainable. When I told him that we must
part company, he deprecated the measure with his
stock statement, viz., that at the distance of an
hour's march there was a fine safe viUage full of
provisions and weU fitted for a halt.

DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 125
" On the 17th of June, the caravan, after sundry
difficulties caused by desertion, passed on to Iro-
ra, the viUage of Salim bin Salih, who this time
received us hospitably enough. Thence we first
sighted the blue hUls of Unyanyembe, our destina
tion. The next day saw us at Yombo, where, by
good accident, we met a batch of seven cloth-
bales and one box en route to Ujiji, under charge
of our old enemy Salim, bin Sayf of Dut'humi.
We also received the second packet of letters which
reached us that year : as usual, they were fuU of
evU news. Almost every one had lost some rela
tion or friend near and dear to him : even Said
bin Sahm's hearth had been spoUed of its chief
attraction, an only son, who, born it was sup
posed in consequence of my ' barakat ' (propitious
influence,) had been named Abdullah.
" After a day's halt to coUect porters at Yombo,
we marched from it on the 20th of June, and
passing the scene of our former miseries, the vil
lage under the lumpy hiU, ' ZimbiU,' we re-entered
Kazeh. There I was warmly welcomed by the
hospitable Snay bin Amir, who, after seating us to
coffee, as is the custom, for a few minutes in his
barzah or ante-room, led us to the old abode, which
had been carefuUy repaired, swept, and plastered.
There a large metal tray, bending under succulent
dishes of rice and curried fowl, giblets and manioc
boUed in the cream of the ground-nut, and sugared
omelets flavored with ghee and onion shreds, pre
sented peculiar attractions to half-starved travel
lers.

126 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
" Our return from Ujiji to Unyanyembe was thus
accomplished in twenty-two stations, which, halts
included, occupied a total of twenty-six days, from
the 26th of May to the 20th of June, 1858, and the
distance along the road may be computed at 265
statute miles."
Immediately after arriving, everybody was at
tacked with fevers or disorders of the liver. These,
however, soon yielded to the medicines and stimu
lants received from the coast. Several Arab mer
chants were preparing to start eastward, in order to
reach Zanzibar in time for the Indian trading-sea
son, and Burton might have returned with them.
But several reasons induced him to remain for a
whUe at Kazeh. He had not given up the hope
of being able to make the journey from that place
to QuUoa (Kilwa); he desired to coUect from the
Arab merchants and native guides aU procurable
information of the interesting countries lying to the
north and south of the line he had traversed. .
" During my first halt at Kazeh," he says, " the
merchants had related to me their discovery of a
large bahr — a sea or lake — lying fifteen or sixteen
marches to the north ; and from their descriptions
and bearings, my companion had laid down the
water in a hand-map forwarded to the Royal Geo
graphical Society. AU agreed in claiming for it
superiority of size over the Tanganyika Lake. I
saw at once that the existence of this hitherto un
known basin would explain many discrepancies
promulgated by speculative geographers, more espe-
ciaUy the notable and deceptive differences of dis-

DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 127
tances, caused by the confusion of the two waters.
My companion, who had recovered strength from
the repose and the comparative comfort of our
headquarters, appeared a fit person to be detached
upon this duty ; moreover, his presence at Kazeh
was by no means desirable."
The usual difficulties accompanied the perform
ance of this undertaking. The officers and guides
brought from the coast endeavored to avoid the
necessity of accompanying Speke ; the native por
ters were engaged only to desert again ; and even
the old and faithful servant, Bombay, knowing that
his services could not be dispensed with, exacted a
new present of cloth. By dint of much patience
and severe exertion aU these difficulties were finally
overcome, and on the 10th of July Speke left Ka
zeh, at the head of a smaU party. During his
absence Burton applied himself industriously to
the coUection of information, and the accounts he
gives of the kingdoms of Usui, Karagwe, and Ugan
da, lying to the northward, have since been verified
in aU essential particulars by Speke's second jour
ney. It is therefore unnecessary to quote them
here. After having exhausted the knowledge of the
chief men of Kazeh, Burton devoted his time to
the preparations for the return journey. The tat
tered tents were repaired, the rude, simple furniture
of travel put in order, new garments made, ham
mocks, bags, and pack-saddles overhauled, and such
supphes procured betimes, as might be difficult to
obtain on the eve of departure. " On the 14th of

128 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
July," he writes, " the last Arab caravan of the sea
son left Unyanyembe, under the command of Sayf
bin Said el Wardi. As he obligingly offered to con
vey letters and any small articles which I wished to
precede me, and knowing that under his charge
effects were far safer than with our own people, I
forwarded the useless and damaged surveying in
struments, certain manuscripts, and various inclos-
ures of maps, field and sketch-books, together with
reports to the Royal Geographical Society.
" This excitement over I began to weary of Ka
zeh. Snay bin Amir and most of the Arabs had
set out on an expedition. My Goanese servant, who
connected rny aspect with hard labor, avoided it
like a pestilence. Already I was preparing to or
ganize a little expedition to K'hokoro and the south
ern provinces, when unexpectedly — in these lands a
few cries and gun-shots are the only credible pre
cursors of a caravan — on the morning of the 25th
of August reappeared my companion.
" At length my companion had been successful,
his ' flying trip ' had led him to the northern water,
and he had found its dimensions surpassing our most
sanguine expectations. We had scarcely, however,
breakfasted, before he announced to me the start
ling fact that he had discovered the sources of the
White Nile. It was an inspiration perhaps : the
moment he sighted the Nyanza, he felt at once no
doubt but that the ' lake at his feet gave birth to
that interesting river which has been the subject of
so much speculation and the object of so many ex
plorers.' "

DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 129
Speke, considering that the distance he had to
traverse was nearly as great as from Kazeh to Lake
Tanganyika, had made a remarkably successful trip.
The usual impediments of African travel, troubles
with porters, guides, and native chiefs, were dimin
ished in his case by the comparative smallness of
his party, the greater necessity of their keeping to
gether, and the Ugh ter equipment- and supphes.
For several days he traversed the fertile and popu
lous uplands of northern Unyamwezi, and then en
tered a region caUed Usukuma, more thinly peopled,
and with great tracts of thorny jungle and open,
grassy plains. Beyond this was the small district
of Uquimba, where he found workers in iron, and
learned that the great lake was near at hand. On
the 30th of July, 1858, he stood upon its shores. At
first a bay, fiUed with small islands, the waters grew
in breadth as he advanced, until, from the summit
of a cape 250 feet in height, he saw a broad sea-
horizon to the north. The exaggerated statements
of the natives, however, led him to assign for it a
much greater length from north to south, than
proved to be the case, on his second journey.
Burton, whose notices of Speke in his narrative
are always in singularly bad taste, and often un
justly disparaging, gives, on the whole, an impar
tial account of the great lake, the discovery of
which — not by himself — seems to have seriously
annoyed him. " This fresh-water sea," he says,
" is known throughout the African tribes as Nyan
za, and. the simUarity of the sound to ' Nyassa,' the
indigenous name of the Uttle Maravi or KUwa

130 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Lake, may have caused in part the wild confusion
in which speculative geographers have involved the
lake regions of Central Africa. The Arabs, after
their fashion of deriving comprehensive names
from local and minor features, caU it Ukerewe, in
the Kisukuma dialect meaning the ' place of ke-
rewe' (kelewe,) an islet. As has been mentioned,
they sometimes attempt to join by a river, a creek,
or some other theoretical creation, the Nyanza with
the Tanganyika, the altitude of the former being
3,750 feet above sea-level, or 1,900 above the lat
ter, and the mountain regions which divide the two
having been frequently travelled over by Arab and
African caravans. The Nyanza, as regards name,
position, and even existence, has hitherto been un
known to European geographers ; but, as wiU pre
sently appear, descriptions of this sea by native
traveUers have been unconsciously transferred by
our writers to the Tanganyika of Ujiji, and even to
the Nyassa of Kilwa.
" The Nyanza is an elevated basin or reservoir,
the recipient of the surplus monsoon-rain which
falls in the extensive regions of the Wamasai and
their kinsmen to the east, the Karagwah line of the
Lunar Mountains to the west, and to the south
Usukuma or Northern Unyamwezi. Extending to
the equator in the central length of the African pe
ninsula, and elevated above the hmits of the de
pression in the heart of the continent, it appears to
be a gap in the irregular chain which, running from
Usumbara and Kilimangao to Karagwah, repre
sents the formation anciently termed the Mountains

DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 131
of the Moon. The physical features, as far as they
were observed, suggest this view. The shores are
low and flat, dotted here and there with little hills ;
the smaller islands also are hill-tops, and any part
of the country immediately on the south would, if
inundated to the same extent, present a similar as
pect. The lake hes open and elevated, rather like
the drainage and the temporary deposit of exten
sive floods than a volcanic creation hke the Tan
ganyika, a long, narrow, mountain-girt basin. The
waters are said to be deep, and the extent of the
inundation about the southern creek proves that
they receive during the season an important acces
sion. The color was observed to be clear and blue,
especially from afar in the early morning ; after 9
A.M., when the prevalent southeast wind arose, the
surface appeared greyish, or of a dull milky
white, probably the effect of atmospheric reflection.
The tint, however, does not, according to travellers,
ever become red or green like the waters of the Nile.
But the produce of the lake resembles that of the
river in its purity ; the people living on the shores
prefer it, unlike that of the Tanganyika, to the
highest and the clearest springs ; aU visitors agree
in commending its lightness and sweetness, and de
clare that the taste is rather of river or of rain-wa
ter than resembling the soft slimy produce of
(stagnant muddy bottoms, or the rough, harsh flavor
of melted ice and snow.
" At Kazeh, sorely to my disappointment, it was
finaUy settled, in a full conclave of Arabs, that we
must return to the coast by the tedious path with

132 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
which we were already painfuUy familiar. At Ujiji
the state of our finances had been the sole,
though the sufficient obstacle to our traversing
Africa from east to west ; we might — had we pos
sessed the means— by navigating the Tanganyika
southward, have debouched, after a journey of
three months, at Kilwa. The same cause pre
vented us from visiting the northern kingdoms of
Karagwah and Uganda ; to effect this exploration,
however, we should have required not only funds
but time. The rains there setting in about Sep
tember render travelling impossible ; our two years'
leave of absence was drawing to a close, and even
had we commanded a sufficient outfit, we were not
disposed to risk the consequences of taking an ex
tra twelve months. No course, therefore, remained
but to regain the coast. We did not however,
give up hopes of making our return useful to geo
graphy, by tracing the course of the Rwaha or Ru
fiji River, and of visiting the coast between the
Usagara Mountains and Kilwa, an unknown line
not likely to .attract future traveUers."

CHAPTER IX.
BURTON. — THE RETURN TO THE COAST.
AS early as the 6th of September, the officer
Said bin Salim, impatient to commence the
homeward march, began forming a camp outside of
Kazeh. But day after day passed by, and, although
the stragglers from the original party began to col
lect, there was the usual delay in finding porters.
FinaUy, on the 25th of the month, it was reported
that the caravan was ready, and the two travellers
sent their baggage to the camp. Burton, finding it
almost impossible to procure hammock-bearers for
a long journey, adopted the expedient of taking
them from one district to another. The only ob
jection to this plan was its great expense, three
cloths being demanded by each porter for thirty
nules, equivalent to eighteen doUars for the necessary
six porters.
In addition to a good stock of beads and cloth,
they had sixteen cows and calves, for milk and as
presents for the native chiefs ; but the cows all be
came dry in a few days, some of the calves soon
died of fatigue, and whenever an animal lay down

134 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
in the road it was immediately slaughtered by the
porters, who then feasted upon the flesh.
" The 26th of September, 1858, saw us on foot
betimes. The hospitable Snay bin Amir, freshly
recovered from an influenza which had confined him
for some days to his sleeping-mat, came personally
to superintend our departure. As no porters had
returned for property left behind, and as aU the
" cooking-pots " had preceded us on the yester, Snay
supphed us with his own slaves, and provided us
with an Arab breakfast, weU cooked, and, as usual,
neatly served on porcelain plates, with plaited and
colored straw dish-covers, pointed like Chinese caps.
Then, promising to spend the next day with me, he
shook hands and followed me out of the com
pound." This seemed like a departure, but it was not.
After innumerable halts and delays, constantly being
obliged to send back for articles left behind, it was
the 4th of October before they reached the village
of Hanga, only a long day's march from Kazeh.
Here Speke was so overcome by the fever, that he
became violently delirious, and was seized with a
kind of convulsions, accompanied with terrible pains
in the body. A messenger was sent back to Kazeh
for medicine adapted to the case, but the attack
gradually exhausted itself, and at the end of a week
the sufferer was able to bear transportation in a
hammock. In these troubles Burton received no
aid from Said bin Salim, who had already forfeited
Lis confidence, but the journey had developed good
qualities in another of his attendants.

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 135
" Seedy Mubarak Bombay," he says, — " in the
interior the name became Mamba (a crocodile) or
Pombe (smaU beer) — had long before returned to
his former attitude, that of a respectful and most
ready servant. He had, it is true, sundry uncom
fortable peculiarities. He had no memory : an ar
ticle once taken by him was always thrown upon the
ground and forgotten : in a single trip he broke my
elephant-gun, kUled my riding-ass and lost its
bridle. Like the Eastern Africans generally, he
lacked the principle of immediate action ; if beck
oned to for a gun in the field he would probably
first delay to look round, then retire, and lastly ad
vance. He had a curious inverted way of doing all
that he did. The water-bottle was ever carried on
the march either uncorked or inverted ; his waist
coat was generaUy wound round his neck, and it
appeared fated not to be properly buttoned ; while
he walked bareheaded in the sun, his fez adorned
the tufty poll of some comrade ; and at the halt he
toUed Uke a char-woman to raise our tents and to
prepare them for habitation, while his slave, the
large lazy Maktubu, a boy-giant from the moun
tains of Urundi, sat or dozed under the cool shade.
Yet with aU his faults and faUures, Bombay, for his
unwearied activity, and especially from his undevi-
ating honesty — there was no man, save our " negro
rectitude," in the whole camp who had not proved
his claim to the title triliteral — was truly valu
able." The stages now appeared shorter, the sun cooler,
the breeze warmer ; after fourteen months of exces-

136 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
sive fevers, the. party had become tolerably acclir
mated ; all were loud in praise, as they had formerly
been violent in censure, of the air and water. Before
entering the Fiery Field, the hire for carrying the
hammocks became so exorbitant that Burton dis
missed his bearers, mounted an ass, and once more
took his place at the head of the caravan. Speke
gradually recovered the same way. Leaving Hanga
on the 13th of October, they consumed fifteen days
in making the seven short marches to Tura, the
Eastern village of Unyamwezi, on account of the
native porters running to the right and left, to visit
their homes. There were also constant rumors of
robbers, and the members of the caravan always
flew to arms at the slightest report of danger.
" At Eastern Tura," says Burton, " where we ar
rived on the 28th of October, a halt of six days was
occasioned by the necessity of providing and pre
paring food, at that season scarce and dear, for the
week's march through the Fiery Field. The cara
van was then mustered, when its roll appeared as fol
lows. We numbered in our own party two Europeans,
two Goanese, Bombay with two slaves — the chUd-
man Nasibu, and the boy-giant Maktubu — the buU-
headed Mabruki, Nasir, a half-caste Mazuri Arab,
who had been sent with me by the Arabs of Kazeh
to save his morals, and Taufiki, a Msawahili youth,
who had taken service as gun-carrier to the coast :
they formed a total of 10 souls. Said bin Salim was
accompanied by 12 — the charmers Halimah and
Zawada, his five chUdren, and a little gang of five
fresh captures, male and female. The Baloch, 12

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 137
in number, had 15 slaves and 11 porters, composing
a total of 38. The sons of Ramji, and the ass-
drivers under Kidogo their leader, were in aU 24,
including their new acquisitions. Finally, 68 Wan
yamwezi porters, carrying the outfit and driving the
cattle, completed the party to 152 souls.
" On the 3rd of November the caravan, issuing
from Tura, plunged manfully into the Fiery Field,
and after seven marches in as many days, halted for
breath and forage at Jiwe la Mkoa, the Round
Stone. A few rations having been procured in its
vicinity, we resumed our way on the 12th of Novem
ber, and in two days exchanged, with a sensible
pleasure, the duU expanse of dry brown bush and
brushwood, dead thorn-trees, and dry nullahs, for
the fertile red plain of Mdaburu. After that point
began the transit of Ugogo, where I had been taught
to expect accidents ; they resolved themselves, how
ever, into nothing more than the disappearance of
cloth and beads in inordinate quantities. We were
received by Magomba, the Sultan of Kanyenye,
with a charge of magic, for which, of course, it was
necessary to pay heavily. The Wanyamwezi por
ters seemed even more timid on the down-journey
than on the up-march. They slank about like curs,
and the fierce look of a Mgogo boy was enough to
strike a general terror. Twanigana, when safe in
the mountains of Usagara, would frequently indulge
me in a dialogue like the foUowing, and it may
serve as a specimen of the present state of conver
sation in East Africa :

I
138 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
" ' The state, Mdula ?' (i. e., AbduUah, a word un
pronounceable to negroid organs.)
" ' The state is very ! (well) and thy state ?'
" ' The state is very ! (well) and the state of Spik-
ka ?' (my companion).
" ' The state of Spikka is very ! (weU).'
" ' We have escaped the Wagogo (resumes Twani
gana), .white man, O !'
" ' We have escaped, O my brother !'
" ' The Wagogo are bad.'
" ' They are bad.'
" ' The Wagogo are very bad.'
" ' They are very bad.'
" ' The Wagogo are not good.'
" ' They are not good.'
" ' The Wagogo are not at aU good.'
" ' They are not at all good.'
" ' I greatly feared the Wagogo, who kUl the Wan
yamwezi.' " ' Exactly so !'
" ' But now I don't fear them. I call them  s
and  s, and I would fight the whole tribe, white
man, O !'
" ' Truly so, O my brother !'
" And thus for two mortal hours, till my ennui
turned into marvel.
" This form of conversation, however, was sur
passed by the attempt of one of the Baloch guards,
Gul Mohammed by name, to convert a native caUed
Muzungu Mbaya, (' The Wicked White Man,') to the
Moslem faith. At the close of a day's march, if the
former found the latter sitting alone, he invariably

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 139
squatted down beside him, and opened the conver
sation with the remark :
" ' And thou, Muzungu Mbaya, thou also must
die!' " ' Ugh ! ugh !' replies the native, personally
offended, ' don't speak in that way ! Thou must
die too.'
" ' It is a sore thing to die,' resumes Gul Moham
med. " ' Hoo ! hoo !' exclaims the other, ' it is bad, very
bad, never to wear a nice cloth, no longer to dweU
with one's wife and chUdren, not to eat and drink,
snuff, and smoke tobacco. Hoo ! hoo ! it is bad,
very bad !'
" ' But we shaU eat,' says the Moslem, ' the flesh
of birds, mountains of meat, and delicate roasts,
and drink sugared water, and whatever we hunger
for.' " The African's mind is disturbed by this tissue
of contradictions. He considers birds somewhat
low feeding, roasts he adores, he contrasts moun
tains of meat with his poor half pound in pot, he
would seU himseU for sugar ; but, on the other hand,
he hears nothing of tobacco : still, he takes the
trouble to ask : ' Where, O my brother ?'
" ' There !' exclaims Gul Mohammed, pointing to
the skies.
" This is a stumbling-block to Muzungu Mbaya.
The distance is great, and he can scarcely believe
that his questioner has visited the firmament to see
the provisions: he therefore ventures upon the

140 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
query : ' And hast thou been there, O my bro
ther ? '
" ' I beg pardon of Allah !' ejaculates Gul Mo
hammed, half angry, haU amused. ' What a pagan
this is ! No, my brother, .1 have not exactly been
there ; but my Allah told my apostle, who told his
descendant, who told my father and mother, who
told me, that when we die we shaU go up to a
plantation, where  '
" ' Oof !' grunts Muzungu Mbaya, ' it is good of
you to tell us all this upumbafu (nonsense) which
your mother told you. So there are plantations
in the skies ?'
" ' Assuredly,' rephes Gul Mohammed, who ex
pounds at length the Moslem idea of paradise to
the African's running commentary of ' Nenda we !'
(be off !) ' Mama-e !' (0 my mother !) and ' Tumba-
nina,' which may not be translated.
" Muzungu Mbaya, who for the last minute has
been immersed in. thought, now suddenly raises
his head, and, with somewhat of a goguenard air,
inquires —
" ' WeU, then, my brother, thou knowest aU things !
answer me, is thy Mulungu black Uke myself, white
like this muzungu, or whity-brown as thou art ?'
" Gul Mohammed is fairly floored : he ejaculates
sundry la haul ! to collect his wits for the reply :
" ' Verily, the Mulungu hath no color.'
" ' To-o-oh ! Tuh !' exclaims the Muzungu, con
torting his wrinkled countenance, and spitting with
disgust upon the ground. He was now justified in
believing that he had been made a laughing-stock.

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 141
The mountain of meat had, to a certain extent, won
over his better judgment : the fair vision now fled,
and left him to the hard realities of the half pound."
The transit through the Land of Ugogo occupied
three weeks, from the 14th of November to the 5th
of December. Immediately after reaching the old'
camping-ground at Ugogi, at the foot of the Rube
ho Mountains, a caravan arrived from the coast,
bringing fresh letters and papers. The porters,
learning that there was a famine in the Rubeho
country, unanimously declared that they would take
the Kiringawana route, which hes about 43 mUes
south of the former, across the mountains ; and
Burton was obliged to consent.
" The Kiringawana route," he says, " numbers
nineteen short stages, which may be accomphshed
without hardship in twelve days, at the rate of
about five hours per diem. Provisions are pro
curable in almost every part, except when the
Warori are ' out ;' and water is plentiful, if not
good. Travel is rendered pleasant by long stretches
of forest land without bush or fetid grass. The
principal annoyances are the thievish propensities
of the natives and the extortionate demands of
the chief. A minor plague is that of mosquitoes,
that haunt the rushy banks of the hiU rivulets,
some of which are crossed nine or ten times in
the same day ; moreover, the steep and shppery
ascents and descents of black earth and mud. or
rough blocks of stone, make the porters unwUhng
to work."
After a halt of only a day at Ugogi, they con-

142 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
tinued the journey. The first stages were over an
undulating plateau, with settlements and cultivation
in the hollows. GraduaUy the country became
wilder, the hills more frequent and abrupt, and
storms began to gather about the higher peaks.
' The march was made without any accident, or inci
dent of importance, except the foUowing, which is a
lively description of many similar experiences :
"-The morning of the 15th of December com
menced with a truly African scene. The men were
hungry and. the air was chiU. They prepared,
however, to start quietly betimes. Suddenly a bit
of rope was snatched, a sword flashed in the air, a
bow-horn quivered with nocked arrow, and the
whole caravan rushed frantically with a fearful row
to arms. As no one dissuaded the party from ' fight
ing it out,' they apparently became friends, and
took up their loads. My companion and I rode
quietly forward : scarcely, however, had we emerged
from the little basin which the camp had been
placed, than a terrible hubbub of shouts and yells
announced that the second act had commenced.
After a few minutes, Said bin Salim came forward
in trembling haste to announce that the jemadar
had again struck a pagazi, who, running into the
nullah, had thrown stones with force enough to in
jure his assailant, consequently that the Baloch
had drawn their sabres and had commenced a
general massacre of porters. Well understanding
this misrepresentation, we advanced about a mUe,
and thence sent back two of the sons of Ramji
to declare that we would not be delayed, and

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 143
that if not at once followed, we would engage
other porters at the nearest viUage. This brought
on a denouement : presently the combatants ap
peared, the Baloch in a high state of grievance,
the Africans declaring that they had not come to
fight but to carry. I persuaded them both to de
fer settling the business tUl the evening, when both
parties, weU crammed with food, Ustened compla
cently to that gross personal abuse, which, in
these lands, represents a reprimand.
"Resuming our journey, we crossed two high
and steep hills, the latter of which suddenly dis
closed to the eye the rich and fertile basin of
Mororo." This place, which is nearly half the distance
from Ugogi to Zungomero, is the most considera
ble station on the road. They halted there a day
to rest and recruit, and then pressed forward
through the vaUeys of streams which flowed to the
southward — apparently affluents of the Rufiji River,
which»empties into the sea near Quiloa — and across
rocky hills, covered with thorns and cactus. On
the 19th they crossed the Rufita Pass, finding it
much less steep and difficult than the Rubeho, or
Windy Pass, to the northward. In the vaUey be
yond, the chief of the region received the travel
lers with courtesy, demanding the usual black-
maU, but afterwards presenting them with a bul
lock. On Christmas Day they- crossed the Mabruki
Pass, the last which intervened between them and
the lower country east of the mountains. The first

144 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
descent was by a sharp ridge, between wooded
heights, commanding wide and beautiful views
over a great extent of landscape ; then followed a
precipitous steep of red earth, torn by water
courses. The end of the day's journey saw the
traveUers over the range. The bullock which had
been reserved for their Christmas dinner was lost
on the way. " I had ordered," says Burton, " the
purchase of half a dozen goats wherewith to cele
brate the day ; the porters, however, were too lazy
to coUect them. My companion and I made good
cheer upon a fat capon, which acted as roast-beef,
and a mess of ground-nuts sweetened with sugar
cane, which did duty as plum-pudding. The con
trast of what was with what might be now, how
ever, suggested only pleasurable sensations ; long
odds were in favor of our seeing the Christmas
day of 1859, compared with the chances of things
at Msene on the Christmas- day of 1857.
" From Uziraha sixteen hours distributed into
fourteen marches conducted us from Uziraha, at
the foot of the Usagara Mountains, to Central
Zungomero. The districts traversed were Eastern
Mbwiga, Marundwe, and Kirengwe. The road again
realizes the European idea of Africa in its most
hideous and grotesque aspect. Animals are scarce
amid the portentous growth of herbage, not a head
of black cattle is seen, flocks and poultry are rare,
and even the beasts of the field seem to flee the
land. The people admitted us into their villages,
whose wretched straw hovels, contrasting with the
luxuriant jungle which hems them in, look like

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 145
birds' -nests torn from the trees : all the best set
tlements, however, were occupied bjr parties of tou-
ters. At the sight of our passing caravan the
goatherd hurried off his charge, the peasant pre
pared to rush into the grass, the women and child
ren slunk and hid within the hut, and no one ever
left his home without a bow and a sheath of ar
rows, whose pitchy-colored bark-necks denoted a
fresh layer of poison.
" We entered Zungomero on the 29th of De
cember, after sighting on the left the cone at
whose base rises the Maji ya W'heta, or Fontaine
qui bouUle."
At Zungomero Burton made a final but equally
ineffectual attempt to take the route to Quiloa in
stead of Zanzibar. The principal result was the de
sertion, in a body, of the native porters. This
obUged the party to wait three weeks at Zungome
ro ; in the meantime messengers were despatched
to the coast. However, before any assistance ar
rived, a caravan from the interior made its appear-
-ance, and a fresh supply of porters was obtained
without difficulty.
" The 21st of January, 1859, enabled us to bid
adieu to Zungomero and merrily to take the foot
path way. We made Konduchi on the 3rd of Feb
ruary, after twelve marches, which were accom
plished in fifteen days. There was little of interest
or adventure in this return hne, of which the nine
first stations had already been visited and described.
As the yegea mud, near Dut'humi, was throat-deep,
we crossed it lower down : it was stiU a weary

146 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
trudge of several miles through thick slabby mire,
which admitted a man to his knees. In places, after
toUing under a sickly sun, we crept under the tun
nels of thick jungle-growth, veiling the Mgazi and
other streams ; the dank and fetid cold caused a
deadly sensation of faintness, which was only re
lieved by a glass of ether-sherbet, a pipe or two of
the strongest tobacco, and haU an hour's repose.
By degrees it was found necessary to abandon the
greater part of the remaining outfit and the lug
gage : the Wanyamwezi, as they neared their desti
nation, became even less manageable than before,
and the sons of Ramji now seemed to consider their
toils at an end. On the 25th of January we forded
the cold, strong, yeUow stream of the Mgeta, whose
sandy bed had engulfed my elephant-gun, and we
entered with steady hearts the formerly-dreaded
Uzaramo. " On the 30th of January our natives of Zanzi
bar screamed with delight at the sight of the
mango-tree, and pointed out to one another, as
they appeared in succession, the old famUiar fruits,
jacks and pine-apples, limes and cocos. On the 2nd
of February we greeted, with doffed caps and three
times three and one more, as Britons wiU do on
such occasions, the kindly smiling face of our father
Neptune, as he lay basking in the sunbeams between
earth and air. Finally the 3rd of February, 1859, saw
us winding through the poles decorated with skuUs
— they now grin in the Royal College of Surgeons,
London — a negro Temple-bar which pointed out the
way into the little maritime village of Konduchi.

THE RETURN TO THE COAST. 147
" Our entrance was attended with the usual cere
mony, now familiar to the reader : the warmen
danced, shot, and shouted, a rabble of adults,
youths and boys crowded upon us, the fair sex lulli-
loo'd with vigor, and a general procession conducted
their strangers to the hut, swept cleaned, and gar
nished for us by old Premji, the principal Banyan
of the head-quarter village, and there stared and
laughed till they could stare and laugh no more.
" On the 9th of February the battela and the
stores required for our trip arrived at Konduchi
from Zanzibar, and the next day saw us rolling
down the coast, with a fair fresh breeze toward
classic Kilwa, the QuUoa of De Gama, of Camoens,
and of the Portuguese annalists. I shall reserve an
account of this most memorable shore for a future
work, devoted especiaUy to the sea-board of Zanzi
bar — coast and island : in the present tale of adven
ture the details of a cabotage would be out of place.
Suffice it to say that we lost nearly aU our crew by
the cholera, which, after ravaging the eastern coast
of Arabia and Africa, and the islands of Zanzibar
and Pemba, had almost depopulated the southern
settlements on the main land. We were unable to
visit the course of the great Rufiji River, a counter
part of the Zambezi in the south, and a water-road
which appears destined to become the highway of
nations into Eastern equatorial Africa. No man
dared to take service on board the infected vessel ;
the Hindoo Banyans, who directed the copal trade
of the river regions, aroused against us the chiefs of
the interior ; moreover, the stream was in flood,

148 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
overflowing its banks, and its line appeared marked
by heavy purple clouds, which discharged a deluge
of rain. Convinced that the traveUing season was
finished, I turned the head of the battela north
ward, and on the 4th of March, 1859, after a suc
cession of violent squalls and pertinacious calms,
we landed once more upon the island of Zanzibar.
" On the 22nd of March, 1859, the clove-shrubs
and the cocoa-trees of Zanzibar again faded from
my eyes. After crossing and recrossing three times
the tedious hne, we found ourselves anchored, on
the 16th of April, near the iU-omened black waUs of
the Aden crater.
" The crisis of my African sufferings had taken
place' during my voyage upon the Tanganyika Lake :
the fever, however, still clung to me like the shirt
of Nessus. Mr. Apothecary Frost, of Zanzibar, had
advised a temporary return to Europe : Dr. Stein-
haeuser, the civil surgeon, Aden, also recommended
a lengthened period of rest. I bade adieu to the
coal-hole of the East on the 28th of April, 1859, and
in due time greeted with becoming heartiness the
shores of my native land."

CHAPTER X.
SPEKE'S SECOND JOURNEY TO THE VICTORIA
NYANZA.
CAPTAIN JOHN HANNING SPEKE, of the
Indian Army, who was Burton's companion,
was also his successor. The two men appear to
have been of totally different temperament and
character, and therefore it was impossible for them
to agree upon the same system of dealing with the
native tribes. This was evidently the main cause
of their disagreement during the journey to Lake
Tanganyika ; but it was intensified by Burton's
disparagement of the importance which Speke at
tached to his discovery of the Nyanza. The lat
ter was sure that this lake was one of the feeders
of the White NUe, and when he reached England
in May, 1859, he immediately caUed upon Sir Ro
derick Murchison, President of the Royal Geogra
phical Society, who accepted his views without
hesitation. A council of the Society was immediately con
vened for the purpose of considering Speke's plan
of a new exploration. Some of the members thought

150 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
it would be best to go up the Nile, which seemed
to them the natural course to pursue, especially
as the White Nile was said to have been navi
gated (although geographers had their doubts about
the matter) by the expeditions sent up by Moham
med Ali, in 1841 and '42, to 3° 22' N. To this
Speke objected, as so many had since tried the
same route, and always failed; but at the same
time he proposed, if the Society would allow him
£5,000, to return to Zanzibar at the end of the
year, march back to Kazeh,. and make a complete
exploration of the Victoria Nyanza. Although he
proposed to spend three years in the undertaking,
examining the country and ascertaining its main
geographical features, the Society considered the
sum demanded much too large ; whereupon Speke
accepted the half, saying that whatever the expedi
tion might cost, he would make up the rest from
his own resources.
Speke's object in delaying the expedition for a
year was that he might send on fifty men, with a
load of beads and brass wire, under the charge of
Arab ivory-traders,.to the kingdom of Karagwe, and
fifty more, in the same manner, to Kazeh ; so that,
leaving the coast at the best season (May to July),
he would be able to push on expeditiously, and thus
escape the great disadvantages of travelling with a
large caravan, with the accompanying amount of
desertion and theft. The project, which was a very
good one, failed, because nine months elapsed before
the grant of £2,500 was made, and the command of
the expedition given to Speke. The Indian branch

JOURNEY TO THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 151
of the Government, however, supplied fifty carbines,
with ammunition, all the surveying instruments, and
several gold watches, as presents for the native
chiefs. Captain Grant, also of the Indian army,
and a personal friend of Spoke* was, at the latter's
request, detaUed to accompany him.
At the same time, Mr. Petherick, an English ivory
merchant, who had spent many years in the equa
torial regions of Central Africa, offered to have
boats ready to meet the expedition at Gondokoro,
the highest trading-station on the White Nile, and
to send a party of men into the unknown interior
beyond that point to coUect ivory, and assist the
explorers in case of need — should the latter succeed
in penetrating so far. Later events proved that Mr.
Petherick made this agreement without any ex
pectation that he would ever be required to fulfill it.
On the 27th of April, 1860, Speke and Grant left
England in the steam-frigate Forte, and after a long
voyage reached the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th
of July. There the Governor, Sir George Grey,
who took a warm interest in the expedition, induced
the Cape Parliament to grant a sum of £300 for the
purchase of baggage-mules, and detached ten vol
unteers from the Native Rifle Corps, to accompany
the traveUers. After touching at Delagoa Bay, Mo
zambique, and the island of Johanna, they reached
Zanzibar on the 17th of August. Here the most
welcome news was that the Enghsh Consul had
thirteen days before dispatched fifty-six loads of
cloth and beads to Kazeh.
Said Majid, the Sultan of Zanzibar, received the

152 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
traveUers in a very friendly manner, and offered
them aU needful assistance. The success of the
first expedition, Speke found, greatly facihtated the
preparations for the second. " Said bin Salim," he
says, " our late caravan captain, was appointed to
that post again, as he wished to prove his character
for honor and honesty ; and it now transpired that
he had been ordered not to go with me when I dis
covered the Victoria Nyanza. Bombay and his
brother Mabruki were bound to me of old, and the
first to greet me on my arrival here ; while my old
friends the Balochs begged me to take them again.
The Hottentots, however, had usurped their place.
I was afterward sorry for this, though, it' I ever travel
again, I shaU trust to none but nati/es, as the cli
mate of Africa is too trying to foieigners."
Col. Rigby, the English Consul, also aUowed
Speke to select from his boat's crew any men he
could find who had served in men-of-war. " For
this purpose," Speke continues, " my factotum,
Bombay, prevaUed on Baraka, Frij, and JRahan —
all of them old sailors, who, like himself, knew Hin-
dostanee — to go with me. With this nucleus to start
with, I gave orders that they should look out for as
many Wanguana (freed men — i.e., men emancipat
ed from slavery) as they could enlist, to carry loads,
or do any other work required of them, and to fol
low me in Africa wherever I wished, until our ar
rival in Egypt, when I would- send them back to
Zanzibar. Each was to receive one year's pay in
advance, and the remainder when their work was
completed."

JOURNEY TO THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 153
By the 21st of September everything was ready
at Zanzibar, and Sheikh Said and the men, togeth
er with the Hottentots, mules and baggage, were
sent across to Bagamoyo, on the mainland. Speke
and Grant foUowed on the 25th, and found the car
avan already in a tolerable state of organization.
Several native merchants availed themselves of the
opportunity, to make the same journey with greater
security, and they were aU anxious to set out with
out delay, as it was a time of year when famine
might be expected in the interior. A very few
days, therefore, sufficed for the remaining prepara
tions, and on the 2nd of October the march began,
but not with the doubt and uncertainty of the first
start, four years before.
Speke gives the foUowing description of his cara
van, its habit of travel, and his own and Grant's du
ties on the way :
" Starting on a march with a large mixed cara
van, consisting of one corporal and nine privates,
Hottentots — one jemadar and 25 privates, Balochs
— one Arab Cafila Bashi and 75 freed slaves — one
kirangozi or leader, and 100 negro porters — 12
mules untrained, three donkeys, and 22 goats —
one could hardly expect to find everybody in his
place at the proper time for breaking ground ; but,
at the same time, it could hardly be expected that
ten men, who had actually received their bounty-
money, and had sworn fidelity, should give one the
shp the very first day. Such, however, was the
case. Ten out of the thirty-six given by the sultan
ran away, because they feared that the white men,

154 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
whom they believed to be cannibals, were only tak
ing them into the interior to eat them ; and one pa
gazi, more honest than the freed men, deposited his
pay upon the ground, and ran away too. Go we
must, however, for one desertion is sure to lead to
more : and go we did. Our procession was in this
fashion : the kirangozi, with a load on his shoulder,
led the way, flag in hand, followed by the pagazis
carrying spears or bows and arrows in their hands,
and bearing their share of the baggage in the shape
either of bolster-shaped loads of cloth and beads
covered with matting, each tied into the fork of a
three-pronged stick, or else coils of brass or copper
wire tied in even weights to each end of sticks
which they laid on the shoulder ; then helter-skel
ter came the Wanguana, carrying carbines in their
hands, and boxes, bundles, tents, cooking-pots — aU
the miscellaneous property on their heads ; next
the Hottentots, dragging the refractory mules laden
with ammunition-boxes, but very lightly, to save the
animals for the future ; and, finaUy, Sheikh Said
and the Baloch escort, whUe the goats, sick women
and stragglers brought up the rear. From first to
last, some of the sick Hottentots rode the hospital
donkeys, allowing the negroes to tug their animals ;
for the smaUest ailment threw them broadcast on
their backs.
" My first occupation was to map the country.
This was done by timing the rate of march with a
watch, taking compass-bearings along the road or on
any conspicuous marks — as, for instance, hills off it

JOURNEY TO THE VICTORIA NYANZA. 155
— and by noting the watershed — in short, aU topo
graphical objects. On arrival in camp every day
came the ascertaining, by boiling a thermometer, of
the altitude of the station above the sea- level ; of
the latitude of the station by the meridian altitude
of a star taken with a sextant ; and of the compass
variation by azimuth. Occasionally there was the
fixing of certain crucial stations, at intervals of sixty
miles or so, by lunar observations, or distances of
the moon either from the sun or from certain given
stars, for determining the longitude, by which the
original-timed course can be drawn out with cer
tainty on the map by proportion. Should a date be
lost, you can always discover it by taking a lunar
distance and comparing it with the Nautical Alma
nac, by noting the time when a star passes the
meridian if your watch is right, or by observing the
phases of the moon, or her rising and setting, as
compared with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of
my work, besides sketching and keeping a diary,
which was the most troublesome of aU, consisted in
making geological and zoological coUections. With
Captain Grant rested the botanical coUections and
thermometrical registers. He also boiled one of
the thermometers, kept the rain-gauge, and under
took the photography ; but after a time I sent the
instruments back, considering this work too severe
for the climate, and he tried instead sketching with
water- colors, the results of which form the chief
part of the iUustrations in this book. The rest of
our day went in breakfasting after the march was

156 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
over — a pipe, to prepare us for rummaging the
fields and villages to discover their contents for
scientific purposes — dinner close to sunset, and tea
and pipe before turning in at night."

CHAPTER XI.
SPEKE. — THE MARCH TO KAZEH.
DURING the first days of the march Speke
experienced a repetition of Burton's troubles
with the porters and native attendants. They stole
his goats ; they demanded extra pay ; they refused
to march ; they lost or damaged their packs ; and
at the end of the first week eight of the men furnished
by the Sultan ran away, taking with them all the re
maining goats. Soon afterwards, Grant was seized
with the inevitable African fever, which revisited
him every fortnight during the whole journey ; whUe
Speke, after some slight attacks the first year, re
mained exempt from it.
By the 23d of October, they had crossed the low
tropical region and reached Zungomero. The re
ports of famine in the interior, as Speke had antici
pated, were confirmed, and he decided to try the
southern route across the mountains, (which Burton
had foUowed on his return, two years before,) in the
hope of finding more supplies. But, after four
days' march, on reaching a station beyond the Ma-
bruki Pass — the first range of mountains — he was
informed by a travelling Arab that the whole of
the fertile Maroro district had been laid waste by

158 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
'war, and was compelled to choose a middle route,
and finaUy, since that proved to be impracticable,
the northern or Rubeho Pass.
They soon reached a more elevated region, and
marched over rolling ground, covered with groves
of small trees. The scenery was most interesting,
with every variety of hill, plateau, and ravine, wild
and beautifuUy wooded; but they saw nothing of
the people. At every viUage they approached, the
inhabitants, accustomed only to brutal treatment
from the traders, buried themselves in the jungles,
carrying off their grain with them. Foraging par
ties were sent out, with strict orders to take nothing
by force : the only result was, that the natives at
tributed this kindness to fear, and threatened to
attack the caravan at night.
On the 17th of November they reached Inenge,
at the foot of the Rubeho Pass. The country was
so famished that nothing but the continual hunt of
both Grant and Speke for elands, antelopes, and
other wild game kept the caravan from starvation.
The forced marches which they were compeUed to
make at least 'carried them more rapidly on their
way. In three days more they arrived at Ugogi,
where there was httle more food than in the moun
tain region ; the natives were already mixing their
smaU stores of grain with the seeds of the monkey
bread-tree. Water was so scarce in the wells that
the travellers were obliged to purchase it at the
usual price of beer, and cattle, sheep and fowls were
both scarce and very expensive.
Continuing their march, at Kanyenye, two or

THE MARCH TO KAZEH. 159
three stations before entering on the " Fiery Field,"
Speke was lucky enough to shoot a rhinoceros.
Having learned that they frequented a bitter pool
in the neighborhood, " I set forth with the guide and
two of the sheikh's boys," he says, " each carrying
a single rifle, and ensconced myself in the nullah,
to hide until our expected visitors should arrive,
and there remained untU midnight. When the
hitherto noisy viUagers turned into bed, the sUvery
moon shed her Ught on the desolate scene, and the
Mgogo guide, taking fright, bolted, He had not,
however, gone long, when, looming above us, coming
over the horizon line, was the very animal we
wanted. In a fidgety manner, the beast then descended, as
if he expected some danger in store — and he was
not wrong ; for, attaching a bit of white paper to
the fly-sight of my BUssett, I approached him,
crawling under cover of the banks untU within
eighty yards of him, when, finding that the moon
shone fuU on his flank, I raised myseU upright and
planted a buUet behind his left shoulder. Thus died
my first rhinoceros.
" To make the most of the night, as I wanted
meat for my men to cook, as weU as a stock to
carry with them, or barter with the viUagers for
grain, I now retired to my old position, and waited
again. "After two hours had elapsed, two more rhino
ceros approached me in the same stealthy, fidgety
way as the first one. They came even closer than
the first, but, the moon having passed beyond their

160 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
meridian, I could not obtain so clear a mark. Still
they were big marks, and I determined on doing
my best before they had time to wind us ; so, step
ping out, with the sheikh's boys behind me carrying
the second rifle to meet aU emergencies, I planted
a ball in the larger one, and brought him round
with a roar and whooh-whooh, exactly to the best
position I could wish for receiving a second shot ;
but, alas ! on turning sharply round for the spare
rifle, I had the mortification to see that both the
black boys had made off, and were scrambling like
monkeys up a tree. At the same time, the rhino
ceros, fortunately for me, on second consideration
turned to the right-about, and shuffled away, leaving,
as is usuaUy the case when conical buUets are
used, no traces of blood.
" Thus ended the night's work. We now went
home by dawn to apprise all the porters that we
had flesh in store for them, when the two boys who
had so shamelessly deserted' me, instead of hiding
their heads, described all the night's scenes with
such capital mimicry as set the whole camp in a
roar. We had all now to hurry back to the carcass
before the Wagogo could find it ; but, though this
precaution was quickly taken, still, before the tough
skin of the beast could be cut through, the Wagogo
began assembling like vultures, and fighting with
my men. A more savage, filthy, disgusting, but, at
the same time, grotesque scene than that which
followed cannot be conceived. All feU to work,
armed with swords, spears, knives, and hatchets,
cutting and slashing, thumping and bawling, fighting

THE MARCH TO KAZEH. 161
and tearing, tumbling and wrestling up to their
knees in filth and blood in the middle of the carcass.
When a tempting morsel fell to the possession of
any one, a stronger neighbor would seize and bear
off the prize in triumph. All right was now a
matter of pure might, and lucky it was that it did
not end in a fight between our men and the vil
lagers. These might be afterward seen, one by
one, covered with blood, scampering home each
with his spoU — a piece of tripe, or liver, or lights,
or whatever else it might have been his fortune to
get off with."
On the 6th of December the party entered the
Fiery Field; the next day Speke shot another
rhinoceros, and soon after came upon a herd of
buffalo in the jungle. In a httle while he shot two
cows, and wounded a large bull, which, however,
got away and hid in the bushes. When Speke ap
proached the place, he sprang out of his ambush
and made a sudden and furious charge upon the
hunter. " It was a most ridiculous scene. Suliman by my
side, with the instinct of a monkey, made a violent
spring and swung himself by a bough immediately
over the beast, whUe Faraj bolted away and left me
single-gunned to polish him off. There was only
one course to pursue, for in one instant more he
would have been into me ; so, quick as thought, I
fired the gun, and, as luck would have it, my bullet,
after passing through the edge of one of his horns,
stuck in the spine of his neck, and rolled him over
at my feet as dead as a rabbit. Now, having cut

162 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
the beast's throat to make him ' hilal,' according to
Mussulman usage, and thinking we had done enough
if I could only return to the first wounded bull and
settle him too, we commenced retracing our steps,
and by accident came on Grant. He was passing
by from another quarter, and became amused by the
glowing description of my boys, who never omitted
to narrate their own cowardice as an excellent tale.
He begged us to go on in our course, whUe he
would go back and send us some porters to carry
home the game."
Tracking the herd further, Speke had an equally
narrow escape from the charge of another wounded
bull, lost his way in the jungle, and was obhged to
pass the night there with his native attendants.
The halt had given ten of his porters an opportunity
to desert, and every day's delay, in the hope of sup
plying their places, added to the difficulty. The
native chief demanded renewed black mail, threat
ening to attack the camp ; the remaining porters
began to be excited and mutinous, and in two or
three days aU the natives of Unyamwezi deserted,
leaving Speke only half his men. He made des
perate efforts to advance, leaving some of his as
sistants to keep guard over part of the property,
while the remainder was carried forward by forced
marches. This obliged the porters to go over the
ground twice, and added to their discontent.
On the 15th of December two men were sent on
to Kazeh as messengers, with letters to the Arab
merchants, Muza and Snay, begging them to dis
patch sixty men to the caravan, with grain and to-

THE MARCH TO KAZEH. 163
bacco.« In the meantime Speke endeavored to cross
the Fiery Field by forced marches, constantly de
layed by the rising of streams from the rains, in
ravines which had been perfectly dry during the for
mer journey. Every day or two, some more of the
natives deserted, but on the 1st of January, 1861,
the party reached Jiwe la Mkoa, the Round Rock,
and the half-way station in the wilderness. The re
mainder of the porters and goods did not arrive
untU four days afterwards. The messengers re
turned from Kazeh, bringing a very little rice and
tobacco, with the news that the whole country was
haU-starved. Since no new porters came with them,
Speke determined to try the expedient of hiring the
natives from viUage to village, and meantime sent
on his man Bombay to Kazeh, for further help.
The day after he left, there was a great excitement
in the viUage : a fugitive native chief, named Manua
Sera, appeared, with thirty armed foUowers, and re
quested an interview with Speke. This was granted :
he began the conversation by stating that he had
heard of Speke's trouble from the want of porters,
and offered to assist him, provided he would medi
ate between himself and the Arab merchants at
Kazeh. The latter, he said, had interfered with his
authority, brought on a war, and finaUy driven him
from his possessions. Manua Sera was a bold,
handsome young man, and his story impressed
Speke with its truth. Inasmuch as it is connected
with a fragment of history which afterwards inter
fered with the- progress of the expedition, we quote
Speke's report of the chief's narrative :

164 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
" Shortly after you left Kazeh for England,«my old
father, the late chief Fundi Kira, died, and by his
desire I became lawful chief ; for, though the son
of a slave girl, and not of Fundi Kira's wife, such
is the law of inheritance — a constitutional policy
established to prevent any chance of intrigues be
tween the sons born in legitimate wedlock. WeU,
after assuming the title of chief, I gave presents of
ivory to all the Arabs with a hberal hand, but most
so to Musa, which caused great jealousy among the
other merchants. Then, after this, I established a
property tax on aU merchandise that entered my
country. Fundi Kira had never done so, but I did
not think that any reason why I should not, espe
cially as the Arabs were the only people who lived
in my country exemptfrom taxation. This measure,
however, exasperated the Arabs, and induced them
to send me hostUe messages, to the effect that, if I
ever meddled with them, they would dethrone me,
and place Mkisiwa, another illegitimate son, on the
throne in my stead. This," Manua Sera continued,
" I could not stand ; the merchants were Uving on
sufferance only in my country. I told them so, and
defied them to interfere with my orders, for I was
not a ' woman,' to be treated with contempt ; and
this got up a quarrel. Mkisiwa, seizing at the op
portunity of the prize held out to him by the Arabs,
as his supporters, then commenced a system of
bribery. Words led to blows ; we had a long and
tough fight; I killed many of their number, and
they kiUed mine. EventuaUy they drove me from
my palace, and placed Mkisiwa there as chief in my

THE MARCH TO KAZEH. 165
stead. My faithful foUowers, however, never de
serted me ; so I went to Bubuga, and put up with
old Maula there. The Arabs foUowed — drove me
to Nguru, and tried to kill Maula for having fostered
me. He, however, escaped them ; but they destroyed
his country, and then followed me down to Nguru.
There we fought for many months, untU all pro
visions were exhausted, when I defied them to catch
me, and forced my way through their ranks. It is
needless to say I have been a wanderer since ; and
though I wish to make friends, they wiU not allow
it, but do aU they can to hunt me to death. Now,
as you were a friend of my father, I do hope you
wiU patch up this war for me, which you must think
is unjust."
Speke assured the chief that he would do what
was possible in the way of mediation, but at the
same time advised him to give up the system of
black-maU which he had endeavored to establish.
Manua Sera agreed to this, and promised to join
the caravan in lew days. On the 9th of January
(1861) the expedition left Jiwe la Mkoa, and with
only haU the supplies, leaving the remainder to be
forwarded, but on reaching Zimbo, two days'
marches further, .Bombay appeared from Kazeh,
bringing seventy porters, and once more the cara
van was able to move on as a body. Nevertheless,
as Speke was obhged to pay each of the seventy
porters sixteen yards of cloth, it would have been a
great saving of time and expense to him, had he
left the ten loads behind him, at the station in Ugo
go where the first desertion occurred.

166 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
The disheartening impediments which had at
tended their journey across the Fiery Field, now
disappeared. The caravan pushed forward rapidly,
and on the 16th reached Tura, the first station in
the Land of the Moon. " The whole place, once
so fertile," Speke writes, " was now almost depopu
lated and in a sad state of ruin, showing plainly
the savage ravages of war ; for the Arabs and their
slaves, when they take the field, think more of plun
der and slavery than the object they started on,
each man of the force looking out for himself. The
incentives, too, are so great — a young woman
might be caught (the greatest treasure on earth ),or
a boy or a girl, a cow or a goat — all of them for
tunes, of themselves too irresistible to be overlooked
when the future is doubtful. Here Sheikh Said
broke down in health of a complaint which he had
formerly suffered from, and from which I at once
saw he would never recover sufficiently weU to be
ever effective again. It was a sad misfortune, as
the men had great confidence in him, being the re
presentative of their Zanzibar government ; still it
could not be helped ; for as a sick man is, after aU,
the greatest possible impediment to a march, it was
better to be rid of him than have the trouble of
dragging him.
" On the third day from Tura, we reached the
western extremity of the cultivated opening, where,
after sleeping the night, we threaded through an
other forest to the little clearance Kigue, and in
one more march through the forest arrived in the
'large and fertile district of Unyanyembe, the centre

THE MARCH TO KAZEH. 167
of Unyamwezi — the Land of the Moon — within
five mUes of Kazeh, which is the name of a well in
in the village of Tabora, now constituted the great
central slave and ivory merchants' depot. My loss -
es up this date (23d) were as follows : one Hotten
tot dead and five returned ; one freeman sent back
with the Hottentots, and one flogged and turned
off ; twenty-five of Sultan Majid's gardeners desert
ed ; ninety-eight of the original Wanyamwezi port
ers deserted ; twelve mules and three donkeys dead.
Besides which, more than half of my property had
been stolen ; whUe the traveUing expenses had been
unprecedented, in consequence of the severity of
the famine throughout the whole length of the
march. " On the 24th, we all, as many as were left of us,
marched into the merchants' depot at Kazeh, lat.^
5° S., long. 33° W., escorted by Musa, who advanced
to meet us, and guided us into his tembe, where
he begged we would reside with him until we could
find men to carry our property on to Karagwe.
He added that he would accompany us ; for he was
on the point of going there when my first install
ment of property arrived, but deferred his intention
out of respect to myseU. He had been detained at
Kazeh ever since I last left it, in consequence of the
Arabs, having provoked a war with Manua Sera, to
which he was adverse. For a long time also he
had been a chained prisoner ; as the Arabs, jeal
ous of the favor Manua Sera had shown to him in
preference to themselves, basely accused him of
supplying Manua Sera with gunpowder, and bound

168 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
him hand and foot " like a slave." It was delight
ful to see old Musa's face again, and the supremely
hospitable, kind, and courteous manner in which he
looked after us, constantly bringing in aU kinds of
smaU delicacies, and seeing that nothing was want
ing to make us happy. AU the property I had
sent on in advance he had stored away ; or rather,
I should say, as much as had reached him, for the
road expenses had eaten a great hole in it.

CHAPTER XII.
SPEKE. — DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON.
AS soon as he was settled at Kazeh, Snay bin
Amir and the other Arab merchants came in
a body to caU upon Speke. They said they had an
army of four hundred slaves, with muskets ready to
take the field at once to hunt down Manua Sera,
who was cutting their caravan road to pieces, and
had just seized, by their latest reports, a whole con
voy of their ammunition. Speke begged them
strongly to listen to reason, and accept his advice
as an old soldier, not to carry on their guerrUla
warfare in such a headlong hurry, else they would
be led a dance by Manua Sera, as the English had
been by Tantia Topee in India. He advised them
to allow him to mediate between them, after telling
them what a favorable interview he had had with
Manua Sera and Maula, whose son was at that mo
ment concealed in Musa's tembe. His advice, how
ever, was not wanted. Snay knew better than any
one how to deal with, savages, and determined on
setting out as soon as his army had " eaten their
beef-feast of war."
One of the merchants, named AbduUah, con-

170 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
firmed Speke's views of the Victoria Nyanza being
the source of the White Nile, but the latter, as it
afterwards proved, was confused by the general ap
plication of the word nyanza, which is used to de
scribe any -large body of water, whether lake ' or ri
ver. Speke was greatly surprised at the change
which had taken place in Unyanyembe since his
former visit. Instead of the Arabs appearing sim
ply merchants, as they then did, they had rather
the air of large farmers, with huge stalls of cattle
attached to their houses, while the native villages
were aU in ruins — so much so that, to obtain corn
for his men, he had to send out into the district sev
eral days' journey off, and even then had to pay the
..most severe famine prices for what he got. The
Wanyamwezi, he was assured, were dying of starv
ation in all directions ; for, in addition to the war,
the last rainy season had been so hght, aU their
crops had failed.
" I next," says Speke, " went into a long inquiry
with Musa about our journey northward to Karag
we ; and as he said there were no men to be found
in or near Unyanyembe, for they were either aU
killed or engaged in the war, it was settled he
should send some of his head men on to Rungua,
where he had formerly resided, trading for some
years, and was a great favorite with the chief of the
place, by name Kiringuana. He also settled that I
might take out of his establishment of slaves as
many men as I could induce to go with me, for he
thought them more trouble than profit, hired por
ters b.±ing more safe ; moreover, he said the plan

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 171
would be of great advantage to him, as I offered to
pay both man and master each the same monthly
stipend as I gave my present men. This was pay
ing double, and all the heavier a burden, as the
number I should require to complete my establish
ment to one hundred armed men would be sixty.
He, however, very generously advised me not to
take them, as they would give so much trouble, but
finaUy gave way when I told him I felt I could
not advance beyond Karagwe unless I was quite
independent of the natives there — a view in which
he concurred."
On the 7th of February, information was brought
to Kazeh that while Manua Sera was on his way
from Ugogo to keep his appointment with Speke, .
Sheikh Snay's army came on him at Tura, where
he was ensconced in a tembe. Hearing this, Snay,
instead of attacking the village at once, commenced
negotiations with the chief of the place by demand
ing him to set free his guest, otherwise they, the
Arabs, would storm the tembe. The chief, unfor
tunately, did not comply at once, but begged grace
for one night, saying that if Manua Sera was found
there in the morning they might do as they liked.
Of course Manua bolted ; and the Arabs, seeing
the Tura people aU under arms ready to defend
themselves the next morning, set at them in earnest
and shot, murdered, or plundered the whole of the
district. This news threw the place into a tumult
of excitement ; and, seeing that nothing could then
be done, Speke and Grant went off for a week's
hunting, but without much success.

172 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Meanwhile the days rolled on, all was stiU un
certainty ; when suddenly, on the 13th of March,
Kazeh became a scene of mourning. Some slaves
came in that night, having made their way through
the woods from Ugogo, avoiding the track to save
themselves from detection, and gave information
that- Snay, Jafu, and five other Arabs had been
killed, as weU as a great number of slaves. The
expedition, they said, had been defeated, and the po
sitions were so complicated nobody knew what to do.
At first the Arabs achieved two brilliant successes,
having recovered their ivory, made slaves of all
they could find, and taken a vast number of cattle ;
then attacking Usekhe, they reduced that place to
submission by forcing a ransom out of its people.
At this period, however, they heard that a whole
caravan, carrying 5,000 dollars' worth of property,
had been cut up by the people of Mzanza, a small
district ten mUes north of Usekhe ; so, instead of
going on to Kanyenye to relieve the caravans
which were waiting there for them, they foolishly
divided their forces into three parts. Of these they
sent one to take their plunder back to Kazeh, an
other to form a reserve force at Mdaburu, on the
east flank of the wilderness, and a third, headed by
Snay and Jafu, to attack Mzanza. At the first on
set Snay and Jafu carried everything before them,
and became so excited over the amount of their
plunder that they lost aU feelings of care or precau
tion. "In this high exuberance of spirits, a sudden
surprise turned their momentary triumph into a

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 173
total defeat ; for some Wahumba, having heard the
cries of the Wagogo, joined in their cause, and both
together fell on the Arab force with such impetu
osity that the former victors were now scattered in
all directions. Those who could run fast enough
were saved ; the rest were speared to death by the
natives. Nobody knew how Jafu feU : but Snay,
after running a short distance, called one of his
slaves, and begged him to take his gun, saying, ' I
am too old to keep up with you ; keep this gun for
my sake, for I wUl lie down here and take my
chance.' He never was seen again. But this was
not all then: misfortunes ; for the slaves who brought
in this information had met the first detachment,
sent with the Khoko plunder, at Kigua, where, they
said, the detachment had been surprised by Manua
Sera, who, having fortified a vUlage with four hun
dred men, expecting this sort of thing, rushed out
upon them, and cut them aU up."
The other Arab merchants at Kazeh were now as
desirous for Speke's mediation between them and
Manua Sera, as they had formerly been swift in re
jecting it, and besought him not to leave until some
truce had been concluded. " On the 14th, however,"
he says, " thirty-nine porters were brought in by
Musa's men, who said they had collected one hun
dred and twenty, and brought them to within ten
mUes of this, when some travellers frightened all
but thirty-nine away by telling them, ' Are you such
fools as to venture into Kazeh now ? All the Arabs
have been kiUed, or were being cut up and pursued
by Manua Sera.' This sad disappointment threw

174 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA,
me on my ' beam-ends.' For some reason or other,
none of Musa's slaves would take service, and the
Arabs prevented theirs from leaving the place, as it
was already too short of hands. To do the best
under these circumstances, I determined on going
to Rungua with what kit could be carried, leaving
Bombay behind with Musa until such time as I
should arrive there, and, finding more men, could
send them back for the rest; I then gave Musa the
last of the gold watches the Indian government had
giyen me ; and, bidding Sheikh Said take all our
letters and specimens back to the coast as soon as
the road was found practicable, set out on the march
northward with Grant and Baraka, and aU the rest
of the party."
Moving slowly onward through the northern pro
vinces of Unyamwezi, Speke halted on the 24th of
March at a town caUed Mininga, to collect the re
maining porters and await the arrival of the mer
chant Musa, who had promised to accompany him
with a trading caravan to the kingdom of Karague,
or Karagwe. Here the travellers employed them
selves in making zoological collections until the 2nd
of April, when Musa's men arrived, with 300 por
ters. They were immediately sent to Kazeh, with
the collections, to be forwarded to Zanzibar, and
with instructions to Musa and Bombay (who had
been left there) to join the caravan without delay.
" While waiting for these men's return," Speke
writes, " one of Sirboko's slaves, chained up by him,
in the most piteous manner cried out to me, ' Hai
Bana wangi, Bana wangi (Oh, my lord, my lord)

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 175
take pity on me ! When I was a free man I saw
you at Uvira, on the Tanganyika Lake, when you
were there ; but since then the Watuta, in a fight
at Ujiji, speared me aU over and left me for dead,
when I was seized by the people, sold to the Arabs,
and have been in chains ever since. Oh, I say, Bana
wangi, if you would only liberate me I would never
run away, but would serve you faithfully aU my
life.' This touching appeal was too strong for my
heart to withstand, so I caUed up Sirboko, and told
him, if he would liberate this one man to please me,
he should be no loser ; and the release was effected.
He was then christened Farhan, (Joy,) and was en-
roUed in my service with the rest of my freed men.
I then inquired if it was true the Wabembe were
cannibals, and also circumcised. In one of their
slaves the latter statement was easUy confirmed."
After waiting at Mininga until the 15th of April,
Bombay arrived with the remainder of Speke's
goods, and a large quantity of Musa's, but without
the latter. During this time the Arab forces in the
field had recovered their courage, defeated Manua
Sera, and forced him to fly. On returning to Kazeh,
they had prevented Musa's departure, on the ground
that it would weaken their strength. Speke waited
some days longer, and then dispatched his man
Baraka to Kazeh, promising a large payment for
fifty armed men. On the 30th of April word came
of more projected wars, but nothing about the es
cort. The remaining Hottentots were suffering so
much from the climate that Speke determined to
send them back to the coast, and then push onward

176 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
without waiting for Musa : so, on the 1st of May,
he set out for Kazeh, to put an end to all these un-'
certainties. No sooner had he arrived than, as he writes,
" the Arabs came flocking in to beg, nay, implore me
to help them out of their difficulties. Many of them
were absolutely ruined, they said ; others had their-
houses full of stores unemployed. At Ugogo those
who wished to join them were unable to do so, for
their porters, what few were left, were all dying of
starvation ; and at that moment Manua Sera was
hovering about, shooting, both night and day, all the
poor villagers in the district, or driving them away.
Would to God, they said, I would mediate for them
with Manua Sera— they were sure I would be suc
cessful — and then they would give me as many armed
men as I liked. Their foUy in all their actions, I
said, proved to me that anything I might attempt
to do would be futUe, for their aUiance with the
Watuta, when they were not prepared to act, at
once damned them in my eyes as fools. This they
in their terror acknowledged, but said it was not
past remedy, if I would join them, to counteract what
had been done in that matter. Suffice it now to
say, after a long conversation, arguing all the pros
and cons over, I settled I would write out' all the
articles of a treaty of peace, by which they should
be Uable to have all their property forfeited on the
coast if they afterward broke faith ; and I begged
them to caU the next day and sign it."
At length the form of armistice was agreed upon,
but as none of the Arabs, or their men dared to go

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 177
to Manua Sera to negotiate it, Speke was obliged to
send his man Baraka, and await his return at
Kazeh. " On the 6th of May, the deputation, headed by
Baraka, returned triumphantly into Kazeh, leading in
two of Manua Sera's ministers — one of them a man
with one eye, whom I caUed Cyclops — and two
others, ministers of a chief called Kitambi, or Little
Blue Cloth. After going a day's journey, they said
they came to where Manua Sera was residing with
Kitambi, and met with a most cheerful and kind
reception from both potentates, who, on hearing of
my proposition, warmly acceded to at, issued orders
at once that hostilities should cease, and, with one
voice, said they were convinced that, unless through
my instrumentality, Manua Sera would never regain
his possessions. Kitambi was quite beside himself,
and wished my men to stop one night to enjoy his
hospitahty. Manua Sera, after reflecting seriously
about the treacherous murder of old Maula, hesi
tated, but gave way when it had been explained
away by my men, and said, ' No ; they shall go at
once, for my kingdom depends on the issue, and
Bana Mzungu (the White Lord) may get anxious if
they do not return promptly.' One thing, however,
he insisted on, and that was, the only place he would
meet the Arabs in was Unyanyembe, as it would be
beneath his dignity to settle matters anywhere
else." The negotiations gave the promise of a peace
able settlement, and an invitation was sent to
Manua Sera to appear in person at Kazeh, in order

178 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
that the peace might be concluded. It turned out,
however, that the Arabs, who had been supporting
Mkisiwa, Manu Sera's rival to the chieftaincy, had
dexterously avoided mentioning the former's claims
— probably with the secret intention of violating the
treaty as soon as they felt strong enough.
" On the evening of the 12th of May," Speke con
tinues, " my men returned again with Cyclops, who
said, for his master, that Manua Sera desired noth
ing more than peace, and to make friends with the
Arabs ; but as nothing was settled about deposing
Mkisiwa, he could not come over here. Could the
Arabs, was Manua Sera's rejoinder, suppose for a
moment that he would voluntarily divide his domi
nion with one whom he regarded as his slave !
Death would be preferable ; and although he would
trust his life in the Mzungu's hands if he caUed him
again, he must know it was his intention to hunt
Mkisiwa down like a wild animal, and would never
rest satisfied until he was dead. The treaty thus
broke down ; for the same night Cyclops decamped
like a thief, after brandishing an arrow which Manua
Sera had given him to throw down as a gauntlet
of defiance to fight Mkisiwa to death. After this
the Arabs were too much ashamed of themselves
to come near me, though invited by letter, and Musa
became so ill he would not take my advice and ride
in a hammock, the best possible cure for his com
plaint; so, after being humbugged so many times
by his procrastinations, I gave Sheikh Said more
letters and specimens, with orders to take the Tots
down to the coast as soon as practicable, and started

UKALIMA'S VILLAGE.

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 179
once more for the north, expecting very shortly to
hear of Musa's death, though he promised to follow
me the very next day or die in the attempt ; for I
was fuUy satisfied in my mind that he would have
marched with me then had he had the resolution to
do so at all."
On returning to Mininga, Speke found Grant in
much better health. With the exception of some
thefts by the natives, nothing of importance had
occurred. So much of the supphes had already
been consumed by reason of the continued delays,
that Speke determined to push, onward without
waiting for Musa ; which proved, in the end, to be
very fortunate, for the old Arab. died, at Kazeh a
few weeks afterwards. After many perplexities, he
succeeded in engaging a native caravan leader, by
name Ungurue (the Pig.) He had made several
trips to the kingdom of Karagwe, was acquainted
with the native dialects, but in all other respects
was well described by his name.
Notwithstanding Speke offered thrice the hire
usually paid by merchants, he had the greatest dif
ficulty in engaging porters. The natives advised
him to stop where he was untU the harvests were
over, but the diminution of his stores prevented
this. He therefore tried the plan of advancing in
detachments, sending Grant forward with a part of
the men to Ukuhma's, on the northern frontier of
Unyamwezi. When this was done, he waited untU
the 30th of May, and then, hopeless of obtaining
men, went on to the village of Nunda, the residence
of the chief Ukuhma, where he found not only

180 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Grant, but four or five Arab merchants, unable to
proceed further. The latter informed him that they
had already lost $5,000 by their porters running
away with their loads.
Speke held a council with his men, Bombay and
Baraka, both of whom were in favor of remaining ;
but after explaining to them that he had already
sent messages to King Rumanika in Karagwe, and
King Suwarora in Usui, they agreed to his propo
sition that the party should be divided. Grant
and Bombay were to form a camp and remain be
hind, waiting the better season for procuring por
ters, while Speke with Baraka, the most valuable
part of the supplies and the men who had been al
ready hired, were to go forward and break the way.
On the 8th of June, aU preparations having been
completed, the separation took place. Speke bade
good-bye to Grant and Bombay, and advanced .
directly into the territory, of a chief named Myon-
ga, who was famous for his dishonesty and his
great extortions from travellers. " On nearing My-
onga's palace," says Speke, " we heard war-drums
beat in every surrounding vUlage, and the kirango
zi (leader) would go no farther until permission
was obtained from Myonga. This did- not take
long, as the chief said he was most desirous to
see a white man, never- having been to the coast,
though his father-in-law had, and had told him.
that the Wazungu were even greater people than
the sultan reigning there. On our drawing near
the palace, a smaU, newly-constructed hut was
shown for my residence ; but as I did not wish

DETENTION IN THE LAND OF THE MOON. 181
to stop there, knowing how anxious Giant would
be to have his relief, I would not enter it, but
instead sent Baraka to pay the hongo (black-mail)
as quickly as possible, that we might move on
again ; at tie same time ordering him to describe
the position both Grant and myself were in, and
explain that what I paid now was to frank both of
us, as the whole of the property was my own.
" Myonga did not wish to see me, because he did
not know the coast language. He was immensely
pleased with the present I had given him, and said
he was much and very unjustly abused by the
Arabs, who never came this way, saying he was a
bad man. He should be very glad to see Grant,
and would take nothing from him ; and, though he
did not see me in person, he would feel much
affronted if I did not stop the night there. In the
meanwhUe he would have the two cows which had
been stolen by his people, the day before, brought
in, for he could not allow any one to leave his
country abused in any way.
" My men had greatly amused him by firing their
guns off and showing him the use of their sword-
bayonets. I knew, as a matter of course, that if I
stopped any longer I should be teased for more
cloths, and gave orders to my men to march the
same instant, saying, if they did not — for I saw them
hesitate — I would give the cows to the viUagers,
since I knew that was. the thing that weighed on
their minds. This raised a mutiny. No one would
go forward with the two cows behind ; besides

182 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
which, the day was far spent, and there was nothing
but jungle, they said, beyond."
The next morning, however, Speke succeeded in
quieting his men, and after paying a little more
black-mail to satisfy the renewed demands of the
rapacious chief, went on his way. For the first few
mUes there were villages, but after that a long tract
of jungle, inhabited chiefly by antelopes and rhino
ceros. In the midst of this jungle a dry ravine
marked the boundary between the Land of the
Moon and the unknown kingdom of Uzinza, on the
north.

CHAPTER Xni.
SPEKE. — MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND USUI.
UZINZA, which we now entered, is ruled by two
Wahuma chieftains of foreign blood, descended
from the Abyssinian stock, of whom we saw speci
mens scattered aU over Unyamwezi. Travellers see
very Httle, however, of these Wahuma, because,
being pastorals, they roam about with their flocks
and buUd huts as far away as they can from culti
vation. Most of the smaU district chiefs, too, are
the descendants of those who ruled in the same
places before the country, was invaded, and with
them traveUers put up and have their deahngs. The
dress of the Wahuma is very simple, composed
chiefly of cowhide tanned black — a few magic orna
ments and charms, brass or copper bracelets, and
immense numbers of sambo for stockings, which
looked very awkward on their long legs. They
smear themselves with rancid butter instead of
macassar, and are, in consequence, very offensive to
all but the negro, who seems, rather than otherwise,
to enjoy a good sharp nose-tickler. For arms, they
carry both bow and spear ; more generaUy the lat-

184 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ter. The Wazinza- in the southern parts are so much
like the Wanyamwezi as not to require any especial
notice ; but in the north, where the country is more
hilly, they are much more energetic and actively
built. All alike live in grass-hut villages, fenced
round by bomas in the south, but open in the north.
Their country rises in high roUs, increasing in alti
tude as it approaches the Mountains of the Moon,
and is generally well cultivated, being subjected to
more of the periodical rains than the regions we
have left, though springs are not so abundant, I be
lieve, as they are in the Land of the -Moon, where
they ooze out by the flanks of the little granitic hills."
The first village in Uzinza was governed by a
chief named Ruhe, whom Speke vainly endeavored
to pass without visiting. Since each invitation was
only the pretext for demanding presents, it was
highly desirable to avoid these petty native rulers,
each of whom was very difficult to satisfy, before
allowing the drums to be beaten, as a sign to his
people that the caravan had- purchased the right to
depart. The next viUage, Mihambo, belonged to a
more notorious chief, named Makaka, and Speke
promised his new guide, the Pig, a large increase of
wages to conduct him past without stopping ; but
the treacherous fellow Jed him directly into the
hands of a sub-chief, who at once reported his ar
rival to Makaka.
The result was a summons to halt : the people
were forbidden to sell food to the party, and the
demand for a visit was so imperative that Speke
thought it best to comply. He was terribly plun-

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 185
dered by Makaka, who insisted upon having a deole,
or sUk mantle, or else four times the value of one
in other goods. The conclusion of the traveller's
experience is thus described :
" The drums as yet had not beaten, for Makaka
said he would not be satisfied until we had ex
changed presents, to prove that we were the best
of friends. To do this last act properly I was
to get ready whatever I wished to give him, while
he would come and visit me with a bullock ; but
I was to give him a royal salute, or the drums
would not beat. I never felt so degraded as when
I complied, and gave orders to my men to fire a
voUey as he approached my tent ; but I ate the dirt
with a good grace, and met the young chief as if
nothing had happened. My men, however, could
not fire the salute fast enough for him ; for he was
one of those excitable, impulsive creatures who ex
pect others to do everything in as great a hurry
as their minds wander. The moment the first vol
ley was fired, he said, ' Now fire again, fire again ;
be quick, be quick ! What's the use of those things ?'
(meaning the guns.) ' We could spear you all whUe
you are loading : be quick, be quick, I tell you.'
But Baraka, to give himself law, said, ' No ; I must
ask Bana ' (master) ' first, as we do everything by
order ; this is not fighting at all.' •»
" The men being ready, file-firing was ordered, and
then the young chief came into my tent. I motioned
him to take my chair, which, after he sat down upon
it, I was very sorry for, as he stained the, seat all
black with the running color of one of the new

186 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
barsati cloths he had got from me, which, to im
prove its appearance, he had saturated with stink
ing butter, and had tied round his loins. A fine-
looking man of about thirty, he wore the butt-end
of a large sea-sheU cut in a circle, and tied on his
forehead, for a coronet, and sundry small saltiana
antelope horns, stuffed with magic powder, to keep
off the evil eye. His attendants aU fawned on him,
and snapped their fingers whenever he sneezed."
He was so rapacious and insolent that Speke se
riously deliberated whether he should not have him
shot as an example and warning ; but the circum
stance that Grant was behind, .with the fear that
other chiefs on the way might afterwards meet him
as enemies, compelled him to submit to both out
rage and insult. After paying a second exaction
the drums were finally beaten, and a march was or
dered for the next morning. Immediately after
wards, however, Baraka came to Speke and in
formed him that dreadful news had arrived. The
King of Usui, the next country beyond Uzinza, had
detained an Arab caravan in his country, and
threatened the men with death. Speke saw plainly
that this was a device to prevent him from march
ing further, and repeated his order to start in the
morning ; but when the time arrived it was found
that all the native porters hired by the Pig had
absconded. The leader himself joined them in re
fusing to proceed.
The expedition now appeared to be doomed to
failure. There was but one course left to pursue :
Speke had his goods placed in* a hut which could

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 187
easily be defended, gave Baraka sufficient beads to
pay for the daUy rations of the few remaining ser
vants, and demanded a few men as an escort back
to Kazeh. At first no one would go ; but, after a
day's delay, he secured a sufficient number, and set
out on this last desperate endeavor to reconstruct
his caravan.
" Next day," he says, " I joined Grant once
more, and found he had coUected a few .Sorombo
men, hoping to foUow after me. I then told him
aU my mishaps in Sorombo, as well as of the
' blue-devU ' frights that had seized all my men. I
felt greatly alarmed about the prospects of the ex
pedition, scarcely knowing what I should do. I
resolved at last, if everything else faUed, to make
up a raft at the southern end of the Nyanza, and
try to go up to the NUe in that way. My cough
daily grew worse. I could not lie or sleep on
either side. StUl my mind was so excited and anx
ious that, after remaining one day here to enjoy
Grant's society, I pushed ahead again, taking Bom
bay with me, and had breakfast at Mehimeka's.
My cough stiU grew worse, and became so bad
that, whUe mounting a hill on entering Ungugu's
the second day after, I blew and grunted Uke a
broken-winded horse, and it became so distressing
I had to halt a day. In two more marches, how
ever, I reached Kazeh, and put up with Musa's
eldest son, Abdalla, on the second of July, who now
was transformed from a drunken, slovenly boy into
the appearance of a jgrand sweU, squatting all day
as his old father used to do. The house, however,

188 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
did not feel the same ; no men respected him as
they had done his father."
After much trouble and many disappointments,
de engaged two men, Bui and Nasib, who had been
as far as Uganda, and knew all the native languages.
But it was impossible to procure any additional sup
plies, except at the most ruinous rates.
" Marching slowly," he continues, " as my men
kept faUing sick, I did not reach Grant again untU
the 11th. His health had greatly improved, and he
had been dancing with Ukulima. So, as I was
obliged to wait for a short time to get a native
guide for Bui, Nasib, and Bombay, who would show
them a jungle-path to Usui, we enjoyed our leisure
hours in shooting Guinea-fowls for the pot. A re
port then came to us that Suwarora had heard with
displeasure that I had been endeavoring to see him,
but was deterred because evil reports concerning
him had been spread. This unexpected good news
delighted me exceedingly ; confirmed my belief that
Baraka, after all, was a coward, and induced me to
recommend Bombay to make his cowardice more in
disputable by going on and doing what he had
feared to do. To which Bombay replied, ' Of course
I wUl. It is all foUy pulling up for every ill wind
that blows, because, until one actually sees there is
something in it, you never can teU among these
savages, ' shaves ' are so common in Africa. Be
sides, a man has but one life, and God is the di
rector of everything.' ' Bravo !' said I ; ' we wiU
get on as long as you keep to that way of think
ing.' "

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI 189
The favorable report from Usui induced Speke to
beheve that he could persuade the refractory por
ters to accompany him. He therefore parted again
from Grant, pushed forward, and reached Mihambo
on the 18th of July. He found that his man Bara
ka had in the meantime received a pressing invita
tion from Lumeresi, a chief Uving about ten miles
to the eastward. After vainly endeavoring to per
suade the men to go directly forward, disregarding
this new device for plunder, he was compelled to
march to the chieftain's vUlage. By this time his
physical condition was alarming. The racking
cough and internal pains brought on a kind of semi-
delirium, like that which had attacked him on the
journey to Lake Tanganyika ; and it was peculiarly
unfortunate that he should be so prostrated at a
time when he needed aU his energy and patience.
During eight days, scarcely able to move or speak,
he was delayed at Lumeresi' s, each day being
obhged to endure or resist the rapacity of the chief,
whose demands increased in proportion as they were
satisfied. Finally the latter declared that the ad
ditional gift of a red blanket would satisfy him.
" I jumped at this concession," Speke writes, " with
the greatest eagerness, paid down my cloths on the
spot, and, thinking I was free at last, ordered a ham
mock to be slung on a pole, that I might leave the
next day. Next morning, however, on seeing me
actuaUy preparing to start, Lumeresi found he could
not let me go until he increased the tax by three
more cloths, as some of his famUy complained that
they had got nothing. After some badgering, I

190 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
paid what he asked for, and ordered the men to
carry me out of the palace before anything else was
done, for I would not sleep another night where 1
was. Lumeresi then stood in my way, and said he
would never allow a man of his country to give me
any assistance until I was well, for he could not
bear the idea of hearing it said that, after taking so
many cloths from me, he had allowed me to die in
the jungles, and dissuaded my men from obeying
my orders."
For still another week Speke was detained by his
own physical weakness. On the 6th of August,
however, he was able to sit in a chair and smoke his
pipe, and the men, who had expected his death,
showed themselves more willing to advance. But it
was not untU three days afterwards that he suc
ceeded in satisfying the chief Lumeresi, and having
the drums beaten as the signal that he was free to
depart. The two new guides, for whom he had
walked all the way back to Kazeh, were then found
wanting, and Speke declares that the shock of this
new misfortune nearly killed him. There seemed to
be no alternative but to sent or go to Kazeh once
more. , When the men heard this they mutinied,
declaring they never would wait to be taken on to
Karagwe and slaughtered there.
After sending an account of his miserable situa
tion to Grant, Speke was greatly encouraged, on the
21st of August, by the arrival of a caravan from
Karagwe, which reported that both Rumanika, the
king of that country, and Suwarora, king of Usui,
were expecting the travellers and wondering why

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 191
they did not arrive. The latter, indeed, had sent
four men as messengers, who arrived the next day.
This occasioned a violent scene with Lumeresi, who
was furious because Speke gave the Wasui (men of
Usui) some small presents. A week afterwards, an
other caravan from Karagwe came in, and among
its members was a half-caste Arab, named Saim,
who had seen Burton and Speke at Kazeh, knew
the native languages, and was willing to go back as
guide and interpreter.
It was now only necessary to procure new porters
and advise Grant of the prospect ahead. Although
the latter was only two marches, or one good day's
journey distant, it was very difficult to find men to
convey. a message; so, finaUy, Speke was forced to
dispatch some of his own party and await their re
turn. On the night of the 26th of September, he
was aroused by the arrival of some native porters,
who brought news that Grant had been attacked by
an armed band, his men kUled or dispersed, his
goods stolen, and himself left standing alone, under
a tree, with only a gun in his hand. Although con
vinced that the tale was greatly exaggerated, Speke
was sure that some disaster had happened, and im
mediately sent off the last of his men, with a fresh
supply of beads, for his unfortunate companion.
The next day he received the foUowing letter from
Grant : " Is the Juhgles, near Myonga's, 16th Sept., 1861.
"Mt deab Speke: The caravan was attacked, plundered, and
the men driven to the winds, while marching this morning, into
Myonga's country.

192 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
" Awaking at cock-crow, I roused the camp, all anxious to re
join you ; and while the loads were being packed, my attention
was drawn to an angry discussion between the head men and
seven or eight armed fellows sent by Sultan Myonga, to insist
on my putting up for the day in his village. They were sum
marily told that as you had already made him a. present, he need
not expect a visit from me. Adhering, I doubt not, to their
master's instructions, they officiously constituted themselves our
guides till we chose to strike off their path, when, quickly head
ing our party, they stopped the way, planted their spears, and
dared our advance !
" This menace made us firmer in our determination, and we
swept past the spears. After we had marched unmolested for
some seven miles, a loud yelping from the woods excited our at
tention, and a sudden rush was made upon us by, say, two hun
dred men, who came down seemingly in great glee. In an instant,
at the caravan's centre, they fastened upon the poor porters. The
struggle was short ; and with the threat of an arrow or spear at
their breasts, men were robbed of their cloths and ornaments,
loads were yielded and run away with before resistance could be
organized ; only three men of a hundred stood by me ; the others,
whose only thought was their lives, fled into the woods, where I
went shouting for them. One man, little Bahan — rip as he is —
stood with cocked gun, defending his load against five savages
with uplifted spears. No one else could be seen. Two or three
were reported killed ; some were wounded. Beads, boxes, cloths,
etc., lay strewed about the woods. In fact, I felt wrecked. My
attempt to go and demand redress from the sultan was resisted,
and, in utter despair, I seated myself among a mass of rascals
jeering round me, and insolent after the success of the day. Sev
eral were dressed in the very cloths, etc., they had stolen from
my men.
" In the afternoon, about fifteen men and loads were brought
me, with a message from the sultan that the attack had been a
mistake of his subjects — that one man had had a hand cut off for
it, and that all the property would be restored !
" Yours sincerely, J. w\ Gbant.
"Now, judging from the message sent to Grant
by Myonga," says Speke, " it appeared to me that

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 193
his men had mistaken their chief's orders, and had
gone one step beyond his intentions. * It was ob
vious that the chief merely intended to prevent
Grant from passing through or evading his district
without paying a hongo, else he would not have sent
his men to invite him to his palace, doubtless with
instructions, if necessary, to use force. This ap
pears the more evident from the fact of his subse
quent contrition, and finding it necessary to send
excuses when the property was in his hands ; for
these chiefs, grasping as they are, know they must
conform to some kind of system, to save themselves
from a general war, or the avoidance of their ter
ritory by aU travellers in future.
Next day, however, I had from Grant two very
opposite accounts — one, in the morning, fuU of ex
ultation, in which he said he hoped to reach Ruhe's
this very day, as his complement of porters was
then completed ; whUe by the other, which came in
the evening, I was shocked to hear that Myonga,
after returning all the loads, much reduced by ri
fling, had demanded as a hongo two guns, two boxes
of ammunition, forty brass wires, and 160 yards of
American sheeting, in default of which he, Grant,
must lend Myonga ten Wanguana to build a boma
on the west of his district, to enable him to fight
some Wasonga who were invading his territory,
otherwise he would not allow Grant to move from
his palace. Grant knew not what to do."
Speke immediately sent Baraka to Grant, with
orders not part with any guns or ammunition. In the
meantime some of the robbers, who had innocently

194 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
come to the former's camp with stolen articles, were
seized and held captive. The prospects of the ex
pedition improved a little, and this, with the con
stant excitement, had a favorable effect on Speke's
health. He went out shooting birds for the scien
tific coUection, and his strength increased from day
to day. On the 21th of September he received a
letter from Grant, giving a statement of his losses,
which amounted to eight loads in aU : and two
days afterwards Grant himself walked into the camp,
when all the long array of misfortunes was forgot
ten. This, nevertheless, was not the end of the diffi
culty. The native porters again refused to go on,
until, on the 4th of October, the chief Lumeresi con
sented to furnish a guide, after which about half the
requisite number was procured. About the same time
Suwarora, the king of Usui, again sent messengers,
bearing his mace — a long rod of brass, bound with
charms — as both an invitation and a command,
and the expedition was free to advance. On the
6th, finally, they started, making very short march
es : Speke was almost reduced to a skeleton by his
illness. At the first halting-place he succeeded in
engaging porters, at an exorbitant rate, to carry his
stores as far as Usui.
" With at last a sufficiency of porters, we all set
out together, walking over a new style of country.
Instead of the constantly-recurring outcrops of gra
nite, as in Unyamwezi, with valleys between, there
were only two lines of little hills visible, one right

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 195
and one left of us, a good way off ; while the ground
over which we were traveUing, instead of being con
fined like a vaUey, rose in long high swells of sand
stone formation, covered with small forest-trees,
among which flowers hke primroses, only very much
larger, and mostly of a pink color, were frequently
met with. Indeed, we ought all to have been happy
together, for aU my men were paid and rationed tre
bly — far better than they would have been if they
had been traveUing with any one else ; but I had
not paid all, as they thought, proportionably, and
therefore there were constant heart-burnings, with
strikes and rows every day,"
On the 15th they reached the residence of a chief
named Pongo, where the customary tribute was ex
acted and paid. As soon as the drums were
beaten, the messengers from Usui dropped down
on their knees before the travellers, and congratu
lated them that now the payment of tribute was
over for them. The latter were obliged to halt a
day in Pongo's palace to hire more porters, half of
their men having left, but they had no intercourse
with the chief, who wrapped up his head whenever
they came near, to avoid their evil eyes.
On the 20th, after crossing a waste, uninhabited
tract, they came into the immediate dominion of
King Suwarora. " We were now in Usui," Speke
writes, " and so the mace-bearers, being on their
own ground, forgot their manners, and peremptorily
demanded their pay before they would aUow us to
move one step farther. At first I tried to stave
the matter off, promising great rewards if they

196 LAKE REGIONS OF VENTRAL AFRICA.
took us quickly on to Suwarora ; but they would
take no alternative — their rights were four wires
each. I could not afford such a sum, and tried to
beat them down, but without effect ; for they said
they had it in their power to detain us here a
whole month, and they coald get us bulhed at
every stage by the officers of the stations. No
threats of reporting them to their chief had any
effect ; so, knowing that treachery in these coun
tries was a powerful enemy, I ordered them to be
paid." After a delay of three days they got under way
again ; the path wound through a long forest, and
then entered the populous parts of Usui, a broken,
convulsed-looking country, with rounded sandstone
hiUs. The vUlages of grass huts were surrounded
by large orchards of plantains. Cattle were numer
ous, but the people would not sell their milk to men
who ate fowls. On the 25th they reached a village
caUed Vikora, where there was a cataract 70 feet
high — a very unusual sight in these lands. Here a
messenger arrived from Suwarora, to say that they
must come on at once, and his people should not
molest them. They resumed their mareh in high
spirits, but on the summit of a lofty hiU just be
yond were stopped by a large body of men, who de
manded tribute. Speke therefore gave orders to
form a camp, and sent off his interpreter, Nasib,
(who had been returned to him from Kazeh,) and
the mace-bearers to the king, to report the matter.
At sunset the natives were seen prowling in the
jungle, in the hope of steaUng from the caravan. He

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 197
gave orders that any thief should be shot, and
" that night," he says, " one was hit, without any
mistake about it ; for the next morning we tracked
him by his blood, and afterward heard he had died,
of his wound. The Wasui elders, contrary to my
expectation, then came and congratulated us on our
success. They thought us most wonderful men,
and possessed of supernatural powers ; for the thief
in question was a magician, who until now was
thought to be invulnerable. Indeed, they said Arabs
with enormous caravans had often been plundered
by these people; but, though they had so many
more guns than ourselves, they never succeeded in
killing one.
" Nasib then returned to inform us that the king
had heard our complaint, and was sorry for it, but
said he could not interfere with the rights of his
officers. He did not wish himself to take anything
from us, and hoped we would come on to him as
soon as we had satisfied his officers with the trifle
they wanted."
Determined to resist this exaction, or at least
lessen its amount, Speke next sent his man Bombay
to the camp of an Arab trader named Masudi, to
solicit his favorable influence, and also to request
him, when he should reach Karagwe, to beg the
king to send his mace-bearers as a safe conduct.
The next morning Bombay returned, " flushed with
the excitement of a great success. He had been in
Masudi's camp, and had delivered my message.
Masudi, he said, had been there a fortnight unable
to settle his hongo, for the great Mkama had not

198 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
deigned to see him, though the Arab had been daily
to his palace requesting an interview. 'WeU,' I
said, ' that is all very interesting, but what next ?
will the big king see us ?' 'Oh no ; by the very
best good fortune in the world, on going into the
palace I saw Suwarora, and spoke to him at once ;
but he was so tremendously drunk he could not un
derstand me.' 'What luck was there in that?' I
asked. On which Bombay said, ' Oh, everybody in
the place congratulated me on my success in having
obtained an interview with that great monarch the
very first day, when Arabs had seldom that privUege
under one full month of squatting; even Masudi
had not yet seen him.' To which Nasib also added,
' Ah ! yes — indeed it is so — a monstrous success !
there is great ceremony as weU as business at these
courts ; you will better see what I mean when you
get to Uganda. These Wahuma kings are not like
those you ever saw in Unyamwezi or anywhere else ;
they have officers and soldiers like Said Majid, the
Sultan at Zanzibar.' 'Well,' said I to Bombay,
' what was Suwarora hke ?' ' Oh, he is a very fine
man — just as tall, and in the face very hke Grant ;
in fact, if Grant were black you would not know the
difference.' ' And were his officers drunk too ?'
' Oh yes, they were all drunk together ; men were
bringing in pombe aU day.' 'And did you get
drunk?' 'Oh yes,' said Bombay, grinning, and
showing his whole row of sharp-pointed teeth,
' they would make me drink ; and then they showed
me the place they assigned for your camp when you
came over there. It was not in the palace, but

NATIVES OF UZUI BRINGING PROVISIONS.

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 199
outside, without a tree near it — anything but a nice-
looking residence."
On the 31st ah difficulties were settled, and the
party marched on to Suwarora's palace, in the
Uthungu vaUey. It was a wild, picturesque spot,
surrounded with mountains of sandstone. The mace-
bearers would not aUow them to halt in the neigh
borhood of the king's residence, but led them two
mUes further to the spot where the merchant, Ma
sudi, was encamped. The latter had been detained
nearly a year between Kazeh and the land of Usui,
bad been obliged to pay enormously, but was now
free from the persecution, and ready to start for
Karagwe the next morning.
In the evening Speke received a visit from a na
tive of Uganda, the kingdom to the northward of
Karagwe, where — according to the reports of traders
— the NUe issued from the Victoria Nyanza. He
was a handsome man of neat appearance and gen
tle manners, and willingly agreed to take a message
from the travellers to Mtesa, the king of Uganda.
The Usui people came to the camp with an abund
ance of provisions, but at the end of ten days Speke
had not yet been permitted to see Suwarora, nor
was there any sign of his being aUowed to depart.
It soon became evident that the chieftain was de
termined to exact a great deal of tribute, yet was
superstitiously fearful of meeting the white men.
The tedium of the delay was not agreeably relieved
by a furious quarrel between the two men, Bombay
and Baraka, a woman being the cause.
On the evening of November 13th, the sub-

200 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
chiefs Virembo and Karambule came to receive the
tribute for Suwarora, " demanding," says Speke,
" 60 wires, 160 yards of American domestics, 300
strings of mzizima, and 5,000 strings of white
beads ; but they allowed themselves to be beaten
down to 50 wires, 20 pretty cloths, 100 strings
mzizima, and 4,000 kutuamnazi, or cocoa-nut leaf
colored beads, my white being aU done. It was
too late, however, to count all the things out, so
they came the next day and took them. They then
said we might go as soon as we had settled with
the Wahinda or Wanawami (the king's children,)
for Suwarora could not see us this time, as he was
so engaged with his army ; but he hoped to see us
and pay us more respect when we returned .from
Uganda, little thinking I had sworn in my mind
never to see him, or return that way again. I said
to those men, I thought he was ashamed to see us,
as he had robbed us so after inviting us into the
country, else he was too superstitious, for he ought
at least to have given us a place in his palace.
They both rebutted the insinuation ; and to change
the subject, commenced levying the remaining dues
to the princes, which ended by my giving thirty-
four wires and six pretty cloths in a lump.
" Early in the morning we were on foot again,
only too thankful to have got off so cheaply. Then
men were appointed as guides and protectors, to
look after us as far as the border. What an honor !
We had come into the country drawn there by a
combination of pride and avarice, and now we were
leaving it in hot haste under the guidance of an es-

MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI. 201
cort of officers, who were in reality appointed to
watch us as dangerous wizards and objects of ter
ror. It was all the same to us, as we now only
thought of the prospect of relief before us, and
laughed at what we had gone through.
" Rising out of the Uthungu valley, we walked
over rolling ground, drained in the dips by miry
rusk rivulets. The population was thinly scattered
in smaU groups of grass huts, where the scrub jun
gle had been cleared away. On the road we passed
cairns, to which every passer-by contributed a
stone. Of the origin of the cairns I could not
gain any information, though it struck me as curious
I should find them in the first country we had en
tered governed by the Wahuma, as I formerly saw
the same thing in the Somali country, which doubt
less, in earlier days, was governed by a branch of
the Abyssinians. Arrived at our camping, we were
immediately pounced upon by a deputation of offi
cers, who said they had been sent by Semamba, the
officer of this district. He lived ten miles from the
road ; but, hearing of our approach, he had sent
these men to take his dues. At first I objected to
pay, lest he should afterward treat me as Virembo
had done ; but I gave way in the end, and paid
nine wires, two chintz and two bandera cloths, as
the guides said they would stand my security
against any farther molestation.
" Rattling on again as merry as larks, over the
same red sandstone formation, we entered a fine
forest, and trended on through it at a stiff pace un
tU we arrived at the head of a deep valley called

202 MARCH THROUGH UZINZA AND UZUI.
Lohugati, which was so beautiful we instinctively
pulled up to admire it. Deep down its well-wooded
side below us was a stream, of most inviting aspect
for a trout-fisher, flowing toward the Nyanza. Just
beyond it the vaUey was clothed with fine trees and
luxuriant vegetation of aU descriptions, among
which was conspicuous the pretty pandana palm,
and rich gardens of plantains, while thistles of ex
traordinary size and wild indigo were the more com
mon weeds. The land beyond that again rolled
back in high undulations, over which, in the far dis
tance, we could see a line of cones, red and bare on
their tops, guttered down with white streaks, look
ing for all the world like recent volcanoes ; and in
the far background, rising higher than all, were the
rich grassy hills of Karagwe and Kishakka.
" On resuming our march, a bird called khongota
flew across our path ; seeing which, old Nasib, beam
ing with joy, in his superstitious belief cried out
with delight, ' Ah ! look at that good omen ! now
our journey will be sure to be prosperous.' After
fording the stream, we sat down to rest, and were
visited by aU the inhabitants, who were more naked
than any people we had yet seen. All the maidens,
even at the age of puberty, did not hesitate to stand
boldly in front of us — for evU thoughts were not in
their minds. From this we rose over a stony hill to
the settlement of Vihembe, the last on the Usui
frontier." Beyond this, only a narrow strip of " neutral,"
that is, uninhabited territory, separated them from
the famous and unknown kingdom of Karagwe.

CHAPTER XIV.
SPEKE. — THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE.
AFTER crossing a broad, beautiful stretch of
meadow-land, and threading a low pass be
tween two dome-hke hUls, the traveUers found them
selves in the kingdom of Karagwe. The manner of
their reception in this land differed so much from all
their previous experiences that Speke's description
of it must be quoted :
" On arriving in camp we pitched under some
trees, and at once were greeted by an officer sent by
Rumanika to help us out of Usui. This was Ka-
chuchu, an old friend of Nasib' s, who no sooner saw
him than, beaming with delight, he said to us, ' Now,
was I not right when I told you the birds flying
about on Lohugati Hill were a good omen ? Look
here what this man says : Rumanika has ordered
him to bring you on to his palace at once, and wher
ever you stop a day, the vUlage officers are instructed
to supply you with food at the king's expense, for
there are no taxes gathered from strangers in the
kingdom of Karagwe. Presents may be exchanged,
but the name of tax is ignored.' Grant here shot a

204 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
rhinoceros, which came well into play to mix with
the day's flour we had carried on from Vihembe.
" Our day's march had been novel and very amus
ing. The hilly country surrounding us, together
with the valley, brought back to recollection many
happy days I had spent with the Tartars in the Thi
bet! an valley of the Indus — only this was more pic
turesque ; for, though both countries are wild, and
very thinly inhabited, this was greened over with
grass, and dotted here and there on the higher
slopes with thick bush of acacias, the haunts of rhi
noceros, both white and black ; whUe in the flat of
the valley, herds of hartebeest and fine cattle
roamed about like the kiyang and tame yak of Thi
bet. Then, to enhance all these pleasures, so differ
ent from our former experiences, we were treated
like guests by the chief of the place, who, obeying
the orders of his king, Rumanika, brought me pre
sents, as soon as we arrived, of sheep, fowls, and
sweet potatoes, and was very thankful for a few
yards of red blanketing as a return, without begging
for more.
" The farther we went in this country the better
we liked it, as the people were aU kept in good
order ; and the vUlage chiefs were so civU that we
could do as we liked.
" After following down the left side of the valley
and entering the village, the customary presents and
returns were made. Wishing then to obtain a bet
ter view of the country, I strolled over the nearest
hiUs, and found the less exposed slopes well covered
with trees. SmaU antelopes occasionally sprang up

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 205
from the grass. I shot a florikan for the pot ; and
as I had never before seen white rhinoceros, killed
one now ; though, as no one would eat him, I felt
sorry rather than otherwise for what I had done.
When I returned in the evening, smaU boys brought
me sparrows for sale ; and then I remembered the
stories I had heard from Musa Mzuri, that in the
whole of Karagwe these small birds were so numer
ous, the people, to save themselves from starvation,
were obliged to grow a bitter corn which the birds
disliked, and so I found it. At night, whUe ob
serving for latitude, I was struck by surprise to
see a long, nois}' procession pass by where I sat,
led by some men who carried on their shoulders a
woman covered up in a blackened skin. On in
quiry, however, I heard she was being taken to the
hut of her espoused."
TraveUing for a day or two along the valley of a
stream called the Urigi, they passed over another
range of sandstone hills, and entered the close, rich
valley of Uthenga, bounded by mountains a thou
sand feet high, and covered with forests. In the
bed of the valley there were not only magnificent
trees of great height, but also an unusual amount
of cultivation, plantations of bananas being most
abundant. The change from former privations and
troubles was so great that the weary explorers
could hardly beheve their good fortune.
" Leaving the valley of Uthenga," Speke says,
" we rose over the spur of Nyamwara, where we
found we had attained the delightful altitude of
5,000 odd feet. Oh, how we enjoyed it ! every one

206 LAKE REG-IONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
feeling so happy at the prospect of meeting so soon
the good king Rumanika. Tripping down the
greensward, we now worked our way to the Rozoka
valley, and pitched our tents in the village.
" Kachuchu here told us he had orders to precede
us, and prepare Rumanika for our coming, as" his
king wished to know what place we would prefer to
Uve at: — the Arab depot at Kufro, on the direct line
to Uganda, in his palace with himself, or outside
his inclosures. Such politeness rather took us
aback ; so, giving our friend a coil of copper wire
to keep him in good spirits, I said aU our pleasure
res.ted in seeing the king ; whatever honors he hked
to confer on us we should take with good grace, but
one thing he must understand, we came not to
trade, but to see him and great kings, and therefore
the Arabs had no relations with us."
Another day's march brought them so near Ru-
manika's palace that it was considered proper to
halt and await the return of the messenger. The
latter soon arrived with an invitation to go on im
mediately, and a present of tobacco and pombe, or
plantain beer, both very sweet and strong. The
next morning, the 25th of November, 1861, they
crossed a hill called Weranhanje, the grassy top of
which was 5,500 feet above the sea. Then descend
ing a little they saw what appeared to be a rich
clump of trees, but which proved to be the palace
enclosure. About 500 feet below it there was a
beautiful lake, in the bosom of the hills, to which
Speke gave the name of the Little Windermere, on
account of its resemblance to the English lake of

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. " 207
that name. Rumanika's palace was in lat. 1° 42'
S. and long. 31° 1' E. Speke thus describes his ar
rival :
" To do royal honors to the king of this charming
land, I ordered my men to put down their loads and
fire a' volley. This was no sooner done than, as we
went to the palace gate, we received an invitation
to come in at once, for the king wished to see us
before attending to anything else. Now, leaving our
traps outside, both Grant and myself, attended by
Bombay and a few of the seniors of my Wanguana,
entered the vestibule, and, walking through exten
sive inclosures studded with huts of kingly dimen
sions, were escorted to a pent-roofed baraza, which
the Arabs had built as a sort of government office,
where the king might conduct his state affairs.
" Here, as we entered, we saw sitting cross-legged
on the ground Rumanika the king, and his brother
Nnanaji, both of them men of noble appearance and
size. The king was plainly dressed in an Arab's
black choga, and wore, for ornament, dress-stock
ings of rich-colored beads, and neatly-worked wrist
lets of copper. Nnanaji, being a doctor of very high
pretensions, in addition to a check cloth wrapped
round him, was covered with charms. At their
sides lay huge pipes of black clay. In their rear,
squatting quiet as mice, were aU the king's sons,
some six or seven lads, who wore leather middle-
coverings, and little dream charms tied under their
chins. The first greetings of the king, delivered in
good Kisuahili, were warm and affecting, and in an
instant we both felt and saw we were in the com-

208 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
pany of men who were as unlike as they could be to
the common order of the natives of the surrounding
districts. They had fine oval faces, large eyes and
high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia.
Having shaken hands in true English style, which is
the peculiar custom of the men in this country, the
ever-smiling Rumanika begged us to be seated on
the ground opposite to him, and at once wished to
know what we thought of Karagwe, for it had struck
him his mountains were the finest in the world ;
and the lake, too, did we not admire it? Then
laughing, he inquired — for he knew all the story —
what we thought of Suwarora, and the reception we
had met with in Usui. When this was explained
to him, I showed him that it was for the interest .of
his own kingdom to keep a check on Suwarora,
whose exorbitant taxations prevented the Arabs
from coming to see him and bringing things, from
all parts of the world. He made inquiries for the
purpose of knowing how we found our way all over
the world ; for on the former expedition a letter had
come to him for Musa, who no sooner read it than
he said I had called him and he must leave, as I was
bound for Ujiji.
" This of course led to a long story describing the
world, the proportions of land and water, and the
power of ships which conveyed even elephants and
rhinoceros — in fact, all the animals in the world —
to fill our menageries at home, etc., etc., as well as
the strange announcement that we lived to the north
ward, and had only come this way because his
friend Musa had assured me without doubt that he

TYPES OF NATIVES OF UZUI.

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 209
would give us the road on through Uganda. Time
flew Uke magic, the king's mind was so quick and
inquiring ; but as the day was wasting away, he
generously gave us our option to choose a place for
our residence in or out of his palace, and allowed
us time to select one. We found the view over
looking the lake to be so charming, that we pre
ferred camping outside, and set our men at once to
work cutting sticks and long grass to erect them
selves sheds.
" One of the young princes — for the king had or
dered them aU to be constantly in attendance on us
— happening to see me sit on an iron chair, rushed
back to his father and told him about it. This set
aU the royals in the palace in a state of high won
der, and ended by my getting a summons to show
off the white man sitting on his throne ; for of
course I could only be, as all of them called me,
a king of great dignity, to indulge in such state.
Rather reluctantly I did as I was bid, and al
lowed myself once more to be dragged into court.
Rumanika, as gentle as ever, then burst into a fresh
fit of merriment, and after making sundry enlight
ened remarks of inquiry, which of course were re
sponded to with the greatest satisfaction, finished
off by saying, with a very expressive shake of the
head, ' Oh these Wazungu, these Wazungu ! they
know and do everything.'
" I then put in a word for myself. Since we had
entered Karagwe we never could get one drop of
milk either for love or for money, and I wished to
know what motive the Wahuma had for withhold-

210 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ing it. We had heard they held superstitious
dreads, that any one who ate the flesh of pigs, fish
or fowls, or the bean called maharagwe, if he tasted
the products of their cows, would destroy their cat
tle, and I hoped he did not labor under any such
absurd delusions. To which he rephed, it was only
the poor who thought so ; and as he now saw we
were in want, he would set apart one of his cows
expressly for our use. On bidding adieu, the usual
formalities of hand-shaking were gone through ;
and on entering camp, I found the good, thought
ful king had sent us some more of his excellent
beer. " The Wanguana were now all in the highest of
good humor ; for time after time goats and fowls
were brought into camp by the officers of the
king, who had received orders from aU parts of the
country to bring in supplies for his guests ; and
this kind of treatment went on for a month, though
it did not diminish my daily expenditure of beads,
as grain and plantains were not enough thought
of. The cold winds, however, made the coast-men
all shiver, and suspect, in their ignorance, we must
be drawing close to England, the only cold place
they had heard of."
The details of Speke's interviews with the friend
ly monarch, in that hitherto unknown and unvisit-
ed kingdom, lying ¦ between the three great lakes of
Equatorial Africa — the Tanganyika, the Victoria
and Albert Nyanzas — are so interesting, and also
so agreeable after his long narrative of treachery

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 211
and hostility, that we give, in his own words, the
main incidents of his stay at Rumanika's palace :
At the second visit, which took place on the 26th
of November, " a long theological and historical
discussion ensued, which so pleased the king that
he said he would be delighted if I would take two
of his sons to England, that they might bring him
a knowledge of everything. Then turning again to
the old point, his utter amazement that we should
spend so much property in traveUing, he wished to
know what we did it for ; when men had such
means they would surely sit down and enjoy it. ' Oh
no,' was the reply ; ' we have had our fill of the lux
uries of life ; eating, drinking, or sleeping have no
charms for us now ; we are above trade, therefore
require no profits, and seek for enjoyment the run
of the world. To observe and admire the beauties
of creation are worth much more than beads to us.
But what led us this way we have told you before ;
it was to see your majesty in particular, and the
great kings of Africa, and at the same time to open
another road to the north, whereby the best manu
factures of Europe would find their way to Karag
we, and you would get so many more guests.' In
the highest good-humor the king said, ' As you have
come to see me and see sights, I wUl order some
boats and show you over the lake, with musicians to
play before you, or anything else that you Uke.'
Then, after looking over our pictures with intensest
dehght, and admiring our beds, boxes, and outfit in
general, he left for the day.
" In the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa

212 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
that the wives of the king and princes were fat
tened to such an extent that they could not stand
upright, I paid my respect to Wazezeru, the king's
eldest brother — who, having been born before his
father ascended his throne, did not come in the line
of succession — with the hope of being able to see
for myself the truth of the story. There was no
mistake about it. On entering the hut, I found the
old man and his chief wife sitting side by side
on a bench of earth strewed over with grass, and
partioned like stalls for sleeping apartments, while
in front of them were placed numerous wooden pots
of milk, and, hanging from the poles that sup
ported the beehive^shaped hut, a large collection of
bows six feet in length, whUe below them were tied
an even larger collection of spears, intermixed with
a goodly assortment of heavy-handled assegais.
I was struck with no smaU surprise at the way he
received me, as weU as with the extraordinary di
mensions, yet pleasing beauty, of the immoderately
fat fair one, his wife. She could not rise ; and so
large were her arms that between the joints the
flesh hung down Uke large, loose-stuffed puddings.
Then in came their chUdren, aU models of the
Abyssinian . type of beauty, and as polite in their
manners as thorough-bred gentlemen. They had
heard of my picture-books from the king, and all
wished to see them ; which they no sooner did, to
their infinite delight, especially when they recog
nized any of the animals, than the subject was
turned by my inquiring what they did with so many
milk-pots. This was easily explained by Wazezeru

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 213
himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, ' This is
aU the product of those pots : from early youth
upward we keep those pots to their mouths, as it is
the fashion at court to have very fat wives.'
" Ever anxious to push on with the journey, as I
felt every day's delay only tended to diminish my
means — that is, my beads and copper wire — I in
structed Bombay to take the under-mentioned
articles to Rumanika as a smaU sample of the pro
ducts of my country ;* to say I felt quite ashamed
of their being so few and so poor, but I hoped he
would forgive my shortcomings, as he knew I had
been so often robbed on the way to him ; and I
trusted, in recollection of Musa, he would give me
leave to go on to Uganda, for every day's delay was
consuming my supplies. Nnanaji, however, it was
said, should get something ; so, in addition to the
king's present, I apportioned one out for him, and
Bombay took both up to the palace. Everybody,
I was pleased to hear, was surprised with both the
quantity and quahty of what I had been able to
find for them ; for, after the plundering in Ugogo,
the immense consumption caused by such long de
lays on the road, the fearful prices I had had to pay
for my porters' wages, the enormous .taxes I had
been forced to give both in Msalala and Uzinza, be
sides the constant thievings in camp, aU of which was

* Rumanilca's present.— One block-tin box, one Baglan coat, five
yards scarlet broadcloth, two coils copper wire, a hundred large
blue egg-beads, five bundles best variegated beads, three bundles
minute beads — pink, blue, and white.

214 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
made public by the constantly-recurring tales of
my men, nobody thought had got anything left.
" Rumanika, above all, was as delighted as if he
had come in for a fortune, and sent to say the Rag
lan coat was a marvel, and the scarlet broadcloth
the finest thing he had ever seen. Nobody but
Musa had ever given him such beautiful beads be
fore, and none ever gave with such free liberality.
Whatever I wanted I should have in return for it, as
it was evident to him I had really done him a great
honor in visiting him. Neither his father nor any
of his forefathers had had such a great favor shown
them. He was alarmed, he confessed, when he
heard we were coming to visit him, thinking we
might prove some fearful monsters that were not
quite human, but now he was delighted beyond all
measure with what he saw of us. A messenger
should be sent at once to the king of Uganda to
inform him of our intention to visit him, with his
own favorable report of us. This was necessary
according to the etiquette of the country. Without
such a recommendation our progress would be
stopped by the people, while with one word from
him aU would go straight ; for was he not the gate
keeper, enjoying the fuU confidence of Uganda ? A
month, however, must elapse, as the distance to the
palace of Uganda was great ; but, in the meantime,
he would give me leave to go about in his country
to do and see what I liked, Nnanaji and his sons
escorting me everywhere. Moreover, when the time
came for my going on to Uganda, if I had not
enough presents to give the king, he would fiU up

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 215
the complement from his own stores, and either go
with me himself, or send his brother Nnanaji to
conduct me as far as the boundary of Uganda.
" Returning home to the tents as the evening sky
was illumined with the red glare of the sun, my at
tention was attracted by observing in the distance
some bold sky-scraping cones situated in the country
Ruanda, which at once brought back to recollection
the iU-defined story I had heard from the Arabs of
a wonderful hill always covered with clouds, on
which snow or haU was constantly falling. This
was a valuable discovery, for I found these hills to
be the great turn-point of the Central African
watershed. Without loss of time I set to work,
and, gathering all the travellers I could in the
country, protracted, from their descriptions, all the
distant topographical features set down in the map,
as far north as 3° of north latitude, as far east as
36°, and as far west as 26° of east longitude ; only
afterward slightly corrected, as I was better able to
connect and clear up some trifling but doubtful
points. " Indeed, I was not only surprised at the amount
of information about distant places I was enabled*
to get here from these men, but also at the correct
ness of their vast and varied knowledge, as I after
word tested it by observation and the statements of
others." Speke estimated the height of Mount Mfumbiro
at 10,000 feet, but he was undoubtedly wrong in
calling this chain the "Mountains of the Moon."
He seems to have been too ready to accept such na-

216 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
tive statements as taUied with his own preconceived
theory, and many of the points which he laid down
on his map were afterwards changed by Baker's
discoveries. While waiting the return of the messenger whom
king Rumanika had dispatched to Uganda, he tried
to replenish his almost exhausted stock of cloth,
beads, and wire, from the Arab merchants. There
was a renewal of the old jealousy between Bombay
and Baraka, which threw the whole camp into com
motion. Meantime he had a chance of navigating
the beautiful lake near the palace, of going on
hunting expeditions, and securing some valuable
specimens for his zoological coUection. Among the
latter was a beautiful nzoe, or water antelope, which
proved to be an entirely new species.
On the afternoon of December 5th the king in
vited the travellers to witness his New-moon Levee,
a ceremony which takes place every month, with a
view of ascertaining how many of his subjects are
loyal. " On entering his palace enclosure," says
Speke, " the first thing we saw was a blaue boc's horn
stuffed full' of magic powder, with very imposing ef
fect, by Kyengo, and stuck in the ground, with its
mouth pointed in the direction of Rogero. In the
second court we found thirty-five drums ranged on
the ground, with as many drummers standing be
hind them, and a knot of young princes and officers
of high dignity waiting to escort us into the third
inclosure, where, in his principal hut, we found Ru
manika squatting on the ground, half concealed by
the portal, but showing his smiling face to welcome

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 217
us in. His head was got up with a tiara of beads,
from the centre of which, directly over the forehead,
stood a plume of red feathers, and encircling the
lower face with a fine large white beard set in a
stock or band of beads. We were beckoned to
squat alongside Nnanaji, the master of ceremonies,
and a large group of high officials outside the porch.
Then the thirty-five drums aU struck up together in
very good harmony ; and when their deafening noise
was over, a smaUer band of hand-drums and reed
instruments was ordered in to amuse us.
" This second performance over, from want of
breath only, district officers, one by one, came ad
vancing on tiptoe, then pausing, contorting and
quivering their bodies, advancing again with a
springing gait and outspread arms, which they
moved as if they wished to force them out of their
joints, in aU of which actions they held drum-sticks
or twigs in their hands, swore with a maniacal
voice an oath of their loyalty and devotion to
their king, backed by the expression of a hope
that he would cut off their heads if they ever
turned from his enemies, and then, kneeling before
him, they held out their sticks that he might touch
them. With a constant reiteration of these scenes
— the saluting at one time, the music at another —
interrupted only once by a number of girls dancing
something hke a good rough Highland fling while
the Uttle band played, the day's ceremonies ended."
A few days after this, Speke confirmed the im
pression he had made upon the king by shooting
three rhinoceros. Now, when aU aspects seemed

218 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. •
to be so favorable, Grant was suddenly attacked
with a disease in the leg, which rendered it evi
dent that he would not be able to travel for some
months, if, indeed, he should recover. On the 14th
of December, Speke called upon one of the sisters-
in-law of the king, who, according to the ideas of
Karagwe, was a perfect beauty.
" She was another qf those wonders of obesity,
unable to stand excepting on all fours. I was de
sirous to obtain a good view of her, and actually
to measure her, and induced her to give me fa
cilities for doing so by offering in return to show
her a bit of my naked legs and arms. The bait
(ook as I wished it, and after getting her to sidle
and wriggle into the middle of the hut, I did as I
promised, and then took her dimensions, as noted
below* All of these are exact except the height,
and I beheve I could have obtained this more ac
curately if I could have had her laid on the floor.
Not knowing what difficulties I should have to
contend with in such a piece of engineering, I tried
to get her height by raising her up. This, after
infinite exertions on the part of us both, was ac
comphshed, when she sank down again, fainting,
for her blood had rushed into her head. Mean
while, the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat stark-
naked before us, sucking at a milk-pot, on which the
father kept her at work by holding a rod in his
hand ; for, as fattening is the first duty of fashion-
* Bound the arm, 1 foot 11 inches ; chest, 4 feet 4 inches ;
thigh, 2 feet 7 inches ; calf, 1 foot 8 inches ; height, S feet 8
inches.

THE KI NGD OM OF KA RAGW 'E. 219
able female hfe, it must be duly enforced by the
rod if necessary. I got up a bit of a flirtation with
missy, and induced her to rise and shake hands with
me. Her features were lovely, but her body was as
round as a baU.
" Of far more interest were the results of a con
versation which I had with another of Kamrasi's
servants, a man of Amara, as it threw some light
upon certain statements made by Mr. Leon of the
people of Amara being Christians. He said they
bore single holes in the centres both of their up
per and lower hps, as weU as in the lobes of both
of their ears, in which they wear small brass rings.
They live near the Nyanza — where it is connected
by a strait with a salt lake, and drained by a river
to the northward — in comfortable houses, built like
the tembes of Unyamwezi. When killing a cow,
they kneel down in an attitude of prayer, with both
hands together, held palm upward, and utter Zu, a
word the meaning of which he did not know. I
questioned him to try if the word had any trace of
a Christian meaning — for instance, as a corruption
of Jesu — but without success Circumcision is not
known among them, neither have they any know
ledge of God or a soul. A tribe called Wakuavi,
who are white, and described as not unhke myself,
often came over the water and made raids on their
cattle, using the double-edged sime as their chief
weapon of war. These attacks were as often re
sented, and sometimes led the Wamara in pursuit a
long way into their enemy's country, where, at a

220 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
place called Kisiguisi, they found men robed in red
cloths." On the 24th of December, a party of natives of
Kidi (a country on the White Nile, in about lat. 2°
N.) arrived. Their statement that traders came to
them from the north created quite a sensation in
Speke's camp, and strengthened the failing faith of
some of his native attendants. " We all became
transported with joy," he writes, " untU Rumanika,
reflecting on the sad state of Grant's leg, turned
that joy into grief by saying that the rules of Ugan
da were so strict that no one who is sick could enter
the country. ' To show,' he said, ' how absurd they
are, your donkey would not be permitted because he
has no trowsers ; and you even wiU have to put on
a gown, as your unmentionables will be considered
indecorous.' I now asked Rumanika if he would
assist me in replenishing my fast-ebbing store of
beads by selling tusks to the Arabs at Kufro, when
for every 35 lb. weight I would give him $50 by or
ders on Zanzibar, and would insure him from being
cheated by sending a letter of advice to our consul
residing there. At first he demurred on the high-
toned principle that he could not have any commer
cial dealings with myself ; but, at the instigation of
Bombay and Baraka, who viewed it in its true char
acter, as tending merely to assist my journey in the
best manner he could, without any sacrifice to dig
nity, he eventuaUy yielded-, and, to prove his earnest
ness, sent me a large tusk, with a notice that his
ivory was not kept in the palace, but with his offi-

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE 221
cers, and as soon as they could coUect it, so soon I
should get it.
" Rumanika, on hearing that it was our custom to
celebrate the birth of our Saviour with a good feast
of beef, sent us an ox. I immediately paid him a
visit to offer the compliments of the season, and at
the same time regretted, much to his amusement,
that he, as one of the old stock of Abyssinians, who
are the oldest Christians on record, should have for
gotten this rite ; but I hoped the time would come
when, by making it known that his tribe had lapsed
into a state of heathenism, white teachers would be
induced to set it aU to rights again."
On the 31st Speke gives the foUowing account of
his missionary labors : " Ever proud of his history
since I had traced his descent from Abyssinia and
King David, whose hair was as straight as my own,
Rumanika dwelt on my theological disclosures with
the greatest dehght, and wished to know what differ
ence existed between the Arabs and ourselves ; to
which Baraka rephed, as the best means of making
him understand, that while the Arabs had only one
Book, we had two ; to which I added, Yes, that is
true in a sense ; but the real merits he in the fact
that we have got the better book, as may be inferred
from the obvious fact that we are more prosperous,
and their superiors in all things, as I would prove
to him if he would aUow me to take one of his sons
home to learn that book; for then he would find his
tribe, after a whUe, better off than the Arabs are.
Much delighted, he said he would be very glad to
give me two boys for that purpose.

222 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
" Then, changing the subject, I pressed Rumanika,
as he said he had no idea of a God or future state,
to tell me what advantage he expected from sacrific
ing a cow yearly at his father's grave. He laugh
ingly replied he did not know, but he hoped he
might be favored with better crops if he did so. He
also placed pombe and grain, he said, for the same
reason, before a large stone on the hiU-side, although
it could not eat, or make any use of it ; but the
coast-men were of the same belief as himseK, and
so were all the natives. No one in Africa, as far as
he knew, doubted the power of magic and spells ;
and if a fox barked when he was leading an army
to battle, he would retire at once, knowing that this
prognosticated evil. There were many other ani
mals, and lucky and unlucky birds, which aU be
lieved in.
" The new year, 1862, was ushered in by the most
exciting inteUigence, which drove us half wUd with
delight, for we fuUy believed Mr. Petherick was in
deed on his road up the Nile, endeavoring to meet
us. It was this : An officer of Rumanika' s, who
had been sent four years before on a mission to
Kamrasi, had just then returned with a party of
Kamrasi's who brought ivory for sale to the Arabs
at Kufro, along with a vaunting commission to in
form Rumanika that Kamrasi had foreign visitors as
well as himself. They had not actually come into
Unyoro, but were in his dependency, the country of
Gani, coming up the Nile in vessels. They had
been attacked by the Gani people, and driven back
with considerable loss both of men and property,

THE KINGDOM OF KARAGWE. 223
although they were in sailing vessels, and fired guns
which even broke down the trees on the banks.
Some of their property had been brought to him,
and he, in return, had ordered his subjects not to
molest them, but aUow them to come on to him.
Rumanika enjoyed this news as much as myself,
especiaUy when I told him of Petherick's promise to
meet us, just as these men said he was doing.
" On the 10th of January we heard the familiar
sound of the Uganda drum. Maula, a royal officer,
with a large escorc of smartly-dressed men, women,
and boys, leading their dogs and playing their reeds,
announced to our straining ears the welcome intelU-
gence that their king had sent them to caU us.
Nyamgundu, who had seen us in Usui, had marched
on to inform the king of our advance and desire to
see him, and he, intensely delighted at the prospect
of having white men for his guests, desired no time
should be lost in our coming on. Maula told us that
his officers had orders to supply us with everything
we wanted whUe passing through his country, and
that there would be nothing to pay.
" One thing only now embarrassed me — Grant
was worse, without hope of recovery for at least
one or two months. This large body of Waganda
could not be kept waiting. To get on as fast as
possible was the only chance of ever bringing the
journey to a successful issue ; so, unable to help
myseU, with great remorse at another separation, on
the foUowing day I consigned my companion, with
several Wanguana, to the care of my friend Runia-
manika. I then separated ten loads of beads and

224 LAKE REGIONS OF -CENTRAL AFRICA.
thirty copper wires for my expenses in Uganda ;
wrote a letter to Petherick, which I gave to Baraka ;
and gave him and his companion beads to last as
money for six months, and also a present both for
Kamrasi and the Gani chief.
" This business concluded in camp, I started my
men and went to the palace to bid adieu to Ruma
nika, who appointed Rozaro, one of his officers, to
accompany me wherever I went in Uganda, and to
bring me back safely again. At Rumanika's request,
I then gave Mtesa's pages some ammunition to
hurry on with to the great king of Uganda, as his
majesty had ordered them to bring him, as quickly
as possible, some strengthening powder, and also
some powder for his gun. Then, finally, to Maula,
ajso under Rumanika's instructions, I gave two cop
per wires and five bundles of beads ; and, when all
was completed, set out on the march, perfectly sure
in my mind that before very long I should settle the
great Nile problem forever ; and, with this con
sciousness, only hoping that Grant would be able to
join me before I should have to return again, for it
was never supposed for a moment that it was pos
sible I ever could go north from Uganda."

CHAPTER XV.
SPEKE. — THE VICTORIA NYANZA AND THE KINGDOM OF
UGANDA.
SPEKE'S journey to Uganda fairly commenced
on the 11th of January, 1862. Crossing some
spurs of the mountain country, by short marches, he
descended on the third day into the vaUey of the
Kitangule, a considerable river, which flows into the
Victoria Nyanza from the west. On the rich low
lands Rumanika kept a herd of cattle, many thou
sands in number : formerly there were great herds
of elephants in the vaUey, but, since the ivory trade
has increased, they have aU been driven off. At the
ferry over the Kitangule, Speke had a long contest
with the superstitious boatmen, who feared to let
him cross in their canoe with his shoes on, lest it
should upset, or the river suddenly dry up. The
stream, which is sunk below the surface of the
country hke a huge ditch, is eighty yards in breadth,
so deep that the canoes cannot be poled across,
and the current runs at the rate of from three to
four mUes an hour.
The region on the northern bank, which is called
Uddu, belongs to the kingdom of Uganda. Speke

226 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
was accompanied by Maula, the Uganda officer, and
there was, consequently, no hindrance to his jour
ney except the whim or indolence of his conductor.
The first village beyond the river, called Ndongo,
was buried in a garden of plantains, and the whole
region appeared surprisingly rich and fertile. On
the 18th Speke reached a place called Ngambezi,
which surprised him by its neat and well-arranged
appearance, and the beauty of its surroundings.
" No part of Bengal or Zanzibar," he says, " could
excel it in either respect ; and my men, with one
voice, exclaimed, ' Ah ! what people these Waganda
are!' and passed other remarks, which may be
abridged as follows : ' They build their huts and
gardens just as weU as we do at Unguja, with
screens and enclosures for privacy, a clearance in
front of their establishments, and a baraza or recep
tion hut facing their buUdings. Then, too, what a
beautiful prospect it has ! rich marshy plains stud
ded with mounds, on each of which grow the um
brella cactus, or some other evergreen tree ; and,
beyond, again, another hiUspur such as the one we
have crossed over.' One of King Mtesa's uncles,
who had not been burnt to death by the order of
the late king Sunna on his ascension to the throne,
was the proprietor of this place, but unfortunately
he was from home. However, his substitute gave
me his baraza to live in, and brought many presents
of goats, fowls, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains,
sugar-cane, and Indian corn, and apologized in the
end for deficiency in hospitality. I, of course, gave
him beads in return."

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 2'27
The Uganda officer, Maula, here took advantage
of his home being at a vUlage a little to the west
ward of the direct route, to pay his family a visit,
and showed httle disposition to leave. " On the
23rd," Speke writes, " another officer, named Ma-
ribu, came to me and said, Mtesa, having heard
that Grant was left sick behind at Karagwe, had
given him orders to go there and fetch him, whe
ther sick or well, for Mtesa was most anxious to see
white men. Hearing this, I at once wrote to Grant,
begging him to come on if he could do so, and to
bring with him aU the best of my property, or as
much as he could of it, as I now saw there was
more cunning humbug than honesty in what Ruma
nika had told me about the impossibihty of our
going north from Uganda, as weU as in his saying
sick men could not go into Uganda, and donkeys
without trowsers would not be admitted there be
cause they were considered indecent.
" Maula now came again, after receiving repeated
and angry messages, and I forced him to make a
move. He led me straight up to his home, a very
nice place, in which he gave me a very large, clean,
and comfortable hut — had no end of plantains
brought for me and my men — and said, " Now you
have reaUy entered the kingdom of Uganda, for the
future you must buy no more food. At every place
that you stop for the day, the officer in charge wiU
bring you plantains, otherwise your men can help
themselves in the gardens, for such are the laws of
the land when a king's guest travels in it. Any
one found seUing anything to either yourself or

228 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
your men would be punished.' Accordingly, I
stopped the daily issue of beads ; but no sooner
had I done so than all my men declared they could
not eat plantains."
After a halt of three days, the departure being
continuaUy postponed on some frivolous pretext,
Speke's patience gave way. He peremptorily or
dered the caravan to move, and when Bombay re
fused to assist in striking the tent, gave him a sound
beating. The Uganda officers and native atten
dants became alarmed at this outbreak of anger :
the camp was broken up, and they went forward
over low hills and rushy valleys, all draining to the
eastward. On the 28th, Speke writes : " Skirting the hiUs
on the left, with a large low plain to the right, we
soon came on one of those numerous rush-drains
that appear to me to be the last waters left of the
old bed of the Nyanza. This one in particular
was rather large, being 150 yards wide. It was
sunk where I crossed it, like a canal, 14 feet below
the plain ; and what with mire and water combined,
so deep, I was obliged to take off my trowsers
while fording it. Once across, we sought for and
put up in a viUage beneath a small hiU, from the
top of which I saw the Victoria Nyanza for the
first time on the march.
" Next day, after crossing more of those abomin
able rush-drains, while in sight of the Victoria
Nyanza, we ascended the most beautiful hills, cov
ered with verdure of all descriptions. At Meruka,
where I put up, there resided some grandees, the

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 229
chief of whom was the king's aunt. She sent me a
goat, a hen, a basket of eggs, and some plantains,
in return for which I sent her a wire and some
beads. I felt inclined to stop here a month, every
thing was so very pleasant. The temperature was
perfect. The roads, as indeed they were every
where, were as broad as our coach-roads, cut
through the long grasses, straight over the hills
and down through the woods in the dells — a strange
contrast to the wretched tracks in aU the adjacent
countries. The huts were kept so clean and so
neat, not a fault could be found with them — the
gardens the same. Wherever I stroUed I saw noth
ing but richness, and what ought to be wealth.
The whole land was a picture of quiescent beauty,
with a boundless sea in the back-ground. Looking
over the hills, it struck the fancy at once that at one
period the whole land must have been at a uniform
level with their present tops, but that, by the con
stant denudation it was subjected to by frequent
rains, it had been cut down and sloped into those
beautiful hills and dales which now so much pleased
the eye ; for there were none of those quartz dikes
I had seen protruding through the same kind of
aqueous formations in Usui and Karagwe, nor were
there any other sorts of volcanic disturbance to
distort the calm, quiet aspect of the scene."
For a few days longer Speke travelled on foot
over a succession of hUls, spurs of the interior ta
ble-land, from each of which there was a view east
ward over the great Nyanza, with swampy bottoms
between. The level of the table-lands of Uganda

230 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
and Unyoro, lying between the Victoria and Al
bert Lakes, appears to be about 1,000 feet above
the former. On the 7th of February he reached
a viUage caUed Mbule, at the northwestern corner
of the Nyanza. Here he had reached the equa
tor, and was just haK-way, in latitude, between Ka
zeh, in the Land of the Moon, and Gondokoro,
the last Egyptian trading-station on the White
Nile. At Mbule he says : " Some httle boys came who
had aU their hair shaved off excepting two round
tufts on either side of the head. They were the
king's pages ; and, producing three sticks, said they
had brought them to me from their king, who
wanted three charms or medicines. Then placing
one stick on the ground before me, they said,
' This one is a head, which, being affected by
dreams of a deceased relative, requires relief ;' the
second symbohzed the king's desire for the accom
plishment of a phenomenon to which the old phal
lic worship was devoted ; ' and this third one,'
they said, ' is a sign that the king wants a charm
to keep all his subjects in awe of him.' I then
promised I would do what I could when I reached
the palace, but feared to do anything in the dis
tance." The path now led almost due eastward, a httle
further from the shores of the lake, which was
seldom visible. The country was still very beau
tiful — a succession of hUl and dale ; and Speke's
reception by the natives was everywhere friendly.
In five or six days more there were evidences of

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 231
his approach to the residence of Mtesa ; but on
the 13th of February he made a discovery of much
greater importance than his approaching reception.
" We came," he says, " on the Mwarango River, a
broad rush-drain of three hundred yards' span,
two thirds of which was bridged over. Until now
I did not feel sure where the various rush-drains
I had been crossing since leaving the Katonga
valley aU went to, but here my mind was made up,
for I found a large volume of water going to the
northward. I took off my clothes at the end of
the bridge and jumped into the stream, which I
found was twelve yards or so broad, and deeper
than my height. I was dehghted beyond measure
at this very surprising fact, that I was indeed on
the northern slopes of the continent, and had, to
aU appearance, found one of the branches of the
NUe's exit from the Nyanza. I drew Bombay's
attention to the current ; and, coUecting all the men
of the country, inquired of them where the river
sprang from. Some of them said, in the hills to
the southward ; but most of them said, from the
lake. I argued the point with them ; for I felt
quite sure so large a body of flowing water could
not be coUected together in any place but the lake.
They then aU agreed to this view, and farther as
sured me it went to Kamrasi's palace in Unyoro,
where it joined the Nyanza, meaning the Nile."
Halting, the next day, a short march from the
capital of Uganda, Speke gave each of his men a
fez cap, and scarlet cloth to make mUitary jackets,
and taught Bombay the ceremonies in India, when

232 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
a distinguished prince is presented at one of the na
tive courts. He made an attempt to reach the
exit (as he believed it to be) of the Mwarango River
from the lake, but did not succeed. It is very
doubtful whether he was correct in declaring this
to be one of the arms of the Nile.
Speke's account of his reception by King Mtesa
is so picturesque that it must be given entire :
" Next day, (17th,) in the evening, Nyamgundu
returned full of smirks and smiles, dropped on his
knees at my feet, and, in company with his ' chil
dren,' set to nyanzigging, according ~to the form of
that state ceremonial already described.* In his
excitement he was hardly able to say all he had
to communicate. Bit by bit, however, I learned
that he first went to the palace, and, finding the
king had gone off yachting to the Murchison Creek,
he followed him there. The king for a long whUe
would not believe his tale that I had come, but,
being assured, he danced with delight, and swore he
would not taste food until he had seen me. ' Oh,'
he said, over and over again and again, according
to my informer, ' can this be true ? Can the white
man have come all this way to see me ? What a
* Speke thus describes the ceremony of nyanzigging : ' ' The
lesser salutation, used by the people, consists of kneeling in the
attitude of prayer, continually throwing open the hands, and re
peating sundry words. Among these the word ' nyanzig ' is the
most frequent and conspicuous ; and hence these gesticulations
receive the general name nyanzig, a term which will he frequently
met with, and which I have found it necessary to use like an
English verb. In consequence of these salutations, there is al
ways more ceremony in court than business."

KIBUGA, OR RESIDENCE OF THE KING OF UGANDA.

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 233
strong man he must be too, to come so quickly !
Here are seven cows, four of them milch ones, as
you say he likes milk, which you will give him ; and
there are three for yourself for having brought him
so quickly. Now hurry off as fast as you can, and
tell him I am more delighted at the prospect of
seeing him than he can be to see me. There is no
place here fit for his reception. I was on a pil
grimage which would have kept me here seven
days longer ; but, as I am so impatient to see him,
I wiU go off to my palace at once, and will
send word for him to advance as soon as I arrive
there. " About noon the succeeding day, some pages ran
in to say we were to come along without a moment's
delay, as their king had ordered it. He would not
taste food untU he saw me, so that everybody might
know what great respect he felt for me.
" One march more, and we came in sight of the
king's kibuga or palace, in the province of Banda-
warogo, N. lat. 0° 21' 19", and E. long. 32° 44' 30".
It was a magnificent sight. A whole hill was co
vered with gigantic huts, such as I had never seen
in Africa before. I wished to go up to the palace at
once, but the officers said ' No, that would be con
sidered indecent in Uganda ; you must draw up
your men and fire your guus off, to let the king
know you are here ; we wiU then show you your re
sidence, and to-morrow you will doubtless be sent
for, as the king could not now hold a levee while it
is raining.' I made the men fire, and then was
shown into a lot of dirty huts, which, they said, were

231 1AKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
built expressly for the king's visitors. The Arabs,
when they came on their visits, always put up here,
and I must do the same. At first I stuck out on
my claims as a foreign prince, whose royal blood
could not stand such an indignity. The palace was
my sphere, and unless I could get a hut there, I
would return without seeing the king.
" In a terrible fright at my blustering, Nyamgundu
fell at my feet and implored me not to be hasty.
I gave way to this good man's appeal, and cleaned
my hut by firing the ground, for, like all the huts in
this dog country, it was full of fleas. Once en
sconced there, the king's pages darted in to see me,
bearing a message from their master, who said he
was sorry the rain prevented him from holding a
levee that day, but the next he would be delighted
to see me.
" On the 19th the king sent his pages to an
nounce his intention of holding a levee in my honor.
I prepared for my first presentation at court,
attired in my best, though in it I cut a poor figure
in comparison with the display of the dressy Wa-
ganda. They wore neat bark "cloaks resembling .the
best yellow corduroy cloth, crimp and well set, as if
stiffened with starch, and over that, as upper
cloaks, a patchwork of small antelope skins, which I
observed were sewn together as well as any Eng
lish glovers could have pierced them ; while their
head-dresses, generaUy, were abrus turbans, set off
with highly-polished boar-tusks, stick-charms, seeds,
beads, or shells, and on their necks, arms, and
ankles they wore other charms of wood, or small

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 235
horns stuffed with magic powder, and fastened on
by strings generaUy covered with snakeskin. Ny-
amgundu and Alaula demanded, as their official
privilege, a first peep ; and this being refused, they
tried to persuade me that the articles comprising
the present required to be covered with chintz, for
it was considered indecorous to offer anything to his
majesty in a naked state. This little interruption
over, the articles enumerated below* were conveyed
to the palace in solemn procession thus : With
Nyamgundu, Maula, the pages, and myself on the
flanks, t"he Union Jack, carried by the kirangozi
guide, led the way, followed by twelve men as
a guard of honor, dressed in red flannel cloaks,
and carrying their arms sloped, with fixed bayo
nets ; whUe in their rear were the rest of my men,
each carrying some article as a present.
" On the march toward the palace, the admiring
courtiers, wonder-struck at such an unusual display,
exclaimed, in raptures of astonishment, some with
both hands at their mouths, and others clasping
their heads with their hands, ' Irungi ! irungi !'
which may be translated ' Beautiful ! beautiful !' I
thought myself everything was going on as well as
could be wished ; but, before entering the royal in-
closures, I found, to my disagreeable surprise, that
the men with Suwarora'^ hongo or offering, which
* 1 block-tin box, 4 rich silk cloths, 1 rifle, (Whitworth's,) 1 gold
chronometer, 1 revolver pistol, 3 rifled carbines, 3 sword-bayonets,
1 box ammunition, 1 box bullets, 1 box gun-caps, 1 telescope, 1
iron chair, 10 bundles best beads, 1 set of table-knives, spoons,
and forks.

236 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
consisted of more than a hundred coils of wire, were
ordered to lead the procession, and take precedence
of me. There was something specially aggravating
in this precedence ; for it will be remembered that
these very brass wires which they saw I had myself
intended for Mtesa ; that they were taken from me
by Suwarora as far back as Usui ; and it would
never do, without remonstrance, to have them boast
fully paraded before my eyes in this fashion. My
protests, however, had no effect upon the escorting
wakungu. Resolving to make them catch it, I
walked along as if ruminating in anger up the broad
high road into a cleared square, which divides Mtesa's
domain on the south from his kamraviona's, or com
mander-in-chief, on the north, and then turned into
the court.- The palace or entrance quite surprised
me by its extraordinary dimensions, and the neat
ness with which it was kept. The whole brow and
sides of the hill on which we stood were covered
with gigantic grass huts, thatched as neatly as so
many heads dressed by a London barber, and
fenced aU round with the tall yellow reeds of the
common Uganda tiger-grass ; while within the in-
closure the lines of huts were joined together, or
partitioned off into courts, with walls of the same
grass. It is here most of Mtesa's three or four hun
dred women are kept, the rest being quartered
chiefly with his mother, known by the title of Nyam-
asore, or queen-dowager. They stood in little
groups at the doors, looking at us, and evidently
passing their own remarks, and enjoying their own
jokes, on the triumphal procession. At each gate

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 237
as we passed, officers on duty opened and shut it for
us, jingling the big bells which are hung upon them,
as they sometimes are at shop doors, to prevent
silent, stealthy entrance.
" The first court passed, I was even more surprised
to find the unusual ceremonies that awaited me.
There courtiers of high dignity stepped forward to
greet me, dressed in the most scrupulously neat
fashions. Men, women, bulls, dogs, and goats were
led about by strings ; cocks and hens were carried
in men's arms ; and httle pages, with rope turbans,
rushed about, conveying messages, as if their lives
depended on their swiftness, every one holding his
skin cloak tightly round him lest his naked legs
might by accident be shown.
" This, then, was the ante-reception court ; and I
might have taken possession of the hut, in which
musicians were playing and singing on large nine-
stringed harps, hke the Nubian tambira, accompa
nied by harmonicons. By the chief officers in wait
ing, however, who thought fit to treat us like Arab
merchants, I was requested to sit on the ground
outside in the sun with my servants. Now I had
made up my mind never to sit upon the ground as
the natives and Arabs are obliged to do, nor to make
my obeisance in any other manner than is custom
ary in England, though the Arabs had told me that
from fear they had always complied with the man
ners of the court. I felt that if I did not stand up
for my social position at once, I should be treated
with contempt during the remainder of my visit,
and thus lose the vantage-ground I had assumed of

238 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
appearing rather as a prince than a trader, for the
purpose of better gaining the confidence of the king.
To avert overhastiness, however — for my servants
began to be alarmed as I demurred against doing as
I was bid — I aUowed five minutes to the court to
give me a proper reception, saying if it were not
conceded I would then walk away.
" Nothing, however, was done. My own ment
knowing me, feared for me, as they did not know
what a ' savage ' king would do in case I carried out
my threat ; while the Waganda, lost in amazement
at what seemed little less than blasphemy, stood
still as posts. The affair ended by my walking
straight away home, giving Bombay orders to leave
the present on the ground, and to follow me.
" Although the king is said to be unapproachable
excepting when he chooses to attend court — a cere
mony which rarely happens — intelligence of my hot
wrath alid hasty departure reached him in an instant.
He first, it seems, thought of leaving his toilet-room
to follow me ; but, finding I was walking fast and
had gone far, changed his mind,' and sent wakungu
running after me. Poor creatures ! they caught me
up, fell upon their knees, and implored I would re
turn at once, for the king had not tasted food, and
would not until he saw me. I felt grieved at their
touching appeals ; but, as I did not understand all
they said, I simply replied by patting my heart and
shaking my head, walking, if anything, all the
faster. " On my arrival at my hut, Bombay and others
came in, wet through with perspiration, saying the

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 239
king had heard of all my grievances. Suwarora's
hongo was turned out of court, and, if I desired it,
I might bring my own chair with me, for he was
very anxious to show me great respect, although
such a seat was exclusively the attribute of the king,
no one else in Uganda daring to sit on an artificial
seat. " My point was gained, so I cooled myself with
coffee and a pipe, and returned rejoicing in my vic
tory, especiaUy over Suwarora. After returning to
the second tier of huts from which I had retired,
everybody appeared to be in a hurried, confused
state of excitement, not knowing what to make out
of so unprecedented an exhibition of temper. In
the most polite manner, the officers in waiting
begged me to be seated on my iron stool, which I
had brought with me, while others hurried in to an
nounce my arrival. But for a few minutes only I
was kept in suspense, when a band of music, the
musiciaas wearing on their backs long-haired goat
skins, passed me, dancing as they went along like
bears in a fair, and playing on reed instruments
worked over with pretty beads in various patterns,
from which depended leopard-cat skins, the time
being regulated by the beating of long hand-drums.
" The mighty king was now reported to be sitting
on his throne in the state hut of the third tier. I
advanced, hat in hand, with my guard of honor fol
lowing, formed in ' open ranks,' who in their turn
were followed by the bearers carrying the present.
I did not walk straight up to him as if to shake
hands, but went outside the ranks of the three-

240 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
sided square of squatting wakungu, all habited in
skins, mostly cowskins ; some few of whom had, in
addition, leopard-cat skins girt round the waist, the
sign of royal blood. Here I was desired to halt
and sit in the glaring sun ; so I donned my hat,
mounted my umbrella, a phenomenon which set
them all a wondering and laughing, ordered the
guard to close ranks, and sat gazing at the novel
spectacle. A more theatrical sight I never saw.
The king, a good-looking, weU-figured, taU young
man of twenty-five, was sitting on a red blanket
spread upon a square platform of royal grass, in
cased in tiger-grass reeds, scrupulously well dressed
in a new mbugu. The hair of his head was cut
short, excepting on the top, where it was combed up
into a high ridge, running from stem to stern like a
cock's comb. On his neck was a very neat ornament
— a large ring, of beautifuUy-worked smaU beads,
forming elegant patterns by their various colors.
On one arm was another bead ornament* prettily
devised; and on the other a wooden charm, tied
by a string covered with snakeskin. On every fin
ger and every toe he had alternate brass and cop
per rings ; and above the ankles, half way up to the
calf, a stocking of very pretty beads. Everything
was light, neat, and elegant in its way ; not a fault
could be ^found with the taste of his ' getting up.'
For a handkerchief he held a well-folded piece of
bark, and a piece of gold-embroidered silk, which
he constantly employed to hide his large mouth when
laughing, or to wipe it after a drink of plantain wine,
of which he took constant and copious draughts

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 241
from neat little gourd-cups, administered by his
ladies in waiting, who were at once his sisters and
wives. A white dog, spear, shield, and woman — the
Uganda cognizance — were by his side, as also a knot
of staff officers, with whom he kept up a brisk con
versation on one side ; and on the other was a band
of wichwezi, or lady-sorcerers, such as I have al
ready described. i
" I was now asked to draw nearer within the hol
low square of squatters, where leopard-skins were
strewed upon the ground, and a large copper kettle
drum, surmounted with brass beUs on arching wires,
along with two other smaUer drums covered with
cowrie-shells, and beads of color worked into pat
terns, were placed. I now longed to open conver
sation, but knew not the language, and no one near
me dared speak, or even lift his head from fear of
being accused of eying the women ; so the king and
myself sat staring at one another for full an hour —
I mute, but he pointing and remarking with those
around him on the novelty of my guard and general
appearance, and even requiring to see my hat lifted,
the umbrella shut and opened, and the guards face
about and show off then- red cloaks — for such won
ders had never been seen in Uganda.
" Then, finding the day waning, he sent Maula on
an embassy to ask me if I had seen him ; and on
receiving my reply, ' Yes, for full one hour,' I was
glad to find him rise, spear in hand, lead his dog,
and walk unceremoniously away through the inclos-
ure into the fourth tier of huts ; for this being a
pure levee day, no business was transacted. The

242 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
king's gait in retiring was intended to be very ma
jestic, but did not succeed in conveying to me that
impression. It was the traditional walk of his race,
founded on the step of the lion ; but the outward
sweep of the legs, intended to represent the stride"
of the noble beast, appeared to me only to realize a
very ludicrous kind of waddle, which made me ask
Bombay if anything serious was the matter with the
royal person. t
" I had now to wait for some time, almost as an
act of humanity ; for I was told the state secret, that
the king had retired to break his fast and eat for the
first time since hearing of my arrival ; but the re
past was no sooner over than he prepared for the
second act, to show off his splendor, and I was in
vited in, with all my men, to the exclusion of all his
own officers, save my two guides. Entering as be
fore, I found him standing on a red blanket, leaning
against the right portal of the hut, talking and
laughing, handkerchief in hand, to a hundred or more
of his admiring wives, who, all squatting on the
ground outside, in two groups, were dressed in new
mbugus. My men dared not advance upright, nor
look upon the women, but, stooping, with lowered
heads and averted eyes, came cringing after me.
Unconscious myself, I gave loud and impatient or
ders to my guard, rebuking them for moving like
frightened geese, and, with hat in hand, stood gaz
ing on the fair sex till directed to sit and cap.
" Mtesa then inquired what messages were brought
from Rumanika; to which Maula, deUghted with
the favor of speaking to royalty, rephed by saying

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 243
Rumanika had gained inteUigence of Englishmen
coming up the Nile to Gani and Kidi. The king ac
knowledged the truthfulness of their story, saying
he had heard the same himseU ; and both wakungu,
as is the custom in Uganda, thanked their lord in a
very enthusiastic manner, kneeling on the ground —
for no one can stand in the presence of his majesty
— in an attitude of prayer, and throwing out their
hands as they repeated the words, nyanzig, nyan
zig, ai nyanzig mkahma wangi, etc., etc., for a con
siderable time ; when, thinking they had done
enough of this, and heated with exertion, they threw
themselves flat upon then- stomachs, and, flounder
ing about Uke fish on land, repeated the same words
over again and again, and rose doing the same, with
their faces covered with earth ; for majesty in Uganda
is never satisfied tiU subjects have grovelled before
it Uke the most abject worms. This conversation
over, after gazing at me, and chatting with his
women for a considerable time, the second scene
ended. The third scene was more easily arranged,
for the day was fast declining. He simply moved
with his train of women to another hut, where, after
seating himself upon his throne, with his women
around him, he invited me to approach the nearest
limits of propriety, and to sit as before. Again he
I asked me if I had seen him, evidently desirous of
indulging in his regal pride ; so I made the most of
the opportunity thus afforded me of opening a con
versation by telhng him of those grand reports I
had formerly heard about him, which induced me to
come aU this way to see him, and the trouble it had

244 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
cost me to reach the object of my desire ; at the
same time taking a gold ring from off my finger, and
presenting it to him, I said, ' This is a small token
of friendship ; if you will inspect it, it is made after
the fashion of a dog-collar, and, being the king of
metals, gold, is in every respect appropriate to your
iUustrious race.'
" He said, in return, ' It' friendship is your desire,
what would you say if I showed you a road by
which you might reach your home in one month ?'
Now everything had to be told to Bombay, then to
Nasib, my Kiganda interpreter, and then to either
Maula or Nyamgundu, before it was delivered to the
king, for it was considered indecorous to transmit
any message to his majesty excepting through the
medium of one of his officers. Hence I could not
get an answer put in ; for as all Waganda are rapid
and impetuous in> their conversation, the king, pro
bably forgetting he had put a question, hastily
changed the conversation and said, ' What guns
have you got ? Let me see the one you shoot with.'
I wished stUl to answer the first question first, as 1
knew he referred to the direct line to Zanzibar
across the Masai, and was anxious, without delay, to
open the subject of Petherick and Grant ; but no one
dared to deliver my statement. Much disappointed,
I then said, ' I had brought the best shooting-gun
in the world — Whitworth's rifle — which I begged
he would accept, with a few other trifles ; and, with
his permission, I would lay them upon a carpet at
his feet, as is the custom of my country when visit
ing sultans.' He assented, sent all his women away,

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 245
and had an mbugu spread for the purpose, on which
Bombay, obeying my order, first spread a red blan
ket, and then opened each article, one after the
other, when Nasib, according to the usage already
mentioned, smoothed them down with his dirty
hands, or rubbed them against his sooty face, and
handed them to the king to show there was no
poison or witchcraft in them. Mtesa appeared quite
confused with the various wonders as he handled
them, made siUy remarks, and pondered over them
like a perfect chUd, untU it was quite dark. Torches
were then ht, and guns, pistols, powder, boxes,
tools beads — the whole collection, in short— were
tossed together topsy-turvy, bungled into mbugus,
and carried away by the pages. Mtesa now said,
' It is late, and time to break up ; what provisions
would you wish to have ?' I said, ' A little of every
thing, but no one thing constantly.' 'And would you
hke to see me to-morrow ?' ' Yes, every day.' ' Then
you can't to-morrow, for I have business ; but the
next day come if you like. You can now go away,
and here are six pots of plantain wine for you ; my
men wiU search for food to-morrow.
"21st. In the morning, while it rained, some
pages drove in twenty cows and ten goats, with a
polite metaphorical message from their king to the
effect that I had pleased him much, and he hoped I
would accept these few ' chickens ' until he could
send more ; when both Maula and Nyamgundu,
charmed with their success in having brought a
welcome guest to Uganda, never ceased showering

246 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
eulogiums on me for my fortune in having gained
the countenance of their king. The rain falling was
considered at court a good omen, and everybody
declared the king mad with delight.

CHAPTER XVI.
SPEKE. — FOUK MONTHS IN UGANDA.
b HAVING thus safely reached, and been en
couragingly received, at the capital of Ugan
da, on the northern shore of the great Nyanza.
Speke's remaining object, while waiting for his
companion, Grant, was to ascertain the point at
which the White Nib issued from the lake, and
also to decide whether it would be possible for him
to return to the Eastern coast of Africa through the
unknown region to the eastward. After escaping
from the rapacity of the petty chiefs of Uzinza and
Usui, his progress had been comparatively easy.
The larger and better organized kingdoms of Ka
ragwe and Uganda were easUy traversed after he
had gained the favor of the reigning monarch, and
the influence of King Mtesa would no doubt be
sufficient to procure him a safe conduct through the
unknown country of Masai, east of the Victoria
Nyanza. On the other hand, his stock of cloths,
beads and wires, as weU as of articles for presents,
was almost exhausted, and could only be replenished
by communicating with Petherick' s expedition for

248 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
his relief, which, he was firmly convinced, must be
somewhere on the White Nile, endeavoring to reach
him. For a month or two nothing could be done, ex
cept to retain the good-will of the Uganda king,
and at the same time defend himself against both
the suspicion and the covetousness of the latter, — a
task which required all his energy and watchfulness.
Being recalled to court, four days after his arrival,
he was requested to shoot four cows which were
loose in the enclosure. The result is a striking
illustration of the native barbarity. "Having no
bullets for my gun," Speke writes, " I borrowed the
revolving pistol I had given the king, and shot
all four in a second of time ; but as the last one, only
wounded, turned sharply upon me, I gave him the
fifth and settled him. Great applause followed this
wonderful feat, and the cows were given to -my men.
The king now loaded one of the carbines I had
given him with his own hands, and giving it full-
cock to a page, told him to go out and shoot a man
in the outer court, which was no sooner accomphshed
than the little urchin returned to announce his suc
cess with a look of glee such as one would see in
the face of a boy who had robbed a 'bird's nest,
caught a trout, or done any other boyish trick. The
king said to him, ' And did you do it well ?' ' Oh
yes, capitally.' He spoke the truth, no doubt, for he
dared not have trifled with the king ; but the affair
created hardly any interest. I never heard, and
there appeared no curiosity to know what individual
human being the urchin had deprived of life."

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 249
The next morning the king's pages came to re
quest that some of Speke's men would come to
shoot cows. He sent Bombay, with instructions
to excite Mtesa's cupidity with stories of supplies
waiting for him farther down the Nile. The men
shot seven cows, which were given to them for food.
For his own part, Speke declared that he would
only shoot elephants, rhinoceros, or buffaloes,
which he was wUling to hunt in company with the
king. He was presently summoned to the palace,
and asked to prescribe for the king's illness. " When
only the interpreters and one confidential officer
were left besides myself, he wished to know if I
could apply the medicine without its touching the
afflicted part. To give him confidence in my surgi
cal skiU, I moved my finger, and asked if he knew
what gave it action ; and on his replying in the ne
gative, I gave him an anatomical lecture, which so
pleased him, he at once consented to be operated
on, and I applied a blister to him accordingly. The
whole operation was rather ridiculous ; for the
blister, after being apphed, had to be rubbed in
turn on the hands and faces of both Bombay and
Nasib, to show there was no evU spirit in the ' doc
tor.' "
At each interview, Speke endeavored to talk about
his- further journeys and secure the promise of as
sistance ; but the king always evaded the subject,
saying he would speak of such things another time,
and then, apparently forgetting all about it. By
this time, the custom of the country required that
he should caU upon the queen-mother, and the visit,

250 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
of course, must be preluded by a handsome pre
sent. He gives the following account of the inter
view :
" Her majesty — fat, fair, and forty-five — was sit
ting, plainly garbed in mbugu, upon a carpet spread
upon the ground within a curtain of mbugu, her el
bow resting on a pillow of the same bark material;
the only ornaments on her person being an abrus
necklace, and a piece of mbugu tied round her
head, while a folding looking-glass, much the worse
for wear, stood open by her side. An iron rod
like a spit, with a cup on the top, charged with ma
gic powder, and other magic wands, were placed
before the entrance ; and within the room four Ma-
bandwa sorceresses or devil-drivers, fantastically
dressed as before described, and a mass of other
women, formed the company. For a short while
we sat at a distance, exchanging inquiring glances
at another, when the women were dismissed, and a
band of music, with a court fuU of wakungu, was
ordered in to change the scene. I also got orders
to draw near and sit fronting her within the hut.
Pombe, the best in Uganda, was then drunk by the
queen, and handed to me and to all the high officers
about her, when she smoked her pipe, and bade me
smoke mine. The musicians, dressed in long-haired
Usoga goatskins, were now ordered to strike 'up,
which they did, with their bodies swaying or danc
ing like bears in a fair. Different drums were
then beat, and I was asked if I could distinguish
their different tones.
" The queen, full of mirth, now suddenly rose,

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 251
leaving me sitting, while she went to another hut
changed her mbugu for a deole, and came back
again for us to admire her, which was no sooner
done to her heart's content than a second time by
her order, the court was cleared, and- when only
three or four confidential wakungu were left, she
took up a small fagot of weU-trimmed sticks, and
selecting three, told me she had three complaints.
' This stick,' she says, ' represents my stomach,
which gives me much uneasiness : this second
stick my Uver, which causes shooting pains all
over my body ; and this third one my heart, for
I get constant dreams at night about Sunna, my
late husband, and they are not pleasant.' "
On the 1st of March a letter came from Grant,
saying that he had dispatched Bombay to Unyoro
(the kingdom north of Uganda) to announce their
coming to King Kamrasi, and that he himself ex
pected to leave Karagwe before the end of February.
The longer Speke remained in Uganda, the greater
became his necessity for patience and cunning. King
Mtesa was a spoiled child, in his whims and fancies,
one day aU friendship, the next cold and haughty,
while the queen-mother, who had taken a strong
fancy to the white stranger, intrigued to receive the
greatest amount of attention, and, of course, the
greatest share of presents. The king constantly im
portuned Speke to shoot birds for his amusement,
and every attempt to introduce the former's real
object was put aside by the wrayward barbarian.
Speke succeeded, by assuming an air of being
offended with his treatment, in removing his

252 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
quarters to a better part of the capital, but the sup
plies furnished to his men were so irregular and
scanty that a new petition for food had to be made
every few days.
This delay, at least, enabled him to witness the
savage and violent way in which the king exercises
his authority. On the 25th of March he writes :
" I have now been for some time within the court-
precincts, and have consequently had an opportuni
ty of witnessing court customs. Among these,
nearly every day since I have changed my resi
dence, incredible as it may appear to be, I have
seen one, two, or three of the wretched palace wo
men led away to execution, tied by the hand,
and dragged along by one of the body-guard, crying
out, as she. went to premature, death, ' Hai min-
ange !' (Oh, my lord !) ' Kbakka ! ' (My king !)
' Hai n'yawo !' (My mother !) at the top of her
voice, in the utmost despair and lamentation ; and
yet there was not a soul who dared lift hand to save
any of them, though many might be heard privately
commenting on their beauty."
On the 14th of April, while Speke was attending
one of the king's childish and tiresome levees; the
officers announced the startling fact that two white
men had been seen at King Kamrasi's, in Unyoro ;
one of them with a full beard, the other smooth
faced. Speke immediately exclaimed : " Of course
they are there : let me sent a letter to them ! " be
lieving that it was Petherick and a companion who
was to accompany him. The king, however, de
clared that the information was not perfect and he

W\ |

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 263
would wait the return of certain messengers, whom
he wrould sent to Unyoro. But, a week afterwards,
Speke found that the messengers had not been sent.
The king, like a child with a new toy, seemed de
termined to keep the white man at his court, as long
as he was amused by his company. Speke persisted
in his demand with so much energy that on the
22nd of AprU Budja, one of Mtesa's officers, was
sent off with two men in search of Petherick, and
another messenger with a letter to Grant.
The king then determined on a three days' trip
to the Nyanza, for hippopotamus shooting. It was
but a short march from his palace to the shore of
the lake, through very rich and beautiful scenery.
Speke thus describes the scene, after arriving at the
place of embarcation : " Now for the Lake. Every
body in a hurry falls into his place the best way he
can — wakungu leading, and women behind. They
rattle along, through plantains and shrubs, under
large trees, seven, eight, and nine feet in diameter,
tUl the beautiful waters are reached — a picture of
the Rio scenery, barring that of the higher moun
tains in the background of that lovely place, which
are here represented by the most beautiful little hiUs,
A band of fifteen drums of aU sizes, called the
mazaguzo, playing with the regularity of a lot of
factory engines at work, announced the king's ar
rival, and brought all the boats to the shore, but
not as in England, where Jack with all the con
sequence of a lord at home, invites the ladies to
be seated and enjoys the sight of so many pretty
faces. Here every poor feUow, with his apprehen-

254 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
sions written in his face, leaps over the gunwale
into the water, ducking his head from fear of being
accused of gazing on the fair sex, which is death,
and bides patiently his time. They were dressed in
plaintain leaves, looking like grotesque Neptunes.
The king in his red coat and wideawake, conducted
the arrangements, ordering all their proper places —
the woman in certain boats, the wakungu and Wan-
guana in others, while I sat in the same boat with
him at his feet, three women holding mbugus of
pombe behind."
This excursion lasted five or six days, but it
seems to have contributed little to Speke's know
ledge of the lake. He gives, in fact, no distinct
account of the outline or appearance of the shores
and islands, describing, instead, the pranks of the
king and his followers. The truth probably was
that Speke, having arranged, as he supposed, for
Grant's transportation from the Uganda frontier by
water, relied upon the latter for a full report of the
western shore of the lake. Grant, however, as
Speke learned on the 1st of May, left Karagwe on
a litter, and was obliged to make the journey by
land. The next letter from Grant stated that he expected
to come by the lake from the mouth of the Kitan
gule River. But on the 11th of May, Speke received
letters from him, dated as late as the 2sd, which
stated that the natives, afraid of undertaking the
voyage on the lake, had deceived him about the
route, and were bringing him on by the same road
which Speke had already travelled. The next day,

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 255
King Mtesa allowed ten of his men to go and help
Grant along, and the messengers who had been sent
to Unyoro returned, accompanied by a deputation
from king Kamrasi, headed by an officer named
Kidgwiga, who afterwards proved to be of great
service to the expedition.
" Kidgwiga," says Speke, " said Petherick's party
was not in Unyoro ; they had never reached there,
but were lying at anchor off Gani. Two white men
only had been seen — one, they said, a hairy man,
the other smooth-faced ; they were as anxiously in
quiring after us as we were after them ; they sat on
chairs, dressed like myself, and had guns and every
thing precisely like those in my hut. On one occa
sion they sent up a necklace of beads to Kamrasi,
and he, in return, gave them a number of women
and tusks. If I wished to go that way, Kamrasi
would forward me on to their position in boats ; for
the land route, leading through Kidi, was a jungle
of ten days, tenanted by a savage set of people, who
hunt everybody, and seize everything they see."
On the 24th of May, word came that Grant was
only one day's march distant, and SpSke imme
diately sent him a shoulder of mutton. Three days
elapsed, however, and Speke again attempted to
make arrangements for going on to Unyoro, when
his talk with the king was interrupted by the sound
of guns announcing Grant's arrival, and he took
leave to go and welcome his friend. " How we en
joyed ourselves," he says, " after so much anxiety
and want of one another's company, I need not de
scribe. For my part I was only too rejoiced to see

256 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
that Grant could limp about a bit, and was able to
laugh over the picturesque and amusing account he
gave "me of his own rough travels."
Another visit to the king, in company with Grant
was equally fruitless in regard to their departure.
Speke thus explains — and all explorers wUl appreci
ate his situation :
" It will be kept in view that the hanging about
at this court, and all the perplexing and irritating
negotiations here described, had always one end in
view — that of reaching the Nile where it pours out
of the Nyanza, as I was long certain that it did.
Without the consent and even the aid of this ca
pricious barbarian I was now talking to, such a
project was hopeless. I naturally seized every op
portunity for putting in a word in the direction of
my great- object, and here seemed to be an oppor
tunity. We now ventured on a plump application
for boats that we might feel our way to Gani by
water, supposing the lake and river to be navigable
aU the way."
The negotiations were renewed from day to day,
but, as itT seemed, with increasing uncertainty.
Speke at first requested leave to visit the Masai
country, and see the reported salt lake at the
northern corner of the Nyanza, whUe Grant returned
to Karagwe by water, and brought on the stores
which had been left there. This was immediately
granted ; but the orders and supplies were not
forthcoming. One day the king desired the travel
lers to see him in European costume ; another, he
wanted a bird painted which he had shot, or the use

THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 257
of some new article explained, and each time their
departure was mentioned, he pretended to be sur
prised, as if he had never heard of it before.
After several arrangements for further explora
tion had been made and prevented by the king's
whims, Speke determined to confine himself to the
task of pushing northward through the kingdom of
Unyoro, and endeavoring to reach either Petherick's
expedition, or the trading-station of Gondokoro, on
the White NUe. Finally, a lucky fit of jealousy
against Rumanika, the king of Karagwe, induced
Mtesa to favor the travellers' design of going north
ward. He would show Rumanika, he said, that aU
the supphes for Uganda need not come through his
country : if the white men would open a route of
traffic for him to the north, he would send his offi
cer, Budja, with them to Unyoro, and have boats
prepared, so that they could make the voyage on the
NUe. Speke now felt that his advance northward was
assured. The king's mood fortunately lasted for a
day or two, and aU the necessary supplies were
freely given. " Everything was granted without the
slightest hesitation ; and then the king, turning to
me, said, ' WeU, Bana, so you reaUy wish to go ?'
' Yes, for I have not seen my home for four years
and upward' — reckoning five months to the year,
Uganda fashion. ' And you can give me no stimu
lants ?' ' No.' ' Then you wiU send me some from
Gani — brandy if you Uke; it makes people sleep
sound, and gives them strength.' Next we went to
the queen to bid fareweU, but did not see her."

258 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA,
On the 6th of July Speke visited the king, and
asked leave for the boats to go at once ; but a
court-officer who held the post of fleet-admiral for
the lake insisted that there were dangerous shal
lows along the shore, between the inlet on which
the capital was situated and the exit of the Nile.
He proposed that they should go to a station on
the river, caUed Urondogani, leave their goods, and
walk by land up the Nile bank, if a sight of the
falls at the mouth of the lake was of such great im
portance to them. Of course the admiral carried
his point, for there was no one able to contradict
his assertions.
" Early the next morning the king bade us come
to him to say fareweU. Wishing to leave behind a
favorable impression, I instantly complied. On the
breast of my coat I suspended the necklace the
queen had given me, as well as his knife and my
medals. I talked with him in as friendly and flat
tering a manner as I could, dweUing on his shoot
ing, the pleasant cruising on the lake, and our sun
dry picnics, as well as the grand prospect there was
now of. opening the country to trade, by which his
guns, the best in the world, would be fed with pow
der, and other smaU matters of a hke nature, to
which he replied with great feeling and good taste.
We then aU rose with an English bow, placing the
hand on the heart while saying adieu ; and there
was a complete uniformity in the ceremonial, for,
whatever I did, Mtesa, in an instant, mimicked
with the instinct of a monkey.
" We had, however, scarcely quitted the palace

• THE KINGDOM OF UGANDA. 259
gate before the king issued himself, with his attend
ants and his brothers leading, and women bringing
up the rear ; here Kyengo and aU the Wazinza
joined in the procession with ourselves, they kneel
ing and clapping their hands after the fashion of
their own country. Budja just then made me feel
very anxious by pointing out the position of Uron
dogani, as I thought, too far north. I caUed the
king's attention to it, and in a moment he said he
would speak to Budja in such a manner that would
leave no doubts in my mind, for he liked me much,
and desired to please me in aU things. As the pro
cession now drew close to our camp, and Mtesa ex
pressed a wish to have a final look at my men, I or
dered them to turn out with their arms and nyanzig
for the many favors they had received. Mtesa,
much. pleased, complimented them on their goodly
appearance, remarking that with such a force I
would have no difficulty in reaching Gani, and ex
horted them to follow me through fire and water ;
then, exchanging adieus again, he walked ahead in
gigantic strides up the hUl, the pretty favorite of his
harem, Lubuga — beckoning and waving with her ht
tle hands, and crying ' Bana ! Bana !' — trotting af
ter him conspicuous among the rest, though all
showed a httle feehng at the severance. We saw
them no more."

CHAPTER XVII.
BPEKE. — THE WHITE NILE AND THE KINGDOM OF
TJNYOEO.
DURING the first five days after leaving the
capital of Uganda, the expedition marched
30 miles in a northerly direction, through a fine
hiUy country, with jungles and rich ciUtivation alter
nating. They were then obliged to halt for some
days at a small vUlage until the cows given by the
king should be driven together, and here one of
Speke's men, going out on a private thieving expe
dition, was kiUed by the natives. The officer Budja
insisted on the murder being reported to king Mtesa,
from whom a satisfactory answer was received on
the 15th. Next day the cows arrived, and inasmuch
as considerable time had been lost, Speke deter
mined to send Grant forward into Unyoro with the
porters, goods, and cattle, while he made a rapid
trip to the exit of the Nile from the Victoria Ny
anza, and then followed the river down, untU they
should meet.
On the 19th they parted, Grant taking the high
road northward to king Kamrasi's capital, while
Speke marched eastward towards the White NUe.

THE KINGDOM OF UNYORO. 261
He soon reached the Luajerri, a " rush-drain," three
mUes broad; with a current flowing northward ; the
natives declared that it also issued from the lake.
The crossing occupied four hours, and the party lost
their way so continually in the low, jungly country
beyond, that they did not reach the station on the
river where the boats had been ordered to await
them, untU the morning of the 21st.
" Here, at last," exclaims Speke, " I stood on the
brink of the Nile. Most beautiful was the scene ;
nothing could surpass it ! It was the very perfec
tion of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly-kept
park ; with a magnificent stream from 600 to 700
yards wide, dotted with islets and rocks, the former
occupied by fishermen's huts, the latter by sterns
and crocodUes basking in the sun, flowing between
fine high grassy banks, with rich trees and plantains
in the background, where herds of the n' sunnu and
hartebeest could be seen grazing, while the hippo
potami were snorting in the water, and florikan and
Guinea-fowl rising at our feet.
" We were now confronting Usoga, a country
which may be said to be the very counterpart of
Uganda in its richness and beauty. Here the peo
ple use such huge iron-headed spears with short
handles, that, on seeing one to-day, my people re
marked that they were better fitted for digging po
tatoes than piercing men. Elephants, as we had
seen by their devastations during the last two
marches, were very numerous in this neighborhood^
TU1 lately, a party from Unyoro, ivory-hunting, had

262 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
driven them away. Lions were also described as
very numerous and destructive to human life."
It was two days before the boats arrived, and
then the officer in charge of them refused to take
Speke. The latter, however, succeeded in procuring
a guide, marched up the west bank of the Nile, and
after passing the Isamba rapids, where the stream
was broken by beautiful islands, reached a district
to which he gives the name of the " Church Estate."
It is dedicated in some mysterious manner to Lubari,
(the Almighty,) and although the king appeared to
have authority over some of the inhabitants of it,
yet others had apparently a sacred character, ex
empting them from the civil power, and the king
had no right even to dispose of the land.
The next day after leaving this district — the 28th
of July, 1862 — the goal of so many struggles and
dangers was attained. " With a good push for it,
crossing hills and threading huge grasses, as weU as
extensive village plantations lately devastated by
elephants — they had eaten all that was eatable, and
what would not serve for food they had destroyed
with their trunks, not one plantain nor one hut be
ing left entire — we arrived at the extreme end of the
journey, the farthest point ever visited by the expe
dition on the same parallel of latitude as king Mtesa's
palace, and just forty miles east of it.
" We were well rewarded ; for the ' stones,' as the
Waganda call the faUs, was by far the most inter
esting sight I had seen in Africa. Everybody ran
to see them at once, though the march had been
long and fatiguing, and even my sketch-block was

THE KINGDOM OF UNYORO. 263
caUed into play. Though beautiful, the scene was
not exactly what I expected ; for the broad surface
of the lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill,
and the falls, about 12 feet deep, and 400 to 500 feet
broad, were broken by rocks. StUl it was a sight
that attracted one to it for hours — the roar of the
waters, the thousands of passenger-fish, leaping at
the falls with aU their might, the Wasoga and Wa-
ganda fishermen coming out in boats and taking
post on aU the rooks with rod and hook, hippo
potami and crocodUes lying sleepUy on the water,
the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven
down to drink at the margin of the lake, made, in
aU, with the pretty nature of the country — small
hills, grassy-topped, with trees in the folds, and gar
dens on the lower slopes — as interesting a picture
as one could wish to see.
" The expedition had now performed its functions.
I saw that old Father Nile without any doubt rises
in the Victoria Nyanza, and, as I had foretold, that
lake is the great source of the holy river which
cradled the first expounder of our religious behef.
I mourned', however, when I thought how much I
had lost by the delays in the journey having deprived
me of the pleasure of going to look at the northeast
corner of the Nyanza to see what connection there
was, by the strait so often spoken of, with it and the
other lake where the Waganda went to get then: salt,
and from which another river flowed to the north,
making ' Usoga an island.' But I felt I ought to be
content with what I had been spared to accomplish ;
for I had seen fuU haU of the lake, and had infor-

264 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
mation given me of the other half, by means of
which I knew aU about the lake, as far, at least, as
the chief objects of geographical importance were
concerned. ' " Let us now sum up the whole and see what it is
worth. Comparative information assured me that
there was as much water on the eastern side of the
lake as there is on the western — if anything, rather
more. The most remote waters, or top head of the
Nile, is the southern end of the lake, situated close
on the third degree of south latitude, which gives to
the Nile the surprising length, in direct measure
ment, roUing over thirty -four degrees of latitude, of
above 2,300 miles, or more than one eleventh of the
circumference of our globe."
Speke gave the name of Ripon FaUs to the cata
ract. He remained two days at the spot, but was
not allowed either to enter the lake by boats, or to
cUmb the hills and get a last view of the broad'sea-
horizon beyond the intervening cape. On the 1st
of August he started on his return, and in four days
reached Urondogani, the point where he first struck
the Nile. It was another week before the boats
and supplies were ready ; but when they finally set
out, drifting slowly down the gentle current, the
weary explorer began to congratulate himself that
aU his painful marches were over, and he would
easily reach the limits of exploration to the north.
It was but a few miles to the frontier of Unyoro,
and the native boatmen were afraid of crossing the
line, until assured of a friendly reception. Speke
took it for granted that Grant had already reached

THE KINGDOM OF UNYORO. 265
Kamrasi's capital and arranged for his passage
down the river ; but to quiet his Waganda attend
ants, he sent Bombay in advance by land, and then
resumed the voyage. At sunset they approached
the first Unyoro vUlage, governed by a chief named
Nyamyonjo, and encountered an enormous canoe,
full of armed men, which turned and fled as they
drew near.
" The bank of the river, as we advanced," says
Speke, " then rose higher, and was crowned with huts
and plantations, before which stood groups and
Unes of men, aU fuUy armed. Farther at this junc
ture, the canoe we had chased turned broadside on
us, and joined in the threatening demonstrations of
the people on shore. I could not believe them to
be serious — thought they had mistaken us — and
stood up in the boat to show myself, hat in hand.
I said I was an Enghshman going to Kamrasi's, and
did all I could, but without creating the slightest
impression. They had heard a drum beat, they
said, and that was a signal of war, so war it should
be ; and Kamrasi's drums rattled up both sides the
river, preparing everybody to arm. This was seri
ous. Farther, a second canoe full of armed men
issued out from the rushes behind us, as U' with a
view to cut off our retreat, and the one in front ad
vanced upon us, hemming us in. To retreat toge
ther seemed our only chance ; but it was getting
dark, and my boats were badly manned. I gave
the order to close together and retire, offering am
munition as an incentive, and aU came to me but
one boat, which seemed so paralyzed with fright it

260 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
kept spinning round and round Uke a crippled
duck." Some of Speke's men fired and shot two of the
attacking party, which then retreated, and the
canoes returned up the river to their starting-point.
Soon afterwards Bombay arrived, having been driven
away from the same viUage. The boatmen refused
to undertake the voyage, and Speke was forced, to
his great disappointment, to set out for Unyoro by
land. On reaching the Luajerri branch of the NUe,
he was astounded by the intelligence that Grant was
encamped not far off, having returned from Kamra
si's capital. On the 19th, after two days' search,
he was found. He had waited many days in Un
yoro, without receiving any answer to his requests,
and finaUy been ordered to leave the country.
On hearing this information, Budja, the Waganda
officer, who accompanied the expedition, refused to
go further ; but in the midst of the debate, Kidg
wiga, Kamrasi's officer, whom Speke had seen at
King Mtesa's court, suddenly made his appearance,
with a friendly invitation from Kamrasi himself, and
the news that the strangers were stUl waiting in
Gani, the country north of Unyoro. The way for
ward was again clear. On the 23rd of August
Speke writes : " To-day I felt very thankful to get
across the much- vexed boundary line and enter Un
yoro, guided by Kamrasi's deputation of officers,"
and so shake -off the apprehensions which had
teased us for so many days. This first march was
a picture of aU the country to its capital : an inter
minable forest of small" trees, bush, and taU grass,

THE WHITE NILE. 267
with scanty vUlages, low huts, and dirty-looking
people clad in skins ; the plantain, sweet potato,
sesamum, and ulezi (mihet) forming the chief edibles,
besides goats and fowls ; whUe the cows, which are
reported to be numerous, being kept, as everywhere
else where pasture-lands are good, by the wander
ing, unsociable Wahuma, are seldom seen. No hUls,
except a few scattered cones, disturb the level sur
face of the land, and no pretty views ever cheer the
eye. Uganda is now entirely left behind ; we shaU
not see its like again ; for the farther one leaves the
equator, and the rain-attracting influences of the
Mountains of the Moon, vegetation decreases pro
portionately with the distance."
They had not traveUed more than 25 mUes,
making very short marches, when Budja insisted on
going back to Uganda, and taking the travellers
with him. The latter positively refused, whereupon,
on the 1st of September, he left them with aU his
men, and they trusted themselves entirely in Kidg-
wiga's hands. Their treatment was friendly, but
the marches were very slow, and so many messages
were sent in advance to king Kamrasi, that they
were delayed more than a week, within a dozen
miles of the capital. FinaUy, on the 9th of Septem
ber, the order came and they hurried forwards.
Issuing from the jungle they saw the mountains of
Kidi, to the northward, and near at hand the great
king's palace, on a low tongue of land, between the
Kafue River and the White NUe, in lat. 1° 37' N, and
long. 32° 19' E. The palace was a large, dumpy
hut, surrounded by a number of smaUer ones, and

268 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
the worst royal residence they had seen since leav
ing Uzinza.
Instead of being received by the king, they were
placed in some miserable huts, and presented with
a smaU stock of flour. Five days more passed in
tedious consultations, when Speke, tired and dis
gusted with the delay and with their wretched
lodging, sent a messenger to say that if their resi
dence was not changed at once, both Grant and
himself had made up their minds to cut off their
hair and blacken their faces, so that the king should
have no more cause to fear them. Ignoring his
claims to imperial rank, Speke asserted that Kam
rasi's reasons for thus treating them must be fear :
it could be nothing else. This message acted hke
magic: Kamrasi fully believed they would do as
they said, and disappoint him altogether of the
strange sight of white men.
He sent word at once that they must on no ac
count change their complexion. They were con- •
ducted to much better quarters, and regaled with
Beer, fowls and plantains. Nevertheless, four days
more elapsed before they were summoned to visit
the king, who in the meantime prohibited any of
his subjects from looking upon their faces. Cross
ing the Kafue River to the palace, they were sur
prised to find a new hut built for their reception, in
a retired spot, out of sight of the multitude. " With
in this," says Speke, " sitting on a low wooden
stool placed upon a double matting of skins — cows'
below and leopards' above — on an elevated platform
of grass, was the great king Kamrasi, looking, en-

ANIMALS STARTLED WHILE DRINKING IN THE NILE.

THE WHITE NILE. 269
shrouded in his mbugu dress, for all the world like
a pope in state — calm and actionless. One bracelet
of fine-twisted brass wire adorned his left wrist, and
his hair, half an inch long, was worked up into
smaU peppercorn-like knobs by rubbing the hand
circularly over the crown of the head. His eyes
were long, face narrow, and nose prominent, after
the true fashion of his breed ; and though a finely-
made man, considerably above six feet high, he was
not so large as Rumanika. A cowskin, stretched
out and fastened to the roof, acted as a canopy to
prevent dust faUing, and a curtain of mbugu con
cealed the lower parts of the hut, in front of
which, on both sides of the king, sat about a do
zen head men."
The king's manner was friendly, and he interposed
no objection to their request to be furnished with
men to proceed to Gani. He received the presents
with evident satisfaction, but Speke soon discovered
that he was determined to obtain possession of
his only remaining chronometer. Two days af
terwards, fortunately, some natives of Gani ar
rived at the capital, and reported that there were
strangers on the borders of their country, waiting
for the arrival of white men from "the south. Speke
was convinced that this must be Petherick's relief
expedition, and by sacrificing his chronometer, pro
cured permission for Bombay to accompany the
Gani men on ther return. He hoped by this means
both to secure his own advance northwards, and to
obtain a fresh stock of supplies. Bombay set out
on the 22nd, expecting to be back in a fortnight.

270 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
More than a month passed away, however, and
the explorers began to suffer seriously. Their anx
iety on Bombay's account, the uncertainty of their
situation, the unhealthy climate of the place, and
the annoyances to which they were continuaUy
snbjected by Kamrasi's endeavors to obtain every
valuable object they possessed, were a severe trial
both of strength and patience. Speke's diary of
aU these troubles contains- many matters of inter
est, but we can only give his account of giving Kam
rasi a Bible lesson. On the 29th of October he
writes :
" To-day I met Kamrasi at his new reception-
palace on this side the Kafue — taking a Bible to ex
plain aU I fancied I knew about the origin and pre
sent condition of the Wahuma branch of the Ethio
pians, begining with Adam, to show how it was the
king had heard by tradition that at one time the
people of his race were half white and half black.
Then, proceeding with the Flood, I pointed out that
the Europeans remained white, retaining Japhet's
blood ; while the Arabs are tawny, after Shem ;
and the Africans black, after Ham. And, finally,
to show the greatness of the tribe, I read the 14th
chapter of 2d Chronicles, in which it is written how
Zerah, the Ethiopean, with a host of a thousand
thousand, met the Jew Asa with a large army, in the
valley of Zephathah, near Mareshah ; adding to it
that again, at a much later date, we find the Ethio
pians battling with the Arabs in the Somali country
and with the Arabs and Portuguese at Omwita
(Mombas) — in aU of which places they have taken

THE WHITE NILE 271
possession of certain tracts of land, and left their
sons to people it.
" To explain the way in which the type or phys
ical features of people undergo great changes by
interbreeding, Mtesa was instanced as having lost
nearly every feature of his Mhuma blood by the
kings of Uganda having been produced, probably for
several generations running, of Wagandi mothers.
This amused Kamrasi greatly, and induced me to
inquire how his purity of blood was maintained :
'Was the King of Unyoro chosen, as in Uganda,
haphazard by the chief men, or did the eldest son
sit by succession on the throne ? ' The reply was,
' The brothers fought for it, and the best man
gained the crown.'
" Kamrasi then began counting the leaves of the
Bible, an amusement that every negro that gets
hold of a book indulges in ; and, concluding in his
mind that each page or leaf represented one year
of time since the beginning of creation, continued
his labor tiU one quarter of the way through the
book, and then only shut it up on being told, if he
desired to ascertain the number more closely, he
had better count the words.
" On the 1st of November, Bombay at last ar
rived with Mabruki in high glee, dressed in cotton
jumpers and drawers, presents given them by Pe-
therick's outpost. Petherick himseU was not there.
The journey to and fro was performed in fourteen
days' actual travelling, the rest of the time being
frittered away by the guides. The jemadar of the
guard said he commanded two hundred Turks, and

272 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
had orders to wait for me, without any limits as to
time, until I should arrive, when Petherick's name
would be pointed out to me cut on a tree, but as no
one in camp could read my letter, they were doubt
ful whether we were the party they were looking
out for."
Kamrasi had now no reason for detaining them
longer ; but he endeavored, on various pretexts, to
delay their departure. He must first send men, to
make their journey safe through the intervening
country of Kidi ; he must ask them many more
questions, and decide upon the presents they should
send him ; with much more, of the same character.
Speke's patience finally gave way, and he refused
to receive some spears which the king sent to him,
unless immediate preparations were made for their
departure. His determined attitude, together with
the promise of sending more presents back from
Gani, induced the king to give Kidwiga as a guide,
and to aUow them to leave, on the 9th of Novem
ber. Two days before, they had an audience of
leave. The evening before starting, the king seemed en
tirely to disregard their comfort on the journey,
they made a request for cows, butter, and coffee ; in
answer to which they only got ten cows, the other
things not being procurable without delay. Twen
ty-four men were appointed to escort them and
bring back their presents from Gani, which were to
be — six carbines, with a magazine of ammunition, a
large brass or iron water-pot, a hair-brush, lucifers
a dinner-knife, and many other things procurable
that had never been seen in Unyoro.

CHAPTER XVIII.
SPEKE. — SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF THE JOUENEX.
WE were now expected to march again."
says Speke, " but, being anxious myself to
see more of the river, before starting, I obtained
leave to go by boat as far as the river was naviga
ble, sending our cattle by land. To this concession
was accompanied a request for a few more gun-caps,
and Uberty was given us to seize any pombe which
might be found coming on the river in boats, for the
supphes io the palace all come in this manner. We
then took boat again, an immense canoe, and, after
going a short distance, emerged from the Kafue, and
found ourselves on what at first appeared a long
lake, averaging from two hundred at first to one
thousand yards broad, before the day's work was
out ; but this was the Nile again, navigable in this
way from Urondogani.
" Both sides were fringed with the huge papyrus
rush. The left one was low and swampy, while the
right one — in which the Kidi people and Wanyoro
occasionally hunt — rose from the water in a gently
sloping bank, covered with trees and beautiful con-

274 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
volvuli, which hung in festoons. Floating islands,
composed of rush, grass, and ferns, were continuaUy
in motion, working their way slowly down the stream,
and proving to us that the Nile was in full flood.
On one occasion we saw hippopotami, which our
men said came to the surface because we had do
mestic fowls on board, supposing them to have an
antipathy to that bird. Boats there were, which the
sailors gave chase to ; but, as they had no Uquor,
they were aUowed to go their way, and the saUors,
instead, set to lifting baskets and taking fish from
the snares which fishermen, who live in smaU huts
among the rushes, had laid for themselves."
For eight days, Speke and Grant, in canoes,
slowly floated down the stream, passing through the
same beautiful but unchanging scenery, and being
obliged to keep pace with the porters and cattle on
the shore, which were conducted by the friendly
Kidgwiga. Before reaching the Karuma FaUs, they
were compeUed to leave the canoes and'join the
land party. The country, they found, was highly
cultivated. " The sand-paper tree, whose leaves re
semble a cat's tongue in roughness, and which is
used in Uganda for polishing their clubs and spear-
handles, was conspicuous ; but at the end of the
journey only was there anything of much interest to
be seen. There suddenly, in a deep ravine one hun
dred yards below us, the formerly placid river, up
which vessels of moderate size might steam two or
three abreast, was now changed into a turbulent tor
rent. Beyond lay the land of Kidi, a forest of mi
mosa-trees, rising gently away from the water in

Ill* ! I

^^i^llll!'' • m

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY 275
soft clouds of green. This the governor of the
place, Kija, described as a sporting-field, where ele
phants, hippopotami, and buffalo are hunted by the
occupants of both sides of the river."
At the Karuma FaUs, or rather rapids, the White
NUe is crossed by a chain of rocky islets, between
which the water pours as through sluices, with a
slanting faU of ten or twelve feet. Below them the
river must be crossed, and as the country of Kidi,
on the opposite shore, was represented to be an
uninhabited wUderness, the party halted two days
to lay in a stock of fish and flour. The crossing
occupied another day, after which they formed a
camp on the northern bank, and waited for the
porters promised by Kamrasi. Only twenty-five
arrived, but these, with the twenty free foUowers of
Speke, and thirty-five of Kidgwiga's men, made a
total of 78 souls in the caravan.
The wUderness of Kidi is a country of swamps,
thickly overgrown with jungle and grasses so taU
that they exclude the view. The only signs of man
were in the caravan traU, which is frequently lost,
and an occasional hut or two, the temporary quar
ters of the Kidi hunters. The marches did not
average more than five or six mUes a day ; the wea
ther was duU and rainy, and whenever Speke suc
ceeded in shooting a buffalo, the native porters in
sisted on devouring the carcass before proceeding
further. On the seventh day the weather became fine, and
the guides announced that they were approaching
the viUage of Koki, in the country of Gani. " At

276 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
length," says Speke, " we reached the habitations of
men — a collection of conical huts on the ridge of a
smaU chain of granitic hills lying northwest. As
we approached the southern extremity of this chain,
knots of naked men, perched like monkeys on the
granite blocks, were anxiously watching our arrival.
The guides, foUowing. the usages of the country, in
stead of aUowing us to mount the hiU and look out
for accommodation at once, desired us to halt, and
sent on a messenger to inform Chongi, the governor
general, that we were visitors from Kamrasi, who
desired he would take care of us and forward us to
our brothers. This Mercury brought forth a hearty
welcome." The chief received them with the greatest hospi
tality, the people were friendly, and they halted
three days to rest and recruit. A guide was pro
mised who would conduct them across the country,
in one long day's march to the camp of the " ele
phant-hunters," which Speke understood to mean
Petherick's expedition. Starting on the 2nd of De
cember, the porters who had come through the
wUderness refused to carry any loads, and Speke
was obliged to hire natives from village to village.
This obliged him to stop at Mudua, a village in the
Madi country, that night. The next day, a march
of two or three hours brought them -to Faloro, the
chief of which insisted on their stopping to drink
beer with him, but Speke's haste to reach Petherick's
camp was all the greater now that the end appeared
to be so near. I
"Half my men, however," he says, '"did stop

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY. 277
there, but with the other half Grant and I went on ;
and, as the sun was setting, we came in sight of
what we thought was Petherick's outpost, N. lat.
3° 10' 33", and E. long. 31° 50' 45". My men, as
happy as we were ourselves, now begged I would
allow them to fire their guns, and prepare the Turks
for our reception. Crack, bang, went their carbines,
and in another instant crack, bang, was heard from
the northerners' camp, when, hke a swarm of bees,
every height and other conspicuous place was
covered with men. Our hearts leaped with an ex
citement of joy only known to those who have es
caped from long-continued banishment among bar
barians once more to meet with civilized people
and join old friends. Every minute increased this
excitement. We saw three large red flags heading
a military procession, which marched out of the
camp with drums and fifes playing. I halted and
aUowed them to draw near. When they did so, a
very black man, named Mahamed, in full Egyptian
regimentals, with a curved sword, ordered his regi
ment to halt, and threw himself into my arms, en
deavoring to hug and kiss me. Rather staggered at
this unexpected manifestation of affection, which
was Uke a conjunction of the two hemispheres, I
gave him a squeeze in return for his hug, but raised
my head above the reach of his hps, and asked who
was his master. 'Petrik,' was the reply. 'And
where is Petherick now ?' ' Oh, he is coming.'
' How is it you have not got EngUsh colors, then ?'
' The colo?s are at Debono's.' ' Who is Debono ?'
' The same as Petrik ; but come along into my camp,

278 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
and let us talk it out there ;' saying which Mahamed
ordered his regiment (a ragamuffin mixture of
Nubians, Egyptians, and slaves of aU sorts, about
two hundred in number) to rightabout, and we were
guided by him, while his men kept up an incessant
drumming and firing, presenting arms and firing,
until' we reached his huts, situated in a viUage kept
exactly in the same order as that of the natives.
Mahamed then gave us two beds to sit upon, and
ordered his wives to advance on their knees and
give us coffee, while other men brought pombe, and
prepared us a dinner of bread and honey, and mut
ton." In answer to Speke's eager inquiries, Mahamed
assured him that Petherick was at Gondokoro, but
that it was impossible for him now to reach that
place, as no porters could be had. Speke deter
mined to push on with Kidgwiga and his men, and
guides were promised ; but at the end of four or
five days, the former party deserted and partly re
fused to advance. No native guides would take
service with the party : in short, Mahamed had de
termined that he would keep the traveUers with him
as an addition to his strength, until he had coUected
his ivory, and it was easy for him, with his know
ledge of the natives, to accomphsh his object.
Kidgwiga and his men therefore took their leave,
bearing such presents as could be procured, for
king Kamrasi, and Speke and Grant werfe obliged to
content themselves with living in the Turkish camp,
writing up their notes, adding to their scientific col
lections, and hunting game, until it should be pos-

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY. 279
sible to move northwards. Speke proposed a trip
to the westward, to visit the Nile ; but, although the
river was within 30 miles of the camp, the Turks all
declared that it was a journey of ten or twelve days
through a dangerous country, and refused to fur
nish guides.
FinaUy, on the 11th of January, 1863, after a de
lay of more than a month, Speke and Grant started
with their own men. They walked over fine, rolling
grassy plains, and on the third day reached a vU
lage caUed Paira, in sight of the NUe. It was in
appearance a noble stream, flowing on a flat bed
from west to east, and immediately beyond it were
the mountains of Kuku, rising to a height of 2,000
feet. On the 15th they reached Apuddo, and at
once went to see the tree, upon which, according to
the natives, an EngUshman had cut his name, some
time before. "There, sure enough," says Speke,
" was a mark, something Uke the letters M. I., on
its bark, but not distinct enough to be ascertained,
because the bark had healed up. In describing the
individual who had done this, the Turks said he was
exactly Uke myself, for he had a long beard, and a
voice even much resembling mine. He came thus
far with Mahamed from Gondokoro two years ago,
and then returned, because he was alarmed at the
accounts the people gave of the countries to the
southward, and he did not like the prospect* of
haying to remain a whole rainy season with Ma
hamed at Faloro. He knew we were endeavoring
to come this way, and directed Mahamed to point
out his name if we did so."

280 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
At Apuddo they were obliged to remain until
the end of January, finding it impossible to go on
without Mahamed's party. On the 1st of Februa
ry they went ahead again, and in a few hours
reached the Nile, at the point where it is joined
by the Asua River, a tributary which comes down
from the unknown eastern regions, in Lat. 3°, 42',
North. Fording the latter river they kept on,
over rolling country, covered in some places with
bush-jungle, in others with villages, on the eastern
bank of the Nile, and on the 11th reached the
frontier of the Bari country, where the natives
told them that three white .men had just arrived in
vessels at Gondokoro.
Mahamed's company of porters, with their own
men, and the camp-followers, made a body of near
ly a thousand persons, so that they were entirely se
cure against attacks from the hostile and warlike
Bari tribe. Pushing on by degrees, on the 14th of
February, they again came in sight of the NUe, and
put up at a station called Doro, within a short dis
tance of the Mountain of Rijeb, where the travel
lers up the White NUe from Egypt are in the ha
bit of cutting their names. The country continued
to be undulating and beautiful to the eye ; but the
grass was becoming shorter and finer every day, so
much so that Speke's men all declared that it was
a sign of their near approach to Englaiid.
That night there was an attack — on rather the
menace of one — from the Bari, but tl\e Turkish
guards were vigilant, and the savages omy howled,
brandished their spears, and set fire to\ the dry

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY. 281
grass. " We slept the night out, nevertheless,"
writes Speke, " and next morning walked in to Gon
dokoro, N. lat. 4° 54' 5", and E. long. 31° 46' 9",
where Mahamed, after firing a salute, took us in to
see a Circassian merchant, named Kurshid Agha.
Our first inquiry was, of course, for Petherick. A
mysterious sUence ensued ; we were informed that
Mr. Debono was the man we had to thank for the
assistance we had received in coming from Madi ;
and then in hot haste, after warm exchanges of
greeting with Mahamed's friend, who was Debo-
no's agent here, we took leave, to hunt up Pethe
rick. Walking down the bank of the river —
where a line of vessels was moored, and on the
right hand a few sheds, one haU broken down,
with a brick-buUt house representing the late Aus
trian Church Mission establishment — we saw hur
rying on toward us the form of an EngUshman,
who for one moment we believed was the Simon
Pure ; but the next moment my old friend Ba
ker, famed for his sports in Ceylon, seized me by
the hand. A little boy of his establishment had
reported our arrival, and he in an instant came out
to welcome us. What joy this was I can hardly
teU. We could not talk fast enough, so over
whelmed were we both to meet again. Of course
we were his guests in a moment, and learned every
thing that could be told. I now first heard of
the death of H. R. H. the Prince Consort, which
made me reflect on the inspiring words he made
use of, in comphment to myself, whan I^vas in
troduced to him by Sir Roderick Murchison a

282 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
short while before leaving England. Then there
was the terrible war in America, and other events
of less startling nature, which came on us all by
surprise, as years had now passed since we had re
ceived news from the civilized world.
" Baker then said he had come up with three ves
sels — one dyabir and two nuggers — fully equipped
with armed men, camels, horses, donkeys, beads,
brass wire, and everything necessary for a long
journey, expressly to look after us, hoping, as he
jokingly said, to find us on the equator in some ter
rible fix, that he might have the pleasure of help
ing us out of it. He had heard of Mahamed's
party, and was actually waiting for him to como in,
that ho might have had the use of his return-men
to start with comfortably. Three Dutch ladies,*
also, with a view to assist us in the same was as
Baker (God bless them) had come here in a
steamer, but were driven back to Khartoum by
sickness. Nobody had even dreamed for a mo
ment it was possible we could come through. An
Italian, named Miani, had gone farther up the Nile
than any one else ; and he, it now transpired, was
the man who had cut hts name on the tree by
Apuddo. But what had become of Petherick ? He
was actually trading at Nyambara, seventy miles
due west of this, though he had, since I left him
in England, raised a subscription of £1,000 from
those of my friends to whom this Journal is most
* The Baroness Miss A. van Capellan, and Mrs. and Miss
Tinne".

CONCLUSION OF THE JOURNEY. 283
respectfully dedicated as the smallest return a
grateful heart can give for their attempt to suc
cor me, when knowing the fate of the expedition
was in great jeopardy."
Speke remained eleven days in Gondokoro, living
with Baker, who, having come so far and prepared
himseU so thoroughly, was desirous of going on and
adding something to the former's discoveries. Speke,
therefore, suggested that he should explore the
course of the White NUe between the Karuma
Rapids and the point where himseU and Grant had
found it coming from the west, near the junction of
the Asua, and especiaUy to endeavor to reach the
lake, or marsh, which the natives caUed Luta Uzige.
Ho gave Baker an account of his understanding
with king Kamrasi, and an order for the property he
had left there.
Two days before Speke and Grant left Gondokoro,
Petherick arrived, having been collecting ivory in
the country of the Nj'am-Nyams, to the westward
of the White NUe, instead of attempting to reach
the explorers. On the 26th of February, 1863, the
latter sailed for Khartoum in Baker's vessel, taking
with them Bombay and the seventeen men who had
faithfully foUowed them from Zanzibar, with four
native women. They all reached Cairo in safety, in
the summer, when the " Faithfuls," as they were
now called, were sent by way of Aden back to Zan
zibar, laden with presents ; while Speke and Grant
hastened to England, to lay their reports before the
Royal Geographical Society.

284 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Shortly after the pubUcation of the narrative of
his extraordinary journey, Speke was accidentaUy
kiUed in England by the discharge of his own mus
ket, whUe hunting.

SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER.

CHAPTER XIX.
BAKEB STABTS IN SEARCH OF SPEKE AND FINDS HIM.
IN March, 1861, Mr. Samuel White Baker under
took an expedition into Central Africa, in the
hope of meeting Speke and Grant somewhere on the
head waters of the White NUe. He was an old
friend of the former, whom he had known in India ;
like him he was a mighty hunter, and a residence of
eight years in Ceylon had inured his system to the
tropical climate. He set out on his journey, not
only without the support or encouragement of the
Royal Geographical Society, but without making his
intention pubUcly known.
In Cairo he made the acquaintance of a Swedish
lady, whose courage and enthusiasm were equal to
his own. They were married, and she became his
sole companion in aU the dangers which foUowed.
" I weighed carefuUy the chances of the undertak
ing," he says, in the introduction to his narrative.
" Before me — untrodden Africa ; against me — the
obstacles that had defeated the world since its cre
ation ; on my side — a somewhat tough constitution,
perfect independence, a long experience in savage

286 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
life, and both time and means which I intended to
devote to the object without limit. England had
never sent an expedition to the Nile sources pre
vious to that under the command of Speke and
Grant. Bruce, ninety years ago, had succeeded in
tracing the source of the Blue or Lesser Nile : thus
the honor of that discovery belonged to Great
Britain ; Speke was on his road from the south ;
and I felt confident that my gallant friend would
leave his bones upon the path rather than submit to
faUure. I trusted that England would not be
beaten ; and although I hardly dared to hope that
I could succeed where others greater than I had
failed, I determined to sacrifice aU in the attempt.
Had I been alone it would have been no hard lot to
die upon the untrodden path before me, but there
was one who, although my greatest comfort, was
also my greatest care ; one whose life yet dawned
at so early an age that womanhood was stUl a fu
ture. I shuddered at the prospect for her, should
she be left alone in savage lands at my death ; and
gladly would I have left her in the luxuries of home
instead of exposing her to the miseries of Africa.
It was in vain that I implored her to remain, and
that I painted the difficulties and perils still blacker
than I supposed they really would be ; she was re
solved, with woman's constancy and devotion, to
share all dangers and to follow me through each
rough footstep of the wild life before me."
Thus, accompanied by his wife, Baker saUed up
the Nile from Cairo, on the 15th of AprU, 1861.
' About the first of June he reached that large town

BAKER IN SEARCH OF SPEKE. 287
of Berber in Ethiopia, within eight days' journey
of Khartoum, at the junction of the Blue and
White Niles. Here his plan of travel was changed.
He says :
" From the slight experience I had gained in
the journey to Berber, I felt convinced that success
in my Nile expedition would be impossible with
out a knowledge of Arabic. My dragoman had me
completely in his power, and I resolved to become
independent of aU interpreters as soon as possi
ble. I therefore arranged a plan of exploration for
the first year, to embrace the affluents to the Nile
from the Abyssinian range of mountains, intending
to follow up the Atbara river from its junction with
the NUe in lat. 17° 37' (twenty mUes south of
Berber,) and to examine all the Nile tributaries
from the southeast as far as the Blue Nile, which
river I hoped ultimately to descend to Khartoum.
I imagined that twelve months would be sufficient
to complete such an exploration, by which time I
should have gained a sufficient knowledge of Arabic
to enable me to start from Khartoum for my White
NUe expedition."
This plan was successfully carried out, exactly as
he had designed it. He explored the Atbara and
its affluents, to the mountains of Abyssinia, acquired
a good knowledge of Arabic, and arrived safely at
Khartoum on the 11th of June, 1862. Here he
was detained six months, partly by the necessity of
waiting for the proper season for ascending the
White NUe, and partly by the hostility of Moussa
Pasha, the Egyptian Governor of Soudan, to his

288 LAKE REGIONS OF .CENTRAL AFRICA.
expedition. But the opposition of the government
only stimulated Baker's energy ; his private means
were ample, and in a few weeks he succeeded in
manning and provisioning three large vessels. He
had forty sailors and forty-five armed men as escort
— with the servants, a party of ninety-six. As
head man he engaged a German carpenter named
Johann Schmidt, who was unfortunately far gone
in consumption, and died in a few weeks.
Everything being finally in readiness, Baker
started on the 18th of December, a Thursday,
which is one of the most lucky days for a start, ac
cording to Arab superstition. " On passing the
steamer belonging to the Dutch ladies, Madame van
Capellan, and her charming daughter, Mademoiselle
Tinne, we saluted them with a volley, and kept up
a mutual waving of handkerchiefs untU out of view ;
little did we think that we should never meet those
kind faces again, and that they should meet so
dreadful a fate."^
Baker's voyage up the White NUe belongs to an
other field of travel, and his account of it need not
be repeated here. His experiences of the native
tribes, and his impressions of the scenery and
cUmate, were very much the same as those of his
predecessors. On the last day of the year, Schmidt
died, and was buried on the shore, in the ShiUook
country. During the month of January, 1863,
* The entire party died of fever on the White Nile, excepting
Mademoiselle Tinne". The victims to the fatal climate of Central
Africa were Madame la Baronne van Capellan, her sister, two
Dutch maid-servants, Dr. Steudner, and Signor Contarini.

BAKER IN SEARCH OF SPEKE. 289
Baker pushed southward, passing the Gazelle Lake,
and the lands of the Nuehrs and Kyks, and on the
2nd of February arrived safely at the trading-post
of Gondokoro. The horses and camels he brought
with him were landed from the boats in excellent
condition, and the supplies, which had been weU
husbanded, seemed ample for his purpose.
At this time nothing had been heard from Speke
since he left Kazeh, two years before. " In conver
sing with the traders at Gondokoro," says Baker,
" and assuring them that my object was entirely
confined to a search for the NUe sources, and an
inquiry for Speke and Grant, I heard a curious re
port that had been brought down by the natives
from the interior, that at some great distance to the
south there were two white men who had been for
a long time prisoners of a sultan ; and that these
had wonderful fireworks ; that both had been very
ill, and that one had died. It was in vain that
I endeavored to obtain some further clue to this
exciting report. There was a rumor that some
native had a piece of wood with marks upon it that
had belonged to the white men ; but upon inquiry
I found that this account was only a report given
by some distant tribe. Nevertheless, I attached
great importance to the rumor, as there was no
white man south of Gondokoro engaged in the
ivory trade ; therefore there was a strong probabil
ity that the report had some connection with the
existence of Speke and Grant. I had heard, when
at Khartoum, that the most advanced trading sta
tion was about fifteen days' march from Gondo-

290 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
koro, and my plan of operations had always pro
jected a direct advance to that station, where I had
intended to leave aU my heavy baggage in depot,
and to proceed from thence as a " point de depart "
to the south. I now understood that the party
were expected to arrive at Gondokoro from that
station with ivory in a few days, and I determined
to wait for their arrival, and to return with them in
company. Their ivory porters returning, might
carry my baggage, and thus save the backs of my
transport animals.
" I had been waiting at Gondokoro twelve days,
expecting the arrival of Debono's party from the
south, with whom I wished to return. Suddenly,
on the 15th of February, I heard the rattle of mus
ketry at a great distance, and a dropping fire from
the south. To give an idea of the moment I must
extract verbatim from my journal as written at the
time. ' Guns firing in the distance ; Debono's ivory
porters arriving, for whom I have waited. My men
rushed madly to my boat, with the report that two
white men were with them who had come from the
sea ! Could they be Speke and Grant ? Off I ran,
and soon met them in reality. Hurrah for old Eng
land ! they had come from the Victoria Nyanza,
from which the Nile springs. . . The mystery of ages
solved. With my pleasure of meeting them is
the one disappointment, that I had not met them
farther on the road in my search for them ; how
ever, the satisfaction is, that my previous arrange
ments had been such as would have insured my
finding them had they been in a fix ... . My pro-

BAKER IN SEARCH OF SPEKE. 291
jeeted route would have brought me vis-a-vis with
them, as they had come from the lake by the course
I had proposed to take .... All my men perfectly
mad with excitement : firing salutes as usual with
ball cartridge, they shot one of my donkeys ; a
melancholy sacrifice as an offering at the com
pletion of this geographical discovery."
" When I first met them they were walking along
the bank of the river towards my boats. At a dis
tance of about a hundred yards I recognized my old
friend Speke, and with a heart beating with joy I
took off my cap and gave a welcome hurrah ! as I
ran towards him. For the moment he did not re
cognize me ; ten years' growth of beard and mous
tache had worked a change ; and as I was totaUy
unexpected, my sudden appearance in the centre of
Africa appeared to him incredible. I hardly re
quired an introduction to his companion, as we felt
already acquainted, and after the transports of this
happy meeting we walked together to my diahbiah ;
my men surrounding us with smoke and noise by
keeping up an unremitting fire of musketry the
whole way. We were shortly seated on deck under
the awning, and such rough fare as could be hastily
prepared was set before these two ragged, careworn
specimens of African travel, whom I looked upon
with feelings of pride as my own countrymen. As
a good ship arrives in harbor, battered and torn by
a long and stormy voyage, yet sound in her frame
and seaworthy to the last, so both these gaUant
traveUers arrived at Gondokoro. Speke appeared
the more worn of the two ; hewas excessively lean,

292 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
but in reality he was in good tough condition ; he had
walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never having
once ridden during that wearying march. Grant
was in honorable rags ; his bare knees projecting
through the remnants of trowsers that were an ex
hibition of rough industry in tailor's work. He was
looking tired and feverish, but both men had a fire
in the eye that showed the spirit that had led them
through. " They wished to leave Gondokoro as soon as
possible, en route for England, but delayed their de
parture until the moon should be in a position for
an observation for determining the longitude. My
boats were fortunately engaged by me for five
months, thus Speke and Grant could take charge of
them to Khartoum.
" At the first blush on meeting them I had con
sidered my expedition as terminated by having met
them, and by their having accomplished the dis
covery of the Nile source ; but upon my congratu
lating them with all my heart, upon the honor they
had so nobly earned, Speke and Grant with cha
racteristic candor and generosity gave me a map
of their route, showing that they had been unable
to complete the actual exploration of the Nile, and
that a most important portion still remained to be
determined. It appeared that in N. lat. 2° 17', they
had crossed the NUe, which they had tracked from
the Victoria Lake ; but the river, which from its
exit from that lake had a northern course, turned
suddenly to the west from Karuma FaUs (the point
• at which they crossed it at lat. 2° 17'). They did

BAKER IN SEARCH OF SPEKE. 293
not see the NUe again until they arrived in N. lat.
3° 32', which was then flowing from the W.S.W.
The natives and the King of Unyoro (Kamrasi) had
assured them that the Nile from the Victoria Nyan
za, which they had crossed at Karuma, flowed west
ward for several days' journey, and at length fell
into a large lake called the Luta Nzige ; that this
lake came from the south, and that the Nile on en
tering the northern extremity almost immediately
made its exit, and as a navigable river continued its
course to the north, through the Koshi and Madi
countries. Both Speke and Grant attached great
importance to this lake Luta Nzige, and the former
was much annoyed that it had been* impossible for
them to carry out the exploration. He foresaw
that stay-at-home geographers, who, with a com
fortable arm-chair to sit in, travel so easUy with
their fingers on a map, would ask him why he had
not gone from such a place to such a place ? why
he had not foUowed the Nile to the Luta Nzige lake,
and from the lake to Gondokoro ? As it happened,
it was impossible for Speke and Grant to foUow the
NUe from Karuma : — the tribes were fighting with
Kamrasi, and no strangers could have got through
the country. Accordingly they procured their in
formation most carefully, completed their map, and
laid down the reported lake in its supposed posi
tion, showing the NUe. as both influent and effluent
precisely as had been explained by the natives.
"Speke expressed his conviction that the Luta
Nzige must be a second source of the Nile, and that
geographers would be dissatisfied that he had not

294 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
explored it. To me this was most gratifying. I
had been much disheartened at the idea that the
great work was accomplished, and that nothing re
mained for exploration ; I even said to Speke,
' Does not one leaf of the laurel remain for me ?' I
now heard that the field was not only open, but
that an additional interest was given to the explo
ration by the proof that the Nile flowed out of one
great lake, the Victoria, but that it evidently must
derive an additional supply from an unknown lake
as it entered it at the northern extremity, while the
body of the lake came from the south. The fact
of a great body of water such as the Luta Nzige
extending in a direct line from south to north, while
the general system of drainage of the Nile was
from the same direction, showed most conclusively,
that the -Luta Nzige, if it existed in the form as
sumed, must have an important position in the basin
of the Nile.
" My expedition had naturaUy been rather costly,
and being in excellent order it would have been
heartbreaking to have returned fruitlessly. I there
fore arranged immediately for my departure, and
Speke most kindly wrote in my journal such in
structions as might be useful.
" We vere now aU ready to start. Speke and
Grant, and their party of twenty-two people, for
Egypt, and I in the opposite direction. At this
season there were many boats at Gondokoro belong
ing to the traders' parties, among which were four
belonging to Mr. Petherick, three of which were
open cargo boats, and one remarkably nice diahbiah,

BAKER IN SEARCH OF SPEKE. 295
named the ' Kathleen,' that was waiting for Mrs. Pe
therick and her husband, who were supposed to be at
their trading station, the Niambara, about seventy
miles west of Gondokoro ; but no accounts had been
heard of them. On the 20th of February they sud
denly arrived from the Niambara, with their people
and ivory, and were surprised at seeing so large a
party of English in so desolate a spot. It is a
curious circumstance, that although many Europeans
had been as far south as Gondokoro, I was the first
Englishman that had ever reached it. We now
formed a party of four.
" On the 26th of February, Speke and Grant sailed
from Gondokoro. Our hearts were too fuU to say
more than a short ' God bless you !' They had
won their victory ; my work lay all before me. I
watched their boat until it turned the corner, and
wished them in my heart all honor for their great
achievement. I trusted to sustain the name they
had won for English perseverance, . and I looked
forward to meeting them again in dear old England,
when I should have completed the work we had so
warmly planned together."

CHAPTER XX.
BAKER. — THE MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA.
BAKER made immediate preparations for re
turning on the line of Speke's and Grant's
march. On weighing his supphes, he found that
they amounted to fifty-four hundred weight. He
therefore applied to Mahamed, the vakeel or agent
of the trader Debono, who had escorted the two
explorers from his camp in Faloro, to Gondokoro,
and begged his cooperation in the expedition.
" These people," Baker writes, " had brought down
a large quantity of ivory from the interior, and had
therefore a number of porters who would return
empty-handed ; I accordingly arranged with Ma
hamed for fifty porters, who would much relieve
the backs of my animals from Gondokoro to the
station at Faloro, about twelve days' march. At
Faloro I intended to leave my heavy baggage in de
pot, and to proceed direct to Kamrasi's country. I
promised Mahamed that I would use my influence
in all new countries that I might discover, to open a
road for his ivory trade, provided that he would
agree to conduct it by legitimate purchase, and I

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 297
gave him a Ust of the quality of beads most desir
able for Kamrasi's country, according to the descrip
tion I had received from Speke.
" Mahamed promised to accompany me, not
only to his camp at Faloro, but throughout the
whole of my expedition, provided that I would
assist him in procuring ivory, and that I would give
him a handsome. present. AU was agreed upon,
and my own men appeared in high spirits at the
prospect of joining so large a party as that of Ma
hamed, which mustered about two hundred men.
" At that time I reaUy placed dependence upon
the professions of Mahamed and his people ; they
had just brought Speke and Grant with them, and
had received from them presents of a first-class
double-barreUed gun and several valuable rifles. I
had promised not only to assist them in their ivory
expeditions, but to give them something very hand
some in addition, and the fact of my having, up
wards of forty men as escort was also an introduc
tion, as they would be an addition to the force, which
is a great advantage in hostUe countries. Every
thing appeared to be in good train, but I little knew
the duphcity of these Arab scoundrels. At the very
moment that they were most friendly, they were
plotting to deceive me, and to prevent me from
entering the country. They knew, that should I
penetrate the interior, the ivory trade of the White
NUe would be no longer a mystery, and that the
atrocities of the slave trade would be exposed, and
most likely be terminated by the intervention of
European Powers ; accordingly they combined to

298 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
prevent my advance, and to overthrow my expedi
tion completely. The whole of the men belonging
to the various traders were determined that no Eng
lishman should penetrate into the country ; accord
ingly they fraternized with my escort, and per
suaded Ji -m that I was a Christian dog, that it was
a disgrace for a Mohammedan to serve ; that they
would be starved in my service, as I would not allow
them to steal cattle ; that they would have no slaves ;
and that I should lead them — God knew where — to
the sea, from whence Speke and Grant had started ;
that they had left Za zibar with two hundred men,
and had only arrived at Gondokoro with eighteen,
thus the remainder must have been killed by the na
tives on the road ; that if they followed me, and ar
rived at Zanzibar, I should find a ship waiting to
take me to England, and I should leave them to die
in a strange country. Such were the reports circu
lated to prevent my men from accompanying me,
and it was agreed that Mahamed should fix a day
for our pretended start in company, but that he
would in reality start a few days before the time
appointed ; and that my men should mutiny, and
join his party in cattle-steaUng and slave- hunting.
This was the substance of the plot thus carefully
concocted. " Among my people were two blacks : one, ' Rich-
arn,' already described as having been brought up
by the Austrian Mission at Khartoum ; the other, a
boy of twelve years old, ' Saat.' As these were the
only really faithful members of the expedition, it is
rny duty to describe them. Richarn was an habit-

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. ygg
ual drunkard, but he had his good points ; he was
honest, and much attached to both master and mis
tress. He had been with me for some months, and
w-as a fair sportsman, and being of an entirely dif
ferent race to the Arabs, he kept himself apart
from them, and fraternized with the boy Saat.
" Not only was the latter boy trustworthy, but he
had an extraordinary amount of moral in addition
to phjsical courage. If any complaint were made,
and Saat was called as a witness — far from the shy
ness too often evinced when the accuser is brought
face to face with the accused — such was Saat's
proudest moment ; and, no matter who the man
might be, the boy would challenge him, regardless
of aU consequences. We were very fond of this
boy ; he was thoroughly good ; and in that land of
iniquity, thousands of miles away from aU except
what was evU, there was a comfort in having some
one innocent and faithful, in whom to trust.
" One morning I had returned to the tent after
having, as usual, inspected the transport animals,
when I observed Mrs. Baker looking extraordinarily
pale, and immediately upon my arrival she gave or
ders for the presence of the vakeel (headman).
There was something in her manner, so different to
her usual calm, that I was utterly bewildered when
I heard her question the vakeel, ' Whether the men
were willing to march ?' Perfectly ready, was the
reply. ' Then order them to strike the tent, and
load the animals ; we start this moment.' The man
appeared confused, but not more so than I. Some
thing was evidently on foot, but what I could not

300 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
conjecture. The vakeel wavered, and to my aston
ishment I heard the accusation made against him,
that, ' during the night, the whole of the escort had
mutinously conspired to desert me, with my arms
and ammunition that were in their hands, and to
fire simultaneously at me should I attempt to dis
arm them.' At first this charge was indignantly de
nied until the boy Saat manfuUy stepped forward,
and declared that the conspiracy was entered into
by the whole of the escort, and that both he and
Richarn, knowing that mutiny was intended, had
Ustened purposely to the conversation during the
night ; at daybreak the boy reported the fact to his
mistress. Mutiny, robbery, and murder were thus
deliberately determined."
Baker immediately called out the escort, confronted
them with a loaded rifle, and ordered them to lay
down their arms. There was some wavering among
the ringleaders ; but his determined attitude over
awed them, and they finaUy obeyed. They then
demanded their discharge, which he gave, writing
the word " mutineer " in English on each of the
papers, that they might be afterwards identified in
Khartoum. The same day, the sound of drums and
muskets announced that Mahamed's party was
leaving for Faloro, sending Baker word that if he
followed on their road, they would fire upon him.
The next day Koorshid, a Circassian trader, who
was friendly to Baker and had promised to assist
him, called and stated that he was utterly unable to
do so, since every man refused. The slave-traders
had done their work well ; all the native mercenaries

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 301
were convinced that Baker was a spy, who would
report everything to 'the Government, and finaUy
ruin the whole commerce of the region. Baker's an
swer was, that he had enough of stores and provis
ions for a year ; he would not return, and only
asked to be furnished with an interpreter, as he had
no means of communicating with the natives. This
Koorshid promised to provide.
" After Koorshid's departure," says Baker, " we
sat sUehtly for some minutes, both my wife and I
occupied by the same thoughts. No expedition had
ever been more carefuUy planned ; everything had
been weU arranged to insure success. My trans
port animals were in good condition ; their saddles
and pads had been made under my own inspection ;
my arms, ammunition, and supplies were abundant,
and I was ready to march at five minutes' notice to
any part of Africa ; but the expedition, so costly,
and so carefuUy organized, was completely ruined
by the very people whom I had engaged to pro
tect it."
After vainly trying various expedients to go on
wards, Baker's plans were suddenly favored by
chance. Some of Koorshid's people arrived with
ivory from the Latooka country, an unknown region
lying some seventy or eighty miles eastward of
Gondokoro. They brought with them, as porters,
a number of the Latooka tribe, remarkably hand
some men, wearing curious helmets of brass beads.
The chief of the party came to Baker's tent, with
some of his men, gave much information concerning
the country, and begged him to visit it. Koorshid's

302 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
me'n, however, declared that they would prevent
Baker from accompanying them. He nevertheless
made his preparations, not believing they would
dare to use force.
There was an intervening region called EUyria,
inhabited by a fierce and warlike tribe, the chief
of which was in league with Koorshid's party ; and
the road to Latooka led through a narrow defile in
the mountains, where Baker's small band of seven
teen would surely be waylaid. After a rapid deli
beration, the intrepid traveUer resolved to start
after the party, pass them by rapid marches, get
through the defile before them and push on to La
tooka. Soon the day arrive«J for the departure of
Koorshid's party ; the drums beat, and at 2 P.M.
they marched off, sending a message daring Baker
to follow them.
But he was equal to the emergency. He says :
" I immediately ordered the tent to be struck, the
luggage to be arranged, the animals to be coUected,
and everything to be ready for the march. Richarn
and Saat were in high spirits, even my unwilling
men were obliged to work, and by 7 P.M. we were
all ready. The camels were too heavily loaded,
carrying about seven hundred pounds each. The
donkeys were also overloaded, but there was no help
for it. Mrs. Baker was well mounted on my good
old Abyssinian hunter, Tetel, carrying several leather
bags slung to the pommel, while I was equally
loaded on my horse, Tilfil. We had neither guide
nor interpreter ; and, perfectly hopeless, commenced
the desperate journey about an hour after sunset.

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA 303
" ' Where shaU we go ?' said the men, just as the
order was given to start. ' Who can travel without
a guide ? No one knows the road.' The moon was
up, and the mountain of Belignan was distinctly
visible about nine miles distant. Knowing that the
route lay on the east side of that mountain, I led
the way, Mrs. Baker riding by my side, and the
British flag foUowing close behind us as a guide for
the caravan of heavily laden camels and donkeys.
We shook hands warmly with Dr. Murie, who had
come to see us off, and thus we started on our
march in Central Africa on the 26th of March, 1863.
" The country was park-like, but much parched
by the dry weather. The ground was sandy, but
firm, and interspersed with numerous villages, all
of which were surrounded with a strong fence of
euphorbia. The country was well wooded, being
free from bush or jungle, but numerous trees, all
evergreens, were scattered over the landscape. No
natives were to be seen, but the sound of their
drums and singing in chorus was heard in the far
distance. Whenever it is moonlight the nights are
passed in singing and dancing, beating drums,
blowing horns, and the population of whole vUlages
thus congregate together.
" After a silent march of two hours we saw watch-
fires blazing in the distance, and upon nearer ap
proach we perceived the trader's party bivouacked.
Their custom is to march only two or three hours on
the first day of their departure, to allow stragglers
who may have lagged behind in Gondokoro to rejoin
the party before morning."

304 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
After camping in the neighborhood of the Turks,
Baker and his little party pushed forward in the
early morning. His great object was to keep in
advance and get through the mountain pass before
his enemies could communicate with the chief of
EUyria. He accordingly gave orders for an imme
diate start. " Load the camels, my brothers !" he
exclaimed, to the sullen ruffians around him ; but
not a man stirred except Richarn and a feUow named
SaU, who began to show signs of improvement.
Seeing that the men intended to disobey, he imme
diately set to work himself loading the animals, re
questing his men not to trouble themselves, and
begging them to lie down and smoke their pipes
while he did the work. A few rose, from the
ground ashamed, and assisted to load the camels,
whUe the others declared the impossibUity of cam
els travelling by the road they were about to take,
as the Turks had informed them that not even the
donkeys could march through the thick jungles be
tween Belignan and EUyria.
" AU right my brothers !" Baker replied ; " then
we'U march as far as the donkeys can go, and leave
both them and the baggage on the road when they
can go no farther ; but I go forward."
The road was crossed by many dry beds of tor
rents, where each animal had to be assisted over by
the men, and the camels invariably fell. The delay
was consequently great, and the anxiety of the ex
plorer increased, from the fear that the Turks would
overtake him. " My wife and I," he says, " rode
about a quarter of a mUe at the head of the party

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 305
as an advance guard, to warn the caravan of any
difficulty. The very nature of the country declared
that it must be full of ravines, and yet I could not
help hoping against hope that we might have a clear
mile of road without a break. The evening had
passed, and the hght faded. What had been diffi
cult and tedious during the day, now became most
serious — we could not see the branches of hooked
thorns that overhung the broken path ; I rode in
advance, my face and arms bleeding with countless
scratches, while at each rip of a thorn I gave a
warning shout — ' Thorn !' for those behind, and a
cry of ' Hole !' for any deep rut that lay in the path.
It was fortunately moonlight, but the jungle was so
thick that the narrow track was barely perceptible:
thus both camels and donkeys ran against the
trunks of trees, smashing the luggage, and break
ing aU that could be broken ; nevertheless, the case
was urgent ; march we must, at aU hazards."
By this time he had been joined by two natives
of Latooka, whom he had seen in Gondokoro, and
who had deserted from the Turks on account of
having been beaten. These men knew the way,
and, after a short sleep, hurried the party forward
at dawn for three hours, when they were obliged to
rest again untU afternoon. Then, after ascending a
mile further through jungle, they suddenly emerged
upon an eminence, and looked down upon a vaUey
caUed ToUogo. This was extremely picturesque.
An abrupt waU of grey granite rose on the east side
of the vaUey to a height of about a thousand feet :
from this perpendicular wall huge blocks had fallen,

306 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
strewing the base with a confused mass of granite
lumps ten to forty feet in diameter ; and among
these natural fortresses of disjointed masses were
numerous villages. The bottom of the valley was a
meadow, in which grew several enormous fig-trees
by the side of a sluggish, and in some places stag
nant, brook. The valley was not more than half a
mile wide, and was also walled in by mountains on
the west, having, the appearance of a vast street.
No sooner had they reached the valley than the
natives flocked around them in great numbers,
much excited by the appearance of the horses,
which they had never before seen. Finally a hump
back who spoke some Arabic came forward, and
Baker requested him to keep off the crowd, which
now numbered five or six hundred, and were me
nacingly pressing upon the party.
"In reply to a question of the humpback, he
asked me, ' Who I was ?' I explained that I was a
traveUer. ' You want ivory ?' he said. ' No,' I an
swered, ' it is of no use to me.' ' Ah, you want
slaves !' he replied. ' Neither do I want slaves,' I
answered. This was followed by a burst of laugh
ter from the crowd, and the humpback continued
his examination. ' Have you got plenty of cows ?'
' Not one ; but plenty of beads and copper.'
'Plenty? Where are they ?' 'Not far off; they
wiU be here presently with my men ;' and I pointed
to the direction from which they would arrive.
'What countryman are you?' 'An Englishman.'
He had never heard of such people. ' You are a
Turk ?' ' All right,' I rephed ; ' I am anything you

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 307
like.' ' And that is your son ?' (pointing at Mrs.
Baker). ' No, she is my wife.' ' Your wife ! What
a he ! He is a boy.' ' Not a bit of it,' I replied ;
' she is my wife, who has come with me to see the
women of this country.' ' What a he !' he again
pohtely rejoined in the one expressive Arabic word,
' Katab.' " After this charmingly frank conversation he ad
dressed the crowd, explaining, I suppose, that I was
endeavoring to pass off a boy for a woman. Mrs.
Baker was dressed similarly to myself, in a pair of
loose trowsers and gaiters, with a blouse and belt —
the only difference being that she wore long sleeves,
whUe my arms were bare from a few inches below
the shoulder. I always kept my arms bare, as being
cooler than if covered."
Presently the chief arrived and made order. The
party rested there quietly for the night, being then
only six mUes from EUyria. Starting early in the
morning, they made for the famous pass, which was
destined to decide the fate of the expedition. Baker
had three men as an advance guard, and five or six
in the rear, whUe the remainder drove the animals.
Mrs. Baker and himseU rode on horseback at the
head of the party. The mountain of EUyria, be
tween two and three thousand ieet high, rose abrupt
on the left, whUe the base was entirely choked with
enormous fragments of grey granite that, faUen from
the face of the mountain, had completely blocked
the pass. Even the horses had great difficulty in
threading their way through narrow aUeys formed

308 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
of opposing blocks, and it appeared impossible for
loaded camels to proceed.
Baker and his wife rode on, " accompanied only
by one of the Latookas as a guide. After turning
a sharp angle of the mountain, leaving the cliff ab
ruptly rising to the left from the narrow path, we
descended a ravine worse than any place we had
previously encountered, and we were obliged to dis
mount, in order to lead our horses up the steep
rocks on the opposite side. On arrival on the sum
mit, a lovely view burst upon us. The valley of El-
lyria was about four hundred feet below, at about a
mile distant. Beautiful mountains, some two or
three thousand feet high, of grey granite, waUed in
the narrow vale ; while the landscape of forest and
plain was bounded at about fifty or sixty miles' dis
tance to the east by the blue mountains of Latooka.
The mountain of EUyria was the commencement of
the fine range that continued indefinitely to the
south. We were how in the very gorge of that
chain. Below us, in the valley, I observed some
prodigious trees growing close to a Hor, (ravine,) in
which was running water, and the sides of the valley
under the mountains being as usual a mass of debris
of huge detached rocks, were thronged with vil
lages, aU strongly fortified with thick bamboo pali
sades. The whole country-was a series of natural
forts, occupied by a large population.
" Tying our horses to a bush, we sat upon a rock
beneath the shade of a small tree within ten paces
of the path, and considered the best course to pur
sue. I hardly liked to risk an advance into El-

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 309
lyria alone, before the arrival of my whole party,
as we had been very rudely received by the Tol-
logo people on the previous evening ; — nevertheless
I thought it might be good policy to ride unat
tended into EUyria, and thus to court an introduc
tion to the chief. However, our consultation ended
in a determination to wait where we then were,
until the caravan should have accomplished the last
difficulty by crossing the ravine ; when we would
all march into EUyria in company. For a long
time we sat gazing at the vaUey before us in which
our fate lay hidden, feehng thankful that we had
thus checkmated the brutal Turks. Not a sound
was heard of our approaching camels : the delay
was most irksome. There were many difficult
places that we had passed through, and each would
be a source of serious delay to the animals.
"At length we heard them in the distance. We
could distinctly hear the men's voices ; and we re
joiced that they were approaching the last remain
ing obstacle ; — that one ravine passed through, and
aU before would be easy. I heard the rattling of
the stones as they drew nearer ; and, looking to
wards the ravine, I saw emerge from the dark fo
liage of the trees within fifty yards of us the
hated red flag and crescent, leading the Turks' party I
We were outmarched !
" One by one, with scowling looks, the insolent
scoundrels filed by us within a few feet, without
making the customary salaam ; neither noticing us
in any way, except by threatening to shoot the
Latooka, our guide, who had formerly accompa-

310 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
nied them. At length their leader, Ibrahim, ap
peared, in the rear of the party. He was riding
on a donkey, being the last of the line, behind the
flag that closed the march.
" I never saw a more atrocious countenance
than that exhibited in this man. A mixed breed,
between a Turk sire and Arab mother, he had the
good features and bad qualities of either race.
The fine, sharp, high-arched nose and large nostril ;
the pointed and projecting chin ; rather high cheek
bones and prominent brow, overhanging a pair of
immense black eyes full expression of aUevU. As
he approached he took no notice of us, but studi
ously looked straight before him with the most
determined insolence.
" The fate of the expedition was, at this critical
moment, retrieved by Mrs. Baker. She implored
me to call him, to insist upon a personal explana
tion, and to offer him some present in the event
of establishing amicable relations. I could not
condescend to address the suUen scoundrel. He
was in the act of passing us, and success depended
upon that instant. Mrs. Baker herself called him.
For the moment he made no reply ; but, upon my
repeating the call in a loud key, he turned his don
key towards us and dismounted. I ordered him
to sit down, as his men were ahead and we were
alone. " The following dialogue passed between us after
the usual Arab mode of greeting. I said, ' Ibrahim,
why should we be enemies in the midst of this
hostile country? We believe in the same God,

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 311
why should we quarrel in this land of heathens,
who believe in no God ? You have your work to
perform ; I have mine. You want ivory ; I am a
¦ simple traveller ; why should we clash ? If I were
offered the whole ivory of the country, I would not
accept a single tusk, nor interfere with you in any
way. Transact your business, and don't interfere
with me : the country is wide enough for us both.
I have a task before me, to reach a great lake —
the head of the Nile. Reach it I wiU (InshaUah).
No power shaU drive me back. If you are hostile,
I wiU imprison you in Khartoum ; if you assist me,
I wUl reward you far beyond any reward you have
ever received. Should I be kUled in this country,
you wiU be suspected ; you know the result ; the
Government would hang you on the bare suspicion.
On the contrary, if you are friendly, I will use my
influence in any country that I discover, that you
may procure its ivory for the sake of your mas
ter Koorshid, who was generous to Captains Speke
and Grant, and kind to me. Should you be hostile,
I shaU hold your master responsible as your em
ployer. Should you assist me, I will befriend you
both. Choose your course frankly, like a man —
friend or enemy ?'
" Before he had time to reply, Mrs. Baker ad
dressed him much in the same strain, telhng him
that he did not know what Englishmen were ; that
nothing would drive them back; that the British
Government watched over them wherever they might
be, and that no outrage could be committed with
impunity upon a British subject. That I would

312 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
not deceive him in any way ; that I was not a tra
der ; and that I should be able to assist him ma
terially by discovering new countries rich in ivory,
and that he would benefit - himself personally by
civil conduct.
" He seemed confused, and wavered. I imme
diately promised him a new double-barreUed gun
and some gold, when my party should arrive, as
an earnest of the future.
" He replied, ' That he did not himself wish to
be hostUe, but that all the trading parties, without
one exception, were against me, and that the men
were convinced that I was a consul in disguise,
who would report to the authorities at Khartoum
all the proceedings of the traders.' He continued,
' That he believed me, but that his men would not ;
that all people told lies in their country, therefore
no one was credited for the truth. However,' said
he, 'do no i associate with my people, or they may
insult you, but go and take possession of that tree
(pointing to one in the valley of EUyria) for your
self and people, and I wiU come there and speak
with you. I will now join my men, as I do not
wish them to know that I have been conversing
with you.' He then made a salaam, mounted his
donkey, and rode off.
" I had won him. I knew the Arab character
so thoroughly that I was convinced that the tree he
had pointed out, foUowed by the words, ' I will come
there and speak to you,' was to be the rendezvous
for the receipt of the promised gun and money.
" I did not wait for the arrival of my men, but

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 313
mounting our horses, my wife and I rode down the
hUlside with lighter spirits than we had enjoyed for
some time past. I gave her the entire credit of the
' ruse.' Had I been alone, I should have been too
proud to have sought the friendship of the sullen
trader, and the moment on which success depended
would have been lost."
That evening Baker's small party encamped in
the vaUey of EUyria, near the Turks, and were not
molested by the natives. They were not able to
procure provisions, but, fortunately, they had a
good supply on hand. Baker's men, as he. well
knew, were stUl resolved upon mutiny, — perhaps
murder ; but his aUiance with Ibrahim gave him a
new feehng of security. He thus describes the
next day's march towards Latooka :
" Ibrahim, my new ally, was now riding in front
of the line, carrying on his saddle a pretty little girl,
his daughter, a child of a year and a half old ; her
mother, a remarkably pretty Bari girl, one of his
numerous wives, was riding behind him on an ox.
We soon got into conversation ; — a few pieces of
sugar given to the chUd and mother by Mrs. Baker
was a sweet commencement ; and Ibrahim then told
me to beware of my own men, as he knew that they
did not intend to remain with me ; that they were a
different tribe from his men, and they would join
Chenooda's people and desert me on our arrival at
their station in Latooka. This was a corroboration
of aU I had heard previous to leaving Gondokoro,
therefore I had the promised mutiny in perspective.
I had noticed that my men were even more suUen

314 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
than usual since I had joined Ibrahim ; however, I
succeeded in convincing him that he would benefit
so decidedly by an alliance with me, that he now
frankly told me that I should receive no opposition
from his party. So far all had prospered beyond
my most sanguine expectations. We were fairly
launched upon our voyage, and now that we were
in the wUd interior, I determined to crush the mu
tiny with an iron hand should the rascals attempt to
carry their murderous'threats into execution. Two
or three of the men appeared willing, but the ori
ginal- ringleader, 'BeUaal,' would literally do no
thing, not even assisting at loading the animals ;
but swaggering about with the greatest insolence."
After two days' journey due east, without par
ticular incident, they reached the boundaries of the
Latooka country. On approaching the first village,
about a hundred men of the Turkish caravan, who
were in league with Baker's mutinous escort, fired
off a voUey of welcome, evidently for the purpose of
allaying his suspicions. He was not deceived : his
two faithful attendants advised him that the de
cisive moment was at hand. The next morning,
when the Turkish drums beat the signal for starting,
Baker's vakeel (head man) was not to be found ;
the men lay as they had been sleeping, and- not a
man obeyed the order, except Richarn and a native
named Sali. Finally, the man named BeUaal rose,
gun in hand, and faced Baker insolently, while he
appeared to be making signs to the others. It was
evident that the time had arrived. Baker himself
must describe the occurrence :

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 315
"Pretending not to notice BeUaal, who was now as
I had expected once more the ringleader, for the
third time I ordered the men to rise immediately,
and to load the camels. Not a man moved, but the
fellow BeUaal marched up to me, and looking me
straight in the face dashed the butt-end of his gun
in defiance on the ground, and led the mutiny.
' Not a man shaU go with you ! — go where you like
with Ibrahim, but we won't foUow you nor move a
step farther. The men shaU not load the camels ;
you may employ the " niggers " to do it, but not us.'
" I looked at this mutinous rascal for a moment ;
this was the burst of the conspiracy, and the threats
and insolence that I had been forced to pass over
for the sake of the expedition aU rushed before me.
' Lay down your gun !' I thundered, ' and load the
camels !' . . . . ' I won't ' — was his reply. ' Then
stop here!' I answered; at the same time lashing
out as quick as hghtning with my right hand upon
his jaw.
" He rolled over in a heap, his gun flying some
yards from his hand ; and the late ringleader lay
apparently insensible among the luggage, whUe se
veral of his friends ran to him, and did the good
Samaritan. Following up on the moment the ad
vantage I had gained by establishing a panic, I
seized my rifle and rushed into the midst of the
wavering men, catching first one by the throat, and
then another, and dragging them to the camels,
which I insisted upon their immediately loading.
AU except three, who attended to the ruined ring
leader, mechwdcaUy obeyed. Richarn and Sali both

316 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
shouted to them to ' hurry ;' and the vakeel arriving
at this moment and seeing how matters stood, him
self assisted, and urged the men to obey."
This was the end of the conspiracy. Baker's
party marched on without the mutinous escort, and
the vakeel, who had kept purposely away from the
scene, reappeared in the course of the day. The
country of Latooka, which they entered, was a
broad, beautiful valley, twenty miles in length,
bounded on the north by mountains 3,000 feet in
height, while a peak of 5,000 feet closed the vista to
the east.
We now quote Baker's account of his arrival at
Tarrangolle, the capital of the country, and his de
scription of the natives and their mode of living :
" On the arrival of my vakeel he told me, in the
face of the men, that so many had deserted, and
that the others had refused to assist him in taking
the guns from them ; thus my arms and ammuni
tion had been forcibly stolen. I abused both the
vakeel and the men most thoroughly ; and ' as for
the mutineers who have joined the slave-hunters,
Inshallah, the vultures shall pick their bones !'
"This charitable wish — which, I believe, I ex
pressed with intense hatred — was never forgotten
either by my own men or by the Turks. Believing
firmly in the evil eye, their superstitious fears were
immediately excited.
" Continuing the march along the same style of
country we shortly came in view of Tarrangolle, the
chief town of Latooka, at which point was the sta
tion of Ibrahim. We had marched? thirteen miles

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 317
from Latome, the station, of Mahommed Her, at
which place my men had deserted, and we were now
101 miles from Gondokoro by dead reckoning.
" There were some superb trees situated close to
the town, under which we camped until the natives
could prepare a hut for our reception. Crowds of
people now surrounded us, amazed at the two
great objects of interest — the camels, and a white
woman. They did not think me very peculiar, as I
was nearly as brown as an Arab.
" The Latookas are the finest savages I have ever
seen. I measured a number of them as they hap
pened to enter my tent, and allowing two inches
for the thickness of their felt helmets, the average
height was 5 ft. 11^ in. Not only are they tall,
but they possess a wonderful muscular development,
having beautifuUy proportioned legs and arms ; and
although extremely powerful, they are never fleshy
or corpulent. The formation of head and general
physiognomy is totaUy different from aU other
tribes that I have met with in- the neighborhood of
the White NUe. They have high foreheads, large
eyes, rather high cheek-bones, mouths not very
large, weU-shaped, and the lips rather fuU. They
aU have a remarkably pleasing cast of countenance,
and are a great contrast to other tribes in civility of
manner. " There is little difficulty in describing the toilette
of the natives, — that of the men being simplified by
the sole covering of the head, the body being en
tirely nude. It is curious to observe among these
savages the consummate vanity displayed in their

318 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
head-dresses. Every tribe has a distinct and un
changing fashion for dressing the hair ; and so
elaborate is the coiffure that hair-dressing is reduced
to a science. European ladies would be startled at
the fact, that to perfect the coiffure of a man requires
a period of from eight to ten years ! However
tedious the operation, the result is extraordinary.
The Latookas wear most exquisite helmets, all of
which are formed of their own hair ; and are, of
course, fixtures. At first sight it appears incredible,
but a minute examination shows the wonderful per
severance of years in producing what must be highly
inconvenient. The thick, crisp wool is woven with
fine twine, formed from the bark of a tree, untU it
presents a thick network of felt. As the hair grows
through this matted substance it is subjected to
the same process, until, in the course of years, a
compact substance is formed like a strong felt,
about an inch and a half thick, that has been trained
into the shape of a helmet. A strong rim, of about
two inches deep, is formed by sewing it together _
with thread ; and the front part of the helmet is
protected by a piece of polished copper ; while a
piece of the same metal, shaped like the haU of a
bishop's mitre and about a foot in length, forms the
crest. " Although the men devote so much attention to
their head-dress, the women are extremely simple.
It is a curious fact, that while the men are remark
ably handsome, the women are exceedingly plain ;
— they are immense creatures, few being under five
feet seven in height, with prodigious limbs. Their

¦Illllilllll

MARCH TO ELLYRIA AND LATOOKA. 319
superior strength to that of other tribes may be seen
in the size of their water jars, which are nearly
double as large as any I have seen elsewhere, con
taining about ten gallons ; in these they fetch water
from the stream about a mile distant from the town.
They wear exceedingly long tails, precisely like
those of horses, but made of fine twine and rubbed
with red ochre and grease. They are very conve
nient when they creep into their huts on hands and
knees. In addition to the tails, they wear a large
flap of tanned leather in front. Should I ever visit
that country again, I should take a great number of
' Freemasons' ' aprons for the women ; these would
create a perfect/wor.
" The houses of the Latookas are generally beU-
shaped, whUe others are precisely like huge candle-
extinguishers, about twenty-five feet high. The
roofs are neatly thatched, at an angle of about 75°,
resting upon a circular wall about four feet high ;
thus the roof forms a cap descending to within two
feet and a half of the ground. The doorway is only
two feet two inches high, thus an entrance must be
effected upon aU-fours. The interior is remarkably
clean, but dark, as the architects have no idea of
windows. It is a curious fact that the circular form
of hut is the only style of architecture adopted
among aU the tribes of Central Africa, and also
among the Arabs of Upper Egypt ; and that, al
though these differ more or less in the form of the
roof, no tribe has ever yet sufficiently advanced to
construct a window. The town of Tarrangolle is
arranged with several entrances, in the shape of low

320 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
archways through the palisades ; these are closed
at night by large branches of the hooked thorn of
the kittur bush (a species of mimosa). The main
street is broad, but all others are studiously arranged
to admit of only one cow, in single file, between
high stockades; thus, in the event of an attack,
these narrow passages could be easily defended, and
it would be impossible to drive off their vast herds
of cattle unless by the main street."
A short time before this there occurred a httle
adventure which nearly resulted in the death of the
horse Tetel. Baker had ridden to the top of a hiU
in order to get a view of the surrounding country,
when he perceived two rhinoceroses at the base of
the elevation. He at once ordered Tetel to be tied
to a tree at the bottom of the hill and sent a mes
senger to the camp for the other horses. Scarcely
was Tetel secured to the tree when the rhinoceroses
were disturbed by two pigs, and at once began to
walk away in a direct line towards Tetel. Suddenly
one of them sighted the horse and rushed at him.
Baker hurried toward the scene and when about six
hundred feet off, fired. The shot missed, and just
as it seemed as though Tetel must surely die he
reared and breaking his bridle was out of danger in
an instant. The messenger returning with the
horses just at this point the party began the hunt
which terminated in the death of both the rhino
ceroses.

y^AAC i
I'Ai/f^AA

BOKIE, WIFE OF MOY.

CHAPTER XXI.
BAKER. — RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO.
HAVING gained the friendship of Moy, the
chief of Latooka, by a few presents, Baker es
tabhshed himself in one of the native huts, to
await his chance of pushing southward. The re
gion he had reached was not only unknown to
European explorers, but even its name had never
been heard before. But a few days after his ar
rival, an event took place, which undoubtedly was
one cause of the consideration which he secured
in his later journeys. One afternoon a number of
Ibrahim's men, together with the mutineers who
had left Baker, set out from the village under cir
cumstances of great mystery. A number of them
returned at midnight, stUl silent and mysterious,
and another day elapsed before the truth became
known. They had started to attack a viUage in the moun
tains, for the purpose of capturing slaves. Suc
ceeding in this, they descended the mountains with
their booty, when the news of a large herd of cat
tle which they had failed to discover, induced them

322 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
to return. Meanwhile the Latookas had rallied, be
gan a fierce attack, and soon succeeded in driving
the Turks down the pass.
" It was in vain that they fought ; every bullet
aimed at a Latooka struck a rock, behind which the
enemy was hidden. Rocks, stones, and lances were
hurled at them from all sides and from above;
they were forced io retreat. The retreat ended in
a panic and precipitate flight. Hemmed in on aU
sides, amidst a shower of lances and stones thrown
from the mountain above, the Turks fled pek-mele
down the rocky and precipitous ravines. Mistak
ing their route, they came to a precipice from
which there was no retreat. The screaming and
yelling savages closed round them. Fighting was
useless ; the natives, under cover of the numerous
detached rocks, offered no mark for an aim ; while
the crowd of armed savages thrust them forward
with wild yells to the very verge of the great pre
cipice about five hundred feet below. Down they
fell ! hurled to utter destruction by the mass of
Latookas pressing onward ! A few fought to the
last ; but one and all were at length^forced, by
sheer pressure, over the edge of the cliff, and met a
just reward for their atrocities.
" My men were almost green with awe, when I
asked them solemnly, ' Where were the men who
had deserted from me ?' Without answering a
word they brought two of my guns and laid them
at my feet. They were covered with clotted blood
mixed with sand, which had hardened hke cement
over the locks and various portions of the barrels.

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 323
My guns were all marked As I looked at the
numbers upon the stocks, I repeated aloud the names
of the owners. ' Are they all dead ?' I asked.
' None of the bodies can be recovered,' faltered
my vakeel. ' The two guns were brought from the
spot by some natives who escaped, and who saw
the men fall. They are aU kiUed.' ' Better for
them had they remained with me and done their
duty. The hand of God is heavy,' I rephed. My
men slunk away abashed, leaving the gory witnesses
of defeat and death on the ground. I called Saat
and ordered him to give the two guns to Richarn to
clean. " Not only my own men but the whole of Ibra
him's party were of opinion that I had some mys
terious connection with the disaster that had be-
faUen my mutineers. AU remembered the bitter
ness of my prophecy, ' The vultures wiU pick their
bones,' and this terrible mishap having occurred so
immediately afterwards took a strong hold upon
their superstitious minds. As I passed through the
camp, the men would quietly exclaim, ' Wah IUahi
Hawaga !' (My God Master.) To which I simply
rephed, ' Robine fe !' (There is a God.) From
that moment I observed an extraordinary change in
the manner of both my people and those of Ibra
him, all of whom now paid us the greatest respect."
After this disaster Ibrahim was obliged to return
to Gondokoro for more ammunition. During his
absence the conduct of the Turks provoked an at
tack from the natives, but Baker avoided any se
rious trouble by showing his own neutrality, and

324 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
having a strict watch kept at night. As there
seemed to be no chance of advancing southward, he
prepared a garden and sowed many seeds, and also
endeavored to procure a better supply of animal
food by. hunting in the neighborhood.
He finally secured an interpreter, a boy of the
Bari tribe, and interested himself in long conver
sations with the chief, Commoro, a brother of Moy.
One of these dialogues is very curious, as an illus
tration of the mode of thinking among the Latookas.
" I asked him, " says Baker, " why those slain in
battle were aUowed to remain unburied. He said
it had always been the custom, but that he could
not explain it.
" ' But,' I replied, ' why should you disturb the
bones of those whom you have already buried, and
expose them on the outskirts of the town?'
" ' It was the custom of our forefathers,' he an
swered, ' therefore we continue to observe it.'
" ' Have you no belief in a future existence after
death? Is not some idea expressed in the act of
exhuming the bones after the flesh is decayed ?'
" Commoro. — ' Existence after death ! How can
that be ? Can a dead man get out of his grave,
unless we dig him out ?'
" ' Do you think man is like a beast, that dies and
is ended ?'
" Commoro. — ' Certainly ; an ox is stronger than a
man; but he dies, and his bones last longer; they are
bigger. A man's bones break quickly — he is weak.'
" ' Is not a man superior in sense to an ox ? Has
he not .a mind to direct his actions ?'

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 325
" Commoro. — ' Some men are not so clever as an
ox. Men must sow corn to obtain food, but the ox
and wild animals can procure it without sowing.'
" ' Do you not know that there is a spirit within
you more than flesh ? Do you not dream and wan
der in thought to distant places in your sleep ?
Nevertheless, your body rests in one spot. How
do you account for this ?'
" Commoro (laughing). — ' Well, how do you ac
count for it ? It is a thing I cannot understand ;
it occurs to me every night.'
" ' The mind is independent of the body ; — the
actual body can be fettered, but the mind is uncon-
troUable ; the body will die and wiU become dust;
or be eaten by vultures, but the spirit will exist
forever.' " Commoro. — ' Where will the spirit live ?'
" ' Where does fire Uve ? Cannot you produce a
fire* by rubbing two sticks together, yet you see
not the fire in the' wood. Has not that fire, that lies
harmless and unseen in the sticks, the power to con^
sume the whole country ? Which is the stronger,
the smaU stick that first produces the fire, or the fire
itseU ? So is the spirit the element within the body,
as the element of fire exists in the stick ; the ele
ment being superior to the substance.'
" Commoro. — ' Ha ! Can you explain what we
frequently see at night when lost in the wilderness ?
I have myseU been lost, and wandering in the dark,
* The natives always produce fire by rubbing two sticks to
gether.

326 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
I have seen a distant fire ; upon approaching, the
fire has vanished, and I have been nnable to trace
the cause — nor could I find the spot.'
" ' Have you no idea of the existence of spirits
superior to either man or beast ? Have you no fear
of evil except from bodily causes ?'
" Commoro. — ' I am afraid of elephants and other
animals when in the jungle at night, but of nothing
else.' " ' Then you believe in nothing ; neither in a good
nor evil spirit ! And you believe that when you die
it will be the end of body and spirit ; that you are
like other animals ; and that there is no distinction
between man and beast ; both disappear, and end at
death ?'
" Commoro. — ' Of course they do.'
" ' Do you see no difference in good and bad
actions ?'
" Commoro. — ' Yes,- there are good and bad in men
and beasts.'
" ' Do you think that a good man and a bad
must share the same fate, and alike die, and end ?'
" Commoro. — ' Yes ; what else can they do ? How
can they help dying ? Good and bad aU die.'
" ' Their bodies perish, but- their spirits remain-;
the good in happiness, the bad in misery. If you
have no belief in a future state, lohy should a man
be good ? Why should he not be bad, if he can
prosper by wickedness ?
" Commoro. — ' Most people are bad ; if they are
strong they take from the weak. The good peo-

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 327
pie are aU weak ; they are good because they are
not strong enough to be bad.'
" Some corn had been taken out of a sack for the
horses, and a few grains lying scattered on the
ground, I tried the beautUul metaphor of St. Paul
as an example of a future state. Making a small
hole with my finger in the ground, I placed a grain
within it : ' That,' I said, ' represents you when you
die.' Covering it with earth, I continued, ' That
grain wiU decay, but from it will rise the plant that
wUl produce a reappearance of the original form.'
" Commoro. — ' Exactly so ; that I understand.
But the original grain does not rise again ; it rots
like the dead man, and is ended ; the fruit produced
is not the same grain that we buried, but the pro
duction of that grain : so it is with man — I die, and
decay, and am ended ; but my children grow up
hke the fruit of the grain. Some men have no chU
dren, and some grains perish without fruit ; then all
are ended.'
" I was obUged to change the subject of conver
sation. In this wUd, naked savage there was not
even a superstition upon which to found a rehgious
feeUng ; there was a belief in matter ; and to his
understanding everything was material. It was ex
traordinary to find so much clearness of perception
combined with such complete obtuseness to any
thing ideal."
Thus, with an occasional elephant-hunt, the days
passed away. Ibrahim returned from Gondokoro,
feU sick, and was cured by Baker's prescriptions — a
circumstance which increased the latter's influence.

328 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
But troubles between the Turks and Latookas be
came frequent, and the explorer's situation was very
precarious. Finally some natives arrived from a
country named Obbo, lying to the southwest, exactly
in the direction which Baker wished to pursue. He
determined to accompany Ibrahim thither, as the
people were said to be friendly ; and set out on the
2nd of May, leaving the greater part of his stores
behind, in the charge of a few men, and under the
protection of the chief.
After two days' march across vaUeys and over
rugged granite hills, they reached a high mountain
chain which bounds the Latooka country on the
south. Here an entirely new region unfolded itself
as they advanced. " Winding through the very
bosom of the mountains, weU covered with forest
until the bare granite peaks towered above aU vege
tation to the height of about 5,000 feet, we continued
through narrow vaUeys bordered by abrupt spurs of
the mountains from 1,500 to 2,000 feet high. On
the peak of each was a viUage ; evidently these im
pregnable positions were chosen for security. At
length the great ascent was to be made, and for two
hours we toUed up a steep zigzag pass. The air
was most invigorating ; beautiful wild flowers, some
of which were highly scented, ornamented the route,
and innumerable wild grape-vines hung in festoons
from tree to tree. We were now in an elevated
country on the range of mountains dividing the
lower lands of Latooka from the high lands of Obbo.
We arrived at the summit of the pass about 2,500
feet above the Latooka valley. In addition to the

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 329
wUd flowers were numerous fruits, aU good ; espe-
ciaUy a variety of custard apple, and a full-flavored
yeUow plum. The grapes were in most promising
bunches, but unripe. The scenery was very fine ;
to the east and southeast, masses of high mountains,
whUe to the west and south were vast tracts of park
like country of intense green."
Twelve mUes beyond the pass was the vUlage
of Obbo, in Lat. 4° N, the general elevation of the
country being 3,674 feet above the sea, and the
average temperature 76°. It would be a healthy
country, were the population sufficiently large to
keep the jungles cleared ; but they form a damp,
almost impenetrable wUderness, inhabited by ele
phants, rhinoceros and buffaloes.
" The chief of Obbo," he relates, " came to meet
us with several of his head men. He was an extra
ordinary-looking man, about fifty-eight or sixty
years of age ; but, far from possessing the dignity
usuaUy belonging to a grey head, he acted the
buffoon for our amusement, and might have been a
clown in a pantomime.
" The Obbo natives were a great and agreeable
change after the Latookas, as they never asked for
presents. Although the old chief, Katchiba, be
haved more like a clown than a king, he was
much respected by his people. He holds his au
thority over his subjects as general rain-maker and
sorcerer. Should a subject displease him, or refuse
him a gift, he curses his goats and fowls, or threat
ens to wither his crops, and the fear of these inflic
tions reduces the discontented. There are no spe-

330 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
cific taxes, but he occasionally makes a call upon
the country for a certain number of goats and sup
plies. These are generally given, as Katchiba is a
knowing old diplomatist, and he times his demands
with great judgment.
" Notwithstanding his magic, Katchiba was not a
bad man : he was remarkably civil, and very proud
at my having paid him a visit. He gave me much
information regarding the country, but assured me
that I should not be able to travel south for many
months, as it would be quite impossible to cross
the Asua River during the rainy season ; he therefore
proposed that I should form a camp at Obbo, and
reside there until the rains should cease. It was
now May, thus I was 'invited to postpone my ad
vance south until December.
" I determined to make a reconnaissance south
towards the dreaded Asua, or, as the Obbo people
pronounced it, the Achua River, and to return to my
fixed camp. Accordingly I arranged to leave Mrs.
Baker at Obbo with a guard of eight men, while I
should proceed south without baggage, excepting a
change of clothes and a cooking pot. Katchiba
promised to take the greatest care of her, and to
supply her with aU she might require ; offering to
become personally responsible for her safety ; he
agreed to place a speU upon the door of our hut,
that nothing evil should enter it during my absence.
It was a snug little dwelling, about nine feet in
diameter, and perfectly round ; the floor well ce
mented with cow-dung and clay, and the walls about
four feet six inches in height, formed of mud and

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 331
sticks, likewise polished off with cow-dung. The
door had enlarged, and it was now a very imposing
entrance of about four feet high, and a great con
trast to the surrounding hut or dog-kennel with two
feet height of doorway.
" On the 7th of May I started with three men,
and taking a course south, I rode through a most
lovely country, within five miles of the base, and
paraUel with the chain of the Madi Mountains.
There was abundance of beautiful flowers, especiaUy
of orchidaceous plants ; the country was exceedingly
park-like and weU wooded, but generaUy overgrown
with grass then about six feet high.
" I reached the Atabbi River about eighteen mUes
from Obbo. This is a fine perennial stream flowing
from the Madi Mountains towards the west, form
ing an affluent of the Asua River. There was a
good ford, with a hard gravel and rocky bottom,
over which the horse partly waded and occasionaUy
swam. There were fresh tracks of immense herds
of elephants with which the country abounded, and
I heard them trumpeting in the distance. Ascending
rising ground in perfectly open prairie on the op
posite side of Atabbi, I saw a dense herd of about
two hundred elephants — they were about a mile
distant, and were moving slowly through the high
grass. " On the following morning I started at day
break, and after a march of about thirteen miles
through the same park-like and uninhabited coun
try as that of the preceding day, I reached the
country of Farajoke, and arrived at the foot of a

332 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
rocky hiU, upon the summit of which was a large
viUage. I was met by the chief and several of his
people leading a goat, which was presented to me,
and killed immediately as an offering, close to the
feet of my horse. The chief carried a fowl, holding
it by the legs, with its head downwards ; he ap
proached my horse, and stroked his fore-feet with
the fowl, and then made a circle around him by
dragging it upon the ground; my feet were then
stroked with the fowl in the same manner as those
of the horse, and I was requested to stoop, so as to
enable him to wave the bird around my head ; this
completed,- it was also waved round my horse's
head, who showed his appreciation of the ceremony
by rearing and lashing out behind.
" I was now conducted to the viUage. It was de
fended by a high bamboo fence, and was miserably
dirty, forming a great contrast to the clean dwell
ings of the Bari and Latooka tribes. The hill upon
which the viUage was built was about eighty feet
above the general level of the country, and afforded
a fine view of the surrounding landscape. On the
east was the chain of Madi Mountains, the base weU
wooded, whUe to the south aU was fine open pas
turage of sweet herbage, about a foot high, a totally
different grass to the rank vegetation we had passed
through. The country was undulating, and every
rise was crowned by a village. Although the name
of the district is Farajoke, it is comprised in the
extensive country of Sooli, together with the Shoggo
and Madi tribes, all towns being under the com
mand of petty chiefs.

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 333
" The general elevation of the country was 3,966
feet above the sea-level, 292 feet higher than Obbo."
Finding it impossible to cross the Asua River, on
account of high water, Baker returned to Obbo,
where his wife had, in the meantime, been kindly
treated by the old chief. " The rains," he says,
" were terrific ; the mornings were invariably fine,
but the clouds gathered upon the mountains soon
after noon and ended daUy in a perfect deluge. Not
being able to proceed south, I determined to return
to my head-quarters at Latooka, and to wait for the
dry season. I had made the reconnaissance to Fa
rajoke, in latitude 3° 32', and I saw my way clear for
the future, provided my animals should remain in
good condition. Accordingly, on the 21st of May
we started for Latooka in company with Ibrahim
and his men, who were thoroughly sick of the Obbo
climate. " Before parting, a ceremony had to be performed
by Katchiba. His brother was to be our guide, and
he was to receive power to control the elements as
deputy-magician during the journey, lest we should
be wetted by the storms, and the torrents should be
so swollen as to be impassable.
" With great solemnity Katchiba broke a branch
from a tree, upon the leaves of which he spat in
several places. This branch, thus blessed with
holy water, was laid upon the ground, and a fowl
was dragged around it by the chief ; and our horses
* were then operated on precisely in the same man
ner as had been enacted at Farajoke. This cere
mony completed, he handed the branch to his bro-

334 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ther (our guide), who received it with much gravity,
in addition to a magic whistle of antelope's horn
that he suspended from his neck. All the natives
wore whistles similar in appearance, being simply
small horns in which they blew, the sound of which
was considered either to attract or to drive away
rain, at the option of the whistler. No whistle was
supposed to be effective unless it had been blessed
by the great magician Katchiba. The ceremony
being over, all commenced whistUng with all their
might ; and taking leave of Katchiba, with an as
surance that we should again return, we started
amidst a din of " toot too too-ing " upon our jour-
ney." They returned to Latooka without adventure,
found their stores in good condition, and prepared
themselves to endure the monotony of a long resi
dence there during the rainy season, varied only
by the deaths of horses and camels, attacks of fe
ver, and quarrels between the Turks and natives,
which always more or less disturbed their security.
A month of this life was enough, and on the 23rd
of June Baker started again with his men and
supplies for the more peaceable country of Obbo.
Mrs. Baker was so prostrated by the fever that she
was obhged to be carried in a litter. We extract
from his journal the foUowing notes of his arrival
there, and experiences during the succeeding six
months :
" On arrival at my former hut I found a great"
change ; the grass was at least ten feet high, and
my little camp was concealed in the rank vegeta-

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 335
tion. Old Katchiba came to meet us, but brought
nothing, as he said the Turks had eaten up the
country. An extract from my journal, dated July
1st, explains the misery of our position.
" ' This Obbo country is now a land of starva
tion. The natives refuse to supply provision for
beads ; nor wUl they barter anything unless in ex
change for flesh. This is the curse that the Turks
have brought upon the country by steaUng cattle
and throwing them away wholesale. We have Ut-
erally nothing to eat except tuUaboon, a smaU bitter
grain used in Ueu of corn by the natives : there is
no game ; if it existed, shooting would be impossi
ble, as the grass is impenetrable.'
" The wet herbage disagreed with my baggage
animals. Innumerable flies appeared, including the
Tsetse, and in a few weeks the donkeys had no
hair left, either on their ears or legs ; they dropped
and died one by one. It was in vain that I erected
sheds and Ughted fires ; nothing would protect them
from the flies. The moment the fires were lit, the
animals would rush wUdly into the smoke, from
which nothing would drive them, and in the clouds
of imaginary protection they would remain all day,
refusing food. On the 16th of July my last horse,
Mouse, died ; he had a very long taU, for which I
obtained a cow in exchange. Nothing was prized
so highly as horses' tails, the hairs being used for
stringing beads, and also for making tufts as orna
ments, to be suspended from the elbows. It was
highly fashionable in Obbo for the men to wear
such tufts, formed of the bushy ends of cow's-taUs.

336 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
It was also ' the thing ' to wear six or eight polished
rings of iron, fastened so tightly round the throat
as to almost choke the wearer, somewhat resem
bling dog-coUars.
" Aug. 13th. — I had a long examination of a
slave woman, Bacheeta, belonging to one of Koor
shid's men. She had been sent two years ago by
the king, Kamrasi, from Unyoro, as a spy among
the traders, with orders to attract them to the coun
try if appearances were favorable, but to return
with a report should they be dangerous people.
" On her arrival at Faloro, Debono's people cap-
turned her, and she was eventually sold to her pre
sent owner. She speaks Aarbic, having learnt it
from the traders' people. She declares that Ma-
gungo, the place of which I have heard so much,
is only four days' hard marching for a native, direct
from Faloro, but eight days' for the Turks : and
that it is equi-distant from Faloro and from Kam
rasi's capital in Unyoro. She had heard of the Lu
ta Nzige, as reported to Speke, but she knew it
only by the name of ' Kara-wootan-Nzige.'
" She corroborated the accounts I had formerly
received, of large boats arriving with Arabs at Ma-
gungo, and she described the lake as a ' white sheet
as far as the eye could- reach.' She particularized
it as a peculiar water, that was unlike other waters,
as it would ' come up to a water-jar, if put upon the
shore, and carry it away and break it.' By this de
scription I understood ' waves.' She also described
the ' Gondokoro River,' or While NUe, as flowing

MUM

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 337
into and out of the lake, and she spoke of a ' great
roar of water, that fell from the sky.'
" Aug. 23nf. — My last camel died to-day ; thus all
my horses and camels are dead, and only eight don
keys remain out of twenty-one ; most of these will
die, if not all. There can be no doubt that the ex
cessive wet in aU the food, owing to the constant
rain and dew, is the principal cause of disease. The
camels, horses, and donkeys of the Soudan,- all
thrive in the hot dry air of that country, and are
unsuited for this damp chmate.
" Had I been without transport animals, my ex
pedition could not have left Gondokoro, as there
was no possibUity for procuring porters. I had al
ways expected that my animals would die, but I had
hoped they would have carried me to the equator :
this they would have accomphshed during the two
months of comparative dry weather foUowing my
arrival at Gondokoro, had not the mutiny thwarted
all my plans, and thrown me into the wet season.
My animals have delivered me at Obbo, and have
died in inaction, instead of wearing out upon the
road. Had I been able to start direct from Gon
dokoro, as I had intended, my animals would have
dehvered me in Kamrasi's country before the ar
rival of the heavy rains.
" Oct. 6th. — I have examined my only remaining
donkey ; he is a picture of misery — eyes and nose
running, coat staring, and he is about to start to
join his departed comrades ; he has packed up for
his last journey. With his loose skin hanging to
his withered frame he looked Uke the British lion

338 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
on the shield over the door of the Khartoum con
sulate. In that artistic effort the lion was equally
lean and ragged, having perhaps been thus repre
sented by the artist as a pictorial allusion to the
smallness of the Consul's pay ; the illustration over
the shabby gateway utters, ' Behold my leanness !
£150 per annum !'
" I feel a touch of the poetic stealing over me
when I look at my departing donkey. ' I never
loved a dear gazelle,' etc.; but the practical ques
tion, ' Who is to carry the portmanteau ?' remains
unanswered. I do not believe the Turks have any
intention of going to Kamrasi's country ; they are
afraid, as they have heard that he is a powerful
king, and they fear the restrictions that power will
place upon .their felonious propensities. In that
case I shaU go on without them ; but they have de
ceived me, by borrowing 165 lbs. of beads which
they cannot repay ; this puts me to much inconve
nience. The Asua River is still impassable, ac
cording to native reports ; this wiU prevent a gen
eral advance south. Should the rains cease, the
river wUl faU rapidly, and I shaU make a forward
move and escape this prison of high grass and
inaction. " For months we dragged on a miserable exist
ence at Obbo, wrecked by fever ; the quinine ex
hausted ; thus the disease worried me almost to
death, returning at intervals of a few days. For
tunately my wife did not suffer so much as I
did. I had nevertheless prepared for the journey
south; and as travelling on foot would have been

RESIDENCE IN LATOOKA AND OBBO. 339
impossible in our weak state, I had purchased and
trained three oxen in lieu of horses. They were
named ' Beef,' ' Steaks,' and ' Suet.' ' Beef ' was a
magnificent animal, but having been bitten by the
flies, he so lost his condition that I changed his
name to ' Bones.' We were ready to start, and the
natives reported that early in January the Asua
would be fordable. I had arranged with Ibrahim
that he should supply me with porters for payment
in copper bracelets, and that he should accompany
me with one hundred men to Kamrasi's country,
(Unyoro,) on condition that he would restrain his
people from aU misdemeanors, and that they should
be entirely subservient to me. It was the month of
December, and during the nine months that I
had been in correspondence with his party, I had
succeeded in acquiring an extraordinary influence.
Although my camp was nearly three quarters of a
mile from their zareeba, I had been besieged daily
for many months, for everything that was wanted ;
my camp was a kind of general store that appeared
to be inexhaustible. I gave all that I had with a
good grace, and thereby gained the goodwiU of the
robbers, especiaUy as my large medicine-chest con
tained a supply of drugs that rendered me in their
eyes a physician of the first importance. I had
been very successful with my patients ; and the me
dicines that I generaUy used being those which
produced a very decided effect, both the Turks and
natives considered them with perfect faith. There
was seldom any difficulty in prognosticating the ef
fect of tartar emetic, and this became the favorite

340 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
drug that was almost daily applied for ; a dose of
three grains enchanting the patient, who always ad
vertised my fame by saying, ' He told me I should
be sick, and, by Allah! there was no mistake
about it.' "
Some little time before this Baker witnessed a
very exciting hippopotamus hunt conducted by the
natives. A herd was found enjoying themselves in
the water, and the negroes at once proceeded to
attack it. Two of them swimming out to the herd
unperceived, as closely as possible, hurled their har
poons at the animals. One missed, but the other
became deeply imbedded in the flesh of a large bull.
With some difficulty, on account of the frantic
struggles of the beast, the other blacks of the party
succeeded in attaching a strong rope to the float
which is always connected with the harpoon in this
kind of hunting, and proceeded to drag him to the
shore. It was a tremendous puU, and when they
had brought him to shaUow water he suddenly
changed his tactics and rushed on shore at the men.
A dozen lances cast into his open jaws had little
effect, but sand thrown into his eyes compeUed him
to retreat. Six times more this was repeated, when
Baker, at the request of the natives, finished the
struggle by a shot from his favorite rifle.

¦ a \ ;

CHAPTER XXII.
BAKES. — THE MAKCH TO KAMRASl's COUNTRY.
AT length, after six months of tedious waiting
at Obbo, the rainy season ceased. Ibrahim,
who had finaUy resolved to accompany Baker to
Unyoro, the country of king Kamrasi, prepared his
caravan for the start, and there was apparently no
obstacle in the way. As far as Farajoke, Baker was
already famiUar with the country. He thus describes
the start from Obbo, and the journey into the regions
beyond :
" A bad attack of fever laid me up untU the 31st
of December. On the first day of January, 1864, 1
was hardly able to stand, and was nearly worn out
at the very time that I required my strength, as we
were to start south in a few days.
" Although my quinine had ' been long since ex
hausted, I had reserved ten grains to enable me to
start in case the fever should attack me at the time
of departure. I now swaUowed my last dose, and
on 3rd January I find the following note in my
journal : ' AU ready for a start to-morrow. I trust
the year 1864 will bring better luck than the past,

342 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
that having been the most annoying that I have ever
experienced, and full of fever. I hope now to reach
Kamrasi's country in a fortnight, and to obtain
guides from him direct to the lake. My Latooka, to
whom I have been very kind, has absconded ; there
is. no difference in any of these savages ; if hungry,
they will fawn upon you, and when fiUed, they will
desert. I beUeve that ten years' residence in the
Soudan and this country would spoil an Angel, and
would turn the best heart to stone.'
" It was difficult to procure porters, therefore I
left all my effects at my camp in charge of two of
my men, and I determined to travel light, without
the tent, and to take httle beyond ammunition and
cooking utensils. Ibrahim left forty-five men in his
zareeba, and on the 5th of January we started. Mrs.
Baker rode her ox, but my animal being very shy,
I ordered him to be driven for about a mUe with the
others to accustom him to the crowd ; not approving
of the expedition, he bolted into the high grass with
my English saddle, and I never saw him again. In
my weak state I had to walk. We had not gone far
when a large fly fastened upon Mrs. Baker's ox, just
by his tail, the effect of which was to produce so
sudden a kick and plunge, that he threw her to the
ground and hurt her considerably ; she accordingly
changed the animal, and rode a splendid ox that
Ibrahim very civilly offered.
" In three days' march from this point through
beautiful park-like country, we arrived at the Asua
River. The entire route from Farajoke had been a
gentle descent, and I found this point of the Asua

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 313
in lat. N. 3° 12' to be 2,875 feet above the sea-level,
1,091 feet lower than Farajoke. The river was a
hundred and twenty paces broad, and from the bed
to the top of the perpendicular banks was about
fifteen feet. At this season it was almost dry, and
a narrow channel of about six inches deep flowed
through the centre of the otherwise exhausted river.
The bed was much obstructed by rocks, and the
inclination was so rapid that I could readily con
ceive the inipossibiUty of crossing it during the
rains. It formed the great drain of the country,
aU its waters flowing to the NUe, but during the
dry months it was most insignificant. The country
between Farajoke and the Asua, although lovely,
was very thinly populated, and the only villages
that I saw were buUt upon low hUls of bare granite,
which lay in huge piles of disjointed fragments.
" After a delay of a few days, we started at day
break on 13th January, and, ascending the whole
way, we reached Shooa, in latitude 3° 4'. The
route throughout had been of the same park-like
character, interspersed with occasional hiUs of fine
granite, pUed in the enormous blocks so charac
teristic of that stone.
" Shooa was a lovely place. A fine granite moun
tain ascended in one block in a sheer precipice for
about 800 feet from its base, perfectly abrupt on
the eastern side, whUe the other portions of the
mountain were covered with fine forest trees, and
picturesquely dotted over with viUages. This coun
try formed a natural park, remarkably well watered
by numerous rivulets, ornamented with fine timber,

344 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
and interspersed with numerous high rocks of
granite, which from a distance produced the effect
of ruined castles.
" By Casella's thermometer, I determined the al
titude of Shooa to be 3,877 feet— 1,002 feet above
the Asua River, and 89 feet lower than Farajoke.
These observations of the thermometer agreed with
the natural appearance of the country, the Asua
River forming the main drain in a deep valley, into
which innumerable rivulets convey the drainage
from both north and south. Accordingly, the Asua,
receiving the Atabbi River, which is the main drain
of the western face of the Madi Mountains, and the
entire drainage of the Madi and Shooa countries,
together with that of extensive countries to the east
of Shooa, including the rivers Chombi and Udat,
from Lira and Umiro, it becomes a tremendous tor
rent so long as the rains continue, and conveys a
grand volume of water to the NUe ; but the inchna-
tion of all these countries tending rapidly to the
northwest, the bed of the Asua River partakes of the
general incline, and so quickly "empties after the
cessation of the rains that it becomes nil as a river.
By the mean of several observations I determined
the latitude of Shooa 3° 04', longitude 32° 04' E.
We were now about twelve mUes south of Debono's
outpost, Faloro.
" Two days after our arrival at Shooa, the whole
of our Obbo porters absconded : they had heard
that we were bound for Kamrasi's country, 'and
having received exaggerated accounts of his power
from the Shooa people, they had determined upon

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 345
retreat : thus we were at once unable to proceed
unless we could procure porters from Shooa. This
was exceedingly difficult, as Kamrasi was weU known
here, and was not loved. His country was known
as ' Quanda,' and I at once recognized the corrup
tion of Speke's ' Uganda.' The slave woman, ' Ba
cheeta,' who had formerly given me in Obbo so
much information concerning Kamrasi's country,
was to be our interpreter ; but we also had the
luck to discover a lad who had formerly been em
ployed by Mahamed in Faloro, who also spoke the
language of Quanda, and had learnt a little Arabic.
I now discovered that the slave woman Bacheeta
had formerly been in the service of a chief named
Sali, who had been kUled by Kamrasi. Sali was a
friend of Rionga, (Kamrasi's greatest enemy,) and I
had been warned by Speke not to set foot upon
Rionga's territory, or aU traveUing in Unyoro would
be cut off. I plainly saw that Bacheeta was in
favor of Rionga, as a friend of the murdered Sali,
by whom she had had two chUdren, and that she
would most Ukely tamper with the guide, and that
we should be led to Rionga instead of to Kamrasi.
There were ' wheels within wheels.' ':
There were signs that Ibrahim's men would also
rebel or desert ; whereupon Baker guaranteed that
Ibrahim should receive at least 10,000 pounds of
ivory, if he would march at once to Kamrasi's coun
try. The latter, who was now entirely friendly to
the expedition, agreed, and thenceforth acted in
good faith. " On the 18th of January, 1864," says
Baker, " we left Shooa. The pure air of that coun-

346 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
try had invigorated us, and I was so improved in
strength that I enjoyed the excitement of the launch
into unknown lands. The Turks knew nothing of
the route south, and I accordingly took the lead of
the entire party. I had come to a distinct under-.
standing with Ibrahim thatKamrasi's country should
belong to me ; not an act of felony would be per
mitted ; all were to be under my government, and I
would insure him at least 100 cantars of tusks.
" Eight miles of agreeable march through the
usual park-like country brought us to the viUage of
Fatiko, situated upon a splendid plateau of rock
upon elevated ground with beautiful granite cliffs,
bordering a level table-land of fine grass that would
have formed a race-course. The high rocks were
covered with natives, perched upon the outline hke
a flock of ravens.
" We halted to rest under some fine trees growing
among large isolated blocks of granite and gneiss.
"In a short time the natives assembled around
us: they were wonderfuUy friendly, and insisted
upon a personal introduction to both myself and
Mrs. Baker. We were thus compeUed to hold a
levee ; not the passive and cold ceremony of Eu
rope, but a most active undertaking, as each native
that was introduced performed the salaam of his
country, by seizing both my hands and raising my
arms three times to their full stretch above my
head. After about one hundred Fatikos had been
thus gratified by our submission to this infliction,
and our arms had been subjected to at least three
hundred stretches each, I gave the order to saddle

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 347
the oxen immediately, and we escaped a further
proof of Fatiko affection that was already prepar
ing, as masses of natives were streaming down the
rocks hurrying to be introduced. Notwithstanding
the fatigue of the ceremony, I took a great fancy to
these poor people : they had prepared a quantity
of merissa and a sheep for our lunch, which they
begged us to remain and enjoy before we started ;
but the pumping action of haU a viUage not yet gra
tified by a presentation was too much ; and, mount
ing our oxen, with aching shoulders we bade adieu
to Fatiko.
" Descending the picturesque rocky hill of Fatiko,
we entered upon a totaUy distinct country. We had
now before us an interminable sea of prairies,
covering to the horizon a series of gentle undula
tions inclining from east to west.
" I led the way on foot from the hour we left Fa
tiko, as, the country being uninhabited for five days'
march between that place and Kamrasi's, the men
had more faith in my steering by the compass than
they had in the native guide. I felt sure that we
were being deceived, and that the woman Bacheeta
had directed the guide to take us to Rionga's. Ac
cordingly on the fourth night, when Canopus was
in the meridian, I asked our conductor to point by a
star in the direction of Karuma Falls. He imme
diately pointed to Canopus, which I knew by Speke's
map should be the direction of Rionga's islands, and
I charged him with the deceit. He appeared very
much astonished, and asked me ' why I wanted a
guide if I knew the way ?' confessing that Karuma

348 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Falls were ' a little to the east of the star.' I
I thanked Speke and Grant at that moment, and
upon many other occasions, for the map they had so
generously given me !"
At length, on the morning of the 22nd of January,
a fog hanging over a distant vaUey, announced the
vicinity of the White NUe, and the same day the
caravan reached the banks of the stream, which
they found to be about 150 yards wide, flowing
rapidly between rocky islands.
" The slave woman, Bacheeta, secretly instructed
the guide to lead us to Rionga instead of Kamrasi,
precisely as I had suspected. The Karuma Falls are
a day's march east of this, at which point we must
cross the river. Obtained a clear observation of
Capella, meridian altitude showing latitude 2° 18'
N. " We could get no supphes from Rionga's people,
who returned to their island after their conference
with Bacheeta, promising to send us some plantains
and a basket of flour ; but upon gaining their se
cure retreat they shouted, ' that we might go to
Kamrasi if we liked, but that we should receive no
assistance from them.'
" Early in the morning we started for Karuma.
This part of the forest was perfectly open, as the
grass had been burnt by the natives about three
weeks ago, and the young shoots of the vines were
appearing from the scorched roots ; among other
plants was an abundance of the prickly asparagus,
of which I collected a basketful. Nothing could
exceed the beauty of the march. Our course

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 349
through the noble forest was parallel with the river,
that roared beneath us on our right in a succession
of rapids and faUs between high cliffs covered with
groves of bananas and varieties of palms, including
the graceful wUd date — the certain sign of either
marsh or river. The Victoria NUe or Somerset
River was about 150 yards wide ; the cliffs on the
south side were higher than those upon the north,
being 150 feet above the river. These heights were
. thronged with natives, who had collected from the
numerous viUages that ornamented the cliffs situ
ated among groves of plantains ; they were armed
with spears and shields ; the population ran paral
lel to our line of march, shouting and gesticulating
as though daring us to cross the river.
" After a most enjoyable march through the ex
citing scene of the glorious river crashing over in
numerable faUs — and in many places ornamented
with rocky islands, upon which were viUages and
plantain groves — we at length approached the Kar
uma Falls, close to the village of Atada above the
ferry. The heights were crowded with natives, and
a canoe was sent across to within parleying dis
tance of our side, as the roar of the rapids pre
vented our voices from being heard except at a
short distance. Bacheeta now explained, that
' Speke's brother had arrived from his country to pay
Kamrasi a visit, and had brought him valuable
presents.' " ' Why has he. brought so many men with him?'
inquired the people from the canoe.
" ' There are so many presents for the M'Kamma

350 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
(King) that he has many men to carry them,'
shouted Bacheeta.
" ' Let us look at him !' cried the head man in the
boat : having prepared for the introduction by
changing my clothes in a grove of plantains for my
dressing-room, and altering my costume to a tweed
suit, something similar to that worn by Speke, I
climbed up a high and almost perpendicular rock
that formed a natural pinnacle on the face of the
cliff, and, waving my cap to the crowd on the op
posite side, I looked almost as imposing as Nelson
in Trafalgar Square.
" I instructed Bacheeta, who climbed up the giddy
height after me, to shout to the people that an English
lady, my wife, had also arrived and that we wished
immediately to be presented to the king and his fam
Uy, as we had come to thank him for his kind treat
ment of Speke and Grant, who had arrived safe in
their own country. Upon this being explained and
repeated several times, the canoe approached the
shore. " I ordered all our people to retire, and to con
ceal themselves among the plantains, that the
natives might not be startled by so imposing a force,
while Mrs. Baker and I advanced alone to meet
Kamrasi's people, who were men of some impor
tance. Upon landing through the high reeds, they
immediately recognized the similarity of my beard
and general complexion to that of Speke ; and their
welcome was at once displayed by the most extra
vagant dancing and gesticulating with lances and
shields, as though intending to attack, rushing at

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 351
me with the points of their lances thrust close to
my face, and shouting and singing in great excite
ment. Nevertheless, these Unyoro hesitated to permit
Baker to cross the river, fearing some treachery, on
account of his Turkish companions. He thereupon
showed them the magnificent presents he had
brought for King Kamrasi, and they begged him
not to return, promising to obtain permission from
the king. Late in the evening, the native messen
gers returned and agreed to take Baker with his
wife and servants, Ibrahim being temporarily in
cluded among the latter.
" It was quite dark when we started. The canoe
was formed of a large hoUow tree, capable of hold
ing twenty people, and the natives paddled us
across the rapid current just below the faUs. A
large fire was blazing upon the opposite shore, on a
level with the river, to guide us to the landing-place.
GUding through a narrow passage in the reeds, we
touched the shore and landed upon a shppery rock,
close to the fire, amidst a crowd of people, who im
mediately struck up a deafening welcome with horns
and flageolets, and marched us up the steep face of
the rocky cliff through a dark grove of bananas.
Torches led the way, foUowed by a long file of
spearmen ; then came the noisy band and ourselves
— I towing my wife up the precipitous path, while
my few attendants followed behind with a number
of natives who had volunteered to carry the lug
gage. "On arrival at the top of the cliff, we were

352 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
about 180 feet above the river, and after a walk
of about a quarter of a mile, we were triumphant
ly led into the heart of the village, and halted in
a smaU courtyard in front of the head man's resi
dence. " A bundle of straw was laid on the ground for
Mrs. Baker and myself, and, in lieu of other beds,
the ground was our resting-place. It was bitterly
cold that night, as the guns were packed up in the
large blanket, and, not wishing to expose them, we
were contented with a Scotch plaid each. Ibra
him, Saat, and Richarn watched by turns.
" On the foUowing morning an immense crowd of
natives thronged to see us. There was a very beau
tiful tree about a hundred yards from the viUage, ca
pable of shading upwards of a thousand men, and I
proposed that we should sit beneath this protection
and hold a conference. The head man of the vU
lage gave us a large hut with a grand doorway of
about seven feet high, of which my wife took pos
session, whUe I joined the crowd at the tree.
There were about six hundred men seated respect
fully on the ground around me, whUe I sat with
my back to the huge knotty trunk, with Ibrahim
and Richarn at a few paces distant.
"Hardly had the few boatmen departed, than
some one shouted suddenly, and the entire crowd
sprang to their feet and rushed towards the hut
where I had left Mrs. Baker. For the moment I
thought that the hut was on fire, and I joined the
crowd and arrived at the doorway, where I found a
tremendous press to see some extraordinary sight.

BAKER'S EXAMINATION BY THE CHIEFS ON ENTERING UNYORO..

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 353
Every one was squeezing for the best place ; and,
driving them on one side, I found the wonder that
had excited their curiosity. The hut being very
dark, my wife had employed her solitude during my
conference with the natives in dressing her hair at
the doorway, which, being very long and blonde,
was suddenly noticed by some natives — a shout was
given, the rush described had taken place, and the
hut was UteraUy mobbed by the crowd of savages
eager to see the extraordinary novelty. The Gorilla
would not make a greater stir in London streets
than we appeared to create at Atada.
" By astronomical observation I determined the
latitude of Atada at Karuma FaUs, 2° 15'; and by
CaseUa's thermometer, the altitude of the river level
above the sea 3,996 feet.
" After the disgusting naked tribes that we had
been travelling amongst for more than twelve
months, it was a deUghtful change to find ourselves
in comparative civilization; this was evinced not
only in the decency of clothing, but also in the
manufactures of the country. The blacksmiths were
exceedingly clever, and used iron hammers instead
of stone ; they drew fine wire from the thick cop
per and brass wire that they received from Zanzi
bar ; their beUows were the same as those used by
the more savage tribes — but the greatest proof of
their superior civUization was exhibited in their
pottery." After a delay of a week, a message was received
from Kamrasi, inviting Baker to his capital, and on

354 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
the 29th of January the deputation arrived at the
falls. Baker continues :
" I received them standing ; and after thorough
inspection I was pronounced to be ' Speke's own
brother,' and all were satisfied. However, the busi
ness was not yet over ; plenty of talk, and another
delay of four days, was declared necessary untU the
king should reply to the satisfactory message about
to be sent. Losing aU patience, I stormed, declar
ing Kamrasi to be mere dust ; whUe a white man
was a king in comparison. I ordered aU my lug
gage to be conveyed immediately to the canoe, and
declared that I would return immediately to my own
country : that I did not wish to see any one so
utterly devoid of manners as Kamrasi, and that no
other white man would ever visit his kingdom.
" The effect was magical ! I rose hastily to de
part. The chiefs implored, declaring that Kamrasi
would kUl them all if I retreated ; to prevent which
misfortune they secretly instructed the canoe to be
removed. I was in a great rage ; and about 400
natives, who were present, scattered in all quarters,
thinking that there would be a serious quarrel. I
told the chiefs that nothing should stop me, and
that I would seize the canoe by force unless my
whole party should be brought over from the oppo
site side that instant. This was agreed upon. One
of Ibrahim's men exchanged and drank blood from
the arm of Speke's deserter, who was Kamrasi's
representative ; and peace thus firmly established,
several canoes were at once employed, and sixty of
our men were brought across the river before sun-

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 355
set. The natives had nevertheless taken the pre
caution to send aU their women away from the vii-
lage." Entrance into the country having been thus suc
cessfully effected, the caravan was only delayed by
the Ulness of Baker and his wife, who were pros
trated with fever. The march was very slow, but
on the 10th of February they arrived at Mrooli,
Kamrasi's capital, at the junction of the Nile with
the Kafue or Kafoor River. Baker's description of
the place corresponds exactly with that given by
Speke, and his ¦ experience of the cunning and ra
pacity of the savage monarch resembled that re
ceived by the latter. He thus describes his recep
tion : he was suffering from fever at the time, and
unable to walk :
" Upon my approach, the crowd gave way, and I
was shortly laid on a mat at the king's feet. He
was a fine-looking man, but with a pecuhar expres
sion of countenance, owing to his extremely promi
nent eyes ; he was about six feet high, beautifuUy
clean, and was dressed in a long robe of bark cloth
most gracefuUy folded. The naUs of his hands and
feet were carefuUy attended, and his complexion
was about as dark a brown as that of an Abyssinian.
He sat upon a copper stool placed upon a carpet of
leopard skins, and he was surrounded by about ten
of his principal chiefs.
" Our interpreter, Bacheeta, now informed him
who I was, and what were my intentions. He said
that he was sorry I had been so long on the road,
but that he had been obUged to be cautious, having

356 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA:
been deceived by Debono's people. I rephed that
I was an EngUshman, a friend of Speke and Grant
— that they had described the reception they had
met with from him, and that I had come to thank
him, and to offer him a few presents in return for
his kindness, and to request him to give me a guide
to the Lake Luta Nzige. He laughed at the name,
and repeated it several times with his chiefs, — he
then said, it was not Luta, but M-wootan Nzige —
but that it was six months' journey from MrooU, and
that in my weak condition I could not possibly
reach it ; that I should die upon the road, and that
the king of my country would perhaps imagine that
I had been murdered, and might invade his territory.
I replied, that I was weak with the toil of years in
the hot countries of Africa, but that I was in search
of the great lake, and should not return until I had
succeeded; that I had no king, but a powerful
Queen who watched over aU her subjects, and that
no EngUshman could be murdered with impunity ;
therefore he should send me to the lake without de
lay, and there would be the lesser chance of my
dying in his country.
" I explained that the river NUe flowed for a dis
tance of two years' journey through wonderful coun
tries, and reached the sea, from which many valu
able articles would be sent to him in exchange for
ivory, could I only discover the great lake. As a
proof of this, I had brought him a few curiosities
that I trusted he would accept, and I regretted that
the impossibUity of procuring porters had necessi-

SH&

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 357
tated the abandonment of others that had been bet
ter intended for him.
" I ordered the men to unpack a Persian carpet,
which was spread upon the ground before him. I
then gave him an Abbia, (large white Cashmere
mantle,) a red silk netted sash, a pair of scarlet
Turkish shoes, several pairs of socks, a double-bar
relled gun and ammunition, and a great heap of
first-class beads made up into gorgeous necklaces
and girdles. He took very httle notice of the pre
sents, but requested that the gun might be fired off.
This was done to the utter confusion of the crowd,
who rushed away in such haste, that they tumbled
over each other like so many rabbits ; this delighted
the king, who, although himseU startled, now roared
with laughter. He told me that I must be hungry
and thirsty, therefore he hoped I would accept
something to eat and drink : accordingly he pre
sented me with seventeen cows, twenty pots of sour
plantain cider, and many loads of unripe plantains.
I inquired whether Speke had left a medicine-chest
with him. He rephed that it was a very feverish
country, and that he and his people had used aU
the medicine. Thus my last hope of quinine was
cut off. I had always trusted to receive a supply
from the king, as Speke had. told me that he had
left a bottle with him. It was quite impossible to
obtain any information from him, and I was carried
back to my hut, where I found Mrs. Baker lying-
down with fever, and neither could render assist
ance to the other."
During the foUowing twelve days Baker endea-

358 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
vored to procure men and guides for the journey to
the lake. Present after present was demanded by
the king, and given, but the assistance required was
still delayed. Finally, on the 22nd of February,
Baker writes :
" Kamrasi promised to send me porters, and that
we should start for the lake to-day, but there is no
sign of preparation ; thus am I delayed when every
day is so precious. Added to this trouble, the wo
man that I have as an interpreter will not speak,
being the most sulky individual I ever encountered.
In the evening Kamrasi sent to say he would give
a guide and porters to-morrow morning. It is im
possible to depend upon him."
" After some delay we were at length honored by
a visit from Kamrasi, accompanied by a number of
his people, and he promised that we should start
on the foUowing day. He pointed out- a chief and
a guide who were to have us in their charge, and
who were to see that we obtained aU that we should
require. He concluded, as usual, by asking for my
watch and for a number of beads ; the latter I gave
him, together with a quantity of ammunition for
his guns. He showed me a beautiful double-bar
relled rifle by Blissett, that Speke had given him.
I wished to secure this to give to Speke on my re
turn to England, as he had told me, when at Gon
dokoro, how he had been obliged to part with that
and many other articles solely against his wUl. I
therefore offered to give him three common double-
barrelled guns in exchange for the rifle. This he
declined, as he was quite aware of the difference in

Cm

lllillS

ESCAPE OF TWO RHINOCEROSES.

THE MARCH TO KAMRASI'S COUNTRY. 359
quality. He then produced a large silver chrono
meter that he had received from Speke. ' It was
dead,' he said, ' and he wished me to repair it.'
This I declared to be impossible. He then con
fessed to having explained its construction, and the
cause of the ' ticking,' to his people, by the aid of
a needle, and that it had never ticked since that oc
casion. I regretted to see such ' pearls cast before
swine,' as the rifle and chronometer in the hands of
Kamrasi. Thus he had plundered Speke and Grant
of aU they possessed before he would allow them to
proceed." About this time Baker had several exciting rhi
noceros hunts, though he was not always successful.
In one instance, after chasing two rhinoceroses a
long way, the animals escaped into the jungle. In
another case the rhinoceros was chased for a con
siderable distance, though badly wounded in the
shoulder, and then turned and charged at Tetel. A
shot from Baker's rifle, however, finished it.

CHAPTER XXIII.
BAKER. — DISCOVERY OP THE ALBERT NYANZA.
THE departure from Kamrasi's capital was of
such a dramatic and exciting character that it
must be quoted entire :
" The day of starting at length arrived ; the chief
and guide appeared, and we were led to the Kafoor
river, where canoes were in readiness to transport
us to the south side. This was to our old quarters
on the marsh. The direct course to the lake was
west, and I fuUy expected some deception, as it was
impossible to trust Kamrasi. I complained to the
guide, and insisted upon his pointing out the direc
tion of the lake, which he did, in its real position,
west ; but he explained that we must foUow the
south bank of the Kafoor River for some days, as
there was an impassable morass that precluded a
direct course. This did not appear satisfactory, and
the whole affair looked suspicious, as we had for
merly been deceived by being led across the river in
the same spot, and not allowed to return. We
were now led along the banks of the Kafoor for
about a mUe, untU we arrived at a cluster of huts ;

Ill It!

ijlliii'illllllll-iilflllllki'O:  K

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 361
here we were to wait for Kamrasi, who had prom
ised to take leave of us. The sun was overpower
ing, and we dismounted from our oxen, and took
shelter in a blacksmith's shed. In about an hour
Kamrasi arrived, attended by a considerable num
ber of men, and took his seat in our shed. I felt
convinced that his visit was simply intended to peel
the last skin from the onion. I had already given
him nearly all that I had, but he hoped to extract
the whole before I should depart.
" He almost immediately commenced the conver
sation by asking for a pretty yellow musUn Turkish
handerchief fringed with sUver drops that Mrs.
Baker wore upon her head : one of these had al
ready been given to him, and I explained that this
was the last remaining, and that she required it.
 . He ' must ' have it  It was given.. He then
demanded other handkerchiefs. We had literally
nothing but a few most ragged towels ; he would
accept no excuse, and insisted upon a portmanteau
being unpacked, that he might satisfy himseU by
actual inspection. The luggage, all ready for the
journey, had to be unstrapped and examined, and
the rags were displayed in succession ; but so
wretched and uninviting was the exhibition of the
famUy linen, that he simply returned them, and said
' they did not suit him.' Beads he must have, or I
was ' his enemy.' A selection of the best opal beads
was immediately given him. I rose from the stone
upon which I was sitting, and declared that we
must start immediately. ' Don't be in a hurry,' he
rephed ; ' you have plenty of time ; but you have

362 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
not given me that watch you promised me.' ....
This was my only watch that he had begged for,
and had been refused every day during my stay at
Mrooli. So pertinacious a beggar I had never seen.
I explained to him that, without the watch, my
journey would be useless, but that I would give him .
all that I had except the watch when the explora
tion should be completed, as I should require noth
ing on my direct return to Gondokoro. At the
same time I repeated to him the arrangement for
the journey that he had promised, begging him not
to deceive me, as my wife and I should both die if
we were compelled to remain another year in this
country by losing the annual boats in Gondokoro.
The understanding was this : he was to give me
porters to the lake, where I was to be furnished
with canoes to take me to Magungo, which was
situated at the junction of the Somerset. From
Magungo he told me that I should see the Nile issu
ing from the lake close to the spot where the So
merset entered; and that the canoes should take me
down the river, and porters should carry my effects
from the nearest point to Shooa, and deliver me at
my old station without delay. Should he be faith
ful to this engagement, I trusted to procure porters
from Shooa, and to reach Gondokoro in time for
the annual boats. I had arranged that a boat should
be sent from Khartoum to await me at Gondokoro
early in this year, 1864 ; but I felt sure that should
I be long delayed, the boat would return without
me, as the people would be afraid to remain alone
at Gondokoro after the other boats had- quitted.

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 363
" In our present weak state another year of Cen
tral Africa without quinine appeared to warrant
death ; it was a race against time, all was untrodUen
ground before us, and the distance quite uncertain.
I trembled for my wife, and weighed the risk of
another year in this horrible country should we lose
the boats. With the seU-sacrificing devotion that
she had shown in every trial, she implored me not
to think of any risks on her account, but to push
forward and discover the lake — that she had de
termined not to return untU she had herself reached
the ' M-wootan Nzige.'
" I now requested Kamrasi to aUow us to leave,
as we had not an hour to lose. In the coolest man
ner he replied, ' I wiU send you to the lake and to
Shooa, as I have promised ; but, you must leave your
wife with me !'
" At that moment we were surrounded by a great
number of natives, and my suspicions of treachery
at having been led across the Kafoor River appeared
confirmed by this insolent demand. If this were
to be the end of the expedition I resolved that it
should also be the end of Kamrasi, and, drawing
my revolver quietly, I held it within two feet of his
chest, and looking at him with undisguised con
tempt, I told him that if I touched the trigger, not
aU his men could save him : and that if he dared to
repeat the insult I would shoot him on the spot.
At the same time I explained to him that in my
country such insolence would entaU bloodshed, and
that I looked upon him as an ignorant ox who knew
no better, and that this excuse alone could save

364 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
him. My wife, naturally indignant, had risen from
her seat, and, maddened with the excitement of the
moment, she made him a little speech in Arabic,
(not a word of which he understood,) with a coun
tenance almost as amiable as the head of Medusa.
Altogether the raise en scene utterly astonished him ;
the woman, Bacheeta, although savage, had appro
priated the insult to her mistress, and she also
fearlessly let fly at Kamrasi, translating as nearly as
she could the complimentary address that ' Medusa'
had just delivered.
Whether this little coup de theatre had so im
pressed Kamrasi with British female independence
that he wished to be off his bargain, I cannot say,
but with an air of complete astonishment, he said,
' Don't be angry ! I had no intention of offending
you by asking for your wife ; I wiU give you a wife,
if you want one, and I thought you might have no
objection to give me yours ; it is my custom to give
my visitors pretty wives, and I thought you might
exchange. Don't make a fuss about it ; if you don't
like it, there's an end of it ; I wiU never mention it
again.' This very practical apology I received very
sternly, and merely insisted upon starting. He
seemed rather confused at having committed him
self, and to make amends he called his people and
ordered them to carry our loads. His men ordered
a number of women who had assembled out of cu
riosity, to shoulder the luggage and carry it to the
next vUlage, where they would be relieved. I as
sisted my wife upon her ox, and with a very cold

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 365
adieu to Kamrasi, I turned my back most gladly on
Mrooli." For three days they traveUed westward over a
flat, uninteresting country, through swamps and
past native vUlages where it was almost impossible
to procure anything, and reached the Kafoor River,
where Baker, after aU his toUs and dangers, was
called upon to meet the greatest misfortune of the
jouimey. He says : " The stream was in the centre
of a marsh, and although deep, it was so covered
with thickly-matted water-grass and other aquatic
plants, that a natural floating bridge was established
by a carpet of weeds about two feet thick ; upon
this waving and unsteady surface the men ran quickly
across, sinking merely to the ankles, although be
neath the tough vegetation there was deep water.
It was equaUy impossible to ride or to be carried
oyer this treacherous surface ; thus I led the way,
and begged Mrs. Baker to follow me on foot as
quickly as possible, precisely in my track. The
river was about eighty yards wide, and I had scarcely
completed a fourth of the distance and looked back
to see U my wUe foUowed close to me, when I was
horrified to see her standing in one spot, and sink
ing graduaUy through the weeds, whUe her Ijace was
distorted and perfectly purple. Almost as soon as
I perceived her, she feU, as though shot dead. In
an instant I was by her side ; and with the assist
ance of eight or ten of my men, who were fortu
nately close to me, I dragged her Uke a corpse
through the yielding vegetation, and up to our
waists we scrambled across to the other side, just

366 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
keeping her head above the water ; to have carried
her would have been impossible, as we should aU
have sunk together through the weeds. I laid her
under a tree, and bathed her head and face with
water, as for the moment I thought she had fainted ;
but she lay perfectly insensible, as though dead,
with teeth and hands firmly clenched, and her eyes
open, but fixed. It was a coup de sokil."
Mrs. Baker was carried on, to a miserable native
village, where it was impossible to procure anything
to eat. She had never stirred since she fell, and
merely respired about five times in a minute. " It
was impossible to remain ; the people would have
starved. She was laid gently upon her litter, and
we started forward on our funeral course. I was ill
and broken-hearted, and I followed by her side
through the long day's march over wUd park-lands
and streams, with thick forest and deep marshy bot
toms ; over undulating hills, and through valleys of
tall papyrus rushes, which, as we brushed through
them on our melancholy way, waved over the litter
like the black plumes of a hearse. We halted at a
viUage, and again the night was passed in watching.
I was wet, and coated with mud from the swampy
marsh, and shivered with ague ; but the cold within
was greater than all. No change had taken place ;
she had never moved. I had plenty of fat, and I
made four balls of about half a pound, each of
which would burn for three hours. A piece of a
broken water-jar formed a lamp, several pieces of
rag serving for wicks. So in solitude the still calm
night passed away as I sat by her side and watched.

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 367
In the drawn and distorted features that lay before
me I could hardly trace the same face that for years
had been my comfort through all the difficulties and
dangers of my path. Was she to die? Was so
terrible a sacrifice to be the result of my selfish
exUe? " Again the night passed away. Once more the
march. Though weak and Ul, and for two nights
without a moment's sleep, I felt no fatigue, but me-
chanicaUy foUowed by the side of the litter as though
in a dream. The same wUd country diversified with
marsh and forest. Again we halted. The night
came, and I sat by her side in a miserable hut, with
the feeble lamp flickering while she lay as in death.
She had never moved a muscle since she fell. My
people slept. I was alone, and no sound broke the
stillness of the night. The ears ached at the utter
sUence, tiU the sudden wUd cry of a hyena made
me shudder as the horrible thought rushed through
my brain, that, should she be buried in this lonely
spot, the hyena would . . . disturb her rest.
" The morning was not far distant ; it was past
four o'clock. I had passed the night in replacing
wet cloths upon her head arrd moistening her lips,
as she lay apparently lifeless on her litter. I could
do nothing more ; in solitude and abject misery in
that dark hour, in a country of savage heathens,
thousands of mUes away from a Christian land, I
beseeched an aid above aU human, trusting alone
to Him.
" The morning broke ; my lamp had just burnt
out, and, cramped with the night's watching, I rose

368 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
from? my low seat, and seeing that she lay in the
same unaltered state, I went to the door of the
hut to breathe one gasp of the fresh morning air.
I was watching the first red streak that heralded
the rising sun, when I was startled by the words,
' Thank God,' faintly uttered behind me. Suddenly
she had awoke from her torpor, and with a heart
overflowing I went to her bedside. Her eyes were
full of madness ! She spoke ; but the brain was
gone !
" I wiU not inflict a description of the terrible
trial of seven days of brain fever, with its attend
ant horrors. The rain poured in torrents, and day
after day we were forced to travel, for want of pro
visions, not being able to remain in one position.
Every now and then we shot a few. guinea-fowl,
but rarely ; there was no game, although the coun
try was most favorable. In the forests we procured
wild honey, but the deserted viUages contained no
supplies, as we were on the frontier of Uganda, and
Mtese's people had plundered the district. For
seven nights I had not slept, and although as weak
as a reed, I had marched by the side of her htter.
Nature could resist no longer. We reached a vU
lage one. evening ; she had been in violent convul
sions successively — it was all but over. I laid her
down on her htter within a hut ; covered her with
a Scotch plaid ; and I fell upon my mat insensible,
worn out with sorrow and fatigue. My men put
a new handle to the pickaxe that evening, and
sought for a dry spot to dig her grave !
" The sun had risen when I woke. I had slept,

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 369
and, horrified as the idea flashed upon me that
she must be dead, and that I had not been with
her, I started up. She lay upon her bed, pale as
marble, and with that calm serenity that the feat
ures assume when the cares of hfe no longer act upon
the mind, and the body rests in death. The dread
ful thought bowed me down ; but as I gazed upon
her in fear, her chest gently heaved, not with the
convulsive throbs of fever, but naturally. She was
asleep ; and when at a sudden noise she opened
her eyes, they were calm and clear. She was saved !
When not a ray of hope remained, God alone
knows what helped us. The gratitude of that
moment I wiU not attempt to describe.
" Fortunately there were many fowls in this
viUage ; we found several nests of fresh eggs in the
straw which httered the hut ; these were most ac
ceptable after our hard fare, and produced a good
supply of soup."
Having rested for two days to allow Mrs. Baker
time to regain a Uttle strength, they pushed forward
and in another day's march reached a larger and
more flourishing vUlage than they had seen since
leaving Kamrasi's capital. " The name of this vil
lage," says Baker, "was Parkani. For several days
past our guides had told us that we were very near
to the lake, and we were now assured that we should
reach it on the morrow. I had noticed a lofty range
of mountains at an immense distance west, and I
had imagined that the lake lay on the other side of
this chain ; but I was now informed that those
mountains formed the western frontier of the

370 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
M-wootan Nzige, and that the lake was actually
within a march of Parkani. I could not believe it
possible that we were so near the object of our
search. The guide Rabonga now appeared, and de
clared that if we started early on the following
morning we should be able to wash in the lake by
noon !
"That night I hardly slept. For years I had
striven to reach the ' sources of the Nile.' In my
nightly dreams during -that arduous voyage I had
always failed, but after so much hard work and per
severance the cup was at my very lips, and I was to
drink at the mysterious fountain before another sun
should set — at that great reservoir of Nature that
ever since creation, had baffled all discovery.
" I had hoped, and prayed, and striven through
all kinds, of difficulties, in sickness, starvation, and
fatigue, to reach that hidden source ; and when it
had appeared impossible, we had both determined
to die upon the road rather than return defeated.
Was it possible that it was so near, and that to
morrow we could say, ' the work is accomplished ?'
" The IMh March. — The sun had not risen when I
was spurring my ox after the guide, who, having
been promised a double handful of beads on arrival
at the lake, had caught the enthusiasm of the mo
ment. The day broke beautifully clear, and having
crossed a deep valley between the hiUs, we toiled
up the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit.
The glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me !
There, like a sea of quicksUver, lay far beneath the
grand expanse of water, — a boundless sea horizon

DISCOVERY OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 37I
on the south and southwest, gUttering in the noon
day sun ; and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles'
distance, blue mountains rose from the bosom of the
lake to a height of about 7,000 feet above its level.
" It is impossible to describe the triumph of that
moment ; — here was the reward for aU our labor —
for the years of tenacity with which we had toiled
through Africa. England had won the sources of
the NUe ! Long before I reached this spot, I had
arranged to give three cheers with aU our men in
EngUsh style in honor of the discovery, but now
that I looked down upon the great inland sea lying
nestled in the very heart of Africa, and thought how
vainly mankind had sought these sources through
out so many ages, and reflected that I had been the
humble instrument permitted to unravel this por
tion of the great mystery when so many greater
than I had faUed, I felt too serious to vent my feel
ings in vain cheers for victory, and I smcerely
thanked God for having guided and supported us
through aU dangers to the good end. I was about
1,500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from
the steep granite cliff upon those welcome waters
— upon that vast reservoir which nourished Egypt
and brought fertiUty where aU was wUderness —
upon that great source so long hidden from man
kind; that source of bounty and of blessings to
miHimis of human beings ; and as one of the great
est objects in nature, I determined to honor it with
a great name. As an imperishable memorial of one
loved and mourned by our gracious Queen and de
plored by every EngUshman, I called this great lake

372 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
' the Albert Nyanza.' The Victoria and the Albert
lakes are the two Sources of the Nile.
" The zigzag path to descend to the lake was so
steep and dangerous that we were forced to leave
our oxen with a guide, who was to take them to
Magungo and wait for our arrival. We commenced
the descent of the steep pass on foot. I led the
way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife in extreme
weakness tottered down the pass, supporting her
self upon my shoulder, and stopping to rest every
twenty paces. After a toUsome descent of about
two hours, weak with years of fever, but for the
moment strengthened by success, we gained the
level plain below the cliff. A walk of about a mUe
through flat sandy meadows of fine turf interspersed
with trees and bush, brought us to the water's
edge. The waves were rolling upon a white pebbly
beach : I rushed into the lake, and thirsty with heat
and fatigue, with a heart fuU of gratitude, I drank
deeply from the Sources of the NUe. Within a
quarter of a mUe of the lake was a fishing viUage
named Vacovia, in which we now estabhshed our
selves."

CHAPTER XXIV.
BAKER. — EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA.
WE continue Baker's narrative : " At sunrise
on the following morning I took the com
pass, and accompanied by the chief of the vUlage,
my guide Rabonga, and the woman Bacheeta, I
went to the borders of the lake to survey the coun
try. It was beautifully clear, and with a powerful
telescope I could distinguish two large waterfalls
that cleft the sides of the mountains on the opposite
shore. Although the outline of the mountains was
distinct upon the bright blue sky, and the dark
shades upon their sides denoted deep gorges, I could
not distinguish other features than the two great
falls, which looked like threads of sUver on the dark
face of the mountains. No base had been visible,
even from an elevation of 1,500 feet above the water-
level, on my first view of the lake, but the chain of
lofty mountains on the west appeared to rise sud
denly from the water. This appearance must have
been due to the great distance, the base being below
the horizon, as dense columns, of smoke were ascend
ing apparently from the surface of the water ; this

374 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
must have been produced by the burning of prairies
at the foot of the mountains. The chief assured
me that large canoes had been known to cross over
from the other side, but that it required four days
and nights of hard rowing' to accomplish the voyage,
and that many boats had been lost in the attempt.
The canoes of Unyoro were not adapted for so dan
gerous a journey : but the western shore of the lake
was comprised in the great kingdom of Malegga,
governed by king Kajoro, who possessed large ca
noes, and traded with Kamrasi from a point oppo
site to Magungo, where the lake was contracted to
the width of one day's voyage.
" The first coup d'wil from the summit of the cliff
1,500 feet above the level had suggested what a
closer examination confirmed. The lake was a vast
depression far below the general level of the country,
surrounded by precipitous cliffs, and bounded on the
west and southwest by great ranges of mountains
from five to seven thousand feet above the level of
its waters — thus it was the one great reservoir into
which everything -must drain ; and from this vast
rocky cistern the Nile made its exit, a giant in its
birth. It was a grand arrangement of Nature for
the birth of so mighty and important a stream as
the river Nile. The Victoria Nyanza of Speke
formed a reservoir at a high altitude, receiving a
drainage from the west by the Kitangule River, and
Speke had seen the Mfumbiro Mountain at a great
distance as a peak among other mountains from
which the streams descended, which by uniting
formed the main river Kitangule, the principal feeder

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 375
of the Victoria Lake from the west, in about the
2° S. latitude : thus the same chain of mountains
that fed the Victoria on the east must have a water
shed to the west and north that would flow into
the Albert Lake. The general drainage of the Nile
basin tending from south to north, and the Albert
Lake extending much farther north than the Victoria,
it receives the river from the latter lake, and thus
monopolizes the entire head-waters of the Nile.
The Albert is the grand reservoir, while the Victoria
is the eastern source ; the parent streams that form
these lakes are from the same origin, and the Kitan
gule sheds its waters to the Victoria to be received
eventually by the Albert, precisely as the highlands
of Mfumbiro and the Blue Mountains pour their
northern drainage direct into the Albert Lake.
" On the following morning not one of our party
could rise from the ground. Thirteen men, the boy
Saat, four women, and we ourselves, were aU down
with fever. The air was hot and close, and the
country frightfuUy unhealthy. The natives assured
us that aU strangers suffered in a simUar manner,
and that no one could Uve at Vacovia without re
peated attacks of fever.
The delay in supplying the boats was most annoy
ing ; every hour was precious ; and the lying natives
deceived us in every manner possible, delaying us
purposely in the hope of extorting beads.
" The latitude of Vacovia was 1° 15' N.; longitude
30° 50' E. My farthest southern point on the road
from Mrooh was latitude 1° 13'. We were now to
turn our faces towards the north, and every day's

376 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
journey would bring us nearer home. But where
was home ? As I looked at the map of the world,
and at the little red spot that represented old Eng
land, far, far away, and then gazed on the wasted
form and haggard face of my wife and at my own
attenuated frame, I hardly dared hope for home
again. We had now been three years ever toiUng
onwards, and having completed the exploration of
all the Abyssinian affluents of the NUe, in itseU an
arduous undertaking', we were now actuaUy at the
Nile head. We had neither health nor supplies,
and the great journey lay aU before us. <¦
" Notwithstanding my daily entreaties that boats
might be supplied without delay, eight days were
passed at Vacovia, during which time the . whole
party suffered more or less from fever. At length
•canoes were reported to have arrived, and I was
requested to inspect them. They were merely single
trees neatly hollowed out, but very inferior in size
to the large canoes on the Nile at Mrooli. The
largest boat was thirty-two feet long, but I selected
for ourselves one of twenty-six feet, but wider and
deeper. "After much bargaining and delay, we started
from Vacovia on the broad surface of the Albert
Nyanza. The rowers paddled bravely; and the
canoe, although heavily laden, went along at about
four miles an hour. There was no excitement in
Vacovia, and the chief and two or three attendants
were all who came to see us off ; they had a suspi
cion that bystanders might be invited to assist as

II

- ¦ ¦

;;#

Vi^V^1.^'-^

mmmm.

THE ALBERT NYANZA DURING A STORM.

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 377
rowers, therefore the entire population of the village
had deserted.
" At leaving the shore, the chief had asked for a
few beads, which, on receiving, he threw into the
lake to propitiate the inhabitants of the deep, that
no hippopotami should upset the canoe.
" Our first day's voyage was delightful. The lake
was calm, the sky cloudy, and the scenery most
lovely. At times the mountains on the west coast
were not discernible, and the lake appeared of inde
finite width. We coasted within a hundred yards
of the east shore ; sometimes we passed flats of sand
and bush of perhaps a mile in width from the
water to the base of the mountain cliffs ; at other
times we passed directly underneath stupendous
heights of about 1,500 feet, which ascended abruptly
from the deep, so that we fended the canoes off the
sides, and assisted our progress by pushing against
the rock with bamboos. These precipitous rocks
were aU primitive, frequently of granite and gneiss,
and mixed in many places with red porphyry. In
the clefts were beautiful evergreens of every tint,
including giant euphorbias ; and wherever a rivulet
or spring ghttered through the dark foliage of a
ravine, it was shaded by the graceful and feathery
wUd date."
They camped on the shore that night, and next
morning the boatmen were gone. Baker and his
men then took the navigation of the canoes into
their own hands, and proceeded northwards. In
crossing the bay eight or ten miles wide they were
overtaken by a storm, and narrowly escaped foun-

378 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
dering. Baker's destination was Magungo, the
point where the White Nile was reported to enter
the lake, a distance from Vacovia of less than a
hundred miles, but, owing to the continual delays
in procuring provisions and boatmen, he was thir
teen days in making the voyage.
" Day after day passed, the time occupied in
travelling from sunrise to mid-day, at which hour a
strong gale with rain and thunder occurred regu
larly, and obliged us to haul our canoes ashore.
The country was very thinly inhabited, and the vil
lages were poor and wretched ; the people most
inhospitable. At length we arrived at a considerable
town situated in a beautiful bay beneath. precipitous
cliffs, the grassy sides of which were covered with
flocks of goats ; this was Eppigoya, and the boat
men that we had procured from the last village were
to deliver us in this spot. The delays in procuring
boatmen were most annoying : it appearedthat the
king had sent orders that each village was to supply
the necessary rowers : thus we were paddled from
place to place, at each of which the men were
changed, and no amount of payment would induce
them to continue with us to the end of our voyage.
"After the tenth day from our departure from
Vacovia the scenery increased in beauty. .The lake
had contracted to about thirty miles in width, and
was decreasing rapidly northward ; the trees upon
the mountains upon the western shore could be dis
tinguished. Continuing our voyage north, the wes
tern shore projected suddenly, and diminished the
width of the lake to about twenty miles. It was no

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 379
longer the great inland sea that the Vacovia had so
impressed me, with the clean pebbly beach that had
hitherto formed the shore, but vast banks of reeds
growing upon floating vegetation prevented the
canoes from landing. These banks were most pe
culiar, as they appeared to have been formed of de
cayed vegetation, from which the papyrus rushes
took root ; the thickness of the floating mass was
about three feet, and so tough and firm that a man
could walk upon it, merely sinking above his ankles
in the soft ooze. Beneath this raft of vegetation
was extremely deep water, and the shore for a width
of about half a mUe was entirely protected by this
extraordinary formation. One day a tremendous
gale of wind and heavy sea broke off large portions,
and the wind acting upon the rushes like saUs,
carried floating islands of some acres about the
lake to be deposited wherever they might chance to
hitch. " On the thirteenth day we found ourselves at the
end of our lake voyage. The lake at this point was
between fifteen and twenty mUes across, and the ap
pearance of the country to the north was that of a
delta. The shores upon either side were choked
with vast banks of reeds, and as the canoe skirted
the edge of that upon the east coast, we could find
no bottom with a bamboo of twenty-five feet in
length, although the floating mass appeared like
terra firma. We were in a perfect wilderness of ve
getation. On the west were mountains of about
4,000 feet above the lake level, a continuation of the
chain that formed the western shore from the south :

380 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
these mountains decreased in height towards the
north, in which direction the lake terminated in a
broad vaUey of reeds.
"After skirting the floating reeds of the shore for
about a mile, we turned sharp to the east, and en
tered a broad channel of water bounded on either
side by the everlasting reeds. This we were in
formed was the embouchure of the Somerset River
from the Victoria Nyanza. The same river that we
had crossed at Karuma, boiling and tearing along
its rocky course, now entered the Albert Nyanza as
dead water ! I could not understand this ; there
was not the shghtest current; the channel was
about half a mile wide, and I could hardly convince
myseU that this was not an arm of the lake branch
ing to the east. After searching for some time for a
landing-place among the wonderful banks of reeds,
we discovered a passage that had evidently been
used as an approach by canoes, but so narrow that
our large canoe could with difficulty be dragged
through — aU the men walking through the mud and
reeds, and towing with their utmost strength. Se
veral hundred paces of this tedious work brought
us through the rushes into open water, about eight
feet deep, opposite to a clean rocky shore. We had
heard voices for some time obscured on the other
side of the rushes, and we now found a number of
natives, who had arrived to meet us, with the chief
of Magungo and our guide Rabonga, whom we had
sent in advance with the riding oxen from Vacovia.
The water was extremely shallow near the shore, and
the natives rushed in and dragged the canoes by

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT Yr.l.VzM. 331
sheer force over the mud to the land. We had
been so entirely hidden while on the lake on the
other side of the reed bank that we had been un
able to see the eastern, or Magungo shore ; we now
found ourselves in a dehghtful spot beneath the
shade of several enormous trees on firm sandy and
rocky ground, while the country rose in a rapid in
cline to the town of Magungo, about a mile distant,
on an elevated ridge.
" The day was beautifully clear. The soil was
sandy and poor, therefore the road was clean and
hard ; and, after the many days' boating, we enjoyed
the walk, and the splendid view that lay before us
when we arrived at Magungo, and looked back up
on the lake. We were about 250 feet above the
water level. There were no longer the abrupt cliffs,
descending to the lake, that we had seen in the
south, but the general level of the country appeared
to be about 500 feet above the water, at a distance
of five or six miles, from which point the ground
descended in undulations, Magungo being situated
on the summit of the nearest incline. The moun
tains on the Malegga side, with the lake in the
foreground, were the most prominent objects, form
ing the western boundary. A few miles north
there appeared to be a gap in the range, and the
lake continued to the west, but much contracted,
while the mountain range on the north side of the
gap continued to the northeast. Due north and
northeast the country was a dead flat, and far as
the eye could reach was an extent of bright green
reeds, marking the course of the Nile as it made its

382 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
exit from the lake. The sheet of water at Magungo
being about seventeen miles in width, ended in a long
strip or tail to the north, until it was lost in the flat
valley of green rushes. This valley may have been
from four to six miles wide, and was bounded upon
its west bank by the continuation of the chain of
mountains that had formed the western boundary
of the lake. The natives told me that canoes
could navigate the Nile in its course from the lake
to the Madi country, as there were no cataracts for
a great distance, but that both the Madi and the
Koshi were hostile, and that the current of the
river was so strong, that should the canoe descend
from the lake, it could not return without many
rowers. " The exit of the Nile from the lake was plain
enough, and if the broad channel of dead water
were indeed the entrance of the Victoria Nile,
(Somerset,) the information obtained by Speke
would be remarkably confirmed. Up to the present
time all the information that I had received from
Kamrasi and his people had been correct. He
had told me that I should be about twenty days
from MrooU to the lake ; I had been eighteen. He
had also told me that the Somerset flowed from Ka
ruma direct to the lake, and that, having joined it,
the great Nile issued from the lake almost immedi
ately, and flowed through the Koshi and Madi tribes.
I now saw the river issuing from the lake within
eighteen miles of Magungo : and the Koshi and the
Madi countries appeared close to me, bordering it
on the west and east.

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 383
" I had a bad attack of fever that. evening, and
missed my star for the latitude ; but on the follow
ing morning before daybreak I obtained a good
observation of Vega, and determined the latitude
of Magungo 2° 16' due west from Atada or Karuma
Falls. This was a strong confirmation that the
river beneath my feet was the Somerset, that I had
crossed in the same latitude at Atada, where the
river was running due west, and where the natives
had pointed in that direction as its course to the
lake. Nevertheless, I was determined to verify it,
although by this circuitous route I might lose the
boats from Gondokoro and become a prisoner in
Central Africa, ill, and without quinine, for another
year. I proposed it to my wUe, who not only voted
in her state of abject weakness to complete the river
to Karuma, but wished, if possible, to return and
foUow the Nile from the lake down to Gondokoro !"
Starting immediately in canoes, Baker made ten
mUes up the NUe the first day, finding a channel
about 500 yards in breadth, but no perceptible cur
rent. The second day the channel contracted to
250 yards, and after advancing eight mUes further,
the water gave indications of a very slight move
ment towards the west. He was now convinced that
the accounts of the natives were correct, and this
was really the same stream which Speke had found
issuing from the Victoria Nyanza at Ripon Falls —
the main stream of the Nile. The end of Baker's
voyage and of his discoveries is thus described :
" The woman Bacheeta knew the country, as she
had formerly been to Magungo when in the service

384 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA
of Sali, who had been subsequently murdered by
Kamrasi ; she now informed me that we should
terminate our canoe voyage on that day, as we
should arrive at the great waterfaU of which she
had often spoken. As we proceeded the river gra
dually narrowed to about 180 yards, and when the
paddles ceased working we could distinctly hear the
roar of water, I had heard this on waking in the
morning, but at the time I had imagined it to pro
ceed from distant thunder. By ten o'clock the cur
rent had so increased as we proceeded, that it was
distinctly perceptible, although weak. The roar of
the waterfaU was extremely loud, and after sharp
pulling for a couple of hours, during which time the
stream increased, we arrived at a few deserted fish
ing huts, at a point where the river made a slight
turn. I never saw such an extraordinary show of
crocodiles as were exposed on every sandbank on
the sides of the river ; they lay like logs of timber
close together, and upon one bank we counted
twenty-seven, of large size ; every basking place
was crowded in a simUar manner. From the time
we had fairly entered the river, it had been confined
by heights somewhat precipitous on either side, ris
ing to about 180 feet. At this point the cliffs were
stiU higher, and exceedingly abrupt. From the roar
of the water, I was sure that the fall would be in
sight U we turned the corner at the bend of the
river ; accordingly I ordered the boatmen to row as
far as they could ; to this they at first objected, as
they wished to stop at the deserted fishing village,

£Ma/S^/iEi_=-^MsB=j

CROCODILE IN THE NILE.

EXPLORATION OF THE ALBERT NYANZA. 385
which they explained was to be the limit of the
journey, farther progress being impossible.
" However, I explained that I merely wished to
see the fall, and they rowed immediately up the
stream, which was now strong against us. Upon
rounding the corner, a magnificent sight burst sud
denly upon us. On either side the river were beau
tifully wooded cliffs rising abruptly to a height of
about 300 feet ; rocks were jutting out from the in
tensely green fohage ; and rushing through a gap
that cleft the rock exactly before us, the river, con
tracted from a grand stream, was pent up in a nar
row gorge of scarcely fifty yards in width ; roaring
furiously through the rock-bound- pass, it plunged
in one leap of about 120 feet perpendicular into a
dark abyss below.
" The faU of water was snow-white, which had a
superb effect as it contrasted with the dark cliffs
that waUed the river, while the graceful palms of the
tropics and wild plantains perfected the beauty of
the view. This was the greatest waterfall of the
NUe, and, in honor of the distinguished President
of the Royal Geographical Society, I named it the
Murchison Falls, as the most important object
throughout the entire course of the river."

CHAPTER XXV-
BAKER. — DETENTION IN UNYORO, AND RETURN TO
GONDOKORO. — CONCLUSION.
BAKER'S object was now accomplished. He
had followed the banks of the NUe eastward
for two days, to within a few miles of the point where
he had first struck it on his journey southward : he
had ascertained that the "Nzige" of Speke was
not a mere marsh or back-water of the river, but a
great, magnificent lake, probably equal in size to
the Victoria Nyanza ; and thus the truth of the old
Ptolemaic map was fuUy established. It was now
the beginning of AprU, and very near the time when
the boats of the Egyptian traders always quitted
Gondokoro, to descend the White NUe.to Khartoum.
It was absolutely necessary to proceed directly to
Shooa, in order to avoid a detention of another year,
and Baker offered the natives all his beads, fifty
pounds, if they would set him across the river and
take him thither at once. They promised to do
this, but he discovered in season that they meant
to take his beads and leave him alone .in the unin
habited wilderness on the northern bank. Had he
been well and strong , he might nevertheless have

MORCHISON FALLS.

RETURN TO GONDOKORO -CONCLUSION. 387
made his way ; but himself and wUe could not walk
a quarter of a mile without fainting ; the whole
country was overgrown witii grass eight feet high,
and the prospect of venturing forward alone was
certain death.
He finaUy took possession of a hut on the south
ern shore. It was the height of the rainy season ;
the animals were nearly aU dead, and the few wild
vegetables, and the bitter, mouldy meal of the coun
try were scarcely sufficient to support life. Thus,
for two months, consumed by fever, the explorer and
his wife languished, expecting every day to be
their last. FinaUy, in his desperation, Baker sent
his vakeel, or agent, to Kamrasi, requesting fifty
porters to convey him and his party to that
monarch's camp.
" After a few days a messenger arrived with the
leaf of a book, as a token that he came from Kam
rasi. He was foUowed by a guide and porters, and
a lean ox, which was immediately slaughtered to
feed the starving party. After five days of slow
marching in a southwesterly direction, Baker and
his wUe being carried on Utters, they reached a vil
lage called Kisoona, where they found a party of
Kamrasi's army and some of Ibrahim's men. This
was a welcome meeting : " An immense amount of
news had to be exchanged between my men and
those of Ibrahim ; they had quite given us up for
lost, until they heard that we were at Shooa Moru.
A report had reached them that my wife was dead,
and that I had died a few days later. A great
amount of kissing and embracing took place, Arab

388 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
fashion, between the two parties ; and they aU came
to kiss my hand and that of my wife, with the ex
clamation, that ' By Allah, no woman in the world
had a heart so tough as to dare to face what she
had gone through.' ' El hamd el IUah ! El hamd
el IUah bel salaam !' (' Thank God — be grateful to
God,') was exclaimed on all sides by the swarthy
throng of brigands who pressed round us, really
glad to welcome us back again ; and I could not
help thinking of the difference in their manner now
and fourteen months ago, when they had attempted
to drive us back from Gondokoro."
Here Baker discovered, to his great surprise, that
the person to whom he had been presented as
Kamrasi, and who assumed the latter's name and
office, was in reality M'Gambi, a younger brother of
the king. In his irritation at the trick which had
been played upon him, he at first refused to see
the real Kamrasi, but his dependent position finally
obliged him to accede to an interview, which he de
scribes as foUows :
" At the hour appointed M'Gambi appeared, with
a great crowd of natives. My clothes were in rags,
— and as personal appearance has a certain effect,
even in Central Africa, I determined to present my
self to the king in as favorable a light as possible.
I happened to possess a full-dress Highland suit
that I had worn when I lived in Perthshire many
years ago ; this I had treasured as serviceable upon
an occasion like the present ; — accordingly I was
quickly attired in kilt, sporran and Glengarry bon
net, and to the utter amazement of the crowd, the

RETURN TO GONDOKORO— CONCLUSION. 389
ragged-looking object that had arrived at Kisoona
now issued from the obscure hut, with plaid and
kilt of Athole tartan. A general shout of exclama
tion arose from the assembled crowd ; and taking
my seat upon an angarep, I was immediately shoul
dered by a number of men, and attended by ten of
my people as escort, I was carried towards the camp
of the great Kamrasi.
" In about haU an hour we arrived. The camp,
composed of grass huts, extended over a large ex
tent of ground, and the approach was perfectly
black with the throng that crowded to meet me.
Women, chUdren, dogs and men aU thronged at the
entrance of the street that led to Kamrasi's resi
dence. Pushing our way through this inquisitive
multitude, we continued through the camp untU at
length we reached the dwelling of the king. Halt
ing for the moment, a message was immediately re
ceived that we should proceed ; we accordingly en
tered through a narrow passage between high reed
fences, and I found myseU in the presence of the
actual king of Unyoro, Kamrasi. He was sitting in
a kind of porch in front of a hut, and upon seeing
me he hardly condescended to look at me for more
than a moment ; he then turned to his attendants
and made some remark that appeared to amuse
them, as they aU grinned as Uttle men are wont to
do when a great man makes a bad joke.
" I had ordered one of my men to carry my stool ;
I was determined not to sit upon the earth, as the
king would glory in my humiliation. M'Gambi, his
brother, who had formerly played the part of king,

390 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
now sat upon the ground a few feet from Kamrasi,
who was seated upon the same stool of copper that
M'Gambi had used when I first saw him at Mroolj,
Several of his chiefs also sat upon the straw with
which the porch was littered. I made a * salaam,'
and took my seat upon my stool. Not a word passed
between us for about five minutes, during which
time the king eyed me most attentively, and made
various remarks to the chiefs who were present ; at
length he asked me why I had not been to see him
before ? I replied, ' Because I had been starved in
his country, and I was too weak to walk.' He said
— I should soon be strong, as he would now give
me a good supply of food, but that he could not
send provisions to Shooa Moru, as Fowooka held
that country. Without replying to this wretched ex
cuse for his neglect, I merely told him that I was
happy to have seen him before my departure, as 1
was not aware until recently that I had been duped
by M'Gambi. He answered me very cooUy, saying
that although I had not seen him he had neverthe
less seen me, as he was among the crowd of native
escort on the day that we left Mrooli. Thus he had
watched our start at the very place where his bro
ther M'Gambi had impersonated the king."
After this interview Baker was supplied with a
cow, and a sufficient supply of plantains and flour.
His health and his wife's improved with a better
diet, but he was obliged to remain in the country
until Ibrahim's return. The summer passed away
with wars and rumors of wars ; the camp at Kisoona
was abandoned on account of the approach of a

¦TO

THE WELCOME ON BAKER'S RBTDRN TO THE CAMP AT SHOOA

RETURN TO GONDOKORO— CONCLUSION. 391
hostUe force from Uganda, and Baker made a
forced march with his party to a village hear the
Karuma FaUs of the Nile. Here he again settled,
and employed his time in distilling a kind of brandy
from sweet potatoes. Singularly enough, the use
of the liquor soon cured all the cases of fever and
restored every one to complete health.
On the 20th of September Ibrahim arrived, bring
ing letters and newspapers which had reached
Gondokoro. Two months more were spent in col
lecting the ivory which the Turks had procured in
Unyoro, and engaging 700 porters to transport it to
the camp at Shooa. On the 17th November they
aU finaUy commenced the return journey together,
and in five days reached their old quarters at
Shooa, where the natives performed a dance of wel
come for Baker and his wife. Here they remained
more than two months, on account of the greater
salubrity of the climate, since the trading vessels
could not have reached Gondokoro. The alliance
with Ibrahim had turned out most advantageously
for the latter, and the two parties were on the best
of terms.
" The hour of dehverance from our long sojourn
in Central Africa was at hand," Baker writes ; " it
was the month of February, and the boats would be
at Gondokoro. The Turks had packed their ivory ;
the large tusks were fastened to poles to be car
ried by two men, and the camp was a perfect mass
of this valuable material. I counted 609 loads of
upwards of 50 lbs. each ; thirty-one loads were
lying at an out-station : therefore the total results of

392 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
the ivory campaign during the last twelve months
were about 32,000 lbs., equal to about £9,630 when
delivered in Egypt. This was a perfect fortune foi •
Koorshid. " We were ready to start. My baggage was so
unimportant that I was prepared to forsake every
thing, and to march straight for Gondokoro inde
pendently with my own men ; but this the Turks
assured me was impracticable, as the country was
so hostile in advance that we must of necessity have
some fighting on the road; the Bari tribe would
dispute our right to pass through their territory."
A few days more, and the march commenced. The
route was almost identical with that followed by
Speke and Grant. Baker a'lso found Miani's tree,
at which point he saw the NUe again, crossed the
Asua River near its mouth, and pressed on through
the Bari country, the caravan being constantly ha
rassed by attacks of the natives. The force, how
ever, was safe in its numbers, and lost only one man
by the way. On the 22nd of March, 1865, they saw
the mountains of Regiaf, near Gondokoro, and the
blue peaks- of EUyria in the east. This is Baker'*
description of the last day of his most adventurous
journey :
" We started ; — the English flag had been mounted
on a fine straight bamboo with a new lance-head
specially arranged for the arrival at Gondokoro.
My men felt proud, as they would march in as con
querors ; — according to White Nile ideas such a
journey could not have been accomphshed with so
smaU a party. Long before Ibrahim's men were

RETURN TO GONDOKORO— CONCLUSION. 393
ready to start, our oxen were saddled and we were
off, longing to hasten into Gondokoro and to find a
comfortable vessel with a few luxuries and the post
from England. Never had the oxen travelled so
fast as on that morning ; — the flag led the way, and
the men in exceUent spirits followed at double quick
pace. ' I see the masts of the vessels !' exclaimed
the boy Saat. ' El hambd el IUah !' (Thank God !)
shouted the men. ' Hurrah !' said I — ' Three cheers
for Old England and the Sources of the Nile ! Hur
rah !' and my men joined me in the wild, and to
their ears savage, Enghsh yell. ' Now for a salute !
Fire away aU your powder, if you Uke, my lads, and
let the people know that we're ahve !' This was all
that was required to complete the happiness of my
people, and loading and firing as fast as possible, we
approached near to Gondokoro. Presently we saw
the Turkish flag emerge from Gondokoro at about
a quarter of a mile distant, foUowed by a number
of the traders' people, who waited to receive us.
On our arrival, they immediately approached and
fired salutes with baU cartridge; as usual advancing
close to us and discharging their guns into" the
ground at our feet. One of my servants, Mahomet,
was riding an ox, and an old friend of his in the
crowd happening to recognize him, immediately ad
vanced, and saluted him by firing his gun into the
earth directly beneath the belly of the ox he was
riding ; — the effect produced made the crowd and
^ourselves explode with laughter. The nervous ox,
terrified at the sudden discharge between his legs,
gave a tremendous kick, and continued madly kick-

394 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
ing and plunging, until Mahomet was pitched over
his head and lay sprawling on the ground ; — this
scene terminated the expedition.
"Dismounting from our tired oxen, our first in
quiry was concerning boats and letters. What was
the reply ? Neither boats, letters, supplies, nor any
intelligence of friends or the civilized world ! We
had long since been given up as dead by the inhabi
tants of Khartoum, and by aU those who understood
the difficulties and dangers of the country. We
were told that some people had suggested that we
might possibly have gone to Zanzibar, but the gen
eral opinion was that we had aU been killed. At
this cold and barren reply, I felt almost choked.
We had looked forward to arriving at Gondokoro as
to a home; we had expected that a boat would
have been sent on the chance of finding us, as I
had left money in the hands of an agent in Khar
toum — but there was UteraUy nothing to receive
us, and we were helpless to return. We had worked
for years in misery, such as I have but faintly de
scribed, to overcome the difficulties of this hitherto
unconquerable exploration ; we had succeeded — and
what was the result ? Not even a letter from home
to welcome us if alive! As I sat beneath a tree
and looked down upon the glorious NUe that flowed
a few yards beneath my feet, I pondered upon the
value of my toil. I had traced the river to its
great Albert source, and as the mighty stream
glided before me, the mystery that had ever shrouded'
its origin was dissolved. I no longer looked upon
its waters with a feeling approaching -to awe, for

RETURN TO GONDOKORO— CONCLUSION. 395
I knew its home, and had visited its cradle. Had
I overrated the importance of the discovery ? and
had I wasted some of the be'st years of my life to
obtain a shadow? I recalled to recollection the
practical question of Commoro, the chief of La
tooka — 'Suppose you get to the great lake, what
wiU you do with it? What wUl be the good of
it ? If you find that the large river does flow from
it, what then ?' "

During Baker's voyage down the White Nile,
the plague broke out on board his vessel, and his
faithful boy Saat fell a victim to it a few days
before reaching Khartoum. Arriving there on the
5th of May, he remained until July 1st, and then
set out with Mrs. Baker, and his servant Richarn,
for Berber. They had a narrow escape from ship
wreck on the rapids of the Nile, and from an Arab
attack in the desert between Berber and the port Of
Sowakin, on the Red Sea. But all dangers and diffi
culties were finaUy surmounted ; after a fortnight's
delay at Sowakin, an Egyptian frigate took them to
Suez, whence Europe was but four days' journey
distant. ^
Baker not only received the gold medal of .the*.*
Royal Geographical Society for his discovery of the
Albert Nyanza, but also the honor of knighthood,
which would have been conferred on Speke, but for
his untimely death. For four years after his arrival

396 LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
in England, he devoted himself to the narration of
his adventures in the Atbara region, Abyssinia, and
Ceylon. In the year 1869, the Viceroy of Egypt
appointed him to the command of an expedition,
the object of which was to reach the Albert Nyanza,
navigate it with a smaU steamer, and*open as much
as possible of Central Africa to commerce with
Egypt. With the rank of Pasha, a force 6! 1,600 soldiers,
a smaU iron steamer in compartments, a company
of engineers and scientific men, and all requisite
supplies, Sir Samuel and Lady Baker left Cairo in
1870, expecting to reach the Albert Nyanza by the
close of the foUowing year. After their departure
nothing was heard of the expedition for a long time,
but intelligence finaUy came that nearly a year had
been consumed in getting the vessels and supplies
to Gondokoro. Baker had been obliged to encamp
for some months near the mouth of the Sobat, and
had only succeeded in getting his steamer through
the shallow, marshy regions of the White Nile by
cutting a channel which required the labor of three
months. The latest reports, [June, 1872,] not entirely trust
worthy, state that the Baris refused to furnish him
with porters and provisions ; that he had attacked
them and was repulsed ; that his Egyptian troops
had been diminished, by sickness and desertion, to
800, but that the Europeans of the party, encamped
near Gondokoro, enjoyed excellent health ; and
finaUy, that the further progress of the expedition

CONCLUSION. 397
was not yet assured. But whatever energy and
courage can accomplish, under the circumstances,
will most certainly "be exempUfied by Baker and his
heroic wife.

THE END.

SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO.'S
LIBRARY OF
CHOICE FICTION
«•»
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AT HIS GATES.
A. 3STO"V"EIi.
By MRS. OLIPHANT,
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&c, &c.
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now ready:
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By J. B. DE LIEFDE.
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THE STORY OF WANDERING WILLIE.
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Ifisiforirel anb JUJisrpWanpous TSnvh
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JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M.A.
 o 
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THE FIRST VOLUME OF
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DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
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Mr. Froude's lectures have given the American public glimpses of the conclusions at
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N.B, — Another -volume will complete this work.

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
FROM THE FALL OF WOLSEY TO THE DEATH OF ELIZA-
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THE COMPLETE WORK IN TWELVE VOLUMES
By JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M.A.

FOR STYLES AND PRICES OF THIS GREAT WORK, SEE
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Prices and Styles of the Different Editions
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rijr UojHtUr SDition.
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&f)t Utiirarg ZEXHUon.

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CRITICAL NOTICES.

"They area worthy continuation of a history which will hold a high place in English
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natural in his tone, more thoughtful in his remarks on events, more unaffected in his narra
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and his skill in description and fulness of knowledge make his work abound in scenes and
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history in one of its most remarkable periods." — British Quarterly Review.
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fully conceded. His researches have been independent and original, and although some
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FROUDE'S
SHORT STUDIES ON GREAT SUBJECTS.
CRITICAL NOTICES.
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A NEW AND VALUABLE SERIES
For Readers of all Ages and for the School & Family Library
The Illustrated Library
OF
TRAVEL, EXPLORATION,
AND ADVENTURE.

EDITED BY

BAYARD TAYLOR.

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tical survey of our present knowledge of lands and races as supplied by the accounts of
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h> young as well as old, and the publishers intend to make it a necessity in every family of
oulture and in every private and public library in America. The name of Bayard Tayumi
as editor is an assurance of the accuracy and high literary character of the publication.

NOW ready:
JAPAN, SIAM, ARABIA,
WILD MEN AND WILD BEASTS,
SOUTH AFRICA,
THE YELLOWSTONE, CENTRAL AFRICA

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The following volumes will introduce THE SECOND SERIES.

THE WONDERS OF SCULPTURE.
From the French of Louis Viardot.
With a chapter on American Sculpture.
With over sixty illustrations. Si. 50.
WONDERS OF ELECTRICITY. Ed
ited by Dr. J. W. Armstrong, President
of the State Normal School, Fredonia,
N.Y. $1.50

WONDERS OF VEGETATION.
(Over 40 Illustrations.) Edited by Prof.
Schele De Verb. $1.50
WONDERS OF WATER. (64 Illus
trations.) Edited by Prof. Schele De
Vere. $1.50
WONDERS OF THE MOON. (With
50 Illustrations J Edited, with additions,
by Miss Maria Mitchell, of Vassar
College, Poughkeepsie. $1.50

The Red Cloth, Original Style of the First Series of the
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REDUCED FROM $1.50 PER VOLUME TO $1,25 PER VOLUME,
AND FROM $30 TO $25 PER SET OF TWENTY VOLUMES.

Illus.
Wonderful Escapes  26
Bodily Strength and Skill . . 70
Balloon Ascents  30
Great Hunts  22
Egypt 3,3oo Years Ago .. .40
The Sun. By Guillemiu . . 58
Wunders of Heat  93

The First Series comprises :
Illus.
Optical Wonders . .  71
Wonders of Acoustics. . . .no
The Heavens - ....... ;-. . 48
The Humaii Body  43
The Sublime in Nature.. 44
Intelligence of Animals .. 54
Thunder and Lightning.. 39

Illus.
Bottom of the Sea  68
Italian Art  28
European Art  n
Architecture  60
Glass-Making  .63
Wonders of Pompeii  22

Take Special Notice. — To get advantage of this reduction, be Particular to spec
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SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUMES TO THE FIRST SERIES.

ADVENTURES. (39
Edited hy Hon. J. T.

WONDERS OF ENGRAVING. (34
Illustrations.) Translated from the French
of Georges Duplessis.

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®|p Pinto's Eifirarg.
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AND FIFTY DOLLARS' WORTH OF BOOKS hOR
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ALEXANDER'S (Dr. J. W.) Consolation.
ALEXANDER'S (Dr. J. A.) Isaiah, (a vols.)
do. do. Psalms. (2 vols.)
do. do. Sermons.
ADAMS (Dr. Wm.). Thanksgiving.
ANDREWS (Rev. S. J.). Life of Our Lord.
BUSHNELL'S Nature and the Supernatural.
CONYBEARE & HOWSON'S St. Paul. (2 vols.)
FISHER'S (Prof. Geo. P.) Supernatural Origin of. Christianity.
HURST'S (Prof. J. F.) History of Rationalism.
LILLIE'S (Dr. John) Lectures on Peter.
SHEDD (Dr. W. G. T.) Sermons to the Natural Man.
STANLEY'S (Dean) History of the Jewish Church, (a vols.)
do. do. History of the Eastern Church.
THOMPSON'S (Dr. J. P.) Theology of Christ.
WOOLSEY (Dr. T. D.). Religion of the Present and of the Future.

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