The Malegga People Were In Appearance The Same As Those
Of Unyoro, But They Spoke A Different Language.
The boats being ready, we took leave of the chief, leaving him an
acceptable present of beads, and we
Descended the hill to the river,
thankful at having so far successfully terminated the expedition as to
have traced the lake to that important point Magungo, which had been our
clue to the discovery even so far away in time and place as the distant
country of Latooka. We were both very weak and ill, and my knees
trembled beneath me as we walked down the easy descent. I, in my
enervated state, endeavouring to assist my wife, we were the "blind
leading the blind;" but had life closed on that day we could have died
most happily, for the hard fight through sickness and misery had ended
in victory; and, although I looked to home as a paradise never to be
regained, I could have lain down to sleep in contentment on this spot,
with the consolation that, if the body had been vanquished, we died with
the prize in our grasp.
On arrival at the canoes we found everything in readiness, and the
boatmen already in their places. A crowd of natives pushed us over the
shallows, and once in deep water we passed through a broad canal which
led us into the open channel without the labour of towing through the
narrow inlet by which we had arrived. Once in the broad channel of dead
water we steered due east, and made rapid way until the evening. The
river as it now appeared, although devoid of current, was an average of
about 500 yards in width. Before we halted for the night I was subjected
to a most severe attack of fever, and upon the boat reaching a certain
spot I was carried on a litter, perfectly unconscious, to a village,
attended carefully by my poor sick wife, who, herself half dead,
followed me on foot through the marshes in pitch darkness, and watched
over me until the morning. At daybreak I was too weak to stand, and we
were both carried down to the canoes, and, crawling helplessly within
our grass awning, we lay down like logs while the canoes continued their
voyage. Many of our men were also suffering from fever. The malaria of
the dense masses of floating vegetation was most poisonous; and upon
looking back to the canoe that followed in our wake, I observed all my
men sitting crouched together sick and dispirited, looking like departed
spirits being ferried across the melancholy Styx. The river now
contracted rapidly to about 250 yards in width about ten miles from
Magungo. We had left the vast flats of rush banks, and entered a channel
between high ground, forming steep forest-covered hills, about 200 feet
on either side, north and south: nevertheless there was no perceptible
stream, although there was no doubt that we were actually in the channel
of a river. The water was clear and exceedingly deep. In the evening we
halted, and slept on a mud bank close to the water. The grass in the
forest was very high and rank; thus we were glad to find an open space
for a bivouac, although a nest of mosquitoes and malaria.
On waking the next morning, I observed that a thick fog covered the
surface of the river; and as I lay upon my back, on my angarep, I amused
myself before I woke my men by watching the fog slowly lifting from the
river. While thus employed I was struck by the fact, that the little
green water-plants, like floating cabbages (Pistia Stratiotes, L.), were
certainly, although very slowly, moving to the west. I immediately
jumped up, and watched them most attentively; there was no doubt about
it; they were travelling towards the Albert lake. We were now about
eighteen miles in a direct line from Magungo, and there was a current in
the river, which, however slight, was nevertheless perceptible.
Our toilette did not take long to arrange, as we had thrown ourselves
down at night with our clothes on; accordingly we entered the canoe at
once, and gave the order to start.
The woman Bacheeta knew the country, as she had formerly been to Magungo
when in the service 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 waterfall of which she had
often spoken. As we proceeded the river gradually 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 proceed from distant thunder. By ten o'clock
the current had so increased as we proceeded, that it was distinctly
perceptible, although weak. The roar of the waterfall was extremely
loud, and after sharp pulling for a couple of hours, during which time
the stream increased, we arrived at a few deserted fishing 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 similar manner. From the time we had fairly
entered the river, it had been confined by heights somewhat precipitous
on either side, rising to about 180 feet. At this point the cliffs were
still higher, and exceedingly abrupt. From the roar of the water, I was
sure that the fall would be in sight if 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, which they explained was to be the limit of
the journey, farther progress being impossible.
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