Beyond That Country To The South On The Western Shore
No Intelligence Could Be Obtained From Any One.
The lake was known to extend as far south as Karagwe; and the old story
was repeated, that Rumanika, the king of that country, was in the habit
of sending ivory-hunting parties to the lake at Utumbi, and that
formerly they had navigated the lake to Magungo.
This was a curious
confirmation of the report given me by Speke at Gondokoro, who wrote:
"Rumanika is constantly in the habit of sending ivory-hunting parties to
Utumbi."
The eastern shores of the lake were, from north to south, occupied by
Chopi, Unyoro, Uganda, Utumbi, and Karagwe: from the last point, which
could not be less than about two degrees south latitude, the lake was
reported to turn suddenly to the west, and to continue in that direction
for an unknown distance. North of Malegga, on the west of the lake, was
a small country called M'Caroli; then Koshi, on the west side of the
Nile at its exit from the lake; and on the east side of the Nile was the
Madi, opposite to Koshi. Both the guide and the chief of Vacovia
informed me that we should be taken by canoes to Magungo, to the point
at which the Somerset that we had left at Karuma joined the lake; but
that we could not ascend it, as it was a succession of cataracts the
whole way from Karuma until within a short distance of Magungo. The exit
of the Nile from the lake at Koshi was navigable for a considerable
distance, and canoes could descend the river as far as the Madi.
They both agreed that the level of the lake was never lower than at
present, and that it never rose higher than a mark upon the beach that
accounted for an increase of about four feet. The beach was perfectly
clean sand, upon which the waves rolled like those of the sea, throwing
up weeds precisely as seaweed may be seen upon the English shore. It was
a grand sight to look upon this vast reservoir of the mighty Nile, and
to watch the heavy swell tumbling upon the beach, while far to the
southwest the eye searched as vainly for a bound as though upon the
Atlantic. It was with extreme emotion that I enjoyed this glorious
scene. My wife, who had followed me so devotedly, stood by my side pale
and exhausted - a wreck upon the shores of the great Albert lake that
we had so long striven to reach. No European foot had ever trod upon its
sand, nor had the eyes of a white man ever scanned its vast expanse of
water. We were the first; and this was the key to the great secret that
even Julius Caesar yearned to unravel, but in vain. Here was the great
basin of the Nile that received EVERY DROP OF WATER, even from the
passing shower to the roaring mountain torrent that drained from Central
Africa towards the north.
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