It
rained as usual, and no village being in the neighbourhood, we
bivouacked in the rain on the beach in clouds of mosquitoes.
The discomforts of this lake voyage were great; in the day we were
cramped in our small cabin like two tortoises in one shell, and at night
it almost invariably rained. We were accustomed to the wet, but no
acclimatisation can render the European body mosquito-proof; thus we had
little rest. It was hard work for me, but for my unfortunate wife, who
had hardly recovered from her attack of coup de soleil, such hardships
were most distressing.
On the following morning the lake was calm, and we started early. The
monotony of the voyage was broken by the presence of several fine herds
of elephants, consisting entirely of bulls. I counted fourteen of these
grand animals, all with large tusks, bathing together in a small shallow
lake beneath the mountains, having a communication with the main lake
through a sandy beach; these elephants were only knee deep, and having
been bathing they were perfectly clean, and their colossal black forms
and large white tusks formed a beautiful picture in the calm lake
beneath the lofty cliffs. It was a scene in harmony with the solitude of
the Nile Sources - the wilderness of rocks and forest, the Blue
Mountains in the distance, and the great fountain of nature adorned with
the mighty beasts of Africa; the elephants in undisturbed grandeur, and
hippopotami disporting their huge forms in the great parent of the
Egyptian river.
I ordered the boatmen to run the canoe ashore, that we might land and
enjoy the scene. We then discovered seven elephants on the shore within
about two hundred yards of us in high grass, while the main herd of
fourteen splendid bulls bathed majestically in the placid lake,
showering cold streams from their trunks over their backs and shoulders.
There was no time to lose, as every hour was important: quitting the
shore, we once more paddled along the coast.
Day after day passed, the time occupied in travelling from sunrise to
midday, at which hour a strong gale with rain and thunder occurred
regularly, and obliged us to haul our canoes ashore. The country was
very thinly inhabited, and the villages 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
boatmen that we had procured from the last village were to deliver us in
this spot. The delays in procuring boatmen were most annoying: it
appeared that 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.
