Ibrahim And His Strong Party Having
Quitted The Country, Fowooka Had Invaded The Mainland Of Chopi, And Had
Burnt And Destroyed All The Villages, And Killed Many People, Including
A Powerful Chief Of Kamrasi's, The Father Of The Headman Of The Island
Of Patooan Where We Were Now Staying.
Accordingly the fugitives from the
destroyed villages had taken refuge upon the island of Patooan, and
others of the same character.
The headman informed us that it would be
impossible to proceed along the bank of the river to Karuma, as that
entire line of country was in possession of the enemy. This was
sufficient to assure me that I should not procure porters.
There was no end to the difficulties and trouble in this horrible
country. My exploration was completed, as it was by no means necessary
to continue the route from Patooan to Karuma. I had followed the
Somerset from its junction with the lake at Magungo to this point; here
it was a beautiful river, precisely similar in character to the point at
which I had left it at Karuma: we were now within thirty miles of that
place, and about eighteen miles from the point opposite Rionga's island,
where we had first hit upon the river on our arrival from the north. The
direction was perfectly in accordance with my observations at Karuma,
and at Magungo, the Somerset running from east to west. The river was
about 180 to 200 yards in width, but much obstructed with rocks and
islands; the stream ran at about four miles per hour, and the rapids and
falls were so numerous that the roar of water had been continuous
throughout our march from Murchison Falls. By observations of Casella's
thermometer I made the altitude of the river level at the island of
Patooan 3,195 feet; thus from this point to the level of the Albert lake
at Magungo there was a fall of 475 feet - this difference being included
between Patooan and the foot of Murchison Falls: the latter, being at
the lowest estimate 120 feet, left 355 feet to be accounted for between
Patooan and the top of the falls. As the ledges of rock throughout the
course of the river formed a series of steps, this was a natural
difference in altitude that suggested the correctness of the
observations.
At the river level below Karuma Falls I had measured the altitude at
3,996 feet above the sea level. Thus, there was a fall from that point
to Patooan of 801 feet, and a total of 1,276 feet in the descent of the
river from Karuma to the Albert N'yanza. These measurements, most
carefully taken, corroborated the opinion suggested by the natural
appearance of the river, which was a mere succession of cataracts
throughout its westerly course from Karuma.
To me these observations were more than usually interesting, as when I
had met my friend Speke at Gondokoro he was much perplexed concerning
the extraordinary difference in his observation between the altitude of
the river level at Karuma Falls, lat.
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