On The Fourth Day We Left The Prairies, And Entered A Noble Forest; This
Was Also So Choked With High Grass That It Was Impossible To Proceed
Without Burning The Country In Advance.
There had been no semblance of a
path for some time; and the only signs of game that we had seen were the
tracks of elephants and a large herd of buffaloes, the fire having
scared all wild animals from the neighbourhood.
An attack of fever
seized me suddenly, and I was obliged to lie down for four or five hours
under a tree until the fit had passed away, when, weak and good for
nothing, I again mounted my ox and rode on. On the 22d January, from an
elevated position in the forest at sunrise, we saw a cloud of fog
hanging in a distant valley, which betokened the presence of the
Somerset river. The guide assured us that we should reach the river that
day. I extract the note from my journal on that occasion:
"Marched, 6h. 20m., reaching the Somerset river, or Victoria White Nile.
I never made so tedious a journey, owing to the delays of grass,
streams, and deep swamps, but since we gained the forest these obstacles
were not so numerous. Many tracks of elephants, rhinoceros, and
buffaloes; but we saw nothing. Halted about eighty feet above the river;
altitude above sea level, by observation, 3,864 ft. I went to the river
to see if the other side was inhabited; saw two villages on an island;
the natives came across in a canoe, bringing the BROTHER OF RIONGA with
them; the guide, as I had feared during the journey, has deceived us,
and taken us direct to Rionga's country.
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