For years I had striven to reach the "sources
of the Nile." In my nightly dreams during that arduous voyage I had
always failed, but after so much hard work and perseverance the cup was
at my very lips, and I was to DRINK at the mysterious fountain before
another sun should set - at that great reservoir of nature that ever
since creation had baffled all discovery.
I had hoped, and prayed, and striven through all kinds of difficulties,
in sickness, starvation, and fatigue, to reach that hidden source; and
when it had appeared impossible we had both determined to die upon the
road rather than return defeated. Was it possible that it was so near,
and that to-morrow we could say, "The work is accomplished"?
The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after the guide, who,
having been promised a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake,
had caught the enthusiasm of the moment. The day broke beautifully
clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled up
the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The glory of our prize
burst suddenly upon me! There, like a sea of quicksilver, lay far
beneath the grand expanse of water - a boundless sea horizon on the south
and south-west, glittering in the noonday sun; and in the west, at fifty
or sixty miles' distance, blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake
to a height of about 7000 feet above its level.
