He Immediately Pointed To Canopus, Which
I Knew By Speke's Map Should Be The Direction Of Rionga's Islands, And I
Charged Him With The Deceit.
He appeared very much astonished, and asked
me "why I wanted a guide if I knew the way?" confessing
That Karuma
Falls were "a little to the east of the star." I thanked Speke and Grant
at that moment, and upon many other occasions, for the map they had so
generously given me! It has been my greatest satisfaction to have
completed their great discovery, and to bear testimony to the
correctness of their map and general observations.
The march was exceedingly fatiguing: there was a swamp at least every
half hour during the day, at each of which we had the greatest
difficulty in driving the oxen, who were above the girths in mud. One
swamp was so deep that we had to carry the luggage piecemeal on an
angarep by about twelve men, and my wife being subjected to the same
operation was too heavy, and the people returned with her as
impracticable. I accordingly volunteered for service, and carried her on
my back; but when in the middle of the swamp, the tenacious bottom gave
way, and I sank, and remained immoveably fixed, while she floundered
froglike in the muddy water. I was extricated by the united efforts of
several men, and she was landed by being dragged through the swamp. We
marched for upwards of ten hours per day, so great were the delays in
crossing the morasses and in clearing off the grass jungle by burning.
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. On the north side the river all
is uninhabited forest, full of buffalo and elephant pitfalls, into which
three of our cattle have already fallen, including my beautiful riding
ox, which is thus so sprained as to be rendered useless. "The natives at
first supposed we were Mahommed Wat-el-Mek's people, but finding their
mistake they would give no information, merely saying that the lake was
not far from here. They said 'they were friends of Mahommed's people who
attacked Kamrasi, and Rionga being his enemy became their ally.' I must
now be very careful, lest the news should reach Kamrasi that I am in
Rionga's country, which would cut off all chance of travelling in
Unyoro. "The slave woman, Bacheeta, secretly instructed the guide to
lead us to Rionga instead of to Kamrasi, precisely as I had suspected.
The Karuma Falls are a day's march east of this, at which point we must
cross the river. Obtained a clear observation of Capella, meridian
altitude showing latitude 2 degrees 18 minutes N."
We could get no supplies from Rionga's people, who returned to their
island after their conference with Bacheeta, promising to send us some
plantains and a basket of flour; but upon gaining their secure retreat
they shouted, "that we might go to Kamrasi if we liked, but that we
should receive no assistance from them." Early in the morning we started
for Karuma. This part of the forest was perfectly open, as the grass had
been burnt by the natives about three weeks ago, and the young shoots of
the vines were appearing from the scorched roots; among other plants was
an abundance of the prickly asparagus, of which I collected a basketful.
Nothing could exceed the beauty of the march. Our course through the
noble forest was parallel with the river, that roared beneath us on our
right in a succession of rapids and falls between high cliffs covered
with groves of bananas and varieties of palms, including the graceful
wild date - -the certain sign of either marsh or river. The Victoria Nile
or Somerset river was about 150 yards wide; the cliffs on the south side
were higher than those upon the north, being about 150 feet above the
river. These heights were thronged with natives, who had collected from
the numerous villages that ornamented the cliffs situated among groves
of plantains; they were armed with spears and shields; the population
ran parallel to our line of march, shouting and gesticulating as though
daring us to cross the river.
After a most enjoyable march through the exciting scene of the glorious
river crashing over innumerable falls - and in many places ornamented
with rocky islands, upon which were villages and plantain groves - we at
length approached the Karuma Falls, close to the village of Atada above
the ferry.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 100 of 175
Words from 101110 to 102138
of 178435
