Where the hills are grouped, they remind me of a
small chopping sea in the Bristol Channel. That the
hills are nowhere high, is proved by the total absence
of any rivers along this line, until the lake is reached;
and the passages between or over them are everywhere
gradual in their rise; so that in travelling through the
country, no matter in which direction, the hills seldom
interfere with the line of march. The flats and hollows
are well peopled, and cattle and cultivation are
everywhere abundant. The stone, soil, and aspect of
the tract is uniform throughout. The stone is chiefly
granite, the rugged rocks of which lie like knobs of
sugar over the surface of the little hills, intermingled
with sandstone in a highly ferruginous state; whilst
the soil is an accumulation of sand the same colour as
the stone, a light brownish grey, and appears as if it
were formed of disintegrated particles of the rocks
worn off by time and weathering. Small trees and
brushwood cover all the outcropping hills; and palms
on the plains, though few and widely spread, prove
that water is very near the surface. Springs, too, are
numerous, and generally distributed. The mean level
of the country between Unyanyembe and the lake
is 3767 feet; that of the lake itself, 3750. The
tribes, as a rule, are well disposed towards all strangers,
and wish to extend their commerce. Their
social state rather represents a conservative than a
radical disposition; their government is a sort of semi-
patriarchal-feudal arrangement; and, like a band of
robbers, all hold by their different chiefs from feeling
the necessity of mutual support. Bordering the south
of the lake there are vast fields of iron; cotton is also
abundant, and every tropical plant or tree could grow;
those that do exist, even rice, vegetate in the utmost
luxuriance. Cattle are very abundant, and. hides are
found in every house. On the east of the lake ivory is
said to be very abundant and cheap; and on the west
we hear of many advantages which are especially worthy
of our notice. The Karagud hills overlooking the
lake are high, cold, and healthy, and have enormous
droves of cattle, bearing horns of stupendous size; and
ivory, fine timber, and all the necessaries of life, are to
be found in great profusion there. Again, beyond the
equator, of the kingdom of Uganda we hear from
everybody a rapturous account. That country evidently
swarms with people who cultivate coffee and
all the common grains, and have large flocks and herds,
even greater than what I have lately seen. Now if
the N’yanza be really the Nile’s fount, which I sincerely
believe to be the case, what an advantage this will be
to the English merchant on the Nile, and what a field
is opened to the world, if England does not neglect
this discovery!
But I must not cxp&tmtc too much, on the merits
and capabilities of this part of inner Africa, lest I mislead
any commercial inquirers; and it is as well to
say at present, that the people near the coast are in
such a state of helplessness and insecurity, caused by
the slave-hunts, that for many years, until commerce,
by steady and certain advance, shall in some degree