spection of the exit, that the Victoria N’yanza was the
source of the Nile, seized the enlightened view, that such a
discovery should not be lost to the glory of England and!
the Society of which he was President; and said to me,i
“ Speke, we must send you there again.” I was then
officially directed, much against my own inclination, to
lecture at the Eoyal Geographical Society on the geography
of Africa, which I had, as the sole surveyor of the
second expedition, laid down on our maps.* A council
of the Geographical Society was now convened to ascertain
what projects I had in view for making good my
discovery by connecting the lake with the Nile, as also
what assistance I should want for that purpose.
Some thought my best plan would be to go up the Nile,
which seemed to them the natural course to pursue, especially
as the Nile was said, though nobody believed it, to
have been navigated by expeditions sent out by Mehemet
Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, up to 3° 22' north latitude. To
this I objected, as so many had tried it and failed, fron..
reasons which had not transpired ; and, at the same
time, I said that if they would give me £5000 down at]
once, I would return to Zanzibar at the end of the year]
march to Kazd again, and make the necessary investiga-|
tions of the Victoria lake. Although, in addition to the
journey to the source of the river, I also proposed spend!
ing three years in the country, looking up tributaries]
inspecting watersheds, navigating the lake, and making!
collections on all branches of natural history, yet £5O0()|
was thought by the Geographical Society too large a sum
* Captain Burton, on receiving his gold medal at the hands of Sir Rode-1
rick I. Murchison, said, “ You have alluded, sir, to the success of the last!
expedition. Justice compels me to state the circumstances under which ill
attained that success. To Captain Speke are due those geographical resultl
to which you have alluded in such flattering terms. Whilst I undertook!
the history and ethnography, the languages, and the peculiarity of the people!
to Captain Speke fell the arduous task of delineating an exact topography!
and of laying down our positions by astronomical observations—a labour til
which, at times, even the undaunted Livingstone found himself unequal.” I
•to expect from the Government; so I accepted the half,
haying that, whatever the expedition might cost, I would
Imake good the rest, as, under any circumstances, I would
'complete what I had begun, or die in the attempt.
| My motive for deferring the journey a year was the
hope that I might, in the meanwhile, send on fifty men,
¡garrying beads and brass wire, under charge of Arab
ivory-traders, to Karagud, and fifty men more, in the
lame way, to Kaze; whilst I, arriving in the best season
Tor travelling (May, June, or July), would be able to
push on expeditiously to my depots so formed, and thus
escape the great disadvantages of travelling with a large
fcaravan in a country where no laws prevail to protect
one against desertions and theft. Moreover, I knew that
the negroes who would have to go with me, as long as
they believed I had property in advance, would work up
to it willingly, as they would be the gainers by doing so;
whilst, with nothing before them, they would be always
endeavouring to thwart my advance, to save them from
a trouble which their natural laziness would prompt them
to escape from.
I This beautiful project, I am sorry to say, was doomed
from the first; for I did not get the £2500 grant of
money or appointment to the command until fully nine
months had elapsed,- when 1 wrote to Colonel Rigby,
pur Consul at Zanzibar, to send on the first instalment
of property towards the interior.
I As time then advanced, the Indian branch of the Government
very graciously gave me fifty artillery carbines, with
belts and sword-bayonets attached, and 20,000 rounds of
ball ammunition. They lent me as many surveying
Instruments as I wanted; and, through Sir George Clerk,
put at my disposal some rich presents, in gold watches,
for the chief Arabs who had so generously assisted us in
the last expedition. Captain Grant, hearing that I was
bound on this journey, being an old friend and brother