been, forgotten, officers would be sent and tbe miscreants
apprehended, for it was impossible to suppose anybody
could be ignorant of tbe white men being the guests of
the king, considering they had lived at the palace so
long. The king took this opportunity again to remind
me that he wanted a heavy solid double gun, such as
would last him all his life; and intimated that in a few
days the arms and robes of honour were to be sent.
16 ¿A.—Most of the cows for ourselves and the guides
—for the king gave them also a present, ten each—were
driven into camp. We also got 50 lb. of butter, the remainder
to be picked up on the way. I strolled with the
gun, and shot two zebras, to be sent to the king, as, by the
constitution of Uganda, he alone can keep their royal skins
17 th.—We had to halt again, as the guides had lost
most of their cows, so I strolled with my rifle and shot a
ndjezza doe, the first I had ever seen. It is a brown
animal, a little smaller than the leucotis, and frequents
much the same kind of ground.
18 th.—We had still to wait another day for Budja’s
cows, when, as it appeared all-important to communicate
quickly with Petherick, and as Grant’s leg was' considered
too weak for travelling fast, we took counsel together, and
altered our plans. I arranged that Grant should go to
Kamrasi’s direct with the property, cattle, and women,
taking my letters and a map for immediate despatch
to Petherick at Gani, whilst I should go up the river to
its source or exit from the lake, and come down again
navigating as far as practicable.
At night the Waganda startled us by setting fire to the
huts our men were sleeping in, but providentially did more
damage to themselves than to us, for one sword only was
buried in the fire, whilst their own huts, intended to be
vacated in the morning, were burnt to the ground. To
fortify ourselves against another invasion, we cut down all
their plantains to make a boma or fence.
We started all together on our respective journeys; but,
Cross the Liia- after the third mile, Grant turned west, to
jerrf, 19 ch. highroad to Kamrasi’s, whilst I went
To Kiwtikdn, J , . .. x „ •
20*. east for Urondogani, crossmg the Luajem, a
huge rush-drain three miles broad, fordable nearly to the
right bank, where we had to ferry in boats, and the cows to
be swum over with men holding on to their tails. It was
larger than the Katonga, and more tedious to cross, for it
took no less than four hours, mosquitoes in myriads biting
our bare backs and legs all the while. The Luajerri is
said to rise in the lake and fall into the Nile, due south of
our crossing-point. On the right bank wild buffalo are
described to be as numerous as cows, , but we did not see
any, though the country is covered with a most inviting
jungle for sport, with intermediate lays of fine grazing
grass. Such is the nature of the country all the way to
Urondogani, except in some favoured spots, kept as tidily
as in any part of Uganda, where plantains grow in the
utmost luxuriance. From want of guides, and misguided
by the exclusive ill-natured Wahuma, who were here in
great numbers tending their king’s cattle, we lost our way
continually, so that we did not reach the boat-station
until the morning of the 21st.
Here at last I stood on the brink of the Nile; most
To Urondogani, beautiful was the scene, nothing could surpass
21<i- i t ! It was the very perfection of the kind of
effect aimed at in a highly kept park; with a magnificent
stream from 600 to 700 yards wide, dotted with islets and
rocks, the former occupied by fishermen’s huts, the latter
by stems and crocodiles basking in the sun,—flowing
between fine high grassy banks, with rich trees and
plantains in the background, where herds of the nsunnu
and hartebeest could be seen grazing, while the hippopotami
were snorting in the water, and florikan and guinea-
fowl rising at our feet. Unfortunately, the chief district
officer, Mlondo, was from home, but we took possession