from which the Nile springs. . . . The mystery of
ages solved. With my pleasure of meeting them is
the- one disappointment, that I had not met them
farther on the road in my search for them; however,
the satisfaction is, that my previous arrangements had
been such as would have insured my finding them had
they been in a fix. . . . My projected route would have
brought me vis-d-vis with them, as they had come
from the lake by the course I had proposed to take. . . .
All my men ~perfectly mad with excitement, firing
salutes as usual with ball cartridge, they shot one of
my donkeys; a melancholy sacrifice as an offering at
the completion of this geographical discovery.”
When I first met them they were walking along the
bank of the river towards my boats. At a distance of
about a hundred yards I recognised my old friend
Speke, and with a heart beating with joy I took off
my .cap and gave a welcome hurrah ! as I ran towards
him. For the moment he did not recognise me ; ten
years’ growth of beard and moustache had worked a
change; and as I was totally unexpected, my sudden
appearance in the centre of Africa appeared to him
incredible. I hardly required an introduction to his
companion, as we felt already acquainted, and after the
transports of this happy meeting we walked together
to my diahbiah ; my men surrounding us with smoke
and noise by keeping up an unremitting fire of musketry
the whole way. We were shortly seated on deck under
the awning, and such rough fare as could be hastily
prepared was set before these two ragged, careworn
specimens of African travel, whom I looked upon with
feelings of pride as my own countrymen. As a good
ship arrives in harbour, battered and torn by a long
and stormy voyage, yet sound in her frame and seaworthy
to the last, so both these gallant travellers
arrived in Gondokoro. Speke appeared the more worn
of the two; he was excessively lean, but in reality he
was m good tough condition ; he had walked the whole
way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden during
that wearying march. Grant was in honourable rags ;
his bare knees projecting through the remnants of
trowsers that were an exhibition of rough industry in
tailor’s work. He was looking tired and feverish, but
both men had a fire in the eye that showed the spirit
that had led them through.
They wished to leave Gondokoro as soon as possible,
en route for England, but delayed their departure until
the moon should be m a position for an observation
for determining the longitude. My boats were fortunately
engaged by me for five months, thus Speke
and Grant could take charge of them to Khartoum.
At the first blush on meeting them I had considered