widened, and disclosed picturesque features o f
outlined hill and wooded slope. W e pulled
steadily to its further extremity, but the stream
which entered here was small, and oozed through
a re ed y marsh. W e endeavoured for an hour
to induce a canoe with three fishermen in it to
approach, but all we could make out from Sa-
ramba, who, I fear, did not understand them,
was that the name o f the country was Ugoweh,
which sounded so like You go 'way that I declined
accepting it, until the natives shouted out
still more clearly and emphatically, “ U-go-weh.”
It was evident, however, that these natives spoke
a language that our guide from the south did
not quite comprehend. W e continued our keen
inspection o f the numerous indentations from
Ugoweh (?) to Nakidimo Creek, into which an
important stream debouches. T h e hippopotami
were numerous, and as bold as those o f Speke
Gulf.
Emerging once more into the lake, we anchored
about a mile from the shore in 6 fathoms,
and found that there was a current o f about
half a knot setting westward. A t 2 p .m . we
hoisted sail, and with a fair wind were able to
hug the mainland and make good progress,
within view o f a v e ry populous and extensively
cultivated shore. This was the land o f Maheta,
we were told, and the same which we had
sighted from the summit o f Bridge Island. We
flew away with a bellying sail along the coast
of Maheta, where we saw a denser population
and more clusters o f large villages than we had
beheld elsewhere. W e thought we would make
one more effort to learn o f the natives the names
o f some o f these villages, and for that purpose
steered for a cove on the western shore. W e
anchored within 50 yards, and so paid out our
cable that only a few feet o f deep water separated
us from the beach. Some half-dozen men,
wearing small land-shells above their elbows
and a circle o f them round their heads, came to
t the brink. With these we opened a friendly
conversation, during which they disclosed the
name o f the country as “ Mahata” or “ Maheta”
in U g ey ey a; but more they would not Communicate
unless we would land. W e prepared to
do so, but the numbers on the shore increased
so fast that we were compelled to pull o ff again
until they should moderate their excitement and
make room. T h e y seemed to think we were
about to pull off altogether, for there suddenly
appeared out o f the bush on each side o f the
spot where we had intended to land such a
host o f spears that we hoisted sail, and left
them to try their treachery on some other boat
or canoe more imprudent than ours. T h e discomfited
people were seen to consult together
on a small ridge behind the bush lining the
lake, dnd no doubt they thought we were about