W e had scarcely gone three miles on the
v o y a g e , before the vanity o f the youth Magassa
exceed ed all bounds. Deeming it prudent—-
before it was too late— to lecture him, and hold
out prospects o f a reward conditional upon
g o o d behaviour, I called to him to approach me,
as I had something to say to him. He would
not come, but continued on his w a y with a
slight grimace and a saucy inclination o f the head. I
reserved the lecture until we should arrive in camp.
A t noon I to ok observations for latitude at
the entrance to Murchison B a y , and during the
afternoon we rowed hard upon our vo y a g e ,
reaching Chiwanuko Island near sunset. Magassa
soon followed me, and as I landed, I laid hold
o f him gently but firmly, and seating him b y
m y side, employed myself in holding forth grand
expectations before him, only, however, on the
condition that he ob ey ed Mtesa’s orders., behaved
w ell, and acted in unison with me. Magassa
promised faithfully, and as a sign that he was
sincere, b eg g ed to be permitted to continue his
v o y a g e to Sesse, a large island where Mtesa’s
canoes were beached, to procure the full quota
o f thirty promised to me. Leaving five canoes
in charge o f Sentum and Sentageya, two o f his
Watongolehs, he departed b y night, which I
thought was a remarkable instance o f energy.
T h e truth was, however, that he only proceeded
two miles, and slept at a village, where he
[ f f ia 's 8’ 30 t h e k a t o n g a r i v e r . 277
abused his authority b y seizing a woman, and
binding the chief.
Thé next day we proceeded with the Watongolehs,
Sentum and S en ta g e y a , and camped at
Jumba’s Cove. Jumba is the hereditary title o f
one o f the junior admirals in command o f a
section o f the imperial canoe fleet, to whom is
awarded the district o f XJhjaku, a headlànd abutting
on the left or north bank o f thè Katonga
river. It is ah exceedingly fertile district, separating
Gabunga’s, or the chief admiral’s, district
from Sambuzi s , a sub-chief o f Kiturizi.
The whole o f the north coast from Murchison
B a y presents a panorama of beautiful v iew s , o f
square table-topped mounts, rounded hills, and
cones forming low rangés, which run in all
directions, but With a general inclination èàst
and west, and form, as it were, a natural
boundary to the lake on the north. These
masses o f mountain, forming irregular ranges,
suggest to the observer that no rivers o f
importance issue into the lake from the north
side. T h e y are terminated suddenly at the
Katonga, and from the north-west along their
base the river flows sluggishly into the lake.
On the right or southern bank the land appears
to be v e ry low , as far as the hills o f Uddu,
four miles off. The Katonga river at its mouth
is about 400 yards Wide, but it's current is v e ry
slow, almost imperceptible.