ed b y the northernmost headland o f Uzongora.
into this b a y issues the Alexandra Nile in one
powerful deep stream, which, from its volume
and dark iron colour,, may be traced several
miles out. A t its mouth it is about 150 yards
wide, and at two miles above narrows to about
100 yards. W e attempted to ascend higher,
but the current was so strong that we made but
slow progress, and after an ascent o f three miles
were obliged to abandon it. T h e plain on either
side has a breadth o f from five to ten miles,
Which during the rainy season is inundated
throughout its whole extent. T he deepest soundings
we obtained were 85 feet. I know no
Other river to equal this in magnitude among
the affluents o f the Victoria Nyanza. The Shi-
meeiyu river thus becomes the second largest
affluent o f the lake, and th e two united would
form a river equal to that which has its exit
b y the Ripon Falls.
T h e Waganda Watongolehs, Sentum and
Sentageya, call the Alexandra Nile the “Mother
o f the River at Jinja” or the Ripon Falls.
T h e Alex andra Nile constitutes a natural
boundary between the sovereignty o f Uganda
and its subject kingdoms o f Karagwe and Uzongora,
which begin south o f the river. T h e plain
o f the Alexandra stretches south a few miles
to an irregular line o f grassy and treeless
mountains, which are the characteristics o f the
fine pastoral countries o f Uzongora and Karagwe.
A t Lupassi Point the mountains project steeply,
almost cliff-like, into the lake, with heights
varying from 200 feet to 500 feet. T he steep
slopes bristle at many points with g re y gneiss
rocks— massy debris from the mountain brows.
Near this point I discovered a stream which had
a fall o f 3 feet issuing from an orifice in a ro ck y
cliff, though above it there was not the faintest
sign o f a watercourse. In the gullies and clefts
o f the cliff-sides most beautiful ferns abounded.
I managed to climb to the top o f the bluffs,
and to my surprise overlooked a plateau, with
a grandly rolling surface, covered with pasture
and almost treeless, except near the villages,
Where grew dense groves o f bananas. Further
west, however, the plateau heaves upwards into
mountain masses o f the same naked character.
Looking towards^ the east, directly in front o f
North Uzongora, stretches an apparently illimitable
silvery sea; but towards the south one or
two lo fty islands are visible, situated about
twenty-five miles from the mainland, serene and
royal in their lone exclusiveness.
T he first village we halted at on the coast o f
Uzongora was Makongo. It nestles in a sheltered
nook in a bay-like indentation o f the lo fty mountain
wall crowded with banana groves and huts scattered
under their impenetrable shades— with a strip
of g re y gravel beach gently sloping from the