delegate to others the care o f the flotilla without
feeling uncontrollable anxiety about it, the
Lady A/ice, loaded with most o f the ammunition,
led the w a y at 9 a .m. to Mabibi. These islets
are three miles westward o f Wezi, s ix miles
from Ukerewe, and about nine miles from
Kagehyi.
T o my great satisfaction I perceived that the
Wangwana would soon acquire the art o f paddling,
though many were exceedingly timid on
the water. Until th ey gained confidence in their
new duties, our plan was to avail ourselves of
the calm periods, and not to risk so many lives
and so much property in a tempestuous sea.
A strong breeze from the north-west lasted
all the morning, but at noon it moderated, and
two hours afterwards, taking advantage o f the
calm, we pushed off from Mabibi, and, rounding
the south-west corner o f the Ukerewe peninsula,
pulled for the Kunneneh islets, which we reached
without loss or accident. Again the north-west
breeze blew strong, and, as it had power over
a greater expanse o f water, the waves did not
subside until 2 p .m. It was tough labour row-
■*n£f against the heavy swell, and the distance
to the Miandereh Islands was long. B y persevering,
however, we made go od progress,
y e t at sunset Miandereh islets were not in sight.
Intense darkness set in. W e could not see
one another, though we could hear the measured,
rjune 20-21,1875.1 THE FOUNDERING CANOES.
[ On the Lake. J
rhythmic beat and splash o f oar and paddle,
but no voices. Now and then I flashed a wax-
light over the dark waste as a beacon to the
thoughtless and unwary. B y this means, and b y
threats o f punishment to those who strayed from
the line, the canoes were kept together.
W e had proceeded quietly for three hours
in the darkness, when suddenly shrill cries were
heard for “ the boat.” Hurrying to the spot,
I managed to distinguish, to my astonishment,
round dark objects floating on the water, which
we found to be the heads o f men who were
swimming towards us from a foundered canoe.
We to o k the frightened people on board, and
picked up four bales o f cloth, but a b o x o f
ammunition and 400 lbs. o f grain had sunk.
W e moved forward again, but had scarcely
gone half a mile when again piercing cries from
the deep gloom startled us. “ T h e b o a t, oh,
the b o a t!” was screamed in frenzied accents.
A s w e steered for the spot, I lit a w a x taper
and set fire to the leaves o f a b o o k I had been
reading during the afternoon, to lighten up the
scene. Heads o f struggling men and bales were
found here likewise in the water, and a canoe
turned bottom u p 'w ith a large rent in its side;
and while distributing these among the other
canoes, we heard to our alarm that five guns
had sunk, but fortunately no lives were lost or
other property, e x c ep t four sacks o f grain.