judge to be about fifteen miles distant, though
the atmosphere was not v e ry clear. Usongora
bounds Beatrice Gulf westward.
A t noon Lukoma and Manwa Sera returned
from the lake, and reported that it would be a
difficult job to lower the boat down the precipice
o f 50 feet, which marked the first descent to
the lake, without long and strong ropes; that
the natives in passing up from the salt market
on the lake hoisted their salt-bags, well wrapped
in bull-hides, up the precipice; that no man
could either descend or ascend with a load on
his back, as he required the use o f both his
hands for the climbing. T h e y also reported that
they could only find five small fishing canoes,
which would be perfectly useless for the transport
o f men or goods on the lake. Great stores
o f salt had been seen, which had come from
Usongora, and abundance o f Indian com, millet,
sweet potatoes, bananas, and sugarcane had
also been seen on the lake shore.
This unwelcome news infused a fever in the
minds o f the Waganda to be gone on the instant.
L arge numbers o f natives, posted on the summit
o f every hill around us, added to the fear which
to o k possession o f the minds o f the Waganda,
and rumours were spread about b y malicious
men o f an enormous force advancing from the
south for the next day s fight. This urged the
Waganda to p a ck up large stores o f sweet
potatoes for their return journey through the
wilderness o f Ankori. T he members o f the
Expedition even caught the panic, and prepared
in silence to follow the W a g an d a , as common-
sense informed them that, if a force o f over
2000 fighting men did not consider itself strong
enough to maintain its position, our Expedition
consisting o f 180 men could b y no meaiis do
so. T h e y were observed openly preparing for
flight, before any commands had been issued to
that effect, or even the alternative had been
discussed. Others wandered o ff to mix with
gadding crowds o f Waganda, well disposed in
mind to participate in their fears.
. The Wangwana captains o f the Expedition,
extremely depressed in spirit, came to me in
the afternoon, and requested to know what I
had determined upon. I informed them that I
hoped to be able to bribe Sambuzi with one-
fourth o f the entire property o f the Expedition
to stay b y us two days, during which time I
hoped to be able to lower the boat and canoe
down the cliffs, and launch them on the Nyanza,
b y which I could free s ix ty soldiers from encumbrances
, to act as guard for the land party.
T h e boat and canoe would follow the coastline,
to act as auxiliaries to the land party, in
case o f attack, or to transport them across
rivers, until we should arrive in the neighbourhood
o f some uninhabited island, to which place
s 2