I say this after having circumnavigated the lake
and examined it most thoroughly. Underground
caverns are myths, the fables of Wangwana and
superstitious natives. The great deep lengthy canon
occupied by the fathomless lake is not closed
in by rocks of such a nature as to admit of
the theory of underground passages. It is rimmed
by mountains and hills—the least altitude is
600 feet, the highest 4000 feet, above the lake.
But to those seeking an elucidation of the fact
that an enormous fresh-water lake is without an
outflowing river, are presented as rational solutions
the stream-worn gap in the conglomerate
of the ridges Kihunga and Ki-yanja, the
wave-washed rocks and boulders of Mpembwe
and all along the eastern coast down to Urungu,
the bare headlands of Tembwe, and the naked
steeps and cliffs of Kungwe and Karinzi. It is
an undeniable fact that if the evaporation from
a body of water be greater than the supply,
that water must necessarily become saline from
the particles washed into it from salt-beds and
salinas. It is also as undeniable that, if the supply
to a body of water be greater than its evaporation,
the quantity of the water must be increased
until the receptacle— whether pool, pond, or
lake— overflows and obtains an outlet.
In the instance of the Tanganika we have a
fresh-water lake, which— according to the evidence
of native Arabs and the observation of
several travellers— is steadily rising. We have
also seen in the Lukuga thè first symptoms of
that overflowing which must come. At present
there are only a few inches of mud-banks and
a frail barrier of papyrus and reeds to interpose
between the waters of the lake arid its destiny,
which it is now, year by year, steadily approaching.
When the Tanganika has risen 3 feet higher,
there will be no surf at the mouth of the Lukuga,
ho sill of sand, ho oozing mud-banks, no
rush-covered old rivef-course, but the accumulated
waters of over a hundred rivers will
sweep through the ancient gap with the force
of a cataclysm bearing away oh its flood all the
deposits of organic debris at present in the Lukuga
Greek, down the steep incline to swell the
tribute due to the mighty Livingstone.
On the 21st July we sailed from the mouth
of the future outlet Lukuga, by Capè Kahangwa,
to the Arab crossing-place near Kasengé Island.
The Waguha, along whose country wé had1
voyaged south since leaving Tembwe, are an
unusually ceremonious people. They are thè'
first specimens of those nations among whom
we are destined to travel in our exploration of
the western regions.
The art of the coiffeur is better khoWri here
than in any portion of Africa east of Lake Tari-
ganika. The “waterfall” and “ back-hair” styles
are superb, and the constructions are fastened