The World and Its People Part 18

He reached the Nile about one hundred and fifty miles from Victoria Nyanza, and about sixty miles from the lake he was seeking. He was not, however, aware of it at the time.

The expedition under Baker headed upstream towards Karuma Falls, where it was the intention to cross to the south side. They had a picturesque march of about fifteen miles, through an open forest, with the river, which was about one hundred and fifty feet wide, close at hand. It was a beautiful sight, as it came roaring and foaming in many cascades. Here and there the course of the river was broken by rocky islands. On these islands villages and plantain groves were visible.

Baker found the people along this section superior to those of Latooka and Obbo. They were modest in their manners, and well clothed. They were good blacksmiths, and the pottery which they made was of a higher order than that of the other tribes mentioned.

Baker, with the thought of the lake still before him, pushed on, though often discouraged, and suffering from fatigue and fever. In the course of the journey the expedition had to cross a river. It could be done only in a very peculiar way. The whole stream was covered with a matting, or carpet, of tangled, floating weeds. This was so thick and strong as to bear the weight of a man, if he ran quickly across its surface. The width of the stream was about thirty yards.

Here Mrs. Baker almost lost her life; for, when about halfway across, she was overcome with a sunstroke, and began to sink rapidly through the weeds. Her husband and some of his men seized her and dragged her across the current, though they sank to their waists in the weeds before they succeeded in getting her to the bank.

CHAPTER XXVI.

A VIEW OF LAKE ALBERT NYANZA.

At a great distance to the northwest could be seen a lofty range of mountains. Baker learned from the natives that these mountains, beyond which he had fancied the lake must lie, were really its western boundary.

A few days later he had the pleasure of looking at this beautiful sheet of water. He was the first Englishman who had ever had the honor to prove its connection with the Nile.

He was about fifteen hundred feet above the lake when he first sighted it. "Opposite to him the lake was about sixty miles broad, but to the south and southwest lay a boundless horizon like the ocean. Immediately on the other side rose a grand range of mountains, some of them seven thousand feet high, and down two streams in their rifts plunged great waterfalls, visible even at that vast distance, to add their contributions to the fresh-water lake."

Here lay the long-sought-for lake. Wild waves swept over its surface, as he descended the steep declivity to reach its sh.o.r.e. In bold triumph they swelled and burst at his feet upon the white, pebbly beach. Filled with enthusiasm, Baker stooped and drank of the pure, fresh water from the vast reservoir before him.

Near by lay a little fis.h.i.+ng village. Around the huts stood beautifully made harpoons, hooks, and the lines used by the fishermen. These fis.h.i.+ng outfits were used not only to catch the gigantic fish, of two hundred pounds or more, which abound in the lake, but also the hippopotamus and the crocodile.

Baker found that the lake, which he named the Albert Nyanza,--as an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned, not only by England's queen, but by all England,--has a length of about three hundred miles in a southwesterly direction. It then turns to the west, but its extent in this direction was not known at the time of Baker's explorations. The extent is believed to be not far from that of Victoria Nyanza, which covers an area of not less than thirty thousand square miles.

It seems remarkable that such a great reservoir had not been sought for before, or at least that the necessity for its existence had not been seen. Such a vast body of water would seem to be absolutely required to force a river like the Nile over a distance of twenty-five hundred miles to the sea. At the northeast corner, at Magungo, the river which forms the connecting link between the two feeders of the Nile enters this lake. Thirty miles to the north the great Nile flows out of the lake and wends its way to the sea.

Baker soon made preparations for a fortnight's voyage upon the lake. Two canoes, one twenty-six, the other thirty-two feet long, were secured.

Both these canoes were hollowed out of logs. In the smaller canoe a cabin was built.

The voyage was most interesting. The scenery along the lake was beautiful. Sometimes the mountains in the west were lost sight of, as the canoes kept within a hundred yards of the sh.o.r.e. Sometimes the cliffs would recede, and leave a meadow, more or less broad, at their base. Frequently the rocky column would descend vertically into deep water. "Again, a grand ma.s.s of gneiss and granite, eleven hundred feet high, would present itself, feathered with beautiful evergreens, with every runnel and rivulet in its clefts fringed with graceful wild date trees." Hippopotami floated lazily about in the water, while crocodiles, roused to alarm by the canoe, would rush out of the bushes to hide themselves in the depths of the lake.

The water was beautifully transparent. A crocodile that Baker killed with his rifle sank to a depth of eight feet, yet his bleeding form could be plainly seen at the bottom of the lake.

Once, an elephant came down out of the forest to bathe. On another occasion, fourteen of these immense animals were seen sporting in a sandy cove, and enjoying themselves by throwing jets of water in all directions.

When the expedition had gone about ninety miles, the lake began to contract. Vast beds of reeds extended to a distance of a mile from sh.o.r.e. They were of the nature of the floating vegetation in the stream where Mrs. Baker so nearly lost her life.

Not caring to cross on this frail support, Baker and his party followed the sh.o.r.e for a mile, till they had pa.s.sed this ma.s.s of floating vegetation, and found a broad, still channel bordered with reeds on each side. Here was the river which links the Albert to the Victoria Nyanza.

The river between the two lakes has a course of about two hundred and fifty miles. There is a succession of cataracts below Karuma Falls. They occupy some forty miles of the river bed.

The mouth of the Victoria Nile is still water. It has a width of half a mile. The river at the mouth, as it tranquilly enters the lake, presents a strong contrast to the current at Karuma Falls, where the water comes seething and boiling, rus.h.i.+ng and tearing over the rocky bed.

Baker and his party found the eastern, or Magungo, sh.o.r.e of the lake to be a delightful section, bordered by enormous trees. The soil was firm and sandy, in some instances rocky. The country beyond the sh.o.r.e of the lake rose in a rapid incline towards the town of Magungo, which is built on an elevated ridge about a mile away.

While Baker's party waited along the sh.o.r.e of the lake, some of the natives arrived from the villages, bringing a goat, some fowls, eggs, milk, and fresh b.u.t.ter. In return, Baker gave the chief a quant.i.ty of beads, which greatly delighted this child of nature.

The march up the hill to Magungo was now in order. The day was clear and bright. The soil was sandy and rather poor, but the road was hard and well kept.

A splendid view lay before the little party as they reached Magungo and looked back upon the lake. They were now fully two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the water. The country seemed to have a general elevation of about five hundred feet, for five or six miles, when it began by gentle undulations to descend to the lake.

The most prominent objects to be seen were the mountains on the Magella side, forming the western boundary, while in the foreground lay the lake.

A few miles to the north there appeared an opening in the ridge. The lake, much contracted, continued to the west, while the mountain range on the north side of the gap extended on to the northeast.

The country due north and northeast was remarkably level. As far as the eye could see, an expanse of bright green reeds marked the course of the Nile, as it made its exit from Albert Nyanza Lake.

At Magungo the width of the sheet of water was about seventeen miles. It continued its course in a long strip to the mouth, where it lost itself in a level valley of green rushes.

Baker and his party could not yet persuade themselves that the quiet, tranquil stream issuing from Albert Nyanza was the same which rushed impetuously on its way at Karuma Falls.

It remained, then, to prove the statements of the guide that the Nile was dead water for a considerable distance from its junction with the lake; that a great waterfall rushed down from the mountain to swell the current near Karuma Falls; and that the river was simply a succession of cataracts in its course to these falls.

On the a.s.surance of the chief of Magungo, and of some of the natives, that these falls were within six days' marching distance, Baker's little party embarked in canoes for the purpose of exploring the river and a.s.suring themselves of its ident.i.ty with the stream which made its exit from the lake.

CHAPTER XXVII.

FROM LAKE ALBERT TO MURCHISON FALLS.

Ten miles from Magungo the river suddenly narrowed, till it was but two hundred and fifty yards broad. The great level tracks of rush banks gradually disappeared as they entered a channel shut in by high banks on either side. The hills here were heavily timbered.

Even here the current was so sluggish as to indicate no perceptible stream. A heavy fog soon covered the river. Gradually it lifted. As Baker watched it slowly rise from the water, he noticed the little, floating, green water plants perceptibly moving to the west. Looking more closely, he saw that their progress, though slow, was certainly towards Albert Nyanza.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROCODILES ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE.]

They were about eighteen miles from Magungo when they perceived this very slight current in the river. Proceeding on their journey, they found the river gradually narrowing to a width of but one hundred and eighty yards. As they ceased paddling the roar of the water could be distinctly heard. After two hours of hard pulling, during which the velocity of the water was noticeably increasing and the roar of the fall became extremely loud, they reached a few deserted fis.h.i.+ng huts. These were situated at a convenient little bend in the river.

At this point crocodiles were noticed in immense numbers. They lay closely packed together, like timber logs in a lumber region. Upon one bank twenty-seven of the ugly reptiles lay basking in the sunlight.

Every nook and turn in the bank disclosed crowds of them lurking in the stream, their hideous jaws just showing on the surface of the water.

The banks on either side, which had gradually been growing steeper, now became decidedly bolder and more rugged. The roar of the fall grew more fearful, and as they rounded the corner of the stream a magnificent view burst upon them. On either side of the river beautifully wooded cliffs rose precipitously to a height of some three hundred feet. Here and there picturesque rocks jutted out from among the green foliage. The river, abruptly contracted from its grand proportions into a narrow stream, rushed madly through a gap cleft in the rock before them.

Through a gorge scarcely fifty feet in width it poured its waters with a furious rush and roar, as it plunged with one gigantic leap into a dark abyss lying one hundred and twenty feet below.

To quote from Baker's journal: "The fall of the water was snow-white, which had a superb effect as it contrasted with the dark cliffs that walled the river, while the graceful palms of the tropics and wild plantains perfected the beauty of the view. This was the greatest waterfall of the Nile, and in honor of the distinguished president of the Royal Geographical Society, I named it the Murchison Falls, as the most important object throughout the entire course of the river."

The canoes of the little party endeavored to approach the falls, but when about three hundred yards from them the strong current and the terrific whirlpools prevented any nearer view.

At their left a sand bank was literally covered with crocodiles. They seemed to have no fear of the canoe till it approached within twenty yards of them, when they slowly and lazily crept out of the water. A huge hippopotamus charged the canoe, and struck the bottom of it with such tremendous force as nearly to throw the crew out of it. Proud of his achievement, the ugly monster raised his head to look at his strange enemy, then sank rapidly in the stream.

The canoe now drifted rapidly down to a landing at a small deserted fis.h.i.+ng village, and the little party bade adieu to the lake and river which had interested them so much in Central Africa.