90 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

who was constantly at war with Lukonge ; but since I last visited the island the people of Ilangara have been completely exterminated by the Waganda. I remained three days with Lukonge, and left him on February 12th ; that night I spent at a village near the lake on the eastern side of the island. Here I found some hippopotamus hunters, who showed me the spear they used for killing these animals ; it was a huge unwieldy weapon with a handle of heavy wood fourteen or fifteen feet long, the blade being about fifteen inches long, with only one barb, and just below the head a strong rope was securely tied to the handle. I was delayed another day on the island, leaving early on the morning of the 14th, and accomplished the return voyage in one day. I found O'Neill well and jolly, but there was no news of the Smiths. On February 19th two men arrived bringing, to our great delight, a packet of letters from England, for we had received no news since leaving Mpwapwa, more than four months previously. At the time that the men left Ng'uru both the Smiths were still there. Two or three weeks passed without any news, though we were expecting every day to hear of the approach of the second caravan. Our time was spent mainly in writing, and working at Swahili and the language of Kagei, Kisukuma. We had intended, on arriving at the southern end of the lake, to make preparations for building a boat, by cutting timber and erecting workshops ; but on arriving at