VICTORIA LAKE, 127 of the lake; the depth here was insignificant. The bay is enclosed on all sides by mountains, except towards the south and south-east, where an apparently unbounded horizon meets the eye. Well-wooded islands, of which Naluvali (named by Stanley, Bellefond’s Island) and two islets are situated at the very outlet of the bay, add to its beauty. The shores also, as far as could be made out from our standpoint, are well wooded, especially those of Koja. A thick girdle of reeds fringes the water’s edge almost everywhere, and in the shallows stretches far out into the lake. JI saw no papyrus. The Wagdanda praise the quality of the water highly, but, owing to the cloudy state of the sky, I was unable to form an opinion as to its colour. In spite of the strong wind, boats containing two or three persons were to be seen plying from shore to shore ; one man steers with a shovel-shaped oar, and another paddles. The bows of the boats are curved upwards and ornamented with horns, as well as with outriggers projecting above the water-line on either side, to prevent capsizing.

A little boat lay by chance upon the shore ; its planks had been joined together by means of loam and strips of bark cloth; it also had outriggers, but the prow, instead of being turned up, jutted out in the shape of a long triangular beak, probably intended to help in forcing the way through the reeds. The boat was easily managed, but wind and waves prevented our making much progress. LHven at a distance of a hundred feet from the shore, the depth of the water appeared considerable, the bottom up to this point consisting of coarse-grained sand, covered with fine grey mud. Crocodiles and hippopotami were numerous, but birds, probably owing to the state of the weather, were not to be seen. I could obtain neither snails nor shells. Fish are dried and sent to the market at Rubaga; there are here fishermen by trade.

Threatening rain and the late hour compelled us to turn homewards sooner than we wished, and on the way a perfect deluge of rain broke over our heads, and obliged us to seek shelter in a village situated not far from the road, for the Waeanda do not like being out in the rain. While we were waiting, the men directed my attention to a trough divided by "a partition into two parts, and large enough to hold two men;