288 PREVIOUS GREAT CONTROVERSIES 



himself disagreeable regarding guides and supplies. But eventuUy Speke set 

 out. He made Burton a promise that he would return to Kazeh within a 

 certain time and resume the march to the coast. 



After a difficult advance Speke, like "stout Cortes" of Keats' sonnet, ascend- 

 ed a hill, and beheld before him a great sheet of water. He described his first 

 impressions in these words : 



"The vast expanse of the pale-blue waters of the Nyanza burst suddenly on 

 my gaze. It was early morning. The distant sea line of the north horizon was 

 defined in the calm atmosphere, between the north and west points of the 

 compass, but even this did not afford me any idea of the breadth of the lake, 

 as an archipelago of islands, each consisting of a single hill, rising to a height 

 of 200 or 300 feet abovj water, intersected the line of vision to the left, while 

 on the right the west horn of the Ukerewe Island cut off any further view of 

 the distant water to the eastward of north." 



Speke, in fact, seems never to have had an accurate idea of the vastness of 

 the lake that he discovered. However, as he contemplated it he felt absolutely 

 assured that, after centuries of conjecture, the source of the Nile was at last no 

 secret. 



He stayed about the lake, which he called Victoria Nyanza in honor of the 

 Queen of England, for some time, gathering a great deal of lore about the 

 natives, as was his wont, and much other valuable data. Then remembering 

 his promise to Burton, he retraced his steps, arriving at Kazeh about six weeks 

 after he had left it. 



He told Burton that he felt convinced that Lake Victoria Nyanza was the 

 source of the Nile. Burton promptly ridiculed this idea. To Lake Tanganyika, 

 he insisted, belonged the honor. The two explorers got into bitter dispute. All 

 the way to the coast they were distant and unfriendly to each other ; the affec- 

 tionate "Dick" and "Jack" of their previous intercourse were now replaced 

 by the icy "Sir." 



When they reached the coast Burton lingered to wind up the expedition's 

 affairs, but Speke — unfairly, as Burton and his friends maintained, hurried to 

 England with the news of his discovery of Victoria Nyanza and his belief that 

 it was the long-sought Nile source. He arrived in England May 9, 1859. 

 Immediately his statements aroused immense enthusiasm. Sir Roderick Mur- 

 chison, President of the Royal Geographical Society, accepted them without 

 question, as did many other well-known men. Burton's discovery of Lake 

 Tanganyika was entirely overshadowed. On all sides Speke was urged to 

 return to Africa and make certain his theories about Victoria Nyanza. 



