A VOYAGE TO KIllUGU 89 



up to the surface for a breath of air. They put their 

 mouths right out of water for a second or two, and then 

 turn on one side and go down with a peculiar roll, nearly 

 always flourishing one of the filamentous pectoral fins out 

 of the water. 



Bunyama sends out a long point of rushes towards 

 Bugalla, so that the channel is very constricted, and the 

 scenery extremely beautiful. Bugalla here rises steeply 

 from the water, the slopes being forest clad, as is the coast 

 of Bunyama. Having passed this point we saw Fumvo 

 in front of us, appearing as a steep grassy hill rising rather 

 abrupt!}'' about 350 feet, with forest at its base. We 

 went straight south between Bubembe and the prominent 

 south-east peninsula of Bugalla, and then between Fumve 

 and the little islet of Banda, off the bay on its west coast. 

 Here the scenery was lovely ; the densely forested shore 

 of Fumve was reflected in the blue glassy water of the 

 bay, and Banda was like an enormous rockery. 



At 1 p.m. I thought a halt for lunch was indicated, 

 ^^s^s we had been going for five and a half hours, so we landed 

 oijt'^he south end of Fumve and spent about an hour 

 there. 



We then made straight for the northern end of Kirugu 

 islet, which we reached after another two hours paddling. 

 There was a lovely place for camping : a sandy isthmus 

 well sheltered by trees under which the men could sleep, 

 and providing an excellent place for the tent. This 

 narrow neck joined on to the main part of the island a 

 little plateau with cliff -like sides. The main part of the 

 island is a long narrow ridge of grass, falling steeply to 

 the water by cliffs or precipitous slopes, clothed by dense 

 bushes and trees wherever they could cling : the island 

 rises 180 feet above the water. 



Our choice of the sandy isthmus for camping was much 

 resented by some hippos, who evidently had their resting 

 places there, and grunted and snorted impatiently in the 



