THROUGH AFRICA FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO. 443 



Returniiig to the Semliki. I followed the valley down to the Albert 

 Lake, and eventually arrived at the scene of the relief of Emin. Here 

 it was impossible to obtain food; the natives had been raided and shot 

 down by the Kongo State soldiers, and had fled to the marshes and reed- 

 beds of the Semliki mouth. After some difficulty 1 persuaded them 

 that I was of the same tribe as Colonel Lugard, and being satisfied by 

 a production of his photo, theii- confidence in me was complete. As 

 this territory is British, the charge against the Belgians is a serious 

 one, and I am perfectly convinced that the gist of their accusations is 

 correct; minute inquiries and cross-questioning failed to detect a flaw, 

 and the tale, which was repeated to me in districts as far distant from 

 one another as Mboga and Kavalli's, tallied in all respects, even in the 

 numbers of women and cattle driven ofi" and men killed. At five dis- 

 tinct villages, three of which were Wanyabuga villages and two 

 Wakoba villages, I was assured that the old women were treated with 

 the greatest cruelty. Three distinct tribes, the Balegga. Wanyabuga, 

 and Wakoba, told the same story. This I considered sufficiently con- 

 clusive, as there is very little intertribal communication, and it could 

 not have been a "put-up job," as my Balegga informants were 60 

 miles away from the others. 



The journey up the west coast presented considerable difficulties, as 

 after Kahoma the hills descend abruptly into the water, rocky headlands 

 alternating with semicircular beaches (the deposits of the numerous 

 streams which flow down into the lake). In parts the lake is exceed- 

 ingly shallow, reeds growing at a distance of 2 miles from the shore; 

 and the deposit brought down b}" these numerous mountain torrents 

 must be enormous. This coast is of value for the magnificent timber 

 that grows in all the goi'ges. Transporting the loads round the head- 

 lands in two tiny dugout canoes holding one load at a time was tedious 

 work, and I was exceedingly glad to arrive at Mahagi, where the hills 

 recede once more. From Wadelai, the British post on the Nile, I went 

 to Afuddu (opposite Dufile) in a dugout canoe, and thence overland to 

 Fort Berkeley (the old Bedden), our advance post. Inspector Chaltin, 

 the able administrator of the Welle district of the Kongo and the 

 gallant conqueror of the Dervishes at Rejaf , kindly took me down to 

 Kero, their advance post on parallel five and one-half, in one of their 

 numerous steel whaleboats. Thence I traveled to Bohr with the Com- 

 mandant Renier, who was sent to find news of the steamer with Captain 

 Gage, Dr. Milne, and Commandant Henri, which had been away three 

 months on a reconnoissance toward Khartoum. 



Bohr had been recently evacuated by the dervishes, and the strong 

 fort was still in good preservation. Throwing away everything but 

 absolute necessaries, I started with thirteen men on my 400 miles 

 tramp through unknown swamp with many misgivings. The first two 

 days the Dinkas were quite amenable to treatment, having been m 



