^32 BEAUTIFUL UGANDA 



blood into that of the native tribes, and built up a political system far 

 in advance of that native to the land. From this infusion the people 

 on the west and northwest of the lake gained a refinement of manners 

 and a culture far in advance of those on the opposite side of the lake. 

 Yet the mingling of races has been so complete, and the negro element 

 in it so much in excess, that the modern people of Uganda differ from 

 ordinary negroes in appearance only by having larger and clearer 

 eyes and slightly paler skins. 



To show that the conditions now existing in Uganda are not due 

 to civilized ideas received from the English, it will be of interest to 

 quote from the first visit of a white man to the court of Uganda, tbat 

 of Captain Speke, in 1862. 



Setting out on January 11, in three days the caravan reached and 

 crossed the Kitangule River, which flows into the Victoria Xyanza 

 from the west. They were now in Uganda territory, and were treated 

 everywhere as the king's guests, though the indolence of the conductor 

 delayed them greatly in the earlier marches. On the 28th, cresting 

 a small hill, Speke caught sight of the lake for the first time. "Next 

 day, after crossing more of those abominable rush-drains, while in 

 sight of the Victoria Nyanza, we ascended the most beautiful hills 

 covered with verdure of all descriptions. At Meruka, where I put up, 

 there resided some grandees, the chief of whom was the king's aunt. 

 She sent me a goat, a hen, a basket of eggs and some plantains, in 

 return for which I sent her a wire and some beads. I felt inclined 

 to stop here a month, everything w^as so very pleasant. The tempera- 

 ture was perfect. The roads, as indeed they were ever3''where, w^ere 

 as broad as our coach-roads, cut through the long grasses, straight 

 over the hills and down through the w^oods in the dells — a strange 

 contrast to the wretched tracks in all the adjacent countries. The, 

 huts were kept so clean and so neat, not a fault could be found with* 

 them — the gardens the same. Wherever I strolled I saw nothing but 

 richness, and what ought to be wealth. The whole land was a picture 

 of quiescent beauty, w'ith a boundless sea in the background. Looking 

 over the hills, it struck the fancy at once that at one period the whole 

 land must have been at a uniform level with their present tops, but 

 that, by the constant denudation it was subjected to by frequent rains, 



