I40 DOWN THE VICTORIA NILE 



breadth of deep, clear water, nearly a third of a mile wide, and flowing 

 calmly onward, free from the turmoil of the rapids through which it 

 has tossed and tumbled for the first forty miles of its course. 



Here, at the native village of Kakindu, we first take to the river 

 and float smoothly and easily down its course until Lake Chioga is 

 reached and we glide over the limpid expanse of that inland waterway. 

 This lake is about fifty miles long from east to west, and eleven broad, 

 its area being much extended by a series of long arms, which stretch 

 far out and yield access to wide surrounding districts. All these arms 

 and much of the lake itself are half choked with reeds, grass and water 

 lilies, while the Nile, as it nears the lake, broadens into wide lagoons, 

 high walls of the papyrus reed bordering them and hiding the sur- 

 rounding country. 



On the lake the voyager can usually count on a depth of about 

 twelve feet, but floating weeds and water plants much imi)ede naviga- 

 tion, while in times of storm floating islands of mud and papyrus are 

 often detached and float about, puzzling the pilot by blocking up the 

 channels familiar to him. One thing in especial must be done, t'he 

 voyager nnist avoid the northern and particularly the northwestern 

 shore, for here dwell wild and hostile tribes which have never been 

 brought under control. Though this region forms part of the protec- 

 torate, it^ people acknowledge no masters and are ever ready to attack 

 interlopers with their spears, or their muskets, when they have them. 



Now, without following the Nile step by step throughout its 

 course, let us make a leap forward to its greatest cataract, the 

 Murchison Falls. On leaving Lake Chioga it spreads to a broad 

 stream of more than a mile in width, flowing between walls of solid 

 papyrus and dotted' with floating islands of plant formation. After 

 a considerable length of level stream we reach Karuma Falls and 

 the rapids again set in, ending, about forty miles further down, in the 

 great cataract above mentioned. 



If we seek it through the jungle-like Hoima forest, it is to find 

 ourselves In such a wilderness of vegetation as is seldom seen. The 

 forests of L^ganda in general are, for magnificence of tree growth, for 

 varied form and color, for profusion of life, for the vast scale on which 

 nature's processes work, almost unequalled; and the fecundity of 



