368 CAMERON'S JOURNEY ACROSS AFRICA 



in its phraseology, it indicated the death of some one, and when Chu- 

 mah, the bearer of the letter, was questioned, he confirmed the fear that 

 it was Livingstone that had died. This sad fact rendered the main 

 purpose of the expedition useless, but there were hopes of obtaining 

 some of the deceased hero's effects and also of completing the re- 

 searches he had attempted, and Cameron determined to push on. 



On February i8, 1875, he arrived at Lake Tanganyika, the great 

 central sea which had been discovered fifteen years before by Captain 

 Burton, and took up his temporary residence at Kawele, a port of 

 Ujiji. Being assured that there was no possibility of traveling west 

 of the lake for three months more at least ; and it being very important 

 to wait until a caravan set forth for the coast at Zanzibar, as Cam- 

 eron wished to forward the box of Livingstone's papers that had' been 

 left at Ujiji; he formed a plan of exploring the southern shores of the 

 lake, which had not been thoroughly examined. 



The scenery on the shores of this lake he found to be most beau- 

 tiful, and the tall red sandstone cliff's, their color mingling with the 

 vivid green of the thick foliage on the banks, with the deep blue of 

 the sky overhead, and the blue of the great expanse of water stretching 

 around, presented a brilliantly colored picture that cannot soon be 

 forgotten. 



Rounding two headlands, Cameron came upon the part of the 

 lake which had not yet, as he believed, been explored. On nearing 

 the southern end the scenery became very grand. Enormous masses 

 of rocks piled upon each other to an inmiense height, sometimes in 

 the shaj^e of obelisks, pyramids, and vast temples, overgrown with 

 trees jutting out from every crevice, with gigantic creepers fifty or 

 sixty feet long, overhung the lake, with great caves and hollows dis- 

 cernible through the thick fringe of vegetation at their base. On these 

 shores some gorillas, looking larger than men, were seen, but they 

 quickly vanished out of sight. 



On May 9th Cameron had found his way to Ujiji again, and there 

 he was gladdened' by the sight of a letter from home, only a year old ! 

 This letter had had a curious fate. The caravan by which it was sent 

 had been dispersed by robbers, who seized everything, including the 

 letters, but tJiey in turn were defeated by another caravan, and the 



