Steamers on Lake Victoria 



which was to carry me across the lake to Entebbe. 

 She was one of a very fine fleet belonging to 

 the Uganda Railway, which maintains a regular 

 service between Uganda and British and German 

 East Africa. The illustration shows one of these 

 splendid passenger steamers. At certain periods a 

 ten-day trip can be undertaken by tourists, circum- 

 navigating the entire lake and calling at the different 

 ports. I was agreeably surprised on inspecting the 

 vessel to find it fitted up with every luxury — electric 

 fans, electric light, baths, cabins for two, first-class 

 saloon, a roomy deck which was beautifully clean 

 — in fact, everything you can imagine to add to 

 comfort. I never expected anything so up-to-date 

 on a little-known lake in the centre of tropical 

 Africa. 



They tell an amusing yarn about the S.S. 

 William Mackinnon, which was the pioneer ship for 

 the lake. It appears that, in the days previous to 

 the existence of the railway, it had to be carried in 

 pieces on the backs of porters from the coast up to 

 the lake. As they were passing a desert part of 

 their journey a sand-storm scattered the caravan, 

 and the porters threw down their loads, which 

 were never ultimately recovered. So now the 

 William Mackinnon can boast of being the only 

 steamship which ever foundered in a desert. 



The voyage, which takes about a day, is very 

 refreshing after such a protracted train journey, 

 and as the vessel's course lies through a chain of 

 beautiful islands, my attention was constantly called 



II 



