THE ALBERT NYANZA 



Hindoo shaped pants of coarse calico. Every now and 

 then he would attempt to converse with Wanaka, who 

 was listening with open mouth to Sabawa's elephant 

 yarns. The " baharia," or crew, had been sleeping for 

 two hours, with the exception of the crooning individual 

 at the tiller, who was gazing dreamily across the vast 

 expanse of water all round us. The Kisingiri, with her 

 laughing chattering cargo, was about a mile behind, the 

 oars flashing in the sunlight as she came lazily on in our 

 wake. A wild chant coming from her reached our ears 

 over the glassy surface of the lake. Small birds 

 manoeuvred far above us against the clear blue sky. 

 Some miles away to our left thin trails of smoke curled up, 

 showing where a tiny village lay nestled on the hills. 

 Several canoes were hugging the shore. 



Presently the breeze strengthened and carried us 

 some few miles further on. Butiaba was now lost to 

 view in the mirage appearing off the shore to the south- 

 east, showing us only the level tops of the hills. About 

 3 p.m., we sighted an island, consisting of a low sand 

 stretch covered with small trees and thorn bushes. 



P was busy reading a novel. Anxious to stretch 



my legs again, I roused the crew, and in a few minutes 

 the oars were dipping into the water whose surface it 

 seemed almost a pity to disturb. Every now and then 

 large fish, four and five feet in length, sprang out fully 

 ten feet above the water, coming down with a terrific 

 splash, sending a mighty volume of spray into the air, 

 as though a thirteen-inch shell had been let loose. Pre- 

 sently one of the oarsmen started to drawl a few lines 

 of a Swahili song, every now and then it was punctuated 

 by the entire crew, with their quaint musical voices 

 all differing in pitch. O — ah — ah, O — ah — ah, and then 

 a great swell of voices would shout " O Zanzibar ! 

 Zan — zi — bar ! '' " O Mombass — a ! " frequently was 

 shouted. The Kisingiri soon caught us up and the 



4i 



