OUT ON TO THE PLAINS 109 



east over a low spur, and after two or three miles' 

 walk we were practically clear of the mountains and 

 on comparatively level ground. The change was as 

 pleasant as it was striking and sudden. After 

 having been cooped up for months in a narrow 

 valley, where every step taken was a labour, to feel 

 the firm smooth ground under your feet again was 

 as delicious as is the first walk on shore after a long 

 sea voyage. To exchange forests and thickets and 

 elephant-grass for a broad plain covered with short 

 grass and scattered bushes was no small benefit, but 

 the greatest joy of all was to see a wide expanse of 

 sky once more. On every side, except on our 

 right, where the eastern ridges of Ruwenzori fell 

 steeply to the plain, the land was low and stretched 

 far away into a distant horizon, which gave one a 

 most exhilarating sense of freedom. Twenty miles 

 away to the south-east lay the glistening waters of 

 Lake Ruisamba, and beyond that was seen the 

 outline of the Ankole Hills. As an instance of the 

 extraordinary clearness of the atmosphere at that 

 season (April) I may mention that, on the day after 

 we came out from the Mubuku Valley, we saw most 

 distinctly one of the Mfumbiro volcanoes, which lie 

 to the south of Lake Albert Edward, fully 

 120 miles distant. A few weeks later, after the 

 beginning of the dry season, it was seldom possible 

 to see from one side to the other of Lake Ruisamba, 

 a distance of some ten or twelve miles. 



As we approached the lake the land became 



