CHAPTER IT. 



Preparation and Departure of the Expedition from Italy. 

 From Naples to Entebbe. 



Choice of Season — Objects of the Expedition — Organization of the Expedi- 

 tion — Departure from Naples — Mombasa — Lieutenant E. Winspeare falls ill — 

 The Uganda Railway— The Tableland of Athi— Rift Valley— Port Florence— 

 Kisumu Market — On the Winifred — -The Gulf of Kavirondo — Sunset on 

 Lake Victoria— Steaming upon the Equator — The Islands — Slccpi)ig Sickness — 

 The Archipelago of Sessé — Arrival at Entebbe. 



Of all the difficulties with Avliich 



most of the predecessors of tlie 



L^uke of tht Abruzzi had had 



to contend in the exploration of 



liuwenzori, the gravest had been 



the obstinate bad weather, the 



nearly incessant rain, and, in the 



brief intervals, the dense mist 



wliich shrouded tlie whole region. 



These imtoward conditions gave the utmost importance to 



the decision as to which season seemed likely to be the 



least unfavourable. Judging indeed by the reports of former 



exjx'ditioiis wliicli liad set forth in nearly every montli of the 



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