Chapter II. 



about with irregular and dee})ly indented coasts, crowned with 

 mountains attaining to a height of 2,000 feet above the surface 

 of the lake, and inhabited by tribes which seem almost to have 

 acquired special characteristics in their long separation from 

 the mainland. 



The most important and the greatest of all is the Island of 

 Buvuma, one of the group which crowds around the entrance to 

 Gulf Napoleon, and masks the exit of the Nile from the Victoria 

 Nyanza. Buvuma w^as formerly inhabited by a warrior tribe 

 which, relying upon a strong fleet, defended its independence 

 with great valour against the powerful kings of Uganda. 



The sleeping sickness has turned into vast graveyards the 

 greater number of the beautiful and fertile islands of the 



MARKET, ENTEBBE. 



archipelago. After depopulating whole districts of the Congo, it 

 appeared in Uganda between 1900 and 1902 and has spread 

 further and further, following the main routes of communication, 

 invading step by step the territories of the Baganda, Basoga and 



52 



