ON THE SHORES OF LAKE ALBERT 209 



I passed a very unpleasant night ; for although the hut in this 

 case was water-tight, I fully expected either that the hut would 

 be blown down or the tree behind it would be uprooted and fall 

 on the top of it. More than once I was on the point of leaving 

 the hut and exposing myself to the fury of the elements outside, 

 in preference to being squashed inside the hut. In the morning 

 the news was brought to us that the steel-boat Alexandra was a 

 wreck. The force of the waves had caused a number of screws 

 which bound the transverse sections together, to snap off, and 

 the boat had parted amid-ships. What a blessing my crew and 

 I were safe ashore ! And what a singular proof how near we 

 had been to death on that fearful night-storm at sea ! What a 

 piece of good luck that the boat should have held together long 

 enough to enable us to reach Mahaji ! Other local disasters 

 were reported, amongst them the death of one native woman. 

 The force of the wind must have been very great, to have 

 overthrown the big tree which I saw lying uprooted in the 

 village. 



Very little damage was done, however, to the dwellings. 

 Some of the grass-thatch of the Lur corn-stores was blown about 

 a bit. The Lur dwellings are oval and low, the grass-thatch 

 reaches right down to the ground, and the entrance projects 

 slightly forward like a portico. 



One of the objects of my visit to Mahaji was the selection of 

 a site for a leper establishment. I had met with cases of leprosy 

 in different parts of Unyoro, and my suggestion to collect the 

 lepers, and to isolate them at Mahaji, was favourably received by 

 the ofticer in command of Unyoro. The advantages offered by 

 Mahaji were : removal of the lepers from Unyoro, their isolation, 

 and an abundant local supply of food for them. A hill near the 

 Lur village was selected and the ground cleared. Huts were 

 beincf erected, and two women had already been transferred to 

 the new leper station, when, owing to the Soudanese mutiny, the 

 work had to be discontinued and I was recalled in a hurry to 

 Masindi. But the difficulty was how to get back to Kibero, 

 as the steel-boat was a wreck, and storms were of daily occur- 

 rence. Acting on the advice of Kiza, in charge of the Wanyoro 

 dug-outs, it was decided to proceed in a dug-out to Tuk- 

 wenda's, and from there to cross the lake at its narrow 

 northern end. This proved, indeed, a quicker way of reach- 

 ing Kibero than waiting at Mahaji for the weather to clear 

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