194 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



they had constructed of two immensely long posts with cross- 

 pieces of bamboo, upon which they had laid the body. They 

 would not eat the flesh, and seemed quite disgusted at the idea, 

 as they replied that " it had died." 



DISCOVERY OF ALBERT LAKE. 



THE guides informed Baker that the place where they were 

 camping was only one day's journey from the great lake, and 

 that night he slept but little. For years he had striven to reach 

 the " sources of the Nile," and after so much hard work, suffer- 

 ing and perseverance the cup was at his lips before another sun 

 would set his eyes would rest upon the great reservoir of Nature 

 that ever since creation had baffled all discovery. The weary 

 but triumphant explorer can best describe his own feelings on 

 this great occason. " The sun had not risen," he says, " when 

 I was spurring my ox after the guide, who, having been promised 

 a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake, had caught the 

 enthusiasm of the moment. The day broke beautifully clear, 

 and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled up 

 the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The glory of our 

 prize burst suddenly upon me ! There, like a sea of quicksilver, 

 lay far beneath the grand expanse of water, a boundless sea 

 horizon on the south and southwest, glittering in the noon-day 

 sun ; and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles distance, blue moun- 

 tains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7,000 

 feet above its level. It is impossible to describe the triumph of 

 that moment ; here was the reward for all our labor for the 

 years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. 

 England had won the sources of the Nile ! Long before I reached 

 this spot, I had arranged to give three cheers with all our men in 

 English style in honor of the discovery, but now that I looked 

 down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in 'he very heart of 

 Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources 

 throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the 

 humble instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great 

 mystery when so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious 

 to veut my feelings ia vuia cheers for victory, and I sincerely 



