DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 27 



a little off the road. Kurua is a young man, not very 

 handsome himself, but has two beautiful young wives. 

 They secured me a comfortable house, showed many 

 attentions, and sent me a bowl of fresh sweet-milk, 

 the very extreme of savage hospitality. In the even- 

 ing he presented me with a bullock. This I tried to 

 refuse, observing that flesh was the prime cause of all 

 my hindrances ; but nothing would satisfy him : I 

 must accept it, or he would be the laughing-stock of 

 everybody for inhospitality. If I gave nothing in re- 

 turn, he should be happy as long as his part of host 

 was properly fulfilled. Salt, according to the sultan, 

 is only to be found here in the same efflorescent state 

 in which I saw it yesterday a thin coating over- 

 spreading the ground, as though flour had been 

 sprinkled there. 



We halted on the 21st. I gave the sultan, as a re- 

 turn present, one dhoti Amerikan and six cubits kiniki, 

 what I thought to be just the value of his bullock. 

 His kindness was undoubtedly worthy of a higher re- 

 ward ; but I feared to excite these men's cupidity, as 

 there is no end to their tricks and finesse, whenever 

 they find a new chance of gain, and I now despaired 

 of accomplishing my task in time. However, Kurua 

 seemed quite happy under the circumstances, and 

 considered the exchange of kuhongos a bond of 

 alliance, and proclaimed that we were henceforth to 

 be brothers. He then said he would accompany me 

 back to Unyanyembe, on my return from the Lake, 



