DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA X'YANZA. 49 



on our first arrival at Kaze, proceeding westward from 

 Zanzibar, he said, " If you have come only to see a 

 large bit of water, you had better go northwards and 

 see the Ukerewe ; for it is much greater in every re- 

 spect than the Tanganyika ; " and so, as far as I can 

 ascertain, it is. Muanza, our journey's end, now lay 

 at our feet. It is an open, well-cultivated plain on 

 the southern end, and lies almost flush with the lake 

 a happy, secluded-looking corner, containing every 

 natural facility to make life pleasant. After de- 

 scending the hill, we followed along the borders of 

 the lake, and at first entered the settlement, when the 

 absence of boats arousing my suspicions, made me 

 inquire where the Arabs, on coming to Muanza, and 

 wishing to visit Ukerewe, usually resided. This, I 

 heard, was some way further on ; so with great diffi- 

 culty I persuaded the porters to come away and pro- 

 ceed at once to where they said an Arab was actually 

 living. It was a singular coincidence that, after 

 Shaykh Snay's caution as to my avoiding Sultan 

 Mahaya's village, by inquiring diligently about him 

 yesterday, and finding no one who knew his name, 

 the first person I should have encountered was him- 

 self, and that, too, in his own village. The reason of 

 this was, that big men in this country, to keep up 

 their dignity, have several names, and thus mystify 

 the traveller. I then proceeded along the shore of 

 the lake in an easterly direction, and on the way shot 

 a number of red Egyptian geese, which were very 



VOL. I. B 



