1903. ] HIS JOURNEY TO UGANDA. 3 
of Polypterus. “Having made previous attempts to solve this 
problem under certain conditions in a confined area, it was 
thought that by observing it under varied conditions of latitude 
and altitude, new light might be brought to bear upon it. 
From Uganda it was possible either to work down the Congo 
from its source or to return northwards down the Nile. 
On my way to Uganda, and in Uganda, I gathered what infor- 
mation I could about the two routes. The southern end of the 
Nile Valley really lies at the foot of Ruwenzori, while a short 
journey westwards from this point would bring one into the head- 
waters of the Congo. 
A special inducement to take the Congo route was that infor- 
mation might in this journey be obtained about the new animal 
Okapia johnstoni, and other interesting forms, believed to exist in 
the Semliki Forest. 
From information gathered in Uganda, it was clear that it was 
useless to hope to meet with Okapi in British territory, and, 
moreover, I here learned that the Belgians had found the Okapi 
in large numbers in the Welle country. 
I found also, what had been very difficult to learn before 
leaving home, that the season of the rains and the breeding of 
Polypter us were considerably earlier at the source of the Nile than 
they were further northwards; that the Semliki Valley was a 
most inconvenient place at which to make a permanent camp 
by the river-banks, owing chiefly to the scarcity of food; and 
that only one species of Polypterus was to be found there, while 
at least three species were to be found in the Nile farther to the 
north. 
The difficulty of taking delicate apparatus through the Congo 
Forest to the upper waters of the Congo was incomparably 
ereater than to the upper Nile. 
And, lastly, it was to be borne in mind that the time of year at 
which one might hope to be successful in the main object was 
that at which it was well nigh impossible to do much in the way 
of collecting the higher Ver tebrata which might be supposed to be 
of interest in the Semliki Valley ; for at this time the grass is so 
high that moving away from beaten tracks is almost impossible, 
while anything smaller than giraffe or elephant is seldom seen. 
Bearing these facts in mind, I had little hesitation in deciding to 
work down the Nile, striking it at a point farther northwards 
than the Semliki River, in or der to take advantage of the lateness 
of the season in that region. Accordingly, having fitted out my 
safari or caravan at Entebbe, I started for Butyaba, on the west 
coast of Lake Albert, on July 10th. I had the advantage of 
starting thus along a good road which had just been clear ed for 
the greater part of the way, and along which the rest-houses had 
been repaired for the convenience “of the Commissioner and 
Consul-General of British Kast Africa, Sir Charles Eliot, who 
has recently made sucha remarkably rapid journey from Entebbe 
to Gondokoro, the frontier station of Uganda on the Upper Nile. 
1* 
