126 A VISIT TO THE VICTORIA LAKE. 



old lay gathered there ; the throat of one was deeply gashed 

 to the very spine, the head of another had been smashed by a 

 heavy blow, and every day, nay, every hour, people pass these 

 corpses, themselves perchance only too soon to meet a like fate. 



About half-way to the lake a marsh was situated, which 

 had probably been formed by the overflowing of the lake and 

 by rain. It evidently was to have been bridged over, but as 

 the round logs which had been thrown down for that purpose 

 turned over when stepped upon, it was preferable to wade 

 through the mud. As soon as the adjacent hills were crossed, 

 the lake became visible for the first time ; it appeared to be 

 raised above its usual level on account of the thick layer of 

 fog which hung over it. Glimpses of it were frequently 

 obtained between fields and gardens, but we had still more 

 than three and a half miles to march, up hill and down dale, 

 through banana groves, until, after wading through two 

 brooks and climbing a steep hill, the ground suddenly sloped 

 down, and we reached the shores of the lake after a rapid 

 march of four hours. 



Usavara, which is the name of both this place and the 

 district surrounding it, consists, like most villages in Uganda, 

 of huts and zeribas surrounded by banana groves. The steep 

 shore, which for about forty feet is absolutely bare of vegeta- 

 tion, enables the boats to come right up to the landing-stage, 

 and hence Usavara is the usual starting-place for voyages on 

 the lake. At a height of about ten feet above the level of the 

 lake, some detached blocks of rock were lying on the shore, a 

 conglomerate of granitic fragments, and above them a gigantic 

 mpdfu-tree (see Cameron's " Across Africa ") spread out its 

 majestic crown. At a height of two feet from the ground 

 the tree had a girth of twenty-three feet ten inches. Up to a 

 height of eighty feet its trunk was smooth and free from 

 branches ; odoriferous resin flowed from the bark, and nests of 

 parasitic plants were enthroned on its branches. 



An extensive view over Murchison Bay opened out here ; 

 below our feet lay the lake, rippled by a strong south-east 

 wind ; at its edge was a line of yellow coarse-grained sand 

 about a foot in breadth, at the upper border of which dry 

 masses of plants lay in heaps, indicating the high-water level 



