MY SECOND VOYAGE ON THE LAKE 49 



tudes. They learn pretty quickly that lying to a white man 

 is a heinous offence and out of consideration for their masters' 

 prejudices bring themselves to exercise a remarkable amount 



BUDUMA FISHIHG-NETS 



of cunning in order that their own guilt in this direction may 

 not appear too painfully evident to him. 



All went well for the next two days, during which we 

 covered nearly twenty miles. There was good open water 

 all the way with an average depth of 3 ft. and my spirits were 

 buoyed up considerably. But on the third day our troubles 

 began. Our course now wandered through shallow bays, 

 formed by a mass of small islands. Everywhere the depth of 

 the water lessened to a foot and unfathomable black mud lay 

 below. My time was much occupied, for I was always 

 standing up in the boat, taking all the observatiens I could 

 with the prismatic compass to the islands and then fixing 



II 



