STANLEY LEA VES TO EXPLORE THE LAKE. 735 



resides, and then bend our steps southward with a slight easterly inclination. 

 All the way along- our route we see gardens luxuriant with the banana and 

 sweet potato. We have to cross a canal, into which all the mud of the coun- 

 try appears to have gathered ; it has a breadth of forty metres at the point 

 where we cross, and there is a bridge of rough-cut logs and branches thrown 

 over it ; but, though people on foot may find the passage rendered easier by 

 this construction, it is badly adapted to our mules, which lose their balance on 

 the smooth and shifting trunks, with the result of pitching into the mud and 

 water. However, we managed to haul them out and to get ourselves over, 

 and then, after two hours' march, we climb a hill with a steep incline. The 

 road is bordered on both sides by impenetrable thickets, the hiding-place of 

 leopards and hyenas, where certainly no one is likely to interfere much 

 with the digestion of their prey. Arrived at the top of this eminence, the 

 beautiful view makes us quickly forget all the fatigues of the ascent. Under 

 our feet the magnificent lake stretches out, sparkling like a cloth of silver ; 

 numerous green islands, softly rounded and indented, shut in the bay with 

 a girdle as of emeralds ; while along the shore are masses of darker green 

 dotted about, these being groves of huge timber trees, which bathe their 

 roots and branches in the fresh and limpid wavelets of the Victoria. East- 

 wards a silvery riband hurries to lose itself in the lake ; that is the canal 

 which we have lately crossed. The scene is enchanting, absorbing ! The 

 heart must swell with pleasure within the breast of any admirer of natural 

 beauty who gazes upon it. We feel a keen desire to descend and approach 

 nearer to this lovely coast whose charms ravish us, and after a quick advance 

 of less than an hour the ripples of the quiet Nyanza are breaking at our feet. 

 Everybody stoops to drink of the clear water, and Mr. Stanley and I toast 

 our respective countries in the refreshing liquid. 



" We are here at Usovara, a hunting station of King Mtesa, who fre- 

 quently repairs to the spot in order to exercise his shooting-powers upon the 

 crocodiles. Numberless huts and gardens appear around us, and among them 

 His Majesty has a 'shooting-box' which covers an area of several kilometres. 

 There is a broad approach, which Mr. Stanley christens the ' Avenue des 

 Champs Elysees,' lined on each side by the dwellings of the royal guards, 

 and it leads to the king's abode. This approach is more than a kilometre 

 in length, Mtesa's lodge turning out to be a collection of huts, each encircled 

 by a fence, while all around are scattered the lodgings for his escort. Cer- 

 tainly, to judge by the precautions here displayed for the royal security, 

 His Majesty must sleep rather uneasily. We examine the king's premises 

 minutely, for there is nobody about, not even a watchman ; and we take pos- 

 session for a time of the best of the huts reserved for the royal suite when 

 Mtesa comes to Usovara. Mr. Stanley has been promised by the king the 

 use of thirty canoes to accompany him to Usuvuma and to bring back to 



