782 LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



parations, and on January 5th entered Kabba Rega's territory. The people 

 fled before us, leaving their provisions in their haste behind thern, of which 

 we made use. On the 9th we camped at the base of the tremendous moun- 

 tain called Kabuga, at an altitude of five thousand five hundred feet above 

 the sea. East of the low ridge on which we pitched our tents the Kalonga 

 River was rounding from the north to the east on its course towards Lake 

 Victoria ; and west of the camp the Rusango River boomed hoarse thunder 

 from its many cataracts and rapids as it rushed westward to Lake Albert. 

 From one of the many spurs of Kabuga we obtained a passing glimpse of the 

 king of mountains, Gambaragara, which attains an altitude of between thir- 

 teen thousand and fifteen thousand feet above the ocean. Snow is fre- 

 quently seen on it, though not perpetual. 



" Upon its summit dwell the chief medicine men of Kabba Rega, a peo- 

 ple of European complexion. Some half dozen of them I have seen, and 

 was reminded of what Mukamba, King of Uzige, told Livingstone and my- 

 self respecting white people who lived far north of his country. They are a 

 handsome race, and some of the women are singularly beautiful. Their hair 

 is kinky, and inclined to brown in colour. Their features are regular, lips 

 thin, but their noses, though well-shaped, are somewhat thick at the point. 

 Several of their descendants are scattered throughout Unyoro, Ankori, and 

 Ruanda, and the royal family of the latter powerful country are distin- 

 guished, I am told, by their pale complexions. The Queen of the Sosua 

 Islands in the Victoria Nyanza is a descendant of this tribe. Whence came 

 this singular people I have had no means of ascertaining, except from the 

 Waganda, who say that the first King of Unyoro gave them the land around 

 the base of Gambaragara Mountain, wherein through many vicissitudes they 

 have continued to reside for centuries. On the approach of an invading host 

 they retreat to the summit of the mountain, the intense cold of which defies 

 the most determined of their enemies. Two years ago the Emperor Mtesa 

 despatched his Prime Minister with about one hundred thousand men to 

 Gambaragara and Usongoro ; but though the great General of Uganda occu- 

 pied the slopes and ascended a long way in pursuit, he was compelled by the 

 inclement climate to descend without having captured more than a few black 

 slaves, the pale-faced tribe having retreated to their impregnable fortress at 

 the summit. 



" The mountain, it appears, is an extinct volcano, for on the top of it is 

 a crystal clear lake, about five hundred yards in length, from the centre of 

 which rises a column-like rock to a great height. A rim of stone, like a 

 wall, surrounds the summit, within which are several villages, where the 

 principal medicine man and his people reside. Two men of this tribe, who 

 might be taken at first glance for Greeks in white shirts, accompanied Seka- 

 jugu, a sub-chief under Samboozi, and our Expedition, to Lake Albert and 



