904 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



town, the site of which is not known. In this town lived a man and his wife, 

 with an enclosure round their dwelling, which contained a remarkably deep 

 well or fountain, whence an abundant supply of fresh fish was obtained for 

 their wants. The existence of the fountain and its treasure was kept a profound 

 secret from all their neighbours, as the revelation of its existence had been 

 strictly prohibited by father to son for many generations within this particular 

 family, lest some heavy calamity, dimly foretold, would happen ; and, remem- 

 bering this injunction, the owners of the fountain lived long and happily, 

 fresh fish being their main food each day. The wife, however, was not very 

 virtuous, for she permitted another man in secret to share the love which should 

 have been solely bestowed on her proper husband, and, among other favours, 

 she frequently gave to her lover some of the fresh fish, a kind of delicious 

 meat he had never before tasted, which roused his utmost curiosity to ascertain 

 whence she obtained it. For a long time he ceased not to ask, while the 

 woman steadily refused to tell. 



" One day the husband was compelled to begin a journey to Uvinza, but 

 before departure he strictly enjoined his wife to look after his house closely, 

 to admit no gossips within his doors, and above all, not to show the fountain. 

 This African Eve solemnly promised to comply with his instructions, though 

 secretly she rejoiced at the prospect of his absence. A few hours after her 

 husband's departure she left her house to seek her lover, and when she found 

 him she said, 'You have for a long time demanded to know whence I obtained 

 that delicious meat you have so often praised. Come with me and I will show 

 you.' The African Eve then took him to her house, in opposition to her hus- 

 band's commands, where, with a view to enhance the glories of the fountain, 

 and the pleasure of viewing the fish sportfully displaying their silver sides in 

 the water, she first entertained her lover with dishes cooked in various ways, 

 nor was she neglectful to satisfy his thirst with wine of her own manufacture. 

 Then, when the black Lothario began to be impatient at the delay, having no 

 cause to postpone the exhibition, she invited him to follow her. A fence of 

 water-cane plastered over with mud enclosed the wondrous -fountain, within 

 whose crystal depths he saw the fish. For some time he gazed on the bril- 

 liant creatures with admiration, then seized with a desire to handle one of 

 them and regard it more closely, he put his hand within the water to catch 

 one, when suddenly the well burst forth, the earth opened her womb, and 

 soon an enormous lake replaced the plain. Within a few days the husband, 

 returning from Uvinza, approached Ujiji, and saw to his astonishment a large 

 lake where once a plain and many towns stood. He knew then that his wife 

 had revealed the secret of the mysterious fountain, and that punishment had 

 fallen upon her and her neighbours because of her sin. 



"The other tradition imparted to me by the ancients of Ujiji relates 

 that many years ago — how long no one can tell — the Luwegeri, a river near 



