PREFACE. ix 
accounts, receives less rain than any other portion of 
the equator, still the country might be termed a gar- 
den of fertility and richness. 
My acquaintance with Captain Speke commenced 
as far back as 1847, when he was serving in India 
with his regiment. We were both Indian officers, of 
the same age, and equally fond of field-sports, and our 
friendship continued unbroken. After his return from 
discovering the Victoria Nyanza, he was, as is well 
known, commissioned by the Eoyal Geographical 
Society to prosecute his discovery, and to ascertain, 
if possible, the truth of his conjecture — that the Nile 
had its source in that gigantic lake, the Nyanza. I 
volunteered to accompany him ; my offer was at once 
accepted; and it is now a melancholy satisfaction to 
think that not a shade of jealousy or distrust, or even 
ill-temper, ever came between us during our wander- 
ings and intercourse. 
The advice of my friend, as given in the above 
letter, coincided with my own views. The scenes 
and descriptions here recorded are from life — tran- 
scripts from my Journal made on the spot, without 
any reference to books, or any attempt at embellish- 
ment. Some of the details may appear trifling — all 
of them are very imperfectly related ; but they are at 
least true, and they will help, I trust, to render my 
countrymen more familiar with the interior life of 
Africa, to which Livingstone and Speke have re- 
