300 
WE PADDLE DOWN THE KUFFO. 
were laid before us, but Speke's suaviter in modo, no 
less than his fortiter in re, won the day. A parting 
souvenir of two spears was sent him by the king, and 
on the 9th November we glided down the river Kuffo. 
The banks of the river were lined with crowds 
shouting and waving adieus as we shot down the 
stream. Amongst them was a woman conspicuously 
dressed, and recognised by our men as a maid of hon- 
our, who generally sat at the feet of the king. She 
was the only female of rank we had seen, and she 
seemed plain and flat-featured. Her dress of yellow 
bark-cloth was striped with black, and her hair was 
dressed in a ridge-like form, after the fashion of the 
Uganda court. We enjoyed excessively the boating 
down stream, going at the rate of four miles an hour, 
and driving fish before us. The Kuffo was so broad 
that two "gigs" might race abreast of each other. 
The sides seldom admitted of landing, being margined 
with rushes and reeds, hiding completely the country 
behind them. Delightful to us was the prospect of 
the water route ! 
