WE FERRY THE NILE. 
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dling with spoon-shaped sticks, who worked hard to 
get us across the one hundred yards of stream, as 
delay on their part would have caused us to miss the 
landing-place, and probably carried us down to the 
next cataract. Kidjweega, who had charge of us, 
brought over a small goat as a sacrifice to the rocks, 
and to propitiate our march. A " M'ganga," hav- 
ing some boughs in his left hand, killed the animal, 
and spread it out upon the path, with its head laid in 
the direction we were to take. Speke was then asked 
to step over it, in order that we might have a pros- 
perous journey, and all followed his example. An- 
other goat, I understood, had been similarly sacrificed 
on the left bank. While waiting for the cattle being 
brought across, we ascertained the altitude to be 2970 
feet above the level of the sea. The manner of swim- 
ming the cattle was very simple. Men in the canoe 
held ropes tied to their horns, and those wanting horns 
were tied by the lower jaw. There was considerable 
delay on account of the tricks of the ferrymen, who, 
had they chosen, might have taken four cattle over at 
each trip ; but when about three-fourths were crossed, 
a message came that, until we gave them one cow for 
their trouble, over and above the amount of their 
agreement, which they had already received — namely, 
a hatful of beads — the others would be detained. This 
was acceded to, but another messenger arrived saying 
they must have a larger one in exchange. On getting 
this, they brought us a quantity of ripe plantain for 
our liberality, and we encamped for the night a mile 
from the Falls, in the middle of a forest of tropical 
vegetation. A storm of wind and rain blew with 
violence, making the boughs above us creak, and our 
