ROUND LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA. 
193 
across the bay to Ikungu, and thence across another to 
picturesque Dobo, nearly opposite Irieni. 
Having arrived at anchorage at dusk, we were led to 
seek shelter under the lee of one of the outlying rocks 
of Dobo. We had moored both by bow and stern, to 
prevent being swept by the restless surf against the 
rocks, but about midnight a storm arose from the east- 
ward, exposing us to all its fury. We were swept with 
great force against the rocks, and should inevitably 
have been lost, had not the oars, which we had lashed 
outside the boat as fenders, protected it. Through the 
pelting rain, and amid the thunder of the aroused waves 
which lashed the reef, we laboured strenuously to save 
ourselves, and finally succeeded in rowing to the 
other lee. 
Externally, the aspect of these islands on the coast 
of Ururi is very rugged, bare, and unpromising, but 
within are many acres of cultivable soil covered with 
green grass, and the hippopotami, which abound in the 
neighbourhood of these deserted, grassy islands, here 
find luxuriant pasturage. Like the tribes on the main- 
land, these amphibiae appear to possess also their 
respective boundaries and their separate haunts. The 
hippopotami of Lake Victoria, moreover, are an exces- 
sively belligerent species, and the unwary voyager, on 
approaching their haunts, exposes himself to danger. 
We were frequently chased by them ; and as the boat 
was not adapted for a combat with such pachyderms, a 
collision would have been fatal to us. The settlements 
at Irieni possess large herds of cattle, but the soil does 
not seem to be highly cultivated. In this respect the 
people appear to resemble in character the Watusi in 
Unyamwezi, who live only on the milk of their cattle, 
and such grain as they are enabled to obtain by its sale. 
Suspecting, after leaving Irieni, and approaching 
Mori Bay, that a river of considerable importance 
emptied into it, we paid particular attention to every 
indentation on its uneven coast ; but on arriving at a 
lofty though small island at the eastern extremity, and 
climbing to its summit 150 feet above the lake, we saw 
VOL. II. o 
