UJIJI AND TANOANIKA. 
351 
lover witliin, and sliowed him what appeared to be a 
circular pool of deep clear water, which bubbled upward 
from the depths, and she said — 
“ e Behold ! This is our wondrous fountain — is it not 
beautiful ? — and in this fountain are the fish.’ 
“ The man had never seen such things in his life, for 
there were no rivers in the neighbourhood except that 
which was made by this fountain. His delight was 
very great, and he sat for some time watching the fish 
leaping and chasing each other, showing their white 
bellies and beautiful bright sides, and coming up to the 
surface and diving swiftly down to the bottom. He 
had never enjoyed such pleasure ; but when one of the 
boldest of the fish came near to where he was sitting he 
suddenly put forth his hand to catch it. Ah, that was 
the end of all ! — for the Muzimu, the spirit, was angry. 
And the world cracked asunder, the plain sank down, 
and down and down — the bottom cannot now be reached 
by our longest lines — and the fountain overflowed and 
filled the great gap that was made by the earthquake, 
and now what do you see ? The Tanganika ! All the 
people of that great plain perished, and all the houses 
and fields and gardens, the herds of cattle and flocks of 
goats and sheep, were swallowed in the waters. 
“ That is what our oldest men have told us about the 
Tanganika. Whether it is true or not I cannot say.” 
“ And what became of the husband ? ” I asked. 
“ Oh, after he had finished his business in Uvinza, he 
began his return journey, and suddenly he came to 
some mountains he had never seen before, and from the 
top of the mountains he looked down upon a great lake ! 
So then he knew that his wife had disclosed the secret 
fountain, and that all had perished 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 flowing from the east to 
the lake near Urimba, was met by the Lukuga flowing 
from the westward, and the united waters filled the 
deep valley now occupied by the Tanganika. Hence 
the Luwegeri is termed “ the mother of the Lukuga.” 
