UJIJI AND TANGANIKA. 
381 
of open water, and beyond were a few trees growing, as 
it seemed to me, right in the bed. I caused some of my 
men to attempt to cross from one bank to the other, but 
the muddy ooze was not sufficiently firm to bear the 
weight of a man. 
I then cut a disc of wood a foot in diameter, drove a 
nail in, and folded cotton under its head. I then rove a 
cord five feet- in length through this, suspending to one 
end an earthenware pot, with which I tried an experi- 
ment. Along the edge of papyrus I measured 1000 feet 
with a tape line, both ends of the track marked by a 
broad riband of sheeting tied to a papyrus reed. Then, 
proceeding to the eastern or 
lake end of the track, I 
dropped the earthenware pot, 
which, after filling, sank and 
drew the wooden disc level 
with the water. I noted the 
chronometer instantly, while 
the boat was rowed away from 
the scene. The wind from the 
lake blew strong at the time. 
The board floated from lake- 
ward towards the papyrus 822 
feet in one hour and forty 
seconds. 
In the afternoon, wind calm 
and water tranquil, the disc floated in the opposite 
direction, or towards the lake, 159 feet in nineteen 
minutes and thirty seconds, which is at the rate of 
about 600 feet in the hour. 
This was of itself conclusive proof that there was no 
current at this date (July 16, 1876). Still I was curious 
to see the river flowing out. The next day, therefore, 
accompanied by the chief and fifteen men of the Expedi- 
tion, we started overland along the banks of this rush- 
and mud-choked depression for three or four miles. The 
trend of the several streams we passed was from north- 
west to south-east— that is, towards the lake. At 
Elwani village we came to the road from Monyi’s, which 
TJGUHA HEADDRESS. 
