348 
WANT, THE INTERPRETER . 
[chap. VIII. 
and it occasionally sweeps through the country and 
decimates the population. 
Among the natives of Obbo, who had accompanied 
us to Latooka, was a man named Want, who had 
formerly travelled far to the south, and had offered 
to conduct Ibrahim to a country rich in ivory that 
had never been visited by a trader : this man had 
accordingly been engaged as guide and interpreter. 
In an examination of Wani I discovered that the 
cowrie-shells were brought from a place called “ Ma- 
gungo.” This name I had previously heard mentioned 
by the natives, but I could obtain no clue to its posi¬ 
tion. It was most important that I should discover 
the exact route by which the cowries arrived from the 
south, as it would be my guide to that direction. The 
information that I received from Wani at Latooka was 
excessively vague, and upon most sl ender data I founded 
iny conclusions so carefully that my subsequent dis¬ 
coveries have rendered most interesting the first scent 
of the position which I eventually followed with success. 
I accordingly extract, verbatim ,, from my journal the 
note written by me at Latooka on 26th of May, 1863, 
when I first received the clue to the Albert Nyanza :— 
“I have had a long examination of Wani, the guide 
and interpreter, respecting the country of Magungo. 
Loggo, the Bari interpreter, has always described Ma- 
