THE 
ALBERT NYANZA. 
CHAPTER I. 
THE EXPEDITION. 
In March, 1861, I commenced an expedition to 
discover the sources of the Nile, with the hope of 
meeting the East African expedition of Captains Speke 
and Grant, that had been sent by the English Govern¬ 
ment from the South, via Zanzibar, for that object. I 
had not the presumption to publish my intention, as 
the sources of the Nile had hitherto defied all ex¬ 
plorers, but I had inwardly determined to accomplish 
this difficult task or to die in the attempt. From my 
youth I had been inured to hardships and endurance 
in wild sports in tropical climates, and when I gazed 
upon the map of Africa I had a wild hope, mingled 
with humility, that, even as the insignificant worm 
bores through the hardest oak, I might by perseverance 
reach the heart of Africa. 
I could not conceive that anything in this world 
had power to resist a determined will, so long as 
health and life remained. The failure of every former 
attempt to reach the Nile source did not astonish me, 
as the expeditions had consisted of parties, which, 
when difficulties occur, generally end in difference of 
opinion and retreat: I therefore determined to pro- 
B 
