236 
FIRST CLUE TO THE LAKE. 
[chap, vim 
that it must be the x4sua ; but, upon cross-examination, 
I find he has used the word ‘ Bahr 9 (in Arabic signi¬ 
fying river or sea) instead of ‘ Birke* (lake). This 
important error being discovered gives a new feature 
to the geography of this part. According to his descrip¬ 
tion ‘Magungo is situated on a lake so large that no 
one knows its limits. Its breadth is such that, if you 
journey two days east and the same distance west, 
there is no land visible in either quarter, while to the 
south its direction is utterly unknown. Large vessels 
arrive at Magungo from distant and unknown parts, 
bringing cowrie-shells and beads in exchange for ivory. 
Upon these vessels white men have been seen. All the 
cowrie-shells used in Latooka and the neighbouring 
countries are supplied by these vessels, but none have 
arrived for the last two years. 
“His description of distance places Magungo on 
about the 2° N. lat. The lake can be no other than 
the ‘N’Yanza/ which, if the position of Magungo be 
correct, extends much farther north than Speke had 
supposed. The ‘ white men ? must be Arab traders 
who bring cowries • from Zanzibar. I shall take the 
first opportunity to push for Magungo. I imagine 
that country belongs to Kamrasfs brother, as Wani 
says the king has a brother who is king of a powerful 
country on the west bank of the Nile, but that they 
are ever at war with each other. 
“I examined another native who had been to Ma¬ 
gungo to purchase Slmbi (the cowrie-sliell); he says 
that ‘ a white man formerly arrived there annually, 
and brought a donkey with him in a boat; that he 
disembarked his donkey and rode about the country, 
dealing with the natives, and bartering cowries and 
brass-coil bracelets. This man had no firearms, but 
wore a sword. The king of Magungo was called 
‘ Cherrybambi/ ” 
This information was the first clue to the facts that 
I subsequently established, and the account of the 
white men (Arabs) arriving at Magungo was confirmed 
