336 
COUNTRIES BORDERING THE LAKE. [chap. xii. 
less than about two degrees south latitude, the lake 
was reported to turn suddenly to the west, and to 
continue in that direction for an unknown distance. 
North of Malegga, on the west of the lake, was a small 
country called M’Caroli; then Koshi, on the west side 
of the Nile at its exit from the lake; and on the east 
side of the Nile was the Madi, opposite to Koshi. Both 
the guide and the chief of Vacovia informed me that 
we should be taken by canoes to Magungo, to the point 
at which the Somerset that we had left at Karuma 
joined the lake ; but that we could not ascend it, as 
it was a succession of cataracts the whole way from 
Karuma until within a short distance of Magungo. 
The exit of the Nile from the lake at Koshi was 
navigable for a considerable distance, and canoes could 
descend the river as far as the Madi. 
They both. agreed that the level of the lake was 
never lower than at present, and that it never rose 
higher than a mark upon the beach that accounted for 
an increase of about four feet. The beach was perfectly 
clean sand, upon which the waves rolled like those of 
the sea, throwing up weeds precisely as seaweed may 
be seen upon the English shore. It was a grand sight 
to look upon this vast reservoir .of the mighty Nile, 
and to watch the heavy swell tumbling upon the 
beach, while far to the south-west the eye searched as 
vainly for a bound as though upon the Atlantic. It 
was with extreme emotion that I enjoyed this glorious 
scene. My wife, who had followed me so devotedly, 
stood by my side pale and exhausted—a wreck upon 
the shores of the great Albert Lake that we had so 
long striven to reach. No European foot had ever 
trod upon its sand, nor had the eyes of a white man 
ever scanned its vast expanse of water. We were the 
first; and this was the key to the great secret that 
even Julius Caesar yearned to unravel, but in vain. 
Here was the great basin of the Nile that received 
every drop of ivater, even from the passing shower 
to the roaring mountain torrent that drained from 
