CHAP. XII.] 
NO PILOT. 
343 
my men were quite in despair; they could not believe 
that the boatmen had really absconded, and they begged 
me to allow them to search the country in the hope of 
finding another village. Strictly forbidding any man 
to absent himself from the boats, I congratulated our¬ 
selves on having well guarded the paddles, which there 
was no doubt would have been stolen by the boatmen 
had I allowed them to remain in their possession. I 
agreed to wait until 3 p.m. Should the boatmen not 
return by that hour, I intended to proceed without 
them. There was no dependence to be placed upon 
these contradictory natives. Kindness was entirely 
thrown away upon them. We had Kamrasi’s orders 
for boats and men, but in this distant frontier the 
natives did not appear to attach much importance to 
their king; nevertheless, we were dependent upon them. 
Every hour was valuable, as our only chance of reach¬ 
ing Gondokoro in time for the boats depended upon 
rapidity of travelling. At the moment when I wished 
to press forward, delays occurred that were most 
trying. 
Three p.m. arrived, but no signs of natives. “ Jump 
into the boats, my lads !” I cried to my men; “ I know 
the route ” The canoes were pushed from the shore, 
and my people manned the paddles. Five of my men 
were professional boatmen, but no one understood the 
management of paddles except myself. It was in vain 
that I attempted to instruct my crew. Pull they cer¬ 
tainly did; but—ye gods who watch over boats!—round 
and round we pirouetted, the two canoes waltzing and 
polking together in their great ball-room, the Albert 
Nyanza. The voyage would have lasted ad infinitum. 
After three hours' exertion, we reached a point of rock 
that stretched as a promontory into the lake. This 
bluff point was covered with thick jungle to the 
summit, and at the base was a small plot of sandy 
beach, from which there was no exit except by water, 
as the cliff descended sheer to the lake upon either 
side. It poured with rain, and with much difficulty 
