CHAP. XII.] EXIT OF THE NILE FROM THE LAKE. 35J 
at a distance of five or six miles, from which point 
the ground descended in undulations, Magungo being 
situated on the summit of the nearest incline. The 
mountains on the Mallegga side, with the lake in the 
foreground, were the most prominent objects, forming 
the western boundary. A few miles north there appeared 
to be a gap in the range, and the lake continued to the 
west, but much contracted, while the mountain range on 
the northern side of the gap continued to the north-east. 
Due north and north-east the country was a dead flat, 
and far as the eye could reach was an extent of bright 
green reeds, marking the course of the Nile as it made 
its exit from the lake. The sheet of water at Magungo 
being about seventeen miles in width, ended in a long 
strip or tail to the north, until it was lost in the flat 
valley of green rushes. This valley may have been 
from four to six miles wide, and was bounded upon 
its west bank by the continuation of the chain of 
mountains that had formed the western boundary of 
the lake. The natives told me that canoes could navi¬ 
gate the Nile in its course from the lake to the Madi 
country, as there were no cataracts for a great distance, 
but that both the Madi and the Koshi were hostile, 
and that the current of the river was so strong, 
that should the canoe descend from the lake, it could 
not return without many rowers. They pointed out 
the country of Koshi on the west bank of the Nile, 
at its exit from the lake, which included the moun¬ 
tains that bordered the river. The small country, 
M’Caroli, joined Mallegga, and continued to the west, 
towards the Makkarika. The natives most positively 
refused to take me down the Nile from the lake into 
the Madi, as they said that they would be killed by 
the people, who were their enemies, as I should not be 
with them on their return up the river. 
The exit of the Nile from the lake was plain enough, 
and if the broad channel of dead water were indeed the 
entrance of the Victoria Nile (Somerset) the information 
obtained by Speke would be remarkably confirmed. 
