120 
In the Heart of Africa 
broken up, and took seven hours to reach its destination, arriving 
in a completely exhausted condition. The position of our haven 
of rest, however, soon made us forget the discomforts of the 
forenoon, for a few paces from where the tents were pitched 
we^ discovered a mineral spring oozing in beautiful little bubbles 
from the earth. Only those who, for months at a time, have 
had to drink water of dubious character, which has to be boiled 
or filtered daily, or who have manufactured a more than question¬ 
able preparation with the aid of a gasogene, can form any idea 
of our delight on finding this crystal-clear beverage. Everyone 
flew to enjoy it, and we could hardly drink enough of it. At 
first the “ boys ” and carriers regarded it with rather a sceptical 
gaze, but after we had given it a trial they imitated our example 
with avidity. , 
As the spring was situated a very little distance away from 
the mission station of Ruasa we had the pleasure next day of 
seeing Dr. Czekanowski, who had been working there for some 
time and had learned of our arrival. He came by way of the 
heights which bound the valley in the east, accompanied by 
Brothers Dufays and Loupias. Soon afterwards Lieutenant 
Knecht also came in and joined us for the further march to 
Lakes Luhondo and Bolero. 
We started next morning whilst it was still dusk, and as 
the rim of the sun’s orb peeped curiously over the edge of the 
mountains we suddenly caught sight of the deeply indented 
fiords of Lake Luhondo gleaming in the early light of dawn and 
wrapped in a light fog. 
Higher up to the north-east lies Lake Bolero united to its 
sister lake by a splendid cascade which tumbles down with a 
rushing fall over the steep mountain wall from a height of 
over a hundred metres. The banks of both lakes are thickly 
populated, and agriculture is diligently carried on in every 
direction. We also saw once more a great number of banana 
groves, a sight we had missed since leaving Kissenji. 
The two lakes are of interest zoologically in the fact that 
no fish at all exist in the upper of the two, and only barbel an 
