52 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
IV 
No nails, screws, or metal of any kind is used in the 
construction of these boats ; neither the Baganda nor 
the Wavuma know anything of the use of sails, or 
saws. 
The skill and daring of the Basesse and Wavuma 
boatmen are proverbial. When Stanley circumnavigated 
the lake in 1875, he was often in peril from the Wavuma. 
He describes the voyage around the indented shores of 
Speke’s Grulf and his visit to Ukerewe, where his guide 
had many friends. Some of the natives laughed at the 
novel method employed by his men in rowing, but when 
the sail was hoisted they fled in terror. The boat was 
frequently chased by hippopotamuses, and further along 
the coast it was pursued by war boats, blown about 
by severe gales, pelted by hailstones as large as 
filberts, and deluged with torrents of rain. The 
piratical craft of the Wavuma were so belligerent 
that one had to be sunk with bullets. When he 
approached Uganda he was received with a flotilla, 
greeted with volleys of musketry and the thunder of 
drums. On shore he was welcomed with flags and 
received in audience by Mutesa. On leaving Uganda, 
after a stay of many weeks, Stanley returned to his 
base at Speke’s Gulf, and ran a narrow risk of being 
murdered by the inhabitants of a large island ten days’ 
sail from Uganda. 
The dwellers by the lake believed wonderful stories of 
the Wavuma daring in the water, and credited them 
with the ability of swimming under water to hostile 
boats, and cutting with short knives the sutures which 
secured the planking. 
Great changes have come over these interesting Lake 
Islands. In 1901 the sleeping-sickness visited them 
and the adjacent shore districts, especially Uganda and 
Busoga. In 1908, Bishop Tucker, in describing the havoc 
wrought by this disease, stated that “ the islands have 
been depopulated.” Kome, which at one time was said 
to have a population of 10,000, has hardly 500 souls 
