Ill 
THE VICTORIA NYANZA, THE GREATEST LAKE IN AFRICA 
An extraordinary fascination surrounds the history 
of the Victoria Nyanza. It is remarkable that a lake 
with a shore-line of 3,200 miles and an area of 25,000 
square miles lying in the midst of a thickly populated 
region of East Africa should have remained undis¬ 
covered to the modern civilised world until Speke 
discovered it in 1858. INow the lake is daily traversed 
by steamers with regular ports of call, engaged in 
conveying passengers, tourists, and cargo as safely as 
on Lake Michigan. 
Port Florence (Kisumu) is on the shore of Kavirondo 
Gulf, a nearly land-locked inlet about thirty miles long, 
and varying in width from two to three miles. This 
gulf is on the north-eastern shore of the lake, and the 
channel by which it communicates with the main water 
is almost blocked with islands. Anyone visiting the 
lake will appreciate the difficulties experienced by 
the early explorers in deciding between islands and 
prominent headlands, unless the parts were carefully 
explored: this in many instances was difficult on 
account of the hostility of the inhabitants. 
The Nile leaves the lake at Napoleon Gulf on the 
northern shore. As the steamer enters this gulf and 
approaches the landing stage at Jinja there is nothing 
to lead one to suspect that the hills are so near. A 
prominent bluff pushes into the lake between the landing 
stage and the falls; in order to see the latter it is 
necessary to leave the steamer and walk over a low 
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