United States or United States Minor Outlying Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Immediately north of it lies a woody belt, running up to the foot of the mountains, and there bifurcating along the base. Southwards, the Yubbay is said to extend to a considerable distance, but Somali ideas of distance are peculiar, and absorption is a powerful agent in these latitudes. Till the 21st December Lieutenant Speke was delayed at the Yubbay Tug.
Proceeding due west about one hundred and fifty miles, when moving over the brow of a hill, they came in sight of the lovely Tanganyika lake, which could be seen in all its glory by everybody but Lieutenant Speke, who was suffering from inflammation of the eyes, caught by sleeping on the ground while his system was reduced by fevers and the influence of the vertical sun.
This is a long belt of fertile soil, running perpendicular to the seaward range; it begins opposite Bunder Jedid, at a gap in the mountains through which the sea is, they say, visible. In breadth, at the part first visited by Lieutenant Speke, it is about two miles: it runs southward, and during rain probably extends to about twenty miles inland.
It was difficult, however, to carry on conversation with him, as every answer had to be passed through the interpreter, and then delivered to the king's chief officer, and frequently another question was asked before the first was answered. The most important questions had reference to opening up a passage across the country. Before Speke could explain his views, the king put another question.
Water is found in pools, and in widely scattered springs: it is very scarce, and in a district near and south of the hills Lieutenant Speke was stopped by want of this necessary. The climate appeared to our traveller delightful In some places the glass fell at 6 A.M. to 25o, yet at noon on the same day the mercury rose to 76o.
Maula informed them that the king had ordered his officers to supply them with everything they wanted while passing through his country, and that there would be nothing to pay. Speke set forth, in the hopes that before long he should settle the great Nile problem for ever.
As a good ship arrives in harbor, battered and torn by a long and stormy voyage, yet sound in her frame and seaworthy to the last, so both these gallant travellers arrived at Gondokoro. Speke appeared the more worn of the two; he was excessively lean, but in reality was in good, tough condition. He had walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden during that wearying march.
It is fed from the high-seated springs in the Mountains of the Moon. Speke believed that the Mountains of the Moon give birth to the Congo as well as the Nile, and also the Shire branch of the Zambesi. The country through which they passed was a perfect garden of plantations, surprisingly rich, while along the banks of the river numberless harte-beestes and antelopes were seen.
The majority was of the opinion that the next day would be the best for a terekeza; but I, being the "bana," consulting my own interests, insisted, not without a flourish or two of my whip, that the terekeza should be made on this day. Mgongo Tembo, when Burton and Speke passed by, was a promising settlement, cultivating many a fair acre of ground.
Some of them are certainly tombs, for human bones are turned up; in others empty chambers are discovered; and in a few are found earthern and large copper pots. Lieutenant Speke on one occasion saw an excavated mound propped up inside by pieces of timber, and apparently built without inlet.
Word Of The Day