e yet. It was not till the end of July
that he reached his goal.

"Here at last," he says, "I stood on the brink of the Nile, most
beautiful was the scene, nothing could surpass it--a magnificent
stream from six hundred to seven hundred yards wide, dotted with islets
and rocks, the former occupied by fishermen's huts, the latter by
crocodiles basking in the sun. I told my men they ought to bathe in
the holy river, the cradle of Moses."

Marching onwards, they found the waterfall, which Speke named the
Ripon Falls, "by far the most interesting sight I had seen in Africa."
The arm of the water from which the Nile issued he named "Napoleon
Channel," out of respect to the French Geographical Society for the
honour they had done him just before leaving England in presenting
their gold medal for the discovery of Victoria Nyanza.

[Illustration: THE RIPON FALLS ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA. From Speke's
_Journey to Discover the Source of the Nile_.]

The English explorers had now spent six months in Uganda. The
civilisation in this country of M'tesa's has passed into history.
Every one was clothed, and even little boys held their skin-cloaks
tightly round them lest their bare legs might by accident be seen!
Everything was clean and orderly under the all-powerful ruler M'tesa.
Grant, who arrived in the end of May, carried in a litter, found Speke
had not yet obtained leave from the king to "open the country to the
north, that an uninterrupted line of commerce might exist between
England and Uganda by means of the Nile." But at last on 3rd July he
writes with joy: "The moment of triumph has come at last and suddenly
the road is granted."

The explorers bid farewell to M'tesa. "We rose with an English bow,
placing the hand on the heart, whilst saying adieu; and whatever we
did M'tesa in an instant mimicked with the instinct of a monkey."

In five boats of five planks each tied together and caulked with rags,
Speke started with a small escort and crew to reach the palace of the
neighbouring king, Kamrasi, "father of all the kings," in the province
of Unyoro. After some fierce opposition they entered the palace of
the king, a poor creature. Rumours had reached him that these two white
men were cannibals and sorcerers. His palace was indeed a contrast
to that of M'tesa. It was merely a dirty hut approached by a lane
ankle-deep in mud and cow-manure. The king's sisters were not allowed
to marry; their only occupation was to drink mi