gratitude of that moment I will not attempt to describe.

Fortunately there were many fowls in this village. We found several
nests of fresh eggs in the straw which littered the hut; these were
most acceptable after our hard fare, and produced a good supply of soup.
Having rested for two days we again moved forward, Mrs. Baker being
carried on a litter.

The next day we reached the village of Parkani. For several days past
our guides had told us that we were very near to the lake, and we were
now assured that we should reach it on the morrow. I had noticed a lofty
range of mountains at an immense distance west, and I had imagined that
the lake lay on the other side of this chain; but I was now informed
that those mountains formed the western frontier of the M'wootan N'zige,
and that the lake was actually within a day's march of Parkani. I could
not believe it possible that we were so near the object of our search.
The guide Rabonga now appeared, and declared that if we started early on
the following morning we should be able to wash in the lake by noon!

That night I hardly slept. For years I had striven to reach the "sources
of the Nile." In my nightly dreams during that arduous voyage I had
always failed, but after so much hard work and perseverance the cup was
at my very lips, and I was to DRINK at the mysterious fountain before
another sun should set--at that great reservoir of nature that ever
since creation had baffled all discovery.

I had hoped, and prayed, and striven through all kinds of difficulties,
in sickness, starvation, and fatigue, to reach that hidden source; and
when it had appeared impossible we had both determined to die upon the
road rather than return defeated. Was it possible that it was so near,
and that to-morrow we could say, "The work is accomplished"?

The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after the guide, who,
having been promised a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake,
had caught the enthusiasm of the moment. The day broke beautifully
clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled
up the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The glory of our prize
burst suddenly upon me! There, like a sea of quicksilver, lay far
beneath the grand expanse of water--a boundless sea horizon on the south
and south-west, glittering in the noonday sun; and in the west, at fifty
or sixty miles' distance, blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake
to a height o