An attack of fever
seized me suddenly, and I was obliged to lie down for four or five hours
under a tree until the fit had passed away, when, weak and good for
nothing, I again mounted my ox and rode on. On the 22d January, from an
elevated position in the forest at sunrise, we saw a cloud of fog
hanging in a distant valley, which betokened the presence of the
Somerset river. The guide assured us that we should reach the river that
day. I extract the note from my journal on that occasion:
"Marched, 6h. 20m., reaching the Somerset river, or Victoria White Nile.
I never made so tedious a journey, owing to the delays of grass,
streams, and deep swamps, but since we gained the forest these obstacles
were not so numerous. Many tracks of elephants, rhinoceros, and
buffaloes; but we saw nothing. Halted about eighty feet above the river;
altitude above sea level, by observation, 3,864 ft. I went to the river
to see if the other side was inhabited; saw two villages on an island;
the natives came across in a canoe, bringing the BROTHER OF RIONGA with
them; the guide, as I had feared during the journey, has deceived us,
and taken us direct to Rionga's country. On the north side the river all
is uninhabited forest, full of buffalo and elephant pitfalls, into which
three of our cattle have already fallen, including my beautiful riding
ox, which is thus so sprained as to be rendered useless.
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