possible, we had 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"?

3. 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 watera boundless sea-horizon on the south and southwest-glittering in the noonday sun; and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles' distance, the blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of about seven thousand feet above its level.

4. It is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment. Here was the reward for all our labor for the years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. England had won the sources of the Nile!

5. Long before I reached this spot, I had arranged to give three cheers with all our men, in honor of the discovery; but now that I looked down upon the great inland sea, lying nestled in the very heart of Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the humble instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great mystery, when so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious to vent my feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for having guided and supported us through all the dangers to the good end.

6. I was about fifteen hundred feet above the lake, and as I looked down from the steep granite cliff upon those welcome waters-upon that vast reservoir which nourished

Egypt, and brought fertility where all was wilderness—upon that great source so long hidden from mankind, that source of bounty and of blessings to millions of human beings, and one of the greatest objects in nature, I determined to honor it with a great name. As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious Queen, and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake "The Albert N'yanza." The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two sources of the Nile.

7. The zigzag path to descend to the lake was so steep and dangerous that we were forced to leave our oxen with a guide, who was to take them to Magungo and wait for our arrival. We commenced the descent of the steep pass on foot. I led the way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife, in extreme weakness, tottered down the pass, supporting herself upon my shoulder, and stopping to rest every twenty paces.

8. After a toilsome descent, weak with years of fever, but for the moment strengthened by success, we gained the level plain below the cliff. A walk of about a mile through flat sandy meadows of fine turf interspersed with trees and bush, brought us to the water's edge. The waves were rolling upon a white pebbly beach; I rushed into the lake, and, thirsty with heat and fatigue, with a heart full of gratitude, I drank deeply from the sources of the Nile.

9. Within a quarter of a mile of the lake was a fishing village named Vacovia, in which we now established ourselves. Everything smelt of fish, and everything looked like fishing; harpoons were leaning against the huts, and lines almost as thick as the little finger were hanging up to dry, to which were attached iron hooks of a size that said much for the monsters of Albert lake.

10. On entering the hut, I found a prodigious quantity of tackle; the lines were beautifully made of the fibre of the plantain stem, and were exceedingly elastic, and well

adapted to withstand the first rush of a heavy fish; the hooks were very coarse, but well barbed, and varied in size from two to six inches. A number of harpoons and floats for hippopotami were arranged in good order, and the whole of the hut showed that the owner was a sportsman.

11. The harpoons for hippopotami were precisely the same pattern as those used by the Hamran Arabs on the Taka frontier of Abyssinia, having a narrow blade of threequarters of an inch in width, with only one barb. The rope fitted to the harpoon was beautifully made of plantain fibre, and the float was a huge piece of ambatch-wood, about fifteen inches in diameter. They speared the hippopotamus from canoes, and those large floats were necessary to be easily distinguished in the rough waters of the lake.

12. My men were perfectly astounded at the appearance of the lake. The journey had been so long, and "hope deferred" had so completely sickened their hearts, that they had long since disbelieved in the existence of the lake, and they were persuaded that I was leading them to the sea. They now looked on the lake with astonishment. Two of them had already seen the sea at Alexandria, and they unhesitatingly declared that this was the sea, but that it was not salt.

Sir S. W. Baker.

CXXXIX. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS OR RIVER HORSE.

"crackee" china; Ausschuß von Porzellanwaren.

dap'-ple, to speckle; sprenkeln.

ex-ude', to sweat out; ausschwißen.

ar-ray', a row; Reihe.

ver'-nier, an instrument for measuring the smallest spaces; Minuten- und Sekundenteiler.

sex'-tant, an instrument for measuring distances; Sextant; Sechstel

kreisbogen.

nui'-sance, annoyance; Übel; Schaden.

splay'-footed, having wide feet; breitfüßig.

in-dis-crim ́-i-nate-ly, without distinction; ohne Unterschied.

dep'-re-da-tor, plunderer; Plünderer.
com-mer'-cial, mercantile; den Handel betreffend.
pli'-a-ble, easy to be bent; biegsam.

ac-com-mo-date, to adapt; sich anbequemen.
im-ply', to include; einschließen; anzeigen.

to be in vogue; im Schwange gehen; beliebt sein.

1. This enormous quadruped is a native of various parts of Africa, and is always found either in water or in its near vicinity. In absolute height it is not very remarkable, as its legs are extremely short, but the actual bulk of its body is very great indeed. The average height of a full-grown hippopotamus is about five feet. Its naked skin is dark brown, curiously marked with innumerable lines, like those on "crackee" china or old oil paintings, and is also dappled with a number of sooty black spots, which can not be seen except on a close inspection. A vast number of pores penetrate the skin, and exude a thick, oily liquid, in which the skin is constantly immersed. The mouth is enormous, and its size is greatly increased by the odd manner in which the jaw is set in the head.

2. Within the mouth is an array of white, gleaming tusks, which have a terrific appearance, but are solely intended for cutting grass and other vegetable substances, and are seldom employed as weapons of offence, except when the animal is wounded or otherwise irritated. The extreme whiteness of the ivory obtained from the hippopotamus' teeth renders it peculiarly valuable for the delicate scales of various philosophical instruments, and its natural curve adapts it admirably for the verniers of ship sextants. The weight of a large tooth is from five to eight pounds, and the value of the ivory is from four to five dollars per pound.

3. With these apparently combined teeth the hippopotamus can cut the grass as neatly as if it were mown with a scythe, and is able to sever, as if with shears, a tolerably stout and thick stem.

4. Possessed of an enormous appetite, having a stomach that is capable of containing five or six bushels of nutriment, and furnished with such powerful instruments, the hippopotamus is a terrible nuisance to the owners of cultivated lands that happen to be near the river in which the animal has taken up his abode. During the day it is comfortably asleep in its chosen hiding-place, but as soon as the shades of night deepen, the hippopotamus issues from its den, and treading its way into the cultivated lands, makes sad devastation among the growing crops.

5. Were the mischief confined to the amount which is eaten by the voracious brute, it would still be bad enough, but the worst of the matter is, that the hippopotamus damages more than it eats by the clumsy manner of its progress. The body is so large and heavy, and the legs are so short, that it may be readily traced by the peculiar character of the track. It may, therefore, be easily imagined that when a number of these hungry, awkward, waddling, splayfooted beasts come plundering among the standing crops, trampling and devouring indiscriminately, they will do not slight damage before they think fit to retire.

6. The aggrieved cultivators endeavor to protect their grounds, and at the same time to make the depredators pay for the damage which they have done, by digging a number of pitfalls across the hippopotamus' paths, and furnishing each pit with a sharp stake in the centre.

7. When an animal falls into such a trap, the rejoicings are great; for not only is the ivory of great commercial value, but the flesh is very good eating, and the hide is useful for the manufacture of whips and other instruments. The fat of the hippopotamus is held in very high estimation, as is the tongue and the jelly which is extracted from the feet. The hide is so thick that it must be dragged from the creature's body in slips, like so many planks, and is an inch and a half in thickness on the back, and three quarters of