"Villages, cultivated lands, the frequent canoes of the fishermen on the waters, and, on a nearer approach, the murmur of the waves breaking upon the shore, give something of variety, of movement, of life to the landscape, which, like all the fairest prospects in these regions, wants but a little of the neatness and finish of art,—mosques and kiosks, palaces and villas, gardens and orchards,—contrasting with the profuse lavishness and magnificence of nature, and diversifying the expanse of excessive vegetation, to rival, if not to excel, the most admired scenery of the classic regions.
"The riant shores of this vast crevasse appeared doubly beautiful to me after the silent and spectral mangrove creeks on the East African seaboard, and the melancholy, monotonous experience of desert and jungle scenery, tawny rock and sun-parched plain, or rank herbage and flats of black mire. Truly it was a revel for soul and sight."
In further accounts this same author describes the African canoe, which is simply a scooped-out log. In such a climate as that of Africa a canoe cracks, and for want of calking it often becomes so leaky as to require constant baling. The crew take turns in thus keeping the craft from sinking.
A canoe of this sort has neither masts nor sails. In place of a rudder there is an iron ring in the stern. The steering, however, is really done by the paddle. There are no oars, and the paddle, which takes the place of oars, is exceedingly clumsy.
The crew seat themselves on narrow benches, two sitting in a space scarcely large enough for one person. In the center of the canoe is a clear space about six feet long. This is used to store the cargo, passengers, cattle, slaves, and provisions.
In describing the natives Burton says: "The lakists are an almost amphibious race, excellent divers, strong swimmers and fishermen. At times, when excited by the morning coolness and by the prospect of a good haul, they indulge in a manner of merriment which resembles the gambols of sportive water fowls.
"Standing upright and balancing themselves in their hollow logs, which appear but little larger than themselves, they strike the water furiously with their paddles, skimming over the surface, dashing to and fro, splashing one another, urging forward, backing, and wheeling their craft, now capsizing, then regaining their position with wonderful dexterity.
"They make coarse hooks, and have many varieties of nets and creels. Conspicuous on the waters and the villages is the dewa, or otter of Oman, a triangle of stout reeds, which shows the position of the net. A stronger kind, and used for the larger ground fish, is a cage of open basket work, provided like the former with a bait and two entrances. The fish, once entangled, cannot escape, and a log of wood used as a trimmer, attached to a float-rope of rushy reeds, directs the fisherman."
The results of Burton's trip up and down the lake, owing to the obstinacy of the native guides, were not very important. The shores of the lake he found to be very muddy, and the landscape bright and green with vegetation. The inhospitable natives, although favored with every blessing of so luxuriant a climate, were ignorant and barbarous.
Tanganyika is probably the longest fresh water lake in the world. It occupies an area of nearly thirteen thousand square miles, and has a coast line of nine hundred miles in extent.