CHAPTER XXV.
THE APPROACH TO LAKE ALBERT NYANZA.
The accounts brought back by Speke of the discovery of Victoria Nyanza and the existence of another lake, which might prove to be a feeder of the Nile, so influenced a friend of his, Sir Samuel Baker, that he and his wife, a mere girl in years, started out with an expedition to make still closer explorations of the lake region.
The natives had given Speke very graphic accounts of the Nile's westward course, after leaving Victoria Nyanza, till at length its waters fell into a large lake. They had further informed him that this lake came from the south, and that the Nile entered at the northern extremity, and almost immediately made an exit from it in continuing its course to the north.
At the time this information was received by Speke, the country through which he would have needed to pass was in the midst of a native war, and no strangers could penetrate it. He was convinced, however, that the lake described must, in all probability, be a second source of the Nile.
Sir Samuel Baker and his wife had most interesting and thrilling experiences in their search for this supposed second feeder of the Nile. Some sections of the country through which they traveled were most beautiful. Here were jungles and forests alternating with broad plains, and mountains rising to the height of three or four thousand feet.
Some of the people, too, were very interesting. Baker declared the Latookas to be the finest savages he ever met. They were nearly six feet in height, had fine foreheads, very good features, and finely formed bodies. Their manners were frank, good-humored, and polite. In this respect they were a strong contrast to the surrounding tribes. They seemed to him to be of Abyssinian or of Asiatic origin.
The description of the headdress of the men is interesting. It takes from eight to ten years to perfect the arrangement of this coiffure, and no doubt much pride is taken in this queer conceit of savage fashion.
"The hair is at first 'felted' with fine twine. As the fresh hair grows through this, the twine process is repeated, until at last a compact substance is formed, an inch and a half thick, trained into the form of a helmet, with a frontlet and crest of copper. Of course they never disturb this, and it lasts them their life time. They ornament it with beads, cowries, ostrich feathers, and other decorations."