The river between the two lakes has a course of about two hundred and fifty miles. There is a succession of cataracts below Karuma Falls. They occupy some forty miles of the river bed.
The mouth of the Victoria Nile is still water. It has a width of half a mile. The river at the mouth, as it tranquilly enters the lake, presents a strong contrast to the current at Karuma Falls, where the water comes seething and boiling, rushing and tearing over the rocky bed.
Baker and his party found the eastern, or Magungo, shore of the lake to be a delightful section, bordered by enormous trees. The soil was firm and sandy, in some instances rocky. The country beyond the shore of the lake rose in a rapid incline towards the town of Magungo, which is built on an elevated ridge about a mile away.
While Baker's party waited along the shore of the lake, some of the natives arrived from the villages, bringing a goat, some fowls, eggs, milk, and fresh butter. In return, Baker gave the chief a quantity of beads, which greatly delighted this child of nature.
The march up the hill to Magungo was now in order. The day was clear and bright. The soil was sandy and rather poor, but the road was hard and well kept.
A splendid view lay before the little party as they reached Magungo and looked back upon the lake. They were now fully two hundred and fifty feet above the level of the water. The country seemed to have a general elevation of about five hundred feet, for five or six miles, when it began by gentle undulations to descend to the lake.
The most prominent objects to be seen were the mountains on the Magella side, forming the western boundary, while in the foreground lay the lake.
A few miles to the north there appeared an opening in the ridge. The lake, much contracted, continued to the west, while the mountain range on the north side of the gap extended on to the northeast.
The country due north and northeast was remarkably level. As far as the eye could see, an expanse of bright green reeds marked the course of the Nile, as it made its exit from Albert Nyanza Lake.
At Magungo the width of the sheet of water was about seventeen miles. It continued its course in a long strip to the mouth, where it lost itself in a level valley of green rushes.