From their halting-place, described in the last chapter, our friends pushed onward without farther delay. The captain of the steamer said there were many islands in the lake, principally on the western side—a fact that was not known till quite recently. Baker, Speke, Stanley, and Long were all unable to make a thorough exploration of the western part of the Albert N'yanza, and all of them came away with the impression that what has since proved to be a series of islands was in reality the main-land.
AN ISLAND IN THE LAKE.
Some of the islands are inhabited, but the greater number are without population. The islands were not considered safe from the incursions of the slave-stealers, and some that formerly were densely occupied had latterly been entirely deserted. The slavers would send out spies to learn the situation of an island and the number of persons to be found there. This being ascertained, they would make a sudden descent, usually at night, and the frightened negroes could not escape, as their boats would be in the possession of the robbers. Those who took shelter in the bushes were soon hunted down or starved out, and their primitive weapons were no match whatever for the muskets of their enemies whenever they ventured to fight.
The islanders supported themselves mainly by fishing, though they generally had small fields of bananas, plantains, yams, potatoes, and other edible things. They had no goats or sheep, with here and there an exception, but the most of them had flocks of chickens, and occasionally a dog was to be seen. The dog is not usually a popular animal with the African, and the breed is not such as would please a fancier of New York or London.
It was necessarily slow work to move among the islands with the steamer, and sometimes an hour or more was consumed in making a single mile. Soundings were taken every few yards, and where there was any probability of running aground the small boat was sent ahead to ascertain the depth of water.
They stopped at some of the islands in order to obtain wood for the steamer, and, as they were generally obliged to cut it themselves, the operation of "wooding up" was not a rapid one. On one island they found several logs that had evidently been thrown on shore by the action of the waves when the lake was at its highest point. They were well seasoned by the heat of the tropical sun, and made excellent fuel. The captain of the steamer said he hoped the other islands on the way would be equally kind to them, and furnish them with dry wood instead of green. One of the logs was over five feet in diameter, and nearly a hundred feet long, and the work of reducing it to fuel for the furnaces of the boat was no small task.
The island was uninhabited; and as the captain said a couple of days would be required for his men to cut up the logs they had found and load the wood on the boat, the Doctor concluded to pass the night on shore. He ordered the tents to be carried to land and set up where a strip of gravelly beach, with an acre or so of grass beyond it, made an excellent site for a camp. The cooking utensils were left on board, as it was not deemed advisable to make a division of kitchen-work for a single night. Of course the guns and ammunition were carefully looked after. Ramen and Bash were in a tent with Ali, close to Doctor Bronson and his nephew, and they took turns in watching through the night to guard against a surprise.
As soon as they were landed Fred was eager to make the tour of the island in search of game. Ramen was sent ahead to see if everything was right; and as there were no indications of natives, either resident or transient, a hunting expedition was organized immediately.