Even if we had been inclined to abandon the object of our search,
which, shadow as it was, was by no means the case, it was ridiculous

to think of forcing our way back some seven hundred miles to
the coast in our present plight; so we came to the conclusion

that the only thing to be done was to stop where we were -- the
natives being so well disposed and food plentiful -- for the

present, and abide events, and try to collect information as
to the countries beyond.

Accordingly, having purchased a capital log canoe, large enough
to hold us all and our baggage, from the headman of the village

we were staying in, presenting him with three empty cold-drawn
brass cartridges by way of payment, with which he was perfectly

delighted, we set out to make a tour of the lake in order to
find the most favourable place to make a camp. As we did not

know if we should return to this village, we put all our gear
into the canoe, and also a quarter of cooked water-buck, which

when young is delicious eating, and off we set, natives having
already gone before us in light canoes to warn the inhabitants

of the other villages of our approach.
As we were puddling leisurely along Good remarked upon the extraordinary

deep blue colour of the water, and said that he understood from
the natives, who were great fishermen -- fish, indeed, being

their principal food -- that the lake was supposed to be wonderfully
deep, and to have a hole at the bottom through which the water

escaped and put out some great fire that was raging below.
I pointed out to him that what he had heard was probably a legend

arising from a tradition among the people which dated back to
the time when one of the extinct parasitic volcanic cones was

in activity. We saw several round the borders of the lake which
had no doubt been working at a period long subsequent to the

volcanic death of the central crater which now formed the bed
of the lake itself. When it finally became extinct the people

would imagine that the water from the lake had run down and put
out the big fire below, more especially as, though it was constantly

fed by streams running from the snow-tipped peaks about, there
was no visible exit to it.

The farther shore of the lake we found, on approaching it, to
consist of a vast perpendicular wall of rock, which held the

water without any intermediate sloping bank, as elsewhere. Accordingly
we paddled parallel with this precipice, at a distance of about

a hundred paces from it, shaping our course for the end of the
lake, where we knew that there was a large village.

As we went we began to pass a considerable accumulation of floating
rushes, weed, boughs of trees, and other rubbish, brought, Good

supposed, to this spot by some current, which he was much puzzled
to account for. Whilst we were speculating about this, Sir Henry

pointed out a flock of large white swans, which were feeding
on the drift some little way ahead of us. Now I had already

noticed swans flying about this lake, and, having never come
across them before in Africa, was exceedinglyanxious to obtain

a specimen. I had questioned the natives about them, and learnt
that they came from over the mountain, always arriving at certain

periods of the year in the early morning, when it was very easy
to catch them, on account of their exhausted condition. I also

asked them what country they came from, when they shrugged their
shoulders, and said that on the top of the great black precipice

was stony inhospitable land, and beyond that were mountains with
snow, and full of wild beasts, where no people lived, and beyond

the mountains were hundreds of miles of dense thorn forest, so
thick that even the elephants could not get through it, much

less men. Next I asked them if they had ever heard of white
people like ourselves living on the farther side of the mountains

and the thorn forest, whereat they laughed. But afterwards a
very old woman came and told me that when she was a little girl

her grandfather had told her that in his youth his grandfather
had crossed the desert and the mountains, and pierced the thorn

forest, and seen a white people who lived in stone kraals beyond.
Of course, as this took the tale back some two hundred and fifty

years, the information was very indefinite; but still there it
was again, and on thinking it over I grew firmly convinced that

there was some truth in all these rumours, and equallyfirmly
determined to solve the mystery. Little did I guess in what

an almost miraculous way my desire was to be gratified.
Well, we set to work to stalk the swans, which kept drawing,

as they fed, nearer and nearer to the precipice, and at last
we pushed the canoe under shelter of a patch of drift within

forty yards of them. Sir Henry had the shot-gun, loaded with
No. 1, and, waiting for a chance, got two in a line, and, firing

at their necks, killed them both. Up rose the rest, thirty or
more of them, with a mighty splashing; and, as they did so, he

gave them the other barrel. Down came one fellow with a broken
wing, and I saw the leg of another drop and a few feathers start

out of his back; but he went on quite strong. Up went the swans,
circling ever higher till at last they were mere specks level

with the top of the frowning precipice, when I saw them form
into a triangle and head off for the unknown north-east. Meanwhile

we had picked up our two dead ones, and beautiful birds they
were, weighing not less than about thirty pounds each, and were

chasing the winged one, which had scrambled over a mass of driftweed
into a pool of clear water beyond. Finding a difficulty in forcing

the canoe through the rubbish, I told our only remaining Wakwafi
servant, whom I knew to be an excellent swimmer, to jump over,

dive under the drift, and catch him, knowing that as there were
no crocodiles in this lake he could come to no harm. Entering

into the fun of the thing, the man obeyed, and soon was dodging
about after the winged swan in fine style, getting gradually

nearer to the rock wall, against which the water washed as he
did so.

Presently he gave up swimming after the swan, and began to cry
out that he was being carried away; and, indeed, we saw that,

though he was swimming with all his strength towards us, he was
being drawn slowly to the precipice. With a few desperate strokes

of our paddles we pushed the canoe through the crust of drift
and rowed towards the man as hard as we could, but, fast as we

went, he was drawn faster to the rock. Suddenly I saw that before
us, just rising eighteen inches or so above the surface of the

lake, was what looked like the top of the arch of a submerged
cave or railway tunnel. Evidently, from the watermark on the

rock several feet above it, it was generally entirely submerged;
but there had been a dry season, and the cold had prevented the

snow from melting as freely as usual; so the lake was low and
the arch showed. Towards this arch our poor servant was being

sucked with frightfulrapidity. He was not more than ten fathoms
from it, and we were about twenty when I saw it, and with little

help from us the canoe flew along after him. He struggled bravely,
and I thought that we should have saved him, when suddenly I

perceived an expression of despair come upon his face, and there
before our eyes he was sucked down into the cruel swirling blue

depths, and vanished. At the same moment I felt our canoe seized
as with a mighty hand, and propelled with resistless force towards

the rock.
We realized our danger now and rowed, or rather paddled, furiously

in our attempt to get out of the vortex. In vain; in another
second we were flying straight for the arch like an arrow, and

I thought that we were lost. Luckily I retained sufficient presence
of mind to shout out, instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantlysetting the example by throwing

myself into the bottom of the canoe, 'Down on your faces -- down!'
and the others had the sense to take the hint. In another instant

there was a grinding noise, and the boat was pushed down till
the water began to trickle over the sides, and I thought that

we were gone. But no, suddenly the grinding ceased, and we could
again feel the canoe flying along. I turned my head a little