its supposed position,
showing the Nile as both influent and effluent precisely as had been
explained by the natives.

Speke expressed his conviction that the Luta N'zige must be a second
source of the Nile, and that geographers would be dissatisfied that he
had not explored it. To me this was most gratifying. I had been much
disheartened at the idea that the great work was accomplished, and that
nothing remained for exploration. I even said to Speke, "Does not one
leaf of the laurel remain for me?" I now heard that the field was not
only open, but that an additional interest was given to the exploration
by the proof that the Nile flowed out of one great lake, the Victoria,
but that it evidently must derive an additional supply from an unknown
lake, as it entered it at the NORTHERN extremity, while the body of the
lake came from the south. The fact of a great body of water such as the
Luta N'zige extending in a direct line from south to north, while the
general system of drainage of the Nile was from the same direction,
showed most conclusively that the Luta N'zige, if it existed in the form
assumed, must have an important position in the basin of the Nile.

My expedition had naturally been rather costly, and being in excellent
order it would have been heartbreaking to return fruitlessly. I
therefore arranged immediately for my departure, and Speke most kindly
wrote in my journal such instructions as might be useful.

On the 26th of February Speke and Grant sailed from Gondokoro. Our
hearts were too full to say more than a short "God bless you!" They had
won their victory; my work lay all before me. I watched their boat until
it turned the corner, and wished them in my heart all honor for their
great achievement. I trusted to sustain the name they had won for
English perseverance, and I looked forward to meeting them again in
dear old England, when I should have completed the work we had so warmly
planned together.

I now weighed all my baggage, and found that I had fifty-four cantars
(100 lbs. each). The beads, copper, and ammunition were the terrible
onus. I therefore applied to Mahommed, the vakeel of Andrea Debono,
who had escorted Speke and Grant, and I begged his co-operation in the
expedition. Mahommed promised to accompany me, not only to his camp at
Faloro, but throughout the whole of my expedition, provided that I would
assist him in procuring ivory, and that I would give him a handsome
present. All was ag