the eyes calm.
She was saved! The gratitude of that moment I will not attempt to
describe.

On March 14 the day broke beautifully clear; and, having crossed a deep
valley between the hills, we toiled op the opposite slope. I hurried to
the summit. The glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me! There, like a
sea of quicksilver, lay, far beneath, the grand expanse of water, a
boundless sea horizon on the south and south-west, glittering in the
noon-day sun; and on the west, fifty or sixty miles distant, blue
mountains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of 7,000 feet
above its level. It is impossible to describe the triumph of that
moment. Here was the reward for all our labour--for the years of
tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. England had won the
sources of the Nile!

I was about 1,500 feet above the lake; and I looked down from the steep
granite cliff upon those welcome waters, upon that vast reservoir which
nourished Egypt, and brought fertility where all was wilderness, upon
that great source so long hidden from mankind; that source of bounty and
of blessing to millions of human beings; and, as one of the greatest
objects in Nature, I determined to honour it with a great name. As an
imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious queen,
and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake "The Albert
N'yanza." The Victoria and the Albert Lakes are the two sources of the
Nile.

_IV.--Exploring the Great Lake_

The zigzag path of the descent to the lake was so steep and dangerous
that we were forced to leave our oxen with a guide, who was to take them
to Magungo, and wait for our arrival. We commenced the descent of the
steep pass on foot. I led the way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife, in
extreme weakness, tottered down the pass, supporting herself on my
shoulder, and stopping to rest every twenty paces. After a toilsome
descent of about two hours, weak with years of fever, but for the
moment strengthened by success, we gained the level plain below the
cliff. A walk of about a mile through flat sandy meadows of fine turf,
interspersed with trees and bush, brought us to the water's edge. The
waves were rolling upon a white pebbly beach. I rushed into the lake,
and, thirsty with fatigue, with a heart full of gratitude, I drank deep
from the sources of the Nile. Within a quarter of a mile of the lake was
a fishing village named Vacovia, in which we now established ours