Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-22
Copyright. 1905. by Frank e. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence of The Star
ON LAKE Y

n.
~ Ell out your straw hats and pith
helmets. pack up your white
clothing and thin underwear
~ and fly with me to the heart
of the black continent for
trip over the biggest fresh-water lake of
thu world We are on the little steamship
SybI far out in Victoria Nyanza. with the
mainland nowhere in sight The blue
waters of the lake extend out on all
sides of US as far as our eyes can reach
and there are only islands in view. Some
OF the islands are high and rocky. Others
are bordered with swamps and beds OF
papyrus. filled with strange birds and
with huge black hfppopotami. whose bob
bjug heads may he frequently seen as
tiny swim about near the shore.
How delightful it is, We are right on
Ohio in June our great lakes in
midsummer. that the invigorating
ozcre of those regions is absent. Wher,
we took ship al Port FlOrence the natives
were going stark naked. and our boat
was loaded by d gang OF blacks clad only
IN breechclothS, and that out of respect
20 tAe passengers. The Uganda railway
brought us right down TO the lake and
naked porters carried our luggage on
board We remember how the black.
sang as they worked. and how beautt-
fully We could see every play of their
muscles as they carried the freight 10
the ship.
The Mighty African Lake.
We were all afternoon coasting the Gulf
of kaVirondo before We entered the lake
proper. and our way in and out OF
volcanic hills for a distance of forty six
miles. The gulf is over forty miles long
and fourteen miles wide and it is lined
with great hills all the way. Some of the
peaks kiss the sky. some are rounded
and some cone-shaped. but all are vol
canic. This is especially so at the south.
At the north the country is lower and its
hills are spotted with straw villages
The gulf has many islands. 1t narroWs
as II goes inland. and il is also narrow at
the entrance. where there are islands of
curious shape forming n great chain which
seems to shut out the lake. Our first
Night was spent in front of Lusinsa Is
land. which is about six hours from Port
Florence. 1t being unsafe to travel In
many parts OF these little known waters
by night.
But before I go farther. let me tell you
something about this mighty African lake.
Sitting at home, in far-off America with
IN" snow in the air and all the surround
inE| of modern civilization about you. it
= hard to realize just where and lust
what it is. The fiat maps give one but
little idea OF the actual conditions. Lake
Victoria lies in the heart of east centra!
Africa. Along the line of the equator
On which We now are. il is seven hun
drrd miles. or about Us far as from New
York to Toledo To the Indian ocean Go
Ing westward along the same line il is
over twice far to the Atlantic. IL Is
only q few miles To the north Of us that
thr Nile flows out on it's way down To the
Mediterranean sea. and by its windings
~" distance il almost four thousand
miles IL IL over twenty-five hundred
miles in a straight line southeast to the
Cape of Good Hope and just JS4 miles by
the Uganda railway to Mombasa. where I
entered this part of Africa. | am only
few hundred miles from the headwaters
Of the kongo and from the southern
shores of Lake Victoria | could reach
Lake Tanganyika by march of less
tlian Two hundred miles. and midway
that lake get into a branch of the
hoEso and float down to the sea.
Bigger Than Lake Superior.
| have travelled over most of the great
lakes of the world. | know those OF our
own country we'll and likewise those of
Europe and South America. have
crossed Lake Titicaca. which lies two and
one half miles above the sea on the top
Of the Andes and have seen the Dead sea.
which is Il quarter OF mile below the