The day before we reached the Tanganyika we saw its blue waters gleaming in the sun as we crossed the summit of a range of hills. As I saw this great inland sea sparkling, as it seemed, at our feet, I could not believe that it was still many weary hours’ march from us; but so it proved, the hills which we had crossed being much higher than I had supposed. On reaching the lake we went to a village called, I think, Ruanda, where the head-man had been put in charge of some huge canoes belonging to Tipolo which had been hauled up on shore, sheds being built over to protect them from the weather.
One of these canoes was over seventy feet long, all hewed out of one enormous log, and so large that I could only just manage to look over her side when standing on the ground by her, and I could not stretch across her. Two others had their bottoms all of one piece, with topsides made of planks nailed to rough ribs, and small poops and forecastles. The trees out of which these canoes were made had grown in the mountains of Uyoma. They were pointed out to me on the west of the lake, lying to the north of where we had struck it.
With much ado and trouble we got the canoes launched, and then found that the two built-up ones wanted calking, and had to be hauled ashore again. I was astonished now to see Hatibu, Bilal, and other Zanzibar men at this work. They did it well, using raw cotton, which, when water gets to it, swells exceedingly and makes the seams stanch and tight. All having been prepared, we embarked all our ivory and the greater portion of our slaves, who were dreadfully frightened at going on such an expanse of water as Tanganyika, though they were by no manner of means bad hands in the smaller canoes they were accustomed to on their own rivers. We gave the remainder to the chief who had been in charge of the canoes for the care he had taken of them, and also to pay for men to assist in pulling the canoes across the lake.
Our fellow-travellers who had been lagging behind for part of the way, had been making extraordinary exertions to overtake us, but could not possibly get their loaded men up before we left. However, a messenger arrived from them just as we were going to leave, and begged us to wait and give them a passage across to Kawele with as. “There,” said Hatibu, “it is always the same. Tipolo has boats, and these men want them; Tipolo has guns, and these men shelter themselves behind them. They always cry to Tipolo to help them, and then they do things which are against Tipolo’s words. They find trouble, and cry to Tipolo.” As there was only room for our party, Hatibu refused to wait, but said he would send the canoes back, and they could have the use of them to get to Kawele. Even this was more than I thought they deserved, for they had been nothing but a hindrance and a danger to us from the time we left Nyangwe.