"
He could easily distinguish the astonished countenances
of a rather fine-looking race of natives of yellowish-brown
complexion. Women of incredible corpulence
were dawdling about through the cultivated grounds, and
the doctor greatly surprised his companions by informing
them that this rotundity, which is highly esteemed in that
region, was obtained by an obligatory diet of curdled milk.
At noon, the Victoria was in one degree forty-five
minutes south latitude, and at one o'clock the wind was
driving her directly toward the lake.
This sheet of water was christened Uyanza Victoria,
or Victoria Lake, by Captain Speke. At the place now
mentioned it might measure about ninety miles in breadth,
and at its southern extremity the captain found a group
of islets, which he named the Archipelago of Bengal. He
pushed his survey as far as Muanza, on the eastern coast,
where he was received by the sultan. He made a triangulation
of this part of the lake, but he could not procure a
boat, either to cross it or to visit the great island of
Ukereoue which is very populous, is governed by three
sultans, and appears to be only a promontory at low tide.
The balloon approached the lake more to the northward,
to the doctor's great regret, for it had been his wish
to determine its lower outlines.
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