As Doctor Bronson had predicted, the two days of preparation were extended to four, and it was not till the fifth day that they were ready to start. All the baggage was carried on board in the evening, and the two explorers slept on deck, beneath the awnings. The cabins were too hot for comfort, and so full of mosquitoes that several smudges and a vigorous use of brooms and switches could not expel them. The deck was much more agreeable, and it was voted that, while the cabins might be useful as dressing-rooms, they were undesirable for lodging-places.
The steamer was off about nine o'clock in the morning, and headed against the strong current of the Nile in the direction of the Albert N'yanza. Late in the afternoon a bend of the stream revealed the widening that betokened the entrance of the lake, and in a little while the _Khedive_ was afloat on the waters of the lowest of the lakes that form the head-waters of the mysterious river of Egypt.
We will leave the _Khedive_ and her passengers and return to Frank, whom we left on his southward travels a day beyond Afuddo. His journal will tell the story of his experiences.
"I had a sad heart all day after parting from my friends," said the youth in his note-book, "and was unable to see much beauty in the landscape. The country was well but not richly timbered, and I observed that the road ascended steadily as we moved away from the river. We passed many villages, all of the same general appearance, and I began to be weary of the succession of grass-thatched huts. The people looked at us indifferently, and sometimes came out to beg or try to sell us some of the products of their little fields. They did not display any hostility, but Abdul said we were not yet in the country where we might look for opposition.
[Illustration: NEAR THE SHORE OF THE LAKE.]
"Our camp was made in a small valley, and close by a ravine that was easily turned into a cattle-yard. A fence of African thorns was built across each end of the ravine, and as the sides were too steep for the cattle to climb easily they did not climb at all. The guard around the camp was doubled, for fear of accident, and Captain Mohammed said he should have a double guard every night till we arrived at Foueira.