For years I had striven to reach the "sources of the Nile." In my nightly dreams during that arduous voyage I had always failed, but after so much hard work and perseverance the cup was at my very lips, and I was to DRINK at the mysterious fountain before another sun should set--at that great reservoir of nature that ever since creation had baffled all discovery.
I had hoped, and prayed, and striven through all kinds of difficulties, in sickness, starvation, and fatigue, to reach that hidden source; and when it had appeared impossible we had both determined to die upon the road rather than return defeated.

Was it possible that it was so near, and that to-morrow we could say, "The work is accomplished"?
The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after the guide, who, having been promised a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake, had caught the enthusiasm of the moment.

The day broke beautifully clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled up 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 noonday sun; and in the west, at fifty or sixty miles' distance, blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7000 feet above its level.
It is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment.