Fierce internecine wars were now being waged between the tribes of the locality, which made any thought of progress, so long as they lasted, an impossibility.  Speke, having successfully endeavoured to negotiate a peace between the chief Mouwa and the Arabs of the region, resolved upon the bold enterprise of pushing on without Grant and the supplies towards Buzina, the nearest country ruled by Bahima chiefs.  The venture, however, was a fruitless one, and he bravely struggled to reach Usui.  In this he succeeded, remaining there till October, 1861, when he went through the region of the Suwaroras, who demanded excessive tolls for permission to pass through their territory.  Proceeding into the wilderness, they were met by envoys from Rumanika, a king whose court they intended to visit, and who had heard in advance of their impending journey.  The messengers of the king received them well and brought them to the court.  Rumanika now desired them to remain at his capital until he had sent word before them that the party intended to go to Uganda.  Grant, about this time, was laid up with an ulcerated leg; and, when the time came for moving forward, Speke was obliged to set out for Uganda alone, which place he entered on January 16, 1862.  He became a close friend of the royal family and the chief men, and his beard was a constant source of admiration and conversation.

The illness of Grant prevented him from joining the party at Uganda till the end of May, and on July 7th of the same year, after many delays, they obtained leave from the king to leave Uganda.  By July the 28th, Speke had reached the Ripon Falls, where the Victoria Nyanza branch of the Nile flows out of the great lake at the head of Napoleon Gulf.  These falls were called after the Marquis of Ripon, who was then the president of the Royal Geographical Society.  At this time, Grant, still convalescent, was moving by a more direct route towards Ungaro.  Speke met him again on the way thither, and they finished their journey together.  After suffering vexatious impositions from the monarch, Speke asked leave to go and visit a new lake which the natives called Lutanzige, but was refused permission.  He then sent Bombay, his servant and interlocutor, along the course of the Nile towards the outposts of Pethrick.  The messenger returned with hopeful news that there was a clear course open to them in that direction.  The whole party then journeyed down the Kafu River to the point where it enters the Nile.  On the way thither, they came to the Karuma Falls, and were obliged to march across swampy ground.  Finally they met a Sudanese black named Mu-hammed Wad-el-Mek, who was dressed like an Egyptian and who spoke Arabic.  Muhammed first of all told them that he had come from Pethrick, but it was later discovered that he was in the employment of Doctor Bono, a trader from Malta.  The Sudanese was not anxious that the party should proceed, and told them stories about the impossibility