[49] Speke and others are of opinion that there was a considerable civilisation in Somaliland at one time, which completely disappeared after the Muhammadanising of the country. The Somali (except those of the far interior) were converted to Islam by Arab immigrants in the fifteenth century. Prior to this they had been Christian to some extent, a much degraded type of Christianity having penetrated southwards from Abyssinia. It is hardly necessary to point out that the Somali and Gala are practically one people in race and language. Gala is only apparently a cant term originating in Abyssinia and unknown to the people whom we call by that name. It is also interesting to note that Speke and other explorers heard in Somaliland, in the “early fifties,” of the existence of a great lake far in the interior which was in all probability the Victoria Nyanza. The present writer has endeavoured to show, in his book on the Uganda Protectorate, that in ancient times considerable trading intercourse was kept up between Somaliland and the northeast shores of the Victoria Nyanza. [50] Victoria Nyanza. Often so called in earlier days by the Arabs, from Bukerebe, a large island near the south shore. [51] Though Burton subsequently recanted this opinion in order to embarrass Speke’s theories, and declared that the Rusizi was the outlet of Tanganyika. [52] After his Somersetshire home, and the Indian word for a creek--_ălla_. [53] Walter L’Espec, in the reign of Henry I., founded three abbeys,--Kirkham, Rivaulx, and Warden. In the thirteenth century the L’Especs altered the spelling of their name to Speke. One Speke lost property by faithfulness to Charles I.; another got into (and out of) trouble in the reign of Charles II. by advocating the claims to the succession of the Duke of Monmouth. [54] In one of his books Speke shows us how Burton and himself managed to communicate with the natives. Neither of them--not even Burton--had a sufficient knowledge of Kiswahili during their journey to Tanganyika to talk direct with their porters. They conversed with “Bombay,” their Swahili interpreter, in Hindustani. Burton also was able to speak Arabic with the Arab traders. Both, perhaps, are a little too inclined to overlook this language difficulty in describing their conversations with native chiefs. In all cases these must have been carried on in the following manner: The chief would probably speak in his native language, which would be translated by somebody else into Swahili, and this again would be translated by Bombay, or Frij, or some other interpreter, into Hindustani or English; or, again, Burton’s information might be rendered by some Arab in Arabic. Direct communications no doubt were sometimes made by both parties in broken Swahili. [55] Mr. T. Douglas Murray, who afterwards became Baker’s biographer. This letter was written near the close of Sir Samuel Baker’s life, on the 22d of August, 1893. [56] See his “Discovery of the Source of the Nile.”