"Tell me what you know of the Cartius," he said.
"It is an important subequatorial waterway," I said. "It flows west by northwest, entering the rain forests and emptying into Lake Ushindi, which lake is drained by the Kamba and the Nyoka rivers. The Kamba flows directly into Thassa.

Schendi was an equatorial free port, well known on Gor. It is also the home port of the League of Black Slavers.
"It was, at one time, conjectured," said Samos, "that the Cartius proper was a tributary of the Vosk."
"I had been taught that," I said.
"We now know that the Thassa Cartius and the subequatorial Cartius are not the same river."
"It had been thought, and shown on many maps," I said, "that the subequatorial Cartius not only flowed into Lake Ushindi, but emerged northward, traversing the sloping western flatlands to join the Vosk at Turmus." Turmus was the last major river port on the Vosk before the almost impassable marshes of the delta.

"Calculations performed by the black geographer, Ramani, of the island of Anango, suggested that given the elevations involved the two rivers could not be the same. His pupil, Shaba, was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ushindi. He discovered that the Cartius, as was known, enters Lake Ushindi, but that only two rivers flow out of Ushindi, the Kamba and Nyoka. The actual source of the tributary to the Vosk, now called the Thassa Cartius, as you know, was found five years later by the explorer, Ramus of Tabor, who, with a small expedition, over a period of nine months, fought and bartered his way through the river tribes, beyond the six cataracts, to the Ven highlands. The Thassa Cartius, with its own tributaries, drains the highlands and the descending plains."

"There was good reason to speculate that the Cartius entered the Vosk, by way of Lake Ushindi," I said.
"I know," said Samos, "tradition, and the directions and flow of the rivers. Who would have understood, of the cities, that they were not the same?"
"Even the bargemen of the Cartius proper, the subequatorial Cartius, and those of the Thassa Cartius, far to the north, thought the rivers to be but one waterway."
"Yes," said Samos. "And until the calculations of Ramani, and the expeditions of Shaba and Ramus, who had reason to believe otherwise?"
"The rain forests closed the Cartius proper for most civilized persons from the south," I said, "and what trading took place tended to be confined to the ubarates of the southern shore of Lake Ushindi. It was convenient then, for trading purposes, to make use of either the Kamba or the Nyoka to reach Thassa."
"That precluded the need to find a northwest passage from Ushindi," said Samos.
"Particularly since it was known of the hostility of the river tribes on what is now called the Thassa Cartius."

"Yes," said Samos.
"But surely, before the expedition of Shaba," I said, "others must have searched for the exit of the Cartius from Ushindi."
"It seems likely they were slain by the tribes of the northern shores of Ushindi," said Samos.
"How is it that the expedition of Shaba was successful?" I asked.
"Have you heard of Bila Huruma?" asked Samos.
"A little," I said.
"He is a black Ubar," said Samos, "bloody and brilliant, a man of vision and power, who has united the six ubarates of the southern shores of Ushindi, united them by the knife and the stabbing spear, and has extended his hegemony to the northern shores, where he exacts tribute, kailiauk tusks and women, from the confederacy of, the hundred villages. Shaba's nine boats had fixed at their masts the tufted shields of the officialdom of Bila Huruma."
"That guaranteed their safety," I said.
"They were attacked, several times," said Samos, "but they survived. I think it true, however, had it not been for the authority of Bila Huruma, Ubar of Ushindi, they could not have completed their work."
"The hegemony of Bila Huruma over the northern shores, then, is substantial but incomplete," I said.
"Surely the hegemony is resented," said Samos, "as would seem borne out by the fact that some attacks did take place on the expedition of Shaba."
"He must be a brave man," I said.
"He brought six of his boats through, and most of his men," said Samos.
"I find it impressive," I said, "that a man such as Bila Huruma would be interested in supporting a geographical expedition."
"He was interested in finding the northwest passage from Ushindi," said Samos. "It could mean the opening up of a considerable number of new markets, the enhancement of trade, the discovery of a valuable commercial avenue for the merchandise of the north and the products of the south."
"It might avoid, too, the dangers of shipment upon Thassa," I said, "and provide, as well, a road to conquest and the acquisition of new territory."
"Yes," said Samos. "You think like a warrior," he said.
"But Shaba's work," I said, "as I understand it, demonstrated that no such passage exists."
"Yes," said Samos, "that is a consequence of his expedition. But surely, even if you are not familiar with the role of Bila Huruma in these things, you have heard of the further discoveries of Shaba."
"To the west of Lake Ushindi," I said, "there are floodlands, marshes and bogs, through which a considerable amount of water drains into the lake. With considerable hardship, limiting himself to forty men, and temporarily abandoning all but two boats, which were half dragged and thrust through the marshes eastward, after two months, Shaba reached the western shore of what we now know as Lake Ngao."
"Yes," said Samos.
"It is fully as large as Lake Ushindi, if not larger," I said, "the second of the great equatorial lakes."
"Yes," said Samos.
I conjectured that it must have been a marvelous moment when Shaba and his men, toiling with ropes and poles, wading and shoveling, brought their two craft to the clear vista of vast, deep Lake Ngao. They had returned then, exhausted, to the balance of their party and boats, which had been waiting for them at the eastern shore of Ushindi.
"Shaba then continued the circumnavigation of Lake Ushindi," said Samos. "He charted accurately, for the first time, the entry of the Cartius proper, the subequatorial Cartius, into Ushindi. He then continued west until he reached the six ubarates and the heartland of Bila Huruma."
"He was doubtless welcomed as a hero," I said.
"Yes," said Samos. "And well he should have been."
"The next year," I said, "he mounted a new expedition, with eleven boats and a thousand men, an expedition financed, I now suppose, by Bila Huruma, to explore Lake Ngao, to circumnavigate it as he had Ushindi."
"Precisely," said Samos.
"And it was there that he discovered that Lake Ngao was fed, incredibly enough, by only one major river, as its eastern extremity, a river vast enough to challenge even the Vosk in its breadth and might, a river which he called the Ua."
"Yes," said Samos.
"It is impassable," I said, "because of various falls and cataracts."
"The extent of these obstacles, and the availability of portages, the possibility of roads, the possibility of side canals, are not known," said Samos.
"Shaba himself, with his men and boats, pursued the river for only a hundred pasangs," I said, "when they were turned back by some falls and cataracts."
"The falls and cataracts of Bila Huruma, as he named them," said Samos.
"The size of his boats made portage difficult or impossible," I said.
"They had not been built to be sectioned," said Samos. "And the steepness of the portage, the jungle, the hostility, as it turned out, of interior tribes, made retreat advisable."
"The expedition of Shaba returned then," I said, "to Lake Ngao, completed its circumnavigation and returned later, via the swamps, to Lake Ushindi and the six ubarates."

His father had, many years ago, fled from an inland village, that of Nyuki, noted for its honey, on the northern shore of lake Ushindi.
---Explorers of Gor, 16:219

I now regarded again the brownish stains in the water. Still we could not see land. Yet I knew that land must be nigh. Already, though we were still perhaps thirty or forty pasangs at sea, one could see clearly in the water the traces of inland sediments. These would have been washed out to sea from the Kamba and Nyoka rivers. These stains extend for pasangs into Thassa. Closer to shore one could mark clearly the traces of the Kamba to the north and the Nyoka to the south, but, given our present position, we were in the fans of these washes. The Kamba, as I may have mentioned, empties directly into Thassa; the Nyoka, on the other hand, empties into Schendi harbor, which is the harbor of the port of Schendi, its waters only then moving thence to Thassa.

Then the marsh reeds parted and I saw, before us, sparkling in the sun, broad and shining, the waters of Lake Ngao.
"How beautiful it is," breathed the blond-haired barbarian, in English.
It had taken us fifteen days to reach the sill.
We had lived by spear fishing, and drinking the fresh water of the marsh.
The sun shone on the wide, placid waters.
---Explorers of Gor, 25:277

"Ukungu," said Kisu, "lies to the northeast, on the coast." Ukungu was a country of coast villages, speaking the same or similar dialects. It was now claimed as a part of the expanding empire of Bila Huruma.
---Explorers of Gor, 25:277-278

"And it was there that he discovered that Lake Ngao was fed, incredibly enough, by only one major river, as its eastern extremity, a river vast enough to challenge even the Vosk in its breadth and might, a river which he called the Ua."
"Yes," said Samos.
"It is impassable," I said, "because of various falls and cataracts."
"The extent of these obstacles, and the availability of portages, the possibility of roads, the possibility of side canals, are not known," said Samos.
"Shaba himself, with his men and boats, pursued the river for only a hundred pasangs," I said, "when they were turned back by some falls and cataracts."
"The falls and cataracts of Bila Huruma, as he named them," said Samos.

**********

The sound of the falls, to our left, plunging some four hundred feet to the waters below, was deafening.
It is difficult to convey the splendor of the Ua's scenery to those who have not seen it. There is the mightiness of the river, like a great road, twisting and turning, occasionally broken with green islands, sometimes sluggish, sometimes shattered by rapids and cataracts, sometimes interrupted by flooding cascades of water, sometimes a few feet in height and sometimes towering upwards hundreds of feet, and then there is the jungle, its immensity and wildlife, and the vast sky above it.

"Away! Away!" screamed one of the men, first in Ushindi and then in Ukungu. He, and others, waved their arms aver-sively. There were only men and male children on the scaffolding. Back on the shore, almost invisible in the jungle, were the huts of the village. On the palm-thatched roofs of these huts, in rows, exposed to the sun, were drying fish. We could see women on the shore, some with bowls, come out to the edge of the river to see what was occurring.

We were four days from the fishermen's village where we had been cordially received. In these four days we had passed two other villages, where farming was done in small clearings, but we had not stopped at either.
The river was generally two to four hundred yards wide at these points. At night we would pull the canoe ashore, camouflage it, and make our camp about a half pasang inland, to minimize any danger from possible tharlarion, which tend to remain near the water.

"Do not permit the canoe to be swept away!" screamed Kisu, straining to be heard over the rushing water.
We had been two weeks upon the Ua. We had come to another of its cataracts.
It is impossible to paddle against these currents as the river, descending rapidly, plunges in torrents among a jungle of rocks.

The girls cried out in anguish, slipping, trying to keep the canoe from falling. Ayari struggled with the bow. Behind him were the three girls, then Kisu, amidships, and myself, at the stern. We could hear the cataract some two hundred yards away. The canoe, on our shoulders, tilted upward at a twenty-degree angle. Rocks slipped behind us, rolling down the grade.
"This is impossible," said Ayari.
"Keep moving forward," said Kisu.
"I am tired," said Ayari.
"Upward, upward!" said Kisu.
"Very well," said Ayari. "I never argue with big fellows."
The portage was not easy, and it was not our first. This was the eleventh cataract of the Ua.
Sometimes we used rollers beneath the canoe, and hauled with ropes.
The boats of Shaba had been sectioned, to facilitate such portages. He had had numerous strong men to carry the burdens. We had only ourselves, and three slight-bodied female slaves.
"I can go no further," said Ayari. This was the fourth portage of the day.The sound of the falls, to our left, plunging some four hundred feet to the waters below, was deafening.

**********

It is difficult to convey the splendor of the Ua's scenery to those who have not seen it. There is the mightiness of the river, like a great road, twisting and turning, occasionally broken with green islands, sometimes sluggish, sometimes shattered by rapids and cataracts, sometimes interrupted by flooding cascades of water, sometimes a few feet in height and sometimes towering upwards hundreds of feet, and then there is the jungle, its immensity and wildlife, and the vast sky above it.

"There is a village on the right," said Ayari.
We had, in the past six days, passed two other villages. In these two other villages the men, with shields and spears, had rushed out to the shore to threaten us. We had kept to the center of the river and had continued on.
"There are women and children on the bank," said Ayari. "They are waving for us to come in."
"It is pleasant to see a friendly village," said Alice.
"Let us take the canoe in," said Ayari. "We can perhaps trade for fruit and vegetables and you can obtain information on he whom you seek, he called Shaba."
"It will be pleasant to sleep in a hut," said Janice. Here is often a night rain in the jungle, occurring before the twentieth Ahn.
We moved the canoe in toward the shore.
"Where are the men?" I asked.
"Yes," said Kisu. "Where are the men?"
The canoe was now about forty yards from the shore. "Hold the paddles," said Ayari. "Stop paddling."
"They are behind the women!" I said.
"Turn the canoe," said Kisu, fiercely. "Hurry! Paddle!"
Suddenly, seeing us turning about, the crowd of women and children parted. Streaming out from behind them, brandishing spears and shields, knives and pangas, crying out, plunging toward us in the water, were dozens of men.

We had now been on the river four months since we had, first, on the looming height of the falls, observed the many ships and canoes of the forces of Bila Huruma (this had been 2 or 3 weeks after entering the Ua) far behind us. We did not even know, now, if they were behind us or not. Too, we had seen no new evidence of Shaba ahead of us. A month ago we had eluded the net of vines and, by paddling into the darkness, had escaped our pursuers. They would not remain on the river at night. It is impossible to convey, in any brief measure, the glory and length of the river, and the hundreds of geographical features, and the varieties of animal and vegetable life characterizing it and its environs. The river alone seems a world of nature in its own right, let alone the marvels of its associated terrain. It was like a road to wonders, a shining, perilous, enchanted path leading into the heart of rich, hitherto unknown countries. It, in its ruggedness, its expanse, its tranquillity, its rages, was like a key to unlock a great portion of a burgeoning continent, a device whereby might be opened a new, fresh world, green, mysterious and vast. Not a geographer, I could scarcely conjecture the riches and resources which lay about me. I had seen traces of copper and gold in cliffs. The river and forests teemed with life. Fibrous, medicinal, and timber resources alone seemed inexhaustible. A new world, untapped, beautiful, dangerous, was opened by the river. I think it would be impossible to overestimate its importance.

"It is so vast," said Ayari.
"It is larger than Ushindi or Ngao," said Turgus.
We guided our canoe over the shining, placid waters of a broad lake.
"It is, I am confident," I said, "the source of the Ua."
"Into it must flow a thousand streams," said Kisu.
Two weeks ago we had come to another high falls, even higher than that from which we had, long ago, caught sight of the following forces of Bila Huruma, pasangs behind in the distance. We must be thousands of feet Gorean, given the length of the river, the numerous plunging cataracts, and the plateaus and levels we had ascended, above sea level, above the entrance points, west of Ngao and Ushindi, of the brown Kamba and Nyoka into the green waters of Thassa. From the falls at the edge of this unnamed lake we had been able to see far behind us. The river had been clear.

**********

Here and there, emerging from the lake, were great stone figures, the torsos and heads of men, shields upon their arms, spears grasped in their hands. These great figures were weathered, and covered with the patinas of age, greenish and red. Lichens and mosses grew in patches on the stone; vines clambered about them. Birds perched on the heads and shoulders of the great figures. On ridgework near the water turtles and tharlarion sunned themselves.
"How ancient are these things?" asked Janice.
"I do not know," I said.
I looked at the huge figures. They towered thirty and forty feet out of the water. Our canoe seemed small, moving among them. I studied the faces.
"These men were of your race, or of some race akin to yours, Kisu," I said.
"Perhaps," said Kisu. "There are many black peoples."
"Where have the builders of these things gone?" asked Ayari.
"I do not know," I said.
"Let us continue on," said Kisu, thrusting with his paddle against the calm water.

**********

"How beautiful it is," said Janice.
"There, at the landing, moored," said Ayari, "is a river galley."
"It is the third galley," said Turgus, "the last galley of Shaba."
Before us, more than four hundred yards in width, was a broad expanse of stone, at the eastern edge of the huge lake. It was a landing, a hundred yards deep. On it were huge pillars, with iron rings, where vessels might be moored. At the back of the landing, leading upward were flights and levels of steps, extending the full length of the four hundred yards of the landing. At the height, on that level, set far back, was a great, ruined building, with stairs and white columns. Behind it, extending backward, was a ruined city, with crumbling walls. We could not, from where we were, conjecture its extent. A tharlarion splashed from the landing into the water. The landing was covered with vines.

And then it was quiet, save for the water lapping against the landing and the sides of the wooden vessels. To the southwest there was a darkness in the sky. In places the tops of standing trees still burned. Then the fires, no longer sustained by the heat of the blast, one by one vanished, unable to overcome the living freshness of the wood.

**********

"There is a map case there," he said, "and my notebooks. I have, in my journey, charted the Ua, and in the notebooks I have recorded my observations. Those things, though you, of the warriors, may not understand this, are priceless."
"Your records would doubtless be of value to geographers," I said.
"They are," said Shaba, "of inestimable value to all civilized men."
"Perhaps," I said.
"The maps, those records," said Shaba, "open up a new world. Think not only in terms of crass profit, my friend, of the bounties there to hunters and trappers, to traders and settlers, to planters and physicians, but to all men who wish to understand, who wish to know, who wish to unveil bidden secrets and penetrate hitherto unsolved mysteries. In these maps and records, for those who can understand them, lie the first glimpses of new and vast countries. In these maps, and in these notes and drawings, there are treasures and wonders." He looked at me, intently. "And that," he said, "is the second reason I took the ring."

"The maps, those records," said Shaba, "open up a new world. Think not only in terms of crass profit, my friend, of the bounties there to hunters and trappers, to traders and settlers, to planters and physicians, but to all men who wish to understand, who wish to know, who wish to unveil bidden secrets and penetrate hitherto unsolved mysteries. In these maps and records, for those who can understand them, lie the first glimpses of new and vast countries. In these maps, and in these notes and drawings, there are treasures and wonders." He looked at me, intently. "And that," he said, "is the second reason I took the ring."

**********

When Lakes Ushindi and Ngao had been joined by the canal a continuous waterway would be opened between Thassa and the Ua. One might then, via either the Kamba or the Nyoka, attain Lake Ushindi. One might then follow the canal from Ushindi to Ngao. From Ngao one could enter upon the Ua. One could then, for thousands of pasangs, follow the Ua until one reached its terminus in Lake Shaba. And Lake Shaba itself was fed by numerous smaller streams and rivers, each giving promise, like the tributaries of the Ua itself, to the latency of new countries. The importance of the work of Bila Huruma and Shaba, one a Ubar, the other a scribe and explorer, could not, in my opinion, be overestimated.

**********

I shrugged. Much of Gor was terra incognita. Few knew well the lands on the east of the Voltai and Thentis ranges, for example, or what lay west of the farther islands, near Cos and Tyros. It was more irritating, of course, to realize that even considerable areas of territory above Schendi, south of the Vosk, and west of Ar, were unknown.
---Explorers of Gor, 1:16