THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

Southland Times, Volume 3, Issue 102, 17 October 1863, Page 7

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

i (From the European Times.) I Captains <Speke ttnd Grant, the diss coverers of the source of the Nile, \l were welcomed on their, return home iby^the Geographical Society, on the 2<b*d June. In opening the meeting, Si/ Roderick Murchison, referring, to the great discovery made by the gallant explorers, said the Queen took tire greatest possible interest in this marvellous achievement of human enterprise. 1 Her Majesty had specially congratu- | lated him most graciously on the subject I during her visit to the International \ Exhibition building a few days since. 1 {The Prince of "Wales, their vice-patron, \ evinced no less, interest in the dis--1 covery than her Majesty, and it was \ , on ]y through a most pressing engage- \ ment that his Royal Highness was not \ that evening. The King of '-; Italy had sent, through the Marquis I ..d'Azeglio, two gold medals, specially j -struck in honor •of the occasion, for \ presentation to Captains Speke and ! Kjrant, accompanied by a most flattering •j letter, . which he would read to them. ] The .French,, Geographical Society, ' having given Speke their gold \ medal for his discoveries in the Lake j Kyanza district in 1858, Captain Speke \ ,]iad shown his -sense of the honor done ' to 'him by naming the principal channel i -leading from the lkke after the Emperor j Napoleon. ! Captain Spete met with a most i Mattering reception, the whole meeting ■ rising and cheering loudly. When ; .«ilence was at last restored, Captain Speke said that, before reeding his .paper, he begged to introduce to them i a little boy belonging to one of the ; most intelligent of the equatorial'iribes. < It was through the friendliness and fidelity of a man df 'this tribe -that he -was able to complete his -greaft work, ; .and he thought it only .just that the -Government should educate some of ■ the most intellectual of this race, and .send them back to their native as consuls, to assist dn spreading our "commerce and civilization throughout .! Eastern Africa. The little fellow, .a fine boy of about fourteen, is an •excellent specimen of the intellectual •black type, his nose being as straight, and his forehead as high, as those of a European, although his woolly head and dark skin were thoroughly eha- ■ ijacteristic of his African blood. He ■ seemed in no way disconcerted at I his reception, and was as cool and ■ ••collected as if he had attended the ■ meetings of the Society all his life. ■ Oaptain Grant had a similar companion ■ with him. I Captain Speke commenced his paper, ■ ■"The Nile and its Tributaries com- ■ by. describing the Lake Nyanza, m tbe principal head of the Nile. This ■ lake is situated in latitude 3 deg. S., ■ :and from that point to its debouchure in BiUlediterranean, in latitude 31 deg. N., Kfee Nile traverses a distance of over m iuOO geographical tniles, or nearly one- <■ tenth of the circumference of the earth "■'fWhen he discovered the Nyanza. Lake Win 1858, he found it to be a large sheet »of sweet water, lying about 3,500 feet M above the 'level of the sea, and he at {■once felt certain that it could only be ißthe source of some vast river such as ■ the Nile. The natives had traditions, too, of its great extent, and certain Arab merchants of Zanzibar, who penetrated those regions in search of ivory, assured him that Nyanza was the source «f some great river. Other traditions heard from the natives confirmed him in this opinion-; and he believes he Would have settled the question of the ■source of the Nile in 1859, by travelling to Uganda with an Indian merchant, had not the chief of tbe expedition falIlen ill. On his return to England, he found Sir Roderick Murchison deeply imbued with the necessity of at once completing the work he had left undone. He himself could not rest satisfied until the" world had accepted his views, now happily confirmed by actual inspection and observation. On returning with Captain Grant to Unyanyembe, five degrees south of the lake, 1861, he hit upon a new route, which he supposed, from the accounts of the ivory merchants, would lead to a creek in the western flank of the lake ,• but owing to the confusion existing in the language of the country with regard to the terms river and lake, it turned out to be a new lake, the Luero-lo-Urigi, which once contained large quantities of water, but is now fast drying up. It is to the west and north of Karage that the great lake receives its "tffwgestsupplyof terrestrial water,through gjjyhe medium of the Kitangle river, which ?J»rainß off the Luero-to-Urigi, and many lakes. These lakes are all mere ||Bpuddles compared to the Nyanza ; but tgßthe Kitangule is a noble river, sunk low twin the earth, like. a huge canal, and ij«ineasuring eighty yards across. The IMquestion now arises, what forms these ?sHlakes without number? The Mounn9°fthe Moon, from whence they their water, are in the middle of ||Bthe rainy zone, where he observed, in i«862, that no less than 233 days of the j&Myear Were more or less wet days. The f|Bfirst place from which he obtained a i^H^iew of Lake Nyanza, during the second ||B e *pedition, was from the town of Masoonde, in the Udda portion of the couniisß ?°f Uganda, on the western side of cwfte lake. Pursuing his w*ay northward tlijjjßalong the shore to the valley of Katonga, *|Hy nic h is situated on the equator, the ilUk? above the lake becomes very beau|HKw? ; being composed of low sandstone RH^i deeply scored and seamed by the s||W? eav y rains, covered with gigantic grass verdure, and by dells of Sg»*ees as tall and straight as the g»niegums of Australia. Travelling, >J]» OWeVer > is most irksome in this Wj«art of the country, for, owing to the • vU* ~ subsidence of all the streams, moorlands surrounding them are '^Bf 16 / 6 networ ks of rushes, covering un--fwNmable soft bogs. Crossing the

equator, he reached . the Mworango, a stream of moderate size* and said to ' flow out of the lake. It runs north and joins the Nile in the kingdom of : Unyorai when, its name is changed to ■ Kafu. Further on the Luajerri follows its example ; and still further on, at the '• ce-ntre of the northern coast of the lake issues the parent stream of the Nile, falling over racks of igneous character, and forming falls twelve feet high, ] which he had "christened by the name of the -Ripon Falls, in honor of the , President ef the Geographical Society at the time of the starting of the expedition* The Escape of Nyanza's waters \ twenty miles nertfe of the equator, was 1 the only outlet examined, owing to the i barbarous restrictions placed on travel- 1 lers by the king of the country. They, ' however, saw the junction of the -Nilei, 1 with the Kafu and Asua rivers, and| crossed the Luajerri half way between ! its escape from the lake and -its junc- ; tion with the parent stream. Proceed- i ing down the Nile from the "Ripon* Falls, they first passed through a row of sandstone hills, after which the river : rushes down due north with the beauty of a mountain torrent, running off at! last into long flats, more like a lake than a river. In Unyora it is increased by the contributions of the Kafu and Luajerri, and continues navigable as far as the Karuma Falls, where it rushes on with boisterous liveliness. They could not continue their passage beyond this point, owing to a war that was raging in ' the country. They next met with the old river in the Madi country, where it 5 still bears the unmistakeable character of the Nile — -long flats and long rapids. • Here it is that another great feeder ' from the Nyanza lake, the Asua river, joins it on the eastern side. On the : other -side a long flat extends far. into the country — as far, Captain Speke : believes, as the little Luta Nzigi lake. ' With the rest of 'the "Nile we ought to be well acquainted, but little is really known about -it, owing -to the fact of no one having yet taken the trouble to place nilometers at pro,per spots. Proceeding onward, the nest great affluent ' is tfSfe Bahr-el-Grhazal, which joins the Nile with hardly any visible stream, having more the appearance of a lake than of a river. The secend is the Geraffee river, which may be said to be only one- third of the Nile in size at its point of junction. Its source -has yet to be discovered. Its character suggests f the possibility of its coming from Lake Nyanza. The third affluent is the! Southern Sobat river, also full and navigable. The Northern Sobut they passed ' without knowing it. Captain Speke then went on to describe some other ; tributaries of the Nile, concluding by giving an account of his meeting with Mr Baker at Khartoum, who had nobly come up the Nile to meet him with three ladies. Mr Baker and his party intended following out the stream supposed to lead to the Little Luta Nzigi Lyke to its source. They would be pleased to hear that Mr Petherick was in perfect health and excellent spirits, and trading energetically when last he heard of him. At the suggestion of the President, Captain Speke gave a long and interesting account of ■ the people of the countries through which he passed, and detailing the reception he met with from the various Kings and chiefs. The people of this part of the country are most intellectual but have a great distrust of the white men, owrngto the enormities committed by the slave traders. The difficulties of travelling through these countries are almost insuperable, from numberless causes. The native Kings are continually at war with each other, which causes wholesale desertion among the men forming the expeditions. The natives, however, with whom he had had amicable relations, were most friendly and honest, not only helping him themselves with presents, but sending men with him into other friendly . nations as safeguards. He considers that the race is the same as the Abyss inian, with a strong admixture of the Hindoo. They are mostly tall, well made men, with straight noses and curly hair. They have no religion, and do not believe in a soul. The people of Karagwe he praises most highly. The King and princes are in in every respect worthy of the epithet, "gentlemen." He described the country around the Mountains of the Moon as a perfect Paradise. The King of Nuanda, continued Captain Speke, was a most intelligent and inquiring man. His Majesty asked questions about the geography of the world, and especially about the north, and was astonished to hear of the land surrounded by water. Irle asked about the stars and sun, and what became of the old suns and moons. His anxious desire was to obtain knowledge upon every topic which came under his notice. The King had heard of the extraordinary power of the ' white people, and -wished to know from the travellers whether it was not so s great that, if they choose, they could s blow up Africa. They went out shoot--1 ing together, and sometimes his sons acl companied them, and they always acted • in the most courteous und gentlemanly - manner. When about to resume his [ journey, the King sent an officer to the I King of Utanga, informing him of his , wish to visit the country, and praying i his brother potentate to afford every • facility in his power. The gallant i speaker referred to the illness which ; had overtaken his fellow traveller, Cap- ; tain Grant, at this stage of the journey, f and proceeded to give some interesting \ accounts of his visit to, and reception by, , another! sable monarch in the territory 1 adjoining. Here he was surprised at the i neatness and tidiness of the people, the , manner in which they deported theni- ■ selves, and the style of the native dress, which, he said, would not disgrace a ! fashionable promenade in London.

These people of Uganda were a most superior set. The King had prepared a grand reception for him. On arriving at the place -indicated, | he found the palace filled with mon and women; cattle were being led aboutvthe approaches to the palace : ; there were bands of musicians, and a great display of public rejoicing. The King was seated on a throne of brass, beautifully dressed, and carried his shield and spear, and his warriors round him were also armed with spears. The officers squatted around the King, and with these a general conversation was kept up. Wearied with sitting so long in the sun, he (Capiain Speke) put up his umbrella to the intense wonder of th« court and its sovereign. At last the courtiers and warriors left, and, while in full . stare at him, the King said, " have you seen me ? " He replied that he had had that pleasure, and, looking at his . watch, found that he had enjoyed that gratification for exactly half an hour, and hoped his Majesty was quite well. ' The King then went into the palace, to -which he also had the honor of being invited. When he arrived there, he found, 'to Ms great surprise, that che King w^as -sitting, not with men, as he had been 311 st before, but in the midst of his wifes— -at least two or three hundred in number. Here again the same gazing at each other ensued, and at the end of about half an hour the King again inquired if he (Captain Speke) had seen him! In addition to > this the King asked him where he had ■ come from, and said he should like! very much to see him again. He replied • tVat re should bo happy to be favored ; with the opportunity of visiting 'hisj Majesty, and added that, as was * lways | the customwith him on approaching men 'i of rank, he had brought with him, and begged his Majesty's acceptance of, some small presents. The King said "Let me see them." The first of the presents shown him was a revolver pistol. This the King took up and played with in the most ridiculous manner, for he had no idea of its use. At the end of our interview he said, "It is now getting dark ; would you likesomeliquor? — What will you take?" And said that he would send something to-morrow. The King took a great fancy to shooting, "and several shooting parties were arranged, the King having practised beforehand by shooting the cows in his yard. The shooting parties amused the King amazingly ; they were accompanied by a band cf musicians — and very good bands too they were— by officers, and by many of his wives. The arrangement of the procession was a somewhat difficult affair, and it was arranged that the Englishmen should go before the King. To this, however, he (Captain Speke) objected on the gmund that ho never went before royalty. The King was in some difficulty, because by placing him after him he would be between his Majesty and his wives. The point, however, was conceded, and he found that the best place in the procession, for the women were as amiable as . amiable could be. Whenever any vulture or any other bird flew up, the King shouted out, " Now, then, shoot that;' 1 and he was kept firing as fast as he could, and each time that a bird was knocked over, the King and his \ officers and his ladies clapped their hands, and danced in the most extraordinary manner. Starting on his journey, Captain Speke told the meeting how he was opposed by the natives of Usoca, how boats filled with armed men threatened to impede their progress, and how a complete victory was gained by the discharge of one or two rifles, the effect of which spread the utmost consternation among the native warriors. Sir Roderick Murchison, with a few appropriate words, then placed in the hands of Captains Speke and Grant a gold medal, which the King of Italy had forwarded to the Geographical Society, with a request that it should be presented to the successful explorers of the source of the Nile.