Many Years Ago, When At Magungo, On The Albert N'yanza, I Could Not At
First Believe That The Raft-Choked Entrance Of The Victoria Nile In
Apparently Dead Water Was Indeed The Mouth Of That Important River.
My
subsequent experience in the marshy and lacustrine Bahr Giraffe has
confirmed my impressions of the extreme difficulty of deciding upon the
non-existence of a channel until after a lengthened investigation.
I cannot conceive that the Lualaba of Livingstone can be included within
the Nile Basin. Livingstone decided the level of the Tanganyika lake to
be within 72 feet of my level of the Albert N'yanza. With the same
instruments he determined the altitude of the Lualaba to be lower than
the Albert N'yanza, thus showing the impossibility of a connection
between that river as an affluent with the lake.
I will not presume to assert that the Lualaba is a source of the Congo,
as I have a strong objection to geographical theories or assertions
unless proved by actual inspection, but if Livingstone's observations
for altitude are correct, it is impossible that the Lualaba can be
connected with the Nile. [*]
[*Footnote: Mr. Stanley's discoveries since this was written have
confirmed my suppositions.]
Dr. Schweinfurth's discovery of the Welle river flowing towards the
west, between the 3rd and 4th deg. N. lat., is a clear proof that no
river can be running from the south to the north-east towards the Nile
Basin, otherwise the Welle river would be intersected.
In page 186, vol.
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