How I Found Livingstone Travels, Adventures And Discoveries In Central Africa Including Four Months Residence With Dr. Livingstone By Sir Henry M. Stanley
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That The Fountains Of The Nile Are Bottomless, He Said,
Psammitichus, King Of Egypt, Proved By Experiment:
For, having
caused a line to be twisted many thousand fathoms in length, he
let it down, but could
Not find a bottom." Such, then, was the
opinion the registrar gave, if, indeed, he spoke the real truth;
proving, in my opinion, that there are strong whirlpools and an
eddy here, so that the water beating against the rocks, a
sounding-line, when let down, cannot reach the bottom. I was
unable to learn anything more from any one else. But thus much
I learnt by carrying my researches as far as possible, having gone
and made my own observations as far as Elephantine, and beyond
that obtaining information from hearsay. As one ascends the river,
above the city of Elephantine, the country is steep; here,
therefore; it is necessary to attach a rope on both sides of a boat,
as one does with an ox in a plough, and so proceed; but if
the rope should happen to break, the boat is carried away by the
force of the stream. This kind of country lasts for a four-days'
passage, and the Nile here winds as much as the Maeander. There
are twelve schoeni, which it is necessary to sail through in
this manner; and after that you will come to a level plain, where
the Nile flows round an island; its name is Tachompso. Ethiopians
inhabit the country immediately above Elephantine, and one half
of the island; the other half is inhabited by Egyptians.
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