From West bank - The Ye, third class; full from 15th April till 15th
November.
From West bank - Another small river, third class; full from 15th April
till 15th November.
Ditto - The Bahr el Gazal; little or no water supplied by this river.
From East bank - The Sobat, first class; full from June to December.
The Bahr Giraffe I omit, as it is admitted by the natives to be a branch
of the White Nile that leaves the main river at the Aliab country and
reunites in lat. 9 degrees 25 minutes between the Bahr el Gazal and the
Sobat. The latter river (Sobat) is the most powerful affluent of the
White Nile, and is probably fed by many tributaries from the Galla
country about Kaffa, in addition to receiving the rivers from the Bari
and Latooka countries. I consider that the Sobat must be supplied by
considerable streams from totally distinct countries east and south,
having a rainfall at different seasons, as it is bank-full at the end of
December, when the southern rivers (the Asua, &c.) are extremely low.
North from the Sobat, the White Nile has no other tributaries until it
is joined by the Blue Nile at Khartoum, and by its last affluent the
Atbara in lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes. These two great mountain streams
flooding suddenly in the end of June, fed by the rains of Abyssinia,
raise the volume of the Nile to an extent that causes the inundations of
Lower Egypt.
The basin of the Nile being thus understood, let us reflect upon the
natural resources of the vast surface of fertile soil that is comprised
in that portion of Central Africa. It is difficult to believe that so
magnificent a soil and so enormous an extent of country is destined to
remain for ever in savagedom, and yet it is hard to argue on the
possibility of improvement in a portion of the world inhabited by
savages whose happiness consists in idleness or warfare. The advantages
are few, the drawbacks many. The immense distance from the seacoast
would render impossible the transport of any merchandise unless of
extreme value, as the expenses would be insupportable. The natural
productions are nil, excepting ivory. The soil being fertile and the
climate favourable to cultivation, all tropical produce would thrive;
cotton, coffee, and the sugarcane are indigenous; but although both
climate and soil are favourable, the conditions necessary to successful
enterprise are wanting - the population is scanty, and the material of
the very worst; the people vicious and idle. The climate, although
favourable for agriculture, is adverse to the European constitution;
thus colonization would be out of the question. What can be done with so
hopeless a prospect? Where the climate is fatal to Europeans, from
whence shall civilization be imported? The heart of Africa is so
completely secluded from the world, and the means of communication are
so difficult, that although fertile, its geographical position debars
that vast extent of country from improvement:
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