Licked Up By The Burning Sun,
And Gulped By The Exhausting Sand Of Nubian Deserts, Supporting All
Losses By Evaporation And Absorption, The Noble Flood Shed Its Annual
Blessings Upon Egypt.
An anomaly among rivers; flooding in the driest
season; everlasting in sandy deserts; where was its hidden origin?
Where
were the sources of the Nile?
This was from the earliest period the great geographical question to be
solved.
In the advanced stage of civilization of the present era, we look with
regret at the possession by the Moslem of the fairest portions of the
world, - of countries so favoured by climate and by geographical
position, that, in the early days of the earth's history, they were the
spots most coveted; and that such favoured places should, through the
Moslem rule, be barred from the advancement that has attended lands less
adapted by nature for development. There are no countries of the earth
so valuable, or that would occupy so important a position in the family
of nations, as Turkey in Europe, Asia Minor, and Egypt, under a
civilized and Christian government.
As the great highway to India, Egypt is the most interesting country to
the English. The extraordinary fertility being due entirely to the Nile,
I trust that I may have added my mite to the treasury of scientific
knowledge by completing the discovery of the sources of that wonderful
river, and thereby to have opened a way to the heart of Africa, which,
though dark in our limited perspective, may, at some future period, be
the path to civilization.
I offer to the world my narrative of many years of hardships and
difficulties, happily not vainly spent in this great enterprise: should
some un-ambitious spirits reflect, that the results are hardly worth the
sacrifice of the best years of life thus devoted to exile and suffering,
let them remember that "we are placed on earth for a certain period, to
fulfil, according to our several conditions and degrees of mind, those
duties by which the earth's history is carried on." (E. L. Bulwer's
"Life, Literature, and Manners.")
THE ALBERT N'YANZA.
CHAPTER I.
THE EXPEDITION
In March, 1861, I commenced an expedition to discover the sources of the
Nile, with the hope of meeting the East African expedition of Captains
Speke and Grant, that had been sent by the English Government from the
South via Zanzibar, for that object. I had not the presumption to
publish my intention, as the sources of the Nile had hitherto defied all
explorers, but I had inwardly determined to accomplish this difficult
task or to die in the attempt. From my youth I had been inured to
hardships and endurance in wild sports in tropical climates, and when I
gazed upon the map of Africa I had a wild hope, mingled with humility,
that, even as the insignificant worm bores through the hardest oak, I
might by perseverance reach the heart of Africa.
I could not conceive that anything in this world had power to resist a
determined will, so long as health and life remained. The failure of
every former attempt to reach the Nile source did not astonish me, as
the expeditions had consisted of parties, which, when difficulties
occur, generally end in difference of opinion and retreat: I therefore
determined to proceed alone, trusting in the guidance of a Divine
Providence and the good fortune that sometimes attends a tenacity of
purpose. I weighed carefully the chances of the undertaking. Before
me - untrodden Africa; against me - the obstacles that had defeated the
world since its creation; on my side - a somewhat tough constitution,
perfect independence, a long experience in savage life, and both time
and means which I intended to devote to the object without limit.
England had never sent an expedition to the Nile sources previous to
that under the command of Speke and Grant. Bruce, ninety years ago, had
succeeded in tracing the source of the Blue or Lesser Nile: thus the
honour of that discovery belonged to Great Britain; Speke was on his
road from the South; and I felt confident that my gallant friend would
leave his bones upon the path rather than submit to failure. I trusted
that England would not be beaten; and although I hardly dared to hope
that I could succeed where others greater than I had failed, I
determined to sacrifice all in the attempt. Had I been alone it would
have been no hard lot to die upon the untrodden path before me, but
there was one who, although my greatest comfort, was also my greatest
care; one whose life yet dawned at so early an age that womanhood was
still a future. I shuddered at the prospect for her, should she be left
alone in savage lands at my death; and gladly would I have left her in
the luxuries of home instead of exposing her to the miseries of Africa.
It was in vain that I implored her to remain, and that I painted the
difficulties and perils still blacker than I supposed they really would
be: she was resolved, with woman's constancy and devotion, to share all
dangers and to follow me through each rough footstep of the wild life
before me. "And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest I will go, and where
thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my
God: where thou diest will I die; and there will I be buried: the Lord
do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."
Thus accompanied by my wife, on the 15th April 1861, I sailed up the
Nile from Cairo. The wind blew fair and strong from the north, and we
flew towards the south against the stream, watching those mysterious
waters with a firm resolve to track them to their distant fountain.
On arrival at Korosko, in Lat.
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