THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.

BY PROFESSOR D. T. ANSTED, M.A., F.R.S., ETC.

In our number for June appeared a brief notice of a few words, announcing the intelligence that Captain Speke had succeeded in identifying the African lake, VICTORIA NYANZA, before visited by him, south of the equator, with the great father of waters, old NILUS; thus solving a very important section of one of the most important of all geographical problems, and obtaining for England and the nineteenth century a reputation for discovery that the wisest of the ancient Egyptians and their conquerors from the earliest days of civilization have failed to

secure.

Since those few lines were written Captain Speke and his fellow-traveller, Captain Grant, have returned to England, and have communicated some of the main results of their long, arduous, and dangerous expedition. Before giving an outline of these, let us briefly review the previous state of the problem and the extent of the work really done. Besides being of the highest interest as a question of descriptive geography, the results of exploration in north-eastern Africa, as commenced by Captain Burton and Captain Speke, and now continued and nearly completed by the latter, are of the most extraordinary interest, and help us to understand the physical geography and resources of a large section of the African continent. The key to the explanation of all that is peculiar to Africa has been now obtained by the combined labours of Livingstone, Burton, Speke, Grant, and Petherick.

It was towards the end of June, 1857, that Captain Burton and several companions left the African coast near Zanzibar, on their way into the interior, determined to attempt the discovery of the sources of the White Nile from the east and south, instead of repeating the attempts that had been so frequently and unsuccessfully made to trace the river by following it up

stream.

From the time of Herodotus downwards there had been vain attempts made by European explorers to discover where the waters of the great river originated, and what was the cause of that mysterious rise by which Egypt was flooded and fertilized. No doubt the traders from Arabia have crossed all parts of northern Africa from the east to the centre, and they may even have reached the west coast, but no information could be obtained from them but the vaguest reports. Accepting these implicitly, and interpreting them naturally and without theory, there had been maps prepared during and since the middle ages, which are really as correct as any maps

could be without accurate observations. In other words, they express vaguely the fact that the country is covered with numerous lakes near the equator, and they do not allude to mountains. But this was opposed to all prevalent notions, and, as in other more familiar districts, great rivers originated in lofty mountains, so in Africa, where the ancient geographers had spoken of "Mountains of the Moon," it was concluded that there must be a lofty central chain, and all the ideas of the Nile were modified by this assumption.

In the year 1768 Bruce proceeded to Egypt to trace the Nile from its outlet to its source. It was then known that at a certain part of its course there were two great feeders of the river, one of which was called the Blue Nile, and this was known to proceed from the Abyssinian mountains. The other, the White Nile, was believed to be comparatively unimportant, chiefly from the theoretical reasons alluded to, though partly because its importance really seems to be masked near the junction. When, therefore, Bruce in Abyssinia visited the head waters of the Blue Nile, he thought he had solved the problem of antiquity.

It was soon found out, however, that the White Nile must also be followed, and its history ascertained. Recognized at an early period as an important branch, it ultimately became evident that it was the real river, and, although obstacles to its navigation existed, and there were great difficulties in exploring it, owing to the numerous savage tribes in that part of Africa, it was a geographical necessity that the source of the river must be sought for much nearer the equator than Bruce had imagined. Exploring parties were organized, and great efforts made by the Egyptian government between the years 1835 and 1841, the result being a doubtful and greatly questioned discovery, which may be considered, however confirmed, at least in its chief points, by Captain Speke, that in latitude 3° 40′ north, and at a distance of more than 3000 miles from Alexandria, the river was still a wide stream, broken by a series of cataracts, coming from a distance described as thirty days' journey in the interior. The longitude, however, of this furthest point of the expedition was not clearly determined, and it may still be that some feeders coming in from the west may help to drain the interior of the continent halfway between its eastern and western shores.

Among the discoveries of other explorers, partly confirmed by the subsequent researches, but still in some measure doubtful, owing to the want of accurate observations of latitude and longitude, may be mentioned the statement published by Mr. Petherick, British Consul at Khartoum, who, in several trading expeditions, and with much personal risk and trouble,

advanced almost to the equator from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, a remarkable lake or expanded arm of the Nile. Mr. Petherick describes a country without great undulations of the surface, traversed by a westernmost branch of the Nile, which he believes to meet the White Nile in this expanded swamp.

When, then, in 1857, Captain Burton and his enterprising companion, starting from the east coast at Zanzibar, between 6° and 7° south of the equator, decided to go so far into the interior of Africa towards the west as to cross the direction of any north and south water-course, or mountain chain, and lay bare the geography of that part of the continent, they really had to make discoveries at every step. There was a certain idea, prevalent already in the minds of geographers, that the east as well as the west coast of Africa contained much elevated land, but that there were no great mountain chains in the far interior. The lofty mountain chain reaching southwards from Abyssinia, broken, perhaps, here and there, but culminating in the snow-covered peaks of Kilmanjoro, descends to form a range of mountains from 6000 to 8000 feet in height, connected with a plateau of inferior but considerable elevation, commencing about 150 miles from the coast, and of great width. Beyond this and further to the west the ground descends considerably, and there is no evidence of any mountain chain in this direction. Within the plateau, which is here 120 miles wide and 4000 feet above the sea, is the large and remarkable lake visited by Captain Speke in 1858, and described as the Victoria Nyanza. Beyond it to the west is another great lake (Tanganyika) at a very much lower level, connected apparently with other lakes to the south, and having no communication with Nyanza.

After Captain Speke had reached this lake in 1858, and had compared notes with Captain Burton, who had by that time visited and explored the more westerly lake of Tanganyika, he was convinced that by continuing northwards from the southern shore of the higher lake, he should find that its waters communicated with the Nile. Unable then to decide the point, he was obliged to return to England; but shortly afterwards, expeditions were organized on the one hand to enable Captain Speke to continue his investigation as suggested, and on the other to secure assistance, should he be able to cross the equator, and fall in, as was most likely, with troublesome native tribes inhabiting the country already partly described by Mr. Petherick. It was not till the end of 1861 that Captain Speke, accompanied by Captain Grant and a long train of native attendants, reached once more the southern extremity of the lake, on whose exploration so much depended. He then passed round the lake to the west, and found there a network of ponds and lakes, all

receiving streams from the south, and pouring them into the Victoria by a channel, which also in its course receives the drainage of several other lakes. The river thus fed is a considerable stream before emptying itself into the Victoria. It runs through a deep ravine, eighty yards wide, and flows at the rate of five miles an hour. The sources of these feeders are said to be in an extensive tract of mountain-land, situated north of the great lake of Tanganyika, described by Captain Burton, and receiving very large supplies of rain, which may probably be periodical. These mountains do not seem to have been visited.

Should this view be correct, it would seem that the main chain crossed in travelling from the coast turns round, and extends westward, representing, in fact, the chain, though probably of no great elevation, so often described as the "Mountains of the Moon." Captain Speke reports that in the year 1862 there were 238 days in this district on which rain fell, and the high lands would seem to supply at all seasons a very large body of water to the elevated lakes terminating in the Victoria Nyanza. The eastern side of the lake is said to consist of low hills intersected with deep ravines, and a large island is spoken of by the native traders as existing in another and smaller lake in this direction, from which salt is procured. The waters of all the lakes are sweet.

From the great lake thus fed by numerous streams, entering by innumerable channels, the White Nile issues. It proceeds from a point situated midway along the northern shore. The stream, as it emerges from the lake and enters on its course, first leaps over a vast heap of plutonic rocks, falling about twelve feet into the plains below. From this point, called by Captain Speke the Ripon Falls, the Nile has cut a channel through sandstone hills for some distance, and continues to run towards the north with great impetuosity. It loses itself for a time in marshes of vast extent, which present the appearance of a lake (like the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and other swamps much further to the north), receiving at various points tributary streams of considerable magnitude. It remains, however, a navigable stream for some distance, until it again falls in a large cataract into a district sloping rapidly to the west, where the river once more flows with great rapidity. Here, however, Captain Speke and his companions were compelled to leave it, owing to the troublesome character of the people on the banks. After joining it again at Madi, the travellers found the course to continue as before, receiving the important branch called the Asoua on the right bank, and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, at some distance beyond, on the left. The latter is a very large branch, and may perhaps be a more important affluent than is supposed.

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It is at any rate so far important that its junction with the White Nile is marked by very extensive and almost untraversable swamps. As an incoming affluent, it appeared to be almost without current, but this might be owing partly to the greater impetuosity of the main stream checking its course, throwing its waters back, and producing the large expanse of swamp. Several tributaries of various magnitude enter the White Nile from the east or right bank, but these are connected with the drainage of the mountains in that direction.

It is quite evident from this account, First, that the principal tributaries of the White Nile come in from the high lands surrounding the Lake Victoria Nyanza, near the equator. Secondly, that the mountain chain to the east includes the lofty snow-covered mountains, probably volcanic, described by the German missionaries, and probably continued as a coast range, passing to the south and east of Nyanza. Thirdly, that the main sources of water supply are not far from these high mountains, but proceed from lower intertropical and sub-equatorial ranges separating the plateau from the lake system of Tanganyika, described by Captain Burton. All the chief swamps, the deltas, and the complicated channels are spoken of by Captain Speke as coming in from the west and south, while only three or four complete rivers enter from the east; and, moreover, both the main river entering the lake, and the stream emerging from it towards the north, appear to be very much larger and more rapid than any other tributaries. Fourthly, that there is a certain obscurity still left as to the river (not the swamp) called Bahr-el-Ghazal, both as to direction and importance, for it is possible, though perhaps not very likely, that this stream comes in from the far west. Fifthly, that the old question of the existence of a chain of mountains crossing the African continent is almost revived by this recent discovery of Captain Speke, although it had been more than questioned by most modern geographers. It is still possible that the great abundance of running water feeding the lakes may come from such mountains, and may be the result of a long line of slopes stretching away into the interior of the continent. But though possible, all analogy and probability are opposed to this assumption; and it is much more likely that the apparent chain is a termination northwards of the plateau which dies away in the great Sahara.

The native tribes met with by Captain Speke, on the north side of the lake, seem to be connected with Ethiopia ethnologically, but offer many points of great interest. They are even regarded as descendants of the ancient Ethiopians, and they retain a curious tradition of their ancestors being half black, half white, and having half their hair crisp and woolly, and the other half straight and lank. There is no doubt that this rela