BENEDICT AND BACHELOR. BY JAMES M'GRIGOR ALLAN MYSTERIES, Moralities, and TURLUPINADES ་ PACT FEC NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. THE NILE BASIN.* THE claims to have discovered the head reservoir of the Nile put forward by Captain Speke, have led to no small amount of discussion. M. A. d'Abbadie, who planted the tricolor flag at the source of the Blue Nile, still advocates for that tributary the honour of being the Nile par excellence. There is no doubt that the Blue River (Bahr el Azrek) was regarded by the Portuguese, up to the seventeenth century, as the true Nile, just as the Black River (Bahr el Aswad or Atbara) had been so considered by the Christians of Abyssinia till the eleventh century, when the plain country between the two rivers passed into the occupation of the Muhammadan people who still possess it. These views of the matter have been fully discussed by Dr. Beke, in his work on "The Sources of the Nile," where he says, page 3, "Had the Portuguese but known the White River (Bahr el Abiad), as did the Greek geographer whom they followed, and as we ourselves do, there would have been little to amend in their opinions with respect to the upper course of the Nile." This in reference to the views as pertinaciously upheld by Dr. Beke, regarding the "Godjeb" being the head tributary to the Nile, as M. d'Abbadie holds by the Bora Rock and its water-course, the Uma. A distinguished geographer, whose opinions are alike far removed from either national or personal influences-M. Vivien de Saint-Martin -replied to M. d'Abbadie (Procès-verbaux des Séances, p. 470), to the effect that Herodotus describes the Nile as flowing from the west (which, while it places the Blue River out of the field, does not establish the claim of the White River); that the White River is the Astapus of Eratosthenes, which was the Nile, as also the Nile of Ptolemy, although the Alexandrian geographer made the Astapus a tributary; and that Nero's exploratory expedition was directed to the White River, which was always held by the people of Meroe to be the main tributary to the Nile. The question, however, involved further the decision as to what really contributes the main tributary and the sources of a river. Dr. de Moussy argued the simplest view of the subject, that a spring and its effluent, *The Nile Basin. Part I.-Showing Tanganyika to be Ptolemy's Western Lake Reservoir. By Richard F. Burton. Part II.-Captain Speke's Discovery of the Source of the Nile. By James M'Queen. Le Livre du Capitaine Speke sur son Voyage à la Recherche des Sources du Nil, et Actes de la Société Procès-verbaux des Séances. (6 Mai, 1864.) Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, tome vii. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. viii. No. vi. October, 1864. Jan.-VOL. CXXXIII. NO. DXXIX. B 115 vine i tu scer emve fom the noti, s vherever it may be, the • te mir passine ne f he subject that is CONSISTED With Creed hers. That the sources of the Danube may be to eat of the Carte of Comauverth, when the Berg, buzet ad te nch me in the more enote portions of the bat Iures our nows hat hea tratition vil sometimes supersede 1P 125 t te sse din egendas: dov-paces an have no weight TLLE # ra nez À na die een met har vier i feat ever last several tributaries, eat: mister neving in is marrons afmens constituting each its own pet. 12 inureronica sin. fit the wide anon mi extent of such Busterram. iter a fetermine which triMELET HVILI e sustered instituting he leat waters of the main fre.. I nei a uzay note of tere-mining he fet was admitted, teams of the Bue live vei is numeris Livenim zibutaries, Tad eramy zra tuse of fe Tute View in as we are at present aogames von hien, en f ve nente de zinares of the Gazelle Dave Buire Shezi s framed as Vien, however, the tivate u te largir Sir Lin, and a de Turia Nyanza iron tester nomans, and a de De Lara Sage from the west, mal lave en sme se ne Vie will carry the Lay even in this point if ev. But we came hein inking that such vers, a vel de murine mes of de diferent duracter and sonus of afluens, a vel as the story of zier enmusico and recogve the sassy and the sur, argued by I te queings, murit si ve wis defice the more andinsive fact of de nost zenue of al suuress." The Net prosey an example de nevemence that would are from algeng my such arbitrary dassertions. The Black Rover is the mist muity buy, and the me di sociutes must to the ferains of Erria As titos, in fact, in pas meating the comory, and viewed in this sense, its citim to be consigaret the true Xie would be indisputable. Aram, the exchest colonies wind went is constitute the ancient kingdom of Merve were founded Du the Blue River, which would thus in some sense, be considered as historicaly the true Nile, the White Nile having only been more recently expired although anciently known'), and even not as yet colonised, Have by the poor slave-hunted Stick Denka, Bahari and other Ethiopie tribes. But viewing the question in the simple point of view as to which is the most remote source from the Mediterranean, there can be no question as to the claims of the Victoria Nyanza to be considered as one of the head reservoirs of the Nile. This established, the question as to which are the most remote tributaries to the Victoria Nyanza in the first place, and to the White River, of which the Nyanza is but a tributary, in the second place, present themselves in all the interesting perplexity of disputed points. It is in connexion with these points that M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, following M. Maltebrun, says, in his notice of Captain Speke's work (Bull. p. 204): "As to the principal question of the sources of the Nile which the traveller thinks that he has determined, there are many great reserves to make. No, Captain Speke has not discovered the sources of the Nile. He has not explored Lake Nyanza, and knows nothing of its tributaries to the east, which come down most assuredly from the mountainous massive of the Kenia and the Kilima-njaro; he cannot even affirm in an absolute manner that the river which the expedition rejoined in the third degree of latitude, and which flows past Gondo Koro, is identically the same as that which flows out of the Nyanza, the same in the sense that it shall not have received in the unexplored interval an affluent of such magnitude as to have a right to the first rank." We have already dwelt in our notice of Captain Speke's book upon the first deficiency. That the information obtained by the lamented traveller from the Arabs, that all to the east of the lake was "rolling ground, intersected by rivulets and runnels, but with no rivers," and beyond a "rolling plateau, with occasional salt plains and lakes," is open to the greatest doubts, there can be no question. It is impossible but that a range of mountains, of which the snow-clad Kilima-njaro and Kenia constitute the culminating points, must have westerly water-courses. In crossing from the coast to Kazeh, Major Burton and Captains Speke and Grant met with no large stream that would indicate that the westerly waters of the Kilima-njaro flowed in that direction. If they do not, then, flow directly to Lake Nyanza, they may follow a north-westerly course, possibly like the Dora in the Vale of Aosta, along a longitudinal valley, or by plateau lakes to the basin of the Bahari-ngo. We know positively, from information by Krapf, that a river flows in a north-west direction from Kenia to the lake variously designated Bahari-ngo, "the great water," Baringo, and Bahr Inju, "the narrow lake," and the existence of the same lake, as at certain seasons constituting a portion of the basin of the Nyanza, was confirmed by information obtained by Captain Speke. It is, however, a most important point, and one that is constantly overlooked in connexion with M. Vivien de Saint-Martin's objections, that supposing the sources of the Nile to be in the mountains of Kilima-njaro and Kenia, the East African Ghauts of Burton and Beke's Mountains of the Moon (only that the latter has given them a far too easterly course in their northern prolongation in order to get his imaginary Godjeb into the map), such sources will be only a trifle farther removed from the Mediterranean than the head of Lake Nyanza, and if it turns out that the westerly affluents of Kilima-njaro do not long belong to the basin of the Nile, and only those of Kenia, they will not be so remote. There is another point connected with this view of the subject which has also been overlooked in the controversy. Captain Speke reached the Kitangulé Kagera, or river, which he had ascertained fell into Lake Nyanza on its western side in the year 1858, on the 16th of January, 1862. "Once over," he says, "I looked down on the noble stream with considerable pride. About eighty yards broad, it was sunk down a considerable depth below the surface of the land, like a huge canal, and is so deep, it could not be poled by the canoe-men, while it runs at a velocity of from three to four knots an hour. "I say I viewed it with pride, because I had formed my judgment of its being fed from the high-seated springs in the Mountains of the Moon solely on scientific geographical reasonings; and from the bulk of the stream, I also believed those mountains must attain an altitude of 8000 feet or more, just as we find they do in Ruanda. I thought then to myself, as I did at Rumanika's, when I first viewed the Mfumbiro which is the most remote from the mouth, is, wherever it may be, the source of a river. This is the only possible view of the subject that is consistent with physical facts. That the sources of the Danube may be pointed out in the court of the Castle of Donauwerth, when the Berg, the Brigach, and the Urach come from the more remote portions of the Black Forest, only shows that local tradition will sometimes supersede the facts of the case. Such legendary show-places can have no weight with the geographer. It has also been argued that where a great river has several tributaries, each tributary having also its various affluents, constituting each its own peculiar hydrographical basin, that the whole amount and extent of such basin should be taken into consideration, in order to determine which tributary should be considered as constituting the head waters of the main stream. If such an arbitrary mode of determining the fact was admitted, the claims of the Blue River, with its numerous Abyssinian tributaries, would certainly rival those of the White Nile, as far as we are at present acquainted with them, even if we include the tributaries of the Gazelle Lake (Bahr el Ghazal) in its hydrographical basin. When, however, the tributaries to the Bahari-ngo or Bahr Inju, and to the Victoria Nyanza from the eastern mountains, and to the Little Luta Nzige from the west, shall have been traced, it is probable that the White Nile will carry the day even in this point of view. But we cannot help thinking that such views, as well as the subordinate ones of the different character and colours of affluents, as well as the history of their colonisation and recognition as with respect to the Mississippi and the Missouri, as argued by M. de Quatrefages, ought to give way before the more conclusive fact of "the most remote of all sources." The Nile itself is precisely an example of the inconvenience that would accrue from adopting any such arbitrary classifications. The Black River is the most muddy tributary, and the one that contributes most to the fertility of Egypt. As thus, in fact, in part creating the country, and viewed in this sense, its claim to be considered the true Nile would be indisputable. Again, the earliest colonies which went to constitute the ancient kingdom of Meroe were founded on the Blue River, which would thus, in some sense, be considered as historically the true Nile, the White Nile having only been more recently explored (although anciently known), and even not as yet colonised, save by the poor slave-hunted Shilluk, Denka, Bahari, and other Ethiopic tribes. But viewing the question in the simple point of view as to which is the most remote source from the Mediterranean, there can be no question as to the claims of the Victoria Nyanza to be considered as one of the head reservoirs of the Nile. This established, the question as to which are the most remote tributaries to the Victoria Nyanza in the first place, and to the White River, of which the Nyanza is but a tributary, in the second place, present themselves in all the interesting perplexity of disputed points. It is in connexion with these points that M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, following M. Maltebrun, says, in his notice of Captain Speke's work (Bull. p. 204): "As to the principal question of the sources of the Nile which the traveller thinks that he has determined, there are many great reserves to make. No, Captain Speke has not discovered the sources of the Nile. He has not explored Lake Nyanza, and knows nothing of its tributaries 1 |