Show 1 I iao jao I 1 A to central africa THE WHITE thle ITILE let me here pause cause a moment at the thel point of f my journey and east cast ft cc glance upon the graw erand grand andl andi wonderful vista which the white nile opened lo 10 my view the exploration of this ri the years constitutes the most interesting chapter in the annala of african A rican discovery it haf has been ascended to lat 4 north eight degrees of latitude or four hundred anid annd arid eighty graphical geographical gpo epo mile sand at least eight hundred niles following theu them course of the stream bream beyond the island of abac of the Europe europeans ang ani who at different times accompanied compa nied the exploring fl fleets ets of bio blo mohammed hammed abr ali all sll or the annual trading expeditions three kept k af pf jour journals rals pals and made scientific observations and ind two t 0 arnaud and werne have published dished amount account s af pf f the voyage aage wernes book however ow everi everl is s tian taken c comments arnin e riis rits on the conduct of dat dai n aud ibid sabatier and the rep report of the former as from dr kno blecher blechen himself js in incorrect corree t in many particulars gs the most at I 1 I 1 atory that ot of dr dri Kno blecher who ascended about fifty miles beyond the point reached by previous expeditions durin during my stay slay in khartoum I 1 relieved reci eved from h him ig full particulars adventures and was allowed to inspect his journals and sketch books ier fer 1 er r i 11 1 i i 1 his reports are exceedingly curious us and interesting and I 1 herewith present lo 10 a P barf aref outline of them dr knobler eno Kno blecher biecher b er J was I 1 sp specially L educated in the propaganda at aframe as a missionary for central africa apter after studying g tile the arabic lang langi i aage for a y ea ia syria hii he proceeded to khari khar i boum where a i catholic nils blis mission 1 lor had already been established there however the Alissi mission ory orr found its sphere of operations circumscribed by the jealousy of the government agall aszli as all ali attempts to make proselytes prose lytes of are forbidden and the highest ambition of the sl slaves a ves who are brought from be consi considered deret dereX faithful fol foi followers loters lovers of the prophet da A dr Kno blecher was directed boac to ac aci i 1 company the annual a I 1 J trading ex expedition edtion eltion up white nile fori foi nii ngi t e P impose 01 i asce staining the tha practicability of establishing t balishin tA lishin g a missionary station among some of the na native iva nebo neero tribes near th equator equator at 1 i t I 1 ile he experienced much difficulty 1 at the outset 11 on ace account 1 of the fhe fie jea jealousy 11 ous of the egyptian 9 tra trai i ders who gho find th the cooing company of a european a restraint upon the their ir violent and lawless ces but through the ih fluence influence of the I 1 w 10 mas was at last brought to sive give his consent the in inis s sio secured a pa place a c e in the e expedition x I 1 lii iii and n d on the of november novem ber 1849 set ber sail from fr 0 nj I 1 khartoum there thare were wera beverl severi vessels in inthey thet ther flotilla and that of dr Kno blecher though thought 7 the sm smallest ablest proved to be the best sailor a and nd uku 1 ly kept the lead he had on board a faithful and ind experienced nubian pilot named Saley Suley mait mail I 1 abouzeid abou zeid after fourteen days sailing the expedition passed the islands of the Shil locks and reached that part of the river where the banks are covered with continuous villages the number of these is estimated at seven thousand it is worthy of notice that their circular kokula of mud and reeds are pr precisely eisely similar in form forni and construction to those odthe of the tribes on the niger and senegal rivers with whom the Shil shii locks have no communication and from whom they differ in language appearance and character while threading the mazes of the archipelago a violent whirlwind passed over the river and completely dismasted distasted dis masted one of the boats bryony the islands the river expands sa sot that the marshy shores ar art barely visible in some places the lotus grows abundantly lin Sn the shallows and the appearance of the thousands of snowy blossoms as they flash open at sunrise is deschi bed as a scene of vegetable pomp and splendor which canu cart be witnessed in no other part of the world the forests of sont trees which cover corej the islands i f give place to doum palms and immense I 1 tamarinds tama rinds and beyond lat 10 16 in the land of the dichas the beautiful palm is first seen it has a tall graceful trunk thick in the middle I 1 but tapering towards the top and bottom andia r rich ich crown of large fanlike leaves on eighth of November the expedition tion succeeded after some in ed establishing tab lishing and intercourse with the dinkis and alid Shil locks who inhabited the opposite banff the river the latter in in consideration of some colored glass beads beadi furnished a number of oxen for lor provisions visions dr Kno blecher deseri described bed their running when they drove the cattle to torether together as resembling sem bling that ofilio gazelle they leap high into the air air drawing up their thein long iong legs as and clear the ground at a most astonishing speed k the next da day th the vessels reached a large town called vav where the people received them without the thel east appearance oteal brought quantities of elephants tusks to trade I 1 I 1 11 fir fit beads I 1 herds of wild elephants and giraffes were now frequently seen on orf the banks of the river and the former sometimes threw up vil their trunks and skirted water ined the air when they saw baw the vessels Nt numbers imberg of white hite herons were perched composedly upon their backs and heads the giraffes as they gazed with wilh wonder yonder at the tile alie fleet flet lifted their heads quite above the tops of the mimosa trees t ar fl on the second of december the expedition passed the mouth of the river the only tributary stream which comes white nile fromille from the east its source is supposed tobe to be in the country of the gallas south of the kingdom of hits its bread breadth thi at its entrance into the nile ia six hundred and fitly fifty feet weme werne who age ascended ended it about eighty miles with DAr DArn nauda dads duds hads that its shares are higher than those of 01 the aileo nile and that uthe surface e of ther thee country became more ea elevate e bated d as he ascended whence lie he infers that th the e white aniie nile as far fat as it has been explored flows th in a depressed basin of the tableland table land of beatral africa from lat 9 26 tog toa 6 50 north there is a com complete piete change in the de enery scenery d the magnificent forests wils riis appear and the shores become marshy and im healthy unhealthy covered with tall tali grass whose prickly stalks render landing difficult and embarrass embar rags rass the navigation of the shallows the air is heavy with noxious miasmas miasmal mi asmas and filled with countless swarms of gnats and mosquitoes qui tui toes toas ji nathe odthe river is partially and green with vegetable matter occasioning serious disorder to those wha drinkut drin drink kit it Kno blecher clarified it by means of alum and escaped with a sore mouth rin order to sleep however lie he waar was obliged to wear thick gloves and ands muffle up hd hid face a al I 1 most to iii lei i w is i I 1 the babrel Gha ghazale or gazelle Gazell elake lake eLuke lies in iq lat lit 9 16 north it is thus b umed from the I 1 gazelle river riven winch which flows into iton it on the wes ern ein si sideband which has never yet been explore I ed I 1 Its ts depth Is about nine feet but the reeds and water plants with which it is filled reach to the surface and render the navigation difficult its shores are ara inhabited by fhe ai stupid race rate many of whom are fre frequently carrl carri edoff by tha the traders and sold as slaves dorthis fon for this reason ai it Is is now very verp difficult to procure elephants teeth from them r i after leaving the gazelle lake the course of the he white nile become p exceedingly and 6 its current sluggish i j i innuse innumerable rable ralle estuaries or blind channel I 1 wea lose t malv e among ahe reeds e d the bildt s 1 and arid allayed the pra erss of the e ex x I 1 P r I 1 i petition peri chion tion the land landof af the keks succeeded to 0 that of mhd guehrs which terrina terminated ted about th the felguth eighth pari albel of or latitude Iati tude T the 1 6 to r rp e i a are a rage race race of herdsmen who hin haye great numbers of battlo cattle and sheep dr e r found them t I 1 em ex hy on account orthia of the threats of olia ond ons of their kogi kogl urs ann arn ed them against holding any any W with M the tr aderi 1 1 i I 1 aou wol I 1 on ilip liff thip twenty secand of reached tf tse village villare r where th tib e kili king g I 1 op orthe odthe the aka eld K ka resided rai ded the fhe monarch relieved reci eved them beat great kin hin driesS and paid d in RM aa ed homage to padre padra an angelo elo eio vin vinco co dr ekno knol knot bl echers on account of his spectacles and gray beard he took to be a ma gicia goclan rt hel hei begged 7 thel badre Padre to grant him fou e favors as uin tin dance cit tit children the death deate odthe enemy who wilb had hd slain blain his father victory in jn il 11 hi Q acure fot fog the wound in ma hi head th the I 1 was easily bestowed by means ans of a pi ister lster but he be was not sail sall satisfied saied until until an image of oftie the virgin virgi had hai I 1 heen been lleen ileen hung bung aro around und his neck south of the dwell the he Elli abs who ara are less le ss timid tha tia th anthe i n uthe the southern soui sofi thern tribes because they come less frequently into contact with wath the trat trai trat 1 ders I 1 1 i 1 in their country the white nile divides into J two branche sand here herb the expedition se sep eranea each divisi dri ort aking a different channel the water was sa so id 16 w that the vessels stuck fast ir in the mud mad but were we re relieved by the friendly na tives lives who dra dragged ag d them shallows by means of lo 10 lot lor towropes tow ropes for this service they were paid in glass beads I 1 the farther the vessels went into region where intercourse with the egyptian traders is rare an and d therefore fewer outrages are perpetrated the more friendly confiding and unconcerned was the behavior of the natives on the thirty first of december the expedition reached the coultry of the chirs the people came down downto to iha tha waters edge to greet them the women clapping clap ding their hands hinds and singing a song of welcome on the second of january 1850 dr di knoble knobler cher saw iii lri in the southeast south east the granite mounta mountain 1 in of which lies iles in the bari country in about the fifth degree of north latitude etwas it was the first firk elevation he had seen since leaving daebel Detal anih in the country of the in in lat 10 35 all the intervening space ia is a vast savanna savanna interspersed with reedy i edy swamps of stagnant waler waier water 11 1 l the chirs own numero numerous u s flocks flocke and herds helis and cultivate large foeldi fields of df sesame and they are very superior tb 0 the guehrs and byks in stature symmetry ot of form and their manners i toward strangers in all these tribes the men go entirely naked while wilie the women wear a bairow narrow girdle of or sheepskin about the loins dr knob Kno lecler blecher howe ver confirmed the statement of werne is as i to the I 1 I 1 modesty of their demeanor and the morality of their domestico dome stio life of r afler after leaving the chirs the expedition entered the country of baris and anda on the fourteenth of january reached the rapid of the f white nile at the island of Ts anker in 4 49 this was the farthest point reach reached edby by all previous expeditions as they found it imps sibe to advance further with th their air vessels pilot suleyman abouzeid abou zeid determined ter mined to make the attempt and on the fol I 1 lowing day aided sided by a strong north wind stemmed I 1 the rapid and reached the broadi broad lake like expanse of river above it il continuing his voyage dr Kno blecher sail pd e d sixteen miles further farther to the bari barl village of toliman To kiman the tha country was exceedingly rich and beautiful abounding in tree trees stanL stani and densely d ensely peopled people if ri the current of the river was more rapid its waters purer and the air seems to have entirely lost the depressing miasma miasmatic tid of i the tile regions further north r i the inhabitants of toliman showed great astonishment at the sight 0 the vessels and their white occupants nothing nothings however hov bov vever affected them so much as the tones cf nf a har harmonica moril cat played by dr Kno blecher many of the peo people pie shed tears of delight and the chief offered the sovereignty of his tri trl beld bein the wonderful instrument 0 4 I 1 1 on the sixteenth the ther expedition reach reached edthe the village of which takes its name from a solitary granite anite peak peah eak rak about six hundred feet jeet bands on the ienn left hank bank of the nile it is in lata torn and this is the ern point has yet yeti been reached on ithe whit white nile dr Kribble Kno blecher biecher cher ascended th mountain which commanded a view of almost the entire bari country towards the south west the river wound out but of sight between the j mountains rego kidi near which inthe mountain containing rich iran ddn mines which are worked by the natives i i 1 towards the south on the very verge of the horizon rose hills whose forms ob observed sered with exactness owin I 1 to the thi great distance M i n beyond the range which appeared appear eri erl in the east dwell the berri tribes whose un lin guage is distinct grom from the baris and anda who v are neighbors of the gallas gallad that warlike 1 race rhee whose domain gomain extends from to the wilds of mozambique along the great central plateau of Un iamesi r the nafi vei knew nathin whatever orthe of the country to the seuth the farthest mountain ranke was probably under the parallel of lat an so that the white nile has has had now been traced nearly to the equator it wis was wag abou about lix six hundred and fifty feet tlde vide wide and from five to eight feet deep at the time of f dr Knobl echers visit which was during the i ory dry season such an abundance abtin dance of water al lows us to tor esti etti estimate mate with tole tolerable wabie fable certainty the distance to its unknown sources which emust must undoubtedly lie bey vey beyond orld orid the equator the great bio sio snow mountain of I 1 discovered irl hi by dr krapf the german mission aryon hn his jo lourney journey urrey inland from bombas on the coast of zanzibar has been located by geographers in lat 3 34 S it is therefore most probable that the source of the white nile will i be found in the range of mountains of which C the tr owning crowning aper apex the geo geographer berghaus in a long and labored articie article article l endeavors rs to prove that the gazelle river is the true nile nie and makes its rise in th the grear great lake ike NY assi ih lat 13 8 dr K Kno eno blecher how aw ever who exal examined dined the ahe bahr el gha ghazal al a at i its mouth says it is ii an unimportant d stream wilh with a scarcely scarcely perceptible current durrent lie he considers nal nai ers the white nile as being beyond bayon d all the true river v I 1 T he me that while at ogwen i some om e af spoke of people white like himself efio lived far towards the south I 1 darnt do not |