Show rhe FHE GREAT NILE DISCOVERY sir roderick murchison commini ates eates to tie the london times a long iong letter irom imm vix lit nir sir baker the discoverer of albert nyanza lake to central africa sir roderick murchison infers from a easefully drawn map sent him by mr baker and also from a passage in his otter that he substantiates the opinion adopted by speke that the nile flowed allowed into the luta and then erner einer emerged ged from it in its course sir roderick also observes that the important additional knowledg knowledge e obtained by baker showing the existence of great cataracts cataracte atar acne acte on the nile between the point where speke left the tho river and the place where he next met it explains that which has been looked upon as a serious difficulty in the acceptance ortho of tho the views of that eminent explorer hr mr bakers letter is dated khartum khartun Khar tum april 30 and after some words of thank lo 10 sir roderick murchison and stating that he will bo be in england 1 dortly lie ho goes coes oil on to say TIP 1 travels it gels WELS AND DISCO DISCOVERY I 1 had the good fortune to meet caits peko and grant at Gond Gondol coro loro in february the object of my elred expedition mon non being attained by meeting them ein cin and by their thein discovery of the victoria IT kranza nile head I 1 should have returned with them had bad not capt speke sported that he had heard of a lake called by the natives luta neige this thia he imagined might be a second source of the nile and I 1 at once determined tp attempt its exploration my liy boats departed from Gond for khartoum khartum with apts caits speke and grant bat tat when I 1 was waa about to start the warde ot of my men mn mutinied mutinies muti nied and rt rd fused 0 r proceed i raining possession of my MN ims lmh mis and ammunition the dv d n r 3 of the place combined to prevent aily atly iby liy european from gag tag the interior fe fearing tearing a i n travelers reports upon the slave trade ti ase afe the chance of being able to proceed appeared hopeless being resolved not to bo driven back and finding it impossible to lead my any men south I 1 at lenan induced 18 of my mutineers muti to accompany me to the cam camp p of one of the traders ESE of Gond about 80 miles whence I 1 hoped to be able to alter my course having loaded my camels and asses I 1 started darted at night without either interpreter or guide neither of whom were procurable all the natives being under the influence of the traders on passing the station of an arab trader six days from Gond my men who had previously conspired to desert me abhat M that spot again mutinied mutinies muti nied several ab geo woo aided with arms and ammunition and joined the traders party they however were massacred by the tribe two iwo two days after their desertion A days journey in advance of that station elation I 1 met an arab trader whose he hear arft artt t I 1 gained by presents I 1 edhem to supply me with porters ponters port pont erg and to accompany me to the country where he might commence a trade king kamrass Kam rasi then I 1 intended to strike west in search of the lake owing to a succession of difficulties and delays I 1 did not fiot arrive at kam grasis capital N lat I 1 deg 37 min until the loth of february 1854 the traders party returned to gondo koro leaving me with my escort of 13 men mert to proceed after 18 days march I 1 reached the long wished for lake about miles nilles west of myro MIro oll at vaco baco tia ria in N lat I 1 deg 14 m in respect for the memory of our lamented prince I 1 named it subject to her Maje permission the albert nyanza as the second great source of the nile second not in importance but only in in order of discovery to the victoria nile head the victoria and the albert lakes are the indubitable bare pare parents hits fits of the river the capital of is situated at the junction of the nile and gafoor rivers at an altitude of feet above the sea level I 1 followed the gafoor to lat 1 deg 12 min N to avoid an impassible morass that runs from north to south upon rounding this I 1 continued a direct westerly course to the lake the route throughout is wooded interspersed with glades thinly populated with no game my route lay over high ground to the north of a swampy valley running west the greatest elevation was feet the rocks pere pero were all gneiss granite and masses of iron iron ore apparently fused into a conglomerate with rounded quartz pebbles THE LAKE AND COURSE OF THE NILE NORTHWARD the albert lake is a vast basin lying in an abrupt depression the cliffs which I 1 descended by ia a difficult pass being 1470 feet above its level the lake level is 2070 feet being lo werthan worthan tho nile at accord angly the drainage of the country tends from east cast to w west est from the high ground above the lake no land is visible to the south and southwest south west but northwest and west is a large range of mountains rising to about feet above the lake level forming the western shore and running couill west parallel to the course of tile the lake both king 1 caillias karn Kain rasi and the natives assured nig me that the lake is known to extend into Ru manikas country to tile the west of ka bagwe but from that point in about 10 1 30 S lat int lafa it turns suddenly to the west in which direction its extent is unknown in N lati iati lat P 1 14 where I 1 reached the laire lake I 1 it is is about 60 miles wide but the width increases southward the water is deep sweet and transparent the shores are generally clean and free from reeds forming a sandy beach I 1 navigated the lake in ill a canoe formed of a hollow tree for 13 days from va covia arriving 0 at tha junction of the nile nite with the ta take le in N lat 2 deg 10 16 min the voyage was long owing to the necessity of coasting and and to tile the heavy sea which with a westerly wind generally rose at I 1 p m dail dali daliy daily 1 A at the nile junction the jake lake had contracted to a width of about 20 miles the shores were no longer clean but vast masses of reeds roods growing in deep water prevented the canoe from landing mountains had ceased on the eastern carterr V shore giving place to hills about feet high which instead of rising uprightly from the lake like the mountains further south were 5 or 6 miles distant the ground dese descending ending in undulations to the lake the entrance of the nile is a broad bread channel of deep but dead water bounded on either sibe side sido by vast banks of reeds from this point the lake extends to the northwest for about 40 miles and then turns to the west contracting gradually ex tent unknown about 2 20 miles north of the nile junction at magungo the river issues from the great reservoir and continues its course to Gond this appears tb be the passage referred to toby by sir roderick murchison as proving that nile flows into the lake but other statements in the letter confirm this view I 1 went up the nile in a canoe from junction unction the natives would proceed no further north owing to the e hostile tribes on the lake shores about 10 miles from the junction the nile channel contracted to about yards in in width with little perceptible stream very deep and banked as usual with high reeds the country on either side undulating and wooded the course from the junction up the river being east cast at about 20 miles from magungo maguiffo Mag ungo my voyage suddenly terminated a sr stupendous waterfall of about feet perpendicular cular hight bight stopped all further progress above the great fall the river is suddenly confined within rocky hills and it races through a gap contracted from a grand stream of perhaps too 1 yards width to a channel not exceeding 50 60 yards through this gap it rushes with amazing rapidity and plunges at one leap into a deep basin below this magnificent cataract I have taken the liberty of naming the murchison falls from that point I 1 proceeded overland p parallel with the river through chopi chop and at length I 1 reached bamma having been for some months completely disabled by fever my quinine long since being exhausted lake albert nyanza forms an immense basin far below the adjacent country and receives the entire drainage of extensive mountain ranges on the west and of the and un yoro countries on the east eventually receiving the nile itself it adds its accumulated waters and forms the second source of that mighty river the voyage down the lake is extremely beautiful the mount mountains ains frequently nisin rising 9 abruptly from the water while numerous cataracts rush down their furrowed sides the cliffs on the east shore are granite frequently mixed with large masses of quartz on the eastern borders of the lake much salt is obtained from the soil this forms the trade of the mis miserable grable grabie villages which at long intervals are situated oil on the shore the natives are extremely inhospitable I 1 in in many cases refusing to sell provisions Mal legga on the west coast of the lake is a large largo and powerful country governed by a king named kagoro who possesses boats sufficiently large to cross the lake the Mallegg gra ra trade largely with kam rasi bringing bringis ng ivory and beautifully prepared skins and mantles in exchange for salt brass coil bracelets cowries dowries cow ries and beads all of which articles excepting salt comes from zanzibar via ka bagwe there being no communication I 1 with the west ivest coast of africa the actual length of the albert ny anza anwa from south to north is about geographical miles independent of its unknown course to the west between 1 deg and anda 2 deg south latitude and of its similar course in the north in ill lat about 3 deg I 1 rejoice at having been able to accomplish com eom complis li this exploration explore atlon without the tiie assistance which the royal geographical society so kindly offered I 1 map of my route with a list of elevations abo sea sen level taken by one of casellas thermometers subject to correction in england success having rewarded me for all hardships I 1 look forward with impatience to tile the pleasure of T giving you more detailed information in person |