The Express.
London, England, 1857-06-27 00:00:00

THE LATE EXPEDITION CP THE NILE.

Last year Mehemet Said, Viceroy of Egypt,
er .aniserl an expedition of scientific men to explore the Me,
and, if possible, to ascertain the existence of an itemenas
take said to exist in the interior, and which is eepposal to
be the real source of the great Egyptian river. Tire Paris
Prase has now published a succinct account of
this expedition, borrowed from the private journal
of Dr. Pouchet, one of its members. Through the
instrumentality of AC, de lassepe, the expedition,
paironiecl Ly the Academy of Sciences at Perim
and several other learned societies of France, England, and
Germany, and &veered with special inatructious from Y.
A. de Humboldt, woo ready for its departure about the
beginning of October last. It consisted of MM. Aubaret,
• lieutenant of the French navy; Meyer, • German
minevsl-
ogist • Dr. Itichard,a botanist; Gong and BoleaLiwaki,officers
I of the Austrian corps of ettgianan ; Georges l'ouchet, • xeolo-
Est TwyDs Bar, aforddrlauug calnitidiinahautzt, a photogratpoherh,;,
expedition, all under the orders of M. Escayrae secretary to
'an African traveller of some note. Au InMell.4l quantity of
I provisions end articles of every description nem:semi for the
journey had been prepared, including, among other thing% a
dietilliug eppareaus, two field-gone, an appanttun for electric
light, and even a sawing-machine. The Viceroy Arced 500
camels and a large military force of the disposal of the chief
of the expedition, a eireweatenee which induced Lite to
conceive a higher opinion of liiinaelf and the Rothe-
sit, entrusted to him than was perhaps quite in
accordance with the interests of the expedition. It ap-
pears, indeed, that at the very outset his imperiowi con-
duct and the military organisation which be attempted
to impose upon the members of the expedition led to ilia-
agreeable scene+ and to unnecessary delay. Meanwhile
the vanguard of the scientific expedition, consisting of
Captain Twyford, M. Pouchet, and M. Chive, set out
from the port of Double on the 20th of October, in order
to proceed by the Nile to Kartoum, where they were to be
met by the main body, which was to cress the desert. The
description given of the passing of the first cataract is fete-
;mtg. The word cataract appears indeed to Le rein-
•.,l .I to the rapids which impede the navigation
of- the Nile, they being nothing in fact but a
labyrinth of islands and rocks, between which the waters
rush with more or leas violence. There are special
pilots, called 'We, trained to that calling from father to son,
who are entreated with the guidance, or rather the rescue, of
the frail barques that are to perform the churgeroua feat.
When the boat reediest a certain Place where the width of
the water is not more than about 20 feet, about 200 Nubians,
under the command of the chief of the cataract, tow the vex-
ed up the shallow stream, and at the most difficult point a
doses of the atoutest jump into the river and actually lift the
host out of the stream over the bar which impedes the pas-
sage; beyond it the water is deep and the Lateen sail any
again be unfurled. The sumacs of this operation ie greoted
by the applause of the numerous spectators on the banks to
witnem it. A quarter of an hoar after this dramatic scene
the little flotilla of the expedition lay quietly at anchor in the
amain of El Mshatta, an important Nubian village. Thence
Twyford and his companions proceeded to Dongolah,
sad,
noinacious of the squabble for authority still raging at
Cairo between M. Escayrac and the other member& of the
expedition, arrived at Atuhuukool, having exhausted their
money and provisions. Here they fortunately met the Viceroy
and hie suite returning from Lis journey through the pro-
vinces of Soudan; end horn him they learnt that, owing to the
impeedibility of establishing harmony betweenthechief and the
members of the expedition, it loot Leen dissolved. Nothing,
therefore, remaid to be done but to return to nongotah
amid great hardships' owing to the ill Aril! of the authonries,
who thought they had fallen into disgrace; and these diffi-
culties did not cease until they reached Rhoda, a place 20
leagues from Cairn, where they were received by • govern-
ment steamer. The results nt their journey, in a scientific
point of view, are very meagre, consisting only of ecintirmat-
, tiona of facts already published by previous travellers.