The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-21 00:00:00

known from this time forth by the name of our be-
loved Sovereign. Farther northwards on their
march the exploring party of adventurers, the two
Englishmen and their gang of African porters
or Wanguanas, found the path of their journey
trending between the range of the Mountains of the
Moon and the western borders of the Victoria
N'yanza. The latter expanse of inland water may
perhaps be the most aptly and the most accurately
described,' by the suggestion that an equilateral
triangle, almost as irregular in form as the African
continent itself, or as the South American continent
—and so placed, by the way, that, like each of those
two continents, it should have one of its points or
angles directed almost due south—should
be placed with one of its sides resting al-
most immediately upon the line of the equator.
There, in the northern lice of the equilateral triangle
of the lake or N'yanzi Victoria, the River Nile, the
White Nile, distinctly takes its rise. The waters of
the mighty stream runs out of the lake, strictly
speaking, it is true, at three points. But two of
those throe outlets, it may be said, are little better
than marshes, or, as the Nile Discoverer himself
calls them—rush drains rather than rivers. It is
in the easternmost of the three that the Source of the
White Nile is really and truly discernible. There,
at Ripon Falls, the noble and mysterious current
takes its rise. The waters of the Victoria N'yanza,
passing through the Napoleon Channel, tumble at
those Ripon Falls over a ledge twelve feet in depth,
and from four to five hundred feet in breadth,
foaming and flashing down in a beautiful cascade,
worthy of marking the commencement of that
glorious river more than two thousand miles in its
seaward course, from the Ripon Falls to the Delta,
on the Mediterranean. It is curious to think for a
moment of that mighty stream rolling on through
those 2,000 miles and upwards, the largest of its
three or four tributaries, that is, the Blue Nile
of Btuee winding northwards through Abyssinia,
but the main stream, the grand trunk of the river,
distinguishable first of all as the White Nile,
rushing on northwards, ever northwards—sinu-
ously, serpent-‘vic._ +hr,...ah Nubia, onwards in
a direct line through Egypt, marked at eitner ex-
tremity by an equilateral triangle ! Here at its
source, in the extreme south, the watery triangle
of the Victoria N'yanza! Here at its emergence
into the Mediterranean, in the extreme north, the
rich alluvial trangle of the Delta! To Capt. Speke
belongs the glory, as the annals of geography will
not tire of reiterating—to him belongs the honour
and privilege of having brought to light at
length the until now hidden truth as to the
source or origin of the gigantic stream of
the Nile. His companion will share with him of
course in enjoying the credit of this most notable
discovery. But as yet Captain Grant has preserved,
certainly so far as authorship goes, a profound and
unbroken silence as to what ought to be in justice
regarded as his due meed of honour as a participator
in the discovery of the source of the Nile. His
pencil has not remained idle it is true. But his pen
has altogether. And in Captain Speke's narrative
little—almost as one may say, next to nothing—ie
said about him. Detained as Captain Grant was

several months longer than Captain Speke in Kara-
gue, and this by reason of his being temporarily
crippled by a serious malady in one of his
legs he has surely much of interest in
his notes or in his recollections that he could tell
us. And we look all the more hopefully to his tell-

ing us a good deal at least, if not all, of what he
might, because Captain Speke has left so very much
untold that we are most anxious to have had
related. The Manners and Customs of the savage
tribes through which our travellers passed,
we know comparatively nothing of, from this
Journal, elaborate and lengthy though it is. The
naivete of the poor African race we catch glimpses
of, it is true, now and then : as where, in Unyoro,
King Kamrasi is dimly groping after knowledge
in regard to the Bible ; or as when the
reputed sanctity of the water of the
Nile is repudiated by Captain Speke's own
attendants. " I told my men," he writes, " they
ought to shave their heads and bathe in the holy
river, the cradle of Moses—the waters of which,
sweetened with sugar, men carry all the way from
Egypt to Mecca, and sell to the pilgrims." "We
don't look on those things," was the reply, " in the
same fanciful manner that you do; we are con.
tented with all the commonplaces of life, and look
for nothing beyond the !present. If things don't
go well, it is God's will; and if they do go well,
that is His will also." This little incident occur-
ring, it should be remarked, at the point where the
Explorer first obtains a view of the river to the
discovery of whose source he is at the moment as-
piring—and not merely aspiring, but energeti-
cally struggling on, through how many hard-
ships, impediments, vexations, anxieties, and
discouragementsl Here—at that first view of it,
he writes, in perhaps the most picturesque passage
that could be anywhere found in his Journal—
Hero at last I stood on the brink of the Nile ; most beau-
tiful was the scene—nothing could surpass it I It was the
very perfection of the kind of effect aimed at in a hi ghly-
kept park ; with a magnificent stream from 600 to 700
yards wide, dotted with islets and rocks, the former occu-
pied by fishermen's huts, the latter by sterns and crocodiles
basking in the sun—flowing between fine high grassy banks,
with rich trees and plantains in the background, where
herds of the nsunnu and hartebeest could be seen grazing,
while the hippopotami were snorting in the water, and flori-
kan and guinea-fowl rising at our feet. Unfortunately, the
chief district officer, Mlondo, was from home, but we took
possession of his huts---clean, extensive, and tidily kept—
facing the river, and felt as if a residence here would do one
good.
Although the King of Karagne, by name Ramanika,
is about the most attractive of the aboriginal per-
sonages depicted in the volume, we are tempted to
give, by preference, our gallant traveller's delinea-
tion, thus graphically, of the young Sovereign of
Uganda, by name Mteaa :
The mighty king was now reported to be sitting on his
throne in the state hut of the third tier. I advanced, bat
in hand, with my guard of honour following, formed in
" open ranks," who in their turn were followed by the
hearers carrying the present. I did not walk straight
up to him as if to shake hands, but went outside the ranks
of a three-sided square of squatting Wakungu, all
habited in skins, mostly cow skins ; some few of whom
had, in addition, leopard-cat skins girt round the
waist, the sign of royal blood. Here I was desired to
halt and sit in the glaring sun ; so I donned my hat,
mounted my umbrella, a phenomenon which set them all
a-wondering and laughing, ordered the guards to close
ranks, and sat gaming at the novel spectacle. A more
theatrical sight I never saw. The king, a good-looking,
well-figured, tall young man of 25, was sitting on a red
blanket spread upon a square platform of royal grass, encased
in tiger .grass reeds, scrupulously well dressed in a new
mbugu. The hair of his head was cut short, excepting on
cue top, rfuoin ci war, uvu•t...d %sr ink. a Icaefla wirlern, Anansaing
ftom stem to stern like a cock's comb. On his neck was a
very neat ornament—a large ring, of beautifully-worked
small beads, forming elegant patterns by their various
colours. On one arm was another bead ornament, prettily
devised ; and on the other a wooden charm, tied by a string
covered with snake skin. On every finger and every toe
he had alternate brass and copper rings ; and above the
ankles, half way up to the calf, a stocking of very pretty
beads. Everything was light, neat, and elegant in its
way; not a fault could ba found with the taste of his
"getting up." For a handkerchief he held a well-folded
piece of bark, and a piece of gold-embroidered silk, which he
constantly employed to hide his large mouth when laugh-
ing, or to wipe it after a drink of plantain wine, of which
he took constant and copious draughts from neat little
gourd cups, administered by his ladies-in-waiting, who
were at once his sisters and wives. A white dog, spear,
shield, and woman—the Uganda cognisance—were by his
side, as also a knot of staff officers, with whom he kept up
a brisk conversation on ono side; and on the other was a
band of Wichwezi, or lady sorcerers, such as I have already
described:
I was now asked to draw nearer within the hollow
square of squatters, where leopard skins were strewed upon
the ground, and a large copper kettle-drum, surmounted
with brass bells on arching wires, along with two other
smaller drums covered with cowrie shells, and beads of
colour worked into patterns, were placed. I now longed to
open conversation, but knew not the language, and no one
near me dared speak, or even lift his head from fear of being
accused of eyeing the women; so the king and myself sat
staring at one another for full an hour—l mute, but ho
pointing and remarking with those around him on the
novelty of my guard and general appearance, and even re-
quiring to see my hat lifted, the umbrella shut and opened,
and the guards face about and show off their red cloaks—
for such wonders had never been seen in Uganda.
Then, finding the day waning, he sent Maula on an
embassy to ask me if I had seen him ; and on receiving my
reply, "Yes, for full one hour," I was glad to find him
rise, spear in hand, lead his dog, and walk unceremoniously
away through the enclosure into the fourth tier of huts ;
for this being a pure lev6e day, no business was transacted.
The king's gait in retiring was intended to be very majestic,