The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-23 00:00:00

-..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

it isnot so; as no one has yet taken the trouble to
place kilometers on its various branches, by which
we might know the perennial amount of wee,
',rained a wlly by eech every year, and fron► want of
which, it appears t 9 me—who have seen them all
in their dry season, the best time for judging their
various degrees of magnitude—great misconcep-
tions have taken place. To these branches, then,
more particularly, I wish to drew attention. No-
ticing only that the Nile—the White River, as it is
called--in its south bearings, carries the palm with
it in all instances, and its branching throughout
has been so often described, especially to the junc-
tion of the Blue River. The first great effluent,
which indeed is the only one worthy of remark on
the left of the Nile, is the Bukr el Ghazal. It joins
on with the appearance of a diminutive lake at the
sharp elbow of the Nile, without any visible stream
of its own, whilst the great river winds round with
considerable velocity, carrying, as I have said, the
palm with it. The second affluent in order of posi-
tion, which, with all the others, is on the right of
the Nile is the Geraffee River swirling with consi-
derable stream and graceful round into the parent
Nile. Its magnitude and general appearance is
like that of a first-class canal, inferior to the Kil-
angfile river, although not so much as equal in
quality of fluid one-third of the Nile at its point of
junction, It is navigable to a great distance south,
but where it comes from nobody knows. It cannot
be called a mountain river, as we found it full of
resets floating on its surface as in the Nile, evi-
dently showing that both the trunk and the branch
are subjugated to the same effects of sluggish flats
and rapids. Indeed, its character suggests the pos-
sibility of its emanating in the Victoria Nyanza,
although it most surely is fed to a considerable ex •
tent by minor branches from the Great Eastern
mountain chain. The third is the Southern Sobat
River, which was full and navigable—in breadth it
is greater than the Geraffee River, but less in
rapidity, so that we may infer their perennial con-
tents are much the same. Unfortunately the
Northern Sobat was passed without our knowledge,
which, also being navigable, would make the
Upper Sobat, that is to say the Sobat above the
Delta, of far greater magnitude than the Geraffee,
unless, indeed, the three streams may be one river
still further south, when, in its combination the
comparison would have to be drawn with the Nile
above, it would be very nearly equal ; for the Nile,
with these additions, has scarcely doubled its im-
portance, considered as it was seen from above
entering the Bakr el Ghazal. The Blue River was
long assumed to be the Nile only because the peren-
nial powers were never tested. It appears it is
a mountain stream, emanating in the country
without the rainy zone, but subject to the in-
' fluence of tropical rains and droughts, at one time
full, and empty at another, so shallow as to be
fordable. The suspicion, therefore, that it was the
Nile must of itself appear absurd, for its waters,
during the droughty seasons, would be absorbed
long before they reached the sea. But
apart from this feature of the amount of
the Blue River, the Nile runs like a sluice in its
wonted course, whilst the Blue River, conjoining
with the Geraffee and Sobat, describes a graceful
sweep. The Alhara, which is the last, is in all re-
spects like the Blue, only smaller. With one more
remark I will conclude. In the height of the dry
season in the White River, the Blue is freely navi-
gated, owing to the great accessions of the Geraffee
and Sobat Rivers ; but below the Blue and Alhara
rivers to the sea the sandbanks obstruct further pas-
sage. There is one thing that I have left unstated,
and that is the fact that on my return the first Eng-
lishman I met was Mr. Baker, with whose name you
are already acquainted,who came uplfor the purpose
of helping us out of a scrape if we had got into one.
Mr. Baker hearing that there was one branch of the
river that I had not explored, went on for the pur-
pose of searching for it; and I trust that before an-
other year is out we shall see him back to tell us all
about it. (Cheers.) Another remarkable event
was, that three ladies came up to meet me, but one
having been taken ill, Miss Tinney and her mother
went up the river to satisfy their desire for geogra-
phical knowledge. I endeavoured to persuade them
to return, and subsequently wrote them a letter en-
treating them to give up their journey, with what
result remains to be shown. (Loud cheers.) If the
remaining branch is not explored by these parties
by I shall have to do the work myself. (Cheers.)

Capt. GRANT, who was most cordially received,
said he could not resist the temptation of accom.
panying his brother Indian officer in his search. He
considered that the important discovery that had
been made was entirely owing to the skill, courage,
and cordiality of Captain Speke.

The PRESIDENT said it would doubtless be of
interest to the meeting if Capt. Speke would give
them some anecdotes of his adventures, and would
deecribe the character of some of the equatorial
kings. The whole particulars of the journey would
shortly be laid before the public, in a forthcoming
work, which he had no doubt would be eagerly
read.

Captain SPEKE, on presenting himself for the
second time to the meeting, was again heartily
cheered. In compliance with the suggestion of the
president he proceeded to give some of the more in-
teresting details connected with his journey. These
statements he prefaced by a few general remarks
respecting the physical geography, the flora and
fauna, and the natural history of the vast African
continent. In a very clear and lucid manner he de-
scribed a few of the interesting events in his jour-
ney from Zanzibar through Uzaroma, Usagara,
Ucoco, M'Gunda, Unyamwezi, and Uzinza. Those
portions of his narrative in which the greatest inte-
rest was displayed were those which referred to the
negro. territories bordering close upon the great
hike which had been so successfully tracked as the
source of the Nile. Describing his adventures in
Ugunda, he said—There was great difficulty in get-
ting persons to accompany him. Of two men who
had travelled with them some time, one expressed
himself willing to go, and the other was jealous at
his companion having anything like superiority
over him. All these men have their feelings of
pride ; they have their own standing and rank just
as we have among ourselves. At last he decided
to take Barakko with him, because he had hitherto
found him a faithful and reliable servant; but after
a short distance only had been got over, he found to
his great surprise that the native would accompany
him no farther, and he was compelled to return to
Sorombo, which is a part of the kingdom of Uzinza.
There was no resource left but to reorganise the ex-
pedition, but this was no easy matter. The Arabs
in this part had a great dislike to him, and
were
suspicious of his real intentions ; but at last he suc-
ceeded in finding one black man who expressed his
wimp gness to aid him in his journey. The natives
of these parts are tall and gaunt, and are certainly
very superior to the common negro. The travellers
were looked upon by the natives in this part as
magicians. It happened while he was there that
the King of Uganda had received some officers
who had come on a mission from a neighbouring
king to solicit the hand of his daughter tor their
master. These pleniptentiaries told the king that
their master was one of the mightiest of all the
kings on earth, and if the prayer were not granted
a dire and terrible vengeance would he take. The
King of Uganda did more for the exploring party
than any other king in the country. His influence
was so great that it did not, in fact, leave them
until they got to the Lake Nyanza itself. After
leaving this kingdom Captains Speke and Grant
came to the more delightful Mountains of the Moon,
within the territory of the King of Nuanda. One
of these hills he estimated to be at least 10,000 feet
high, judging from the immense altitude which
they appeared to be at the great distance where he
saw them towering in the clouds above everything
else. The country was indeed a land of pleasure. He
had come through a land of persecution, and DOW
heartily appreciated the change. The country was