The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-18 00:00:00

case.

Arrival of the Explorers of the Nile,

Captain Speke and Captain Grant, who have
earned a place in history by their discovery of the
source of the Nile, are now in England. They ar-
rived at Southampton yesterday, on board the Pera,
and were, as may be supposed, welcomed with en-
thusiasm. As soon as it was made known that the
Pera had arrival, bringing the above gentlemen,
the Mayor, F. Perkins, Esq., accompanied by the
Town Clerk, on behalf of the Corporation, and Cap-
tain William Henry Jones, RN., Colonel Rigby, Dr.
Bullars, and other gentlemen, waited on Captains
Speke and Grant, and presented them with the fol-
lowing address :
Gentlemen,— As Mayor of the town of Southampton,
may I claim the honour of very briefly addressing you on
behalf of the Corporation and inhabitants.
It would ill beseem the representatives of an ancient sea-
port whose history is connected more or less with every
period of the annals of England, to neglect an opportunity
of most respectfully greeting travellers whose recent dis-
coveries have solved the perplexing problem of all ages, by
ascertaining the true source of one of the most wonderful
rivers on the face of the earth.

And it would be quite as unseemly in us either to at-
tempt on such an occasion to speak of the value of your
labours, or to detain you thus happily restored to your
native shores. on the very threshold of that home which
you may well be eager to reach ; we beg leave, therefore,
simply to be allowed to congratulate you on that Divine
protection which has carried you unharmed through regions
in which to many noble votaries of science have either
fallen victims to pestiferous climates, or have perished by
the hands of their savage inhabitants.

Praise then be to God that we have the pleasure of seeing
you safe in your own country, and honour be to that un-
flinching courage which no danger has daunted, no diffi-
culties have discouraged. Long may you live to enjoy the
honours which you have so bravely won.
The M iyor, with his usual hospitality, invited
the renowned discoverers to a banquet, which they
were compelled to decline, being under an engsge-
ment to wait upon the Geographical Society, but at
the same time expressed the pleasure it would afford
them to accept of his worship's invitation on a
future occasion.

So widely felt is the interest which was displayed
in the seaport of Southampton, and which, before
many hours have past, will be demonstrated in a
more extended area, that we offer no apology for
placing before our readers some personal aecount of
these twin heroes of modern investigation. They
are both stalwart men, above the average height,
and possessing toe well-knit frames of which the
pick and flower of our army may be said physically
to consist. It required, indeed, somewhat more than
ordinary physique to undergo such immense hard-
ships as, for three years, these two English gentle-
men have unflinchingly borne. Before encountering
the almost inconceivable difficulties of African
travel, they had seen hard service in other parts of
the world; and Captain Grant, we are informed,
suffers even now from his old Indian wounds, more
than from the effects of fever in Africa. Ho lost
part of his hand at the siege of Lucknow, and has
other marks of the memorable Sepoy rebellion.
However, of the two officers Captain Grant appears
at present the healthier, his companion having
hardly recovered an affection of the lungs which he
suffered during part of his African wanderings,
These notable travellers, who have explored the
Mountains of the Moon—as the clusters of the hills
are called which border the Lake Nyanza—and who
have traced the source of the Nile to those acclivi-
ties over whose sides torrents of rain fall into the
lake and cause the periodical flow of the stream,
bring marvellous accounts of the fertility and natural
wealth of regions through which they have passed.
Cotton and every tropical product was seen by them
growing in lavish abundance; and vast accumula-
tions of ivory strewed their route for very many
leagues. Deserts, indeed, they met with, to the
north as well as south of the Equator; but these arid
tracts were of no great magnitude. Attended by
gigantic savages of various tribes, whose photo-
graphs have been brought to this country among
other trophies, Captains Speke and Grant penetrated
through obstacles which even their Zanzibar guides
shrank from facing, till they reached the Lake
Nyanza. To this wild spot Capt. Speke had once
before made his way ; but his second journey was,
from some causes, more arnuous than the first. Both
gentlemen were robbed of everything, and stripped
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of their following proved faithful to them, and ac-
companied them as far as they travelled. They have
brought home the skull and horns of ft gigantic buf-
falo which had been shot near the Equator.
It is gratifying to state that, by the instructions
of Earl Russell, the Custom-house authorities at
Southampton passed the luggage of Captains Speke
and Grant free ; and that all possible facilities were
alforded them for reaching London early io the day.