The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1849-03-16

bove statement, for selt-defence, in thrust
ing my personal concerns on the notice Of
the public; besides that, the course Mr..
Breese has pursued in relation to my let.
ter, disentitles him to that consideration
which nigh: induce me under other cir.
cunstances to reply to his remarks.
| JAMES SHIELDS.
Sources of the NiIe.-DiscO Veries
The last number of Littel's Living Age
has a remarkable interesting article on
Werne's expedition to the sources ofthe
Nile. This wonderful stream our read
ers know has never been traced to its
source, which is some where in the inte.
rior OF Africa. The Nile has two bran.
ches, called the Blue Nile and the White
Nile. The source ofthe former of these
was discovered by Bruce, in the interior
of Abyssinia, but such was the popular
belief that the sources OF the Nile could
not be discovered, that Bruce was not be-
lieved! One of the best modern travel-
ers, who told very accurate story, was
not believed because it was incredible
that the springs of the Nile should be
known, or that such peculiar race of
blacks should exist as we're found in these
regions of ancient Ethiopia!
Believed or not, however, Bruce's ac-
count was true. He did discover the
springs ofthe Blue Nile. But the Blue
Nile was much the shortest branch. 1t
bore the same relation to the White Nile
(which is the real river,) as the Upper
Mississippi does to the Missouri. ltis
the inferior branch. The real source of
! the Nile remained to be discovered, and
is not yet known. .....
The White Stream (Nile,) which is
the Western branch is far the largest
Prior to the expedition fitted out by Me-
hemed Ali, in 1S4O. and in which Mr..
Verne was passenger, the farthest point
: reached up the Nile was in latitude about
t 10 degrees. But although the source is
not yet exactly known, we do know that
? it is very near, if not just exactly on the
equator. ..... ......
u Mr.. Verne. in this expedition, reach
:, ed latitude degrees, or nearly 400 miles
" beyond the previously ascertained limit
= There was an obstruction or fall in the
!. stream, and it grew narrower, as Mr.
!. Verne thought; but it was quite certain
y its sources were yet several hundreds o
miles farther. The sources of the Nile
: and the Niger will probably be found
:, i, not far apart. They are said to be in the
Mountains of the Moon;" but who
J knows anything of the Mountains of the
= Moon? No one. There are unknown
. lands which may yet reward some future
. adventurers with the fame of discovery
!, 1t is most curious, that the lat. 4d (tt
h which Mr.. Verne penetrated) is severa
i degrees beyond the point at which the
heads of of the Nile are placed, IN ou
common maps, while it is certain that thu
real springs were yet hundreds of mile
q beyond lat. 4d. All our ideas of Contra
a Africa, GENERALLY represented as des
!. ert,) are deranged by the fact, that Nj
i Verne found these remote regions luxu
!. rient in foliage. and inhabited by dens'
swarms of people! These people wer'
some of them, gigantic in stature, while
4 they were most savage in life.
d The voyage of this Egyptian expedi
it ton was one of peculiar interest. 1t hal
g but recently been given to the Engisf
public, Mr.. Verne being a German
g Blackwood's Magazine thus speaks oft
y We can conceive few things more ex
!, citing than such voyage as MIR. Verne
Q has accomplished and recorded. Start
! ing from the outposts of civilization he
r sailed into the very heart of Africa, up
n stream whose upper waters were ther
It for the first time furrowed by vessels lar
: ger than savage's canoe-a stream o
IT such gigantic proportions, that its width
Q at thousand miles from the sea, gave
n the aspect of lake rather than ofa river
l The brute creation were in proportion
d with the magnitude Of the water course
|. The hippopotamus reared his huge snou
| above the surface, and wallowed in th'
l. gullies that on either hand run down t
!. the stream; enormous crocodiles cape,
along the shore; elephants played in herd
upon the pastures; the tall giraf stalke'
l. among the lofty plains; snakes thick a
y trees lay coled in the slimy swamps; ant
ant-hills, ten feet high, lowered above ,h'
r rushes. Along the thickly peopled bank
:, hordes Of savages showed themselves
o gazing in wonder at the strange chips
b and making ambiguous gestures, various
y y construed by the adventurers as sign
1t of friendship or hostility. Alternatel
n sailing or towing, as the wind served O
d not; constantly in sight of natives, bu
o rarely communicating with them; ofte
$. cut off for days from land by interminabl
J. fields of tangled weeds-the expeditio
o pursued its course through innumerabl
k perils guaranteed from most of them b
IS the liquid rampant on which it foatet
Lions looked hungry, and savages shoe
their spears, but neither showed dispo
q sition to swim off and board the Aotilla.-
n Gin. AtlaS.
Na -