New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-05-22

going down the river as far as the country. OF the
Hassanichs, sinking their boats and conceahng
themselves in the woods in the daytime, while BY
night they venture into the villages and rob the
people of their dourra forwhich :.iay have great
iondness. They cultivate nothing themselves, and
,leif only employment is the chase of the elephant
hppopotamus and other wild beasts. All the re-
go. ccase .. IL river abounds with herds OF ee-
plants and girafles, though have not yet been
fortunate enough to get sight of them.
Here is the true land of thelotus, and the Shl-
looks if not the lotophGgoi of the Greeks, are at
least the only modern eaters OF the plant. am
too late to see it in blossom and there are SH-,Ss
butfew specimens oft among these islands but
not far beyond this it appears in great proiuson,
and both the seeds and roots are eaten By the ma
tiyes. DIR. knoblecher, who ate it frequently du-
ring his voyage two years ago, informed me that
the root resembles the potato in consistence and
taste, with strong flavor of celery These isl
ands are inhabited only by the hunters and fishers
of the tribe. who abandon them in summer, when
they are completely covered by the inundaton.
AT lat. l2' or about fifty miles south of this, both
banks Of the river are cultivated and thence, for
upward of two hundred miles, the villages are
crowded so close to each other all along the Shores
that they almost form two continuous towns,
fiopting each other. This part of the White Nile
is the most thicky populated region in Africa and
perhaps in the world, China alone excepted The
number os the Shillooks is estimated at between
two and three millions, or equal to the population
of al Egypt.
10 +. Mas we were leaving, | found that the
men had taken down both sails and shipped the
oars for our return to Khartoun. The rails had kept
his word even too closely for my WISH and was d.
termined to go no farther than the southern end
Aba. knew there was certain danger in going
further and that had no right to violate my agree
ment and peril others as well as my self; but there
lay the great river, holding in its lap. to tempt me
on, isles obrighter bloom and spreading out shores
ofye richer foliage. am now in the center ofthe
Continent. Beyond me all is strange and unknown,
and the Gulf Guinea is less distant than the Med
iterranean, which left not three months ago.
Why not push on and attempt to grasp the Central
African secret The fact that stonger, braver and
bolder men have failed is one lure the more. Hap
PLY for me, perhaps, my object OF commencing the
voyage was rest and recreation, not exploration.
Were | provided with the necessary means and
scientific appliances for making such an attempt
useful, it would be impossible to turn back at this
point.
| climbed to the masthead and looked to the
south, where the forest archipelago, divided by
glittering reaches of water wove its labyrinth in
the distance. thought saw-but it may have
been fancy-beyond the leafy crown of the farthest
isles. the faint blue horizon of that of water
and grass, where the palm again appears and the
lotus fringes the shores. few hours ofthe strong
north. wind, now blowing in our faces would have
taken me there but gave myself up to Fate and
a chibouk, which lattes Immediately suggested to
me that though was leaving the gorgeous heart
of Africa, | was going back to Civilization and
Home. The men rowed Justify, and, taking to the
western side of the river, soon put an island be-
tween us andthe village. 1t was about o'clock
when we left, and the wind fell sufficiently before
night to allow them to make considerable progress
We swept along under the lee of the islands,
brushing the starry showers of yellow blossoms
that traed in the water and frightening the lbises
and herons from their coverts among the reeds
The hppopotami snorted all around US and we
had ALWAYS a convoy of them following in our
wake. The sun sank, and moon fur days old,
lighted the solitude of the islands, but the men
still rowed vigorously, till we passed the spot
where the Shilooks buried their canoes in the
They have deemed it safe to come
to anchor in the middle of the stream, though
the watch-fres of the savages are still blazing
brightly in the distance. BIT.