The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-11-30
THE SOURCES OF rnR NILE.


The most curious discovery made by
DR.. Livingstone In this, his bolleat ex.
petition into the solItudes Of Africa, iS
summed up by Mr.. John Kirk, the
British Consul Rt Zanzibar, In the fol-
lowing report TO the secretary OF the
government at Bombay:
'sIR-The chief point OF geographical
Interest In the present letter OF DR.,
Livingstone, ID the statement that the
sources OF the Nile are 10 bs found in
the lakes and rivers that drain the
great valley In which CAzembe " sltus
Hted, and lying TO the south OF Tangan-
vlka, between ten and twelve degrees
Of south latitude.
'The town OF Cazembe, from which
pr. Llvlngstone's previous letters
lDecember, 1867 were dated, has
been already viSited and described
by the Portuguese missions. II
IL ls Situated on the shores OF one of Il
chain OF lakes that How northWards,
The Chambeze having collected by
many streams, the waters Of the north.
ern slope OF the damp. elevated plains,
flows 10 join Lake BRngweOlO, This
again is connected with Lake MOerO
by the lIOapala, on whose banks the
town OF CAzembe Is built. Moero Ia in
lie turn drained by the LuabalA into
another, lake named Ulenge, aud here
exploration ends.
Natives have told DR.. Livingstone
that UlenRe Is an islAnd-studtled lake
whose waters Join the LutTa, u large
river coming from the western side OF
the same great plain, whose eastern
slope ls drained by the Chalnbezs. This
united stream some say enters the
TanRanvika, and thence by the Leonda
Into Lake Chowambe; but DR.. Living.
stones infOrmants are not unanimous,
and some assert that the Lunra passes
TO the west of TanganvIka, and so TO
the Lake Chowambe, which DR.. Liv.
ingstone thinks Ia the same as the Al.
bert Nyanza OF Sir s. Baker.
In fact, the interest OF tho Journey
centres In the southern connections OF
the Albert Nyanza; and Arab traders
generally agree In thinking that u
water communication does exist be.
tween that and the TangHnvlka; but !
have not met with any one who pro-
fesses to have traced out this cOmmu-
nicatiou. n.
From Arabs who visit Cazarnbe, |
learn that the lakes now described by
DIR. Livingstone are OF considerable
size-prObably from live to ten days'
march In length, and, like Nyassa,
TAnRanvika and tho Albert Nyanza,
Oyefhung by high mountain slopes,
which open out In bays and valleys, or
leave great plains, which during the
rainy season become flooded, no that
caravans march for days through water
knee deep. seeking for higher ground
on which to pass tho night. The coun.
try abounds with large game and do
mestic cattle, while the climate Is $40.
ken OF US not unhealthy, and Is GER
tainly contrast TO the HanzIbar coast,
II we may Judge from the tanned,
healthy traders who RETURN
The evidence on which DR.. LIving>
stone concludes that the valley OF Ca
zembe Is the source OF the Nile is not
given In bis letters, and the question
has perhaps ere this been decided by
bis personal Investigations. Should
the opinion here e1presSed be con-
hrmed, 1t will prove that the Greek
geographer, Ptolemy, had solved, more
than seventeen Centu ries ago, the queS.
tlon which has most Of all psrplexed
the geOgraphers OF the nineteenth CEN
tury. In this II will only add one more
to the well.earned honors OF perhaps
the greatest name in ancient science
the dlscoverer OF the form OF the earth,
the Inventor Of the parallels OF latitude
and longitude, the first astronomer
who caught glimpseoi the true theory
of the solar system, and the first phys.
ical philosopher who understood The
cRnse Of retractiOn.
II the Nile rises where DR.. Lvings-
tone supposes, 1t Is by far the longest
river In the world. It extends from
latitude 1O0 or 100 south 10 latitude 80
north, distance IN straight line OF
nearly or quite three Thousand miles,
or much more than the whole breadth
OF the temperate zone be: ween the
troplc OF Cancer and the polar circle,
Within which lies nlneteen.tWentieths
Of the continent Of North America.