Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-12-23

DIR. LIvINds1oNE AND THE SOURCES OF
/, THE NIhE@THE GREAT VALUE OF HIS
DIsCov ERIEs -wHAT THEY PROVE
T. AN article on the recent highly i'm
nni,ant letter from DIR. Livingstone, the
African explorer, the last London Specta-
,.,r shows the value of his discoveries and
he fact. they have proved. 1t says:
But our delight at the prospect of
seeing DR. Livingstone again IN the flesh
iuust not be allowed to overshadow the
,,t.pse interest attached To his discover
~. Although in July. 1S6S-the date
IA hi. last di-patch-Dr. Livingstone had
not even seen Lake Tanganyika, and OF
course could not positively TESTIFY that
the lake drained into the Nile. he had yet
found suffi .ient evidence, TO say nothing
IT native information. to Justify the opln-
lon that norsnnly Tanganylka but series
more. southetly lakes contribute their quo
ia of waters TO the river OF Egypt ~
this opinien should prove CORRECT, ne VIII
nave solved the great problem of modern
geography and established his claim TO
the foremost rank of geographers OF all
ayes Ptolemy's mysterious knowledge
gill prove to have been something real,
sud D-foe's magination will be regarded
a. having been strangely prophetic. In
order TO appreciate what DIR. Livingstone
80 done, or is doing, 1t must be clearly
understood what he was sent SO accom-
pii.h. The dispute between Capt. Burton
.ud Capt. Spoke relative to the drainage
If Lake L anganyika could not be settled
Except by personal investigation. Burton
believed that this lake flowed into the
Nile. but in such a case Speke's Victoria
N'vnnza would not be the ultimate source
nf the river The latter, therefore, main
,,ined with rather ingenious logic, that
me Tanganyika drained southward-pro
h blv into the Nyassa, and thence into
the Zaubezi Moreover, when Burton
nnd Spoke were on the lake its altitude
was fixed by them ut 1874 feet. ano
II this were correct 1t would Dt
impossible, supposing other observa
trus To be correct also. for TN
Nile to receive the waters of the Iaugan
nk.. Baker made the elevation OF TIT
Albert N'yanz. to be 2, 120 feet, and y
his observations were carefully tested o.
his return to England, their ACCURACY
NAV be- relied on But Speers thermome
t-r-wi,h which his observations wer
taken-read pa deg, instead OF 2I2 deg
when brought down to the coast again
aud Mr.. Findlay has always argued tina
1000 feet should b. added TO the latitnd
at which Capt Spoke fixed the lake I'M
won d give it an elevation OF 2,o44 feet
and. NJ Sir Samuel Baker had shown Tn
Albert N'yanza to be but 2, 100 feet %
Tanganyika would be one hundred an
twenty four feet higher than the NIloti
reservoir, and the physical difficult
which seemed 10 intervene betwet u " nm
the Nile would thus be removed -
Livingstone was directed to settle thl
question, To ascertain the attitude OF th
Tanganyika and the direction Of its draiT
age, and to determine the nature OF tn
whole watershed of this part OF Afric
How much he had done toward this ]
July last year the interesting dispatch
Lord Clarendon which WINS read befo1
the Geographical Society on Monde
evening clearly shows, and there seems
be little doubt that during the sixtee
months that have elapsed since he wrot
he has completed the great work whie
he undertook At the time Of writir
hi- dispatch, Dr. Livingstone had n
reached the Tanganyika, bnt he hs
touud n chain Of lakes to the south whit
trained toward the north, and, NJ he b
lieved, through the TanganyikA into Il
Nile These lakes are fed By AQmerol
rivers Of considerable sixe, and shOald thl
prove TO - II head vaters Of The Nj