The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-08-20
A REAL LETTER FROM LIy.
INGSTONE. .., 1l III
He writes to his Brother in Canada.

Brother-I received your welcome letter
/ In February last, written when the
! cable news madeyou put OFF your suits
OF mourning, This was the first intima,
!, ton l had that q cable had been success.
, fully laid in the deep Atlantic. Very few
letters have reached me for years, in con.
, sequence OF my friends specializing where
should come out-on the west coast,
! down the Nile, or elsewhere. The water.
shed Is broad upland between 4, 900 and
5000 feet above the sea and some seventy
miles long, The springs Of the Nile that
rise thereon are almost innumerable, and
1t would take part Of mans lifetime to
count them. One part oil o. miles Of lati.
tude gave 80 springs from one.hall to
waist deep, or one spring for every two
miles. A birds eye view OF them would be
like Vegetation of frost on window
panes. To ascertain that all OF these
!, fountains united with the four great
rivers In the upper part oi the Nile valley,
was work. Of time and much travel.
Many q weary foot l trod, ere light dawn.
cd on the ancient problem. II l had left
at the end OF two years, for which my
bare expenses were paid, l could have
thrown very little more light on the
country than the Portuguese, who in their
three slavery visits to Cazembe, asked for
ivory and slaves, and heard Of nothing
else. asked about the waters, question.
ed and cross.queStioned, till was really
ashamed, and almost afraid OF being set
down as afflicted with hydrocephalus. l
went forward, backwards and sideways,
feeling my way eyerystep Of the way.
was generally cropping in the dark, for
who cared where the rivers rant or
these four riversi into which the springs
Of the Nile converge, the central one,
called the Lualaba, is the largest, and It
begins as the river Chambezie, which
flows into the great lake Bangwalo, and
on leaving it Its name is changed from
Ohambezie TO Luapula, and that enters
Lake MoerO, and coming out OF it the
name LualGba Is. resumed, and 1t flows
into third lake, Kamolondo, which re.
ceives one Of the four large drains men.
toned above; 1t then flows on and makes
two enormous bends to the west, which
made me often fear that I was following
the Congo instead Of the Nile. Itis from
one to three miles broad, and meyer can
be waded at any part or time
of the year. Far down the valley re.
ceives another of the four large rivers
above mentioned, the Locke Or Lomame,
which flows through what have named
Lake Lincoln, and then joins the Central
LualabG.. We. have, then, only two lines
Of drainage in the lower part Of the great
valley, that is Tanganyika and Albert
Lake, which are but one lake or river, or
say, Ii you want to be pedantic, Lacrus.
tine river. These two form the eastern
line Of the Lualaba, which / call Webb's
LuAlaba, and Is, then, the western line
nearly as depicted by Ptolemy In the Sec
ond century Of era After the Lamame
enters the Lualaba, the fourth great lake
in the contral line Of the drainage is
found. But this l have not seen, nor yet
the link between the eastern and west
ern mains. At the top Of Ptolemy
Slope the great central line comes
down into large, reedy lakes, possibly
those reported to Nero,s Centurian and
those from Westa or, Fethericks Arm,
which Speeke and Grant and Baker be-
lieved TO be the river OF Egypt, neither
can be called the Nile until they unite.
The lakes mentioned in the central line
of drainage are by no means small. Lake
Bangwolo, at the lowest estimate is one
hundred and fifty miles, and l tried to
cross and measure its breadth exactly.
The first stage was an inhabited island,
twenty-four miles; the second stage could |
be seen from its highest point, or rather
the tops Of trees upon it, evidently lifted |
up by mirage; the third stage, the main.
land, was said to be as far beyond, but my |
canoe men had stolen canoe and they |
got hint that the real owners were in |
pursuit and got into furry to return, o |
that they would, but l had only my GOV.
erlet left 10 hire another craft |
and the lake being four hundred
Ieet above the sea, 1t was very cold, so
| gavo in and went back, but l believe |
its breadth TO be between 600 and 700
miles. Bongnolo Moero and Kamolondol
are looked on as one great riVerine lake
and is one of Ptolemy, the other is Tan
ganyika which found steadily flowing
to the north. This geographists prede. |
cessOrs must have Cleaned their geogra.
ply fromm who witnessed this very
region, the reason why his genuine geog-
raphy was rejected was the extreme mod. |
esty Of modern makers. One idle person
in London published a pamphlet, which,
with fitting modesty, he entitled, Inner
Africa Laid Open. And in newspapers,
even in the Times rails at anyone who
travels.and dares find country different
from that drawn in his twaddled. And |
the Times published his rawlings when l |
was most universally believed 10 be dead. |
Nobody but Lord Brougham and l know
what people vii! say after we are gone. |
The work OF trying 10 follow the central
lines Of drainage down has taken me
away from mails or postage. The Many.
ema are undoubtedly cannibals, but it was |
long before l could get conclusive evi.
dence thereon. Twas sorcly let and hin.
dOred by having half caste Moslem at |
tendants, unmitigated towards and false |
as their prophet, of whose, religion they |
have imbibed the flllsome pride. They |
forced me back when almost in sight Of |
the end Of my exploration, distance OF
between 400 or 500 miles, under vertical
sun. came here mere bundle Of bones, |
terribly jaded in body and mind. The
uedu Ludu VI luy WOEtuleSS MUSlemS re- |
mained here, and as he had done
from the coast, ran riot with the goods |
sent 10 me, drunk for a month at
time, Hethen OWNED on the Koran and |
found that l was dead, sold of all The |
goods for slaves, and every one for
himself fJRnd l arrived to find myself des.
titute Of everything except a few goods |
which, l left, in case OF need. Goods are
currency here, and l have TO wait TILL
other goods and other men arrive from
Zanzibar, When placed in charge of
my supply Of soap, brandy, opium and |
gunpowder from certain Banians, British
subjects, he was fourteen months return
ing all expenses being paid oat Of my
stock-three months were anple-and
then he remained here and sold of all. |
Vn, na1l tb;u pmart do vnup Soma do