New-York tribune., 1874-05-29
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

OF tss1 Trs;s
ises ls5L ,, d. wTs snGso ~ isT%erucno. wHv0OD
SLn. Two voL svo Harper Broshers
The history of African exploration ls essen
s.,v serial No chapter is complete In itse" Inc
Anins OF the discoveries made by the most saccessiu
traveller can rarely rasped without the ad OF suose
auent explorations. Thus Burton o'scoverea '"c u"'
,ouree OF the Nile when he discovered Lake Iahgahyka
nm, he had NO idea Tanganyika had any connection
Win the Nile system and 1t was not until Livingstone
hsd proved the lake had no outlet IN It's southern
half that the real value Of Burtons discovery was M
Aerstood So Spoke discovered In the Vctoria NY
ANA the source OF important tributary OF tue ME-
but he died before subsequent explorations had oiss
pated his he had found the only source OF the
great river Still more recently Baker discovered the
Albert Lake but did not dream that its waters mac M
ready washed the shores of Tsnganyika. And ~ on!
yesterday that Westminster Abbey received tne oou' "
the greatest African travellers. who neverneess ~
not read Alright meaning OF his own sra"uoe' ~'0
erv but misook the head Of the Congo Tor the
sources of the Nile. . -
The fact that as a rule, African geographical dis
eoyeres need the commentary OF subsequent expiora-
t,ons is conspicuousy shown nv the record OF the
explorations of the basin of the Bahr-elGazai-the
region described by Dr. schweinurth In the present
work This region was visited in 1859 by the brothers
Poncet three Frenehwen engaged in the ivory trade;
IN ,sso by another Frepchman, Vayssere the hunter
and in the year by the Marquis AntDer an Italian
explorer. In Mr.. Petherlck, nv
Kbsrtoum entered the Bahr-elGazai, and, marching
from the head OF the river In souherly direction
claims 10 have nearly reached the equator About the
same time the heroic Nile. Time penetrated the Bahr
elGazsl in steamer, only 10 be driven back oy the
fever with the loss of five ont Of the nine European
members of the expedition In 1865 Piaggia an Italian
made a Journey TO the south and west OF the Gazal,
which was in the degree credabe 20 his bravery
and energy; aud. finally, DR.. Georg schweinfurth
passed three years-from 1868 10 ls7l-n traversing
almost the entire region visited by his predecessors
shove named and extending the limits OF geographical
knowledge both toward the south and the west
Now ii might reasonably be supposed that the eight
travellers who had ascended the Bahre Gazal prior TO
Sch weinfurh would left him little to learn either
Of the country its people In point Of fact however
our knowledge Of the region was exceedingly small.
The Poncets occupied in the pursuit OF the ivory
trade, and vayssiere regarded Africa merely as an
eligible place in which 10 shoot lions. From none OF
them therefore, important scientific informa-
tion gained Neither the Marquis Antneri nor Mile.
Time penetrated far enough into the interior to add
materially 10 our geographical knowledge. Both
Petherick and Pag1a, on the other hand, might have
accomplished much had 1t not been for their mental
idiosyncracies Paggia, either willfuly or otherwise
failed TO distinguish between what he saw and what he
Imagined and as consequence his statements have
been comparatively valueless As for Mr. Petherick he
suffering the time of writing his book Of travels
from very substantial grievance. He had met Speke
and Grant Gondokero and the former had insulted
him. The stOFy-wmch is not necessarily dscreditable
TO either party-need not be rehearsed here but the
result of the diversity of views between speke and
Petheriek was that the latter could more keep the
former OF his book than Mr. Dick could keep King
Charles Of the Memorial aud what should have
teeD a valuable record OF xploraon became appeal
to the British public against spekes injurious estimate
OF Mr. Petheriek and the plain language in which that
estimate was expressed. So that in spite OF all that
Piaggia and Petherick had actually accomplished their
explorations Of little consequence until they had
been revised and corrected by the careful schwenfurth
"a traveller without guile or grievance.
DR. scbweufurth is enthusiastic lbotanist, and he
carried with him aud naturaized in Central Africa the
tomato and the suuAower His botanical discoveries,
however, of minor importance compared with the
additions which ho has made to our knowledge of the
geography and the ethnoogy of Africa. His geograpb
ealdscoveries may be briefly summarized as follows;
Leaving Kharouln early in January 1869. in company
with iyoryhuntng expedition sent out by Coptc
merchant schweniurth reached the mouth of the Bahr-
e-Gaza on the l2th of February, not without having
encountered much difficulty and delay in consequence
OF the floating vegetation which obstructed the naviga
OF the Nile. aud which later almost barred
the progress OF Bakers second expedition Entering the
aza he reached the head Of navigation on that river
ut the estimated distance OF 100 miles from its mouth on
the 22d OF the same month. During this voyage he
able rid himself Of all share in the popular mlsappre
bensioD which had led the Bahr-elGaza TO be ranked
large river second only 10 the BahfelAzreK among
the Nile tributaries. Strictly speaking it Is not river
Of all but broad and deep semtlacustrne chan
mel into which tue Bahr-elArab and the Bahr-elDyoor
empty. and which slowly conveys their waters TO the
White Nile OF these two tributaries OF the Gaza the
Bdhr-eArab which flows nearly west and east Is much
the largest and is still broad and deep stream 800
miles from its mouth. The BahrelDyoor, which flows
from the southwest rises about the eighth parallel Of
latitude and comparatively uDimp0rtant II is the
sluggish movement OF the current in the Gazal which
bad led manv traveers-speke and Baker among the
res-to underestimate ITS importance Its mouth is SO
ehoked with floating vegetation as 10 be hardly notice
able Nevertheless brings down an enormous volume
pi water and Schwenfgrth, VINO was not aware OF the
connection now generally conceded exist between the
Albert Lake and Lake Tangauyika, perhaps excus-
AIDE IN asserting il be the main stream OF the White
Nile and in degrading Bakers Nile TO the rank OF a
mere tributary
From the head Of the Gaza schwenfurth proceeded in
souhery direction through The territory OF the Bongo
TO land Of the mysterious NyamNyams the tailed
cannihals of African legend. In the neghborhOod OF
longitude 49, latitude 80 80, north, he passed the
watershed OF the Nie and found running west
ery the Of which could only be the Atlantic
possibly Lake Toad. Beyond all question these streams
had no connection whatever with the Nile system. 1t
unfortunate he does give the exact geographical
situation any locality visited by hun, and ms
readers therefore compelled 10 estimate tho latitude
and longitude OF any given locality from !he map accom-
panyng his book II is, however, sufficiently clear from
this map south of north latitude 40 3p the streams
Dow away from the Nile and that neighborhood
of the equator Blue Mountains by Baker on the
west shore of the Albert Lake the dividing line be-
tween the Of the Nile basin aud those OF the At
lantIc slope.
The bearing OF this faetthe OF the discovery OF
which is solely due TO schweinurth-upon LviuGstones
latest discoveries is easily perceived. schweinfurth
reached APPOINT within 80 80 Of the equator He was
here distant Ony about 45O miles from Lyingstone