Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-01-15
SOURCES OF THE NILE,

An Ex.COnfedsiate Omeer Claims 10
Have Discovered Them.
It was an American who found the long
lost and vainly-sought Livingstone, and it
now appears pretty certain that an Ameri-
can has actually discovered the real sources
OF the Nile. AT any rate, he is the first
white man who has sailed on the waters of
the Victoria Nyanza. Col. Long, Mary
lander, in the service of the Khedive Of
Egypt, in July last obtained permission
OF the native tribes among whom he was
jOurneying to visit the Victoria Lake,
which lies on the equator, in longitude 81,
east. 1t was known TO be quite large, and
has been thought by some to be the true
| source of the Nile. A stream flows out of
II in northerly direction, which had been
traced as far as Urondogani, but no further.
A river flowed from the Victoria, it was
supposed, into the Albert Nyanza, but The
natives would not suffer Capt. Speke to test
the truth of the belief. Col. Long was
more fortunate. We find in a Cairo letter
to the Nel0 York Times the following &C
count of his discoveries:
He was escorted on the lake by thirty
canoes, each propelled by forty paddlers-
an escort Of 1,200 savages. The canoes are
described as much resembling the great
canoes Of the Northwestern American In
dians; they are beautifully shaped, but are
dug or burned out of a solid trunk. The
Colonel remained thirty-s.x hours on the
lake, which ne describes as not wide, not
to exceed twelve or twenty miles in the
widest part. Its water is pure and fresh,
and in his feverish state it was delicious to
drink. There were no signs of tides, and
no shell-fsh.
The Colonel was rowed around to the
outlet, and endeavored to sail into the
river near what is known as RipOn Falls,
but the natives were superstitiOus and
would not 60, saying that they were afraid
Of the spirits there. BE therefore made
bis way by land to the stream at UrOndOg-
ami, near the Falls Of Izamba. On the
way he was robbed BY the people sent to
take care Of him, and after he embarked on
the river, and only one day from UrondOg-
ami, be was deserted by all the chiefs and
people who formed his escort. However.
the left him two canoes, and the plucly ex-
plorer continued on in them, with two
soldiers, two servants, and three children
the presence of the children is not ex-
planned.
Sailing down the stream, in latitude l
deg. so min, he discovered a large lake, in
which he got lost in a storm. and upon get
ting out Of it he made his way in the river
which runs into Lake Albert as far as
MroOli, where he was attacked by a large
party Of Keba Rega's men The size Of
this lake is not mentioned in the reports l
have yet had access to, and probably the
storm prevented the explorer from deter
mining II; but | understand that il seemed
to be at least twenty-five miles long.
Lieut.. Col. Long begins his report to
Gen. Gordon, dated at FOWeira, Sept. 3,
1874, by saying that On the morning of the
18th Of August he accomplished the navi-
CATION Of the Nile from UrOndOgani to
Uganda, "a navigation made for the first
time), and that he has discovered an I'M
mense basin-a lake-the true source Of
the Nile o. which delayed him aud also
prolonged his route"
Mr.. A. S. SOUthworth, who appears to be |
an expert in African geographical science,
thus sums up the results of Col. Longs |
as far as they are yet ascer- |
tanned:
What has he accomplished? l. He is |
the first white man who has ever visited |
Victoria Nyanza in moving from the delta |
up the river. Spoke and Grant entered |
Africa by way Of Zanzibar, and, instead Of 1
tracing the river from its delta to its 1
sources, followed it from what they con-
sidered its sources TO Cairo and Alexan- |
dria.
2. His claim to the name of discoverer
Of the sources Of the Nile is contained in /
the following language, published in a let
ter to the Herald, dated KhartOun, Nov. 9: 1
''In latitude 1 deg. 80 min. north, Col. /
Long entered a great lake, at least from |
twenty to twenty-five miles wide, a reser-
vOir Of the waters Of the Lake Victoria /
NyanZa and that great watershed, the /
plateau running southwark. Col Long
claims it to be the real source Of the Nile"
With this scant information no positive /
judgment can be given, but that Col. Long /
has contributed very valuable geographical
is undeniable. Sir Samuel |
Baker has called his lake-the Albert
n yanza-a'the great basin Of the Nile"
that if other sources were cut
off or dried up, the Nile would flow on for
ever. Bruce went to his grave believing
that the fountains of the Blue Nile, which
be discoTered in the last century,
bad disposed of the mysterious
problem. Livingstone ended his memorable
days in the conviction that his Lualsba
would ultimately settle the whole question;
and to support this conclusion he brought
The curious and seemingly overwhelming
testimony of HerOdOtus. But the recent |
explorations of Lieut.. Cameron, published
IN the Times, 60 far toward proving
hat Livingstone was wrong, and that
really he spent the last year Of his life
near the head-waters of the Congo. Lieut..
Cameron has found that the debatable Lake
which Baker thought was a
portion of his Albert Nyanza, is the reservoir
Of river flowing toward the Atlantic Ocean,
which river he assumes to be the Congo.
This fact dispOses of one of the most per-
llexing elements of discussion, leaving the
air presumption that in the two lakes, the
Albert and Victoria Nyanzas, or in their
may be found the true source
# the Nile. If this be true, then Col.
Long deserves quite as much credit as
Speke, Grant, Baker, Burton or Living
tone.