The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-10-10

fident that when the story Of this march to
the N'yanza is read he will take place in
public estimation worthy of the friend and
helper Of Livingstone as one of the most
skilful, daring and successful Of all modern
! travellers.
THE GREAT INLAND SEA
| His first letter describes the journey from
the Unyanyembe road to the N'yanza his
second comprises description of this splen-
did inland sea, written after voyage of
upward of 900 miles made round its shores
and upon it's surface. Geographers every
where will naturally burn with anxiety to
know what is the truth about that lake or
lakes the character of which was ever one
of the main problems of African research.
Spoke, the discoverer, with Grant, of the
| Victoria, always held the water to be one
and undivided. He saw an immense
extent of it from Muanza, and caught
once and again distant prospects of
it's western glitter as he journeyed
toward Uganda, while at the Ripon
Falls he once more beheld what he took
to be the same great lake from the north
ward. Livingstone, on the other hand, from
hearsay, judged the Victoria to consist of at
least five small bodies of water and this
idea, that it was made up of separate Iakelets
and could not be compared with the other
inland seas of Central Africa for size or
depth, has of late gained much ground
especially rs smaller sheets have been re-
| Gently found near it TO the north.
/ STUDDED WITH RICH ISLANDS.
| We must not anticipate the revelations of
Mr.. Stanleys second letter; but we can
venture to assure geographers that they have
deeply interesting matters in store for them
in the account of the Lady Alice sailing
upon these virgin waves, the slow unfolding
of the unvisited shores, and the discovery
of fair and rich islands of great size set
in the bosom of this queenly lake.
II will be found, too, we think, by the care
full and repeated observations which Mr..
Stanley trained himself to make before his
departure, that many ideas derived from
measurements too blindly accepted may have
to suffer doubt Stanley makes the Victoria
Nyanza much higher above the sea level than
Spoke, Just as Cameron corrected Burton and
Spoke about the altitude of Tanganyika 1t
is, at least, evident from these differences I
that no theory can be securely founded
upon isolated observations until verified,
and this has much significance for other
regions Of the map besides those of the
N'yanza
MAP OF THE VOYAGE.
Along with the very important letter de-
scribing the passage of the Lady Alice round
4 NJ IL
received sketch map of her voyage, which
included in it's ''periplus" visit to King
Mtesas capital in Uganda, close to the Vic
toria Nile. -
HE MEETS COLONEL LINANT DE BEILEFoNDs.
And here it appears our very successful
Commissioner met and spent some time with
Colonel Linant de Bellefonds, of Gordons
staff, but the communication describing this
happy encounter and portraying the north
ern shore of the lake has not lived along
with the others. 1t is probable that the
manuscript was committed to Colonel Cor
don's officer, and is now on its way to us
by the Upper Nile and Soudan, and it
will, no doubt, arrive to complete one
of the most profoundly interesting chap
revelation made by the narrative in the
two letters is sufficiently plain to remove
all doubts as to the character of the Vic
toria Lake, and the public and the geog-
raphers will see how generously King
Mtesa supplied our explorer with men and
boats, and how he returned to Usukuma
and his camp at Uchambi just in time to
4
the absent commander has always to dread
in African travel.
MARVELLOUS INCIDENTS.
There are, we may safely PROMISE all the
ingredients Of adventure in this double
narrative-arduous marching, fierce con-
ficts, perils by land and water, novel
scenery, marvellous reports Of regions peo-
pied by dwarfs and giants suppers made on
lions meat, stories Of breed of dogs as big
rs donkeys-in fact, food for every TASTE
with that one high charm Of travel which
fascinates universally picture Of
hidden world seen for the first time by him
who delineates the unvisited realms of
nature.
HOW THE LETTERS GAME.
Strange too, in itself must be considered
the manner in which this marked addition
to human knowledge comes to our hands
The letter whose contents will for the first
time unfold to science the true character Of
the magnificent and mysterious lake was
committed 70 the charge of one Sangoro, an
African trader, c6mfaG down to Unyanyembe
from the Nilotic waters, I'D thus these SCI
crets of geography have run double gaint-
let Of dangers, coming back through oil tbs
wildness and forest paths Of those Seven or
eight hundred miles. strapped in the cloth of
savage. Such are the contingencies Of
African travc5 where the hidden mystic