Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-08-05
SOURCES OF THE NILE.
The Mystery of the Niles Head-Water
Not Yet Entirely Dispelied.

Not Yet Entirely Dispelied.
The notion is quite prevalent that the
explorations of the past twenty-five
years have completely solved the prob.
lem of the sources of the Nile. The
fact is, however, that the mystery of the
Niles headwaters is not yet entirely dis
PEELED. We have fuller knowledge
to-day of that later problem, the sources
of the Congo, than of the interesting
question that baffied geographers fol
ages until Spoke partially solved it.
Lakes Victoria and Albert Nyanzs
were discovered respectively by Spoke
and Sir Samuel Baker, and for years
these great sheets of water appeared on
the maps as the twin sources of the Nile
In 1876 Gessi Pasha, one of General
GordOn's assistants. circumnavigated
Albert Nyanza in a steam launch. The
dense aquatic vegetation at the southern
end prevented him from reaching the
shore, but from his masthead he could
see no river, and during his journey he
did not discover a single important
tributary. From his voyage dated the
notion that Albert Nyanza is not a
source, but only backwater of the
Nile, into which the river pours merely
to emerge again little further north.
In the same year Stanley. travelling
due west from the north end of Victoria
Nyanza. reached large lake, which he
supposed to be Lake Albert, not know
ing that Gessi had fixed the southern
limit of that sheet of water. This lake
is believed from native information to
Ia oh
long and to cover about five thousand
square miles. It's north end, a little
north of the equator, is supposed to be
sixty to eighty miles south of Albert
Nyanza. Its native name is Mgta
Nzige.
4 Year later Albert Nyanza was ex-
plored second time by Mason Bey,
who. reaching the south shore, made 4
very important discovery that had es-
capped Gessi Pasha. He found river
coming from the south about one thou
sand feet in width. reddish in color,
which poured its sluggish stream into
Albert Nyanza. Neither this river nor
Muta Nzige has yet been explored, and
geographerS are divided in opinion as
to whether the large lake feeds the Nile
or the Congo.
The question has some political as
we'll as geographical interest, for the
Berlin conference last year agreed that
the northeast limit of the Congo Free
State should be the water parting be-
tween the Congo and the Nile systems.
If Muta Nzige feeds the Nile, a theory
that is supported by the best geograph-
icaI authority on several excellent
grounds, a large region tributary to the
lake can not, as at present. figure much
longer on the map of the Congo State.
Stanley argues that Muta Nzige must
empty into the Congo. because, in his
opinion, the Lira and Lulu, tributaries
of that river, have not space enough,
without the help of this lake, to collect
their large volume of water. 1t can be
said, however, that without the lake
they have as much drainage area as
some other important African rivers
possess. Without cnumerating here
the many reasons for believing that
Muta Nzige is one of the sources of the
Nile, it may be mentioned that it is very
difficult to explain how it is that the
Nile energies from Albert Nyanza with
nearly double the volume of water il
pours into it, unless that small lake is
connected with the far more important
source of supply just little south of it.
There can hardly fail to be an ample
supply of volunteers for African ex,
ploration service as long as there is
light still to be shed upon SO interesting
problem us the sources of the Nile
n. Y. San.