Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-12-12
THE NILE PROBLEM.
Stanley Appears to Have Finally Solved
the Last of Its Mysteries.

the Last of Its Mysteries.
New York Tribune
The text of Stanley's letter to Mr.. Mac
kinnon shows that he has succeeded in
| clearing up another, and apparently the
last, of the Nile mysteries His line of
retreat from the Albert Nyanza led direct
" toward Muta Nzige and thence south
easterly to the Victoria Nyanza His
march has enabled him to trace the con-
nection between the Albert Nyanza and
Muta Nzige, to which he has assigned the
name of Albert Edward Nyanza, and
| thus to locate definitely q second source
of the White Nile corresponding
to the Victoria Nyanza The Albert
Nyanza is practically a storage reservoir
into which are emptied the waters of the
Victoria Nyanza and the Albert Edward
| Nyanza. Each of the southern lakes
whose northern shores touch the equator
Is connected by tortuous outlets with the
| third lake whence flows the White Nile
toward Khartoum and the Blue Nile. As
the absence of any connection between
Lake Tanganylka and Muta Nzige has
been proved by Livingstone, Cameron
and Stanley himself, the sources of the
Nile are nowssindisputably ascertained.
| The Victoria Nyanza was first seen by
Captain Spoke in 1858, subsequently
identified by him in 1862 as one of the
sources of the Nile, and circumnavigated
and surveyed by Stanley in 1875 The
| Albert Nyanza was discovered In 1864 by
Sir Samuel Baker, who reached one of
way through Unyoro. He was induced by
the natives to believe that the lake
extended southwark for hundreds of
miles. He wrote letter to Livingstone
in 1873 asserting that Albert and Tang
anylka were undoubtedly one and the
same lake. Stanley in 1875, after ingrat-
iating himself in King Mtesas favor,
obtained an army of 1000 warriors to ac-
| company him as an escort from the Victor
| la Nyanza to the Albert Nyanza. After
marching without molestatiOn through
! UnyOrO and Gambaragara he reached an
arm of what he supposed to be the Albert
| Nyanza. To this he gave the name of
| Beatrice Gulf, and then retreated with his
army without making any explorations or
surveys. Mtesss s staggering general was
frightened by reports which ne received of
| signs Of resistance among the natives, and
| the explorer was compelled to return to the
| Nyanza, whence he passed rapidly with
his followers to Tanganylka and then des-
cended the Congo to the Atlantic On his
maps at that time Albert was represented
! as a long lake with Beatrice Gulf in the
| center. Gessi contradicted this speedily by
completing the survey of the Albert n yanza,
and showing that it only extended little
way beyond the point where Sir Samuel
Baker first caught sight of its waters; and
Captain Mason subsequently proved that
Beatrice Gulf was an arm of a separate
| lake known as Muta Nzige. Stanley in
| 1875 had not approached Albert Lake, but
an unknown body of water; ranking with
Victoria Lake in dignity as one of the
sources of the Nile.
| Emin explored the southern quarter of
Lake Albert In vain for a tributary con-
Meeting the second lake with it; but STAN
ley as he first approached the Nyanza at
| the end Of his terrible forest march clearly
| deserted the river stretching from the
| blue mountain like silver snake. That
| river he followed after reaching the lake
| the third time and learning of the i'm
prisonment of Emin and the disaster which
! had overtaken the Government of the
| Equatorial Provinces during his absence.
| 1t led him along the bases of snow capped
mountains until he reached the Equator
and Usongora and Unvampaka, and final
! stages of his fantastic march fourteen
years before with Mtesa's army. This
time he had leisure for completing the
work which he had set out to accomplish,
and one of the results of his southwark
march is the yielding up of the lost secret
of the old problem Of the source of the
Nile. This is only a meager compensa-
ton for the disastrous termination a year
ago of Emin's fortunes at Wadelai, of
which Stanley's letter gave the first decis-
i've account, for Osman Digna's report OF
that transaction after having been gener-
| ally discredited is now partly corroborated
by the explorer himself