The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-12-02
MYSTERY OF THE ONO.
G~eOEraphers and Explorers Are
Puzzled at the Course of an
African Stream.

of Abyssinia and flowing about Geo
miles to the southwest and south has
been the subject of more speculation
and contradictory evidence for II
years than any other stream in Africa.
The ONO river was known at its sources
and at a few points along It's course,
but the explorers who visited it and
the geogra> hers who reviewed their
work could not agree as to its destina-
ton. 1t was n geographical conuE-
drum. as the Congo and the Alger were
in the years when the hypothesis was
advanced that the Congo was probably
the lower part of the Niger. The truth
about the ONO river was discovered two
wears ago by one of the most unfortu-
nate expeditions that ever entered At
rica, and the two white survivors OF
the Inflated party, who said their lead
err and comrades had fallen under the
fire of n savage foe and who were held
captive until King Menelek secured
their release. have been able this fall.
with the aid of the records that were
recovered. to publish in Italy the story
of the second Bottego expedition and
a map of the ONO river.
Eleven years ago most mapmakers
believed that the problem of the ONO
river had beer solved, though the views
of the explorers were still widely di-
vergent. Count Teleki, Capt. Hohnel
and Mr.. Borelli maintained that the
river flowed far TO the southwest ana
emptied into Lake Rudolf. Other en-
plorcrs headed by DAbbadie, all of
whom had visited the river. thought
it was the upper course of the Sobat.
which flows into the Nile. 1t was evil
dent that Lake Rudolf. which is sub
ject to great evaporation, received a
large water supply from some source,
and this consideration led most cartog-
raphers to represent the ONO as a trib-
utary of hat lake at its northern end.
This hypothesis was in great favor
at the time when DR.. Donaldson Smith,
the American explorer, came home
with information and opinions that
again unsettled the question. He hat'
assembled the Nianam river, which emp
ties into the northern end of Lake Ru-
dolf, for 20 miles. He said it was Il
small stream and he thought it most
unlikely that it was the lower part Of
the large ONO river. Twenty miles
away he saw the mountains where he
believed the Nianam headed. and in
his opinion the ONO turned to the
southeast somewhere and became the
Jub river. which empties into the H.
dian ocean. DR.. Donaldson Smith did
much excellent geographical work on
this journey and some of the best map
makers accepted the new hypothesis
and showed the ONO as the upper part
of the Jub.
1t was left to the second Bottego eX-
petition TO trace the ONO from its
middle course to Lake Rudolf and prove
that Donaldson Smith was mistaken.
and that the Nianam was really the
lower course of the ONO. The incor-
rect impression of the American eX-
plorer was doubtless due chiefly TO the
fact that he saw the Nianam in the
No phase of African exploration has
given rise to SO many p~erpleNing ques-
lions as the rivers, many of which were
known in part many years before their
entire courses were revealed. But the
photography of the continent in all
its more important features is deter
mined at last satisfactorily.-N. Y. Sun.