The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-27
ON The BLUE NILE
Mr.. Mcmillan, an American, Will
Attempt Again to AS
cend It.
A Seventy Foot Launch Will Await
Party at observation-disclosures
Experiences.
Boston Transcript.

Boston Transcript.
So Mr.. Macmillan will try again.
Next December that doughty Ameri-
can explorer will renew his attempts
to navigate the thousand miles Of
waterway of the Bl:le Nile in order to
ascertain its pracJcability as trade
route thru the Analo-E Egyptian sphere.
Mrs MACMILLAN is to go with him; also
Colonel Harrington, British resident at
Ads Abeba; Mr.. Bulpit, a doctor a.
naturalist and three white servants.
As a seventy-fve-foot light-draught
steam launch will await the party at
Khartoum, the Cosmopolitan trusts
that the frightful mishaps of the for
mer expedition will not be repeated.
Those mishaps are here detailed in Mr..
MacMillan's own words:
On the Blue Nile.
after leaving the capital, our ex-
petition, which was now joined by DR..
Koriander of the Russian medical mis-
sion, marched to Kutia, on the Blue
Mile. There we halted for six days
while the boats We're put together.
At in the morning our flotilla of four
steel punts, each having one steersman
and five paddlers, commenced the
journey. For seven hours our heavily
laden craft encountered one set of
rapids after another. The river varied
from 60 yards to $50 yards in width,
and ran thru a deep ravine with noun
famous banks. In many places the
water was alive with crocodiles and
hippos. At o'clock in the afternoon
we came to the set of rapids where
we We're wrecked. The punts We're
between 400 and 500 yards apart, and
the leading boat got thru all right. but
the next punt, rushing over the rocks
struck and sank instantly in twenty
feet of water. The occupants, how
ever succeeded in swimming thru the
turbulent water and safely reached the
banks, thirty yards distant. The third
punt met with great difficulties, and
| touched the rocks. almost filling with
water. I told the paddlers to pull for
all they were worth, and so we sue
ceeded in reaching the banks just as
the punt was at the point of sinking.
The fourth punt, coming along behind,
went down with all hands, all of whom
| got safely ashore except one SOmali,
who foated down on an inflated skin
and was picked up at the bottom of
the rapid. To proceed was now out
| of the question. All our ammunition
had gone, together with most of our
guns, while 80 per cent of our food
was in the two punts at the bottom
| of the water.
49, In Sorry Plight.
I'VE encamped on the rocky banks
in a sorry plight, for our food consisted
| VI oilC I'LL VI pASSoAIS dlIO ooHlC ~ e
served ginger. We succeeded in put
ting up our tent. but that night q
hurricane sprang up, and our tent
was in continual danger of being car
ried away. We spent a miserable
| time, but at last got to sleep, only tC
be aroused at in the morning by the
wild screams of one Of our people
a Somali-who had been seized by q
big crocodile which had crawled ur
the rocks. The brute had seized his
victim by the head, and dragged hin
to the waters edge. BY throwing
! stones at the crocodile we succeeded
i In making him leave the Somali, who
I althO terribly mauled, eventually re-
| covered. After remaining for two
/ days, we started on the way back tt
I the capital, and had not gone far be
fore smallpox broke out in the cara
aEyan. After seven days march we ar
lrived at Ads Abeba, where we spent
;5IWeek. l again saw the emperor ant
Y obtained his permission to once NOR
4 attempt to navigate the Blue Nile. H
a promised every assistance, but agai1
advised me to abandon the idea. w
now marched back to the head Of tn
railway,