The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-05-03
|GREAT R|PON FALLS
| At HEAD OF NILE
Frank G. Carpenter Describes the
Source OF the Nile at Ma
poleon Gulf.
How MIGHTY RIVER BEGINS
Forty Miles Of Rapids and
Their Electrical Posi-
bilities.
low MIGHTY RIVER BEGINS
BY FRANK G., CARPENTER.

JlHSd. buSOSd.
Stand with me here on the cliffs at
5Jinga. in the land Of Busoga, and take
a. look at the source of the Nile. We
are within few miles of the equator,
at the head of Napoleon Gulf, on the
northern end of Lake Victoria. In a
straight line we are farther from the
Mediterranean than Salt Lake City is
distant from New York. and that swift
current moving below us will wind its
way for about 1000 miles before 1t
washes the cities of Cairo and Alex
andria. 1t will pass through this pro-
tectorate. Will cross Albert Nyanza, and
then, breaking its way through the
swa mps of the Sud-. will go on through
the half-desert Sudan and water the
dry lands of Egypt.
Notice how fast the current is here
at the start. It was perceptible as
We came In by boat from Entebbe, and
the surveyors claim that it can be
traced clear across Victoria Nyanza to
the mouth OF the Kegera River. in Ger
man East Africa.
!, Indeed deed some say that that river is
so than are the other rivers which flow
lake is the only. real source. It gath
e eI, It's is, waters from many rivers. and
gether with the river. 1t has n basin
from one third to one-half the size of
the whole United States. and the waters
from n ar that vast territory will all be
Nile before 1T reaches the sea.
Ripon Falls.
Looking down now from the wooded
cliffs where We stand we can see the
beginning Of the rapids and can hear
the thunder of Ripon Falls. over which
We can walk there, and ' we pick i;
our way In and out through the woods
along. the cliffs, and finally stand at
Islands In the channel and the current
pours over In three separate rivers.
reminding one a little OF our own
Niagara, where the waters are parted
by Goat Island,
rent Is comparatively quiet above. but
when 1t leaves these islands 1t drops
down In a boiling, ,bubbling, seethlng
air and falls back like rain on this
tropical forest. 1t goes up in mist
and the dazzling sun Of the equator
down the falls. We can see them Jump
high out Of the current, turning somer-
saults, as 1t were, as they SO over
strange birds. There are cormorants
and hawks, and one may sometimes
see a whale-headed storle. /
Where the Nile flows over the falls
vide. and / understand that the the rocky s;
Foundation is such that the lake can
be easily Manned. The stream is deep
and narrow, and It passes on over a
nspfs Of ] WsR 99nnaa a
1t Is so swift that boats cannot live
In 1t, These waters of Victoria Nyan-
"a rush onward with a terrible force,
and this continues until within about
thirty miles of Lake Choga. Here the
land Is almost level and the lake Is
shallow and quiet. It has swamps filled
with erocodiles and hippopotami. and
the Nile flows peacefully through. It
then goes onward traVersing this pro-
tectorate, taking two other great jumps
OF these Is at the Karuma Falls and
the other al Murchison Falls, which Is
about 200 miles north of here After
that the current is comparatively
smooth to Lake Albert.
\ Mighty Electric Force.
This description gives. YOU but a
faint idea of the electrical possibilities
(Conti1U14 on Last Page.)