The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-03
Jinga. Busoga

Jinga. Busoga. ~ TAND with me here on the cliffs at
 Jinga, in the land of Busoga, and A< 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 straight line we are farther from the Mediterranean than Salt Lake City is dis tant from New York, and that swift cur rent moving below us will wind it's way for about 4O0O miles before it washes the cities of Cairo and Alexandria It will pass through this protectorate will cross Albert Nyanza, and then, breaking it's way through the swamps of the Sudd, 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 survey ors claim that it can be traced clear across Victoria NyanZa to the mouth of the Kagera river in German east Africa. Indeed, some say that that river is the source of the Nile, but it is no more so than are the other rivers which flow into Victoria Nyanza. This mighty lake is the only real source. It gathers it's wa ters from many rivers and the Nile forms it's only outlet. Together with the river it has a basin from one-third to one-half the size of the whole United States, and the waters from that vast territory will all be gathered between the banks of the Nile before it reaches the sea.
 Ripon Falls.
 Looking down now from the wooded cliffs where we stand, we can see the be- ginning of the rapids and can hear the thunder of Ripon Falls, over which the flood pours a short distance away. We can walk there and we pick our way in and out through the woods along the cliffs, and finally stand at the edge of the falls. There are little islands in the channel, and the current pours over h three separate rivers, reminding one lit tie of our own Niagara, where the waters are parted by Goat Island.
 As at our American falls, the current is comparatively quiet above. but when it leaves these islands it drops down in boiling, bubblng, seething mass. The spray rises high into the air and falls back like rain on this tropical forest. 1t goes up in a mist and the dazzling sun of the equator paints rainbows in it. There are many fish in the lake and they often swim down the falls. We can see them juhp high out of the current, turning somersaults, as it were, as they go over the rocks. The woods are full of strange birds. There are cormorants and hawks, and one may sometimes see a whae-headed stork.
 E Where the Nile flows over the falls the channel is only about 1200 feet wide, and l understand that the rocky foundation is such that the lake can be easily damned The stream is deep and nar- row, and it passes on over a series of cataracts which continue almost 40 miles, During this distance it is so swift that boats cannot live in it. These waters of Victoria Nyanza rush onward with ter rible force and this continues until with in about 3@ miles of Lake Choga. Here the land is almost level and the lake is shallow and quiet. It has swamps filled with crocodiles and hippopotami, and the Nile flows peacefully through. It then goes onward trayersing this protectorate taking two other great jumps on it's way to Albert Nyanza. The first of these is at the Karuma Falls and the other at Murchison Falls, which is about 200 miles north of here. After that the current is comparatively smooth 70 Lake Albert
 A Mighty Electric Force.
 This description gives you but a faint idea of the electrical possibilities of the Nile away up here at it's source The British are surveying it and are esti- mating it's value as to the industrial de- velopnlent of the country. An English syndicate has a concession for the little island just under the falls, and it ex- poets to invest a half million dollars in establishing cotton factory here. There are big lumbermen who are exploiting the forests on both sides-of the Nile, who want power; and I am told that other parties are after concessions. The gov ernment is adverse to leasing power sta tions at the falls proper as it may be necessary to build dam here to regulate the outflow of the Nile. They do not ob-