DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4669#0152
THE ALBERT NYANZA 125
system, and thus formed together the basin of the
Nile. Thus the sources of the Nile, deemed for
thousands of years mysterious and inaccessible, have
been discovered by the devotion and courage of an
English lady and of Englishmen, who resolved to
accomplish the object, or to perish in the attempt,
a result by no means improbable either from fever,
accident, or hostile natives. We can imagine the
intense gratification experienced by Sir Samuel and
Lady Baker when they saw from the lofty mountain-
side, early on the morning of March 14, 1864,* the
huge lake stretching away far below them towards
the south, and the broad river flowing out from its
northern extremity! They descended from their
lofty elevation, and drank from the long-sought and
now first-discovered source of the Nile. These dis-
coveries established the hypothesis advanced by the
president, and reflected the greatest honour alike
upon him and upon those who had verified his
theory.
From the Albert Xyanza the river flows to the
north until it reaches Khartoum. Here it is joined by
the Blue Nile, which rises in the mountains of Abys-
sinia. The sources of the Blue Nile were discovered
by Bruce in 1770. The opinion at the time was that
Bruce had solved the mystery, but when it became
known that the White Nile was both large and broad
when it joined its waters with those of the Blue Nile
mar Khartoum, it was seen at once that one only of
the sources had been discovered. It is a very curious
fact that the ancient Egyptians represented the Nile
as proceeding from two sources by the figures of two
serpents front to front with water streaming from
* •• Albert Nyanza," vol. ii.
system, and thus formed together the basin of the
Nile. Thus the sources of the Nile, deemed for
thousands of years mysterious and inaccessible, have
been discovered by the devotion and courage of an
English lady and of Englishmen, who resolved to
accomplish the object, or to perish in the attempt,
a result by no means improbable either from fever,
accident, or hostile natives. We can imagine the
intense gratification experienced by Sir Samuel and
Lady Baker when they saw from the lofty mountain-
side, early on the morning of March 14, 1864,* the
huge lake stretching away far below them towards
the south, and the broad river flowing out from its
northern extremity! They descended from their
lofty elevation, and drank from the long-sought and
now first-discovered source of the Nile. These dis-
coveries established the hypothesis advanced by the
president, and reflected the greatest honour alike
upon him and upon those who had verified his
theory.
From the Albert Xyanza the river flows to the
north until it reaches Khartoum. Here it is joined by
the Blue Nile, which rises in the mountains of Abys-
sinia. The sources of the Blue Nile were discovered
by Bruce in 1770. The opinion at the time was that
Bruce had solved the mystery, but when it became
known that the White Nile was both large and broad
when it joined its waters with those of the Blue Nile
mar Khartoum, it was seen at once that one only of
the sources had been discovered. It is a very curious
fact that the ancient Egyptians represented the Nile
as proceeding from two sources by the figures of two
serpents front to front with water streaming from
* •• Albert Nyanza," vol. ii.