The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile - Samuel White Baker (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📗
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return defeated. Was it possible that it was so near, and that tomorrow
we could say, “the work is accomplished?”
The 14th March.—The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after
the guide, who, having been promised a double handful of beads on
arrival at the lake, had caught the enthusiasm of the moment. The day
broke beautifully clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the
hills, we toiled up the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The
glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me! There, like a sea of
quicksilver, lay far beneath the grand expanse of water,—a boundless
sea horizon on the south and southwest, glittering in the noonday sun;
and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles’ distance, blue mountains rose
from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7,000 feet above its
level.
It is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment;—here was the
reward for all our labour—for the years of tenacity with which we had
toiled through Africa. England had won the sources of the Nile! Long
before I reached this spot, I had arranged to give three cheers with all
our men in English style in honour of the discovery, but now that I
looked down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the very heart of
Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources
throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the humble
instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great mystery when
so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious to vent my
feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for
having guided and supported us through all dangers to the good end. I
was about 1,500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep
granite cliff upon those welcome waters—upon that vast reservoir
which nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was wilderness—
upon that great source so long hidden from mankind; that source of
bounty and of blessings to millions of human beings; and as one of the
greatest objects in nature, I determined to honour it with a great name.
As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious
Queen and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake “the
Albert N’yanza.” The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two Sources
of the Nile.
The zigzag path to descend to the lake was so steep and dangerous that
we were forced to leave our oxen with a guide, who was to take them to
Magungo and wait for our arrival. We commenced the descent of the steep
pass on foot. I led the way, grasping a stout bamboo. My wife in extreme
weakness tottered down the pass, supporting herself upon my shoulder,
and stopping to rest every twenty paces. After a toilsome descent of
about two hours, weak with years of fever, but for the moment
strengthened by success, we gained the level plain below the cliff. A
walk of about a mile through flat sandy meadows of fine turf
interspersed with trees and bush, brought us to the water’s edge. The
waves were rolling upon a white pebbly beach: I rushed into the lake,
and thirsty with heat and fatigue, with a heart full of gratitude, I
drank deeply from the Sources of the Nile. Within a quarter of a mile of
the lake was a fishing village named Vacovia, in which we now
established ourselves. Everything smelt of fish—and everything looked
like fishing; not the “gentle art” of England with rod and fly, but
harpoons were leaning against the huts, and lines almost as thick as the
little finger were hanging up to dry, to which were attached iron hooks
of a size that said much for the monsters of the Albert lake. On
entering the hut I found a prodigious quantity of tackle; the lines were
beautifully made of the fibre of the plantain stem, and were exceedingly
elastic, and well adapted to withstand the first rush of a heavy fish;
the hooks were very coarse, but well barbed, and varied in size from two
to six inches. A number of harpoons and floats for hippopotami were
arranged in good order, and the tout ensemble of the hut showed that the
owner was a sportsman.
The harpoons for hippopotami were precisely the same pattern as those
used by the Hamran Arabs on the Taka frontier of Abyssinia, having a
narrow blade of three-quarters of an inch in width, with only one barb.
The rope fitted to the harpoon was beautifully made of plantain fibre,
and the float was a huge piece of ambatch-wood about fifteen inches in
diameter. They speared the hippopotamus from canoes, and these large
floats were necessary to be easily distinguished in the rough waters of
the lake.
My men were perfectly astounded at the appearance of the lake. The
journey had been so long, and “hope deferred” had so completely sickened
their hearts, that they had long since disbelieved in the existence of
the lake, and they were persuaded that I was leading them to the sea.
They now looked at the lake with amazement—two of them had already
seen the sea at Alexandria, and they unhesitatingly declared that this
was the sea, but that it was not salt.
Vacovia was a miserable place, and the soil was so impregnated with
salt, that no cultivation was possible. Salt was the natural product of
the country; and the population were employed in its manufacture, which
constituted the business of the lake shores—being exchanged for
supplies from the interior. I went to examine the pits: these were about
six feet deep, from which was dug a black sandy mud that was placed in
large earthenware jars; these were supported upon frames, and mixed with
water, which filtering rapidly through small holes in the bottom, was
received in jars beneath: this water was again used with fresh mud until
it became a strong brine, when it was boiled and evaporated. The salt
was white, but very bitter. I imagine that it has been formed by the
decay of aquatic plants that have been washed ashore by the waves;
decomposing, they have formed a mud deposit, and much potash is combined
with the salt. The flat sandy meadow that extends from the lake for
about a mile to the foot of the precipitous cliffs of 1,500 feet,
appears to have formed at one period the bottom of the lake—in fact,
the flat land of Vacovia looks like a bay, as the mountain cliffs about
five miles south and north descend abruptly to the water, and the flat
is the bottom of a horseshoe formed by the cliffs. Were the level of the
lake fifteen feet higher, this flat would be flooded to the base of the
hills.
I procured a couple of kids from the chief of the village for some blue
beads, and having received an ox as a present from the headman of
Parkani in return for a number of beads and bracelets, I gave my men a
grand feast in honour of the discovery; I made them an address,
explaining to them how much trouble we should have been saved had my
whole party behaved well from the first commencement and trusted to my
guidance, as we should have arrived here twelve mouths ago; at the same
time I told them, that it was a greater honour to have achieved the task
with so small a force as thirteen men, and that as the lake was thus
happily reached, and Mrs. Baker was restored to health after so terrible
a danger, I should forgive them past offences and wipe out all that had
been noted against them in my journal. This delighted my people, who
ejaculated “El hamd el Illah!” (thank God!) and fell to immediately at
their beef.
At sunrise on the following morning I took the compass, and accompanied
by the chief of the village, my guide Rabonga, and the woman Bacheeta, I
went to the borders of the lake to survey the country. It was
beautifully clear, and with a powerful telescope I could distinguish two
large waterfalls that cleft the sides of the mountains on the opposite
shore. Although the outline of the mountains was distinct upon the
bright blue sky, and the dark shades upon their sides denoted deep
gorges, I could not distinguish other features than the two great falls,
which looked like threads of silver on the dark face of the mountains.
No base had been visible, even from an elevation of 1,500 feet above the
water level, on my first view of the lake, but the chain of lofty
mountains on the west appeared to rise suddenly from the water. This
appearance must have been due to the great distance, the base being
below the horizon, as dense columns of smoke were ascending apparently
from the surface of the water: this must have been produced by the
burning of prairies at the foot of the mountains. The chief assured me
that large canoes had been known to cross over from the other side, but
that it required four days and nights of hard rowing to accomplish the
voyage, and that many boats had been lost in the attempt. The canoes of
Unyoro were not adapted for so dangerous a journey; but the western
shore of the lake was comprised in the great kingdom of Malegga,
governed by King Kajoro, who possessed large canoes, and traded with
Kamrasi from a point opposite to Magungo, where the lake was contracted
to the width of one day’s voyage. He described Malegga as a very
powerful country, and of greater extent than either Unyora or Uganda.
… South of Malegga was a country named Tori, governed by a king of
the same name: beyond that country to the south on the western shore
no intelligence could be obtained from any one.
The lake was known to extend as far south as Karagwe; and the old story
was repeated, that Rumanika, the king of that country, was in the habit
of sending ivory-hunting parties to the lake at Utumbi, and that
formerly they had navigated the lake to Magungo. This was a curious
confirmation of the report given me by Speke at Gondokoro, who wrote:
“Rumanika is constantly in the habit of sending ivory-hunting parties to
Utumbi.”
The eastern shores of the lake were, from north to south, occupied by
Chopi, Unyoro, Uganda, Utumbi, and Karagwe: from the last point, which
could not be less than about two degrees south latitude, the lake was
reported to turn suddenly to the west, and to continue in that direction
for an unknown distance. North of Malegga, on the west of the lake, was
a small country called M’Caroli; then Koshi, on the west side of the
Nile at its exit from the lake; and on the east side of the Nile was the
Madi, opposite to Koshi. Both the guide and the chief of Vacovia
informed me that we should be taken by canoes to Magungo, to the point
at which the Somerset that we had left at Karuma joined the lake; but
that we could not ascend it, as it was a succession of cataracts the
whole way from Karuma until within a short distance of Magungo. The exit
of the Nile from the lake at Koshi was navigable for a considerable
distance, and canoes could descend the river as far as the Madi.
They both agreed that the level of the lake was never lower than at
present, and that it never rose higher than a mark upon the beach that
accounted for an increase of about four feet. The beach was perfectly
clean sand, upon which the waves rolled
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