The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, Samuel White Baker [inspirational novels .TXT] 📗

upon the road rather than

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