It was the evening of the 5th of May, 1865, when Sir Samuel and Lady Baker entered Khartûm, to be welcomed by the whole European population as if they had risen from the dead. On the 1st of July they left it for Berber. In making the passage of the Cataracts they narrowly escaped shipwreck; their boat, as it sped along under full sail before a high gale of wind, struck broadside upon a sandbank. About sixty yards below rose a ridge of rocks on which it seemed certain that the vessel would be driven, if it cleared the bank; so that to avoid Scylla was to rush into Charybdis. Sir Samuel, however, proved equal to the occasion. An anchor was laid up stream; the crew hauled on the cable, and the great force of the current pressing against the vessels’ broadside, she wore gradually round. All hands then laboured to clear away the sand, which, when loosened by their hands and feet, the swift full current rapidly carried away. For five hours they remained in this position, with the boat cracking, and half filled with water; however, a channel was opened at last, and slipping the cable, Sir Samuel hoisted sail, and with the velocity of an arrow, the head of the vessel swung round, and away she went, plunging through the swirling, boiling water, and clearing the rocks by a few inches. They arrived at Berber, and procuring camels, started east for Souakim on the Red Sea, a distance of two hundred and seventy-five miles. There they obtained passage on board an Egyptian Government steamer, and in five days landed at Suez. Here ends the record of their heroic enterprise. {404} INDEX. A A’damáwa, 116; capital of 119 Africa, exploration in, 365, 366 Agadez, 97; customs of inhabitants of, 98 Alatou Mountains, the, 222, 225, 227 Albert Nyanza, the, 391–393 Aliyú, the Emir, 135 Altai, lakes of the, 193 Altin-Kool, Lake, 195 Alty-Kuduk, camp of, 277 American camp at Valverde, 70 American trapper, an, 71 Amu-Daria, the, 278, 350, 351 Ara, river, the, 226 Aral, Lake or Sea of, 343 Arkansas valley, 80 Asben, Mount, 96 Asua, river, 384 Atado, town of, 386 Atkinson, Thomas Witlam, travels in Siberia and Central Asia, 157–228 Australia, sketch of discovery in, 293–295 B Bacsi, the, enchantments of, 29 Badakshan, the river, 14 Badámuni, 130 Bielouka Mountains, the, 206 Bagara Arabs, the, 382 Bagirmi, 121 Bagma, 116 Baikal Lake, 228 Baker, Sir Samuel and Lady, discover the Albert Nyanza, 238 Baker, Lady, illness of, 390–392 Baker, Sir Samuel, travels in Africa, 365–404 Barnaoul, mines of, 186 Barth, Dr., African travels of, 90–156 Bear, adventure with a, 189 Beaver-trapping, 79 Bénuwé, the river, 118 Berber, 403 Boiling Spring River, legend of, 84 Bokhara, 323 Bornú, 105; capital of, 106 Bronze-wing pigeon, the, 305, 306 Búdduma, or African Lake pirates, 110 Bull-tailing, Mexican sport of, described, 57