The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, And Explorations of the Nile SourcesBaker, Samuel White, Sir
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The Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile, And Explorations of the Nile Sources
Baker, Samuel White, Sir
Albert, Lake (Congo and Uganda); Nile River; Sudan
"Marched, 6h. 20m., reaching the Somerset river, or Victoria White Nile.
I never made so tedious a journey, owing to the delays of grass,
streams, and deep swamps, but since we gained the forest these obstacles
were not so numerous. Many tracks of elephants, rhinoceros, and
buffaloes; but we saw nothing. Halted about eighty feet above the river;
altitude above sea level, by observation, 3,864 ft. I went to the river
to see if the other side was inhabited; saw two villages on an island;
the natives came across in a canoe, bringing the BROTHER OF RIONGA with
them; the guide, as I had feared during the journey, has deceived us,
and taken us direct to Rionga's country. On the north side the river all
is uninhabited forest, full of buffalo and elephant pitfalls, into which
three of our cattle have already fallen, including my beautiful riding
ox, which is thus so sprained as to be rendered useless. "The natives at
first supposed we were Mahommed Wat-el-Mek's people, but finding their
mistake they would give no information, merely saying that the lake was
not far from here. They said 'they were friends of Mahommed's people who
attacked Kamrasi, and Rionga being his enemy became their ally.' I must
now be very careful, lest the news should reach Kamrasi that I am in
Rionga's country, which would cut off all chance of travelling in
Unyoro. "The slave woman, Bacheeta, secretly instructed the guide to
lead us to Rionga instead of to Kamrasi, precisely as I had suspected.
The Karuma Falls are a day's march east of this, at which point we must
cross the river. Obtained a clear observation of Capella, meridian
altitude showing latitude 2 degrees 18 minutes N."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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