What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the NileSpeke, John Hanning
History
What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile
Speke, John Hanning
Horn of Africa -- Description and travel; Nile River; Tanganyika, Lake
We reached this river in early June, and found its appearance very
different from what it was on our former visit, at the beginning of
the monsoon. Then its waters were contained within its banks, of no
considerable width; but now, although the rains had ceased here long
ago, the river had not only overflowed its banks, but had submerged
nearly all the valley in which it lies to the extent at least of a
mile or more. The rains about 5° south latitude had just lasted out
the six months during which the sun was in the south; and now, as the
sun had gone north, the rains had gone there also. This was a very
important fact, by which the rise of the Nile on the other side of the
axis of this mountain-group might be determined, proving, as it does,
that whilst rain falls most wherever the sun is vertical, it is
greatly augmented on the equatorial regions by these mountains, where
also, as our maps show, is the rainy zone of the world.
After crossing the river, we hurried along by a more southernly and
straighter road than we formerly came by, and reached Kazé towards the
latter end of June. Here Sheikh Snay received us with his usual
genuine hospitality, arranged a house especially for our use, and with
him we again established our headquarters. This man, when we were
formerly detained here to form our second caravan on our journey
westwards, housed us, and carefully attended to our wants. He took
charge of our kit, provided us with porters, and finally became our
agent. Living with him, surrounded by an Arab community, felt like
living in a civilised land; for the Arab's manners and society are as
pleasant and respectable as can be found in any Oriental family. Snay
had travelled as much as, or more than, any person in this land; and
from being a shrewd and intelligent inquirer, knew everybody and
everything. It was from his mouth, on our former visit to Kazé, that I
first heard of the N'yanza, or, as he called it, the Ukéréwé Sea; and
then, too, I first proposed that we should go to it instead of
journeying westward to the smaller waters of Ujiji. He had travelled
up its western flank to Kibuga, the capital of the kingdom of Uganda,
and had in his employ men who had lived and traded in Usoga. Snay,
narrating his own experiences, said to me, "I was once three years
absent on a visit to King Sunna, at his capital (Kibuga) in the Uganda
kingdom, occupied by a tribe called Waganda. Starting from Kazé, it
took me thirty-five marches to reach Kitangulé (bearing N.N.W.), and
twenty more marches going northwards, with the morning sun a little on
my right face (probably north by east), to arrive at Kibuga. The only
people that gave me any trouble on the way are the Wasui, situate at
the beginning of the Karagué kingdom; but that was only trifling, as
they did not fight, and lasted but three or four marches. The Karagué
kingdom (a mountainous tract of land, containing several high spurs of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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