What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile — John Shaqi
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
It is separated from the main body of Africa by the river Jub, a large
and fertilising stream, which, rising in the mountains of southern
Abyssinia, passes between the territories of the Gallas on the west
and the Somali on the east, and debouches in the Indian Ocean at the
northern extremity of the Zanzibar coast. According to Lieutenant
Cruttenden's map, there are only two other rivers besides this of any
consequence in the land,--the Webbe (river) Shebéli, or Haines river,
which is of considerable importance, having a large flow of water,
trending down a cultivable district of rich red soil, and another less
important to the eastward of these two, called very unfortunately by
him the Wadi[4] Nogal. The proper specific name for this river has
never, to my knowledge, been given; but the Jid Ali Tug is one of its
head branches. It rises in some small hills close overhanging the
north coast, and runs south-easterly into the Indian Ocean, dividing
two large territories, called Ugahden, or Haud, on the west, and Nogal
on the east, mouthing at Ras Ul Khylé. Ugahden is said to be a flat
grassy country, of red soil, almost stoneless, and having water
everywhere near the surface. It is considered by the pastoral Somali a
famous place for keeping cattle, of which by report they possess a
great abundance, such as camels, ponies, cows, and Dumba sheep--a
fat-tailed animal, like the Persian breed. Game also abounds in this
country, of which the gazelles and antelopes, I was assured, roamed
about in vast herds like sheep.
The Nogal country is the opposite of this, containing nothing of any
material value in it. The rock-formation is all lime, very pure and
white like marble, which consequently makes the soil white, and, being
very stony, it is almost barren. The Somali keep cattle here, but with
much apparent difficulty, being, from the scarcity of springs and want
of water, obliged to march about, following the last falls of rain, to
obtain fresh herbage for their cattle. My first and greater journey
gave me an insight into this portion of the interior of the country
south of Bunder Gori. It was very interesting, though not profitable,
from its never having been visited by any Europeans before. I observed
here two distinct leading features in its physical geography. The
first is a narrow hill-range, about 180 miles long and 20 or more
broad, which is occupied by two large tribes--the Warsingali on the
east, and a branch of the Habr Gerhajis on the west. It is situated at
an average distance of from 200 yards to three or four miles from the
sea-shore, separated from it by a sandy flat or maritime plain, and,
like the line of coast, extends from east to west. Immediately due
south of Bunder Gori, the sea-face, or northern slopes of this range,
are very steep and irregular, being trenched down by deep ravines,
which, during the rainy season, shed their water across the maritime
plain into the Gulf of Aden.
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