Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/549

NILE 505 considerable islands such as Usuguru, and, at the head of Napoleon Channel, Uvuma, famous for the canoe contest waged between its inhabitants and King Mtesa of Uganda, of which Mr Stanley was spectator. Ugingo, on the east coast, is a large island separated like Ukerewe by a narrow channel from the mainland. Though when its extent is taken into account Victoria Nyanza may be described as shallow in contrast to such basins as those of Tanganyika, the depth, especially on the eastern side, appears to be very considerable, Stanley giving 275 and even 580 feet not far from the shore. Of the affluents of the lake a few only require to be mentioned. The Shimiyu, which falls into the south side of Speke Gulf, was described by Stanley (March 1875) as a magnificent flood a mile wide receiving the waters of the Monangah, the Luwamberri, and the Duma, and having a course of 300 miles. If this were the case it would take the southmost point of the Nile system as far at least as between 4 and 5 S. lat. But when Lieutenant Shergold Smith saw the Shimiyu in 1876 he found it a comparatively insignificant stream, and if the altitudes observed by Smith and Pearson be correct it cannot be the recipient of the Luwamberri and the Monangah. Instead of the Shimiyu, either the AVami (or Kiye) or the Muinguira (Isanga or Isanda), both of which flow into Jordans Creek, 1 may be the southmost feeder of the Nile. Of much more importance as a tributary than any of these is the Kagera (of the Waganda), otherwise known as the Kitangule, Kitangure (Burton), Tengure (Grant), or Alexandra Nile (Stanley), a river 450 feet wide and 85 feet deep at its mouth, with a strong current, apparently pouring into the lake more water than is carried off by the Nile. It may be navigated for about 50 miles, and is believed to have its sources between 200 and 300 miles to the south-west. There are several lakes along its course Lake Windermere, Lake Thema, and the larger Lake Alexandra not yet reached by Europeans. The leading fact in regard to the position of Victoria Nyanza in the general hydrography of Central Africa is that by none of its affluents is it connected with any of the other great " equatorial " lakes. Tanganyika 2 lies in a trough about 1400 feet lower. Between the Victoria and Lake Nyassa (Zambesi system) there is a stretch of 500 miles ; and, though a large lake, part of which Stanley saw in 1876, and named Gulf Beatrice, lies to the west, it forms in all probability a distinct basin. Ripon In 1875 Stanley proved that the only outflow from Falls. Victoria Nyanza was by the Ripon Falls on the north side of the lake. These falls (named after Earl de Grey and Ripon, president of the Royal Geographical Society in 1859) were discovered July 28, 1862, by Captain Speke, but from native accounts he was led to believe that other streams (such as the Luajerri) issued from the lake. The Nile, as it drops about 1 2 feet over the rocks, has a breadth of 400 to 500 feet, divided into several sections by a number of wooded isles. For the next 300 miles the Victoria Nile or Somerset River, as this section is called, has all the character of a mountain stream racing swiftly along a rocky channel often walled in by cliffs (at times 180 feet high) and broken by picturesque islands and countless rapids. At first for 117 miles its course is north-north west, but reaching the Khor Kafu (on which Mruli stands), about 1 38 N. lat. and 32 20 E. long., it takes the north-east direction of this channel, and it is not till 2 N. lat. that it again turns north-west towards the Albert Nyanza. About 52 miles below the Ripon Falls, Long, who in 1874 boated from UVondogani to Foweira, describes himself as having passed through a lake 20 to 25 miles 1 Named not after the Jordan, but after Speke s country-house, Jordans, in Somersetshire. 2 Tanganyika level is 2610 feet according to Joseph Thomson. broad ; but this expanse, which appears in text-books and maps (sometimes as two lakes, Kaja and Ibrahim Lakes), may have been the result of a mere temporary overflow. At Karuma, below Foweira, the river falls over a wall-like ledge of rock 5 feet high which extends right across its bed. But the great feature of the Victoria Nile is the Murchison Fall, about 2 18 N. lat. and 31 50 E. long., MurcM- where the river rages furiously through a rock-bound pass, son Ful1 - and plunges at one leap of about 120 feet into a gloomy abyss. Below this point, continuing between steep forest- covered hills, it gradually calms down into a stream so slow and steady that at certain seasons it is only from the scarcely perceptible drifting of the little green water-plants, called Pistia Stratiotes, 3 that the flow can be observed. About 20 or 25 miles below the fall it enters the north end of the Albert Nyanza. This lake 4 was first reached by Baker on March 14, 1864, Albert near Vacovia on the east coast, a small village of fisher- Nyanza men and salt-makers. From a granitic cliff 1500 feet above the water he looked out over a boundless horizon on the south and south-west, and towards the west descried at a distance of 50 or 60 miles, blue mountains about 7000 feet high. 5 The Albert Nyanza was consequently entered on Ids map as a vast lake extending from 2 S. lat. to 2 50 N. lat., or a distance of about 380 miles. But the circumnavigation of the lake by Gessi Pasha (1876), Mason Bey, and Dr Emin Bey leaves no doubt that its real dimensions are length 97 miles, average breadth 22 miles, and area about 2000 square miles. The western shore is in its northern half overhung by lofty and precipitous mountains, but farther south is formed by a wide forest-clad plain. At the south end the water is very shallow and encumbered by a vast stretch of ambatch forest. Instead of the lake being, as Baker contended, one of the great sources of the Nile, its functions are those of a large backwater. Of course a considerable amount of drainage must reach it from the surrounding high grounds, though the lakeward slopes are not very extensive ; but none of its tributaries appear to be of much importance as feeders of the main stream. Along the western shore the depth is from 15 to 20 feet. Escaping by an island-studded channel from the north- Bahr west corner of the Albert Nyanza, the Nile, which now a l- Jebel - takes the name of Bahr al-Jebel, or River of the Mountains, continues to flow in a general northward direction. From Magungo to Dufile (Dufli), 128 miles, its course is wonder fully smooth, and forms a series of lake-like reaches. Below Dufile the high lands close in upon the river, which, from a width of a mile at Dufile, narrows to 400 or 500 yards, and rushes through a gorge. Near Mugi (50 miles below Dufile) are the formidable Yarborah rapids. From Kiri (Kerrie) an Egyptian fort on an eminence 1500 feet high on the left bank the river is again navigable, but flows with so strong a current that Mr Felkin s boat took only three and a half hours to reach Bedden, a distance of some 30 miles. At Bedden a line of hills runs right athwart the channel, which is divided by an island of great beauty. An iron rope ferry was established by Gordon at this point, and without it the river could not be crossed. Between Bedden and Rejaf (12 miles) the hills give place to park-like plains dotted with large trees. About 15 miles below Rejaf, Gondokoro is passed on the right hand, and there the traveller may still see the ruins of the old mission church, the earthworks of Baker s camp, 3 Pistia, Stratiotes is characteristic of the Bahr al-Jebel. It is found drifting far down the White Nile, but, according to Steudner, does not occur in the Bahr al-Ghazal. 4 Otherwise known ^as the Mwutan Nzige (Locust Lake) and the Luta Nzige (Dead Locust). 5 The descriptive phrase "blue mountains " has since been converted into a geographical name. "Blue Mountains." XVII. - 64