The Nile Discovery.

THE NILE DISCOVERY .

The result of Mr . Baker's voyage up the Nile is noAv ( if Ave understand him ) the discovery of a new source . But what Mr . Baker has done in his adventurous journey is remarkable ; still it is only a matter of detail—the partial exploration of a great basin in the Nile course , far beloAV the

Victoria Nyanza , and Avhich Speke had already laid doAAm in his . map , under its native name of Liita Nzigc . This lake , AA'hich Mr . Baker proposes to call in future the Albert Nyanza—a change of name for Avhich we can see no reason—appears to be a part of the Nile , as Speke had described it ,

and not an independent feeder of that river . Speke masked it in his map as connected Avith the Nile , at a lower elevation ; the difference of level being caused b y the Karuma Falls , equal , perhaps , in grandeur to those of Niagara . The name of these falls Mr . Baker also proposes to change ;

substituting for the nati \ 'e name of Karuma that of a private English gentleman ; a suggestion in Avhich it is impossible that any geographers will be found to concur . The Liita Nzige has the same sort of relation to the Victoria Nyanza as Bienne has to Neufchatel , Thun to Brienz , and Ontario to Erie .

Mr . Baker ' s account of his travels is interesting , and Ave give the principal paragraphs in his OAVU words : — " After eighteen days' march I reached the Umg-Avished for lake , about 100 miles west of M'rooli , at Vacovia , in N . lat . 1 ° 14 ' . In respect for the

memory of our lamented Prince , I named it ( subject to Her Majesty ' s permission ) the' Albert Nyanza , ' as the second great source of the Nile—second , not in importance , but only in order of discovery to the Victoria Nile-head . The Victoria aud the Albert lakes are the indubitable parents of the river .

"The capital of Unyoro ( M ' rooli ) is situated at the junction of the Nile and Kafoor rivers , at an altitude of 3 , 202 feet above the sea level . I followed the Kafoor to lat . 1 " 12 ' N ., to avoid an impassable morass that runs from north to south . Upon rounding this I continued a direct Avesterly

course to the lake . The route throughout is Avooded , interspered Avith glades , thinly populated , with no game . My route ' lay over high ground to the north of a SAvampy valley running Avest ; the greatest elevation Avas 3 , 686 feet . The rocks Avere all gneiss , granite , and masses of iron ore , apparentlfused

y into a conglomerate Avith rounded quartz pebbles . "The Albert Lake is a vast basin lying in an abrupt depression , the cliffs , Avhich I descended by a difficult pass , being 1 , 470 feet above its level . The lake level is 2070 feetbeing 1132 feet lower

, , , than the Nile at M ' rooli ; accordingly the drainage of the country tends from east to west . From the hi gh ground above the lake no land is visible to the south and south-west ; but north-west and west is a large range of mountains , rising to about

7 , 000 feet above the lake level , forming the western shore , and running south-Avest parallel to the course of the lake . Both King Kamrasi and the natives assured me that the lake is known to extend into Rumanika's country to the Avest of Karagwe , but from that point , in about 1 ° 30 ' S . lat ., it turns

suddenly to the Avest , in which direction its extent is unknoAvn . In N . lat . 1 ° 14 ' , Avhere I reached the lake , it is about 60 miles wide , but the width increases southward , The Avater is deep , sweet , and transparent ; the shores are generally clean and free from reeds , forming a sandy beach .

" I navigated the lake in a canoe formed of a holloAV tree for thirteen days from Vacovia , arriving at Magungo , at the junction of the Nile with , the lake , in N . lat . 2 ° 16 ' . The voyage was long' , owing to the necessity of coasting , and to the heavy sea , AAdiichAvith a Avesterly wind , generally rose at

, 1 p . m . daily . " At the Nile junction the lake had contracted to a width of about 20 miles ; the shores were no longer clean , but vast masses of reeds , groAving in deep water , prevented the canoe from landing . Mountains had ceased on the eastern shoregiving

, place to hills about 500 feet high , which , instead of rising abruptly from the lake , like the mountains further south , were 5 or 6 miles distant , the ground descending in undulations to the lake . The entrance of the Nile is a broad channel of

deep but dead water , bounded on either side by vast banks of reeds . From this point the lake extends to the north-Avest for about 40 miles , and then turns to the Avest , contracting gradually ; extent uuknoAvn . " " About 20 miles north of the Nile junction at

Magungo , the river issues from the great reservoir , and continues its course to Gondokoro . " I went up the Nile in a canoe from the junction ; the natives Avould proceed no further north , OAving to thehostiletribes on the lake shores . About 10 miles from the junction the Nile channel

contracted to about 250 yards in Avidth , with little perceptible stream , very deep , and banked as usual Avith high reeds , the country on either side undulating and Avooded . The course from the junction up the river being east , at about 20 miles from Magungo , my voyage suddenly terminated ; a

stupendous Avaterfall of about 120 feet perpendicular height stopped all further progress . Above the great fall the river is suddenly confined between rocky hills , and it races through a gap , contracted from a grand stream of perhaps 200 yards width to a channel not exceeding 50 yards . Through this

gap it rushes with amazing rapidity , and plunges at one leap into a deep basin beloAV . " From that point I proceeded overland parallel Avith the river through Ohopi , and at length I reached Karuma , having been for some months completely disabled by fever , my quinine long

since exhausted . " Lake Albert Nyanza forms au immense basin far below the level of the adjacent country , and