Albert N'Yanza, Great Basin of the Nile , livre ebook

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253 pages

English

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. In the history of the Nile there was a void: its Sources were a mystery. The Ancients devoted much attention to this problem; but in vain. The Emperor Nero sent an expedition under the command of two centurions, as described by Seneca. Even Roman energy failed to break the spell that guarded these secret fountains. The expedition sent by Mehemet Ali Pasha, the celebrated Viceroy of Egypt, closed a long term of unsuccessful search.

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819949763
Langue	English

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PREFACE.
In the history of the Nile there was a void: itsSources were a mystery. The Ancients devoted much attention to thisproblem; but in vain. The Emperor Nero sent an expedition under thecommand of two centurions, as described by Seneca. Even Romanenergy failed to break the spell that guarded these secretfountains. The expedition sent by Mehemet Ali Pasha, the celebratedViceroy of Egypt, closed a long term of unsuccessful search.
The work has now been accomplished. Three Englishparties, and only three, have at various periods started upon thisobscure mission: each has gained its end.
Bruce won the source of the Blue Nile; Speke andGrant won the Victoria source of the great White Nile; and I havebeen permitted to succeed in completing the Nile Sources by thediscovery of the great reservoir of the equatorial waters, theALBERT N'YANZA, from which the river issues as the entire WhiteNile.
Having thus completed the work after nearly fiveyears passed in Africa, there still remains a task before me. Imust take the reader of this volume by the hand, and lead him stepby step along my rough path from the beginning to the end; throughscorching deserts and thirsty sands; through swamp, and jungle, andinterminable morass; through difficulties, fatigues, and sickness,until I bring him, faint with the wearying journey, to that highcliff where the great prize shall burst upon his view— from whichhe shall look down upon the vast ALBERT LAKE, and drink with mefrom the Sources of the Nile!
I have written “HE! ” How can I lead the more tendersex through dangers and fatigues, and passages of savage life? Aveil shall be thrown over many scenes of brutality that I wasforced to witness, but which I will not force upon the reader;neither will I intrude anything that is not actually necessary inthe description of scenes that unfortunately must be passed throughin the journey now before us. Should anything offend the sensitivemind, and suggest the unfitness of the situation for a woman'spresence, I must beseech my fair readers to reflect, that thepilgrim's wife followed him, weary and footsore, through all hisdifficulties, led, not by choice, but by devotion; and that intimes of misery and sickness her tender care saved his life andprospered the expedition.
"O woman, in our hours of ease
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
And variable as the shade
By the light quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou! "
In the journey now before us I must request someexercise of patience during geographical details that may bewearisome; at all events, I will adhere to facts, and avoid theoryas much as possible.
The Botanist will have ample opportunities ofstraying from our path to examine plants with which I confess alimited acquaintance. The Ethnologist shall have precisely the sameexperience that I enjoyed, and he may either be enlightened orconfounded. The Geologist will find himself throughout the journeyin Central Africa among primitive rocks. The Naturalist will travelthrough a grass jungle that conceals much that is difficult toobtain: both he and the Sportsman will, I trust, accompany me on afuture occasion through the “Nile tributaries from Abyssinia, ”which country is prolific in all that is interesting. ThePhilanthropist, — what shall I promise to induce him to accompanyme? I will exhibit a picture of savage man precisely as he is; as Isaw him; and as I judged him, free from prejudice: painting also,in true colours, a picture of the abomination that has been thecurse of the African race, the SLAVE TRADE; trusting that not onlythe philanthropist, but every civilized being, will join in theendeavour to erase that stain from disfigured human nature, andthus open the path now closed to civilization and missionaryenterprise. To the Missionary, — that noble, self-exiled labourertoiling too often in a barren field, — I must add the word ofcaution, “Wait”! There can be no hope of success until the slavetrade shall have ceased to exist.
The journey is long, the countries savage; there areno ancient histories to charm the present with memories of thepast; all is wild and brutal, hard and unfeeling, devoid of thatholy instinct instilled by nature into the heart of man— the beliefin a Supreme Being. In that remote wilderness in Central EquatorialAfrica are the Sources of the Nile.
INTRODUCTION.
The primary object of geographical exploration isthe opening to general intercourse such portions of the earth asmay become serviceable to the human race. The explorer is theprecursor of the colonist; and the colonist is the human instrumentby which the great work must be constructed— that greatest and mostdifficult of all undertakings— the civilization of the world.
The progress of civilization depends upongeographical position. The surface of the earth presents certainfacilities and obstacles to general access; those points that areeasily attainable must always enjoy a superior civilization tothose that are remote from association with the world.
We may thus assume that the advance of civilizationis dependent upon facility of transport. Countries naturallyexcluded from communication may, through the ingenuity of man, berendered accessible; the natural productions of those lands may betransported to the seacoast in exchange for foreign commodities;and commerce, thus instituted, becomes the pioneer ofcivilization.
England, the great chief of the commercial world,possesses a power that enforces a grave responsibility. She has theforce to civilize. She is the natural colonizer of the world. Inthe short space of three centuries, America, sprung from her loins,has become a giant offspring, a new era in the history of the humanrace, a new birth whose future must be overwhelming. Of later date,and still more rapid in development, Australia rises, a triumphantproof of England's power to rescue wild lands from barrenness; towrest from utter savagedom those mighty tracts of the earth'ssurface wasted from the creation of the world, — a darkness to beenlightened by English colonization. Before the advancing steps ofcivilization the savage inhabitants of dreary wastes retreated:regions hitherto lain hidden, and counting as nothing in theworld's great total, have risen to take the lead in the world'sgreat future.
Thus England's seed cast upon the earth's surfacegerminates upon soils destined to reproduce her race. The energyand industry of the mother country become the natural instincts ofher descendants in localities adapted for their development; andwherever Nature has endowed a land with agricultural capabilities,and favourable geographical position, slowly but surely that landwill become a centre of civilization.
True Christianity cannot exist apart fromcivilization; thus, the spread of Christianity must depend upon theextension of civilization; and that extension depends uponcommerce.
The philanthropist and the missionary will expendtheir noble energies in vain in struggling against the obtusenessof savage hordes, until the first steps towards their gradualenlightenment shall have been made by commerce. The savage mustlearn to WANT; he must learn to be ambitious; and to covet morethan the mere animal necessities of food and drink. This can alonebe taught by a communication with civilized beings: the sight ofmen well clothed will induce the naked savage to covet clothing,and will create a WANT; the supply of this demand will be the firststep towards commerce. To obtain the supply, the savage mustproduce some article in return as a medium of barter, some naturalproduction of his country adapted to the trader's wants. His wantswill increase as his ideas expand by communication with Europeans:thus, his productions must increase in due proportion, and he mustbecome industrious; industry being the first grand stride towardscivilization.
The natural energy of all countries is influenced byclimate; and civilization being dependent upon industry, or energy,must accordingly vary in its degrees according to geographicalposition. The natives of tropical countries do not progress:enervated by intense heat, they incline rather to repose andamusement than to labour. Free from the rigour of winters, and theexcitement of changes in the seasons, the native character assumesthe monotony of their country's temperature. They have no naturaldifficulties to contend with, — no struggle with adverse storms andicy winds and frost-bound soil; but an everlasting summer, andfertile ground producing with little tillage, excite no enterprise;and the human mind, unexercised by difficulties, sinks into languorand decay. There are a lack of industry, a want of intensity ofcharacter, a love of ease and luxury, which leads to a devotion tosensuality, — to a plurality of wives, which lowers the characterand position of woman. Woman, reduced to that false position,ceases to exercise her proper influence upon man; she becomes themere slave of passion, and, instead of holding her sphere as theemblem of civilization she becomes its barrier. The absence of reallove engendered by a plurality of wives, is an absolute bar toprogress; and so long as polygamy exists, an extension ofcivilization is impossible. In all tropical countries polygamy isthe prevailing evil: this is the greatest obstacle to Christianity.The Mahommedan religion, planned carefully for Eastern habits,allowed a plurality of wives, and prospered. The savage can betaught the existence of a Deity, and become a Mussulman; but to himthe hateful law of fidelity to one wife is a bar to Christianity.Thus, in tropical climates there will always be a slower advance ofcivilization than in more temperate zones.
The highest civilization was originally confined tothe small portion of the globe comprised between Persia, Egypt,Greece, and Italy. In those countries was concentrated the world'searliest history; and although changed in special importance, theypreserve their ge