THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 358, 27 August 1863, Page 4

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

Our readers will remember that in the last intelligence from England it was announced that Captains Spelce_ and Grant had succeeded in discovering the source of the Nile. The following article from the Times, on this subject is not only interesting in itself, but explains the reason why such great importance is attached to the discoveiy. “Nearly two thousand years ago a Roman poet availed himself of a geographical fact to give effect to a mythological story. He was describing the confusion produced in the universe when the horses ran away with the chariot of the Sun, he stated, as an incident of the panic, that the river Nile fled in dismay to the extremities of the earth, and there hid its head, ‘ which,’ he adds, ‘ remains hidden to this day.’ Those verses of Ovid have been read by thousands who, probably, never gave much thought to the veritable information' which they reoorded. Yet we learn from these few words that in the days of Augustus not only was the source of the Nile unknown which was not at all extraordinary, but the fact of its being unknown was regarded as a wonder, which is very extraordinary indeed. Why, if we come to think about the matter, should the Romans have troubled themselves- about the sources of the Nile? They were certainly no such geograhers as to be provoked by the obscurity of a. single problem in the science. Their impression on the earth’s surface, and of the distribution of its territories were loose and fanciful in the extreme. It is a natural tliiug for us to take an interest in such a question, because we are acquainted with the configuration of the gl-obe, and are

always ready to despatch an expedition of discovery to any point unvisited or unknown. We construct maps of the bottom of the sea, and of the face of the moon, so that it is not so surprising, we should be curious about the course of an African river. But why should the Romans, who knew not much more of geography than they did of electricity, concern themselves about a particular watershed in the mountains of Abyssinia ? The Nile was a great river, no doubt, and a sacred river* but other rivers were as great, and many rivers were sacred. The sources of all of them were probably alike unknown, but in no case, except that of the Nile, was. this highly natural ignorance ever made the subject of observations or explained by a specialfable.

To understand this anomaly we must go back to early bistory. The Nile was not only a great river, but it was an Egyptian river* and the land of Egypt was not as other lands. It was the country of wonders, associated by its annals and its antiquities with every form of civilization. With this country, too, the Nile was actually indentiSed—in fact, the river constituted all the countiy, that was habitable. What, therefore, Egypt was to the world, the Nile was to Egypt and to the world aiso—a species of natural mavvek Tfee- priests of Egypt werelearned, they knew that their great river had never been tracked to its souree, and they communicated this information, along with the rest of their learning, to others. So everybody who had heard of anything, had heard of this, and. Ovid turned the story to. account, and his readers accepted illustration just as if the sources of all the- other rivers of the world had been- so regularly asse-rfcais-ied* that the Nile remained a remarkable and almost miraculous exception. To complete this sfcoxy let us now add that the very people who first published the problem are now the most rejoiced at its solution. The source of the Nile,, it is believed, has been ascertained at last by the discoveries of Captain Speke and. Captain Grant, and the interest taken by the Egyptians in the announcement is extraordinary. The Viceroy considers that his reign lias been rendered memorable by this success, and the whole population. is in a state of excitement at the intelligence. The particulars of the discovery will soon be made known to us, but it is one of the curiosties of this most curious subject that what has been discovered is simply what might have been presumed 1 , or, as we may almost say, what had predicted beforehand. As the Nile is ascended a mountainous countiy, is reached, and in these mountains the Nile clearly originated. That much was known always ; and not much more, except the exact point of the stream’s origin, can be known now. The story told by Herodo tus is exceedingly simple and. natural'. He says that, as to the sources of tire Nile, he never found any man—either Egyptian, or Libyan, or Greek—who professed to know where they lay. The stream lie states, had been tracked a long way beyond the confines of Egypt, but it. was a stream still, and the country above was such a torrid desert that nobody knew anything about it. In later times a professed geographer placed the sources of the Nile, as he might very safely do, in what he called the Mountains of the Moon, and it seems that the final dis j covery, if such we may really term it, has been made by following the route traced out by Dr. Beke, not long ago as likely to lead to the desired spot. “ The southernmost limit of the basin of the Nile is determined to be four degrees south of the Equator.” That, in the words of Sir Roderick Murchison, is the great geographical fact now ascertained, and, without entering too nicely into the intricacies of the problem, we think we may add that the discovery does but confirm what was generally presumed. A good deal of our curiosity on this subject has probably come by.inheritance. It was natural that the ancient Egypt tians should take an interest in the source of a stream which was nothing less than life to them. It was natural enough that the inhabitants of other countries should borrow this story from Egypt as they borrowed many more, and when a question has really been’ raised and has nod been answered for thousands of years, the inquiry assumes a character of importance. A problem propounded in the earliest ages of man may reasonably be deemed a great problem in the present generation, and we are entitled to take a pride in. the achievement of aur countrymen which lias solved a question very long insoluble. But we do not see that anything- turns upon it. We know, it seems, by actual survey that the Source of the Nile-cannot be south of a certain line. We have also reason to. suppose that a certain great lake, 300 miles long and 4000 feet above the level of the sea, is the true reservoir of this mysterious liiveij. But. when these facts are-accepted they do. not, as far as we caa- discern, conduct us to any further conclusions, or affect in any practical way the knowledge which we possessed before. There is not even the question of a new' route involved, as there was in the North-west Passage. The Nile is proved to rise where most people thought it rose, and the establishment of the fact, will terminate conjectures on this subject;.--but the true story is very like that of Herodotus after all. The source of the Nile ; is so far up the country, and this is.so.impracticable,! that it is barely posaibip- for a traveller to get at it. < There is however, a prospect opened of another kind.. Dr. Beke assures^-up. that the whole eastern side of the basin, of the Nile is auriferous, and he considers;,that gold, which has peopled California, and Australia, will some day arttact a modern

population to the “ Mouurains of the Moon.” Then the sources of the Nile will be mysterious no longer. “ Diggings” will open Up this land of fable, and a country which no Egyptian ever reached, and which Englishmen have been the first to reveal, will be the common property of every adventure. At any rate, we are gradually penetrating Into the secrets of African geography. If there is anything to be found, we shall find it. It concerns us to leave no accessible country unexplored,-for the simple reason that until it is explored we cannot tell what it may do for us. Discovery terminates speculation, even when it does nothing else, and spares ns the loss of time on conjecture and inference. If the intelligence transmitted by telegraph should prove to be as decisive as is presumed, we shall have accomplished a feat; which was too arduous for Egyytiars Kings in the plentitude of tlieir power. Of such an ex pleat we may well be proud, and it will be a source of satisfaction as well as credit to us that we have removed from- the region of obscurity and doubt a question which had been fixed in. that position for more ages than we ean eoraafc,”

Chinese Sheep. Mr. Legabba has presented to the Society of Acclimatisation ofFhris three Chinese sheep, part of a flock, he says, that he has had for several years, numbering at the present time more than three hundred. Their fecundity is remarkable. The ewes breed regularly twice a yea*-,, and produce from two to three lambs, and* even up to five at each birth. The directoirof the school* farm of the department of the Vosges informs M.. Legabbe that one ewe there had produced-'ten Faraibs wiiliin the year. The-wool is at least as good; he adds, as that of other- sheep, but, owing to the breeding: habits of the* females the quantity is somewhat less. Although the ewes manifest no- unwillingness to bring up their whole family, it has been found desirable to allow them to suckle only t.w.o- lambs each-,, goats being kept as nurses. At a- recent meeting of the above-named Society of Great Britain, it was stated that the flock of Chinese sheep is in a thriving condition ; all that were offered for safe- were readily purchased, and' there is a demands for more. LordPowerscourt reported l the- birth- of isuaslambs to one of his ewes.' Five lambs were added to the flock of the Society in September. Books.—A very large estate was given for one book on Cosmography by King Alfred. In the reign, of King Edward I the price of a fairly written Bible was ,£27. As a labourer’s pay was only three half-pence a day, it would, have taken the earnings of fifteen years anffthree months, to purchase- one. In 1400 books were sold from £2O to £3O each. When Louis 111, in the year 1471, borrowed the works of Rasis, the physician, from the faculty of Medicine in Paris, he not only deposited in pledge a quantity of plate, but was obliged to give the surety of a nobleman for its restoration-; and when any person made a» present of a book to % eh-urelv or-monastery, the only libraries during severel ages, it was deemed a gift of such value that he offered it at the altar, in order to obtain forgiveness of si'&S. Ax Aborigine on- Trial for Mukder. —In the Gourse of the trial, it was very distressing to-notice the indications of marked inferiority of mind that liis> whole conduct evinced. He beckoned in the middle of the trial to a settler whom he recognised in court and said he wanted to speak to him. On approaching the dock the prisoner whispered; to the settler in a tone sufficiently loud; however, to be quite audible by me, “ Lend me sixpence;, and I’ll give it to that fellow up there, (pointing to me upon the bench), and he’ll let me off.” At another stage of the trial he told me that, if I would let him offi* “ he would row me down to Sydney in a boat for nothing,’ ’ a distance of 700 miles on the Pacific Ocean. The ludicrousness of his remarks was indeed lost in the solemnity of the occasion on which theywere uttered, for he was on trial for his life.— Reminiscences of Thirty Years’ Residence in iXew-South Wales and Victoria. By R. Therry , Eeq.