CHAPTER XXVIII.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES _EN ROUTE_.
Finds that Baker has Made an Error -- Altitudes of Lake Albert and the Blue Mountains -- Vacovia -- Discovers the Lofty Ruevenzori -- The Nile or the Congo? -- The Semliki River -- The Plains of Noongora -- The Salt Lakes of Kative -- New Peoples -- Wakonyu of the Great Mountains -- The Awamba -- Wasonyora -- Wanyora Bandits -- Lake Albert Edward -- The Tribes and Shepherd Races of the Eastern Uplands -- Wamyau Kori -- Wanyaruwamba -- Wazinya -- A Harvest of New Facts -- The Importance of Stanley’s Addition to the Victoria Nyanza.
Stanley first sighted the Albert Nyanza on December 13th, 1887. Its southern part lay at the feet of the explorer almost like an immense map. He glanced rapidly over the grosser details, the lofty plateau, the wall of Unyoro to the east and that of Baregga to the west, rising nearly three thousand feet above the silver water, and between the hills the stretched-out plain, seemingly very flat and grassy, with here and there a dark clump of brushwood, which, as the plain trended southwesterly, became a thin forest. The southwest edge of the lake he fixed at nine miles in a direct southeasterly line from this place. This will make the terminus of the southwest corner 1° 17´ N. latitude, by prismatic compass, magnetic bearing; of the southeast corner, just south of a number of falls, 1° 37´. This will make it about 1° 11´ 30` N. latitude, magnetic bearing of 1° 48´.
Taken from N. latitude 1° 25´ 30`, this about exactly describes the line of shore running from the southwest corner of the lake to the southeast corner of Albert. Baker fixed his position latitude 1° 15´ N., if we recollect rightly. The centre of Mbakovia Terrace bears 1° 21´ 30` magnetic from Stanley’s first point of observation. This will make Baker’s Vacovia about 1° 15´ 45`x, allowing 10° west variation. In trying to solve the problem of the infinity of Lake Albert, as sketched by Baker, and finding that the lake terminus is only four miles south of where he stood to view it “from a little hill” and on “a beautifully clear day,” one would almost feel justified in saying he had never seen the lake.
But Baker’s position of Vacovia proves that he actually was there, and the general correctness of his outline of the east coast from Vacovia to Magungo also proves that he navigated the lake.
Stanley says: “When we turn our faces northeast we say that Baker has done exceedingly well; but when we turn them southward our senses in vain try to penetrate the mystery, because our eyes see not what Baker saw. With Lieutenant Stairs, Mounteney, Jephson, Surgeon Parke, Emin Pasha, Captain Casati, I look with my own eyes upon the scene. I find Baker has made an error. I am somewhat surprised also at Baker’s altitudes of Lake Albert and the Blue Mountains and at the breadth attributed by him to the lake. The shore opposite Vacovia is ten and a quarter miles distant, not forty or fifty miles. The Blue Mountains are nothing else but a west upland, the highest cone or hill being not above six thousand feet above the level of the sea. The altitude of Lake Albert by the aneroid and the boiling point will not exceed two thousand three hundred and fifty feet.”
Last of all, away to the southwest, while Baker has sketched his infinite stretch of lake, there rises, about forty miles from Vacovia, an immense snowy mountain, a solid, square-browed mass, with an almost level summit between two lofty ridges. If it were a beautifully clear day he should have seen this, being nearer to it by thirteen geographical miles than Stanley was.
“About the lake discovered by me in 1876 I can learn very little from the natives,” says Stanley. “At the Chief of Kavallis I saw two natives who came from that region. One of them hailed from Unyampaka and the other from Usongora. The first said that the Albert Lake is much larger than that near Unyampaka. The other said that the southern lake is the larger, as it takes two days to cross it. He describes it as being a month’s march from Kavallis. Their accounts differ so much that one is almost tempted to believe that there are two lakes, the smaller one near Unyampaka and connected by a river or channel with that of Usongora.
“My interest is greatly excited, as you may imagine, by the discovery of Ruevenzori, the snowy mountain, and a possible rival of Kilimanjaro. Remember that we are in north latitude, and that this mountain must be near or on the Equator itself; that it is summer now, and that we saw it in the latter part of May; that the snow-line was about estimated at only one thousand feet below the summit.
“Hence I conclude that it is not Mount Gordon-Bennett seen in December, 1876--though it may be so--which the natives said had only snow occasionally.
“At the time I saw the latter there was no snow visible. It is a little further east, according to the position I gave it, than Ruevenzori. All questions which this mountain naturally give rise to will be settled, I hope, by this expedition before it returns to the sea.
“If at all near my line of march, its length, height and local history will be ascertained. Many rivers will be found to issue from this curious land between the two Muta Nziges. What rivers are they? Do they belong to the Nile or the Congo? There is no river going east or southeast from this section except the Katonga and Kafur, and both must receive, if any, but a very small supply from Mount Gordon-Bennett and the Ruevenzori. The new mountain must therefore be drained principally south and west--if the south streams have connection with the lake, south; if west, Semiliki, a tributary of Lake Albert, and some river flowing to the Congo must receive the rest of its waters. Then, if the lake south receives any considerable supply, the interest deepens.
“Does the lake discharge its surplus to the Nile or the Congo? If to the former, then it will be of great interest to you, and you will have to admit that Lake Victoria is not the main source of the Nile. If to the Congo, then the lake will be the source of the river Lowa or Loa, since it is the largest tributary to the Congo from the east between the Aruwimi and Luama.”
Of the many geographical discoveries that have resulted from the expedition just completed, the following may be noted as among the most prominent: The snowy ranges of Ruevenzori, the Cloud King, or Rain-creator; the Semliki River, the plains of Noongora, the salt lakes of Kative; new peoples, Wakonyu of the Great Mountains; dwellers of the rich forest regions, the Awamba, the fine-featured Wasonyora, the Wanyora bandits, and then Lake Albert Edward, the tribes and shepherd races of the Eastern Uplands, then Wanyankori, besides Wanyaruwamba and Wazinya.
Stanley found that Albert Nyanza does not extend as far south by considerable as Baker represented, and as has generally been believed. He discovered a new lake, which he named Albert Edward Nyanza, southwest of Albert Nyanza, and connected with it by a considerable river, which now bears the name Semliki. This new lake must thus be considered the source of the White Nile. And he has found that Victoria Nyanza extends much farther southwest than has been supposed, and approaches within one hundred and fifty-five miles of Tanganyika.
In a letter, under a recent date, giving some details of his later experiences, Stanley glowingly refers to his geographical discoveries:
“Over and above the happy ending of our appointed duties, we have not been unfortunate in geographical discoveries. The Aruwimi is now known from its source to its bourne. The great Congo forest, covering as large an area as France and the Iberian peninsula, we can now certify to be an absolute fact. The mountains of the Moon this time, beyond the least doubt, have been located, and Ruevenzori, ‘the Cloud King,’ robed in eternal snow, has been seen and its flanks explored, and some of its shoulders ascended, Mounts Gordon-Bennett and Mackinnon cones being but giant sentries, warding off the approach to the inner area of ‘the Cloud King.’
“On the southwest of the range the connection between Albert Edward Nyanza and Albert Nyanza has been discovered, and the extent of the former lake is now known for the first time. Range after range of mountains have been traversed, separated by such tracts or pasture land as would make your cowboys out West mad with envy.
“And right under the burning Equator we have fed on blackberries and bilberries, and quenched our thirst with crystal water fresh from snow-beds. We have also been able to add nearly six thousand square miles of water to Victoria Nyanza.
“Our naturalist will expatiate upon the new species of animals, birds and plants he has discovered. Our surgeon will tell what he knows of the climate and its amenities. It will take us all we know how to say what new store of knowledge has been gathered from this unexpected field of discoveries.
“I always suspected that in the central regions between the equatorial lakes something worth seeing would be found, but I was not prepared for such a harvest of new facts.”
Of the relative importance of Stanley’s discovery, made through his survey of the Victoria Nyanza, the New York “Herald” says, editorially:--
“Along the blood-stained line of his march from Albert Nyanza to the ocean, Stanley has discovered a large addition to the great Victorian sea. This most expansive of Africa’s inland waters, discovered thirty years ago by the lamented and dashing explorer Speke, is the source of the Nile, and drains the eastern plateau of Equatorial Africa bordering the head waters of the mighty Congo. On this water-shed, within a radius of two hundred miles, collects the rainfall which feeds and fertilizes two enormous river basins rivalling that of the Amazon.
“According to our cable despatches Stanley now finds that the Victoria Nyanza covers twenty-six thousand square miles. This extension, when combined with its elevation (4100 feet) above the sea level, makes it the most important, if not the largest, reservoir of fresh water on the globe. Lake Superior overspreads more territory, but Victoria is probably much deeper, and is perched up more than six times as high. Though not quite rivalling tempestuous Lake Titicaca, which stands on the Bolivian table-land over twelve thousand feet high, the Victorian sea is vastly larger and more influential, both as a hydrographic and meteorological agent.
“Mr. Stanley’s survey of this Mediterranean bears with very special interest on the future of Central Africa. The most effective entrances which the wedge of Civilization has ever made into the Dark Continent have been on its southern and southeastern coast. If the routes from Zanzibar and other points on the southeast coast to the lake region centering in Victoria Nyanza can be opened up, the wave of Progress and Illumination will enter the populous heart of Africa more rapidly by these short cuts traversing a comparatively healthy region than by the sickly, tortuous valley of the Congo.”