. The lake regions of central Africa. A record of modern discovery . fter an adventurous voyage in a frail, native boat,they reached the lower end of the great reservoir,where, within a few miles, could be seen the VictoriaNile entering the lake, and the broad channelfringed with water-plants where the White Nilemade its exit. Their course lay amid storm andsunshine; first under beetling precipices that line theeastern shore of the Albert Nyanza, and down whichjets of water—each a Nile source—could be seenplunging from a height of one thousand feet into thelake ; and then through a fiat waste
. The lake regions of central Africa. A record of modern discovery . fter an adventurous voyage in a frail, native boat,they reached the lower end of the great reservoir,where, within a few miles, could be seen the VictoriaNile entering the lake, and the broad channelfringed with water-plants where the White Nilemade its exit. Their course lay amid storm andsunshine; first under beetling precipices that line theeastern shore of the Albert Nyanza, and down whichjets of water—each a Nile source—could be seenplunging from a height of one thousand feet into thelake ; and then through a fiat waste of reeds, and outand in among beds of water-plants and floating raftsof vegetable matter in every stage of growth anddecay. But the travellers could not wait to examine allthese wonders, or to trace the extent of the Albertbasin. They must be in (iondokoro in a tew weeks,or leave their bones in Central Africa. Turning into the entrance to the Victoria Nile, and ascending a few miles, a new marvel greeted them — theMurchison Palls. Rounding a corner, says the. THE MURCHISON FALLS. Page S3- THE MURCHISOX FALLS. 53 travellers record, a magnificent sight burst upon either side of the river were beautiful wooded cliffs,rising abruptly to a height of about three hundredfeet; rocks were jutting out from the intensely greenfoliage; and rushing through a gap that cleft therock exactly before us, the river, contracted from agrand stream, was pent up in a narrow gorge ofscarcely fifty yards in width: roaring furiouslythrough the rock-bound pass, it plunged in one leapof about one hundred and twenty feet perpendicularinto a dark abyss below. The fall of water was nowwhite, which had a superb effect as it contrasted withthe dark cliffs that walled the river, while the grace-ful palms of the tropics and wild plantains completedthe beauty of the scene. This was the greatest water-fall of the Nile. Since Bakers time, Gordon Pasha and M. Gessi,in a steamer brought up in pieces from
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1881
