It Is Impossible To Describe The Triumph Of That Moment.
Here was the
reward for all our labor - for the years of tenacity with which we had
toiled through Africa.
England had won the sources of the Nile! Long
before I reached this spot I had arranged to give three cheers with all
our men in English style in honor of the discovery; but now that I
looked down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the very heart of
Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources
throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the humble
instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great mystery when
so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious to vent my
feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for
having guided and supported us through all dangers to the good end. I
was about 1500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep
granite cliff upon those welcome waters - upon that vast reservoir which
nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was wilderness - upon
that great source so long hidden from mankind, that source of bounty and
of blessings to millions of human beings; and as one of the greatest
objects in nature, I determined to honor it with a great name. As an
imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious Queen and
deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake "the Albert
N'yanza." The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two Sources of the
Nile.
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