On the west, on
the left bank of the White Nile, which now flowed almost beneath our
feet, was the precipitous mountain Neri, known by the Arab traders as
Gebel huku. This fine mass of rock descends in a series of rugged
terraces from a height of between three and four thousand feet to the
Nile, at a point where the river boils through a narrow gorge between
the mountains. It is in this passage that the principal falls take place
which I witnessed in my former journey. At that time our path led along
the rocky bank of the river, and was both difficult and dangerous.
Eight miles from the Asua river now brought us to the top of the pass,
and having stopped for a few moments to take compass bearings, we began
the somewhat steep descent.
Walking was preferable to riding, and after a distance of a couple of
miles had been accomplished, we rounded the rocky hill by crossing a
ravine upon our right, and the view of the promised land burst upon us.
The grand White Nile lay like a broad streak of silver on our right as
it flowed in a calm, deep stream direct from the Albert N'yanza; at this
spot above all cataracts. No water had as yet been broken by a fall; the
troubles of river-life lay in the future; the journey to the sea might
be said to have only just commenced. Here the entire volume flowed from
the Albert N'yanza, distant hardly one degree; and here had I always
hoped to bring my steamers, as the starting-point for the opening of the
heart of Africa to navigation. (This has since been proved correct by
the efforts of my successor, Colonel Gordon, who carried the 38-ton
steamer which I had left at Gondokoro to this point above the cataracts,
and constructed her at Duffle on the opposite bank. This vessel steamed
into the Albert N'yanza without any difficulty, and corroborated my
assertion that the river was navigable. It may be remembered that many
geographers had contested the fact that the Nile was an effluent from
the Albert N'yanza.)
I was deeply mortified when I gazed upon this lovely view, and reflected
upon the impossibilities that had prevented my success. Had the White
Nile been open as formerly, I should have transported the necessary
camels from Khartoum, and there would have been no serious difficulty in
the delivery of the steamers to this point. Two or three strong pioneer
parties, with native assistance, would quickly have bridged over the
narrow water-courses and have cleared a rough road through the forests
as the carts advanced.
It was useless to repine. I still hoped to accomplish the work.
We now descended into the beautiful plain, to which I had given the name
Ibrahimeyah, in honour of the father of his Highness the Khedive
(Ibrahim Pacha).
This point is destined to become the capital of Central Africa.
The general depot for the steamers will be near the mouth of the
Un-y-Ame river; which, after rising in the prairies between Fatiko and
Unyoro, winds through a lovely country for about eighty miles, and falls
into the White Nile opposite to Gebel Kuku. The trade of Central Africa,
when developed by the steamers on the Albert N'yanza, will concentrate
at this spot, whence it must be conveyed by camels for 120 miles to
Gondokoro, until at some future time a railway may perhaps continue the
line of steam communication.
It is a curious fact that a short line of 120 miles of railway would
open up the very heart of Africa to steam transport - between the
Mediterranean and the equator, when the line from Cairo to Khartoum
shall be completed!
The No. 10 steamer that I had brought up to Gondokoro from Khartoum was
originally built in England for the mail service (per Nile) between
Alexandria and Cairo, at the time when the overland route was made by
vans across the desert to Suez. This steamer had sailed from London, and
had arrived complete at Alexandria.
It appears almost impossible that she is now floating at an altitude of
nearly 2,000 feet above the sea level; to which great elevation she has
actually steamed from the Mediterranean. Thus, starting from a base
line, and producing a line perpendicular to the sea level of 2,000 feet,
she has climbed up the Nile to her present high position.
Accepting the approximate length of the Nile in all its windings from
the Mediterranean to N. lat. 4 degrees 38 minutes, at 3,000 miles in
round numbers; this will give an average rise or fall in the river of
nine inches per mile; which easily explains the position of the steamer
at her most remote point below the last cataracts.
I revelled in this lovely country. The fine park-like trees were clumped
in dark-green masses here and there. The tall dolape-palms (Borassus
Ethiopicus) were scattered about the plain, sometimes singly, at others
growing in considerable numbers. High and bold rocks; near and distant
mountains; the richest plain imaginable in the foreground, with the
clear Un-y-Ame flowing now in a shallow stream between its lofty banks,
and the grand old Nile upon our right, all combined to form a landscape
that produced a paradise.
The air was delightful. There was an elasticity of spirit, the result of
a pure atmosphere, that made one feel happy in spite of many anxieties.
My legs felt like steel as we strode along before the horses, with rifle
on shoulder, into the broad valley, in which the mountain we had
descended seemed to have taken root.
The country was full of game.
