Ritchie And Lyon, Lord Belmore And Dr.
Richardson, Messrs.
Waddington and Hanbury, Messrs.
Caillaud and Drovetti,
Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Sir Frederick Henniker, and by an American of the
name of English. The travels of Messrs. Ritchie and Lyon were confined to
Fezzan, and are chiefly curious for the notices they give, derived from
native merchants, of the course of the Niger, By means of the travels of
Lord Belmore and Dr. Richardson, the latitudes and longitudes on the Nile
have been corrected from Assouan to the confines of Dongola. Mr. Waddington
and Mr. Hanbury, taking advantage of an expedition sent into Ethiopia by
the pacha of Egypt, examined this river four hundred miles beyond the place
to which Burckhardt advanced. The travels of the two French gentlemen
extended to the Oasis of Thebes and Dakel, and the deserts situated to the
east and west of the Thebaid. In the Thebaic Oasis some very interesting
remains of antiquity were discovered: the great Oasis was well known to the
ancients; but the Thebaic Oasis has seldom been visited in modern times.
Brown and Poncet passed through its longest extent, but did not see the
ruins observed by Mr. Caillaud.
This gentleman, who was employed by the pacha to search for gold, silver,
and precious stones, after a residence of five months at Sennaar, traversed
the province of Fazocle, and followed the Arrek, till it entered the
kingdom of Bertot. At a place called Singue, in the kingdom of Dar-foke,
which is the southern boundary of Bertot, situated on the tenth parallel of
latitude, and five days' journey to the westward of the confines of
Abyssinia, the conquests of Ishmaei Pacha terminated. Only short notices of
these travels of Mr. Caillaud have as yet been published.
Sir A. Edmonstone's first intention was to visit the Thebaic Oasis; but
understanding from Mr. Belzoni that Mr. Caillaud had already been there,
but that there was another Oasis to the westward, which had never been
visited by any European, he resolved to proceed thither. This Oasis was
also visited by Drovetti much about I he same time: he calls it the Oasis
of Dakel. It seems to have escaped the notice of all the ancient authors
examined by Sir Archibald, except Olympiodorus. Speaking of the Thebaic
Oasis, he mentions an interior and extensive one, lying opposite to the
other, one hundred miles apart, which corresponds with the actual distance
between them.
The American traveller accompanied the expedition of the pacha of Egypt as
far as Sennaar. He commences the account of his voyage up the Nile at the
second cataract; and as far as the pyramids of Meroe, where the voyage of
Messrs. Waddington and Hanbury terminated, his accounts correspond with
what they give. He did not, however, follow the great bend of the river
above Dongola: this he describes as 250 miles long, and full of rocks and
rapid. He again reached the Nile, having crossed the peninsula in a direct
line, at Shendi.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 394 of 524
Words from 205697 to 206196
of 273188
