Source
The Egypt and the lower Nile's valley have been part of the known world for thousands of years, but the land beyond
the meeting of the White and Blue Nile was unknown to outsiders until about 200 years ago.
Difficult Country, fierce heat, tropical diseases, wild animals and attacks by hostile tribes all put off
travellers. The source of the Blue branch
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of Nile was discovered in 1770 by a Scottish explorer,
James Bruce. But the
source of the White Nile remained a mystery for almost another 100 years.
Mountains of the Moon
Travellers from Ancient Egypt reached as far upstream as the present site of Khartoum,
the meeting place
of the two Niles, but went no further. In about AD 60, when Egypt had become part of the Roman empire,
the Emperor Nero sent an expedition southwards to find the Nile's source. The explorers returned without success.
Their way had been blocked by the Sudd a swampy area of tangled, floating plants and trees.
At the same time, a Greek merchant named Diogenes reported a journey he had made inland from the east coast of
Africa. He had seen two great lakes and a range of snowy mountains that he thought must contain the source of
the Nile. The Greek Egyptian geographer Ptolemy used this and other travellers' tales to draw a map of the Nile
in the second century AD. This shows the river rising in a great lake at the foot of what he called the `Mountains
of the Moon'.
Journey Of Discovery
In 1857, a British expedition led by Richard Burton and John Speke set out to find the great
lakes shown on
Ptolemy's map. After reaching Lake Tanganyika,
the two men split up because Burton was ill. Travelling on for
another month, Speke discovered Victoria Nyanza
and was convinced that the White Nile flowed from it. A second
expedition in 1862 proved him right when he found the outlet of the Nile at a waterfall which he named Ripon Falls.
On the same expedition, Speke identified the `Mountains of the Moon' as the Ruwenzori Mountains in western
Uganda, from which the Katonga river flows into Victoria Nyanza.
Speke's End
There was a strange and tragic end to Speke's story. Burton refused to accept Speke's ideas and declared that
the Nile flowed from Lake Tanganyika. The two men quarrelled bitterly, but in 1864 they agreed to
argue the case in public. But on the day before the debate was due
to take place, Speke went out shooting partridges and accidentally shot himself dead. An expedition led
by Henry Morton Stanley in 1875 proved that
Speke was right.
Extract from “Great Rivers: The Nile”. Written by Michael Pollard, London, Evans Brothers Limited, 1997.
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Ptolemy's Map
Explorers On The Nile
1769: James Bruce. Reached the source of the Blue branch of Nile in November 1770.
1857: Richard Burton and John Speke. Reached Lake Tanganyika in February 1858.
Speke travelled on and reached Victoria Nyanza in March 1858.
1860: John Speke and James Grant. Reached Victoria Nyanza in July 1862 and discovered and named the Ripon Falls.
Travelled down the White Nile to Gondokoro in southern Sudan.
1861: Samuel and Florence White Baker. Travelled up the Nile and met Speke and Grant at Gondokoro in February 1865.
Discovered and named Lake Albert.
1874: Henry Morton Stanley. Sailed round Victoria Nyanza in April 1875 and confirmed that the Nile's outlet was
at the Ripon Falls.
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