The source of the Blue Nile

THE SOURCE OF THE BLUE NILE SHOWING LAKE IN THE DISTANCE.
A RECORD OF A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOUDAN TO LAKE TSANA IN WESTERN ABYSSINIA, AND OF THE RETURN TO EGYPT BY THE VALLEY OF THE ATBARA
WITH A NOTE ON THE RELIGION, CUSTOMS, ETC. OF ABYSSINIA
BY ARTHUR J. HAYES, L.S.A. (Lond.) MEDICAL OFFICER, QUARANTINE OFFICE, SUEZ AND AN ENTOMOLOGICAL APPENDIX BY E. B. POULTON, LL.D., F.R.S. HOPE PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
LONDON SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE 1905
(All rights reserved)
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
In Africa the centre of interest shifts quickly, from Khartoum to the Cape, from the Congo to Morocco. Before now it has lain in Abyssinia, for Englishmen especially. It may be found there again. If so, the theatre of action will probably be the little known region of Western Abyssinia, and that district of the Anglo-Egyptian Nile Province which adjoins it.
Geographically, Western Abyssinia dominates the south-east of the Soudan. The Soudan, as every one in England knows now, is not a continuation of the Desert of Sahara, but a land that once flowed with milk and honey, and may again. It contains vast tracts of soil perfectly adapted for the cultivation of cotton. A hostile force descending from Abyssinia has the enormous advantage of moving from difficult into easy country with an open line of retreat into almost inaccessible mountains. An expedition from the Soudan, on the other hand, would be confronted, after traversing miles of uninhabited hilly wastes, by the necessity of forcing its way up mule-paths winding among precipices.
There is no reason why peace should not be permanently established between Egypt and Ethiopia, if the Abyssinian slave-raids are stopped. But the changes and chances of international politics bring about strange consequences. Rumours, not without foundation, have been circulated recently of new engagements entered into by the Negus giving far-reaching concessions to Americans. Other Powers are busy, and a diplomatic—and spectacular—mission started lately from Berlin for Addis Abbiba. There is room in the country for all nations to find commercial opportunities. But if influences hostile to Great Britain became dominant in Western Abyssinia, a danger to the Soudan—and not to the Soudan only—would have arisen, the seriousness of which few people at home, perhaps, rightly realize. I make no further apology for bringing some account of a journey from Khartoum to Lake Tsana before the public.