Stanley found that Albert Nyanza does not extend as far south by considerable as Baker represented, and as has generally been believed. He discovered a new lake, which he named Albert Edward Nyanza, southwest of Albert Nyanza, and connected with it by a considerable river, which now bears the name Semliki. This new lake must thus be considered the source of the White Nile. And he has found that Victoria Nyanza extends much farther southwest than has been supposed, and approaches within one hundred and fifty-five miles of Tanganyika.
In a letter, under a recent date, giving some details of his later experiences, Stanley glowingly refers to his geographical discoveries:
“Over and above the happy ending of our appointed duties, we have not been unfortunate in geographical discoveries. The Aruwimi is now known from its source to its bourne. The great Congo forest, covering as large an area as France and the Iberian peninsula, we can now certify to be an absolute fact. The mountains of the Moon this time, beyond the least doubt, have been located, and Ruevenzori, ‘the Cloud King,’ robed in eternal snow, has been seen and its flanks explored, and some of its shoulders ascended, Mounts Gordon-Bennett and Mackinnon cones being but giant sentries, warding off the approach to the inner area of ‘the Cloud King.’
“On the southwest of the range the connection between Albert Edward Nyanza and Albert Nyanza has been discovered, and the extent of the former lake is now known for the first time. Range after range of mountains have been traversed, separated by such tracts or pasture land as would make your cowboys out West mad with envy.
“And right under the burning Equator we have fed on blackberries and bilberries, and quenched our thirst with crystal water fresh from snow-beds. We have also been able to add nearly six thousand square miles of water to Victoria Nyanza.
“Our naturalist will expatiate upon the new species of animals, birds and plants he has discovered. Our surgeon will tell what he knows of the climate and its amenities. It will take us all we know how to say what new store of knowledge has been gathered from this unexpected field of discoveries.
“I always suspected that in the central regions between the equatorial lakes something worth seeing would be found, but I was not prepared for such a harvest of new facts.”
Of the relative importance of Stanley’s discovery, made through his survey of the Victoria Nyanza, the New York “Herald” says, editorially:—
“Along the blood-stained line of his march from Albert Nyanza to the ocean, Stanley has discovered a large addition to the great Victorian sea. This most expansive of Africa’s inland waters, discovered thirty years ago by the lamented and dashing explorer Speke, is the source of the Nile, and drains the eastern plateau of Equatorial Africa bordering the head waters of the mighty Congo. On this water-shed, within a radius of two hundred miles, collects the rainfall which feeds and fertilizes two enormous river basins rivalling that of the Amazon.
“According to our cable despatches Stanley now finds that the Victoria Nyanza covers twenty-six thousand square miles. This extension, when combined with its elevation (4100 feet) above the sea level, makes it the most important, if not the largest, reservoir of fresh water on the globe. Lake Superior overspreads more territory, but Victoria is probably much deeper, and is perched up more than six times as high. Though not quite rivalling tempestuous Lake Titicaca, which stands on the Bolivian table-land over twelve thousand feet high, the Victorian sea is vastly larger and more influential, both as a hydrographic and meteorological agent.