In Darkest Africa, Vol. 2; or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria

by Henry M. Stanley

“The author of the book called ‘The Explorer’s Desire,’ says that ‘this lake is called the Lake of Likuri,[15] from the name of a tribe in the Soudan who live around the lake, and are very barbarous, and cannibals. From this lake flows out the river Garna, and the Abyssinian river. After leaving this lake, the Nile traverses the country of Likuri, then the country of Mennan—another Soudanese tribe—between Khartoum and Nubia.’”

“On reaching Dongola, the metropolis of Nubia, it goes to the west, and then reaches the second zone. Here the banks are inhabited by the Nuba, and the river has many large cultivated islands with cities and villages, and the boats of the Nuba reach to this point coming downward, whilst the boats of Upper Egypt reach that far going upwards. There are there rugged rocks which prevent the ships from passing except at high Nile. It then flows northward, and passes east of Assouan, in Upper Egypt. It then passes between two mountain chains which border Egyptian territory, east and west, until it reaches Fostat; thence it flows a day’s journey, and then divides into two branches, the one emptying into the Mediterranean at Damietta, and is called the eastern river, and the other, which is the main Nile, passes on, and empties into the Mediterranean at Rosetta, and is called the western branch.”

“The length of the Nile from its source is 3,748 parasangs. It is said that it flows through uninhabited country for four months, and through the Soudanese territory two months, and through Moslem territory one month. No other river goes on increasing while the other rivers are at their lowest, except the Nile, for it rises in the dry season, when the sun is in the constellation Cancer, Leo and Ceres.”

“It is said that this river has tributaries. Some say that its rise is caused by snows melted in summer, and according to the quantity of snowfall will be the greater or lesser rise. Others say that the rise is caused by the different direction of the winds; that is to say, that when the north wind blows strongly, it stirs up the Mediterranean, and pushes the waters thereof backwards so that it overflows the land; and when the south wind blows the Mediterranean ceases to storm, and the waters that were dammed up flow away again.”

“Others say that the rise is caused by fountains upon its banks, that have been seen by travellers who have reached to the highest point.”

“Others say that the Nile flows from snowy mountains, and they are the mountains called Kaf. That it passes through the Green Sea, and over gold and silver and emerald and ruby mines, flowing on ad infinitum until it reaches the lake of the Zingh (Zanzibar), and they say were it not to enter into the salt sea and be mixed up with the waters thereof, it could not be drunk for great sweetness.”

“There is a difference of opinion as to the derivation of the word ‘Gumr.’ Some say it ought to be pronounced ‘Kamar,’ which means the moon, but the traveller, Ti Tarshi, says that it was called by that name because ‘the eye is dazzled by the great brightness.’ This mountain, the Gumr, extends eastward and westward into uninhabited territory on both sides. Indeed, this whole chain is uninhabited on the southern slope. This chain has peaks rising up into the air, and other peaks lower. Some have said that certain people have reached these mountains, and ascended them and looked over to the other side, where they saw a sea with troubled waters, dark as night, this sea being traversed by a white stream, bright as day, which enters the mountains from the north, and passes by the grave of the Great Hermes, and Hermes is the prophet Idrisi (Enoch).”

“It is said that Idrisi there built a dome. Some say that people have ascended the mountain, and one of them began to laugh and clap his hands,[16] and threw himself down on the further side of the mountain. The others were afraid of being seized with the same fit, and so came back. It is said that those who saw it, saw bright snows like white silver glistening with light.[17] Whoever looked at them became attracted, and stuck to them until they died, and this science is called ‘Human Magnetism.’”

“It is said that a certain king sent an expedition to discover the Nile sources, and they reached copper mountains, and when the sun rose, the rays reflected were so strong that they were burnt. Others say that these people arrived at bright mountains like crystal, and when the rays of the sun were reflected they burnt them. Others say that Mount Gumr is a mountain on an island which is called by this same name. Opposite to it is the land of Serendib,[18] four months’ journey in length and twenty days’ journey in breadth, and that from this mountain comes the bird called gimre.”

“The author of the book called the ‘Mirror of Ages,’ says, ‘Hameed, son of Biktiari, has stated that the fountain which is the first of all the fountains is in Mount Gumr. From this fountain start ten rivers, one of which is the Nile. They say that the Nile traverses the first zone, then passes into the second zone, and that the length of it from the source to the Mediterranean is 3,000 parasangs. Some have thought that these fountains are the cause of the rise, whereas others say—and this is the most probable—that the cause is the abundance of rain and torrents in Abyssinia and Nubia, and that the delay in the rise reaching Egypt is on account of the great distance. All other rivers flow to the south, whereas it flows northward, and like it, Orontes in North Syria near Hamath.’