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 READ BEFORE 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/remarksondrlivinOOfind 
 
( Unpublished.) 
 
 ON 
 
 DR. LIVINGSTONE’S LAST JOURNEY, 
 
 AND THE PROBABLE ULTIMATE 
 
 SOURCES OF THE NILE. 
 
 By Alex. Geo. Findlay, F.R.G.S. 
 
 Read before the Royal Geographical Society, June 3rd, 1867. 
 
 The object of these remarks will be to demonstrate, as far as it is 
 possible to do so inferentially, that Dr. Livingstone has reached, or 
 was about to enter the southern limits of the basin of the Nile, when 
 the last painful news of him was forwarded from Africa. 
 
 I wish to premise that this conclusion is the result of a long stand¬ 
 ing conviction that Lake Tanganyika would some day prove to be 
 the southern reservoir of the Nile. I arrived at this when I was 
 very much engaged with Captains Burton and Speke, in 1859, in 
 discussing and calculating the very copious and most excellent data 
 brought home by their nobly completed expedition of 1856—9. This 
 first East African expedition has had scant justice done to it of 
 late, seeing that it was the first harvest, and that by much the most 
 abundant one, of those brilliant discoveries in Eastern Africa, so 
 eminently fostered by the Royal Geographical Society. 
 
 No apology is needed for introducing this topic at the present 
 moment, or for considering the last journey of Dr. Livingstone, 
 our noble explorer, to whom so many of us are united by the ties 
 of friendship. The first despatch from the interior which we had 
 been anxiously awaiting, would, I am convinced, have definitively 
 settled the question I am about to propose. 
 
 The points I wish to insist on are these : — 
 
 1. That Dr. Livingstone has determined that the Tanganyika Lake 
 has no connexion with the Nyassa Lake : 
 
 2. That all known testimony makes the river run into the South 
 end of the Tanganyika Lake : 
 
 3. That it must have an outlet, and that is probably to the North : 
 
 4. That the observations of Sir Samuel Baker, as compared with 
 those of Captain Speke, make the Albert Nyanza on the same 
 level with the Tanganyika Lake, and further that the two 
 lakes join each other : 
 
 5. Therefore the streams which flow North-westward from the 
 mountains at the head of the Nyassa Lake contain the true 
 sources of the Nile. 
 
 The following notes will refer exclusively to the physical geo¬ 
 graphy of the region ; and in the first place I would advance, as an 
 axiom, that the accounts given by older authors should be judged 
 bj the light of recent and posi'tiye knowledge, and not be arranged 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 according to the imperfect reports of incompetent travellers, or tho 
 vague ideas gained from native report. 
 
 Captain B. F. Burton, who should claim the discovery of the 
 Tanganyika Lake, has argued against his first decision, and gives 
 many reasons now for making the lake flow to the northward (soe 
 Journal Boyal Geographical Society, vol. xxxv., 1865, pp. 1—15). 
 What follow will be supplementary to that, and based chiefly on 
 facts more recently acquired. 
 
 I trust that the subject will be made intelligible to the meeting 
 by the aid of the diagrams which are placed in juxtaposition, and 
 show the different views which have been formed. 
 
 To commence with the southernmost portion of our subject. Lake 
 Nyassa, as is well known, was first seen by Dr. Livingstone, Sept. 
 16th, 1859. («) He had followed up the important Biver Shire to its 
 outlet from the lake. It was afterwards visited by the unfortunate 
 Dr. Bosclier, who reached it from Kilwa on November 19, (&) two 
 months after Dr. Livingstone had visited it. Dr. Boscher was 
 murdered a short distance from the East shore of the lake, in about 
 lat. 12° 40' S. 
 
 The lake is very deep, possibly much exceeding 116 fathoms, 
 and has the deep blue or indigo tint of the Indian Ocean—a suffi¬ 
 cient proof of its great depth, (c) The eastern shore has not been 
 seen ; but it is known to be limited on that side by lofty mountains. 
 On the West the beautiful tree-covered heights, probably 4,000 to 
 5,000 feet high, are the edges of table lands, through which flow 
 five rivers, the only affluents on this side. These, with what others 
 enter it from the East and North, will be sufficient to account for 
 the annual rise of the lake (about 3 feet) in January, and for the 
 flow of the Shire. 
 
 The northern end of the lake is of the greatest interest in rela¬ 
 tion to the question now tinder consideration. It was visited, as 
 is well known, by Dr. Livingstone’s expedition, a second time, in 
 October, 1861. Dr. Livingstone and his party landed near its N.E. 
 extreme in lat. 11° 32', leaving Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone in 
 their boat. ( d ) The land party struck inland on approaching the foot 
 of the mountains, which rise abruptly from the lake. They encoun¬ 
 tered a body of the dreaded Mazitu, the effects of whose terrible 
 warfare on the natives had been before observed. The boat party 
 got separated from them for four days, and reached about lat. 
 11° 20' S., and saw about 20 miles still further North, or to about 
 lat. 11° S. 
 
 The published narrative, and still more the conversations of Dr. 
 Livingstone and Dr. Kirk, lead to the incontrovertible conclusion 
 that no river of considerable magnitude ENTEBS the North end of 
 the Nyassa Lake. From the height of at least 1,000 feet, over 
 which the land party toiled, the dark mountain masses on both 
 sides of the lake were seen closing in. At this elevation the view 
 extended at least as far as that from the boats; and it was believed 
 the end of the lake lies on the southern borders of 10°, or the northern 
 
 (a) Dr. Livingstone, “ The Zambesi and its Tributaries,” page 123. 
 
 (b) Despatch from Lieutenant-Colonel Rigby, July 15th, 1860. 
 
 (f) The Zambesi and its Tributaries, pages 369—371. 
 
 {d) Ibid, page 381. 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 limits of 11° South latitude. Native testimony, also, whatever 
 -weight that may have, confirms this view. 
 
 “ Mankambira (the chief of the place where Dr. Livingstone landed, 
 within 45 miles of the presumed head of the lake) had never heard of any 
 large river in the North, and even denied its existance altogether; giving 
 us, at the same time, the names of the different halting places round the 
 head of the lake, and the number of days required to reach the coast op¬ 
 posite his village, which corresponded, or nearly as we could judge, with 
 the distance at which we have placed its end.” (e) 
 
 All other native testimony, too, tends in the same direction. Every 
 native, questioned by Drs. Livingstone and Kirk, assured them 
 that no large stream entered the lake, but that two small rivers 
 alone enter the lake from the North. Dr. Kirk says that one of 
 them was named Rovu, meaning “river,” and the other a small 
 river coming in from a marsh. (/) 
 
 The settlement of this point in the physical geographical of East 
 Africa carries with it the conclusion as to the water parting of the 
 whole of the river systems between the Zambezi and the Nile. For, 
 should any river fall into the North end of Lake Nyassa, it must be 
 a very large one ; draining, as it must do, an area of at least 300,000 
 square British miles, or a country as large as England and France 
 combined. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone’s first journeys to the Nyassa Lake, therefore, 
 did all but conclusively determine that Lake Tanganyika has no 
 outlet to the southward. 
 
 It has been frequently argued, and especially by Captain Speke, 
 that the Tanganyika Lake drained into the Nyassa. Their relative 
 levels, as far as is known, would admit of such a theory. Dr. 
 Kirk’s careful and satisfactory observations, in August to October, 
 1860, makes Lake Nyassa to be 1,522 feet above the sea, a much 
 lower elevation than that previously assigned to it, and at least 300 
 feet, and possibly 1,300 feet, below Tanganyika Lake, (y) 
 
 Now, as Dr. Livingstone’s last journey had, for one of its primary 
 objects, the determination of this important point, it may be in¬ 
 ferred, to a certainty, that his last journey confirmed his previous 
 convictions. We know that he had crossed a marsh, which was 
 found to stretch farther North than he had previously seen, and then 
 continued his journey westward. If this marsh had been traversed by 
 the course of a large river, such as the requirements of the case 
 lead to the certain inference, he would have followed up this im¬ 
 portant feeder to the northward, and traced its connexion, if any, 
 with the northern lake, or till its character was really determined. 
 
 Therefore, I hold it to be a point now settled beyond controversy, 
 that Dr. Livingstone has determined that Lake Nyassa and Lake 
 Tanganyika have no connexion with each other; and, by that de¬ 
 cision, has also determined, in a great measure, where we are to 
 look for the true sources of that still mysterious Nile ; for it will be 
 shown that there are all but insuperable difficulties in accounting 
 
 (<?) The Zambezi, &c., page 390. 
 
 (/) See Dr. Kirk in Proceedings Royal Geographical Society, 1861, vol. vii., 
 page 261. 
 
 (<;) See Journal Roy. Geo. Society, 1865, vol. xxxv., pages 168, 169, 
 
for the drainage of Lake Tanganyika to the Atlantic, through the 
 Congo, on the one hand, or to the Indian Ocean by the Rufiji, or 
 other river, on the other. 
 
 Besides this satisfactory evidence of the non-connexion of the 
 Tanganyika with the Nyassa Lake, there is another quoted by 
 Captain Burton, which may here be repeated. Dr. Kirk says, 
 “ Among the few natural specimens preserved by Captain Burton 
 was a small collection of shells from Tanganyika. Dr. Kirk 
 brought some from Nyassa. Between them there is no community of 
 species, while both contain many new forms. Among those from 
 Nyassa is one ot a type for the first time observed in Africa, and 
 and being large and handsome, it could not easily have been over¬ 
 looked were it present in Tanganyika. On the other hand, Capt. 
 Burton’s collection possesses one species common on the Nile, and 
 unknown on the Nyassa.” ( h ) In the paucity of our knowledge of 
 the lake regions every fact is important towards forming a conclusion, 
 and this one must be added to the other evidence of the non- 
 connexion of the two lakes. 
 
 We assume, then, that if it is argued, we have no direct evidence 
 that this fact is positively determined, that every weight of argu¬ 
 ment is in favour of such a conclusion. 
 
 The second point in our subject is the direction of the streams 
 running South of the Tanganyika Lake. 
 
 The distance from the North end of Lake Nyassa to the reported 
 southern part of Lake Tanganyka is about 340 or 350 miles, and 
 the direction is N. 55° W. Of the country immediately intervening 
 we know nothing, but from very imperfect native report. About 
 the mountainous country further West we have more information, 
 several important routes having traversed it. 
 
 First from Dr. Livingstone. After having explored the western 
 shore of Lake Nyassa, he started from about its centre in Septem¬ 
 ber, 1863, for the West, a period of the year too late to accomplish 
 any great exploration. But he succeeded in determining one very 
 important point, the position of the water-parting of the rivers 
 flowing into Nyassa, and those flowing westward. At his farthest 
 point at Chinangas, in latitude 12° 46' S., and at 85 miles in 
 direct distance from the lake, he reached the summit of the 
 dividing range, granitic masses lay around it, and in the North 
 appeared a heap of blue mountains, (t) The elevation is not men¬ 
 tioned, but it must have been considerable, for the piercing winds 
 had an extraordinary effect on his followers, one of whom died from 
 the effect of the air. 
 
 In their progress westward they heard a good deal from the 
 travelled Babisa and Arabs, who knew the country well, of a small 
 lake called Bemba. 
 
 “ As we proceeded West we passed over the sources not only of the 
 Loangwa (of the Maravi flowing into the Zambesi) but of another stream 
 called Moitawa or Moitala, which was represented to be the main feeder 
 of Lake Bemba. This would be of little importance, but for the fact that 
 the considerable river Luapula, or Loapula, is said to flow out of Bemba 
 
 (A) See Journal Bov. Geo. Society, vol. xxxv., pp. 2, 3. 
 (»') The Zambesi and its Tributaries, pages 516, 538. 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 to the westward, and then to spread out into another and much larger 
 lake, named Moei’o or Moelo. Flowing still farther, the Loapula forms 
 Lake Mofue, or Mofu; and after this it is said to pass the town of Ca- 
 zembe, bend to the North, and enter Lake Tanganyika.” 
 
 It is very much to be regretted that this important point was not 
 further examined. The approach of the rainy season, and the 
 recal of the expedition, caused it to be abandoned, and a hasty 
 return to the Lake Nyassa, and thence to Europe, has closed this 
 interesting topic for the present. 
 
 Beyond the point attained by Dr. Livingstone no recent traveller 
 has penetrated, but further to the westward several expeditions 
 have passed from the Portuguese settlements on the Zambezi to 
 within a very few miles of the probable southern end of the Tan¬ 
 ganyika Lake. The chief of these are cited, not as novelties, for 
 they have been often quoted, but because the present moment in¬ 
 vests them with a stronger interest. 
 
 A Portuguese colonist from Goa, Grongalo Caetano Pereira, (A) had 
 sent from Tette more than one trading mission to the Cazembe 
 prior to 1786, and in that year sent his son Manoel Pereira in 
 charge of a mission to the same potentate. The accounts given by 
 these enterprising men, as related by Dr. de Lacerda in his pre¬ 
 liminary notes to the account of his expedition, contain many geo¬ 
 graphical features of importance to our present subject. 
 
 Manoel Caetano Pereira the son, started in May, 1786, with his 
 own slaves, and the Muizas who had brought down the Cazembe’s 
 ivory the year before, and after traversing the land of the Maravi, 
 a term by which the great lake (Nyassa) was then known to 
 geographers was 45 days in reaching the Aroangua river, the 
 stream whose head waters were found by Dr. Livingstone in Sep¬ 
 tember, 1863, and then called the Loangwa or Zumbo, the latter 
 name from the place where it falls into the Zambezi 220 miles 
 above Tete. In twenty days more he struck another river, called 
 Zambeze, of which Dr. Lacerda says, “From the information of 
 the people I venture to say that it is not our Zambeze or any of its 
 influents from the Xire (Shire) river upwards. The Zambeze of 
 the Muizas flows to the right hand of those crossing it from Tete, 
 and falls into other streams but he makes some confusion after¬ 
 wards in the lakes into which it runs. “ Manoel’s party travelled 30 
 days from the river to the King’s capital, crossed some deserts, and 
 spent a day fording a lake waist deep. This body of water is 
 drained by two channels, one to the Zambeze, the other to the 
 Murusura River, which passes the Royal residence.” What fol¬ 
 lows is almost unintelligible, at least with our present knowledge, 
 but it is directly confirmatory of what Dr. Livingstone has heard 
 so recently. 
 
 In the further expedition to the father of the Cazembe chief, 
 Muata-Ya-Nvo, to the N.W., the route appears to cross some of the 
 affluents of the Luapula River, which it could be demonstrated, as 
 far as our imperfect knowledge goes, flows to the N.E. and East. 
 
 (. Jc) Related in the introduction to Dr. de Lacerda’s Narrative, published in the 
 Annaes Maritimos, Lisbon, 184. I have availed myself of a MS. translation, by 
 Captain Burton, of this important work, now invested with a peculiar interest. 
 
'( 6 ) 
 
 By much the most important geographical exploration of this 
 country, next to that of Dr. Livingtone, was that made by order of 
 the Portuguese Government in 1798—1799, under Dr. F. J. M. de 
 Lacerda e Almeida, who was no ordinary man. He was a Brazilian 
 by birth, but graduated at Coimbra, where he became a Dr. of 
 mathematics. He was appointed astronomer to the King of Portu¬ 
 gal, and left Lisbon in Jan. 1780, to lay down the frontier line of 
 the great South American colony. He returned to Lisbon in 1790, 
 and afterwards went to Africa by Eoyal command on a mission to 
 the Cazembe. 
 
 The important mission of Dr. de Lacerda left Tette for the 
 country of the Cazembe on July 3, 1798. The objects of this costly 
 and noble undertaking was, as he tells us, to ascertain if Central 
 Africa contains any mountain capable of sending forth the Cuhene 
 river, which falls into the Atlantic a little below Cabo Negro, and 
 to find a short and easy communication overland from Portugal to 
 the Eios de Sena, and especially to seek the means of bringing 
 these infidels into the bosom of the church. In the instructions 
 which he issued to his officers, to be followed in case of his own 
 death, he makes especial mention of the ‘ Zambeze,’ reported by 
 the Pereiras, and directs that if it should flow to the right (that is, 
 eadicard) they would do well to descend it to ascertain whether it 
 falls into the Shire, but if to the left or westward, it may be the 
 Cuiiene, a river which Dr. de Lacerda had endeavoured, unsuccess¬ 
 fully, to explore in 1798, and then it is to be followed down to 
 its mouth, and thence find their way to Benguella. The same 
 method of pi’oceeding is laid down with respect to the river flowing 
 past the Cazembe’s capital. 
 
 Dr. de Lacerda e Almeida was most liberally and honourably 
 treated by the court of Portugal. He was made governor of the 
 Eios de Sena, in the captaincy of Mozambique, and had a retinue 
 far too large for such an expedition. The second in command was 
 a chaplain, and with him were five other civilians and five military 
 subordinates, five other officers, and fifty men at arms as an escort. 
 This large and unmanageable party, with the crowd of negroes and 
 negresses as porters, caused the greatest annoyance to the two 
 leaders, and finally thwarted the chief object of the mission, that of 
 crossing Africa from East and West. 
 
 The expedition started, as before stated, on July 3, 1798, and 
 reached the northern Aruangoa Eiver at the end of August; on 
 the 30th they reached the Serra Muchingua, which he named An¬ 
 tonina, in honour of the Prince, fixing astronomically a point about 
 70 miles south-eastward of it, Mazavamba, in lat. 12° 33', longitude 
 32° 18' 15". This very important position gives us a perfect clue 
 to the course taken by the expedition, and the approximate position 
 of the important Muchingua or Maxinga Eange, probably a con¬ 
 tinuation of that seen by Dr. Livingstone N.W. from Lake Nyassa, 
 and which also may be the dividing range of the waters which flow 
 toward the Zambezi on the South, and those which pass through 
 the Cazembe’s country to the northward. Dr. de Lacerda afterwards 
 speaks of the desolate and rugged country they traversed, and the 
 cold they suffered from, which indicates a lofty region. 
 
 On Sept. 10 they reached the northern Zambeze Eiver, and here 
 thoy made some geographical difficulty. I quote Dr. de Lacerda :— 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 “ My principal desire being to obtain exact geographical notes of the 
 size and the direction of all streams crossed between Tete and the Cazem¬ 
 be’s country, and from the latter to Angola, I laboured to extract informa¬ 
 tion from different Muize Caffres, and from Manoel Gaetano Pereira, 
 making repeated and compared enquiries to avoid errors arising from 
 strange languages. All uniformly and repeatedly assured me that the 
 Zambeze (Chambeze) and the liugurue river ran to the RIGHT of one tra¬ 
 velling to the Cazembe. Pereira confirmed this information, from which 
 I infer that he does not know his right from his left hand.” 
 
 Again : “ To-day (Sept. 11, 1798), I sent to enquire about the course of 
 the Zambeze of sundry Mussucumos, a tribe mixed with the Muizas, some 
 vassals of Cazembe (these were my informants) and others independent, all 
 said that it trends to the river which runs by the city of the Cazembe, 
 whatever be the worth of their information which at piesent I neither 
 allow nor disallow.” 
 
 Now nothing can be more circumstantial or direct than this in¬ 
 formation, that the rivers (which Gamitto says first flow to the 
 West) ultimately join that running northward past the Cazembe’s 
 city—the Luapula or Guapula Piver. 
 
 When this is connected with what is related by Dr. Livingstone, 
 of the streams flowing westward from what is probably the western¬ 
 most spur of the great Maxinga Mountains, and which is further 
 confirmed by the undeviating testimony obtained further North, it 
 seems that it would be a perfectly fair inference to state that Dr. 
 Livingstone had seen and crossed the head waters of one or other of 
 the streams which flow toward the Cazembe country. 
 
 The position of the crossing of this northern Zambeze by Dr. 
 de Lacerda is well ascertained, .for on September 21st, 1798, 
 
 eleven days afterwards, he observed an immersion of Jupiter’s 
 first satellite, which gave him the longitude of 30" 1' 45" E., this 
 was in lat. 10° 20' 35", and was his last astronomical observation. 
 The place he calls Mouro Achinto, which Gamitto says was the 
 name of the village chief. When Monteiro was here Oct. 15, 1831, it 
 was called by the name Messire Chirumba. (/) 
 
 Dr. de Lacerda’s further journey to the Cazembe’s capital is a 
 narrative of his personal sufferings. He passed near to a great 
 lake on his left hand (westward), which has been called Chama; 
 but this was the name of the district (it is also called the Slxuia 
 Lake), and reached Lucenda October 3, 1798, worn out with fever 
 and anxiety. Thus died this most excellent man and accomplished 
 traveller. Had his life been spared, we should most probably 
 have had a much more perfect knowledge of the physical geography 
 of this important region. His followers returned to Tete under 
 the guidance of the chaplain. 
 
 The next travellers in this region, who give any clear account of 
 the country, are Major Jose Manoel Correa Monteiro, as related by 
 his companion Major A. C. P. Gamitto, who went on a mission to 
 the capital of the Cazembe—Lunda or Lucenda, in 1831 -2. ( m ) Major 
 Gamitto’s itinerary is little more than a recital of the rivers and 
 hills they crossed; but few other geographical details are found. 
 
 (l) O Muata Cazembe, page 196. 
 
 (m) 0 Muata Cazembe, e os povos, &c., da Africa Austral.; Diario da Expe- 
 dieao Fortugueza commandada pelo Major Monteiro e redigido pelo Major A. C. 
 P. Gamitto, Lisboa, 18o4. 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 This undertaking was set on foot from a similar cause to that of 
 Dr. Lacerda. Towards the close of 1830, a cafila of Cazembes 
 arrived at Tete, with ivory for sale, (n) This led the governor of Sena 
 to appoint the above-named officers on this embassy. They started 
 June 1, 1831, and followed the same general line of march described 
 by Dr. de Lacerda. 
 
 On September 19th they crossed the Serra Muxinga, (o) called by 
 Dr. de Lacerda Muchingua, and named by him the Cordelheira 
 Antonina. No estimate is given of its height; but it must be ex¬ 
 ceedingly lofty,, for on the second day of their ascent they marched a 
 league, continually ascending to the ridge of the mountain, where 
 the pass was obstructed by an immense rock, like a portal to the 
 defile. The direct route lay through a natural aperture, 2f feet 
 in diameter, in this rock, or else around it, over a terrible and dan¬ 
 gerous precipice. This past, they came upon a difficult and ele¬ 
 vated desert country, where they suffered much from hunger. 
 
 On their return they reached the Serra Muxingua, on August 10, 
 1832, and give a longer account of it. It stands as it were alone, 
 rising at once abruptly and very steeply from the table land, but 
 traverses an immense extent of country. It was estimated to reach 
 an elevation above the sea of a league (Portuguese, or about 19,700 
 feet). Its head was nearly always enveloped in clouds, but no sign 
 of snow or ice was visible or reported. The height, probably, is 
 exaggerated, but Gamitto says that it is by much the most lofty 
 summit in this part of Africa, and has precipices of a prodigious 
 height. It commands most extensive prospects to the north¬ 
 ward. (p) 
 
 On October 9th they reached the River Chambezi, called by the 
 natives Cono, a very rapid stream running to the West, but where 
 afterwards no one knew ; but Monteiro thought it might reach the 
 Zambeze. ( q ) There is nothing, then, in their diary that militates 
 against the results of the much more useful enquiries made by Dr. 
 de Lacerda. 
 
 Without following our travellers further, or further alluding to 
 the great lakes they passed, or that of Mofo near to the Cazembe 
 capital, it may be accepted as a general conclusion, from their evi¬ 
 dence, that the streams from the N.W. of the Lake Nyassa, and 
 northward of the mountainous desert which skirts the Serra Mux¬ 
 inga, run towards the lakes at the Lunda capital, and then as far 
 as report says, to the north-eastward, (r) 
 
 To these testimonies we must add the more important one of Dr. 
 Livingstone. As before quoted, he had taken great pains to ascer¬ 
 tain from the travelled Babisa and Arabs as much as possible about 
 the country in front. 
 
 “ There could be no doubt that our informants had been in the countiy 
 beyond the Cazembe’s. The Lualaba is said to flow into the Luapula ; and 
 when, for the sake of testing the accuracy of the tra veller, it was asserted 
 
 (n) O Muata Cazembe, page xviii. 
 
 (o) Ibid, pages 170—172. 
 
 (p) Ibid, page 402. 
 
 (?) Ibid, page 447. 
 
 (»•) See Proceedings Royal Geographical Society, 1864, vol. vi.,page 262. Dr. 
 Kirk confirms this—that the Loapula flows North into a small lake. 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 that all the water of the region round the town of the Cazembe flowed into the 
 Luambadzi, or Luambezi (Zambesi), they remai’ked, with a smile, ‘ He says 
 the Loapula flows into the Zambezi—-did you ever hear such nonsense ?’ or 
 words to that effect. Their geographical opinions are now only stated 
 without any further comment than that the itinerary given by the Arabs 
 and others shows that the Luapola is twice crossed on the way to the 
 Cazembe’s ; and we may add that we have never found any difficulty from 
 the alleged incapacity of the negro to tell which way a river flows.” (s) 
 
 Although it is a great trading highway with the Arabs and na¬ 
 tives, no European traveller has passed north-eastward of the Ca¬ 
 zembe’s city. 
 
 To carry the argument that the waters flow north-eastward far¬ 
 ther, we derive some information from another region, that of 
 Lake Tanganyika. 
 
 All recorded testimony acquired from the natives, prior to the first 
 East Africa expedition, and information given to Capt. Burton, and 
 every pains taken both by that traveller and Captain Speke, while 
 in the country, only lead to one conclusion—that at the South end 
 of Tanganyika Lake a river, the Runangwa or Marungu, runs into 
 it ; and it is only of late that any theory has made it run out, and 
 and so join the Nyassa Lake. There is nothing more certain known 
 now of any particular of the great Tanganyika Lake than was 
 acquired in the first and only visit made to it in February to May, 
 1858 ; and as the geographical relation of this great and important 
 body of water to African hydrology rests upon a single and very 
 questionable observation, a few brief, though well known, particu¬ 
 lars are here cited. 
 
 The first East Africa expedition, sent out by the Royal Geogra¬ 
 phical Society in October, 1856, was organised and arranged by 
 Captain Burton. He was joined by Captain Speke at Cairo, Nov., 
 1856, and finally left Zanzibar for the interior June, 1857. This 
 fine undertaking was most inadequately subsidized. Only £1,000 
 was supplied by the Government, through the Society, £750|at the 
 outset, and £250 on their return. The rest of the total cost, £2,500, 
 was defrayed jointly by the travellers themselves. 
 
 It succeeded beyond expectation, and I think that I am warranted 
 in stating that there never was an expedition based on such limited 
 means, traversing an entirely unknown country, through miseries 
 and difficulties only then first ascertained, which brought to the 
 knowledge of civilized man such a harvest of information on almost 
 every branch of interest. The topography of Captain Speke is won¬ 
 derfully perfect, considering his health and means of observation ; 
 and the 29th volume of the Society’s Journal contains a master¬ 
 piece of descriptive geography. 
 
 Delayed, tormented, deserted, and robbed by their escort and 
 party, with health broken by the deadly bilious remittents of the 
 coast region, the travellers struggled on over the high table land 
 (2,500 to 3,500 feet) between the coast ranges of the Rufuta and 
 Rubeho Mountains, and reached the settlement of Muskat Arabs at 
 Kazeh in Unyanyembe, where they received a warm welcome. This 
 was on November 7th, 1857, and at the elevation about 3,500 feet. 
 
 (s) The Zambesi and its Tributaries, pages 532, 533. 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 Their well kept journals and observations on this part of the route 
 are perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 About this time, I believe, for the record is lost, they broke their 
 trustworthy hypsometrical apparatus, and subsequently had to de¬ 
 pend on much less perfect instruments. 
 
 They were too long delayed here by sore illness, and before they 
 could start the great rains had set in. Under these most adverse 
 conditions did these brave men struggle on down the pestiferous 
 course of the Malagarazi River Captain Speke was so affected by 
 the climate and season that he became almost blind, and Captain 
 Burton became partially paralyzed in the extremities, so that he had 
 to be carried in a hammock to the great lake. They reached 
 Ujiji, on the shore of the Tanganyika Lake, then seen for the first 
 time, on February 18th, 1858. A single observation of Captain 
 Speke, with what he described tome as a “bath” thermometer, 
 gave as the elevation of the lake 1,844 feet. But this thermometer 
 read 214° instead of 212°, when brought down to the East coast 
 again. Captain Speke’s second expedition wfill perhaps indicate 
 when the index error, which subsequently increased to this great 
 extent, became sensible. There was only one lunar observa¬ 
 tion taken for the longitude of Ujiji, which point determines the 
 position of the lake, and this was discarded, and the position laid 
 down from dead reckoning; but I believe that it cannot be far 
 wrong. How energetically the intrepid travellers essayed, without 
 success, to reach the North end of the lake, and thus solve the great 
 secret, has been often told. 
 
 They had, however, seen what appeared to be the end of the lake, 
 in lat. 3° 8' S., and the impressions then received were placed on the 
 map No. 1 by Captain Speke. 
 
 The general character of Tanganyika Lake, as ascertained by 
 observations and by hearsay, was as follows:—From Ujiji to the 
 North end, as far as was seen, was about 100 geographic miles. 
 Captain Burton estimated, from report, that it was 150 miles from 
 Ujiji to the South end, making it 250 miles in length. Captain 
 Speke’s maps extend this considerably. His first map makes its 
 South end 230 miles from Ujiji, terminating in lat. 8° 30' S. His 
 second map abridges this to lat. 8° 6'. His first published map re¬ 
 duces it to lat. 7° 45', like Captain Burton’s estimate. This would 
 be within 80 or 100 miles of Lucenda, the Cazembe capital. 
 
 It is evidently very deep, but no soundings could be taken. No 
 mention is made, or evidence seen, of any change of level. 
 
 The general formation suggests the idea of a volcano of depression, 
 not like the Victoria Nyanza or Ukerewe, a vast reservoir, formed by 
 the drainage of mountains. Judging from the eye, the walls of 
 this basin rise in an almost continuous curtain, rarely waving and 
 infracted, to 2,000 or 3,000 feet above the water level. The water 
 aj^pears deliciously sweet and pure. The people, however, who 
 drink it willingly, prefer the water from the little springs on its 
 shores, and also that from Nyanza. It appears to corrode metal 
 and leather. (£) 
 
 The principal rivers were the Malagarazi, which rises in IJsinza 
 
 (t) Journal Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxix., 1859, page 234, &c. 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 and after a course of about 250 or 260 miles, falls into the eastern 
 side of the lake, 16 miles below XJjiji. The Marungu, or Runangwa, 
 of which mention has been made, and which is about equal in 
 volume to the Malagarazi, enters it from the W.S.W. or S.W. at 
 its southernmost extremity, and is almost certainly the same river 
 as the Luapula, which passes N.E. of the Cazembe capital. 
 
 The third river, which is said to be larger than the Marungu and 
 Malagarazi united, is the Rusizi, at its North end. Until Burton 
 and Speke visited Uvira at its North end, April 26, 1856, all tes¬ 
 timony unvaryingly stated that it ran OUT of the lake. Then, and 
 only on this occasion, did they hear, from the sons of the local chief, 
 Marulas, that it ran into the lake. ( u ) Their lawless crew of unruly 
 Wajiji savages would not allow them to go to it, and thus has the 
 most important question remained a matter for dispute and discus¬ 
 sion till the present day. 
 
 Upon this information, and upon the supposed depression of the 
 lake below the lands to the northward, Captain Burton argued that 
 it was a still lake, one without an inlet. 
 
 In the many conversations I had with Captain Speke on this 
 topic, as well as with Captain Burton, shortly after their return, I 
 endeavoured to combat this view, but being then in entire igno¬ 
 rance of the upper course of the White Nile, no solution could be 
 found for what seemed to be then an insuperable difficulty. 
 
 That an inland sea, of such magnitude, receiving the drainage of 
 such a great extent of country, in a climate where the evaporation 
 bears a large proportion to the rainfall, it is quite incredible that its 
 waters should be fresh. In the countless ages since its formation, 
 it must have become saline, like the Dead Sea, as an extreme case, 
 or the Caspian as another, or the Shirwa Lake of Dr. Livingstone, 
 the deep waters of which are brackish, and taste like a weak solu¬ 
 tion of Epsom salts. Every other known lake without an outlet 
 is, I believe, of the same character, saline, and varying in its level. 
 
 If this be granted, as I presume must be done by every geographer, 
 there are only three solutions to the problem. First, that it has an 
 outlet to the Indian Ocean South of the route of the two East Africa 
 expeditions; or, secondly, that some river runs to the westward, 
 forming an affluent of the Congo, or other large Atlantic river; or, 
 thirdly, that it drains northward, to which argument these remarks 
 tend. 
 
 In the first place, its outlet cannot run towards the Indian 
 Ocean, to the northward of the parallel of its southern end, for 
 that region was perfectly explored by Burton, Speke, and Grant. 
 The Lufigi River, which debouches in lat. 8° O' S., has not been 
 examined, but its known character will not admit of such a supposi¬ 
 tion. Its upper course, known as the Ruaha, traverses the upland 
 desert only in the rainy season, and the space between its occasional 
 sources, and the South end of Tanganyika Lake, is constantly tra¬ 
 versed by the Arab caravans passing from Zanzibar towards Lu- 
 cenda, for ivory, and Kitanda, or Kitata, South of the Cazembe’s, for 
 copper. These cross, or pass, a shallow morass or lake, the Rukwa 
 
 («) See Capt. Burton, in Journal Royal Geographical Society, vol. xxxv., 18G5» 
 page 4. 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 lagoon, which, at times, joins the Tanganyika Lake. No river is 
 crossed. The Ruaha, whose real sources are still unknown, is not 
 passed. It cannot then run eastward. 
 
 The second alternative is that it drains to the westward, or in other 
 words, that it either contains the source of the Congo, whose 
 mouth is 1,100 miles from the western shore of the lake, or that 
 the waters flowing westward are finally absorbed by evaporation. 
 To combat these views with the facts at command would lead far 
 beyond the limits of this paper. Suffice it to say, that several 
 routes to the westward of the Tanganyika, not only negative this, 
 but also would almost prove that the waters flow into the lake. The 
 great distance will present now the most cogent argument against 
 this, while we have the third, that the Rusizi River is an effluent. 
 
 The third point I would insist on is thisnorthern outlet of the lake. 
 
 The additional knowledge we now haye, places this matter in a 
 very different position to what it was in 1859, and accordingly I now 
 aver that, if our late data be correct, there can be no other solution 
 to the Nile question. I will name the difficulties as they have 
 arisen. 
 
 After Burton and Speke had finished their exploration of Tan¬ 
 ganyika, and become somewhat improved in health by their stay of 
 nearly three months on the lake, they returned, with means almost 
 exhausted, to Kazeh ; and here Capt. Speke, quite recovered from his 
 partial blindness, and from the effects of a small beetle which pene¬ 
 trated his ear, and suppurated away, completed the rough outline 
 of their route, and forwarded it to England, with the map No. 1, 
 which shows that they conceived that the Tanganyika continued to 
 a valley open to the N.N.W. Capt. Speke, leaving Burton to prepare 
 for their return march, then started for the northern or Ukerewe 
 Lake, July 9th, and on August 3rd, observed it to be higher than 
 Kazeh, or 3,740 feet. This, also, was an imperfect result, from the 
 defective thermometer. Returning to Kazeh, they collected the rem¬ 
 nant of their property, and retraced their steps to the coast. 
 
 After having visited the Ukerewe, or Victoria Nyanza, Captain 
 Speke was firmly convinced that this was the true and only head of 
 the Nile. That it is one of these reservoirs, no one can doubt. But in 
 order to account for the supposed southern flow of the Ruzizi River, 
 he drew the range of lofty mountains around the head ofthe lake, and 
 between it and his own Lake Victoria, at a distance of 150 to 170 
 miles to the northward. These were purely hypothetical, as they 
 were never seen or heard of. Their relation to the first map, sent 
 after their return from Tanganyika, may be seen by reference to 
 sketch No. 2, which is placed on the same parallel on the paper. 
 
 The second East Africa expedition, under Captains Speke and 
 Grant, went over precisely the same ground that the first had done, 
 except where crossing the lofty coast ranges. Arrived at the upper 
 plateau, we find that the thermometric observations in the second 
 expedition, as compared with the first, give a lower elevation of 
 about 350 feet, to the country up to within 40 miles of Kazeh, their 
 crucial station, but here the second elevations exceed the first by 
 about 100 feet. It is probable, therefore, that hereabout the instru¬ 
 ments in the first expedition began to fail. 
 
 It has been objected that these absolute and independent observa¬ 
 tions by the thermometer involve a fallacy, as the difference of level 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 thus shown must be dependant on the varying pressure of the at¬ 
 mosphere: but to this may be replied that this region is so near to 
 the equator, that the diurnal or secular variations of the barometer 
 are nearly at a minimum, and that the whole range, except during 
 cyclones or hurricanes, does not exceed a very few tenths of an inch 
 in the mercurial column (each tenth of an inch representing 85 feet 
 of elevation) ; and that all the observations relating to this point 
 were taken under the same circumstances. Most certainly absolute 
 accuracy must not be demanded for them—at best they can be but 
 approximations. 
 
 Captain Speke made the elevation of the North side of his Vic¬ 
 toria Nyanza (in his second expedition^, to be 432 feet lower than 
 in the first; and between this point and Gondokoro he made four 
 other observations, to which I wish to draw especial attention. The 
 first is near Kamrasi’s Palace (Luluga), 2,856 feet; the second at 
 the Karuma Falls, 2,970 feet; the third, South Luluga, between 
 Karuma Falls and Kamrasi’s, 2,906 feet ; and Paira, 18 miles South 
 of the junction of the Asua River, 1,793 feet. (Sir Samuel Baker 
 says that the Nile, issuing from the Albert Nyanza, is navigable as 
 far as this, and therefore they are on the same level.) Finally, 
 Grondokoro was made to be 1,298 feet above the sea. Captain 
 Speke’s thermometers, I believe, were not brought home, and, there¬ 
 fore, their index errors, which were probably considerable, cannot 
 now be ascertained. But they are all relative to each other, and one 
 common correction would apply to all. 
 
 Captain Speke heard of the Great Lake, to the westward of Kam¬ 
 rasi’s, since explored by Sir Samuel Baker and his lady, and named 
 by him the Albert Nyanza. This lake was also reported to lie in 
 almost the same position by Mr. Petherick, from information given 
 to him by his man Mussaad, who went southward to within four 
 days’ march N.W. of the North end of the lake. It was also an¬ 
 nounced by Dr. Peney, May 20th, 1861 ; he had then got beyond 
 the cataracts of Makedo, and heard of it. His death prevented his 
 exploring it. M. Debono was associated with him. 
 
 In addition to this lake, Captain Speke places another, the Ru- 
 sizi Lake, at the distance of 110 miles due North of the North ex¬ 
 tremity of the Tanganyika Lake, and connects them by the Rusizi 
 River, which passes through Uzige country. This Rusizi Lake, 
 therefore, lies in the heart of the mountains he inferred to exist in 
 1858. 
 
 The names Ujiji, Rusizi, Uzige, and N’zige, which are placed on 
 this line by Captain Speke, have a great resemblance to each 
 other. 
 
 Mr. Consul Petherick reached Gondokoro, Feb. 20th, 1863, and 
 made the elevation by thermometer B. P. (three observations) 1,265 
 feet, a remarkable coincidence with those of Captain Speke’s—they 
 are identical, (a?) 
 
 Mr. Petherick gave a similar thermometer to Sir Samuel Baker, 
 who had arrived at Gondokoro a few days previously; and this 
 
 (x) Mr. Petherick’s observations are given in the Journal Royal Geographical 
 Society, 1865, vol. xxxv., page 300. 
 
( H ) 
 
 also lias been returned and tested, ( y ) so that its error, and the ap¬ 
 plication of the difference, is not only available for its own results, 
 but will also test and correct those which can be directly connected 
 with it. 
 
 Sir Samuel Baker and his lady ascended the rivers on the track 
 which had been descended by Captains Speke and Grant; and with 
 this thermometer of Mr. Casella’s, he observed the altitude at the 
 four places I have mentioned above, as having been observed by 
 Captain Speke. For the sake of comparison thoy are placed (with 
 Gondokoro) in juxtaposition below, those of Captains Speke and 
 Grant being uncorrected, and those of Sir Samuel Baker, with those 
 final corrections determined on at Kew. 
 
 
 Speke. 
 
 Sir. S. Baker. 
 
 Difference. 
 
 Luluga (Kamrasi’s) . 
 
 .. 2856 ft. Mrooli (do.) 
 
 4061 
 
 1205 
 
 Lamina Ralls . 
 
 .. 2970 . 
 
 . 3966 
 
 1026 
 
 S. Tmliiga . 
 
 .. 2906 . 
 
 . 4056 
 
 1150 
 
 Paira . 
 
 .. 1793 (R. Nile, near 
 
 ■) ... 2720 
 
 927 
 
 Gondokoro . 
 
 .. 1298 .. 
 
 
 701 
 
 Mean of the five differences, 
 
 1,002 feet. 
 
 
 "We have thus a clear difference between Captain Speke and Sir 
 Samuel Baker of 1,000 feet, at nearly, or quite, the same places. 
 This may seem to be a very large proportion of the entire eleva¬ 
 tions ; but it should be remembered that even in the last one, Gondo¬ 
 koro, it has been thought necessary to add 700 feet to the result 
 obtained by Mr. Petherick with the same instrument. 
 
 This difference of 1,000 feet must therefore be either subtracted 
 from Sir S. Baker’s elevations or added to Captain Speke’s; one or 
 the other will prove the point I wish to insist on here. 
 
 Not only will this correction regulate the observations made in 
 Captain Speke’s second expedition, but it will apply to those made 
 in the first, as the second passed over the same ground. 
 
 It has been said above that the second expedition made Kazeh 
 92 feet, as a mean higher than did the first. Therefore the ob¬ 
 servation at Tanganyika must also be brought in, as it was made 
 by the same instrument, placing it at 1,844 feet. 
 
 Now, as Captain Speke’s measurements throughout are consis- 
 with each other, if we accept them as correct, it is perfectly possible 
 for Tanganyika Lake at 1,844 feet to flow into Gondokoro at 1,298 
 feet, past Paira at 1,793 feet elevation. 
 
 But then Sir Samuel Baker makes the Albert Nyanza to be 
 elevated 2,720 feet. If we take Captain Speke’s observations as 
 correct, this must be reduced to 1,720 feet, identical with Captain 
 Speke’s observations at Paira, nearly or quite on the lake level. 
 Or, what is much more reasonable, we must apply the known 
 correction by Sir S. Baker’s thermometer to Captain Speke’s obser¬ 
 vation, acknowledged to be imperfect; this will bring Tanganyika 
 Lake up to 2,844 feet, or 124 feet above the Albert Nyanza. 
 
 Either of these views will quite determine the question as to the 
 
 (y) See Journal Royal Geographical Society, 1866, vol. xxxvi., page , where 
 Sir S. Baker’s observations are computed and investigated by Mr. Dunkin. 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 possibility of Lake Tanganyika being connected with the Albert 
 Nyanza. 
 
 Without claiming for these hypsometrical observations any re¬ 
 finement—they can be but simple approximations—and putting 
 aside minor differences, it may be broadly stated that these two 
 great western lakes are on the same level. 
 
 It is not necessary here to apply this reasoning to the stated 
 elevation of the Victoria Nyanza, though of course it must fall into 
 the same category, for no one can doubt but that the waters seen 
 by Captain Speke to flow from the direction of its northern side, 
 finally enter the Nile. 
 
 Having disposed of the question of elevation, the next point is 
 the geographical position of the lakes. This is most simply met. 
 
 Captain Speke heard, in 1861-2, of a lake, the Rusizi, due North 
 of the Tanganyika Lake, and lying between latitudes 1° and 2° S., 
 westward of the lofty Mfumbiro Peak. 
 
 Sir Samuel Baker sailed down the North-eastern side of the lake, 
 past its abrupt cliffs of granite and gneiss, rising abruptly from 
 the water to 1,200 and 1,500 feet high, and heard from King Kam- 
 rasi and many natives that it was well known as far as between 
 latitudes 1° and 2° S., when it turns to the westward, the extent 
 being unknown even to Rumanika, king of Karagwe. 
 
 This enormous lake, thus at least 260 miles in length, embo¬ 
 somed in lofty mountains on either hand, extends to and covers the 
 site of the Rusizi Lake, heard of by Captain Speke, and passes 
 over his mountains of 1858. 
 
 Who then can doubt, if the data we possess be worth anything, 
 but that they are one and the same lake ? 
 
 I therefore claim for Lake Tanganyika, as I did in 1859, when I 
 believe I stood alone, the honour of being the southernmost re¬ 
 servoir oe the Nile, until some more positive evidence, by actual 
 observation, shall otherwise determine it. 
 
 The points, then, which I have endeavoured to prove are: that 
 Dr. Livingstone, by determining the division of the water-flow to 
 the westward of his Nyassa Lake, in September, 1863, had pro¬ 
 bably reached some of those occasional streamlets which feed the 
 Nile. 
 
 That in his last journey, by continuing westward, he had deter¬ 
 mined that no large river entered the North end of the Nyassa 
 Lake, and therefore determined the water-shed between the Nile 
 and Zambesi systems. 
 
 That all evidence acquired by the Portuguese travellers, read in 
 the light brought to the subject by recent investigation, tends to 
 the certainty of the truth of Burton and Speke’s assertion, that the 
 water enters the South end of Tanganyika Lake. 
 
 That Captain Speke’s single observation as to the elevation of 
 that lake is probably erroneous to the extent of the index error 
 showed by his thermometer on the sea shore, 2°, equal to about 
 1,000 feet, and that otherwise, if Sir S. Baker’s observations and 
 information be correct, his Albert Nyanza would flow to the south¬ 
 ward, the contrary of which he has proved 
 
 The true sources of the Nile Nile must be looked for in the 
 mountains West and N.W. of the Nyassa Lake, or in the great 
 Serra Muchinga of the Portuguese travellers, between latitudes 11° 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 and 12° South. Thus adding 600 miles to the known course of that 
 wonderful river, to which each new discovery adds a new interest, (z) 
 
 The final solution of this most ancient and most interesting prob¬ 
 lem would indeed be a geographical triumph. I earnestly hope 
 that it may be claimed soon by the Royal Geographical Society, 
 which has done so much to clear away the dark clouds of mystery 
 in which it was enshrouded ten years ago. 
 
 But there is another aspect in which the inquiry would place 
 itself in a practical sense, and this to many may be considered of 
 greater importance than the solution of an abstract geographical 
 problem. To what good can such a discovery be applied ? A few 
 words will, I think, demonstrate this. 
 
 At present the commerce of the upper Nile is transported by water 
 as far as Gondokoro, and ceases a few miles above it. 
 
 If this branch of the Great Nile be navigable southward from, 
 the Makedo or Apuddo Cataracts, down the Albert Lake to its. 
 southern end, a distance of 400 miles, and if the Rusizi River be a 
 continuation of it, at the same level, as at present appears, it may 
 extend this navigable part of the Upper Nile for 340 miles further, 
 to the head of the Tanganyika Lake, and to within a few miles of 
 the Great African Capital of the Cazembe, one of the chief ivory 
 marts, and also near to Kitanga or Kitata, the copper mart. 
 
 We should have thus an'additional 750 or 800 miles of water 
 carriage for that commerce which ought to be the best pioneer of 
 civilization in these otherwise unapproachable regions. A few 
 vessels of shallow draught, impelled by steam or sail, would inter¬ 
 cept the whole of the traffic which is now carried on with the 
 greatest vigour between the vast and entirely unknown west, and 
 the infamous slave depots on the shores of the Indian Ocean. 
 
 As is well known, the chief article of the export trade, ivory, 
 would be nearly worthless in the interior, without selling as 
 a slave the porter who brings it to the coast. By diverting this 
 double traffic to the northward to the Egyptian posts at Gondokoro 
 or elsewhere, we, as a nation, could have very much more influence 
 in repressing the trade in the human portion of it than is now 
 possible at the well-known ports of Mombas, Ibo, Q,uiloa, and 
 many other notorious places. 
 
 If by further exploration it could be determined that such a line 
 of navigation is practicable, and which would be transverse to that 
 now carried on. Commercial enterprise, in some form, might soon 
 be established there. This would cut off the slave trade from be¬ 
 tween the western countries and the coast. 
 
 (s) The length of the Nile’s course from Gondokoro to its mouth, following its 
 major windings, is about 2,400 geographic miles (or 2,780 British miles). From 
 Gondokoro, near to which, it was generally argued, ten years ago, that the 
 southernmost head of the Nile would be found to the South end of Tanganyika 
 Lake, is 830 geographic miles (or 960 British miles). If the source be near the 
 Muxinga Range, it must he 270 geographic miles (or 312 British miles) still 
 further South, so that its total course will he 3,500 geographic, or 4,050 British 
 miles, almost unparallelled by any other river.