X PREFACE.
portion of soil than any other tributary of the Nile;
therefore, to the Atbara, above all other rivers, must
the wealth and fertility of Egypt be attributed.
It may thus be stated : The equatorial lakes feed
| but; the Abyssinian rivers cause the inundation.
This being a concise summary of the Nile system,
I shall describe twelve months’ exploration, during
which I examined every individual river that is tributary
to the Nile from Abyssinia, including the Atbara,
Settite, Royan, Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, and
the Blue Nile. The interest attached to these portions
of Africa differs entirely from that of the White Nile
regions, as the whole of Upper Egypt and Abyssinia is
capable of development, and is inhabited by races
either Mohammedan or Christian; while Central Africa
is peopled by a hopeless race of savages, for whom
there is no prospect of civilization.
The exploration of the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia
occupied the first twelve months of my journey
towards the Nile sources. During this time, I had the
opportunity of learning Arabic and of studying the
character of the people; both necessary acquirements,
PREFACE. - xi
which led to my ultimate success in reaching the
“ Albert N’yanza. ” As the readers of the work of
that title are aware, I was accompanied throughout
the entire journey by my wife, who, with extraordinary
hardihood and devotion, shared every difficulty with
which African travel is beset.