Dr. Beke on the Sources of the Nile. 103 



Aussa, lost in lake Abhebbad before reaching the ocean. The 

 Doho, Wabbi, or Haines's River, which is the next in succes- 

 sion, appears in like manner not to have sufficient water to 

 reach the sea; at least not at all times of the year. Further 

 to the south, we find the Wabbi-Giw^yna, or Gowin, or Juba 

 River, possessing a substantive character as an ocean stream ; 

 but this river, during the dry season, has at its mouth a depth 

 of only two feet. At a short distance to the south of the 

 Equator is the Ozi or Maro, which river, though said to be 

 of great extent, has very little water at the entrance. A short 

 distance to the south of the Ozi is the Sabaki, which enters 

 the sea near Melindah, and has a breadth of sixty yards at its 

 mouth ; but inland it is said to be very much larger. Yet 

 further to the south, in about 8° S. lat., we find the Lufidgi, 

 a considerable river, of which the Kwavi, in about 9° S. lat., 

 appears to be one of the mouths ; and beyond this, in between 

 10° and 11° S. lat., is the Livuma, also a large stream. 



These rivers of the coast have been enumerated for three 

 reasons : — 1st. They all of them — as far at least as the Lufidgi 

 — diminish very considerably in size as they approach the sea j 

 which is a proof that they have not a sufficient supply of water 

 to keep their channels open during the dry season : from 

 which it also follows that the area of their respective basins 

 cannot be very large. 2nd. They are all said t© rise in the 

 mountains of Abessiniw, an expression which must be ex- 

 plained as meaning, not merely the "Abessinia" of Europeans, 

 but the entire elevated land of Eastern Africa, which is known 

 to the Arabs by the name of Habesh^ and to the people of 

 Sennar by that of Makadah. And thirdly, all these rivers are 

 stated to communicate either with the Nile, or with the great 

 lake called Nyassi, said to exist in the interior. This last 

 statement, if not explained, might lead into error; and there 

 is no doubt that a similar assertion with respect to other rivers 

 of Africa — especially as regards the alleged union of the Niger 

 with the Nile — has been the cause of much confusion and mis- 

 understanding in the hydrography of that continent. What- 

 ever may be the meaning attached to such an expression 

 among Europeans, in the native phraseology of Africans it is 

 merely the enunciation of the fact, that the several sources of 

 these rivers of the coast are at the waterparting between their 

 basins and those of the Nile and the streams draining into 

 Nyassi ; the contiguity of the respective sources being, accord- 

 ing to the native mode of thinking, equivalent to an actual 

 water-communication between the streams themselves. 



To some persons it may hardly seem possible that such a 

 mistake should occur. I will therefore give an example from 



