ABYSSINIA AND THE NILE. 43 



The ponderous volumes of Bruce won highest praise for the 

 light which they shed ou Abyssinia, that land of long-prevailing 

 mystery, where ancient credulity asserted that unicorns and 

 lions held their deadly combats, and dragons flapped their 

 scaly wings through air ; that golden mountains towered toward 

 the sky, and river beds were paved with diamonds ; and, most 

 of all, where Presto John, the priest and king, was said to hold 

 his court, a Christian Solomon of the middle ages ; a land which 

 in the full light of history still engages peculiar attention ; where 

 beautiful women and splendid horsemen bewilder the astonished 

 traveller with their accomplishments ; and most loathsome cus- 

 toms disgust him; where everything is an astonishment; a 

 country which has come into distinguished prominence in con- 

 nection with the sources of the Nile; whose lofty mountains 

 garner the showers with which it contributes to the great patron 

 of Egyptian wealth and plenty. 



A host of travellers followed Bruce in Abyssinia ; most notable 

 of them was Dr. Beke, who was the first to give the world a 

 map of the regions in which the Nile sources were supposed to 

 be involved. The Blue and White Nile were soon brought into 

 notice, and the public interest deepened in the work. The 

 Pasha of Egypt entered the field with an expedition, which 

 started from Khartum in December, 1839, and was actively en- 

 gaged seventy-two days. A second and a third Egyptian expe- 

 dition was sent out ; but still the problem seemed to become 

 more intricate. It remained for Sir Samuel Baker to discover 

 the Albert N'Yanza; for Speke and Burton to discover the 

 Tanganyika ; for Speke to tell the world of Victoria N'Yanza, 

 and for Livingstone to trace the Lualaba through the Bang- 

 weolo, the Moero, and the Kanalondo to its junction with the 

 Lomame, and for a coming man to come in between and divide 

 or unite these various waters. 



While all these efforts were being put forth east, west, and 

 south, various adventurers were traversing the northern shores 

 among the relics of ancient greatness, and visiting the sand-girt 

 cities of the desert ; and from a thousand sources information 

 was being derived about this vast continent so long wrapt in 

 gloom. Only absolute darkness prevailed over the vast region 

 marked on the map, Unknown ! Not only the curiosity of the 



