262 



MAJOR COTHEAL. 



in S. lat. 0° 14' 30", thus nearly corresponding 

 parallel with the Gaboon. But he had observed 

 a discolouration of the sea, which raised his hopes 

 of being able to measure and survey the myste- 

 rious outlet. Despite the labours of Lieut. Chris- 

 topher, there is still an abundance of work to be 

 done about the embouchures and more upon the 

 upper courses of the ' Nile of Makdishu ' (Webbe 

 Gamana) and the Juba (Webbe Ganana) ; 

 whilst the sad loss of Baron von der Decken only 

 increases our curiosity about the latter stream. 

 It is doubtful, even in the present day, whether 

 the mouth of the Juba is dry in the rainless 

 season or not. Major Cotheal's prospects were 

 kept dark : it was, however, understood that the 

 party would be composed of white men ac- 

 customed to endure fatigue and to face danger, 

 escorted by free blacks from the United States, 

 and by natives of the country as guides and 

 porters. All scientific researches and even exact 

 observations were to be postponed, lest they 

 should impede progress : this manner of explora- 

 tion, which would find scant favour in English 

 eyes, is evidently best fitted to open a way for the 

 physicist through unexplored and possibly danger- 

 ous regions. I never doubted that the Anglo- 

 American, familiar with the negro race from his 



