Mr Murray on the Course of the River Niger. 169 
traveller, therefore, as to the course of any river, unless so far 
as he has actually crossed or coasted along it, is to be consider- 
ed a mere speculation, or rumour, till it is confirmed by farther 
evidence. Now, it appears by Mr Bowdich’s routes, that fhe 
merchants are not at all in the habit of travelling along the con- 
tinuous line of this supposed river. They strike off as it ap- 
proaches the Caudee Lake, and travel through Begherme, 
Darfoor, and Wadey towards Sennaar. Thus leaving the 
Niger flowing eastward, and coming, after a considerable inter- 
val, to the Bahr-el-Abiad, flowing also* eastward, their imagina- 
tion is very naturally led to unite these two streams, tliough 
separate, into one. 
In opposition to the reports, or more properly opinions of 
persons living 1000 or 1500 miles from the spot, may be placed 
the testimony of Browne, an active and intelligent inquirer, 
who resided for six months in the capital of Darfoor, about 200 
miles from the line which the Niger must follow in making this 
supposed junction. He heard nothing of it, however, but, on 
the contrary, received a particular account of the origin of the Bahr- 
el-Abiad, as derived from a number of torrents descending from 
the Mountains of the Moon. This perfectly agrees with the de- 
lineation of Ptolemy, who, though not perhaps nearer than Egypt, 
resided constantly in that country, and was habituallj’^ occupied 
in geographical inquiries. These two testimonies, therefore, deci- 
dedly outweigh those of the merchants in the western extremity 
of Africa. The truth is, however, when we come to any precise 
statements on the part of the latter, they are found to be com- 
pletely at variance with the ipference which they have deduced 
from them. A Moorish merchant, indeed, assured Mr Jackson, 
that he, with a party of his friends, made a voyage by water 
along the Nile from Jenne to Cairo; but, he added, that in 
several places they found its channel almost dry, and were obliged 
to carry the boats over land. There are certainly some raj'e in- 
stances where a river may continue to flow without receiving 
accessions, and may even sustain some diminution. But that a 
stream so mighty as 'that which is universally described to flow 
through the heart of interior Africa, should dwindle into so 
paltry a brook, as not to float a canoe that can be carried on 
men’s backs^ is what no one I think caq be so credulous as to. 
