PREFACE. 
In the history of the Nile there was a void : its* 
Sources were a mystery. The Ancients devoted much 
attention to this problem ; but in vain. The Emperor 
Nero sent an expedition under the command of two- 
centurions, as described by Seneca. Even Roman 
energy failed to break the spell that guarded these 
secret fountains. The expedition sent by Mehemet 
Ali Pasha, the celebrated Viceroy of Egypt, closed a 
long term of unsuccessful search. 
The work has now been accomplished. Three 
English parties, and only three, have at various periods; 
started upon this obscure mission: each has gained 
its end. 
Bruce won the source of the Blue Nile; Speke and 
Grant won the Victoria source of the great White 
Nile; and I have been permitted to succeed in com¬ 
pleting the Nile Sources by the discovery of the 
great reservoir of the equatorial waters, the Albert 
N’yanza, from which the river issues as the entire 
White Nile. 
Having thus completed the work after nearly five 
years passed in Africa, there still remains a task before 
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