XXVI 
INTRODUCTION. 
among rivers; flooding in the driest season; ever¬ 
lasting. in sandy deserts ; where was its hidden origin ? 
where were the sources of the Nile ? 
This was from the earliest period the great geogra¬ 
phical question to be solved. 
In the advanced stage of civilization of the present 
era, we look with regret at the possession by the 
Moslem of the fairest portions of the world,—of countries 
so favoured by climate and by geographical position, 
that, in the early days of the earth’s history, they were 
the spots most coveted; and that such favoured places 
should, through the Moslem rule, be barred from the 
advancement that has attended lands less adapted by 
nature for development. There are no countries of 
the earth so valuable, or that would occupy so im¬ 
portant a position in the family of nations, as Turkey 
in Europe, Asia Minor, and Egypt, under a civilized 
and Christian government. 
As the great highway to India, Egypt is the most 
interesting country to the English. The extraordinary 
fertility being due entirely to the Nile, I trust that I 
may have added my mite to the treasury of scientific 
knowledge by completing the discovery of the sources 
of that wonderful river, and thereby to have opened a 
way to the heart of Africa, which, though dark in 
our limited perspective, may, at some future period, 
be the path to civilization. 
I offer to the world my narrative of many years of 
hardships and difficulties, happily not vainly spent in 
this great enterprise : should some un-ambitious spirits 
reflect, that the results are hardly worth the sacrifice of 
the best years of life thus devoted to exile and suffer¬ 
ing, let them remember that “ we are placed on earth 
for a certain period, to fulfil according to our several 
conditions and degrees of mind, those duties by which 
the earth’s history is carried on.” * 
* E. L. Bulwer’s “ Life, Literature, and Manners.” 
