THE SCOTTISH

GEOGRAPHICAL

MAGAZINE.

FROM THE MOUTH OF THE TANA TO THE SOURCE-REGION OF THE NILE.

BY DR. CARL PETERS.

(Read at Meetings of the Society in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, February 1891.)

My task to-night will be to describe to you, in the fewest essential words, the progress of the German Emin Pacha Expedition on its march from the mouth of the Tana to the source-region of the Nile.

Before doing this I would briefly call attention to the fact that the object of the German Emin Pacha Expedition was to furnish Emin Pacha, in his isolated position in the Equatorial Province, with ammunition and men, and to enable him to maintain his position at Wadelai. With this object in view I should have preferred to take the route from Bagamoyo to the southern shores of the Victoria Nyanza, and from thence through Karagwé, had not the trouble occasioned by the Arab insurgents rendered the execution of this plan impracticable. I was consequently compelled to choose the Tana route, a hitherto unused, and for the greater part unknown, highway.

The peculiar political situation at Zanzibar and on the East Coast had furthermore rendered it impossible for me to organise a large expedition commensurate with the importance of its mission. I was, in fact, obliged to content myself with sixty carriers, ten camels, eight mules, and sixteen Somál; and with this caravan I began the march up the Tana. You can readily realise the difficulties that hampered me in my capacity as leader of the expedition, all the more as I had not succeeded in passing my articles of barter through the blockade on the Coast, which left me without wire and beads, the chief articles of trade for use in the Masai country, through which my route led. So I began my march from Vitu

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at the end of July 1889, accompanied by only one white man, Lieutenant von Tiedemann. I reached the Tana near N'gatana, and instructed Lieutenant Rust and Mr. Oscar Borchert to form a second column, and to transport to me by boat, up the Tana, articles of barter and additional men. I may as well, however, mention here that this second column never succeeded in joining me. Lieutenant Rust fell ill and was obliged to return to Europe, after losing, through an explosion, the greater part of his baggage. Mr. Oscar Borchert thereupon tried, very pluckily, to overtake me with a handful of his men. He succeeded in penetrating beyond the Galla to the Upper Tana, but only to find that I was already eight weeks on my march westwards.

Arrived at the Tana, we met with many obstacles. This river, draining from Mount Kénia, makes a wide bend through Kikuyu, and afterwards forms immense cataracts. It flows, like the Nile, which

it much resembles, through a narrow valley of alluvial deposit in a dry and barren tract of country. This alluvial deposit, in proximity to the river, is fertile, and is adapted to all kinds of culture. Besides tobacco, rice and mtama are there cultivated, as well as all kinds of leguminous plants, whilst most Tropical fruits can certainly be grown. It is a very small strip of land, but slightly cultivated by the Wapokomo, who inhabit it, and in consequence they are exposed every year to the danger of famine. The harvested grain is, for the most part, converted into beer by the natives and rapidly consumed, provided the grain be not first stolen by the Arabs on the Coast, or by the Somál in the north. The consequence is that the natives always suffer privation some weeks before the harvest, which, during the year of 1889, developed into a famine. To guard against this danger I bought of an Indian in Kau 100 bushels of grain, which I intended to transport in boats, keeping pace with the expedition. But the Indian sent only half of the amount of grain thus purchased, and furnished no boats, so that I was forced to remain several weeks at N'gatana, to which place the grain had been transported, in order to procure boats for my further advance, and above all to wait until the harvests farther up the Upper Tana had become riper. This delay at N'gatana was of an exceedingly disagreeable character in all that concerned the expedition, as my people were discouraged by the many adverse circumstances they had experienced on reaching the Tana, and were tempted to run away. Some, indeed, left me; and I myself had to fight against sickness. Opposite N'gatana lies Lake Dumi, the swamps of which continually exhale a poisonous air, from which I contracted a nervous fever and suffered weeks of discomfort.

As soon as the maize crop showed signs of ripening I broke camp at N'gatana (August 25th). At first we pursued a north-westerly direction, and followed the left bank of the Tana, subsequently crossing the river at M'buyi and marching along the right bank. We kept outside the wood with which the entire upper and middle course of the Tana is fringed. We were, however, always obliged to camp close to the river, as the outside tract was dry.

It is difficult to imagine anything more delightful than these marches,

especially as the air in the early morning hours is so bracing and pure. The eye roams over immense tracts of acacia and cacti, sparkling at early dawn with pendent dewdrops. Even if this region be unsuitable for agricultural purposes it contains food enough for game of all kinds. We may see the graceful gazelles grazing, and herds of bucks of all kinds sporting and gambolling in their freedom. Every morning we encounter traces of the elephant or the heavy spoors of the rhinoceros. Above our heads fly the wild-goose, the crane, and the eagle,-offering an enticing mark for the rifle. The river in the far distance winds on its sinuous course. A sense of peace and majesty pervades the whole scene.

The right or south bank of the Tana is better cultivated than the north bank, and the best route accordingly passes along the former. For this reason I crossed the river at M'buyi and kept on the same route up to the source-region of the river. Seventy Arabs of Kau had hastened on in advance of my expedition to stir up the riverain natives, the Wapokomo, against me. "Give the whites no food" was their hostile advice. In consequence, my people had constant quarrels with the Wapokomo. The latter are a people of athletic build, but they are very cowardly. Their villages stud the river, hidden among the woods, and their intercourse with the outside world is almost exclusively by means of boats called miaus. They are a timid people, as they themselves acknowledge, and are constantly endeavouring, like hares, to escape every real or imaginary danger by flight. Much to my regret, I was repeatedly compelled to adopt rigorous measures in order to force the chiefs to sell me and my men grain. The districts on the Lower Tana are best cultivated near Nderani and Akinakombo, as well as in the Massa country, where I arrived on the 12th of September. The alluvial deposits cease just beyond Massa, near Kidori ; and the plain, with its steep banks, prevails up to the Tana.

This point I regard as the dividing line between the lower and middle course of the Tana. The lower course has, accordingly, a length of 130 English miles. The Tana is navigable along this entire stretch of country, as well as along its middle course. The middle course, extending to Hargazo, where the mountainous country commences, is just about as long. The Tana is therefore navigable for about 260 English miles. Beyond this line of demarcation the river is broken up into. numerous cataracts, some of which are formidable, and of course render navigation impossible.

Just beyond Massa we reached a plain wholly occupied by a huntingtribe, the fleet Waboni, no individual member of which did we at any time catch sight of. Here all cultivation of the soil ceases. Being, therefore, unable to collect provisions for the march, the expedition suffered from partial famine. We marched for six days, from early morn till late at night, in order to reach the settlements of the Galla beyond us. The sun was vertical over our heads, and a dry scorching heat was experienced for days together, and nearly made us faint from exhaustion. The woods bordering on the river are here so thick and impenetrable that it is only possible to reach water at certain well-known spots. As we were without guides it gave me great trouble to find out those places. Fortunately, an English expedition under Mr. Smith, accompanied