The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia

by Samuel White Baker

Overview

Samuel Baker (1821 - 1893) was born in England. After the death of his wife he traveled to Ceylon in 1846. Baker established an agriculture settlement in Nuwara Eliva. He helped bring cattle and emigrants from England and made a success of the settlement. During his stay in Ceylon he spent a great deal of time hunting with his hounds, which became the genesis of this novel and a later work. Baker spent 12 months exploring the Nile and the area surrounding it. His explorations included the Atbara, Settite, Royan, Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, and the Blue Nile. Baker states that "The interest attached to these portions of Africa differs entirely from that of the White Nile regions, as the whole of Upper Egypt and Abyssinia is capable of development, and is inhabited by races either Mohammedan or Christian; while Central Africa is peopled by a hopeless race of savages, for whom there is no prospect of civilization."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438503257
Publisher:	Book Jungle
Publication date:	10/22/2008
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.57(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.75(d)

Read an Excerpt

Chap, i.] ROCKS OF THE DESERT. 9 waiting his opportunity, snatched the basin from the servant, and in the agony of thirst drank nearly the whole of its contents, handing the residue to a brother Arab, with the hearty ejaculation, " El hambd el Illah !" (Thank God!) My wife was seriously ill from the fatigue and intense heat, but there can be no halt in the desert; dead or alive, with the caravan you must travel, as the party depends upon the supply of water. A few extracts verbatim from my journal will describe the journey: " May 0. Started at 12.30 P.m. and halted at 6.30. Off again at 7.30 P.m. till 2.45 A.m. About four miles from Moorahd, grey granite takes the place of the volcanic slag and schist that formed the rocks to that point. The desert is now a vast plain, bounded by a range of rugged hills on the south. On the north side of Moorahd, at a distance of above eight miles, slate is met with ; this continues for about three miles of the route, but it is of impure quality, with the exception of one vein, of a beautiful blue colour. A few miserable stunted thorny mimosas are here to be seen scattered irregularly, as though lost in this horrible desert." Many years ago, when the Egyptian troops first conquered Nubia, a regiment was destroyed by thirst in crossing this desert. The men, being upon a limited allowance of water, suffered from extreme thirst, and deceived by the appearance of a mirage that exactly resembled a beautiful lake, they insisted on being taken to its banks by the Arab guide. It was in vain that the guide assured them that the lake was unreal, and he refused to lose the precious time by wandering from his course. Words led to blows, and he was killedby the soldiers, whose lives depended upon his guidance. The whole regiment turned from the ...