Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/232

 The people sent by Nero had in his time reached the 9th degree of latitude, so in 1800 years we have only gained five or six degrees, or about 300 to 360 geographical miles.

Many travelers have attempted to reach the sources of the Nile from the west side of the continent. During the years 1768-72, the Scotchman, Bruce, departing from Masuah, a port of Abyssinia, sailed up the Tigris, visited the ruins of Axum, actually beheld the sources of the Nile where they did not exist, and returned without obtaining any other remarkable success.

In 1844, Doctor Krapf, an Anglican missionary, established a station at Monbez on the coast of Zanguebar, and discovered, in company with the Reverend Mr. Rebmann, two mountains at a distance of 300 miles from the coast. These are Kilimandjaro and Kenia, that Heuglin and Thornton ascended together.

In 1845, Maizan, a Frenchman, disembarked alone at Bazamaye, opposite Zanzibar, and got as far as Deje la Mhora, where he was put to death with cruel tortures.

In 1859, in the month of August, Roscher, of Hamburg, a young traveler, set out with a caravan of Arab merchants, and reached Lake Nyassa, where he was murdered in his sleep.

Finally, in 1857, Lieutenants Burton and Speke, both officers of the Bengal army, were dispatched by the Geographical Society of London, to explore the great African Lakes. On the 17th of June they quitted Zanzibar, and directed their course to the west.

After four months of incredible suffering, their baggage pillaged, their porters worn out and dispirited, they arrived at Kazeh, the meeting center for merchants and caravans. They were in the true land of the moon. There they collected many valuable documents respecting the manners, government, religion, and the fauna and flora of the country.

Thence they journeyed towards the first of the great lakes, Tanganyika, situated between the 3° and 8° of South latitude. They reached it on the 14th of February, 1858, and made themselves acquainted with the various tribes along its banks, who were chiefly cannibals. Leaving the lake on the 20th May, they re-entered Kazeh on the 20th June. Here Burton, quite knocked up, remained ill for