ole party was
filled with joy to meet Sir Samuel Baker, who had arrived there on the
way out to relieve them. They all advanced together to Khartum, after
which Speke and Grant returned to England, in the spring of 1863. Thus
was the task of the discovery of the sources of the Nile, which had
baffled the seekers for many centuries, at length completed. Speke was
received by the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII.), but the satisfaction
of being allowed to place an additional motto on his coat-of-arms was
the only recognition which he received for his services.

As a result of Speke's discoveries, the Victoria Nyanza took its place
on the maps of Africa, and a fair conception had been obtained of the
size and shape of Lake Albert Nyanza.

[Illustration: 283.jpg THE FERRY AT OLD CAIRO]

The whole course of the White Nile was also revealed with more or less
accuracy, and all the mysterious surmises as to the great flow of the
Nile from some unknown headwaters of enormous extent were now solved.
It was only necessary to fill in the details of the map in regard to
the great lakes and the rivers which flowed into them, and further to
investigate the extensive territory between the lakes and the Egyptian
settlements to the north. Sir Samuel Baker was the man who more than
any other helped to supply the details of the work already accomplished.
From Cairo he started on a journey up the course of the Nile. When he
had reached Berber, he chose the course of the At-bara, or Blue Nile,
the branch which receives the floods of water from the Abyssinian
table-lands. He travelled up the western frontier of Abyssinia,
proceeding as far as the river Rahad, a river flowing into the Blue Nile
from the Egyptian side. From this point Baker turned backwards towards
Khartum, which he reached in June, 1862, where he made a stay of some
duration. He now made up his mind to search for Speke, and went up the
White Nile as far as Gondokoro, where the meeting with Speke took place.
Baker left this place March 26, 1863, but met with almost insuperable
obstacles in trying to make further advance. The porters deserted, the
camels died, and the ammunition and the presents intended to ease the
way through the territory of native princes had to be all abandoned.
Thus disencumbered, his party ascended the White Nile until they reached
the Victoria affluent. The Bauyno tribes now prevented his intended
advance to the Albert Nyanza. Baker, however, had the g