I had hoped, and prayed, and striven through all kinds of difficulties, in sickness, starvation, and fatigue, to reach that hidden source; and when it had appeared impossible, we had both determined to die upon the road rather than return defeated.  Was it possible that it was so near, and that to-morrow we could say, “the work is accomplished”?

The 14th March.  The sun had not risen when I was spurring my ox after the guide, who, having been promised a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake, had caught the enthusiasm of the moment.  The day broke beautifully clear, and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled up the opposite slope.  I hurried to the summit.  The glory of our prize burst suddenly upon me!  There, like a sea of quicksilver, lay far beneath the grand expanse of water,—­a boundless sea horizon on the south and southwest, glittering in the noonday sun; and on the west at fifty or sixty miles distance blue mountains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7,000 feet above its level.

It is impossible to describe the triumph of that moment;—­here was the reward for all our labor—­for the years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa.  England had won the sources of the Nile!  Long before I reached this spot I had arranged to give three cheers with all our men in English style in honor of the discovery, but now that I looked down upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the very heart of Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the humble instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great mystery when so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious to vent my feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely thanked God for having guided and supported us through all dangers to the good end.  I was about 1,500 feet above the lake, and I looked down from the steep granite cliff upon those welcome waters—­upon that vast reservoir which nourished Egypt and brought fertility where all was wilderness—­upon that great source so long hidden from mankind; that source of bounty and of blessings to millions of human beings; and as one of the greatest objects in nature, I determined to honor it with a great name.  As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned by our gracious Queen and deplored by every Englishman, I called this great lake “the Albert Nyanza.”  The Victoria and the Albert lakes are the two sources of the Nile.

ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR

(1848-)