he Mountains of the Moon, at the foot of
which the Nile was said to rise. The highest, Amid-Amid, does not exceed
half a mile in height. Crossing the mountains, we had a distinct view of
the territory of Sacala, the mountain of Geesh, and the church of St.
Michael.

Immediately below us was the Nile itself, now a mere brook, with
scarcely water enough in it to turn a mill. I could not satiate myself
with the sight, revolving in my mind all those classic prophecies that
had given the Nile up to perpetual obscurity and concealment. I ran down
the hill towards a little island of green sods, and I stood in rapture
over the principal fountain of the Nile, which rises in the middle of
it. This was November 4, 1770.

It is easier to imagine than to describe the situation of my mind at
that moment, standing on that spot which had baffled the genius,
industry and inquiry of both ancients and moderns over a course of
nearly 3,000 years. Though a mere private Briton, I triumphed here in my
own mind over kings and their armies.

The Agows of Damot pay divine honours to the Nile, sacrificing
multitudes of cattle to the spirit which is supposed to reside at its
source. From the edge of the cliff at Geesh the ground slopes to the
marsh, in whose centre is a hillock, which is the altar on which the
religious ceremonies of the Agows are performed. A shallow trench
surrounds it, and collects the water which flows from a hole in the
middle of the hillock, three feet in diameter and six feet in depth.
This is the principal fountain of the Nile.

Ten feet from this spring is a second fountain, about eleven inches in
diameter and eight feet deep; and at twenty feet distance there is a
third, two feet in diameter and six feet in depth. Both of these are
enclosed, like the first, by an altar of turf. The water from all these
joins and flows eastward in quantities sufficient to fill a pipe of
about two inches in diameter.

I made no fewer than thirty-five observations with the view of
determining with the utmost precision the latitude of the fountains of
the Nile, and I found the mean result to be 10 deg. 59' 25" north latitude.
Equally careful observations proved them to be 36 deg. 55' 30" east
longitude. The mercury in the barometer indicated a height above the sea
of more than two miles. The Shum of Geesh, whose title is kefla abay,
"the Servant of the Nile," told me that the Agows called the river "The
Everlasting God, Light of the Wo