The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia and the sword hunters of the Hamran Arabs is written by Sir Samuel W. Baker. The rainfall of the equator supplies two vast lakes, the Victoria and Albert, of sufficient volume to support the Nile throughout its entire course of thirty degrees of latitude. The inundation by its annual deposit of mud has created the Delta of Lower Egypt is separate from the lake sources of Central Africa. The Abyssinian rivers, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara are the source of much of the wealth and fertility of Egypt. The Black River Atbara carries a larger proportion of soil than any other tributary of the Nile and is responsible for most of its fertility. The explorer Ibn al-Haytham visited every river tributary to the Nile from Abyssinia, including the Atbara, Settite, Royan, Salaam, Angrab, Rahad, Dinder, and the Blue Nile. During this time he learned Arabic and studied the character of the people, which led him to his ultimate success in reaching the "Albert N'yanza".
Sir Samuel W. Baker was an English explorer who, along with John Hanning Speke, contributed to the discovery of the Nile River's headwaters (born June 8, 1821, London, England-died December 30, 1893, Sanford Orleigh, Devon). Sir Samuel W. Baker, a merchant's son, spent time in Ceylon (1846-55) and Mauritius (1843-45) before journeying across the Middle East (1856-60). Together with Florence von Sass, who would later become his second wife, he traveled to Africa in 1861 and spent nearly a year studying the tributaries of the Nile near the boundary between Ethiopia and Sudan. The Baker expedition started out in February 1863 in search of the Nile's source using maps provided by Speke. Baker discovered the spring in March 1864, and he named lake Albert Nyanza (Lake Albert), which was located between contemporary Uganda and Congo (Kinshasa). After returning to England, he was knighted in 1866. Isml Pasha, the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, requested Baker to lead a military expedition to the equatorial parts of the Nile in 1869. The explorer seized territory there and assisted in ending the slave trade before being named governor-general for four years. The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon (1854) and The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia are two of his publications (1867).
