What were the Ripon Falls and why did John Hanning Speke connect them to the Nile’s source?

Ripon Falls were a waterfall located on the Victoria Nile in Uganda, situated just below the river's outlet from Lake Victoria. The falls, which were approximately 16 feet high and 900 feet wide, were named by the British explorer John Hanning Speke in 1862 after the 1st Marquess of Ripon. Today, the site is submerged by the Nalubaale (formerly Owen Falls) Dam, which was completed in 1954.12

John Hanning Speke identified the falls as the source of the Nile because he observed the river exiting Lake Victoria at that location. Having previously discovered the lake in 1858 and theorized it was the Nile's origin, Speke returned in 1862 and, upon seeing the water flowing out of the lake at Ripon Falls, proclaimed that he had found the definitive source of the river. While his conclusion was initially disputed by his former expedition partner Sir Richard Burton, Speke's identification of the lake as the Nile's source was ultimately proven correct.3245