Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Volume 2Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
History
Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Volume 2
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Africa, West -- Description and travel; Congo River -- Description and travel; Ethnology -- Africa, West
On the other hand, Lieut. Cameron, whose admirable work has, so
to speak, re-constructed the Tanganyika Lake, discovered, on the
3rd of May, 18-74, the Lukuga River, which he supposes to form
the outlet. It lies 25 direct miles to the south of the Kasenge
Archipelago, numbering seventeen isles, visited by Captain Speke
in March, 1857. Dr. Livingstone touched here on July 13, 1869,
and heard nothing of the outlet; he describes a current sweeping
round Kasenge to south-east or southwards according to the wind,
and carrying trees at the rate of a knot an hour. But Mr. Stanley
(pp. 400 et passim) agrees with Dr. Krapf, who made a large river
issue from "the lake" westwards, and who proposed, by following
its course, to reach the Atlantic. The "discoverer of
Livingstone" evidently inclines to believe that the Tanganyika
drains through the caverns of Kabogo near Uguhha, and he records
the information of native travellers that "Kabogo is a great
mountain on the other side of the Tanganyika, full of deep holes,
into which the water rolls; "moreover, that at the distance of
over a hundred miles he himself heard the" sound of the
thundering surf which is said to roll into the caves of
Kabogo."In his map he cutely avoids inserting anything beyond
"Kabogo Mountains, 6,000 to 7,000 feet high."
The gallant young naval lieutenant's exploration of the Lukuga
has not yet reached us in a satisfactory form. He found the
current sluggishly flowing at the rate of 1.2 knots per hour; he
followed it for four or five miles, and he was stopped by
floating grass and enormous rushes (papyri?). A friendly chief
told him that the Lukuga feeds the Lualaba which, beyond Nyangwe
(Livingstone's furthest point, in about south latitude 4°) takes
the name of Ugarowwa. An Arab had descended this stream fifty-
five marches, and reached a place where there were ships and
white merchants who traded largely in palm-oil and ivory, both
rare on the Congo River. And, unfortunately, "the name (River)
Congo was also mentioned," a term utterly unknown except to the
few Portuguese-speaking natives.
At present, therefore, we must reserve judgment, and the only
conclusion to which the unprofessional reader would come is that
the weight of authority is in favour of a double issue for the
Tanganyika, north and west.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account