BRITISH ASSOCIATION IN SOUTH AFRICA 155 



they need to expect discomfort while staying there. The hotel, about 

 a mile from the principal points of view, supplies food and lodging on 

 much the same scale as those in other parts of Rhodesia. Perhaps the 

 greatest satisfaction on arrival is the absence of any feeling of dis- 

 appointment, however much one may have heard or read of the beauty 

 and magnitude of the falls, and civilization has so far done nothing to 

 spoil the views. Mr. F. W. Sykes, who has been appointed conservator 

 by the Chartered Company, has constructed paths so that visitors may 

 approach every point of view and enjoy the scenery without the en- 

 cumbrance of a hired guide. The new bridge rather adds to the effect 

 than otherwise : as one descends to the bottom of the gorge amidst the 



The President opening the Bridge. 



trees and undergrowth in the Palm Kloof, its graceful arch gives the 

 eye a resting place near the top and assists one to appreciate the height 

 of the rugged vertical cliffs. I understood that the power house is to 

 be constructed at the foot of the second bend of the gorge, the water be- 

 ing conveved from above the falls by a tunnel or canal, so that nothing 

 of it will be visible from the usual points of view. It is intended that 

 no new buildings shall be placed on the general level of the land within 

 a radius of a few miles and plans are even in existence for moving the 

 present hotel further away. As to the available energy for commercial 

 purposes, the latest estimates give a minimum of 300,000 horse-power 

 at low water as against 5,000,000 at Niagara ; but after the rains there 

 would be many times this amount so that even if the minimum 



