310 CAMPBELL'S REMARKS ON SOUTH-WESTERN AFRICA. [Mar. 9, 1857. 



bright mind had mastered, whilst his urbanity, benevolence, and kind-hearted- 

 ness, shone forth in every transaction of his well-spent life. 



This is not the time, Gentlemen, for me to dwell longer on the lofty charac- 

 ter of our deceased former President ; but at the ensuing Anniversary it will be 

 my earnest endeavour to prepare, with what power I possess and all the love 

 I bore him, a brief biographical sketch of one, who, whether we judge him 

 by his private or his public worth, was pronounced by all who knew him to 

 be the perfect type of an English Nobleman. 



The papers read were : — 



1. Eemarks on the Geography and Hydrography of South-Western Africa. 

 By James Campbell, Esq., Surgeon, k.n., f.r.g.s. 



H.M.S. * Plumper,' St. Philip de Benguela, 

 February 18th, 1856. 



The river Zaire, or Congo, is the largest arterial stream of Western 

 Africa south of the equator, and discharges itself into the ocean in 

 lat. 6° to 6° 08' S., and long. 12° 12' E. It was explored for some 

 distance, in 1816, by the expedition under Captain Tuckey, e.n., 

 and is laid doMna as having an E.N.E. direction up to the termina- 

 tion of his ascent. The object of this voyage appears to have been 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the theory pro- 

 mulgated by Park, viz., that this river was identical with the Niger, 

 and constituted its embouchure, which has long ago been negatived 

 by the explorations of the Landers. It was surmised by Captain 

 Tuckey and others, that its source was to the northward of the 

 equator, in a large lake or lakes, probably not far from the southern 

 declivity of the Donga mountains ; but the periods during which it 

 undermines its banks, as evidenced by floating islands, increase of 

 current, and height of water at its mouth, point to a different 

 direction. 



The wet season in the Bight of Biafra extends from May to 

 October, and the quantity of rain that falls is enormously great ; 

 but even in the dry season, which comprises the remaining months, 

 there are sudden though temporary deluges. On the sea-board of 

 the Congo country — and we may assume its interior to be similarly 

 season-governed — there are two showery seasons : one from October 

 to December, and a second from March to May. These, as com- 

 pared with the rains of the windward and leeward coasts north of 

 the equator, do not deserve the appellation of " wet season," for the 

 showers are of no duration or intensity. In the interior, however, 

 the fall must be considerable, and, indeed, at a distance of thirty 

 miles from the entrance of the river a marked increase of rain is 

 experienced. As it is during those so-called "wet months" that 

 the Congo is at its highest level — December in particular — we may 



