Chap. V. DESCRIPTION OF THE FALLS. 1C5 



rugged liill-sidc of a mile or so, we came in view of 

 the object I had come so far to sec. The stream 

 here was broader (about 150 yards in width), but 

 a rocky island in the middle, covered with trees, 

 breaks the fall of water into two unequal parts, only 

 one of which could be seen from either side. The 

 right-hand Fall was about seventy yards wide, the 

 water rushing in immense volume down a steep 

 incline. Besides the island several detached islets 

 and masses of rock divided this body of water, so that 

 the cataract did not present one imposing sheet of 

 water, as I had expected, and the total fall was only 

 about fifteen feet. The rocks were of red granite, 

 both in the middle of the Falls and on the mainland. 

 It seemed to me tliat the greatest body of water 

 poured over the right-hand Fall. The left-hand Fall 

 was partly concealed from our view by the rocky 

 wooded islet, and the water appeared not to rush 

 down there with the same force. 



The sight was wild, grand, and beautiful ; but it 

 did not quite impress me with the awe that the 

 rapids below inspired. We see liere the river 

 Ngouyai, after flowing through the Apingi valley in 

 the interior, and receiving the waters of the Ovigui 

 and many other streams, bursting through the barrier 

 of the hilly range which separates the interior of 

 Africa from the coast-land. The high ridges which 

 have been broken through by the river rise on each 

 side, covered with varied forest, and the shattered 

 fragments encumber the bed of the stream for miles. 

 The falls and rapids must vary greatly according to 

 the season, and the amount of water in the river. At 

 9 



