The Cataracts of King George 



gether inaccessible ; for it is evident f hat the 

 mass of waters, unable to escape by this passage, 

 then pour themselves out in mighty streams by 

 two subsidiary channels, which were now almost 

 dry, and at the same time overflow nearly the 

 entire tract of forest land between them 

 which forms, at other seasons, a sort of island, 

 as we now found it. I named this scene 4 King 

 George's Cataract,' in honour of our gracious 

 Sovereign." 



Naturally, it will be asked : " Did any 

 previous traveller ever try to reach these falls 

 on the ' Great River' ? " Yes ; two mission- 

 aries were almost within sound of the cataract, 

 and what is more extraordinary, both turned 

 aside without further exploration. On the 24th 

 June 1812, the Rev. John Campbell sailed for 

 England from the Cape of Good Hope. He 

 was sent out by the directors of the London 

 Missionary Society to inspect their various 

 mission stations established throughout the 

 colony. On 6th September 1813 he was 

 journeying down the Great River, and writes : 



" Having heard of a waterfall at no great 

 distance, several of us set off at 9 a.m. with our 

 l 161 



