THE RIVER ABOVE EBOE. l6l 



of hills on each bank of the river gives the 

 scenery a picturesque and bold character ; those 

 on the western bank seem to have the highest 

 elevation, but neither appeared to rise above 

 four hundred and fifty or five hundred feet 

 above the water. From the general outline of 

 these hills, and from the specimens of the rock 

 that we found being principally granite and 

 mica slate, we pronounced them of primitive 

 formation. 



Passing through this romantic valley, which 

 extends from forty to fifty miles, we reached 

 the Kong Mountains, which on the banks of the 

 river rise to an elevation of between two and 

 three thousand feet. As far as we could ascer- 

 tain, they are composed principally of granite, 

 and have a bold and magnificent appearance. 

 The chasm through which the river passes 

 seemed about fifteen hundred yards wide, but 

 the channel of the river does not occupy more 

 than seven hundred. 



It would not become me, with the very super- 

 ficial knowledge of geology that I possess, to 

 venture on an opinion of the convulsion of na- 

 ture that opened the passage through these 

 mountains. That it must have been beyond 



VOL. I. M 



