Chap. XXIV. PHENOMENON OF THE LOTEMBWA. 473 



by digging with sticks a few feet beneath the surface. We had 

 thus an' opportunity of observing the state of these remarkable 

 plains at different seasons of the year. Next day we pursued our 

 way, and on the 8th of June, we forded the Lotembwa to the 

 N.W. of Dilolo, and regained our former path. 



The Lotembwa here is about a mile wide, about three feet deej), 

 and full of the lotus, papyrus, arum, mat-rushes, and other aquatic 

 plants. I did not observe the course in which the water flowed, 

 while crossing ; but, having noticed before that the Lotembwa on 

 the other side of the lake Dilolo flowed in a southerly direction, 

 I supposed that this was simply a prolongation of the same river 

 beyond Dilolo, and that it rose in this large marsh, which we had 

 not seen in our progress to the N.W. But when we came to the 

 Southern Lotembwa, we were informed by Shakatwala that the 

 river we had crossed flowed hi an opposite direction, — not into 

 Dilolo, but into the Kasai. This phenomenon of a river running 

 in opposite directions struck even his mind as strange ; and, 

 though I did not observe the current, simply from taking it for 

 granted that it was towards the lake, I have no doubt that his 

 assertion, corroborated as it was by others, is correct, and that the 

 Dilolo is actually the watershed between the river systems that 

 flow to the east and west. 



I would have returned, in order to examine more carefully this 

 most interesting point, but, having had my lower extremities 

 chilled in crossing the Northern Lotembwa, I was seized with 

 vomiting of blood, and, besides, saw no reason to doubt the native 

 testimony. The distance between Dilolo and the valleys leading 

 to that of the Kasai is not more than fifteen miles, and the plains 

 between are perfectly level ; and, had I returned, I should only 

 have found that tliis little lake Dilolo, by giving a portion to the 

 Kasai and another to the Zambesi, distributes its waters to the 

 Atlantic and Indian Oceans. I state the fact exactly as it opened 

 to my own mind ; for it was only now, that I apprehended the 

 true form of the river systems and continent. I had seen the 

 various rivers of this coimtry on the western side flowing from 

 the subtending ridges into the centre, and had received informa- 

 tion from natives and Arabs, that most of the rivers on the eastern 

 side of the same great region, took a somewhat similar course 

 from an elevated ridge there, and that all united in two main 



