656 THE RIVER AND ISLANDS. Chap. XXXTI. 



does not give the idea of altitude so much as the western. It 

 extends a considerable way into the Maganja country in the north, 

 and then bends round towards the river again, and ends in the 

 lofty mountain Morumbala, opposite Senna. On the other or 

 southern side it is straighter, but is said to end in Gorongozo, a 

 mountain west of the same point. The person who called this 

 Lupata " the spine of the world," evidently did not mean to say 

 that it was a translation of the word, for it means a defile or gorge 

 having perpendicular walls. This range does not deserve the 

 name of either Cordillera or Spine, unless we are willing to believe 

 that the world has a very small, and very crooked " back-bone." 



We passed through the gorge in two hours, and found it rather 

 tortuous, and between 200 and 300 yards wide. The river is said 

 to be here always excessively deep; it seemed to me that a 

 steamer could pass through it at full speed. At the eastern 

 entrance of Lupata stand two conical hills ; they are composed of 

 porphyry, having large square crystals therein. These lulls are 

 called Moenda en Goma, wliich means a footprint of a wild beast. 

 Another conical hill on the opposite bank is named Kasisi (priest), 

 from having a bald top. We sailed on quickly with the cm-rent 

 of the river, and found that it spread out to more than two miles 

 in breadth : it is, however, full of islands, winch are generally 

 covered with reeds, and which, previous to the war, were inhabited, 

 and yielded vast quantities of grain. We usually landed to cook 

 breakfast, and then went on quickly. The breadth of water 

 between the islands was now quite sufficient for a sailing-vessel 

 to tack, and work her sails in; the prevailing winds would 

 blow her up the stream ; but I regretted that I had not come 

 when the river was at its lowest rather than at its highest. The 

 testimony, however, of Captain Parker and Lieutenant Hoskins, 

 hereafter to be noticed, may be considered conclusive as to the 

 capabilities of this river for commercial purposes. The Portu- 

 guese state that there is high water during five months of the 

 year, and when it is low there is always a channel of deep 

 water. But this is very winding; and as the river wears 

 away some of the islands and forms others, the course of the 

 channel is often altered. I suppose that an accurate chart of it 

 made in one year would not be very reliable the next ; but I 

 believe, from all that I can learn, that the river could be navigated 



