Chap. XXIII. THE PRINCIPAL CATARACTS. 479 



to its papa, and letting it fall, burst into a cry of distress — 

 that they were only sentenced to go back to the ship, 

 get provisions, and, in the ensuing journey on foot, carry 

 as much as they could, and thus make up for the loss of 

 the boat. 



It was excessively annoying to lose all this property, 

 and be deprived of the means of doing the work proposed, 

 on the east and north of the Lake ; but it would have 

 been like crying over spilt milk, to do otherwise now than 

 make the best use we could of our legs. The men were 

 sent back to the ship for provisions, cloth, and beads ; 

 and while they are gone, we may say a little of the Cataracts 

 which proved so fatal to our boating plan. 



They begin in 15° 20' S., and end in lat. 15° 55' S, the 

 difference of latitude is therefore 35'. The river runs 

 in this space nearly north and south, till we pass Malango ; 

 so the entire distance is under 40 miles. The principal 

 Cataracts are five in number, and are called Pamofunda 

 or Pamozima, Morewa, Panoreba or Tedzane, Pampatamanga, 

 and Papekira. Besides these, three or four smaller ones 

 might be mentioned ; as, for instance, Mamvira, where in our 

 ascent we first met the broken water, and heard that gush- 

 ing sound, which, from the interminable windings of some 

 200 miles of river below, we had come to believe the tranquil 

 Shire could never make. While these lesser cdtaracts de- 

 scend at an angle of scarcely 20°, the greater fall 100 feet 

 in 100 yards, at an angle of about 45°, and one at an angle 

 of 70°. One part of Pamozima is perpendicular, and, when 

 the river is in flood, causes a cloud of vapour to ascend, 

 which, in our journey to Lake Shirwa, we saw at a distance 

 of at least eight miles. The entire descent from the Upper 

 to the Lower Shire is 1200 feet. Only on one spot in all that 

 distance is the current moderate — namely, above Tedzane. 



