PREFATORY LETTER. xlvii 



the right bank to the left. From the left bank the great 

 fissure appears to continue its course through the eastern 

 hills, for thirty or forty miles. What may be the phenomena 

 below the Victoria Falls (such is the name given to them by 

 their discoverer; for Sebituane had heard, but had not seen 

 them) must at present remain a matter of conjecture. This, 

 however, appears certain — that about thirty or forty miles 

 below the falls, the great river emerges in a comparatively low 

 country, and becomes navigable for canoes (with the possi- 

 ble exception of one or two rapids) down to the head of the 

 Delta; and thence down the many channels by which it makes 

 its way to the sea. To examine this part of its course (if 

 possible by help of a Steam Launch — the Ma-Robert — and 

 may God prosper it and its good crew !) will be one of the 

 many objects of the expedition which has now left England. 



The sudden plunge of the river into the yawning chasm, 

 naturally produces the thundering sounds which are heard 

 from afar. The foaming surface of the water — seen about 

 a hundred feet below the top — has the whiteness of snow ; 

 but the rocky bottom of the chasm, to allow the onward 

 passage of such an enormous mass of waters, must be at a 

 vast depth below. A conflict between the boiling waters and 

 the walls of rock, through which they force their way, pro- 

 duces great volumes of spray which rise high above the 

 river, and are then condensed into clouds and drifted before 

 the wind. But the spray is not uniformly diffused above 

 the great fissure ; for in some places it is so much condensed 

 as to put on the look of great jets or columns, among which 

 the sun-beams play and produce glorious circles of pris- 

 matic light. 



The eye of civilized man had never viewed this scene 

 before it was beheld by Livingstone. Some of the Natives 

 were struck with awe at the sight ; and three Batoka chiefs 

 offered prayers and sacrifices to the Barimo, at three different 

 spots ; while they listened to the roar of the waters, and 



