1881.] : Late Explorations in the Gaboon. 449 
north one could ina short time reach the Buiné, a tributary of 
the Niger; at an equally short distance in a south-easterly direc- 
tion, one would reach the: Sihari, which empties into Tode lake. 
The district which it drains also forms the water shed of some of 
the tributaries of the Congo. Had I the means I would not hesi- 
tate to begin this important and promising exploration. With a 
fund of only $10,000, I would venture upon the undertaking. 
From what I have been able to learn, I am led to believe that 
the mountains of the interior consist of three parallel chains run- 
ning from N.N.W. to S.S.E., having an average height of about 
400 to 500 meters. With the volcanic cone of Cameroon 3600 
meters high, and which stands opposite Fernando Po, begins a 
line of elevation which takes a more southerly direction, and with 
its continuation south of the Ogowé, the Sierra Compleda, forms 
the border or palisade mountain range of West Africa. In these 
mountains, protrusions of granite, generally micaceous, are every- 
where visible. Adjacent to this is a reddish-yellow sandstone and 
slate, often succeeded by a hard gray granite. On the table lands 
and in the valleys I have observed hard quartzose sandstone of 
varied colors, elsewhere a light gray quartzite with veins of glassy 
quartz, and large tracts of crystalline slate. The outcrops of all 
these strata follow the line of bearing of which I have spoken 
above. The dip of the layers is different in different places, but 
1S generally eastward at a high angle. 
Floods do not occur here as the Muni is formed by the Congu- 
O'tongo, Banji, Tampuny and Noya, all of which with the excep- 
tion of the latter are short, because the mountains come so near 
to the bay ; but the Noya flows through a plain in a broad curve 
parallel with the shore of Corisco bay. Toward the Munda, and 
with this river the Como and the Rembo—both of which empty 
into the Gaboon—receive their waters from the Crystal mountains. 
This chain forms the water shed between these rivers and the 
tributaries which flow northward into the Ogowé. 
‘The mountains south of the Ogowé, and which run parallel 
with the Loango coast, have the same general character as the 
“tyatal mountains, but have more bog iron ore on the woody 
rn than they, and contain less quartz. 
“ it rapids of the Ogowé, near Ogota and Okanda, the rocks 
Pnsist of gneiss which weathers into wonderful imitative forms. 
On the Eliva-Comi and the Sette-Comi, Nyangu, which owe 
