Miscellaneous. 167 
ries formed thereby are flat at the top, and of the same level as the bed of the 
river above the Falls. The base of the first on the right is only 400 paces 
from the Fall fissure, and that on the left about 150. Their sides are as 
perpendicular as the Fall, and you can walk along among the trees, and 
by a few steps see the river some 300 or 400 feet below, jammed in a space 
of some twenty or thirty yards, and of adeep green colour. As a whole, 
the Victoria Falls are the most wonderful in the world. Even now, at 
extreme low water, or when it is two feet lower than we ever saw it, 
there are 800 feet of water falling on the right of Garden Island. And 
the two columns of vapour, with the glorious rainbows, are a sight worth 
seeing. A fall called Momba or Moamba, below this, is interesting, 
chiefly because you look down it from a height of some 500 feet. It is 
really nothing after Mosloatunya. 
** We visited the river twice on our way down to Sinamanes, and found 
it in a very deep crack. The boiling point gives 1600 of descent from 
the Falls of Sinamanes. Mr Moffat informs me that all the rivers in 
Mosilikatze country run N.W. or N.N.W. They enter Zambesi above 
Sinamanes, and above a remarkable mountain which possibly was the dam 
that shut in the waters of the ancient lake, before Mosloatunya was made. 
They are therefore not where, from oral information, they have been put 
in the map. The whole country below and around the Falls has been the 
scene of comparatively recent volcanic operations. Some parts look as 
recent as Eden ; some are of frothy lava, and all present a burnt appear- 
ance. A conjecture that the calcareous tuffa of Sesheke valley was emitted 
from a volcano like that which covered the cities of Pompeii and Hercu- 
laneum does not account for the roots of reeds therein, nor the bidental 
saurians of the ancient lakes ; and I question if a volcano ever threw mud 
over 200 miles square, as this lake has done. Wherever we have had 
igneous action in this country, we have had large quantities of tuffa 
bearing water after it. I cannot aecount for the enormous quantity of 
gravel and shingle below the Falls. The bed of the river and country 
generally are covered with it to a considerable depth. There is none 
above the Falls, and none below Chicova. 
‘«¢ We purchased canoes and dropped down stream in order to examine 
all at low water. Kansalo is no difficulty. Kariba, a few miles below it, 
is a basaltic dyke stretched across the stream ; but it has a wide opening 
in it, dangerous for canoes, the gunwales of which were only six inches 
above the water. At Varumas there is a rapid of about 100 yards in 
_ length, which runs at six knots an hour. This is the most rapid part we 
have seen in the whole river. We measured the most rapid part below 
Chicova on our way up, and found it to be under four knots; but a fall of 
about fifteen feet before our return developed several dangerous rapids 
and even cataracts, which were quite smooth when we passed Chicova. 
There seemed from the shore to be a trap dyke across the stream, like 
Kariba, but it had two openings. We passed through either the one or 
the other without observing the dyke, but we saw a large seam of fine 
coal in the bank. There is another in the bank at Manyerire Hill; and 
besides seeing fragments of the minerals in many rivulets on both banks, 
we verified the existence of the coal-field, not to Zumbo only, as I for- 
merly pointed out, but to nearly Sinamanes, below Victoria Falls. The 
only real difficulty in the river is Morumbua, and that could be passed in 
full flood, for a rise of 80 feet must smooth it over. 
“ On arriving here two days ago, we had travelled from Linyanti and 
back, some 1400 miles—the greater parton foot. We have thus kept faith 
with the Makololo, though we have done nothing else. We were swamped 
once ; but the men behaved admirably, leaping out and swimming along- 
side till we got into smooth water. In another place one canoe was up- 
