DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 145 
rivers, flowing from different quarters of the inte- 
rior. D'Anville, in his map, (1731) remarks, that 
the origin and early course of all these streams is 
involved in very great uncertainty. The early ac- 
counts, making them rise from the lakes of Zaire and 
Zambre, which also give rise to the Nile, are evi- 
dently fabulous, and founded on an erroneous sys- 
tem of African geography. The only statement at 
all distinct, is that given by Labat, chiefly from the 
report of Cavazzi. According to him, two of these 
great rivers, the Coango and Berbela, have their 
rise in or near the kingdom of Matamba, and, flow- 
ing southwards along the eastern frontiers of Con- 
go, at length unite and take a westerly direction. 
D'Anville, whose authority is certainly better, 
makes only one river, instead of two. He gives 
it the name of Coango, but it has since been ge- 
nerally called Berbela. The next river is the 
Vambre, or Umbre, said to flow from east to west, 
through the kingdom of Fungeno, a region known 
only by name. The last and most northerly is the 
Bancaro, described as flowing through the kingdom 
of Anziko, which lies to the north-east of Conco- 
bella. This evidently must be the river, if any, 
which forms the yet unknown termination of the 
Niger, and to trace its course upwards, must there- 
fore be the main object of European investigation. 
VOL. I. K 
