THE RIVER. 
53a 
have received an impression, that their voyage to 
its source would not be long. Captain Tuckey 
says, " Hitherto the river has presented no ap- 
" pearance to inspire the idea of magnitude equal 
to that of a river of the first class while Dr 
Smith remarks, ** Every thing yet seems to indi- 
" cate, that the descriptions of the great breadth 
" of the river, of the length of its course, &c. 
have been es^aggerated, and that the whole ex- 
" pedition will sooner terminate than any body 
** suspected." It does not very precisely appear 
on what ground this disappointment rested. The 
breadth does not seem to have varied materially 
from the charts, while the depth was considera- 
bly greater than they anticipated. Massey's 
sounding line, which cannot be carried down by 
the current, went to 113 fathoms without find- 
ing a bottom. As this depth seems to have ex- 
tended across a great part of the stream, it be- 
comes impossible to estimate the mass of water 
which might be carried into the ocean. In fact, 
after travelling upwards of nearly 300 miles, the 
river, instead of becoming small, as had been anti- 
cipated, seems rather to have increased in appa- 
rent amplitude and dimension, 
As they approached Embomma, sundry gentle- 
men made their appearance, under colour of mes- 
sages from the ^Mafook, but brandy being always 
the main object. The multiplication of these 
