656 
THE RIVER AND ISLANDS. 
Chap. XXXII. 
does not give the idea of altitude so much as the western. It 
extends a considerable way into the Maganja country in the north, 
and then bends round towards the river again, and ends in the 
lofty mountain Morumbala, opposite Senna. On the other or 
southern side it is straighter, but is said to end in Gorongozo, a 
mountain west of the same point. The person who called this 
Lupata “ the spine of the world,” evidently did not mean to say 
that it was a translation of the word, for it means a defile or gorge 
having perpendicular walls. Tliis range does not deserve the 
name of either Cordillera or Spine, unless we are willing to believe 
that the world has a very small, and very crooked “ back-bone.” 
We passed through the gorge in two hours, and found it rather 
tortuous, and between 200 and 300 yards wide. The river is said 
to be here always excessively deep; it seemed to me that a 
steamer could pass tlirough it at full speed. At the eastern 
entrance of Lupata stand two conical hills; they are composed of 
porphyry, having large square crystals therein. These hiUs are 
called Moenda en Goma, wliich means a footprint of a wild beast. 
Another conical liill on the opposite bank is named Kasisi (priest), 
from having a bald top. We sailed on quickly with the cmrrent 
of the river, and found that it spread out to more than two miles 
in breadth: it is, however, fuU of islands, which are generally 
covered with reeds, and which, previous to the war, were inhabited, 
and yielded vast quantities of grain. We usually landed to cook 
breakfast, and then went on quickly. The breadth of water 
between the islands was now quite sufficient for a sailing-vessel 
to tack, and work her sails in; the prevailing winds would 
blow her up the stream; but I regretted that I had not come 
when the river was at its lowest rather than at its highest. The 
testimony, however, of Captain Parker and Lieutenant Hoskins, 
hereafter to be noticed, may be considered conclusive as to the 
capabilities of this river for commercial purposes. The Portu¬ 
guese state that there is high water during five months of the 
year, and when it is low there is always a channel of deep 
water. But this is very winding; and as the river wears 
away some of the islands and forms others, the course of the 
channel is often altered. I suppose that an accurate chart of it 
made in one year would not be very reliable the next; but I 
believe, from all that I can learn, that the river could be navigated 
