Up the Congo to Banza Nokki. 137 
Before the second north-eastern reach, the in¬ 
terpreters exclaimed “ Yellala falla”—“ the cataract 
is speaking,” and we could distinctly hear the 
cheering roar. The stream now assumed the 
aspect of Niagara below the Falls, and the circular 
eddies boiling up from below, and showing dis¬ 
tinct convexity, suggested the dangerous “ wells ” 
of the northern seas. Passing the “ Three Weird 
Sisters,” unimportant rocks off, the right bank, we 
entered upon the remarkably long stretch, extending 
upwards of five miles, and, from its predominating 
growth, we proposed to call it “ Palmyra Reach.” 
The immediate river banks were clad with sedge, 
and the broad leaves of the nymphsea, a plant like 
the calamus of Asia, but here used only as a tooth¬ 
pick, began to oust the rushy and flaggy growth 
of the lower bed. The pink balls of the spinous 
mimosa, and bright flowers, especially the convol¬ 
vulus and ipomaea, illuminated the dull green. The 
grassy land at the foot of the mountains was a 
mere edging, faced by outlying rocks, and we were 
shown the site of a village long ago destroyed. 
The Nteba, or palmyra nobilis, mixed here and 
there with a glorious tamarind, bombax or cala¬ 
bash, forms a thin forest along the reach, and rarely 
appears upon the upper hills, where we should 
expect it. The people use both fruit and wine, 
preferring, however, the liquor of the Ebah (oil 
palm-tree), and the autumnal fires can hardly affect 
