Gabriel And Brand
At Loanda, On The West Coast, Is In Accordance Therewith.
It Rains There Between The 1st And 30th Of November,
But January And December Are Usually Both Warm And Dry.
The Heavier Rains Commence About The 1st Of February,
And Last Until The 15th Of May.
Then no rain falls
between the 20th of May and the 1st of November.
The rain averages
from 12 to 15 inches per annum. In 1852 it was 12.034 inches;
in 1853, 15.473 inches. Although I had no means of measuring
the amount of rain which fell in Londa, I feel certain
that the annual quantity exceeds very much that which falls on the coast,
because for a long time we noticed that every dawn was marked
by a deluging shower, which began without warning-drops or thunder.
I observed that the rain ceased suddenly on the 28th of April,
and the lesser rains commenced about a fortnight before
the beginning of November.
-
From information derived from Arabs of Zanzibar, whom I met at Naliele
in the middle of the country, the region to the east of the parts of Londa
over which we have traveled resembles them in its conformation.
They report swampy steppes, some of which have no trees,
where the inhabitants use grass, and stalks of native corn, for fuel.
A large shallow lake is also pointed out in that direction,
named Tanganyenka, which requires three days for crossing in canoes.
It is connected with another named Kalagwe (Garague?), farther north,
and may be the Nyanja of the Maravim. From this lake is derived, by numerous
small streams, the River Loapula, the eastern branch of the Zambesi,
which, coming from the N.E., flows past the town of Cazembe.
The southern end of this lake is ten days northeast of the town of Cazembe;
and as that is probably more than five days from Shinte,
we can not have been nearer to it than 150 miles. Probably this lake
is the watershed between the Zambesi and the Nile, as Lake Dilolo
is that between the Leeba and Kasai. But, however this may be,
the phenomena of the rainy season show that it is not necessary to assume
the existence of high snowy mountains until we get reliable information.
This, it is to be hoped, will be one of the results of the researches
of Captain Burton in his present journey.
The original valley formation of the continent determined
the northern and southern course of the Zambesi in the centre,
and also of the ancient river which once flowed from the Linyanti basin
to the Orange River. It also gave direction to the southern and northern flow
of the Kasai and the Nile. We find that between the latitudes,
say 6 Deg. and 12 Deg. S., from which, in all probability,
the head waters of those rivers diverge, there is a sort of elevated partition
in the great longitudinal valley. Presuming on the correctness
of the native information, which places the humid region to which
the Nile and Zambesi probably owe their origin within the latitudes indicated,
why does so much more rain fall there than in the same latitudes
north of the equator?
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