The Kongone Is One Of Those Lateral
Branches, And The Safest; Inasmuch As The Bar Has Nearly Two Fathoms
On It At Low Water, And The Rise At Spring Tides Is From Twelve To
Fourteen Feet.
The bar is narrow, the passage nearly straight, and,
were it buoyed and a beacon placed on Pearl Island, would always be
safe to a steamer.
When the wind is from the east or north, the bar
is smooth; if from the south and south-east, it has a heavy break on
it, and is not to be attempted in boats. A strong current setting to
the east when the tide is flowing, and to the west when ebbing, may
drag a boat or ship into the breakers. If one is doubtful of his
longitude and runs east, he will soon see the land at Timbwe
disappear away to the north; and coming west again, he can easily
make out East Luabo from its great size; and Kongone follows several
miles west. East Luabo has a good but long bar, and not to be
attempted unless the wind be north-east or east. It has sometimes
been called "Barra Catrina," and was used in the embarkations of
slaves. This may have been the "River of Good Signs," of Vasco da
Gama, as the mouth is more easily seen from the seaward than any
other; but the absence of the pillar dedicated by that navigator to
"St. Raphael," leaves the matter in doubt. No Portuguese live within
eighty miles of any mouth of the Zambesi.
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