We Struck
Hard, And Were Half-Full Of Water In A Moment; Tuba Recovered Himself
As Speedily, Shoved Off The Bow, And Shot The Canoe Into A Still
Shallow Place, To Bale Out The Water.
Here we were given to
understand that it was not the medicine which was at fault; that had
lost none of its virtue; the accident was owing entirely to Tuba
having started without his breakfast.
Need it be said we never let
Tuba go without that meal again?
We landed at the head of Garden Island, which is situated near the
middle of the river and on the lip of the Falls. On reaching that
lip, and peering over the giddy height, the wondrous and unique
character of the magnificent cascade at once burst upon us.
It is rather a hopeless task to endeavour to convey an idea of it in
words, since, as was remarked on the spot, an accomplished painter,
even by a number of views, could but impart a faint impression of the
glorious scene. The probable mode of its formation may perhaps help
to the conception of its peculiar shape. Niagara has been formed by
a wearing back of the rock over which the river falls; and during a
long course of ages, it has gradually receded, and left a broad,
deep, and pretty straight trough in front. It goes on wearing back
daily, and may yet discharge the lakes from which its river - the St.
Lawrence - flows. But the Victoria Falls have been formed by a crack
right across the river, in the hard, black, basaltic rock which there
formed the bed of the Zambesi.
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