As We Pushed On Westwards, We Found That The River Makes A Little
Southing, And Some Reaches Were Deeper Than
Any near the sea; but
when we had ascended about 140 miles by the river's course from the
sea, soft
Tufa rocks began to appear; ten miles beyond, the river
became more narrow and rocky, and when, according to our measurement,
we had ascended 156 miles, our further progress was arrested. We
were rather less than two degrees in a straight line from the Coast.
The incidents worth noticing were but few: seven canoes with loads
of salt and rice kept company with us for some days, and the further
we went inland, the more civil the people became.
When we came to a stand, just below the island of Nyamatolo, Long. 38
degrees 36 minutes E., and Lat. 11 degrees 53 minutes, the river was
narrow, and full of rocks. Near the island there is a rocky rapid
with narrow passages fit only for native canoes; the fall is small,
and the banks quite low; but these rocks were an effectual barrier to
all further progress in boats. Previous reports represented the
navigable part of this river as extending to the distance of a
month's sail from its mouth; we found that, at the ordinary heights
of the water, a boat might reach the obstructions which seem peculiar
to all African rivers in six or eight days. The Rovuma is remarkable
for the high lands that flank it for some eighty miles from the
ocean.
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