We Were Forced To
Admit, That According To Native Accounts, Our Previous Impression Of
The Zambesi's Draining The Country About Cazembe's Had Been A
Mistake.
Their geographical opinions are now only stated, without
any further comment than that the itinerary given by the Arabs
And
others shows that the Loapula is twice crossed on the way to
Cazembe's; and we may add that we have never found any difficulty
from the alleged incapacity of the negro to tell which way a river
flows.
The boiling-point of water showed a descent, from the edge of the
plateau to our furthest point west, of 170 feet; but this can only be
considered as an approximation, and no dependence could have been
placed on it, had we not had the courses of the streams to confirm
this rather rough mode of ascertaining altitudes. The slope, as
shown by the watershed, was to the "Loangwa of the Maravi," and
towards the Moitala, or south-west, west, and north-west. After we
leave the feeders of Lake Nyassa, the water drains towards the centre
of the continent. The course of the Kasai, a river seen during Dr.
Livingstone's journey to the West Coast, and its feeders was to the
north-east, or somewhat in the same direction. Whether the water
thus drained off finds its way out by the Congo, or by the Nile, has
not yet been ascertained. Some parts of the continent have been said
to resemble an inverted dinner-plate. This portion seems more of the
shape, if shape it has, of a wide-awake hat, with the crown a little
depressed.
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