At Kuruman, When The Thermometer Stood Above 84
Degrees, Rain Might Be Expected; At Kolobeng, The Point At Which We
Looked For A Storm Was 96 Degrees.
The Zambesi is in flood twice in
the course of the year; the first flood, a partial one, attains
Its
greatest height about the end of December or beginning of January;
the second, and greatest, occurs after the river inundates the
interior, in a manner similar to the overflow of the Nile, this rise
not taking place at Tette until March. The Portuguese say that the
greatest height which the March floods attain is thirty feet at
Tette, and this happens only about every fourth year; their
observations, however, have never been very accurate on anything but
ivory, and they have in this case trusted to memory alone. The only
fluviometer at Tette, or anywhere else on the river, was set up at
our suggestion; and the first flood was at its greatest height of
thirteen feet six inches on the 17th January, 1859, and then
gradually fell a few feet, until succeeded by the greater flood of
March. The river rises suddenly, the water is highly discoloured and
impure, and there is a four-knot current in many places; but in a day
or two after the first rush of waters is passed, the current becomes
more equally spread over the whole bed of the river, and resumes its
usual rate in the channel, although continuing in flood. The Zambesi
water at other times is almost chemically pure, and the photographer
would find that it is nearly as good as distilled water for the
nitrate of silver bath.
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