Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/469

 The Etembwe, or Rio del Campo, southern limit of the German possessions, is followed by the Eyo, or San-Benito, which reaches the coast 36 miles north of Cape St. John, and which is navigable for 20 miles to the Yobé falls. The Muni (Angra, or Danger), which enters Corisco Bay opposite the Elobey Islands, is also obstructed by formidable cataracts during its passage through the red sandstone escarpments of the coast ranges.

South of the Muni the narrow island-studded inlet bounded on the west by the Cape Esteiras peninsula has received the name of Rio Munda, as if it were a river, being in reality a mere estuary into which are discharged a few feeble coast-streams. The same description applies to the Gaboon itself, which also received the name of rio from the early navigators, and which till within the last few

decades was still regarded as one of the great continental rivers, whose sources were sought in the great lakes of the interior. But the Gaboon, so called by the Portuguese from its fancied resemblance to a gabao, or "cabin," penetrates inland little more than 40 miles. In its general outlines, size, and hydrographic system it recalls in a striking way the French estuary of the Gironde, although somewhat broader and with a greater average depth. Like that of the Gironde, the entrance is obstructed with sandbanks, which have had to be carefully buoyed, marking off four deep channels with 26 to 33 feet of. water at ebb tide. In its upper reaches the estuary is accessible to vessels drawing 13 or 14 feet, and its two affluents, the Komo 'and Ramboé, as well as several of their tributaries, are