Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/528

 to those of the Amazons alone. This vast system of natural channels is doubtless separated from the seaboard by the series of rocky rapids through which the Congo reaches its lower course; but a number of steamers have already been brought piecemeal across the country and put together on Stanley. Pool, the magnificent outer basin for all the innumerable arteries leading north, east, and south into the very heart of the continent. Between the Livingstone and Stanley Falls the main stream alone, variously estimated at from 2,400 to 2,700 miles in length, presents an open waterway of at least 1,000 miles, besides 500 more in its lower and upper reaches, absolutely free from all obstruction. The Kassai, continued

eastwards by the Sankuru and the Lo-Mami, is accessible to river craft for 1,800 miles; the U-Banghi, the Tchuapa, Lu-Longo, and many others have also been ascended by steamers and barges for hundreds and hundreds of miles; and if to the rivers be added all the backwaters, lakes, and lateral branches, the total extent of navigable waters becomes almost incalculable. There is scarcely a single point of the basin, says Grenfell, over 100 miles from some station accessible by water.

But little advantage can be taken of these great facilities for inland communication until the regions of the Middle Congo are connected with the seaboard by