Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/312

 traversing the narrow Hariba gorge. Then it is joined by its great Kafukwe (Kafwe) affluent, which comes directly from the west, and which is reported to be interrupted only by a solitary cataract about a day's journey above the confluence. Still farther up this river would appear to be free from all obstructions as far as the neighbourhood of the waterparting between the Zambese and Congo basins. The valley of this river has consequently already been indicated as probably offering the best route to be followed by the future trans-continental railway from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

Farther down the copious Loa-Ngwe sends to the Zambese the whole drainage of the southern slope of the waterparting between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika. With this contribution the mainstream has acquired nearly the full measure of its

liquid volume, when it strikes against the roots of the mountain-range running north and south athwart its seaward course. The Chikarongo Falls, followed by the Kebrabassa rapids, mark the point where the Zambese is deflected by this barrier towards the south-east, a direction which, with the exception of a few short meanderings, it henceforth pursues to the delta. At this point, marking the commencement of its lower course, its waters begin to lose their limpid clearness, clouded by the muddy deposits and organic remains here lining its banks. Above the rapids it preserved a relative transparence even during the season of the periodical inundations, but it has now become a turbid stream of a brownish or dirty red colour. Along the upper reaches the banks and riverain tracts are covered with a dense herbage, where the current is filtered by depositing most of the sedimentary matter held in solution. Here also the banks are consolidated by