Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/462

 448 NILE under the name of the Chambeze, and flows thence S. W. into Lake Bangweolo or Bemba, which, according to Livingstone's unconnected map, extends 150 m. from E. to W. and 80 m. from N. to S., at a height of 3,688 ft. above the sea, between lat. 10 55' and 12 S., and Ion. 28 15' and 30 35' E. Emerging from the N. W. corner of this lake, with a width of four miles, as the Luapula, the river follows a cir- cuitous course, the general direction of which is exactly N., until it falls into the Moero Oka- ta, " the great lake Moero," which is bisected by the 9th parallel of S. latitude, and lies be- tween Ion. 28 and 29 E. Livingstone de- scribes this lake as about 50 m. long from N. to S., with a width ranging from 12 to 40 m., and its altitude is marked on his map as 3,000 ft. From its northern termination issues the Lualaba under that name, distinguished by him however as Webb's Lualaba, flowing north- ward to the 7th degree of S. latitude, which it follows toward the west from the 28th to the 26th meridian, through Lake Kamolondo, a sheet of water supposed to be not less than 150 m. long. After leaving this lake the direc- tion of the river is again northerly, and at the lowest point in its course yet reached, just S. of the 4th degree of S. latitude, the width of the stream is 3,000 yards. Beyond this, ac- cording to native information, it pours into a reedy lake which stretches nearly up to the equator. It is apparent from what has been stated that the Lualaba occupies a valley trend- ing northward, situated W. of the Tanganyika lake and generally parallel to it. Still further W. is the valley of the Lufira, a river which is believed to fall into Lake Kamolondo on its S. W. shore. Beyond this lies the valley of the Loeki or Lomame, another great river, which traverses a lake lying W. of Kamolondo, known to the natives as Ohebungo, but named Lake Lincoln by Livingstone. It is conjectured that this river, which he called Young's Lualaba, joins the Lualaba proper, already described, at some point between Kamolondo and the equa- tor. The elevated plateau, from which pro- ceeds this entire system of 200,000 sq. m. of drainage, is described by Livingstone as extend- ing along the 12th degree of S. latitude about 700 m. E. and W., with an altitude which he estimates at 6,000 ft. A doubt whether its waters might not possibly find their way into the Congo instead of into the Nile is recorded in his last journals, under the date of June 24, 1 872. The improbability that they belong to the Nile basin has been strengthened by Schwein- furth's discovery in 1870 of the westward- flowing river Welle, which he crossed in about lat. 3 30' N., S. of the mountains among which rise the principal known tributaries of the Bahr el-G-hazal, the great western arm of the Nile. He learned that the source of the Welle was in the mountainous country W. of the Albert lake. The course of this river tends to confirm the view that the watershed of the Lualaba system is wholly western, and cannot therefore be connected with the Nile; but further explorations are necessary to a satis- factory determination of the question. The White Nile emerges from the Albert N'yanza into a valley of green reeds, from 4 to 6 m. wide, bordered on the west by the range of mountains which bounds the W. shore of the lake. Unbroken by a single cataract, it flows with a scarcely perceptible current, and in some places several miles in width, northerly to Afuddo, 2,116ft. above the sea, in lat. 3 32' N., where there is a fall of from 30 to 40 ft. A few miles further down it receives from the east its first important affluent, the Asua river, with a channel over 100 yards wide and 15 ft. deep during the rains, but without water in the dry season. The country on the west continues mountainous as far as lat. 4 N., where the Nile is about 650 ft. broad and from 5 to 8 ft. deep. At lat. 4 37' the river descends a series of rapids to Gondokoro, about 20 m. below, a small ivory-trading station on the E. bank, celebrated as a starting point of exploration. The altitude above the ocean here is 1,559 ft. The Nile now leaves the hill region and passes into a well wooded and thickly populated country, the level of which is only about 4 ft. above the river. Beyond lat. 5 the river makes a great bend westward through nearly three degrees of longitude, returning to the merid- ian of Gondokoro before reaching lat. 10. After passing lat. 6 the character of the country changes. The forests disappear, and the shores become marshy and covered with tall grass. The course of the river is exceed- ingly tortuous and its current sluggish, not ex- ceeding 3 m. an hour, while the width of clear water is about 120 yards. Two small tribu- taries from the west join the Nile in this part of its course, but are full only in the wet season. In lat. 9 16' is the mouth of its great- est western affluent, the Bahr el-Ghazal. Here the waters expand into a shallow lacustrine formation known on the maps as Lake No, but more properly designated Mogren el-Bohoor, the mouth of the streams. It is described by Baker as having the appearance of a lake 3 m. long by 1 m. wide, varying according to the seasons; but it is divided into a perfect labyrinth of channels, and is so obstructed by floating vegetation as frequently to render navigation utterly impracticable. The navi- gable portion of the Bahr el-Ghazal, or Gazelle river, properly so called, does not extend more than 140 rn. from the Nile, and terminates in an island-studded lake-like basin called the Meshera or Kyt, situated in about lat. 8 35' N., Ion. 29 15' E. This basin presents the as- pect of an extensive backwater. The eastward current is extremely languid, and indeed is fre- quently only perceptible in the upper course of the river, the depth of which varies from 8 to 14 ft. Sixteen miles below the Meshera the Gazelle receives the Bahr el-Dyoor from the south, and still further down its volume is increased by the waters of the Bahr el- Arab,