Mondego River

“ One of them is called the Muni river, and the other the Monda.
I will leave the Muni, for we shall have to come to [30] it by-and-by, and will speak to you only of the Monda. It is throughout a low-banked swampy stream. The banks are covered with mangrove trees. Every limb or branch that grows in the water is covered with oysters—real oysters too; so that at low tide you can see, in some places for a long distance, immense beds of this kind of shell-fish. ”

“ The country, like that of Woolli, is very generally covered with woods, but the land is more elevated, and towards the Faleme river, rises into considerable hills. In native fertility the soil is not surpassed, I believe, by any part of Africa.
From the central situation of Bondou between the Gambia and Senegal rivers, it is become a place of great resort; both for the Slatees, who generally pass through it, in going from the coast to the interior countries, and for occasional traders, who frequently come hither from the inland countries to purchase salt. ”

“ The ravine which lay between Pack and Craufurd, and between Marchand and Loison, is a feature which no map can properly express, and which no one who has not gone very carefully over the hillside can fully picture to himself. It produces an absolute want of continuity between the two fights which went on to its right and left.
(2) The Mondego is not visible from any point of the line of heights till Hill’s position is reached. It is sunk far below the level of the upland. ”

“ Nevertheless, neither Mendoza nor his men had any intention of abandoning permanently these fertile plains through which ran the great rivers. The scarcity of minerals in these districts had now become sufficiently obvious to them; yet even to men in quest of little beyond gold the extraordinary fertility of the alluvial soil was not altogether lost. With a courage and pertinacity which does the adventurers every credit, they determined, instead of abandoning the river and putting out to sea, to sail far up-stream into the unknown, and to seek their fortune inland. ”

“ A brisk wind from the east sprung up early in the morning of the 22d: we then hoisted all sail, and made for the mouth of the Rio Negro. This noble stream, at its junction with the Amazons, seems, from its position, to be a direct continuation of the main river; while the Solimoens, which joins it at an angle, and is somewhat narrower than its tributary, appears to be a branch, instead of the main trunk, of the vast water-system. ”

“ The general course of this river as pointed out by the natives is from the south-east quarter; the distance to its source is six ordinary days travel. The bed of the river here is rocky, except at the crossing place, where it is a mixture of sand and gravel. The river abounds in fish, some of them very large: we saw several plunge and leap that appeared to be so large as to weigh 60 or 70 lb. The velocity of the stream is about four knots per hour.
In the afternoon got all the bundles carried over, and up the opposite bank, which very much fatigued the soldiers. ”

“ Having safely moored the brig, they proceeded to unload the merchandize on board of her, and to transfer it to the steam-vessels. They then began to sail up the Nun branch of the Niger. This part of the river is most unhealthy; it is one entire swamp, covered with mangrove, cabbage, and palm trees. "The fen-damp rose in the morning cold and clammy to the feeling, and appeared like the smoke of a damp wood fire." The bodies of the natives are covered with ulcers and cutaneous eruptions; they spend a short and miserable life in profligacy. ”

“ I knew not where to rest my wearied limbs, but was happily relieved by a fishing canoe belonging to Silla, which was at that moment coming down the river. The dooty waved to the fisherman to come near, and desired him to take charge of me as far as Moorzan. The fisherman, after some hesitation, consented to carry me, and I embarked in the canoe in company with the fisherman, his wife, and a boy. The negro who had conducted me from Modiboo now left me. I requested him to look to my horse on his return, and take care of him if he was still alive, which he promised to do. ”

“ The first place we touched at was Porto da Lenha, about forty or forty-five miles from Banana. The river banks up to this point are sheer walls of large mangrove trees rising out of the water; at [Pg 82] high water, particularly, hardly a dry place can be seen where one could land from a boat or canoe. The natives have, of course, openings known to themselves, under and through the mangrove, where their little canoes dart in and out. ”

“ The rapid descent of the modern river below the old rock floor of the ancient one gives rise to the steep slopes and gorge-like character of the Monongahela valley every where between Weston and Pittsburg, while the same is true of the lower courses of all the larger tributary streams, the descent in these being very rapid in the last few miles of their courses, while in their upper reaches the slope is gentle and the topography much older looking. ”

“ Very few Europeans reside here, although their half-bred offspring may be seen in every tenth person, and they boast of the European blood which flows in their veins. Monado abounds with poultry, fruit, vegetables, and all the necessaries of life. Cocoa and sugar are cultivated. Stock is easily obtained, and very moderate; and water is procured from a small river which divides the town. Boats should enter the river at last quarter flood, and return first quarter ebb, as the tide falls rapidly ”

“ In the afternoon of the 12th we crossed the Falemé River, the same which I had formerly crossed at Bondou in my journey eastward. This river, at this season of the year, is easily forded at this place, the stream being only about two feet deep. The water is very pure, and flows rapidly over a bed of sand and gravel. ”

“ River Congo to Mossamedes no dense forest is seen from the sea, and from thence not a single tree, it is said, for hundreds of miles to the Orange River. A little mangrove, lining the insignificant rivers and low places in their vicinity, is all that varies the open scrub, of which the giant Adansonias and Euphorbias have taken, as it were, exclusive possession. Nowhere on the coast is seen more than an indication of the wonderful vegetation, or varied beauty and fertility, which generally begins at a distance of from thirty to sixty miles inland. ”

“ The tract of land which the two streams encircle is called Jinbala, and is inhabited by Negroes; and the whole distance, by land, from Jenne to Tombuctoo, is twelve days journey.
From Kabra, at the distance of eleven days' journey, down the stream, the river passes to the southward of Houssa, which is two days journey distant from the river. Of the further progress of this great river and its final exit, all the natives with whom I conversed seemed to be entirely ignorant. Their commercial pursuits seldom induce them to travel further than the cities of Tombuctoo and Houssa ”

“ Among the great variety of facts concerning the Interior of Africa not before known, or at least not ascertained, which the labours of Park have placed beyond all doubt, the most interesting unquestionably are, those which relate to the existence of the great inland river, the Niger, as a distinct and separate stream, and its course from West to East ”

“ At sunset we arrived at Modiboo—a delightful village on the banks of the Niger, commanding a view of the river for many miles both to the east and west. The small green islands (the peaceful retreat of some industrious Foulahs, whose cattle are here secure from the depredations of wild beasts) and the majestic breadth of the river, which is here much larger than at Sego, render the situation one of the most enchanting in the world. Here are caught great plenty of fish, by means of long cotton nets, which the natives make themselves, and use nearly in the same manner as nets are used in Europe. ”

“ A change, however, in the land, seems to commence near this place, and it assumes here very much the aspect of red clay, but in some parts the sandy soil predominating, and all lying very irregular, except immediately upon the streams.
I was impressed with the adaptation of the Jundiahi river, a small stream which runs near our inn, for the location of machinery of limited water-power; and when the railroad reaches this place a good mill or cotton ginning establishment would be likely to prove very advantageous on this river. ”

“ It is hardly possible to restrain within reasonable limits the expression of surprise at the fact that Loanda, with its thousands of inhabitants, [Pg 16] should be still destitute of a good supply of drinking water, when there is a river of splendid water only nine miles off, whence it receives an insignificant and totally inadequate supply brought in casks only, carried by a few rotten barges and canoes that are often prevented from leaving or entering the river for days together, on account of the surf at the bar. ”

“ But the riches of Bolivia are locked up. Small parcels of precious goods may be got out over the Andean barrier, on mule back; or they may dribble in a thin stream down the Beni, Mamoré, and Madre de Dios rivers—rivers which unite not far from the Brazilian boundary to form the Rio Madeira. The Beni is a very great and deep river which has a course of 1500 miles before it contributes its volume to the Madeira. The Rio Madeira, a broad and deep stream in the rainy season, reaches the Amazon in another 1100 miles. ”

“ During the rainy season, however, the pontoon bridges over the Rio Grande are swept away; the roads become impassable. The raging torrent of the river threatens the inland navigation, while the monsoons on the China Sea make transportation very difficult. ”

“ They were directed to proceed from Badagarry to Boussa on the Niger, where Mungo Park was wrecked and lost his life, and down to which he had traced the stream from the neighbourhood of Timbuctoo. Thence, after visiting Youri, the chief of which place was supposed to be in possession of Park’s papers, he was to make his way, either down the stream in canoes or along the banks by land, as he might find practicable, either to the sea, if the stream was found to flow in that direction, or eastward into Lake Chad, which at that time, it was supposed, it might possibly do. ”

“ The kingdom of Barra, in which the town of Jillifree is situated, produces great plenty of the necessaries of life; but the chief trade of the inhabitants is in salt; which commodity they carry up the river in canoes as high as Barraconda, and bring down in return Indian corn, cotton cloths, elephants' teeth, small quantities of gold dust. The number of canoes and people constantly employed in this trade, make the King of Barra more formidable to Europeans than any other chieftain on the river ”

“ At Mendoza a change is made to the less comfortable narrow-gauge train, which conveys the traveller through the fastnesses of the Andes. The mountains are now plainly visible and the snow peaks can easily be distinguished from the dark background. The route leads first through grape and peach orchards, but these soon give place to the cactus and scrub growth which cling to the foothills. The Mendoza River, fed by the melting snows, tumbles along on its way down from the mountains and is crossed and recrossed many times. An occasional station is a somewhat forlorn outpost of human life. ”

“ From the mouth of the river to Calumbo there are large mangrove marshes, and there is a native [Pg 117] town called Tumbo, the inhabitants of which are mostly engaged as pilots, mangrove wood-cutters, and fishermen.
The mangrove tree grows here to a large size, and is cut and sent to Loanda for beams, piles, &c.; the longer thin trees are also in great request for roof timbers, scaffoldings, and other uses. The mangrove is a very hard and heavy wood; a pole of it sinks in water almost like a bar of iron, and it is magnificent for fuel. ”

“ Among the most important rivers having their source in the Montaña—generally 279in a ledge branching off from the foothills of the Andes, are the Yavary, Yuruá, Purús, and some tributaries of the Madeira River. The great waterways, with their affluents, form a network of communication in the Amazon country, and contribute greatly to the development of the rich resources of this vast zone, which is essentially tropical, yielding the valuable products of the rubber tree, the dyewoods, medicinal herbs and hardwoods of commerce, and other precious gifts of nature. ”

“ Finally, Captain Speke made his own lake a physical impossibility. Within little more than 60 miles from east to west he has given it three main effluents, the Mwerango, the Luajerri, and the Nile or Napoleon channel, to say nothing of the Myo Myanza, the Murchison Creek, the Usoga stream, together with the Asúa river from the Baringo. ”

“ The Madeira, the largest tributary of the Amazon, comes in from the south a little below Manaos, and is the outlet and means of access to a large portion of the state of Matto Grosso in Brazil and of the country of Bolivia as well. Continuous river navigation has, however, been impossible on account of a series of 19 falls and rapids on the Madeira and Mamoré rivers within a distance of 200 miles, thus preventing earlier development of a section rich not only in rubber, but in minerals, and in agricultural and stock-raising possibilities. ”