The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

8 SOUTH AND EAST AFEICA.01' " Fetish Rock," over which the Quissaiuas formerly hurled the unhappywretchesaccused of witchcraft.The mouth of the Cuanza is obstructed by a dangerous bar, which is usuallycrossed by the local pilots on a raft, or rather a single plank of liermhdera woodabout 8 feet long and scarcely 3 feet wide. Kneeling on this spar, they steertheir course with the aid of a single paddle, and thus reach the steamers whichare at times riding at anchor over a mile from the coast.South of the Cuanza as far as the Cunene, none of the streams rising on theouter slopes of the mountains or in the western valleys can acquire any greatdevelopment, nor are any of them utilised for navigation. They also flowthrough a region enjoying a less abundant rainfall than Northern Angola, sothat many of them are completely exhausted during the dry season. They thusresemble the wadys of North and the umaramhas or intermittent streams ofSouth Africa.The chief permanent rivers are the Luga, running parallel with the lowerCuanza ; the Cuvo (Keve), which discharges into Old Benguella Bay ; theBailombo, the Catumbella, and the Coporolo. Of all these little coast streamsthe Catumbella is the best known, owing to the vicinity of the city of Benguella.About 7 miles from the sea it develops the romantic cataract of Upa, wherethe whole stream is pent up within a rocky gorge scarcely 9 yards wide.The Cunene, which in Angola yields in length and volume to the Cuanza alone,has recently acquired an exceptional political importance as the line of demarcationbetween the Portuguese possessions and the territory annexed to the Germancolonial empire. Like the Cuanza, it rises to the east of the central highlands,and flows at first along the inner continental slope jointly with the Ku-Bango,and the eastern aflluents of the Zambese ; but after escaping from this basin itdescribes a great bend to the west, piercing the intervening rocky barriers on itssouth-westerly course to the Atlantic. It develops altogether a total lengthof no less than 720 miles, the. area of its drainage being estimated at about110,000 square miles. Rising in the Jamba Mountains, over four degrees tothe north of the latitude of its estuary, it skirts the southern and south-westerubase of the central uplands, collecting on both banks a large nimiber of affluentsduring its winding uj^per and middle course.At Quiteve, a riverain village some 240 miles from its sources, Capello andIvens found that even in June, that is, in the dry season, it had a breadth ofnearly 500 feet, with a mean depth of over 8 feet. It flows between woodedbanks with great velocity, but unobstructed by cataracts. During the rainyseason this beautiful stream assumes the proportions of a mighty watercourse,fully justifying its native name of Cunene, that is, Ku-Nene, or " Great River."At this period it overflows its banks to the right and left, flooding the surroundingplains for several miles. At one point a depression many square miles inextent is transformed to a vast reservoir which receives the overflow of the upjjerCunene. After the subsidence of the waters, this depression is strewn withsmall lakes and stagnant meres ; the muddy bottom-lands are overgrown with