The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE EUFIJI EIVEE. 805as they were from fever, they found so difficult to surmount. But however savagein appearance, these uplands are at least favoured with a salubrious climate, andthe Europeans enervated by a residence on the marshy plains of the seaboard mighthere establish health-resorts to recover their strength in an atmosphere resemblingthat of the temperate zone. Most of the Usagara villages are bmlt above the rivervalleys on the advanced spurs of the main ranges.River Systems.A few inconsiderable watercourses reach the coast north of the Rovumaestuary ; but the first large fluvial delta is that of the Rufiji or Lufiji, which lies180 miles beyond that point. This river does not flow from Lake Nyassa, as wasreported to Livingstone by the natives ; nevertheless its farthest headstreams havetheir sources to the west of this lacustrine basin, and its ramifying affluents draina vast extent of land on both sides of the ranges skirting the plateau. The wholearea of drainage comprises an area roughly estimated at 6,000 square miles. TheLuwego, or Luvu (Lu-AVego, Lu-Vu), the chief southern tributary, has not yetbeen surveyed to its source. It is not na^^gable, and probably has its source in theliiviugstone Mountains, flowing thence in a north-westerly direction to its junctionwith the Uranga (TJ-Ranga). This branch comes from the west, plunging fromfall to fall in a rockj' bed flanked b}' granite walls. But hundreds of canoesfoi-med of single trunks of trees are met in the navigable reaches, which duringthe rainy season sometimes expand to a breadth of over 2,000 yards.The united Luwego and Uranga take the name of Rufiji, which a few hundredyards below the confluence tumbles over the Shuguli Cascades, a series of falls andrapids skirted bj- granite cliffs. Above these cataracts some rocky islets in bothconverging branches serve as refuges for the natives exposed to the suddenattacks of marauders. Lower down the Rufiji continues the north-easterly courseof the southern or Luwego branch, and offei-s at intervals a few navigable reaches,although in many places the canoes of the natives are arrested by rapids, reefs,and sandbanks. These obstructions grow more numerous as the mainstreamapproaches the confluence of the Ruaha (Rua-Ha), a large stream from the west,whose basin comprises a large tract of country between Urori and Ugogo. Likethe Luwego, the Luaha is unnavigable, notwithstanding the large volume ofwater it rolls down during the rainy season, when it becomes the largest branchof the whole sj^stem. But during the period of drought it is a less copious streamthan the Rufiji.After its confluence with the Ruaha, the Rufiji receives no further contributionsfi'om any quartir ; but before reaching the sea it has still to surmount thebarrier presented by the most advanced ridge of the coast ranges. This ridgeruns north and south athwart the course of the river, \\liii'li pierces it at thegorge where it rushes over the Pangani Falls. No accurate measurement hasyet been taken of the total incline at this point, but it must be very considerable,vol.. XIII. X