Instead of another Niagara, which general report had led them to expect, they saw only a comparative brook bubbling over its stony bed.

The fall appears to be occasioned merely by masses of granite, fragments of which have fallen down and blocked up the stream.

Yet this obstruction rendered it quite impossible for the boats to pass, nor could they be carried across the precipices and deep ravines, by which the country was intersected.

The discoverers were, therefore, obliged to proceed by land through this difficult region, which, without a guide on whom they could rely, was attended with overwhelming toil.

Cooloo Inga, and Mavoonda, the principal villages, were separated by wide intervals, which placed the travellers under the necessity of often sleeping in the open air.
At length the country improved and became more level; the river widened, and the obstacles to its navigation gradually disappeared.
But just as the voyage began to assume a prosperous aspect, indications of its fatal termination began to show themselves.
The health of the party was rapidly giving way under the effects of fatigue, as well as the malignant influence of a damp and burning atmosphere.