Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-10-17
The Congo.

The Congo, unlike most other great
rivers, has no delta. When, by its
own labors OF erosion of deposition, its
actual channel shall be SO lar obstruct-
ed as to make fresh means OF exit de-
sirable, they will no doubt be found,
and the excavation of such auxiliary
branches is even suspected TO have al
ready begun. But at present it dis
charges into the sea by a single, UNI
broken estuary, seven ana one-half
miles across, IN which q sounding line
of 200 fathoms does not everywhere
touch bottom, and Il current runs of
five to seven knots an hour. The
enormous volume of the outflow a
from these data, be imperfectly esti-
mated: and, in point of TACT, the Con
90, although overmatched as regards
the length of its course by more than
one rival stream, stands second only to
the ANA OF for the unvarying copious-
ness of its waters. Captain Burton
places at the surprising figure of at
least $500, 900 cubic feet per second the
volume OF water borne by it; and the
admitted and sober estimate is 2,OOo,-
600. Now the Mississippi, when at
the height of its March Hood, car
ries down no more than $780,
600; it sinks in November to
22S, 00O, and its mean dis
charge is $4,000 cubic feet q second;
while the Ganges has less than a third
OF the contents Of the giant stream of
North America. Moreover, the Congo
eve uns low. 1t swolls, indeed, and
sinks, as the rainy and dry seasons sue
coed each other, but within q relatively
narrow range OF oscillation. Such OK
treme inequalities as are observed in
the Nile and Niger are here partially
compensated by the alternating periods
OF ailtuents drawing their stores from
opposite sides OF the equator. At Bo-
ma, accordingly, the difference between
the levels Of the river in january, when
it is lowest, does not exceed four or
five feet, though higher up, in the mar
rows, it may amount to twelve, OF even
sixteen. This noble stream was first
made known to Europe through the
enterprise OF a hardy Portuguese navl-
gator. Diego Cam, commissioned by
.oao ii. to extend the scope and en-
nance the glory of his reign by mari
time discovery, reached its mouth in
l4s4, and planted, IN token Of Portu-
guese supremacy, an inscribed col
umn on its southern shore.
The river (Which has borne as
many names as the Moon god
dessJ hence became knewn as the Rio
do Padrao. or River OF the Pillar. But
in a chart OF 1913 the name of the
Congo" (Rio do Maniconyo) APP
pcared, and has prevailed. 1t was de-
rived from the then powerful and we'll
organized native kingdom of Congo,
Mani-Congo signifies liking" of
Congo.) since disintegrated into a null
tilude of sordid cIieftaiaships, through
which the stream flowed to the sea.
The e%uphonious appellation of the
81 aire'-a corruption of the 10 al
title Mad, ''1vcr''-was first used by
DE Barros in his .'Decades,n O552,)
and was c~onSccratcd by the verse of
Camoens:
"Allio mui grandc reino esta de Congo,
PGr nts ia cluvcrtfdo Il lie de Christie,
Poroi d o Iairc pas "a cl no G longo,
X o p"iOS'anii los nunca Visto.'
Within the last few years Mr.. Stanley
has ~endeavored. but without success,
to associate the Congo with the name
and eminent services of Livingstone;
while in it's higher reaches--a striking
testimony to the narrow circumscrip-
ton OF tribal horilons-its native desig-
nations rival in number and are fire.
quently borrowed from those of lts
H'cvieW.
l----s o.
Bears, wildcats, coons and deer in