Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-09-06
The Congo.

From tire fdinbui gh Review.
The Congo. unlike most other great rivers has
no delta When. by its owa !abors Of erosion
aud deposition. its actual channel shall be so far
obsfructed as to make fresh meaps Of exit
desirable. they will no doubt be found. and the
excavation OF such auxiliary branches is even
suspected TO have already begun. But at present
1t discharges tnso the sea By q single. unbrohen
estuary. seven and one-half miles across. In
which sounding line Of 200 fathoms does not
everywhere touch bottom. and 4 current runs Of
five TO seven knots an hour. The enormous
volume OF the outflow may. from these data be
inper1ectlv estimated: and. in point of fact the
tonGo. although Overnatched regards the
length OF its course by more than one rival
stream, stands second only to tine Amazon for
the unVarying copiousness OF Its waters. Capt.
bCrton places at the surprising figure OF at least
2NO.OOO cubic feet per second the volume Of
water borne by it; and the admitted and sober
estimate is 1900 00J. Now the Mississippi
when at the height Of its March food cares
down no more than 1850. 600; it sinks in Noycn-
Der to 22S000 and its mean discharge is $50 GO
cuhc feet a second: while the isaugeS has less
tlin third Of the contents Of the giant stream
OF North America. Moreover. the Congo never
runs low. 1t swPilS. indeed. ana sink as the
rainy ard dry seasons succeed each other bat
within relatively narrow range Of oscillaticn
Such extreme inequalities a. are observed in the
Nile and the Niger are here partially co,nnen-
stated hy the alternating periods of afh npnts
drawing their stores Il ON opposite sides OF the
equator. At Roma. accordingly. the difference
between the levels Of tue river January chen
1t is highest. and IN August. when it is lowest
does not exceed I or 3 feet. though higher IN
10 the naIroWs II may amount To IL. or even !G
This noble stream vas frs made known to
Europe through the enterprise of Il hardy
Portuguese navigator. Diego Cam. com
missioned by Ioao H., to extend the scope
and enhance the glory of his reign by mari
time discovery. reached its mouth in l4Sl
anu planted III token OF Portuguese Su-
preInacy an Inscribed column on its
southern shore Iile river (Which has borne "a
many names the Moon goddess hence be-
came known as the Rio do raCirao or River of
the Pillar. Bat in a chart of 1913 the n;llne OF
tne ''ongO hto d. Runi,C1tCo) appeared. and
mas prevailed 1t was derived from the the1
powerful and Weli-organized native kingdom OF
Congo. (-Hatl-Congo signifies king CT Congo
slnce disntegrated into multitude of sordid
cheftainships, through which the stream flowed
to the sea. The euphonious appeiiation of the
'Zaire"-a corruption Of the local title Mad
river tirst used by De Ba,ros in his De
cafes tl552.) and was consecrated By the
verse OF CanOens.
"Alli mtli grande RENO esta lie Congo
Por nos ia convertible fe &c Christie
For 0nde Zdire paSsa ciaTO G longo
Rlo peloS antiques nUnca ViSto
Within the last few years Mr.. Stanley has en-
deavored but without success, to associate the
congo With the name and eminent services OF
Livingstone; while n its higher reaches-a
striking testimony to the narrow circumscrip-
ton OF tribal hOriZuns-its native designations
rival IN number and are frequently borrowed
from those of itstributa aries.