Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-07
BAOBABS AND BIG TREES
Tule Cypress. California Redwood
and Japan's Pine of Karasaki.
AFRICA VERSUS THE AMERICAS
Yosemite Highest Fall, Niagara of
Largest Volume. Victoria Great
est in Height and Breadth
Combined.
".
By THEODORE W. MOVES.
Bditorisl Correspondence of The Star.

By THEODORE ". MOVES.
Bditorisl Correspondence OF The Star.
I have spoken Of the comfort with
which the journey from Washington to
Victoria Falls can be made in spite of
the thousands Of miles of ocean to be
traversed and the long dusty railroad
Journey. The precedents OF comfort, set
by steamship and railroad are maintain
cd by the hotel AZ Victoria Falls which
is exactly the opposite in cuisine and at
tendance from what its location would
reasonably cause the visitor to expect.
The long one-story hotel structure, with
front veranda covered or shaded in part
by Towering vines, and its bungalow an
nexes are built on an eminence looking
down on the first great bend of the Fam
resi- gorge. after the short turn at the
whirlpool In front of you. but not close
at hand, rises well wooded. precipitous
promontory, yellowish-gray and red be-
tween 800 and 400 feet high On one side
OF II is a canyon down which the Fam
best rushes toward YOU. and on the other
side is a similar canyon down which the
Zambesi rushes away from you Looking
up the first gorge one sees thrown across
II the graceful outlines of the railroad
bridge. 400 feet in the air. one of the
highest in the world Over this bridge
to the kongo on the way to Cairo To
the left one sees from the hotel evidences
or the proximity of the falls in the shift
Ing columns and IRREGULAR masses of
spray which rise high in air above the
tops of the palms of the Rain Forest.
How to See the Falls
The fall nearest to the hotel is the
DEVILS Cascade. at the west end of the
canyon about half mile distant The
easiest and most interesting excursion
from the hotel. and the one that should
be first taken in order 10 get a thorough
understanding of the falls and canyon as
whole is to walk to the west end of
the canyon and thence through the Rain
Forest along the edge Of the precipice to
Dancer Point. enjoying the views describ-
ed in yesterdays chapter of this CORE
spondence. of all the falls as in
succession they come into sight From
Danger Point you walk a short distance
along the gorge toward the whirlpool I'M
I'll the railroad bridge across the gorge is
hotel
For the excursion to the eastern end OF
the canyon, Knife Edge. Palm Grove and
the canoe starting-point for Livingstone
island one crosses the railroad bridge
over the gorge, from which fine views
are obtained of the gorge. with a glimpse
or Rainbow Falls between the headlands
on either side In a few minutes one
comes to the cool and shady path which
leads through Palm Grove down the easy
grade OF a ravine. descending to the
rocky edge of Whirlpool rapids. with
Boiling Pot on one side and the whirl-
pool on the other
The bottom OF the falls canyon is at
present practically mac essible to the
visitor, and the bottom of the gorge,
though 1t can be painfully and laboriously
reached with the assistance of an ron
ladder from the western end of the raj
road bridge. and with equal difficulty
from Few other points, is almost as in
accessible, except through the Palm
provision of facilities for inspecting the
falls and canyon and gorge and whirlpool
from top and bottom and on every side
VIII De made at Victoria Falls as the
visitor now enjoys at Niagara
There will be bridges above the falls
from the river banks to LIVINGSTONE and
Cataract islands. glass-protected Iookouts
on the edge of the Rain Forest precipice.
cave or the Winds excursion from Liv-
ingstone Island under the section of the
Main Fa which shoots far out into the
chasm, and, perhaps as substitute for
the Maid of the Mist excursion, some
hinu OF trip at low water of the Fam
best from one end of the canyon to the
other in front of the falls through the
spray on cable suspension railway
Meanwhile II is matter of congratula-
ton nat nature has supplied in the Palm
''rove means of easy access to the bot
tom or the gorge at one of the most in
teresting viewpoints that could be chosen
In DESCENDING through the Palm Grove
one gets view down the gorge Of the
railroad bridge and the hotel beyond in
vista. The whirlpool itself is in a pocket
and from its edee one can see neither mn
nor down the gorge. The whirlpool rap
ias ana WhirIpool are like those of Nj
agara, but narrower The central ridge
OF water in the rapids, elevated above the
level or the water on both sides Of II
seems TO rise even higher here than at
he
here 10 permit the depth of the river 70
be measured. The waters of the mile-wide
Zambesi are packed on edge in a cleft
which here cannot exceed 100 feet in
width. How deep must this narrow cleft
be TO hold the Zambesis waters?
After inspecting the whirlpool at Palm
Grove one naturally follows the edge of
the falls canyon from its eastern end
over the narrow, slippery, dangerous Knife
Edge to the promontory on the east de
OF the gorge outlet. One OF the first i'm
proYements I'm conditions for the benefit
OF the tourist that should be made is to
provide protecting rails at this point or
al least 10 cut steps giving foothold and
10 fasten spikes in the rock which may
ne Irasped Rain Forest conditions exist
here. The soft disintegrating rock of
the Knife Edge only few feet wide at
its narrowest. is slippery with spray, and
the wind blows in unexpected and discon-
certing gusts On one side you may fall
To the bottom of the falls canyon at
nearly its deepest point; on the other
SIDE II you slipped you would go over
the precipice that descends to the Palm
Grove. Not so great a fall, but for all
practical purposes equally effective.
Thomas Baines, the artist and daring
explorer. who visited she falls next to
Livingstone. did not go out TO the prom
ontofy over the Knife Edge. He ex-
planned that the spray Lad dampened and
spoiled his sketching paper. But not
every one Is as prudent as Thomas
Baines and myself, and certainly some
provision should be made here for the
venturesome tourists greater security.
Livingstone and Livingstone Island.
The canoe trip to LIVINGSTONE Island is
made only short distance above the
falls from the eastern bank and at this
stage of water Is uneventful and unex-
citing There is so little rapidity to the
so-called rapids that the immediate prox-
unity of great fall is not in the lea st
suggested. The island itself is full of
interest, both from the viewpoints il gives
of the falls and the Rain Forest precipice
and from its associations with David Liv-