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KASAI, or CASSAI
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See also:KASAI, or CASSAI , a See also:river of See also:Africa, the See also:chief See also:southern affluent of the See also:Congo. It enters the See also:main stream in 3° 1o' S., 16° 16' E. after a course of over 800 m. from its source in the See also:highlands which See also:form the See also:south-western edge of the Congo See also:basin—separating the Congo and See also:Zambezi systems. The Kasai and its many tributaries See also:cover a very large See also:part of the Congo basin. The Kasai rises in about 12° S., 19° E. and flows first in a See also:north-easterly direction. About 1o° 35' S., 22° 15' E. it makes a rectangular See also:bend northward and then takes a north-See also:westerly direction. Five See also:rivers—the Luembo, Chiumbo, Luijimo or Luashimo, Chikapa and Lovua or Lowo—rise See also:west of the Kasai and run in parallel courses for a considerable distance, falling successively into the See also:parent stream (between 7° and 6° S.) as it bends westward in its See also:northern course. The Luembo and Chiumbo join and enter the Kasai as one river. A number of rapids occur in these streams. A few See also:miles below the confluence of the Lowo, the last of the five rivers named to join the Kasai, the main stream is interrupted by the Wissmann Falls which, though not very high, See also:bar further See also:navigation from the north. Below this point the river receives several right-See also:hand (eastern) tributaries. These also have their source in the Zambezi-Congo See also:watershed, rising just north of 12° S., flowing north in parallel lines, and in their See also:lower course bending west to join the Kasai. The chief of these affluents are the Lulua and the Sankuru, the Lulua See also:running between the Kasai and the Sankuru. The Sankuru makes a bold See also:curve westward on reaching 4° S., following that parallel of See also:latitude a considerable distance. Its See also:waters are of a See also:bright yellow See also:colour. After the junction of the two rivers (in 40 17' S., 20° 15' E.), the See also:united stream of the Kasai flows N.W. to the Congo. From the south it is joined by the Loange and the Kwango. The Kwango is a large river rising a little north of 12° S., and west of the source of the Kasai. Without any marked bends it flows north—is joined from the See also:east by the Juma, Wamba and other streams—and has a course of 600 m. before joining the Kasai in 3° S., 18' E. The lower reaches of the Kwango are navigable; the upper course is interrupted by rapids. On the north (in 3° 8' S., 17° E.) the lower Kasai is joined by the Lukenye or Ikatta. This river, the most northerly affluent of the Kasai, rises between 24° and 25° E., and about 3° S. in swampy See also:land through which the Lomami (another Congo affluent) flows northward. The Lukenye has an east to west direction flowing across a level See also:country once occupied by a See also:lake, of which Lake See also:Leopold II. (q.v.), connected with the lower course of the Lukenye, is the scanty remnant. Below the lake the Lukenye is known as the Mfini. Near its mouth the Kasai, in its lower course generally a broad stream strewn with islands, is narrowed to about See also:half a mile on passing through a See also:gap in the inner See also:line of the West See also:African highlands, by the cutting of which the old lake of the Kasai basin must have been drained. The Kasai enters the Congo with a minimum See also:depth of 25 feet and a breadth of about 700 yards, at a height of 942 ft. above the See also:sea. The confluence is known as the Kwa mouth, Kwa being an alternative name for the lower Kasai. The See also:volume of See also:water entering the Congo averages 321,000 cub. ft. per second: far the largest amount discharged by any of the Congo affluents. In floodtime the current flows at the See also:rate of 5 or 6 m. an See also:hour. The Kasai and its tributaries are navigable for over 1500 M. by steamer. The Kwango affluent of the Kasai was the first of the large affluents of the Congo known to Europeans. It was reached by the Portuguese from their settlements on the west See also:coast in the 16th See also:century. Of its lower course they were ignorant. Portuguese travellers in the 18th century are believed to have reached the upper Kasai, but the first accurate knowledge of the river basin was obtained by See also:David See also:Livingstone, who reached the upper Kasai from the east and explored in part the upper Kwango (1854-1855). V. L. See also:Cameron and See also:Paul Pogge crossed the upper Kasai in the See also:early " seventies." The Kwa mouth was seen by H. M. See also:Stanley in his See also:journey down the Congo in 1877, and he rightly regarded it as the outlet of the Kwango, though not surmising it was also the outlet of the Kasai. In 1882 Stanley ascended the river to the Kwango-Kasai confluence and thence proceeding up the Mfini discovered Lake Leopold II. In 1884 See also:George Grenfell journeyed up the river beyond the Kwango confluence. The systematic exploration of the main stream and its chief tributaries was, however, mainly the See also:work of See also:Hermann von Wissmann, See also:Ludwig See also:Wolf, Paul Pogge and other Germans during 188o-1887. (See Wissmann's books, especially lm Innern Afrikas, See also:Leipzig, 1888.) On his third journey, 1886, Wissmann was accompanied by Grenfell. See also:Major von Mechow, an See also:Austrian, explored the See also:middle Kwango in 1880, and its lower course was subsequently surveyed by Grenfell and See also:Holman See also:Bentley, a Baptist missionary. In 1899–1900 a Belgian expedition under See also:Captain C. Lemaire traced the Congo-Zambezi watershed, obtaining valuable See also:information concerning the upper courses of the southern Kasai tributaries. The upper Kasai basin and its peoples were further investigated by a Hungarian traveller, E. Torday, in 1908–1909. (See Torday's See also:paper in Geog. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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