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Africa. The falls are about midway in the course of the Zambezi in 17° 51' S., 25° 41' E. For a considerable distance above the falls the river flows over a level See also:

SHEET

sheet of See also:

BASALT

basalt, its valley bounded by See also:

low and distant See also:

SANDSTONE

sandstone hills. Its clear See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters are dotted with numerous See also:

tree-clad islands. These islands increase in number as the river, without quickening its current, approaches the falls, whose nearness is indicated only by a See also:

VEIL (O.Fr. veile, mod. voile, from Lat. velum, cloth, awning, sail)

veil of spray. At the spot where the Zambezi is at its widest—over 186o yds.—it falls abruptly over the edge of an almost See also:

VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical chasm with a roar as of continuous See also:

THUNDER

thunder, Vv- See also:

pau ~ See also:

ain. Roil; sending up vast columns of vapour. Hence the native name Musi-oa-tunya, " See also:

SMOKE (from O. Eng. smeocan, to smoke, reek, cf. Dutch meek, Ger. Schmauch, probably allied to Gr. vol9caiv)

Smoke does See also:

sound there." The chasm ex-tends the whole breadth of the river and is more than twice the See also:

DEPTH

depth of See also:

Niagara, varying from 256 ft. at the right See also:

BANK

bank to 343 ft. in the centre. Unlike Niagara the See also:

WATER

water does not fall into an open See also:

basin but is arrested at a distance of from 8o to 240 ft. by the opposite See also:

wall of the chasm. Both walls are of the same height, so that the falls appear to be formed by a huge crack in the See also:

bed of the river. The only outlet is a narrow channel cut in the barrier wall at a point about three-fifths from the western end of the chasm, and through this See also:

GORGE

gorge, not more than Too ft. wide, the whole See also:

VOLUME

volume of the river pours for 130 yds. before emerging into an enormous zigzag trough (the See also:

GRAND

Grand See also:

CANON

Canon) which conducts the river past the basalt See also:

plateau. The tremendous pressure to which the water is subjected in the confinement of the chasm causes the perpetual columns of mist which rise over the precipice.

The fall is broken by islands on the See also:

LIP (a word common in various forms, to Teutonic languages, cf Ger. Lippe, Dan. laebe; Lat. labium is cognate)

lip of the precipice into four parts. See also:

Close to the right bank is a sloping See also:

CATARACT (from the Lat. form cataracta of the Gr. Karapplucrgss, a floodgate, or waterfall, properly something which rushes down)

cataract 36 yds. wide, called the Leaping Water, then beyond Boaruka See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island, about 300 yds. wide, is the See also:

Main Fall, 473 yds. broad, and divided by See also:

LIVINGSTONE, DAVID (1813-1873)

Livingstone Island from the See also:

RAINBOW

Rainbow Fall 535 yds. wide. At both these falls the See also:

rock is See also:

sharp cut and the river maintains its level to the edge of the precipice. At the See also:

LEFT

left bank of the river is the Eastern Cataract, a millrace resembling the Leaping Water. From opposite the western end of the falls to Danger Point, which overlooks the entrance of the gorge, the escarpment of the chasm is covered with See also:

GREAT

great trees known as the See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

Rain See also:

FOREST

Forest; looking across the gorge the eastern See also:

PART

part of the wall (the See also:

KNIFE (0. E. cuff, a word appearing in different forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. knijf, Ger. Kneif, a shoe-maker's knife, Swed. knif; the ultimate origin is unknown; Skeat finds the origin in the root of " nip," formerly " knip "; Fr. canif is a

Knife Edge) is less densely wooded. At the end of the gorge the river has hollowed out a deep See also:

POOL

pool, named the Boiling Pot. It is some 500 ft. ' across; its See also:

SURFACE

surface, smooth at low water, is at See also:

flood-See also:

time troubled by slow, enormous swirls and heavy boilings. Thence the channel turns sharply westward, beginning the great zigzag mentioned. This grand and gloomy canon is over 40 M. See also:

long. Its almost perpendicular walls are over 400 ft. high, the level of the escarpment being that of the lip of the falls. A little below the Boiling Pot, and almost at right angles to the falls, the canon is spanned by a See also:

BRIDGE

bridge (completed in See also:

APRIL

April 1905) which forms a See also:

LINK

link in the Cape to See also:

Cairo railway See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme.

This bridge, 65o ft. long, with a main See also:

arch of 500 ft. span, is slightly below the See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of the gorge. The height from low-water level to the rails is 420 ft. The volume of water See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne over the falls varies greatly, the level of the river in the canon sinking as much as 6o ft. between the full flood of April and the end of the dry See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season in See also:

OCTOBER

October. When the river is high the water rolls over the main falls in one great unbroken expanse; at low water (when alone it is possible to look into the See also:

grey depths of the great chasm) the falls are broken by crevices in the rock into numerous cascades. The falls are in the territory of See also:

RHODESIA (so named after Cecil Rhodes)

Rhodesia. They were discovered by See also:

David Livingstone on the 17th of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1855, and by him named after See also:

Queen Victoria of See also:

England. Living-See also:

stone approached them from above and gained his first view of the falls from the island on its lip now named after him. In 186o Livingstone, with Dr (afterwards See also:

Sir See also:

John) See also:

KIRK, SIR JOHN (1832- )

Kirk, made a careful investigation of the falls, but until the opening of the railway from See also:

BULAWAYO

Bulawayo (1905) they were rarely visited. The See also:

LAND

land in the vicinity of the falls is preserved by the Rhodesian See also:

government as a public See also:

park. See Livingstone's Missionary Travels and Researches• in See also:

South Africa (See also:

LONDON

London, 1857) for the See also:

story of the See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery of the falls, and the Popular See also:

Account of Dr Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries 1858–1864 (London, 1894) for a See also:

fuller description of the falls and .a theory as to their origin. How I crossed Africa, by See also:

Major Serpa See also:

Pinto (See also:

ENGLISH

English trans., London, 1881), contains a graphic account of the visit paid to the falls by the Portuguese explorer. In the See also:

GEOGRAPHICAL

Geographical See also:

Journal for See also:

JANUARY

January 1905 is an See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article by A.

J. C. MVlolyneux on " The See also:

PHYSICAL

Physical See also:

HISTORY

History of the Victoria Falls." The article is illustrated by excellent photo-graphs and gives a bibliography. Consult also " The Gorge and Basin of the Zambesi below the Victoria Falls," by G. W. Lamplugh in the Geog. Jour. (1908), vol. xxxi. (F. R.

End of Article: VICTORIA FALLS

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