登陆注册
15416900000138

第138章

The process by which a delta, extending eighty or one hundred miles from the sea, has been formed may be seen going on at the present day--the coarser particles of sand are driven out into the ocean, just in the same way as we see they are over banks in the beds of torrents.The finer portions are caught by the returning tide, and, accumulating by successive ebbs and flows, become, with the decaying vegetation, arrested by the mangrove roots.The influence of the tide in bringing back the finer particles gives the sea near the mouth of the Zambesi a clean and sandy bottom.This process has been going on for ages, and as the delta has enlarged eastwards, the river has always kept a channel for itself behind.Wherever we see an island all sand, or with only one layer of mud in it, we know it is one of recent formation, and that it may be swept away at any time by a flood; while those islands which are all of mud are the more ancient, having in fact existed ever since the time when the ebbing and flowing tides originally formed them as parts of the delta.This mud resists the action of the river wonderfully.It is a kind of clay on which the eroding power of water has little effect.Were maps made, showing which banks and which islands are liable to erosion, it would go far to settle where the annual change of the channel would take place; and, were a few stakes driven in year by year to guide the water in its course, the river might be made of considerable commercial value in the hands of any energetic European nation.No canal or railway would ever be thought of for this part of Africa.A few improvements would make the Zambesi a ready means of transit for all the trade that, with a population thinned by Portuguese slaving, will ever be developed in our day.Here there is no instance on record of the natives flocking in thousands to the colony, as they did at Natal, and even to the Arabs on Lake Nyassa.

This keeping aloof renders it unlikely that in Portuguese hands the Zambesi will ever be of any more value to the world than it has been.

After a hurried visit to Senna, in order to settle with Major Sicard and Senhor Ferrao for supplies we had drawn thence after the depopulation of the Shire, we proceeded down to the Zambesi's mouth, and were fortunate in meeting, on the 13th February, with H.M.S.

"Orestes."She was joined next day by H.M.S. "Ariel."The "Orestes"took the "Pioneer," and the "Ariel" the "Lady Nyassa" in tow, for Mosambique.On the 16th a circular storm proved the sea-going qualities of the "Lady of the Lake;" for on this day a hurricane struck the "Ariel," and drove her nearly backwards at a rate of six knots.The towing hawser wound round her screw and stopped her engines.No sooner had she recovered from this shock than she was again taken aback on the other tack, and driven stem on towards the "Lady Nyassa's" broadside.We who were on board the little vessel saw no chance of escape unless the crew of the "Ariel" should think of heaving ropes when the big ship went over us; but she glided past our bow, and we breathed freely again.We had now an opportunity of witnessing man-of-war seamanship.Captain Chapman, though his engines were disabled, did not think of abandoning us in the heavy gale, but crossed the bows of the "Lady Nyassa" again and again, dropping a cask with a line by which to give us another hawser.We might never have picked it up, had not a Krooman jumped overboard and fastened a second line to the cask; and then we drew the hawser on board, and were again in tow.During the whole time of the hurricane the little vessel behaved admirably, and never shipped a single green sea.When the "Ariel" pitched forwards we could see a large part of her bottom, and when her stern went down we could see all her deck.

A boat, hung at her stern davits, was stove in by the waves.The officers on board the "Ariel" thought that it was all over with us:we imagined that they were suffering more than we were.Nautical men may suppose that this was a serious storm only to landsmen; but the "Orestes," which was once in sight, and at another time forty miles off during the same gale, split eighteen sails; and the "Pioneer" had to be lightened of parts of a sugar-mill she was carrying; her round-

house was washed away, and the cabin was frequently knee-deep in water.When the "Orestes" came into Mosambique harbour nine days after our arrival there, our vessel, not being anchored close to the "Ariel," for we had run in under the lee of the fort, led to the surmise on board the "Orestes" that we had gone to the bottom.

Captain Chapman and his officers pronounced the "Lady Nyassa" to be the finest little sea-boat they had ever seen.She certainly was a contrast to the "Ma-Robert," and did great credit to her builders, Ted and Macgregor of Glasgow.We can but regret that she was not employed on the Lake after which she was named, and for which she was intended and was so well adapted.

What struck us most, during the trip from the Zambesi to Mosambique, was the admirable way in which Captain Chapman handled the "Ariel" in the heavy sea of the hurricane; the promptitude and skill with which, when we had broken three hawsers, others were passed to us by the rapid evolutions of a big ship round a little one; and the ready appliance of means shown in cutting the hawser off the screw nine feet under water with long chisels made for the occasion; a task which it took three days to accomplish.Captain Chapman very kindly invited us on board the "Ariel," and we accepted his hospitality after the weather had moderated.

同类推荐
  • 温公日记

    温公日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 玄都律文

    玄都律文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 竹书纪年

    竹书纪年

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Misc Writings and Speeches

    Misc Writings and Speeches

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 松窗梦语

    松窗梦语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 员工感恩教育

    员工感恩教育

    职工素质教育是指对企业职工从事职业所必需的知识、技能和职业道德等方面进行教育培训,因此也称为职业技术教育或实业教育。其目的是培养现代企业所必需的学习型、知识型和技能型的员工,因此非常侧重于实践技能和实际工作能力的培养。
  • 零域时空

    零域时空

    蓝星,一个美丽古老的星球,诞生了许多文明,在外域飞来的两个光点时,她将又开启了怎样的文明?奥普坦星域大联盟,‘神’,白色物质,这些蓝星人类无法探知的一切,又会给蓝星人类带来怎样的未来?三大帝国,三大军团,两大宗教,两位神秘人,一个新大陆,接着又诞生了些什么?小飞是谁?是一个异类还是一个传奇?他用他的方式证明了自己,他创造了一个历史。零域时空,神奇世界!
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 美女总裁的贴身男秘书

    美女总裁的贴身男秘书

    公司美女总裁是自己的未婚妻,普通员工方超被岳父提拔为总裁的贴身秘书。不需要工作,只要征服自己的未婚妻即可。一个想追,一个想躲。未婚妻为了解除婚约,让方超犯下作风问题。不惜找来美女闺蜜施展美人计,从此三人开始了打情骂俏的同居生活。
  • 林逋

    林逋

    南宋王朝迁往临安之后,有盗墓贼盗了一代名隐林逋的坟茔,却发现棺椁之中并无遗体,只有一只簪子与一台墨砚。这位梅妻鹤子,一生未仕,死后却被北宋王朝赐谥“和靖先生”的才子背后又藏隐着多少儿女痴情呢?
  • 花都小特工

    花都小特工

    国安局暗组特工鬼狐,有着色鬼之称的他,身陨之后附身在了一个胆小如鼠的高中生秦守身上,秦守的生活轨迹就此改变。大胆泼辣的小太妹,文静大方的美女班长,彪悍暴力的魔鬼校花,冰清玉洁的班主任,可爱乖巧的妹妹……环绕着的秦守各色美女,莫名其妙遭遇各种危机,秦守细心调查才发现,一个巨大的阴谋,一直在围绕着他。
  • 无根之子

    无根之子

    这大概是一个很痛苦的故事,我想。故事的女主人公就叫顾郎,从某种角度来看,这是一个十分引人注目的名字。俗语说,人如其名,这个女的和她的名字一样,大气,耀眼!故事中,由主人公的身世引发出一系列爱恨情仇,世家权谋,血腥争斗,饮恨抉择……
  • 骨游

    骨游

    我将用第一人称叙述的模式去讲述一个在唯心宇宙中探索冒险的故事。想将生活中的感受和一些所见所想融合到故事里再构建在宇宙中。主人公的种族因从进化过程中产生的另一个强大分支吞噬树的帮助而成为星球霸主,又因为吞噬树的过分吞噬导致的生物灭绝而濒临灭亡,他在一种被人为保护的混沌无知的状态下被烦耳(神族)的攻击飞船接走,由此得以接触一些宇宙中的故事和内容。
  • 英雄联盟之符石

    英雄联盟之符石

    符文之地有数块大陆,不过所有的生命都集中在最大魔法大陆——瓦洛兰。瓦洛兰大陆居于符文之地的中心,是符文之地面积最大的大陆。
  • 全职巨龙

    全职巨龙

    会打铁的巨龙见过吗?会炼药的巨龙见过吗?会打猎的巨龙见过吗?会钓鱼的巨龙见过吗?会缝针的巨龙见过吗?会带孩子的巨龙见过吗?尼玛,谁会带孩子啊!