266 THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. [Dec. 3o, ,876,
L Luru. J
with great hollow eyes peered, from under the
vizor of his cap, on the well-fed bronze-skinned
aborigines.
After selling us ten gigantic plantains, 13 inches
long and 3 inches in diameter, they in.
formed us that we had halted on the shore of
Luru, or Lulu, in the uninhabited portion of the
territory of Wanpuma, a tribe which lived inland;
that the Lowwa came from the east, and
was formed of two rivers, called the Lulu from
the north-east, and the Lowwa from the southeast;
that about a day’s journey up the Lowwa
river was a great cataract, which was “ very
loud.”
The Livingstone, from the base of Iryamba
bluffs on the left bank to our camp on the right
bank, a mile below the confluence, was about
two thousand yards in width. By dead reckoning
we ascertained the latitude to be south i°
28', or 24 miles north of the Urindi affluent of
the Livingstone, 95 miles north of the Lira, and
199 geographical miles north of the mouth of
the Luama affluent.
The relative rank of these four great tributaries
may be estimated by their width, at or
near the confluence. The Luama was 400 yards
wide; the Lira 300 yards, but deep; the Urindi,
500 yards; the Lowwa, 1000 yards. The parallel
of latitude in which the Lowwa mouth is
situated is fifty miles north of the extreme north
rDec. 30. l876-l t h e TRIBUTARIES OF THE LUALABA. 267
L u ru . J
end of Lake Tanganika. From all I could gather
by a comparison of names and the relative authenticity
of my informants, I am inclined to believe
that the sources of this last great river
may be placed near the south-west corner of
Lake Muta-Nzige; also, that the Urindi’s head-
streams must approach the sources of the Luanda,
which joins the Rusizi, and flows into
Lake Tanganika, and that the Lira must drain
the country west of Uvira.
The length of the Urindi river, which empties
into the Livingstone only fifteen miles south
of the Lowwa, may be estimated by a glance
at the course of the Luama, which I followed
from its source to its confluence with theLualaba.
In the same manner, the Lira’s course and length
may be judged.
The growing importance and volume of the
tributaries as we proceed north also proves a
northern prolongation of the mountain - chain,
which shuts in Tanganika on the west, and
probably a slight deflection to the eastward. It
will be observed also that while the Luama, the
Lulindi, the Kunda, the Kariba, the Rumuna,
the Kipembwe, the Lira, Urindi, and Lowwa
rivers all issue from the country east, within a
length of about two hundred miles of the Livingstone,
we have only discovered two comparatively
small rivers, the Ruiki and the Kasuku, issuing
from the west side during the same course.