"Do you see that low, white cloud to the right?" asked a passenger. "That's the spray from Victoria Falls. We have several miles yet to go before we reach the bridge," he added.
We had traveled 1,200 miles from Johannesburg to this place, the journey taking three days. Recklessness, rather than good judgment, marked my course, for railroad fare from and back to Johannesburg tapped my purse for $100. Expenses on the train had increased also, as the cheapest meal from Mafeking north was 60 cents, and the next cheapest 75 cents. But to one whose mind inclines to seeing the acme of nature's handicraft, promptings of this character outweigh financial considerations. Hotel accommodation at Victoria Falls was correspondingly high—$5 a day. One has no choice, as there is but a single hotel there, which is the property of the railroad company. Aside from the hotel, a photographer's studio and a few houses comprise all there is in the way of buildings in Victoria Falls.
Some of the Boers who took part in the Great Trek from Capetown north in 1835-38 did not stop long in what later became the Transvaal, but kept trekking, until they reached the Zambezi River. Most of these voortrekkers, however, were massacred by Matabeles. This occurred from ten to fifteen years earlier than Livingstone's visit. But it fell to David Livingstone to make known to the world the greatest of waterfalls, on which he first set eyes in November, 1855.
For a distance of seven miles above the falls the river is dotted with evergreen islands. Through this archipelago the waters of the Zambezi slowly run, giving no intimation of what is taking place several miles below. On these islands hippopotami feed when inclination prompts, and crocodiles sun themselves and sleep when they choose land to water rest.
Two islands—Livingstone and Cataract—are located at the edge of the precipice, which accounts for Victoria Falls being of three parts, namely: Rainbow, Main and Cataract Falls. The distance from one side of the river to the other here is over a mile—5,808 feet, to be correct. The water, unlike that of Niagara, is of a dark, sallow color, but not muddy, and the falls are straight, instead of horseshoe shape.
Stealthily the water moves over the wide ledge of rock, when its dull, lifeless color in the archipelago now assumes a much brighter shade. Save for two dark panels of unwatered space, made by two green islands just above, there unfolds before the visitor's eye what seems a mile-wide mantle of amber-colored, gauze-like lace. Myriads of water crystals dart from the broad flow's filmy web and, jewel-like, embellish the absorbing water spread for a depth of 380 feet. Also rainbows revel in still further enhancing this crowning masterpiece of art—these, in beautifying, sharing a radiant part—the bars of iris, of lustrous, engrossing hues, burnishing the peerless tri-falls' breast, as the veil-like flow descends in brilliant, multi-colored, wavy folds from its smooth, extended crest to the roaring, misty maw below. Clouds of spray, which may be seen 15 miles away, rise to a height of 2,000 feet from the boiling abyss, and the thunderous roar made by the impact of the waters is heard 12 miles beyond.
A parallel wall rises in front of the precipice over which the water flows. A space varying from 80 to 240 feet separates the two. Into this narrow chasm 5,000,000 gallons of water a minute dash from a height of 380 feet, and one may imagine what pandemonium is taking place all the time in the great vault. For three-quarters of a mile the second, or parallel, wall, runs westward, unbroken. Then there is a break of something like 200 feet in width, that looks as if it had been gnarled out not only by water, but that even some other powerful agency had taken part in making this cleavage. The wall rises again to its full height and maintains a solid, unbroken front for a quarter of a mile further to Cataract Falls, at the west bank of the river. The water from Rainbow Falls, at the east bank, and from Main Falls, in the center of the river, runs westward to the 200-foot gap in the parallel wall, and the water from Cataract Falls runs eastward and, boiling and foaming, intermixes with the other waters and flows through the same opening. One may form an idea of the great depth of water at the narrow outlet when it is borne in mind that this vast quantity, falling over a ledge of rock a mile wide, finds its way out of the huge rock tank through that narrow channel.
