The mightiest cataract in the world

Media

Part of The Young Citizen: The Magazine for Young People

Title
The mightiest cataract in the world
Language
English
Year
1941
Subject
Africa -- Description and travel
Rhodesia -- Description and travel
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Abstract
[This article features the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River in Rhodesia, British Africa.]
Fulltext
THE YOUNG CITiZEN Ann.,.1941 ELEMEN-I'ARY SCIENCE SECTION THE MIGHTIEST CATARACT IN THE WORLD Victoria 'Falls on Jiu Zambtzi River in Rhodesia, British Africa THIS mightiest of all waterfalls in the world is situated in Rhodesia, British Africa, at a point where the Zambezi river passes from the central African plateau to lower levels. Its roar is like c~ntinuous thunder, and the vapor from the falling water rises in a column that can be seen for miles. The native African name (M usi-oa-tunya) for the falls means "thundering smoke." Dr. Livingstone was the first Europeiln 'to·view this falls. He discovered it in 1855. We can imagine the sensation of awe and exultation with which he gazed. upon this mighty. spectacle. The height of Victoria Falls is more than twice that of Niagara Falls in North America, which has been described in ._previous issues of THE YOUNG CITIZEN. It is divided by islands into four separate cataracts, of which the middle two, Main Fall and Rainbow Fall, are the widest. Their brea<!th together is slightly greater than that of the Horseshoe Fall and American Fall of Niagara. (See the February, 1939, and the September, 1939, issue of THE YOUNG CITIZEN.) The total breadth at the edge is considerably over a mile. The river pows perpendicularly into a deep chasm or crack in. the earth, set squarely across the current, from which it issues roaring and boiling, the whole volume pent up and confined in a narrow gorge leading to a Z-shaped canyon. The railway, which enables visitors to reach the spot, crosses the canyon so close that passengers are wet with the spray. The greatest spectacle of the kind in the world is this falls of the Zambezi river named Victoria Falls in .honor of Queen Victoria of Engla~d.
pages
142