AFRICA. The great plateau lakes are typical of the continent. The Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza, feeding the White Nile; Tanganyika, whose outlet is unknown; Tzana, at the head of the Blue Nile; and Lake Nyassa, in the Zambezi basin, all rest on the high plateaus of Central Africa. Lake Tchad alone, among large African lakes, is surrounded by low plains.
WATERFALLS AND RAPIDS. The variations in the slope of a river-bed, arising from unequal erosion, or from the original irregularities in the surface, give rise to rapids and falls.
The first occur where an increased slope causes the stream to flow with more than its average velocity. The second are caused by nearly perpendicular rocky walls, down which the foaming water descends in picturesque cascades, or imposing cataracts.
The famous “Cataracts of the Nile” are merely rapids which impede but do not entirely obstruct, the navigation as cataracts must. The so-called Falls of St. Anthony, in the upper Mississippi, and the rapids of the St. Lawrence, above Montreal, are among the finest rapids in American rivers.
The highest falls are in the upper course of rivers, in mountainous regions; the greatest and most imposing, in their middle course.
The Niagara Falls exhibit a most important industrial utilization of water power. The Falls of St. Anthony in the Mississippi, the Falls of Foyers in Scotland, the Rhine falls, the Rhone falls of Bellegarde, and the innumerable waterfalls of Scandinavia, Switzerland, and similar mountainous lands, are all utilized in this way. It has been proposed to convey power generated at the Victoria falls of the Zambezi to the Rand goldfield of the Transvaal, and a scheme for this is now being prepared.
NAME LOCATION HEIGHT (FEET) =Bridal Veil= California 900 =Foyers= Great Britain 205 =Gastein Falls= Austria 469 =Gavarnie= Pyrenees 1,400 =Genesee= New York 95 =Grand Falls= Labrador 2,000 =Great Falls= Montana 500 =Hay River= Alaska 200 =Kaieteur Falls= Guiana 740 =Krimmler Falls= Austria 1,300 =Kukenam Fall= Guiana 1,500 =Maanelvan= Norway 940 =Minnehaha= Minnesota 50 =Missouri= Montana 90 =Montmorenci= Quebec 265 =Multnomah= Oregon 850 =Murchison= Africa 120 =Nevada Falls= California 600 =Niagara= New York 165 =Oroco Falls= Monte Rosa 2,400 =Rjukanfos= Norway 804 =Roraima Fall= Guiana 2,000 =Rukaufos= Norway 513 =St. Anthony= Minnesota 80 =Schaffhausen= Switzerland 100 =Seven Falls= Colorado 266 =Shoshone= Idaho 210 =Skykjefos= Norway 700 =Snoqualmie= Washington 268 =Staubbach= Switzerland 1,000 =Stirling= New Zealand 500 =Sutherland= New Zealand 1,904 =Takkakaw= British Columbia 1,200 =Tequendama= Colombia 475 =Tessa Falls= Austria 541 =Twin= Idaho 180 =Velino Falls= Italy 591 =Vermafos= Norway 984 =Vettisfos= Norway 950 =Victoria Falls= Zambezi 400 =Voringsfos= Norway 600 =Yellowstone (upper)= Montana 110 =Yellowstone (lower)= Montana 310 =Yguazu or Iguazu= Brazil 210 =Yosemite (upper)= California 1,436 =Yosemite (middle)= California 626 =Yosemite (lower)= California 400