Yelala Rapids
| Yellala Falls | |
|---|---|
The Yellala Falls from the left bank, c. 1880
|
|
 |
|
| Coordinates | 5°43′32″S 13°32′39″E / 5.725653°S 13.544083°ECoordinates: 5°43′32″S 13°32′39″E / 5.725653°S 13.544083°E |
| Watercourse | Congo River |
The Yellala Falls (Rapides de Yelala or Chutes Yelala; also spelled as Ielala) are a series of waterfalls and rapids on the Congo River just upstream from Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The falls are the lowest of a long series of rapids that render the river unnavigable, forcing colonial explorers to travel by foot as far as the Stanley Pool 350 kilometres (220 mi) upstream. The Congo is the third largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, and the deepest in the world. The section of river that ends with the Yellala falls has over 300 species of fish, many found nowhere else.
The region drained by the Congo River covers one eighth of Africa, including both tropical rain forest and savanna, much of it in a huge, shallow basin. The present system of rivers seems to date from around five million years ago, not long ago on a geological time scale. At that time the Atlantic continental margin was lifted up and formed a barrier between the basin and the sea. A large lake formed before the Congo River broke through this barrier, running through a narrow, rocky channel about 350 kilometres (220 mi) long from Kinshasa to Matadi. The river is navigable both above and below this stretch, called the lower Congo.
The upper portion of the Lower Congo starts with the steep Livingstone Falls just below Kinshasa and continues for 133 kilometres (83 mi) through a number of smaller rapids. The central portion of about 129 kilometres (80 mi) is navigable, at times lake-like and at times narrow and as deep as 200 metres (660 ft). The lower portion of about 88 kilometres (55 mi) is the steepest, with huge rapids at the Inga Falls and again at the Yellala falls, after which the river is navigable to the ocean. About 1,250,000 cubic feet (35,000 m3) of water flows over the falls each second.
The Yellala Falls were reached by Europeans as early as 1485, when the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão took a group of men as far as the falls before they were forced to turn back by disease, probably malaria. In that place he set a padrão, a large stone cross-shaped marker, customary during the Portuguese Age of Discovery. The stone, which was not rediscovered until 1911, bears the words: "Aqui chegaram os navios do esclarecido rei D.João II de Portugal - Diogo Cão, Pero Anes, Pero da Costa." ("Here arrived the ships of illustrious John II, King of Portugal – Diogo Cão, Pero Anes, Pero da Costa".)
...
Wikipedia