gaboon's

Updated: May 10, 2025

The oarsmen became sulky because they were not allowed to make sail, which, in case of a sudden squall, could not have been taken in under half an hour. Patience! Little can be done, on the first day, with these demi-semi-Europeanized Africans, except to succeed in the inevitable trial of strength. The purple sky-ground backing the Gaboon's upper course admirably set off all its features.

Sir Richard Francis Burton - Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1

As we pass through the slightly overhung mouth, we can hardly complain with a late traveller of the Gaboon's "sluggish waters;" during the ebb they run like a mild mill-race, and when the current, setting to the north-west, meets a strong sea-breeze from the west, there is a criss-cross, a tide-rip, contemptible enough to a cruizer, but quite capable of filling cock-boats.

Sir Richard Francis Burton - Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1