The Kaieteur Falls, Essequibo

The Kaieteur Falls was seen by the first European Charles Barrington Brown on 24th April 1870 during an expedition for the Geological Survey of British Guiana. Kaieteur falls is on the Potaro river tributary of the Essequibo river. The Essequibo river is contained in a wide valley and flows in a northerly direction, and the Potaro river at a higher elevation flows from the west into the Essequibo river. Due to limited food provisions, the expedition organized a second trip in July of the same year to conduct physical measurements. This second expedition started at the Mazaruni Penal Settlement and took fifteen days to reach the Falls. During the trip they encountered five other Falls on the Potaro River that were less than 20 feet in height. The height of the Kaieteur Falls is 822 feet of which 741 feet is the vertical height of the first continuous water drop from the curved lip above, and the remaining 81 feet forming the second drop. The width of the river bed at the top of the Falls is 369 feet with a maximum river depth of 20 feet. The cavern behind the Falls is the home to flocks of swallows that leave in droves in the morning and return at nights. Kaieteur Falls is considered to be the largest single-drop waterfall by the volume of water flowing over its escarpment. The name for the Falls comes from the legend where the Amerindian Chief Kai paddled his canoe over the Falls and sacrificed his life so the Great Spirit can protect his tribe. The images and sketches show scenes of Kaieteur Falls in British Guiana.

Image 01 - Sketch of Kaieteur Falls (1873).

Image 02 - Kaieteur Falls under drought conditions (1878).

Image 03 - Front view of Kaieteur Falls (1915).

Image 04 - Kaieteur Falls from the bottom (1924)

Image 05 - Kaieteur from the bottom (1924).

Image 06 - The lip of the Falls (1924).

Image 07 - Front view of Kaieteur Falls (1924).

Image 08 - The gorge looking down from the Falls (1924).

Image 09 - The curved lip of the Falls (1944).

Sources

[Image 01] - The London Illustrated News, 1873.
[Image 02] - Unknown.
[Image 03] - Unknown.
[Image 04] - Unknown.
[Image 05] - Unknown.
[Image 06] - Unknown.
[Image 07] - Unknown.
[Image 08] - Unknown.
[Image 09] - Unknown.