2 'J I) STANLEY AND THE MAP OF AFRICA. 



under water at quite a receut period. But soon the country begins to 

 rise, aud round the base of a great mountain boss the river Semliki 

 winds its way through its valley, receiving through the picturesque 

 glens many streams of water from the snows tliat clothe the moun- 

 tain tops. Here we have a splendid country, unfortunately harassed 

 by the raids of the Wanyoro, in dread of whom the simple natives oi" 

 the mountain side often creei) up to uear the limit of snow. Uj) the 

 mountain, which Lieutenant Stairs ascended for over 10,000 feet, 

 blackberries, bilberries, violets, heaths, lichens, aud trees that might 

 have reminded him of England flourish abundantly. Here evidently we 

 have a region tliat miglit w^ell harbor a European population. The 

 mountain itself, Ruwenzori, a great boss with numerous s[)urs, is (juite 

 evidently an extinct volcano, rising to something like 19,000 feet, and 

 reminding one of Kilimanjaro, farther to the east. It is not yet clear 

 whether it is the same mountain as the Gordon Bennett seen by Stan- 

 ley in his former expedition, though the probability is that, if distinct, 

 they belong to the same group or mass. Apart from tlie mountain the 

 country gradually ascends as the Semliki is traced uj) to its origin in 

 Lake Albert Edward. Mr. Stanley found that, after all, the southern 

 Nyanza belongs to the great Nile system, giving origin to the farthest 

 southwest source of Egypt's wonderful river, which we know receives a 

 tribute from the snows of the equator. 



The southern lake itself is of comparatively small dimensions, i)rob- 

 al)ly not more than 45 miles long, and is 900 feet above the northein 

 Lake Albert. Mr. Stanley only skirted its west, north, and east shores, 

 so that probably he has not been able to obtain complete data as to 

 size and shape. But he has solved one of the few remaining great 

 problems in African geography. The two lakes lie in a trough, the 

 sides of which rise steeply in places 3,000 feet, to the great plateaus 

 that extend away east and west. This trough, from the north end of 

 Lake Albert to the south end of Lake Albert Edward, is some I'OO 

 statute miles in length. About 100 miles of this is occupied by the 

 former lake, 4.") by the latter, and the rest by the country between, 

 where the trough, if we may indulge in an Irishism, becomes i)artly a 

 plain, and partly a great mountain mass. But this trough, or fissure, 

 a glance at a good map will show, is continued more or less south and 

 southeast in Lakes Tanganyika and Xayassa, which are essentially of 

 tiie same character as Lakes Albert and Albert Edward, and totally 

 (lillcrent from such lakes as Victoria Xyanza and Bangweolo. Here 

 we have a feature of the greatest geograi)hical interest, which still has 

 to be worked out as to its origin. 



There is little more to say as to th'e geographical results of the Emin 

 Tasha relief expedition. Ther«^ are many minute details of great 

 interest, which the reader may see for himself in IMr. Stanley's letters, 

 or in his forthcoming detaile<l narrative. In his own characteristic way 

 b^ tells of the tribes and peoples around the lakes, and between the 



