434 THROUGH AFRICA FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO, 



arrived at Usambara more dead than alive. However, Lieutenant xon 

 Gravert obtained eattle for us and a team of l)ovs to cany me in a 

 machila to the hiji'hlands of Kivu. 



The Rusi.si. vvhieh flows out of Kivu, empties its water into Tangan- 

 yika through live mouths, four of which are close together, whih^ the 

 fifth is close to the northwest corner. The inclosed deltas are very 

 swampy and ])artly covered by tropical forest, and are said to b(^ the 

 feeding grounds of luunerous elephants, a hirge ])roportion of which 

 are reported as tu'skless. The northern end of Tanganyika is ver}" 

 shallow: we saw hi]ipopotami walking on the bottom at a distance of 

 at least '2. miU's from the shore. The lower end of the Rusisi Valley 

 foi' a distance of 2t> miles has risen quite recentl}', geologically speak- 

 ing, deposits of shells in a semifossilized state being visible on all 

 sides. The valley rises v«'rv gradually till 20 miles south of Kivu, 

 when the increase in altitude is very altrupt; though this might be 

 maneux cred. for railway purposes, by making use of the winding valley 

 to the east. The Kusisi itself has cut a channel through the hills on 

 the west in a succession of rapids and cascades. Ther(> are signs of 

 the above-mentioned eastern valley having been the old bed of the 

 river. Inunense wtdls of mountains shut the valley in on either sid(\ 

 walls that contimie practically unbroken to the outflow of the Nile 

 from the Albert Lake. The Germans have cleverly availed themselves 

 of the opportunity afl'orded by the five years' chaos on the Belgian 

 frontier. Thev have pushed three posts forward, two on the ri\er 

 itself and the third on the south point of Lake Kivu. The latter is 

 at least 40 miles over the treaty boundary. With the thoroughness 

 charactenstic of Geriuan undertakings they ha\'e dispatched Dr. Kandt 

 to investigate the possibilities of the country. 



The tail of Kivu is a network of islands Avhich culminate toward 

 the north in the large island of Kwijwi. The coast line must be some- 

 thing enormous, rivaling, I imagine, the eoast line of any other water 

 in the world of the same extent. On the east coast two long arms run 

 for several miles inland, and thousands of winding loehs radiate in 

 every direction, dotted with islets and broken up into countless little 

 baj'S and creeks. The lake is ver}^ deep and contains neither crocodiles 

 nor hippopotami. This also applies to all the small lakes and rivers in 

 this neighborhood: ])ut there are enormous numbers of large otters, 

 and the typical bird is the demoiselle crane. Numerous fish resembling 

 a carp are caught and cured by the natives; but there appeared to l)e 

 no large fish such as are found in Tanganyika. The whole surrounding 

 country is packed with small hills, which appear to have been sprinkled 

 on w4th a pepper pot till not a single one more could find room. 

 The majorit}' of them are not connected with ridges of any sort, con- 

 sequently it is necessar\^ to perpetualh' ascend and descend; and the 

 valleys, which are ver}' narrow, are often filled with papyrus swamps. 



