THE TANGANYIKA PROBLEM. 33 



of the region of the great African lakes ; but what 

 we do not want is that this should proceed in the 

 strongly-coloured light of antecedent speculation. We must 

 consider the matter anew, and with as few pre-conceptions 

 as possible, and see whether the observations will them- 

 selves take colour and start legitimately into the shape of 

 more generalised appreciations as we go. 



It has been confirmed, especially as a result of the second 

 Tanganyika expedition, that we can, in fact must, regard 

 all Africa as constructed in relation to an elevated ridge, 

 which runs from the mountains of Abyssinia and those 

 flanking the Red Sea in the north, to the continuation of 

 these same ridges in the shape of the Drakensberg in 

 the extreme south. In some places, as for example in the 

 region of Tanganyika and the Albert Edward Nyanza, 

 the ridge may be broad, constituting the crest of the 

 interior plateaux, and resembles the Ural Mountains 

 in that it forms the gently culminating line of two long 

 slopes from the east and from the west. So again although 

 the great fold may be ten to twelve thousand feet in 

 height, like the Urals it does not appear to the eye as an 

 actual mountain chain from either side. In most places, on 

 the other hand, as between Nyassa and Tanganyika, the 

 culminating heights are narrow and rise abruptly above 

 the surrounding country in the form of bold mountain 

 chains. Everywhere along this line the axes of the chain 

 run approximately north and south, and the crests of. the 

 higher summits are as lofty as those of the Rocky 

 Mountains in the United States. Indeed, were Africa in 

 any other latitude, there would be an immense range of ice 

 and snow running from the extreme north to south ; while 

 the lonely summits of the Ruwenzori Mountains, of Kenia 

 and Kilima-Njaro, although right under the equator, are 



