Chap. XX. THE SEASONS. 417 



I have given so lengthy an account of the seasons 

 in ' Equatorial Africa ' that I need not here enlarge 

 upon this subject. 



As I advanced into the interior the prospect be- 

 came apparent of a continuous rainy season, for the 

 books of Burton, Speke and Grant, showed me that 

 I had probably nothing other to expect. The distin- 

 guished discoverer of Lake Tanganyika says in his 

 *Lake Eegions of Central Africa,' page 287 : — " As 

 it will appear, the downfalls of rain begin earlier in 

 Central Africa than upon the Eastern Coast." 



It has been seen that I made the same observation 

 in the West. In page 286 of the same volume, this 

 accurate observer says : — " The Masika or rains com- 

 mence, throughout, in Eastern Unyamwezi, the 14th 

 of November. In the north and western provinces 

 the wet monsoon begins earlier and lasts longer. At 

 Msene it precedes Unyanyembe a month ; in Ujiji 

 two months. Thus the latter countries have rainy 

 seasons which last from the middle of September to 

 the middle of May." 



It will be seen by this, that the rainy season on 

 the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, falls at the 

 same time as in Western Equatorial Africa, although 

 the two countries are separated by about twenty de- 

 grees of longitude. 



The lamented Speke says : — " While on the 

 equator, or rather a trifle north of it, it rains more or 

 less all the year round. In the dry season it blows 

 so cold, that the heat is not distressing." 



My observations agree with those of Burton in 

 this, that although we are on the two extreme sides, 



2 E 



