316 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS. (AFRICA.) 



never to fall below 18,000 cubic feet a second, 

 while the discharge at Assuan, in spite of the 

 additions of surface and subsoil waters from the 

 Gazelle, the Sobat, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara, 

 has within the past twenty-five years twice fallen 

 as low as 7,000 cubic feet a second. After pass- 

 ing Lado the White Nile splits up into numerous 

 branches, which lose themselves in the swamps. 

 The swamps vanquish the Nile. 



The work of building a great Nile reservoir 

 above Assuan, to which the consent of the Khe- 

 dive was obtained in 1898, was begun Feb. 12, 

 1899, when the corner stone was laid. It will be 

 more than a mile long and 80 feet wide at the 

 base, and the top will be 90 feet above low-water 

 mark. It will be pierced with 180 sluices for the 

 regulation of the waters, and will raise the level 

 of the river for 140 miles above the first cataract. 

 The reservoir will be done, it is estimated, in 

 two years, but subsidiary works will be required 

 before the whole plan is carried out. A large 

 area will be added to the productive lands of lower 

 Egypt. , 



Capt. Wellby, who is exploring eastern Africa 

 in the vicinity *of Lake Rudolf, has found that the 

 Oms flows into that lake, and a small river called 

 Ruzi flows into the stream called Juba. He 

 traveled north about midway between the lake 

 and the Nile through a fine wooded country 

 abounding in game. The Turkana were found 

 to be a fine race, many of them approaching 

 7 feet in height. They wear their hair in a matted 

 mass hanging down the back to the waist, and 

 carry in it their tobacco and various small arti- 

 cles presumably in the hair bag, such as is worn 

 by some other African tribes. 



Mount Kenia was ascended this year by Mr. 

 H. J. Mackinder, reader in geography at Oxford. 

 The summit was reached at the third attempt, 

 and was found to be more than 17,000 feet high. 

 Fifteen glaciers, two very large, were discovered. 

 The height of the mountain has been estimated 

 at 19,000 feet. 



Col. J. R. L. Macdonald was in command of 

 an exploring expedition that left England in 

 June, 1897, for operations in the neighborhood 

 of Uganda. The work had to be abandoned for 

 nine months when the Uganda protectorate was 

 threatened by the revolt of the Soudanese troops, 

 and the whole strength of the expedition was 

 turned in to the support of the Government. In 

 May, 1898, after the loss of 33 per cent, of the 

 Europeans, 00 per cent, of the escort, 43 per cent. 

 in transport, and 15 per cent, in Swahilis, the 

 expedition was reorganized. Meantime some 

 work had been done in Uganda toward rectify- 

 ing and filling out the maps. Lake Choga was 

 found to be much larger than had been supposed 

 and to be one of the minor reservoirs of the Nile. 

 A large lake Mpologoma was heard of, but not 

 visited, east of Choga. Major H. H. Austin had 

 charge of a column to explore the vicinity of 

 Lake Rudolf. Col. Macdonald advanced with an- 

 other column into Karamojo, west of Lake Ru- 

 dolf and the unknown regions beyond, which 

 were a blank on the map. Mount Debasien is de- 

 scribed as a magnificent rocky mountain rising 

 to several well-marked peaks, the highest of which 

 is 9,700 feet above the sea. Mount Moroto rises 

 10,000 feet. 



The Karamojo people are of great stature, and 

 have the reputation of being very warlike. Col. 

 Macdonald says: " The women have perhaps more 

 latitude allowed them than in most African tribes, 

 as marriage is not merely a matter of barter! 

 If the girl objects to marrying her suitor, her 

 refusal is absolute and settles the matter. The 



women are decently clothed in skins, but the men 

 wear no clothing, unless the extraordinary felted 

 head dress, which hangs low over their shoulders, 

 is classed as clothing. A Karamojo warrior, with 

 his felted hair bag decked with ostrich feathers, 

 his iron collar and ivory bangles, is a very strik- 

 ing sight. He carries two spears, which can be 

 used either for throwing or stabbing, a knob- 

 kerry, and a very small, light shield made of 

 hide. Many also wear a small circular wrist 

 knife, with which terrible wounds can be inflicted 

 in a rough and tumble. The cutting edges of the 

 knife and of the spearheads are carefully pro- 

 tected by ingenious sheaths made of leather." 



Later the explorers went to Latuka, still far- 

 ther west, passing through a mountainous region 

 with peaks rising 6,000 to 10,000 feet. 

 , An account is given in The Geographical Jour- 

 nal of Mr. Weatherly's latest expedition to Bang- 

 weolo (or, as he says it should be, Bangweulu). 

 He went to the Johnston falls on the Luapula, 

 and thence to the northwest corner of Bangweulu. 

 About 10 miles northwest of the last three rivers. 

 the Mwampanda, the Lifubu, and the Liposori 

 meet in a great marsh, called Kasamba. These 

 three rivers appear to unite in one, which flows 

 into the lake, which, according to Mr. Weather- 

 ly's measurements, is 43i miles long. He sur- 

 veyed Lake Kampolombo 3| to 4 miles across, 

 which has connected with it a lakelet, Kang- 

 wena, and opposite its northern half is Chifung- 

 we, a narrow sheet of water. On the voyage 

 down the Luapula the explorer saw the Mumbo- 

 tuta falls, which, he says, have never before been 

 visited by a white man. ".They are due to a 

 great fault cutting the river diagonally, and the 

 mad chaos of the foaming water, the thunder of 

 which can be heard 8 or 9 miles on a still night, 

 is an indescribably grand sight." The greater 

 part of the Luapula above the Johnston falls is 

 quite unnavigable for craft of any size, by reason 

 either of sand banks or its shallowness and rapid 

 current. The Johnston falls are a succession of 

 rapids and cataracts, known to the natives as 

 Mambilima. 



Steps have been taken to preserve the inscrip- 

 tion that was cut into the tree that marked the 

 place where Dr. Livingston died. After the intel- 

 ligence was received in London that the tree was 

 so decayed that it must soon fall, Mr. R. Codring- 

 ton was deputed to visit the site of Chitambo's 

 village and bring away the section of the tree 

 bearing the inscription. The journey appears to 

 have been rather difficult. A folding boat en- 

 abled Mr. Codrington to cross the Loangwa, the 

 Molembo, and the Lohombo. Near Chilenga he 

 crossed the Muchinga range, the path leading to 

 a height of 4,950 feet. The tree, which is of the 

 kind called mpembu, was found to be hollow and 

 too old to produce seeds. The inscription has 

 been partly effaced by borers. It stands: 



DR. LIVINGSTONE 



MAY 4, 1873 



ZA MNIASERE 

 UCHOPERE 



A fence was built round the stump of the tree, 

 a space for 60 yards around was cleared, and a 

 sealed bottle buried within the fence. 



During the exploration of the Zambesi and its 

 tributaries by the expedition under Dr. Karl 



