220 FROM KIVU TO TANGANYIKA 



district, and it lies on the west shore a few miles 

 from the head of the lake. The shore is low and 

 sandy, and there is about a mile of fairly level ground 

 between it and the foot of the hills. At Uvira the 

 lake is more than fifteen miles wide, but the atmo- 

 sphere is so clear that it looks not half that distance, 

 and the houses at Usumbura, which lies almost 

 directly opposite to Uvira, can always be most 

 clearly seen. Usumbura is a German East Africa 

 post of some importance. There is a good road 

 from there to Bukoba on the Victoria Nyanza, which 

 is the easiest and most direct route between Tan- 

 ganyika and Uganda. There is another road from 

 Usumbura to Dar-es-salaam, the port of German 

 East Africa ; the journey takes about five weeks : 

 and it is also reached by a German steamer, which 

 makes the voyage (when it is in working order) up 

 the east side of the lake once a month, and it is 

 thus in direct communication with the road to Lake 

 Nyassa and the Zambesi. 



One of the most striking features of Tanganyika 

 is the wonderful regularity of the daily wind. In 

 the morning there is not a ripple on the water until 

 about eleven o'clock, when a strong wind comes 

 roaring up from the south, and in an amazingly short 

 time the lake becomes a heavy sea, and big waves 

 break upon the beach. At four o'clock the wind 

 falls, and by sunset it is as calm as ever. In the 

 shallow waters near the head of the lake is a great 

 abundance of fish, which the natives kill with spears 



