I lO 



NATURh 



A NEW VOLCANO /.V TH/i Kll^U 

 COUNIRY. 



A JOURNEY in the eastern part of the Belgian 

 •^*- Congo and in German East Africa is described 



in the Geographical Journal for January (vol. xlvii.. 



Photo\ 



VI he Hon. M. ir. Elphinstone. 

 Fig. I. — North-west cor.ier of lake, almost boiling. From the Ceogtaphkal Journa^. 



No. i) by Sir Alfred Sharpe, who was accompanied 

 by the Hon. Mountstuart Elphlnstone. The journey, 

 which was made in 1912-13, included a visit to the 

 little-known regions west of 

 Lake Kivu, around the Lu- 

 kulu river, but the travellers' 

 most remarkable experience 

 was the sight of a volcanic 

 action in the region north of 

 Lake Kivu. From the 

 southern end of the lake a 

 dull-red glare in the night 

 sky became stronger as they 

 went north, and there were 

 dense black clouds by day in 

 the same direction. From 

 Bobandana, at the north- 

 west corner of the lake, a 

 splendid view was obtained 

 of the erupting volcano seven 

 miles away. 



The floor of the rift valley 

 north of Lake Kivu is crossed 

 by the volcanic belt of the 

 Mufumbiro Mountains, con- 

 taining many cones of all 

 sizes. At the time of Sir Alfred 

 Sharpe's visit two of these 

 were active : Nyamlagira, 

 which was throwing out 

 vast volumes of black cloud, 

 with occasional showers of 

 mud, and the newly-opened 

 one, christened Katarusi by 

 the Belgian officials, which 

 was in more active eruption. 



In eleven days Katarusi had built a cone 600 ft. in 

 height with a crater of 600 yards in diameter, arising 

 from an ancient field of lava, no doubt derived 



[March 30, 19 16 



from Nyamlagira, and long covered with open 

 savanna. 



Sir Alfred Sharpe describes a broad, swift river of 

 lava flowing into the Kabino inlet of Lake Kivu, three 

 miles from the volcano. The water in that part of the 

 lako was hentod to boiling point. The prevailing 

 wind, from the east, was 

 carrying clouds of steam, 

 smoke, and ashes to the 

 west. A large bay in the 

 northern part of the Kabino 

 inlet was filled with lava, 

 md the natives were fleeing 

 Mom the country after the 

 destruction of their villages 

 and crops. At least one 

 canoe load of natives, over- 

 i ome by steam and black 

 I loads, was carried into 

 boiling water and sank. 

 Thousands of dead .fish 

 were floating in the 

 northern end of Lake Kivu. 

 Twelves miles from the 

 olcano the water was 

 oo hot to bathe in. 

 Later on the travellers 

 ])assed over some of the 

 country devastated by the 

 volcano. For miles the 

 land was black, with 

 no green leaf or blade to 

 be seen, and many dead 

 birds and small mammals 

 were found, evidently killed 

 by the showers of volcanic material. Hundreds of 

 natives were killed. The eruption was audible at Beni, 

 140 miles away to the north, and at Bukoba, on the 





NO. 2422, VOL. 



Photo} 



-Lava fill 



Victoria Nyanza, 190 miles east, while ashes fell 

 heavily for two days at Walikali, in the Congo forest^ 

 100 miles to the west 



