226 



NATURE 



[July 3, 1890 



down to Bagamoyo, and it is to be hoped that these 

 will one day be given to the world. 



About the prevailing plateau character of the whole 

 country traversed by Mr. Stanley there can be no doubt. 

 Some of its remarkable features are well brought out in 

 many of the fine illustrations which adorn the book. The 

 importance of this feature in the opening up of the centre 

 of the continent under the guidance of Europeans is 

 .evident. The magnificent grassy plateau between Lake 

 Albert and the edge of the forest, where the Expedition 

 lived many weeks while waiting for Emin and his people, 

 seems really a fine country from this point of view. What 

 could be accomplished by partially clearing the forest 

 may be seen from the planting operations at Fort Bodo, 

 where Lieutenant Stairs and Dr. Parke hved for many 

 months, and where they grew large crops of maize, 

 bananas, tobacco, and other cultures. Here is a descrip- 



tion of the country as seen from the plateau above Lake 

 Albert :— 



" Yesterday Jephson and I had examined the summits 

 of the hills, and in one of the hollows we had discovered 

 tree ferns, standing eight feet high, with stalks eight inches 

 in diameter. We also brought with us a few purple 

 flowering heliotropes, aloes, and rock ferns for the Pasha. 

 All this has inspired him with a desire to investigate the 

 flora for himself. 



" These hills have an altitude varying from 5400 to 

 5600 feet above the sea. The folds and hollows between 

 these hills are here and there somewhat picturesque, 

 though on account of the late grass burnings they are not 

 at their best just now. Each of the hollows has its own 

 clear water rillet, and along their courses are bamboos, 

 tree ferns, small palms, and bush, much of which is in 

 flower. From the lively singing of the birds I heard 



S^^-..,'fe*^-t>' * 



from Karimi. (From a Photograph.) 



yesterday, it was thought likely this insatiable collector 

 might be able to add to his store of stuffed giant-larks, 

 thrushes, bee-eaters, sun-birds, large pigeons, &c. Only 

 four specimens were obtained, and the Pasha is not 

 happy. 



" In a bowl-like basin, rimmed around by rugged and 

 bare rocks, I saw a level terrace a mile and a half long by 

 a mile wide, green as a tennis lawn. Round about the 

 foot of this terrace ran a clear rivulet, through a thick 

 bank of woods, the tops of which just came to the level 

 of the terrace. It has been the nicest site for a mission 

 or a community of white men that I have seen for a long 

 time. The altitude was 5500 feet above the sea. From 

 the crest of the rocky hills encircling it we may obtain a 

 view covering 3000 square miles of one of the most 

 gloriously beautiful lands in the world. Pisgah, sixty 

 miles westward, dominates all eminences and ridges in 



NO. 1079, VOL. 42] 



the direction of the forest world; Ruwenzori, 18,000 to 

 19,000, white with perpetual snow, eighty miles off, bounds 

 the view south ; to the east the eye looks far over the 

 country of Unyoro ; and north-east lies the length of the 

 Albert Nyanza." 



The instructive map prepared by Stanford from Mr. 

 Stanley's observations affords an excellent idea of the 

 physical features of the region traversed, and especially 

 of the new features to the south of Lake Albert. This 

 is even more strikingly brought out in the bird's-eye view 

 of the region presented in one of the plates. The sudden 

 fall from the plateau down to the level of Lake Albert, 

 over 2000 feet, is remarkable. It is not quite so marked 

 on the southern lake, which is not so much of the nature 

 of a ravine ; it may be because the lake has much dimin- 

 ished in size. That both lakes have greatly shrunk is 

 evident ; but that they ever formed one lake is a point 



