May 27, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



521 



of four classes, — slaves, peasants, sub-chiefs, and 

 chiefs. The peasants, who are the noain body of 

 the population, form the army. The sub-chiefs, 

 who are elected from among the peasants, govern 

 the provinces, and have the command of a certain 

 number of soldiers. They are responsible to the 

 Wakungu, the chiefs. These form a council, vphich 

 in reality decides the affairs of the state. Every one 

 of the chiefs must live three months out of every 

 year at the residence of the king. Thus the state 

 is thoroughly centralized, and the government 

 has as much influence on the borders of the state 

 as in the central provinces. If war is decided 

 upon, the war-drums are beaten, and the whole 

 army assembles before the royal palace. In time 

 of peace theWaganda wear a toga made of bark ; 

 but in time of war they lay it aside, paint their faces 

 white and red, and go into the battle naked, with 

 the exception of a piece of cloth wound around the 

 loins. Their weapons are beautiful spears with 

 points more than a foot long, and oval shields of 

 light wood covered with twigs and having a boss 

 in the centre. Besides the spears, they iise pow- 

 erful bows, and poisoned arrows with formi- 

 dable barbs. It is the privilege of the king to 

 bear a copper lance. Armed with two of these 

 la,nces, and wearing his shield, he stands before 

 the entrance of his palace, surrounded by the 

 chiefs, and gives his orders to the army. The 

 palace is built of reeds and straw, and is about a 

 hundred feet long, the roof resting on heavy tim- 

 bers. The accompanying sketch shows the hall in 

 which Mtesa gave his audiences, and where Stan- 

 ley met him. A large fleet of canoes which the 

 Waganda have on the Victoria Nyanza makes 

 their army still more powerful. Some of their 

 canoes carry as many as forty men, and it is said 

 that from sixteen to twenty thousand men can 

 be transported by the whole fleet. 



This powerful nation is strong enough to shut 

 off the region north of the Victoria Nyanza, and 

 to prevent the passage of caravans through its ter- 

 ritoi'y. The distrust of the new king Mwanga hin- 

 ders the work of European explorers and mission- 

 aries just as much as the friendliness of Mtesa 

 had helped them. Though the kingdom has been 

 for two generations in contact with Arabs, and 

 later on with whites, it has retained its independ- 

 ence and power. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL 

 AFRICA. 



The map of Central Africa which accompanies 

 the present number shows the river system of the 

 Kongo, the head waters of the Nile, and East 

 Africa. This part of the continent forms one of 



the large plateaus which give Africa its peculiar 

 character. An immense highland occupies the 

 continent south of a line drawn from Abyssinia to 

 the Niger. Its rim is formed by mountain-ranges, 

 which fall off in terraces toward the sea. A de- 

 pression indicated by the valleys of the Kunene 

 and Zambezi separates the plateau of South Africa 

 from that of Central Africa. The eastern side of 

 the latter consists of a number of high mountain- 

 ranges and plateaus. The highlands of the Bang- 

 weolo and Nyassa lakes, which are from 4,000 to 

 5,000 feet high, extend to the caravan route lead- 

 ing through Unyamwesi. Its descent towards the 

 Zambezi is very steep, while in the north-west 

 it gradually falls off towards the plateau of the 

 Kongo basin. Lake Bangweolo, which occupies 

 the south-western portion of the highland, is 

 3,700 feet high. North of Unyamwesi the land 

 rises to the mountainous district of the Victoria 

 Nyanza and Muta Nsige, which attains a height 

 of 11,000 feet in the mountains of Karagwe and 

 Ruanda, west of the Victoria Nyanza. East of 

 this region enormous volcanoes indicate the edge 

 of the plateau, the Kiiima Njaro rising to 19,000 

 feet, and the Keniato 16,000 feet, in height. North- 

 east of the Victoria Nyanza we find the highlands 

 of Abyssinia. 



This mountainous district contains the sources 

 of all the rivers of Central Africa except the south- 

 ern tributaries of the Kongo, which come from 

 the swamps on the watershed between the Kongo 

 and Zambezi. The latter river drains the southern 

 slope of the plateau. Numeroxis small rivers, 

 among which the Rovuma and Rufiji are the most 

 important, descend from its eastern slope : the 

 lofty mountains of Karagwe feed the sources of 

 the Nile, and the Kongo has its origin on the 

 western side of these highlands. 



The large lakes which collect the head waters 

 of all these rivers are charactei-istic of this part of 

 Africa. Steep mountains surround the stormy 

 Lake Nyassa, which occupies a long and deep val- 

 ley on the southern side of the plateau. The large 

 basin of the Victoria Nyanza is in part surrounded 

 by low hills, and filled with many islands, but on 

 its western side the steep mountains of Karagwe 

 reach to its shore. This lake and the Mvutan Nsige 

 are the collecting basins of the White Nile. From 

 the Victoria Nyanza, which is 4,100 feet high, the 

 Nile descends 1,350 feet, until it reaches the 

 Mvutan Nsige, 2,750 feet above the level of the 

 sea. 



The Tanganyika is situated on the western 

 slope of the highlands, and sends its water by the 

 Lukuga into the Kongo. When the rivers belong- 

 ing to the Kongo system have descended the ter- 

 races forming the eastern rim of the highland, 



