With the British Association in Africa. 3 1 



which we were glad to embark, and sail northwards the same 

 afternoon, calling at Mozambique and at Mombasa, a very pictur- 

 esque island and town among tropical foliage. The old fort had a 

 varied history and is now a prison. The soil appeared more 

 fertile on the Uganda Protectorate, at least where they were, near 

 the coast, as it usually is near the sea. 



I have almost finished but as we now leave the more southern 

 portion of Africa, I may show just one slide illustrating very 

 generally the physiology of that portion of the Continent. We all 

 know this familiar and frequent flat topped hill, a common object 

 in South African landscape. The theory of the geologists is that 

 the original surface of the Country was formed by a layer of hard 

 dolerite or igneous rock such as seen on the top of this hill. De- 

 nudation by torrential rains gradually washed away the softer parts 

 leaving only more resisting portions forming the table tops of these 

 kopjes. This denudation reduced the level of the surface of the 

 land to the present veldt, which although to appearance seems to be 

 an irregular plain is really made up of a number of very shallow 

 valleys, making up what the geologists call a peni-plain that is. 

 almost a plain. Each of these valleys drains into a larger valley 

 and so ultimately into one of the permanent rivers. Down these 

 rivers the soil or sand or stuff forming the difference in height from 

 the original level has been swept during ages into the sea. 



It will be clear that such a peni-plain must have originally 

 terminated on or near the sea level but at present the veldt is 

 several thousand feet above the sea and it is therefore thought 

 that after the peni-plain was formed either the whole continent 

 rose or the sea sank. The former seems to be more probable. 

 Denudation is now again going on along the coast line and very 

 beautiful examples of the formation of these branching valleys 

 with their watercourses on the hill side may be seen from the 

 railway line running up through Natal. 



An unexpected delay gave us leisure to see Cairo and a bit of 

 Egypt. I seemed to see in .these two protectorates how well the 

 Englishman could organise a country when he was more free from 



