THE TANGANYIKA PROBLEM. 
33 
of the region of the great African lakes ; but what 
we do not want is that this should proceed in the. 
strongly-coloured light of antecedent speculation. We must 
consider the matter anew, and with as few pre-conceptions 
as possible, and see whether the observations will them- 
selves take colour and start legitimately into the shape of 
more generalised appreciations as we go. 
It has been confirmed, especially as a result of the second 
Tanganyika expedition, that we can, in fact must, regard 
all Africa as constructed in relation to an elevated ridge, 
which runs from the mountains of Abyssinia and those 
flanking the Red Sea in the north, to the continuation of 
these same ridges in the shape of the Drakensberg in 
the extreme south. In some places, as for example in the 
region of Tanganyika and the Albert Edward Nyanza, 
the ridge may be broad, constituting the crest of the 
interior plateaux, and resembles the Ural Mountains 
in that it forms the gently culminating line of two long- 
slopes from the east and from the west. So again although 
the great fold may be ten to twelve thousand feet in 
height, like the Urals it does not appear to the eye as an 
actual mountain chain from either side. In most places, on 
the other hand, as between Nyassa and Tanganyika, the 
culminating heights are narrow and rise abruptly above 
the surrounding country in the form of bold mountain 
chains. Everywhere along this line the axes of the chain 
run approximately north and south, and the crests of the 
higher summits are as lofty as those of the Rocky 
Mountains in the United States. Indeed, were Africa in 
any other latitude, there would be an immense range of ice 
and snow running from the extreme north to south ; while 
the lonely summits of the Ruwenzori Mountains, of Kenia 
and Kilima-Njaro, although right under the equator, are 
