BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 295 



height, however, as one proceeds southwards by 

 Mtonia, and eventually become at Zomba, Chirad- 

 zulu, and Sotchi, a series of scattered, isolated 

 summits, the farthest south being Mlanje, which 

 is from 9,000 to 10,000 feet high. 



Below Mlanje there is only the flat valley of the 

 Zambesi, with occasional hills, such as Moram- 

 balla, rising to 4,000 feet. 



It is obvious, therefore, that if coffee succeeds 

 well in the Shire highlands, on the slopes of 

 Mlanje and the other mountains, it ought to suc- 

 ceed equally well on the slopes of all these 

 mountains east and west of Nyassa at the same 

 altitude- — that is to say, on the zone between 

 3,000 and 5,000 feet. This gives a strip about 

 400 miles long on either side of Lake Nyassa and 

 the Shire ; and that is quite sufficient, though, of 

 course, the soil may not be equally fertile every- 

 where. 



The country below 2,500 feet is for the most 

 part the flat alluvial valley of the Shire and old 

 lake level of Nyassa. This is usually a grassy 

 plain, broken by clumps of woodland and occa- 

 sional marshes. It is not densely inhabited, but 

 there is a considerable population, chiefly Man- 

 ganja and Yao. 



The Coffee zone seems naturally to be covered 

 with scrub, not forest, but it is full of ravines and 

 river valleys, often with a very moist climate. So 

 far as I can gather there is more rain and perma- 



