418 PHTSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE. Chap. XX. 



east and west, we observe tliat the rains come from 

 the interior. 



The observations of Speke agree entirely with 

 mine concerning the weather under the equator. We 

 must therefore come to the conclusion that the rains 

 proceed from some central woody and mountainous 

 district somewhere between the east and west coasts, 

 where, no doubt, exist several lakes not yet dis- 

 covered. 



In reading the account of the ill-fated expedition 

 of Tuckey on the Congo, we read, page 200 and 

 201:— 



" September 1. The rains commence the latter end of 

 September, and continue to March. 



" This day we observed, for the first time, a rise in 

 the river. 



" Septemher 4. Rain falling." 



This sudden rise of the Congo will, no doubt, occur 

 owing to the rains coming from the northward — that 

 is, from towards the equator. I must remind the 

 reader of the cloudy and misty state of the atmo- 

 S]Dhere, which I have described in the mountains of 

 the interior; there were showers, which were becom- 

 ing heavier every day, in July, and I learned from 

 the natives that about a month afterwards the heavy 

 rains would begin. This would account for the rise 

 of the Congo. 



What struck me was, while at Mayolo, the great 

 perturbation of the magnetic needle during torna- 

 does. As the tornado rose above the horizon there 

 seemed to be a dip of the magnetic needle ; then, as it 

 rose higher, the needle took its natural position, and 



