Lake Kivu 



acting as a dam, the waters of the newly-formed Lake Kivu 

 gradually rose as the years went by, eventually overflowing 

 to the south into Lake Tanganyika. 



The second interesting feature of this wonderful district 

 lies in the fact that Lake Kivu may be said to be the dividing 

 line between the steppe region in the east and the forest 

 region in the west ; hence we get primeval forests and grassy 

 downs intermingled around its deeply indented coast and 

 on its many islands. 



North and north-east of the lake Hes the volcanic region, 

 bounded on the south by the waters of Lake Kivu itself, 

 on the north by the Ruchuru Plains, on the east by the 

 riverine district of Kabare and on the west by the western 

 wall of the great Rift valley. The steep sides of these grand 

 volcanoes and the surrounding ridges and spurs are for the 

 most part clothed in thick forests, some of them of bamboo 

 and quite impenetrable in places, but the laVa-plains below, 

 and the numerous small hummock-like volcanoes are covered 

 with grass, short scrub and herbage growing on a shallow 

 deposit of scoriae overlying the solid lava. Owing to the 

 lava flow, water is extremely scarce away from the few river 

 beds : certainly in some places tiny lakes are formed in 

 extinct craters, but these are far apart and not always on 

 the Une of march. 



The district may be said to be fairly rich in flowering 

 plants (the Lobelia gibberroa being one of the commonest) 

 and shrubs (including veronicas and balsams). At the 

 higher elevations about ten thousand feet and upwards, 

 on the volcanoes themselves, lobelias, senedos, ericaceae, 

 everlasting-flowers and beard-moss occupy the landscape to 

 to the exclusion of all else. 



57 



