530 THE GLACIAL GEOLOGT OF MOUNT KENYA. [Nov. 1894, 



of the temperature. At the period of maximum glaciation it would 

 therefore occur relatively lower than at present, and there would 

 thus be a considerable rainfall over areas that are now very sparsely 

 watered. 



The results on the rainfall of the changes that would have 

 occurred at the time of the maximum glaciation would therefore 

 have been : — (1) an increase in its amount; (2) a relative lowering, 

 and therefore widening, of the surface of maximum rainfall ; (3) the 

 more even distribution of the rain throughout the year. 



The results on the vegetation of the district would have been very 

 great. Much of the scrub which now covers the country with its 

 spine-like or narrow leaves, and succulent leafless herbs and trees, 

 Avhich are all specialized to secure a minimum of transpiration, 

 would have been replaced b}' vegetation of a more normal and 

 luxuriant growth, and better adapted for animal food. The forests 

 that now occur as belts beside the rivers would have spread out as 

 wide tracts of primeval forest, similar to those of the Congo and 

 the Aruwimi, which are now limited to the western side of the 

 Tanganyika rift-valley. Hence in the time of maximum glaciation 

 the food-supply for insects and small mammals would have been 

 distributed very differently from what it is at present, and there 

 would have been fewer, if any, of the waterless wastes that now 

 present barriers to animal migration. 



VI. Summary oe Conclusions. 



1. That, by the discovery of moraines, striae, glacial lake-basins, 



perched blocks, and roches moutonnees below the present 

 limit of the Kenyan glaciers, it is proved that these must 

 ouce have extended for at least 5400 feet below their 

 present level. 



2. That at the time of maximum glaciation Mount Kenya was 



covered by a great ice-cap or ' calotte,' and did not merely 

 support a system of valley-glaciers. 



3. That the glaciation was due to the former greater elevation of 



Mount Kenya, which has been reduced by subsidence and 

 denudation. The theory of an universal glaciation is un- 

 necessary, and is opposed by many facts in African geology. 



4. That the glaciation affected the adjoining mountains, including 



Kilima Njaro, Kuwenzori, Elgon, and Abyssinia, is rendered 

 highly probable by the facts of botanical distribution. 



5. Thrat the meteorological changes concomitant with the maximum 



glaciation, and also clue to the elevation, would have been 

 the formation of a high -pressure area and an increase in the 

 amount of the rainfall, its more equable seasonal distribution, 

 and a lowering and widening of the surface of maximum 

 rainfall. 



6. This would have led to a great change in the distribution of 



animal- and plant-life. 



