1890.] Geography and Travel. 263 
General Notes. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL. 
Africa.—Lake Tanganyika.—According to Mr. E. C. Hore, 
Lake Tanganyika, although there is one African lake the water of 
which stands at a higher level, has the highest watershed in the conti- 
nent, and the depression which is enclosed by this watershed, including 
the hilly table-land of Unyamwezi, may be regarded as the central 
basin of Africa. ‘The crest of this steep watershed hugs the lake on 
its western side, but on the eastern is at a considerable distance from 
it, surrounding the hilly plateau inhabited by the Wanyanwezi. Until 
recently there was no natural outlet to this lake, but of recent years 
the waters seem to have risen higher than ever before, until they at 
length burst open.an outlet at a low point upon the eastern shore, 
where the strata were soft. This gap is the Lukuga River, about which 
so much has been written, and through it the surplus waters of tho 
lake flow to add their volume to that of the Congo. The barrier once 
burst, the lake waters have continued their work of cutting down the 
soft clay, and evidently will continue to do so-until the hard rock is 
reached. At the time of the visit of Commander Cameron, the lake 
seems to have been higher than it had ever been before, for its reces- 
sion reveals the stumps of trees that once flourished around the margin. 
The water level is now eighteen feet lower than it was in 1878; and 
while of the lower ten feet of this space five is occupied by the stumps 
of dead trees, the lower five feet is without trees, showing that the 
present level is lower than any previous one. The Lukuga is now 
flowing more slowly than it has been. Much of the scenery around 
the lake is of the grandest description, as might be expected from its 
position at the bottom of a long north and south chasm. Severe 
storms sometimes arise, which the natives ride out by jumping over- 
board and holding on by the boat 
Around this lake, besides the apparently more ancient inhabitants, 
the Wanyamwezi, who have a horror of water, are grouped representa- 
tives of all the African families, the Bantu or Kaffir, the negro, the 
Semitico-Africano, the dwarfs, and that unclassified group to which 
the Masai belong. Most of these tribes are expert in the management 
of their canoes, and thus contrast strongly with the original inhabitants. 
N arch.—4, 
