288 General Notes. [ March, 
tains. Kenia, like Kilimanjaro, is a volcanic cone. The base is 
nearly thirty miles across, and its sides slope upwards at a low an- 
gle, almost unbroken by ridge or glen, to a height of 15,000 feet. 
Above this rises a sugar-loaf peak, with glittering facets of snow 
on its upper 3000 feet, yet with sides so steep that the snow will 
not lie in many places. At this point the enmity of the Masai, 
coupled with the atrocious nature of the food, which as all the 
cattle were dying of some plague, consisted liberally of rotten 
meat, compelled a retreat in the direction of Lake Baringe. 
Westward from the Elyeyo precipices extends the vast treeless 
plain of Guas-Ngishu, bounded northward by the great volcanic 
mountain of Masawa or Elgon—a counter part of Kenia without 
the upper peak. Farther northward lies the occasionally snow 
clad mountain Donyo Lekakisera. The country of Kavirondo 
lies to the west of the shelterless plateau, and surrounds the 
north-east part of Victoria Nyanza. It extends to within forty 
miles of the Nile, and does not reach more than thirty miles south of 
the equator. A considerable part of this tract lies where Victo- 
ria Nyanza is shewn upon our maps. The Wa-Kavirondo are a 
pleasant people, dangerous only when excited or drunk, and 
though the similarity of houses, manners, mode of life, etc., sug- 
gest unity of race, are really, as their language indicates, formed 
of a mixture of Wa-swahili with Nile tribes, the latter predomi- 
nating southward. Kwa-sundu is a large town, and food can 
here be obtained in marvelous abundance and cheapness. The 
Wa-kavrondo wear no clothes, unless a small bunch of cord, worn 
tail-fashion by the married women only, can be styled an article of 
clothing. 
Mr. O'Neill's Explorations—The journey recently undertaken 
by Mr. H. E. O'Neill to Lakes Shirwa and Amaramba has 
‘solved the problem of the sources of the Lujenda. That river 
does not rise in Lake Kilwa or Shirwa but flows from Lake 
Amaramba, which is connected by the river Msambiti with 
Lake Chireta. These small lakes lie north of Kilwa, which ; 
has not been known to connect with their drainage within the 
memory of man, although the slight difference in level between 
the Mikoko river (which flows into Lake Kilwa) and the Mtora- 
denga swamp is so light that such a connection may proba- 
bly follow unusually heavy rains. Mr. O'Neill believes that the 
Rev. Mr. Johnson's statement that Lake Kilwa has its outlet in 
the Lujenda is due to a mistake, and that the spot visited by Mr. 
ohnson was really the northern end of Lake Amaramba. The 
description of the scenery given by Mr. Johnson tallies with that 
at Amaramba, and the natives, who told Mr. O'Neill that he was 
__ the first white man who had visited Kilwa, remembered the visit 
= Ofan European to Amaramba. The water of Lake Kilwa is 
-~ brackish, that of the more northern lakes sweet and drinkable. 
On his return to the coast Mr. O'Neill took a more southerly 
