1885.] | Geography and Travels. 587 
GENERAL NOTES. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS." 
Arrica.—Kilima-njaro.— The account given by Mr. H. H. 
Johnston, before the Royal Geographical Society, of his stay at 
Kilima-njaro, adds more to our knowledge of the zoology and 
botany of the southern slopes of this great mountain than to its 
geography. The vegetation is luxuriant, trees ascend to nine or 
teh thousand feet, herbaceous vegetation is abundant up to 13,000 
feet, and heaths and some shrubs linger to above 14,000 feet. 
The buffalo, koodoo and elephant appear to ascend even to the 
snow-line. Mr. Johnston saw the footprints of buffaloes at 14,000 
feet, and came in sight of three elephants at 13,000 feet. A hyrax 
ascends to 11,000 feet. In the discussion which followed, Mr. 
Thomson described Kilima-njaro as an enormous mountain mass, 
some sixty miles long by thirty wide, upon the summit of which 
the great dome of Kibo and the peak of Kimawenzi were com- 
paratively small excrescences. On the southern side the country 
Chaga was formed of a series of terraces of fertile land, but on 
the northern side the mountain rose at an even angle from 3000 
to 18,000 feet without a break by ridge or valley. 
The Egyptian Sudan.— Colonel H. G. Prout, an American 
engineer, formerly under the employ of General Stone, has con- 
tributed to the Exgineering News an account of the route from 
Suakin to Berber. This is of interest geographically from the 
light it throws upon the nature of the country, which from imme- 
diately behind Suakin to Wady Ariab, 118 miles from that place, 
is mountainous, the projected road passing, at about sixty miles 
from Suakin, through a defile 3000 feet above the sea. The map 
recently compiled from data furnished by the office of Naval 
Intelligence, shows this route, as well as those between Massowah 
and Kassala, and Korosko and Abn Ahmed. Gen. C. P. Stone 
contributes to Sctence an account of the climate of various 
parts of the vast region known as the Egyptian Sudan. From 
November to February inclusive, the province of Dongola is 
healthy, but in the spring months the heat is excessive, dust 
storms violent, and fever prevalent. The moist winds of early 
autumn increase the unhealthiness. At Suakin, the intense heat 
is the chief foe to health; but the province of Taka (capital, 
Kassala) and the district of Gallabat have, from June to October, 
a climate which is deadly to Europeans. At that season the rains 
are copious, and mingling with the floods of water coming down 
from the mountains of Abyssinia, cause the rich soil to become 
like a saturated sponge. Even the natives, in many districts, 
abandon the country from May to October, and reside in the 
desert. 
1 This department is edited by W. N. Lockincron, Philadelphia. 
