SERRA MUXINGA. 



311 



may evidently be the divide of the Nile, the 

 Congo, and Zambezean basins ; whilst the north- 

 eastern projection feeds with four considerable 

 streams the Lake Liemba, discovered by Dr 

 Livingstone on April 2, 1867, and supposed to 

 connect with the Tanganyika by the E^iver 

 Marungu. The altitude of the Serra was esti- 

 mated in 1831 by Messrs Monteiro and Gamitto 

 at a Portuguese league (= about 19,700 feet) 

 above sea-level, palpably exaggerated, as in 

 winter (August 10) neither ice nor snow was 

 found upon it. They describe the head as nearly 

 always enveloped in clouds, and] as by far the 

 loftiest summit in that part of Africa ; the profile 

 rises steeply and abruptly from the table-land, 

 commanding an extensive prospect northward, 

 and the ridge is broken by terrible and dangerous 

 precipices. Snow in this part of the continent 

 may be alluded to by Joao de Barros, who 

 declares that in the Matouca country, though 

 situated between the equator and the tropic of 

 Capricorn, the natives die of cold. Later Por- 

 tuguese historians declare the Lupata to be a 

 snowy range, probably referring, not to the 

 gorge of that name, but to the great block with 

 which it is connected. Dr Livingstone repre- 

 S3nts this, his latest discovery, to cover a space 



