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THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Highlands of Karagwah and Urundi, the western pro- 

 longation of the chain which has obtained, probably 

 from African tradition, the name of " Lunar Mountains." 

 In length, it extends from the Malagarazi Ferry in E. 

 Lat. 31° 10' to the Tanganyika Lake, in E. Long. 30° l'» 

 Its breadth, from S. Lat. 3° 14', the supposed northern 

 limit of Urundi, to S. Lat. 5° 2' ; the parallel of 

 Ukaranga is a distance of 108 rectilinear geographical 

 miles. Native caravans pass from the Malagarazi to 

 Ujiji in eight days, usually without halting till arrived 

 within a stone's throw of their destination. To a region 

 of such various elevations it would be difficult to assign 

 an average of altitude; the heights observed by ther- 

 mometer never exceeded 1850 feet. 



This country contains in due order, from east to west, 

 the lands of Uvinza, Ubuha, and Ujiji : on the northern 

 edge is Uhha, and on the south-western extremity 

 Ukaranga. The general features are those of the 

 alluvial valleys of the Kingani and the Mgeta Rivers. 

 The soil in the vicinity of the Malagarazi is a rich brown 

 or black loam, rank with vegetable decay. This strip 

 alone the stream varies in breadth from one to five 

 miles ; on the right bank it is mostly desert, but not 

 sterile, on the left it is an expanse of luxuriant cultiva- 

 tion. The northern boundary is a jagged line of hill- 

 spurs of primitive formation, rough with stones and 

 yawning with ravines : in many places the projections 

 assume the form of green "dogs' tails," or "neat's 

 tongues," projecting like lumpy ridges into the card- 

 table-like level of the river-land southwards. Each 

 mound or spur is crowned with a tufty clump, prin- 

 cipally of bauhinias and mimosas, and often a lone, 

 spreading and towering tree, a Borassus or a Calabash, 

 ornamenting the extreme point, forms a landmark for 



