POSITION OF JSTANZA. 



Unyamwezi. Extending to the equator in the central 

 length of the African peninsula, and elevated above the 

 limits of the depression in the heart of the continent, it 

 appears to be a gap in the irregular chain which, run- 

 ning from Usumbara and Kilima-ngao to Karagwah, 

 represents the formation anciently termed the Mountains 

 of the Moon. The physical features, as far as they 

 were observed, suggest this view. The shores are low 

 and flat, dotted here and there with little hills ; the 

 smaller islands also are hill-tops, and any part of the 

 country immediately on the south would, if inundated 

 to the same extent, present a similar aspect. The lake 

 lies open and elevated, rather like the drainage and the 

 temporary deposit of extensive floods than a volcanic 

 creation like the Tanganyika, a long narrow mountain- 

 girt basin. The waters are said to be deep, and the 

 extent of the inundation about the southern creek 

 proves, that they receive during the season an important 

 accession. The colour was observed to be clear and 

 blue, especially from afar in the early morning ; after 

 9 a.m., when the prevalent south-east wind arose, the 

 surface appeared greyish, or of a dull milky white, 

 probably the effect of atmospheric reflection. The tint, 

 however, does not, according to travellers, ever become 

 red or green like the waters of the Nile. But the pro- 

 duce of the lake resembles that of the river in its 

 purity ; the people living on the shores prefer it, unlike 

 that of the Tanganyika, to the highest, and clearest 

 springs ; all visitors agree in commending its lightness 

 and sweetness, and declare that the taste is rather of 

 river or of rain-water than resembling the soft slimy 

 produce of stagnant muddy bottoms, or the rough 

 harsh flavour of melted ice and snow. 



From the southern creek of the Nyanza. and beyond 



r 3 



