6 THE ALLEGED DESICCATION OF EAST AFRICA 
the channel, the reef marked D was awash and in the same 
position as the Andromache reef to-day, the south wall of the 
sea channel being further back. At Shimoni station, opposite 
Wasin, there are large underground caves in the coral rock, 
the ramifications of which extend a considerable distance ; 
in one of the caves there is still a tiny brackish spring, and this 
gives a clue to their formation, for, as far as I can judge, they 
can only have been formed by the presence of springs of fresh 
water which bubbled out at sea-level, and wherever they 
occurred prevented the coral insect from working in the 
vicinity ; the volume of these springs gradually decreased, 
and the coral insect built over the top, leaving these winding 
galleries through the heart of the reef. The springs have now 
almost disappeared. 
As we proceed north up the coast we obtain evidence of 
another character and of more recent times. The coast-line 
from Wasin to Kismayu is studded with ruined towns. South 
of Mombasa they do not appear to be so common as to the 
north, although there are quite a number to be found in the 
dense bush along the coast-line at Shirazi and immediately 
south of Mombasa island. Immediately north of Mombasa 
there are ruins at various places between Mombasa and Malindi, 
notably at Kilifi, Gedi, and Mida ; near Malindi itself there 
are traces of large settlements, and again at Shesheli, Ngomeni, 
and on towards Lamu. Between Kismayu and Port Durnford 
there are said to be sixty miles of coast full of ruins, and again 
north of Port Durnford and on the islands of the north portion 
of what is called the Lamu archipelago there are innumerable 
ruins of stone buildings, absolute evidence of a dense popula- 
tion. No record remains of these people, but they are 
commonly supposed to have been early Persian settlers, and 
the settlements seem to have been formed since the establish- 
ment of the Mohammedan religion, for there are numerous 
remains of well-built stone mosques with the typical Moslem 
Kiblah (or shrine) on the north side towards Mecca, mined 
arches, myriads of stone graves of the Moslem type, and so 
forth. 
Only careful excavation can, however, settle who these 
people originally were ; we have no record of the foundation 
