DESICCATION OF EAST AFRICA 
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DESICCATION OF EAST AFRICA 
By Captain Henry Darley 
With reference to Mr. C. W. Hobley’s article on alleged 
desiccation of East Africa in the Geographical Journal of 
November 1914, I am venturing to submit the following 
remarks. 
South of the railway, or shall we say of the Equator, I know 
nothing, but north of that line I know it better than anybody, 
black or white, as far as the Addis Abeba and Khartoum 
line. 
Take the Mount Kenia as one end of this line and 
Mount Elgon as the other. The intervening portion is crossed 
from north to south by the Rift Valley, with its accompanying 
volcanic disturbances, and the country generally falls away 
towards the north. 
North of the line from Kenia to Elgon I believe the country 
is rapidly desiccating. That is to say, it is desiccating as far 
as Abyssinia. Abyssinia must be left out of the question as 
it is part of original Africa. It has never been subject to 
volcanic eruption, but north of that the desiccation again 
commences. This subject — that is to say, the subject of the 
country north of Abyssinia — is, however, so large that it is 
very difficult for one man to propound a satisfactory solution 
of the problem. 
With reference to the part north of Abyssinia, it is well 
to remember that when the Jews fled from Pharaoh large 
numbers of them were cut off, owing to the cessation of the 
north wind. This north wind, as now, used to drive the waters 
back from the Bitter Lakes. 
The hosts of Pharaoh were probably engulfed by the rise 
of the water, but a large number of the Jews who were follow- 
ing the main party appear to have been cut off, and to have 
travelled down the west side of the sea until they reached 
Abyssinia. 
The track by which the main body of the Jews fled east- 
ward is still a well-known caravan road, and can clearly be 
seen from the deck of any Nile steamer. 
