Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 27 - CHI-ELD.pdf/663

 EAST

AFRI

east side of Kilimanjaro, which enters in about 3° S. The Tana is both longer and larger than the Sabaki. One series of its numerous headstreams 'traverses the Kikuyu plateau north of the A.thi, while others flow down the southern and eastern slopes of Kenya, uniting with the former to form the Kiloluma, a rapid stream traversing a broken rocky country, with many falls. Beyond 39° E. no tributary of any importance is known to join the main stream, which flows in a wide curve east and south, its course being very tortuous, the current rapid, and the channel much obstructed by snags. Its width varies, as a general rule, between 100 and 200 yards. The banks are generally low, in part forested and inundated at high water, but away from the river the country appears to consist of dry plains covered with mimosa scrub. Adjoining the Lower Tana are many backwaters, which seem to show that the course has been subject to great changes. In 2° 20' S. the river again turns east, but during the last 10 miles it flows south-west, parallel to the -coast, finally entering the sea across a dangerous bar. Some 20 miles from the mouth the narrow Belasoni canal connects the Tana with the Ozi, the intervening country being deltaic in character, and at high water a discharge takes place in this direction. Observations made at Golbanti by the Bev. W. Ormerod show that the Tana rises twice in the year, being high in June and July and again in November and December, these periods coinciding with the rainy seasons in the Kenya region. The Eastern Rift-Valley.—Coming next to the riftvalley, this, though with a generally level floor, is divided by transverse ridges into a series of basins, each containing a lake without outlet. The southernmost section within British East Africa is formed by the arid Dogilani plains, drained south towards German territory. At their north end rise the extinct volcanos of Suswa (7800 feet) and Longonot (8700), the latter on the ridge dividing off the next basin that of Lake Naivasha. This is a small fresh-water lake, 6312 feet above the sea, measuring some 13 miles each way. Its basin is closed to the north by the ridge of Mount Buru, beyond which is the basin of the still smaller Lakes Nakuro (5845 feet) and Elmenteita (5860 feet), followed in turn by that of Baringo. This lake (15 miles long by 8 broad, altitude 3300 feet) lies at the north end of the basin, the southern parts being drained north by the Nyuki river, which, however, is lost in a swamp just before reaching Baringo. At the foot of the eastern escarpment, and separated from the Baringo basin by subsidiary ridges, are Lakes Kibibi (4820 feet) and Losuguta (3050 feet). Beyond Baringo the valley is again drained north into Lake Sugota, in 2° N., some 35 miles long, while north of this lies the much larger Lake Rudolf, the valley becoming here somewhat less defined. The Western Escarpments and Plateaux.—On the west of the rift-valley the wall of cliffs is best marked between the equator and 1° S., where it is known as the Mau escarpment, and about 1° N., where the Elgeyo escarpment falls to a longitudinal valley separated from Lake Baringo by the ridge of Kamasia. Opposite Lake Naivasha the total height of the Mau escarpment is some 3000 feet. At the top occurs a vast forest, in great part unexplored. To the south the woods become more open, and the plateau falls towards an open country drained towards the Dogilani plains. On the west the cultivated districts of Sotik and Lumbwa, broken by wooded heights, fall towards Victoria Nyanza. The Mau plateau reaches a height of 9000 feet on the equator, north of which is the somewhat lower Nandi country, well watered and partly forested. In the treeless. “ red-plain ” of Guash Ngishu, abreast of Elgeyo, it again rises to a height of over 8000 feet, and to the west of this is the great mountain mass of Elgon. All these

A,

B R I T I S H

611

plateaux west of the rift-valley are included in the Uganda Protectorate. Climate, Fauna, Flora.—In its climate and vegetation British East Africa again shows an arrangement of zones parallel to the coast. Close to the sea, where the rainfall is fairly plentiful, the low plain is covered with thick bush. The outer plateaux, especially the “Nyika,” have a scanty rainfall, and form arid steppes with a sparse scrub vegetation. The uplands beyond are generally fertile, clothed with rich pastures alternating with cultivated ground and forest, the latter covering a large part of the Mau plateau. Farther west the rainfall increases, and in Uganda and neighbouring countries cultivated land and pasture are varied with luxuriant groves of bananas, which form a chief item in the food of the inhabitants. The higher mountains have a distinct flora, representing the remnants of the flora of a cooler period. Large mammals are plentiful, especially on the drier steppes. They include the elephant (more and more restricted to unfrequented districts), rhinoceros, many kinds of antelope, giraffe, hippopotamus, lion and other carnivora. In many parts the rhinoceros is particularly abundant and dangerous. Natives.—The inhabitants include representatives of various stocks, as the country forms a borderland between the Negro and Hamitic races, and contains many tribes of mixed or doubtful affinities. The Bantu division of the former is represented chiefly in the south, the principal tribes being the Wakamba, Wakikuyu, Wa-Giriama, Wapokomo, Waboni, &c. In the west the Bantu peoples (Waganda, Wanyoro, &c.) have been subject to intruders of Galla stock (Wahuma), who are cattle-rearers, while the subject population practise agriculture. In the north-west—on the Upper Nile — the tribes are more nearly related to the true Negroes, though sometimes placed in a distinct group as “Nilotic.” Of Hamitic race are the Masai, a race of cattle-rearers speaking a Nilotic language, who in decreasing numbers occupy the uplands bordering on the eastern rift-valley. Farther north they are represented by the Turkana and other tribes dwelling between Lake Rudolf and the Nile. A section of the Masai, which has adopted the settled life of agriculturists, is known as the Wakwafi. The Galla section of the Hamites is represented, among others, by the Borans of the plains east of Lake Rudolf, while Somalis occur in the coast-lands between the Tana and Juba rivers. Primitive hunting tribes are the Wandorobo in Masailand and scattered tribes of small stature in various parts. The immediate coast-land contains a mixed population of Arab and Hindu immigrants, with representatives of numberless interior tribes. Missions have been at work for many years, both on the coast and in the Uganda region, and increasing numbers of native children are being educated in mission schools. Annexation and Administration.—The Portuguese held posts on the coast during the 16th and 17th centuries, but finally abandoned Mombasa in 1729. The interior was first made known in the middle of the 19th century by the journeys of Krapf, Rebmann, Von der Decken, and others, followed a little later by the great expedition of Speke and Grant to the Upper Nile region. The countries east of Victoria Nyanza (Masailand, &c.) were, however, first traversed throughout their whole extent by Joseph Thomson in 1883-84.1 When, almost immediately afterwards, Germany secured a footing on the coast opposite Zanzibar, a British claim, ratified by an agreement with Germany in 1886, was made to the districts behind Mombasa, the administration of the coast towns being ceded by the sultan of Zanzibar. In 1888 the British East Africa Company obtained a charter placing the government of the territory in its hands, but, after doing much to open up the country, and securing Uganda for Great Britain, was forced by lack of resources to make over its rights to the British Government (1895). Uganda was then declared a British protectorate, and in 1896 the districts between the latter and the coast were formally taken over by the Foreign Office as the British East Africa Protectorate. The islands of Zanzibar and Pemba had been taken over in 1890 by agreement with Germany. British East Africa Protectorate.—The British East Africa Protectorate, which, roughly speaking, extends to the rift-valley, has been divided into the four provinces of Seyyidieh (the coast province, capital Mombasa), Ukamba (capital Nairobi), Tanaland (capital Lamu), and Jubaland (capital Kismayu), each being in turn divided into districts and subdistricts. These are—in Seyyidieh, districts : Vanga, Mombasa, and Melindi; subdistricts, Rabai and Takaungu. In Ukamba, districts : Teita, Kitui, Masailand, Ulu, and Kenya ; subdistricts, Kikumbului and Taveta. In Tanaland, districts : Lamu, Port Durnford, and Tana river. In Jubaland, districts : Upper and Lower Jubaland. The area (apart from the northward extension not yet organized or under control) is esti- • mated at 80,000 square miles, and population 2,500,000, including 25,000 Asiatics and 450 Europeans and Eurasians. The revenue 1

For further details on exploration, see Africa.