Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/110





REGION OF THE GREAT LAKES.

HE basin of the Victoria Nyanza, including that of the Upper Nile as far as its passage across the Albert Nyanza (M'wutan Nzigeh), comprises a superficial area which may be estimated at some 170,000 square miles, although this estimate cannot claim to be more than a very rough approximation to the reality. Pending a more exact

knowledge of the parting lines between the great river basins, we must be satisfied with rude calculations according to the spaces enclosed in the meshes of the intersecting lines of latitude and longitude. This vast region, which has a mean altitude of over 4,000 feet, forms part of the great continental divide. The waters it sends down to the Egyptian river bring it within the Mediterranean basin; but it approaches far nearer to the Atlantic seaboard, while its southern extremity lies within 240 miles of the Indian Ocean. As regards its facilities of communication with the outer world, the Victoria Nyanza naturally gravitates towards the social and commercial system of which Zanzibar is the centre. Even after the water highway of the Nile is again opened, and intestine warfare has ceased to harass the riverain communities, European explorers will find it most convenient still to take the route, ascending from the Indian Ocean to the plateaux, which has ever been followed by the Arab traders.

Although forming the water-parting between the Mediterranean, Indian, and Atlantic basins, the Nyanza region is far less elevated than some other parts of the continent. Except towards the sources of the Tanguré, where Mfumbiro rises to a height of probably 10,000 feet, and farther north, where the still loftier Gambaragara stretches parallel with the meridian, the plateau nowhere develops elevated highlands. The plains are broken only by hills and ridges rising a few hundred yards above the normal level, and presenting no insurmountable obstacles to the exploration of the interior. Amongst these Upper Nilotic lands those especially bordering the northern and western shores of Nyanza are almost unrivalled in Africa, and scarcely elsewhere surpassed, for the charm and variety of their scenery, their abundant waters, exuberant vegetation, and fertile soil. The inhabitants of U-Nyamezi, south of the lake, are less favoured in these respects. Here hill and