Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/314

 248 SOUTH AND EAST AFEICA. name of Maravi, like the populations dwelling on its banks. At the same time this Maravi, with an alternative Nhunja Mucuro, figured on the maps of Africa under the most diverse forms and outlines, being in some cases made to occupy nearly the whole of the unknown regions of the interior. But all these vague guesses were for ever swept away in the year 1859, when its true formation was first revealed to the outer world by Livingstone. Since that time it has been traversed in every direction by explorers, and European settlements have even been founded on its shores. Nyassa presents a striking resemblance to its Tanganyika neighbour. Both basins are disposed very much in the same direction, except that the axis of Nyassa approaches nearer to th6 line of the meridian ; both appear to fill the beds of cracks in the crust of the earth, produced by the same pressure, but that of Nyassa stands at a lower altitude on the surface of the continent, being scarcely five hundred feet above sea-level. It also presents, like Tanganyika, the aspect of a broad valley, the sinuosities of whose sides mutually correspond, with, however, some deviations here and there. At its two narrowest parts it is only 14 or 15 miles wide, while in other places it expands to 55 or 60 miles. Excluding the windings of the shore-line, it has a total length of over five degrees of latitude, or about 300 miles, with a superficial area, according to the most recent surveys, of about 12,000 square miles,* and depths ranging from fifty to a hundred fathoms, and upwards. Young found sixty-four and even ninety fathoms close to the east side, while at any distance from the shore the sounding-line of a hundred fathoms almost everywhere failed to touch the bottom. Towards its north-east extremity the lake is dominated by a lofty range, with steep rocky cliffs sinking sheer down to the water's edge. In some places the cascades, sparkling on the slopes like silvery streaks, mingle their spray with the foam of the waves breaking on the rock-bound coast. Shallows are rare, and except at a few points on the west side the explorer may sail for days together close in shore without meeting any shelving beach or reed-grown shoals. But some of the bays and inlets are studded with islets which are visited by the hippo- potamus, swimming over from the adjacent mainland. So pure are the waters of Nyassa that the sheathing of the vessels launched on its bosom by the English missionaries remains perfectly clean for years together ; the boilers of the steamers are also almost entirely free from any trace of sediment. The fierce gales which sweep over the lake lush its surface waters into formidable waves, compared by seafarers to the billows of the South Atlantic itself. Hence, although its shores present numerous creeks and inlets with good anchorage, especially under the shelter of the islands, the European navigators have often run imminent peril of foundering. But since the discovery of the easily accessible estuary of the Rombash River, at its northern extremity, they are able to venture on its waters with a greater feeling of security. About forty-eight hours now • Ojmparativc areas of the great African lakes and of the largest lacustrine basins in other conti- nents: Victoria NyiiHza, 26,000 square miles; Tanganyika, 15,000; Nyassa, 12,000; Lake Superior (America), 33,000; Baikal (Asia), 14,000; Ladoga (Europe), 7,000.