Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/355

 supposed by the natives to be the cradle of the human race, has an absolute elevation of about 8,000 feet above sea-level. After storms the slopes are at times covered with a layer of hailstones, producing the effect of a snow-clad mountain. Towards the west, Namuli is separated from a rival peak by a deep cleft with almost vertical sides, several hundred yards high. In other directions it presents less formidable approaches, although its polished rocks, on which O'Neill detects traces of a glacial period, were everywhere found to be so precipitous that the English explorer was unable to reach the summit. Some rivulets, which in the rainy season become copious torrents, descend from the higher plateaux, tumbling from cascade to cascade, and lower down developing numerous streams, which almost everywhere disappear under the overhanging foliage. Native hamlets straggle up to a height of 6,000 feet, mostly surrounded by verdant thickets. Both for their wealth of vegetation and charming landscapes the Namuli mountains

are one of the most remarkable regions in the whole of Africa. The secondary spurs rooted in the central nucleus, and gradually falling in the direction from east to west down to a mere terrace skirting the low-lying strip of coastlands, are also clothed with a rich forest growth, presenting a striking contrast with the treeless plains at their base.

West of the Namuli Mountains, the uplands have been partly denuded by the erosive action of running waters. Nevertheless here also occur some groups of lofty hills, such as the Milanji Mountains, which rise to the south-east of Blantyre and to the south of the Lake Shirwa depression. In the southern part of this region the extensive plains extending in the direction of the Zambese are dotted over with isolated eminences, such es Mounts Shiperoni and Kanga, which are visible for a great distance round about. In the northern districts the heights rise but little above the level of the plateau, or from 350 to about 1,200 or 1,300 feet,