Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/421

 Doubtless all these anticipations were made when Great Britain took virtual possession of the territory which rises from the coast at Mombaz towards the elevated plateaux enclosing the great depression of Luke Victoria Nyanza. This territory being still undefined with any accuracy except on its east side, towards the sea, any attempt would necessarily be premature to give even an approximate idea

either of its superficial area or of its population. It may, however, be stated in a general way that the rectangular region comprised between the Indian Ocean, the eastern edge of the plateaux sloping westwards towards Lake Nyanza, and two parallel lines, one passing to the north of Mount Kilima-Njaro and Usambara, the other drawn from Mouut Kenia to the Tana estuary, presents an area of about 55,000 square miles, According to the reports of Krapf, Fischer, Thomson, and