Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/432

 848 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. a distant echo from the depths of the abyss. This illusion is, with great probabiUty, attributeil by Wray to the confused noise of the flocks of aquatic birds rever- berating from side to side of the walls of the basin. MOERU AND UlU MOUNTAINS. West and north-west of the central mass the sustaining platform bears several other eminences of igneous origin, and some of these also attain considerable elevations. Conspicuous amongst these is Mount Moeru, which is separated from Kilima-Njaro by the level Sigirari plain, whose mean altitude is fully 4,000 feet above the se:i. Moeru may almost be regarded as a rival of Kilima-Njaro itself, for its terminal cone is considerub'y over 16,000 feet high, and even in the month of July slight streaks of snow are occasionally observed on its summit in the early dawn, which, however, are s>on dissipated by the rays of the rising sun. At most other times, when the volcanic peak shakes off the mantle of fleecy clouds in which it is usually wrapped, it is seen standing out dark against the azure sky. It thus presents a striking contrast to the white-crested Kibo and Kimawenzi, and has accordingly received from the Masai people the distinctive title of Dunye Erok la Sigirari, that is, the "Black Mountain," of Sigirari. But it is not the only Dunye Erok in this region, for several otlicr " Black Mountains " raise their isolated pyramidal cones abave the plateau to the north-west of Kilitna-Njaro, one of them attaining an altitude of no less than 13,000 feet. The eminences rising above the rugged uplands stretching north of Kilima- Njaro present in many places the aspect of veritable mountain ranges. The Kiulu and Ulu mountains, both of which send affluents to the Sabaki, constitute a long chain disposed first in the direction from sou'h-east to north-west, and then trending due north parallel with the escarpments which skirt the east and west sides of the crevassed waterpartiug. The northern extremity of the Ulu range points precisely in the direction of Mount Kenia, which ranks next to Kilima- Njaro as the loftiest mountain in the whole continent. Owing to the gentle slope of its flanks, Kenia covers an extensive superficial area. Its lava-streams have been discharged on an incline of not more than ten or twelve degrees down to the base of the mountain, which rests on a platform with a mean altitude of about 5,500 feet above the sea. Mount Kenia. Frcm the centre of this blackish platform rises the highest peak, a regular pyramid considerably over 3,000 feet high, and so steep in several places that the snow is unable to lodge on the rocky ground. The cone is rather of a greyish than a white colour, whence its Masai name, Dung^ Egere, or " Grey Mountain," although, according to Von der Decken, it is also known as the "White Mountain." Kenia lies nearly 200 miles farther north than Kilima-Njaro, the line of the equator crossing its slopes north of the central peak. Nevertheless the cKmatic