Page:The empire and the century.djvu/823

 are covered with thick vegetation, their green slopes contrasting sharply with the sterility existing above ground-surface. Some of them contain small lakes, and, looking down from above into the pellucid water far below, the reflection of the trees and palms which border their shores is charmingly reproduced The traveller in this part of the country cannot help conjecturing as to what must have been its aspect when the many volcanoes, of which these craters once formed the outlets, were in full activity, and were all spouting flame, or throwing up streams of molten lava.

The remote sheet of water, known as Lake Albert Edward, although its general aspect is one of loneliness and gloom, is, nevertheless, at times invested with a wild beauty, visible on those rare occasions when the thick haze, which usually hangs over its surface, lifts and permits a view of its surroundings. On a clear day the views are very fine. At its southern extremity a tract of bare, lava-covered plain, in which geysers throw up jets of water and steam, rises sharply to the mountain range dividing the valley of the Albert Edward from that of Lake Kivu. Over the hill-tops a cloud perpetually broods, due to the smoke emitted by the craters of the still active volcanoes. West and north-west the Wakondio mountains form a noble background, rising apparently to the skies. This chain is among the finest in Central Africa, and its spurs descend, in a series of sheer precipices, to the shore of the lake. These mountains are, however—more particularly in the Semliki Valley—dwarfed by the imposing mass of Ruwenzori, which entirely dominates the landscape. The snow-clad peaks of this, the highest mountain in Africa, tower above all else, and stand out in distinct relief above the rugged summits of the secondary ranges. High up the western slopes of Ruwenzori, and across the deep gorge in which the Semliki skirts its base, extends an outlying area of the great Congo forest, the scene of Stanley's wanderings, and the home of the pigmy, the gorilla, and the strangely marked okapi. The eastern slopes are devoid