, 1890-08-09

quoting =
"About a mile from Mtarega the grassy
strip 10 which We had chung III PIE. crrnce
was ended, the forest had ch,d acloSs
the breadth of The Srnliki Valley, and
had absorbed the RnwenZOri slopes 10 Il
height Uf seven thousand feet above rs,
ana whether we w0Ul4 or no. We had to
enler the doletul shades again. But thea
the perfection OF a tropical iOrrSt WAS
around uS. Ii even eClipHed HE Ituli Val
ley i'll The variety OF plants and gen eral
SnppinCsS. There were clumps Of palms,
there were giant-tree ferns, there were
wild bananas, and tall stately trees all
coated with thick green moss ftoni top to
root, impenetlable thickets Of hroad-ieafed
plants, and beads OF moisture everywhere.
besides tiny rilIets oczimg ont every few
wards from under the matted taDgle Of
vivid green and believed underground.
1t was the best specimen of a tr pical con-
servatOry | had ever seen. 1t could not be
excelled if art had lent its aid to improve
nature. III every tree. fork and along the
great horizontal branches grew the lovllest
ferns and lichenS the elpphant-ear by the
dozen, the orchids in close fellowship, and
the bright green moss had formed soft cir
Cular cushions about them, and Oh almost
every fibre there trembled a clear water
drop, and everything was bathed by a
most huluii atmosphere. The reason Of all
this was not far - seek; there were three
hot water springs. tl9 te'np eratuFo OF which
was 1929. This tract of forest was also i'll
the coSiest fold OF the snow mountains, and
whatever heat a hot sun furnished on this
place was long retalned,' Mr.. Stanley
may be said in this expedition TO have put
the fnal touch to the definite delimitatiOn
- a. EVo,,., III kEDN MI, NS,- T. 81,
only a few steps from the sources of the
Ituri aud its feeders, which go to swell the
Congo, to the edge of the esCaYpr~ent
whose feet are lappedby,,th the waters of Lake
Albert, which sends its tribute to the Nile.
ThaL the Southern Muta Nzige (Lake Albert
Edward belongs to the Nile and not to the
Congo system is finally proved. Mr.. Stan.
ley, who seems to have been still in Il
fighting mood while he was writing his
book at Cairo, severely CastigateS the map
makers for ignoring the work OF the carto-
%gTapherS of Ancient times. We need not
quarrel with his manner of opening up q
subject Of great interest.
What were the relations of Egypt, and
therefore of Ancient Europe with Central
Africa? 1t is certainly a noteworthy fact
that, even i'll the oldest maps whatever
was the real nature OfthGSe maps, we find
the Nile coming out OF two lakes, and we
find a range of mountains sc newhere in
the n~eighbourho0d, called the fountains
of the Moon. 1t is not to be supposed that
the people Of Africa were less restless in
ancient. times than they are now, nor that
the Egyptians did not make efforts to fluid
out where their great river came from.
Expeditions into the heart Of Africa we read
of in HerodOtus and elsewhere.
However the know ledge came-prOhably
obtained through traders or from natives
brought down as slaves to Egypt-there
can .be no doubt that the PtOlemaic maps
of Africa bear some distant resemblance
to reality. But all became much exagge-
rated as time went on. The maps of Afri.
ca became OvercrOwded with features the
authority for which it was impossible to
find out; the mountains of the Moon"
stretched themselves right across the con-
tiiWnt. That snowy RuwenzOri, Kilimania-
70, and Kel.ia formed the original nucleus
out of which these mountains we're evolved
there cal be little doubt. But modern
discoveries have proved how unlike the
maps Of Africa, before dAnville swept
them clean, were TO the reality, and hoe
essential it was to make a new start. No
one has done more than Mr.. Stanley him
self 10 fill the map OF Africa with anthem
tic features
Mr.. Stanley's pages. TEEN with facts and
suggestions OF interest to science. we
have only touched upon a few of the more
prominent topics referred to in the work.
Here, for example. are some curious data