The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-18

disappeared. He travelled back and
forth across the floor of the valley,
and penetrated on the north as far as
Lake Baringo. In a general sort of
way Rift valley is cleft in vast
volcanic plateau, and it is Doctor
Gregory's belief that this plateau ex-
hibits peculiar type of land making.
Its origin is due. he thinks, to vast
plateau eruption, as he is pleased to
term il. For example, considerable
portion of the Italian peninsula has
been formed or at least overlaid by
lava flows from Vesuvius and Aetna.
While the great lava beds of America
and the Docean Traps of India are
probably due to what are known as
assure eruptions, where a huge crack
or rent has been made in the earth's
crust and the lava has boiled up
through this. The conformation of the
East African plateau seems to indi-
cate that the whole region was at one
time burst through by an innumerabie
series of small fissures-in other words,
that the country very much resembled
the meshes of a colossal sieve, with
the lava pouring up from beneath.
Doctor Gregory estimates the extent
of these fields as something in the
neighborhood of 100000 square miles.
1t must have been ages of time df-
terward that the great fault of Rift
valley was made. since its bold and
precipitous sides stand out in the clear
desert air almost as if they had been
formed but yesterday. Further, the
apparently absolute absence of any
fossils of marine origin tells that here
at least it is not probable that the sea
ever penetrated
Yet another curious feature of this
mysterious region are the block
mountains. These seem to have been
formed through some convulsion,s by
which the whole of the surrounding
land had suddenly sunk away, leaving
single portion supported as if upon
pedestal The strata of rock lie hori-
zontal and as little disturbed appar-
emily as If there had been no Stupendous
subsistence of the surrounding country.
INHABITED BY SAVAGE TRIBES.
AS might be supposed this wild re-
gion is only scantily populated and
then only by savage tribes. The most
formidable Of the latter are the Sornali
who dwell in the lower portions. They
are warlke and aggressive race who
make life anything but pleasant for
the daring intruder who ventures 20
invade their country. The floor of the
Great Rift valley, proper, however, is
occupied by the NjelnpSians, whose
character is that of truStful friendli-
ness and simplicity. Many of them are
agriculturalists, the body CT the popu-
lation having abandoned the nomadac
life of their ancestors. So peaceful are
they that one can walk about their
country unarmed and unattended, and
chase butterflies or stalk zebras with
as little fear as if one were rambling
through English lanes. The country
moreover is usually rich in food and
caravans refill their empty sacks for
the journey northward over the food
less waste that must be traversed in
order to reach the ivory-yielding dis
trict of Sambaru. But they are print
tive in the extreme. The author
quotes Kipling for a description of the
costume of the natives.
The uniform e wore
Was nothing much before,
And little less than 'alf O. that be-
ind,
For piece o. twisted rag
And a goatskin water bag
Was all the field equipment e could
ind
The main difference in the costume
of Kipling's hero and that of the
Njempsians was the absence of
otherwise. Gregory gave to his
guides a few hands" of cotton
THREE GREAT RIFT
clotn Dy way OF repayment, and also in
the hope that they might wear part of
It, But the Njempsians were far too pru-
dent They pointed out that if worn the
cloth would get dirty and crumpled; more.
over, the thorns would tear it; while
neither dirt nor scratches would matter
on their skins. Nor did they need clothes
for the sake of pockets for they carried
their chief impediments, a toothpick and
quid of tobacco, in the expanded lobes
of their left ears. The cloth, therefore,
was left safely at home in Njemps
The only weapons of the natives were
bows and arrows, and Gregory's guides
at least were appallingly bad shots. The
intellectual attachments of the Njemp-
slams are as simple as their personal
adornment. They can only count up to
five and have no idea of distance. Every
thing not in sight was ''loqua'' (far DID,
But they We're splendid walkers and did
not know the meaning of fatigue. They
have the morals of child of and appe-
tites in proportion. One of Gregory's
guides could eat three roast ducks straight
off before his eyes and then declare he
was dying of starvation. He was easily
terroriZed, but on the other hand, he
would lie by the yard.
NOT AN INVITING REGION.
The country is hardly adaptable as a
summer resort, since it is not only under
the burning sun OF the equator, but it is
infested with dense swarms of flies which
would quite blacken the roof of a tent
The flies, however, We're harmless
in comparison with the mosquitoes,
which rose like a heavy mist from the
marshes Immediately after sunset