The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-04-04
BIG AFRICAN LAKES.
TehvELER's SOLUTION OF TIE
TANGANYlkA MYSTERY.
Fauna OF the Big Lake, Found to BE
Wholly I-acustrinc Volcanoes Dam
Cp Stream aud Turn the Water the
Other Way. g

The mystery that has always sur
'ounded the great lakes of Central
Africa is largely solved in the new
number of the Geographical Journal
by Mr.. j. E. S. Moore. His explora-
lions have linked together much in
formation previously rather fragmen-
tary. Tanganyika was discovered by
Burton and Spoke in 1857, and the lat
ter brought to England few shells
picked up on it's shore which found
their way to the British museum. Some
OF them puzzled the experts, for,
thougn taken from fresh water lake
very far inland, they strongly resem-
Died genera which inhabit the sea.
They had also a curiously old world
aspect, as if they We're lineal descend
ants of shells which lived abort the
time when the limestones called ool-
ties We're formed, or considerably be-
fore our chalk was deposited. But the
little known about Africa had led ge-
ologlsts to suppose that, at any rate,
the central and southern parts had
Deen above the sea far longer than
this. In course of time, however, more
discoveries were mad in Tanganyika,
including shells of similar types, De-
cullar fishes, crabs, prawns, sponges,
and even jelly fish-in fact, a num-
Der of creatures, all suggesting that
lhelr ancestors had been marine Then
IN 1881 Mr.. Moore visited the lake
and brought back collections which
placed the matter beyond doubt. But
the settlement OF that question only
raised another. In what way did Tan
ganylka communicate with the sea?
some ten years ago Prof Suess, of vi
emma, by piecing together the informa-
ton gathered by travellers in the more
central parts of Africa came to the
conclusion that the continent on its
eastern side was traversed by a re-
markable group OF riffs, which had
resulted in the formation of valleys.
In these lay the longer and narrower
OF the African lakes. He traced the
fllt system" from Syria, along the
valley OF the Jordan, down the Red
sea, southwark into Africa Near Lake
huaolf 1t divides the two branches
opening out to inclose broad tract
OIL highlands in the middle of which
IS the wide Victoria Nyanza The
western arm passes through the AL
pert lake, kivu and Tanganyika, turn
ing eastward from the south end of
the last to the head of Nyassa Here
1t is very probably Joined by the east
ern branch, Which can be traced for
long way. passing to the west Of
kenya and kilimanjaTo These great
riffs would seem to be the natura,
INES OF connection with the ancient
ocean, and, if So that could be tracked
by seeing which of the lakes contained
the strange creatures OF Tanganyika.
SO second expedition was organized
headed by Mr.. Moore to examine the
whole chain of lakes along the west
| efn Rlfe Valley" from Nyassa to the
Albert Nyanza His former expedi-
tlon had made it almost certain that
| Nyassa had never been in communi-
| cation with the sea. Consequently.
the way could not have been from the
south. In Tanganyila he found still
| more evidence of an ancient marine
fauna which had tenanted it's waters
at time when the lake covered a
much larger area. But neither in
klvu nor in the Albert Edward lake
nor in the Albert Nyanza could he dis
cover any traces of these marine crea-
| lures. Their fauna. like that of Nv
ASA, was wholly lacustrine. More than
that, Mr.. Moore found that the river
draining Kivu descends as a torrent
through an upland region to the old
head Of Tanganyika and that the for
mer lake is cut off from the Albert
Edward by a huge mass of volcanoes
some of which are still active. Strange
as it may seem he gives good reasons
for believing that Kivu had been
formed by the outbreaking of these
volcanoes, which have damned up q
stream that formerly ran to the north
till the water at last found an OUT
let in the opposite direction down to
| Tanganyilla. Thus, strange as it NAV
seem, the sea can only have lain to
| the west, over the present basin of the
Congo.-London Standard.