The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-01-02

TRAvELER's SOLUTION OF THE
TANCANYIKA MYSTERY.
Fauna OF the big Lakes Found to BE
Wholly Lacustrine - Volcanoes Dam
Up Stream aud Turn the water the
Oiher Way. g

The mystery that has always sur
rounded the great lakes of Central
Africa Is largely solved in the new
number of the Geographical journal
by Mr.. j. f. S. Moore. His explora-
tions have linked together much in
formation previously rather fragmen-
tary Tanganyika was discovered By
Burton and Speke in 1857, and the lat
ter brought to England a few shells
picked up on its shore which found
their way to the British museum. Some
Of them puzzled the experts, for,
though taken from a fresh water lake
very far inland, they strongly resem-
bied genera which inha5it the goa.
They had also curiously old world
aspect as if they were lineaI descend
ants OF shells which lived about the
time when the linlestones called ool-
ties were formed. or considerably be-
fore our chalk was deposited. But the
little known about Africa had led ge-
ologists to suppose that, at any rate,
the central and southern parts had
been above the sea far longer than
this. In course of time, however, more
discoveries were mad in Tanganyika,
including shells of similar types, ps-
culiar fishes, crabs, prawns, sponges.
and even Jelly hsh-in fact. a num-
Der Of creatures, all suggesting that
their an< 3stoIs had been marine. Then
in 1897 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
ganyil.a communicate with the sea
Some ten years ago Prof. Suess, Of vi
enna, 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 trayersed by re-
markable group OF riffs, which had
resulted in the formation Of valleys.
II these lay the longer and narrower
Of the African lakes He traced the
rift system" from Syria, along the
valley Of the Jordan. down the Red
sea, southwark into Africa. Near Lake
Rudolf it divides the two branches
opening ont to inclose a broad trace
OF highlands in the middle OF which
IS the wide Victoria Nyanza. The
western arm passes through the Al
bert lake, Kivu and Tanganyika. turn
ing eastward from the south end OF
the last to the head Of Nyassa. Here
i is very probably joined by the east
ern branch, which can be traced for
long way passing to the west Of
kenya acd Kilimanjaro These great
riffs would seem TO be the natural
lines Of connection with the ancient
ocean. and. If so, that could be tracked
by seeing which of the lakes contained
the strange creatures of Tanganyllsa.
So a second expedition was organized.
headed by Mr.. Moore to examine the
whole chain of lakes along the west
ern Rife Valley" from Nyassa to the
Albert Nyanza. His former expedi-
tion 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 Tanganyika he found still
more evidence of an ancient marine
fauna which had tenanted its waters
at a time when the lake covered a
much larger area. But neither in
Kivu 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 Ny
assa, 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 II may seem he gives good reasons
for believing that Kivu had been
formed By the outbreaking Of these
volcanoes, which have damned I'D 4
stream that formerly ran to the north
till the water at last found ali out
let in the opposite direction down to
Tanganyika. Thus, strange as it may
seem, the sea can only have lain to
the west, over the present basin of the
Congo. o.-London Standard
A Pleasant Fad.
An attractive f.ochfnn ar,,orn 49,