The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

251 SOUTU AND EAST AFIUCA.Climate oi- tiif. Zamisf.se ]5asix.In such a vast urea of dniinagc as tliat of the Ku-Bango and Zainhusc riversystems, the climate naturally jn'csouts many contrasts according to the aspect ofthe land, its general relief and distance from the sea. About the region of thefarthest sources, comprising a portion of the plateau •where the Cuanza and theKassai also take their rise, the climatic conditions are the same as those of theAngolan uplands. Here the rainfall is abundant, thanks to the moist west windsfrom the Atlantis ;but the transitions are at times very sudden from heat to cold.So also on the extensive level plains traversed by the Lower Ku-Bango, cool weatheralternates with intense heat, although here little moisture is precipitated bj' thenormallj' dry atmosphere. These regions form, in fact, a northern continuationof the Great Karroo and of the Kalahari Desert, and almost everywhere presentnearly the same meteorological phenomena.Farther cast, the Middle Zambese region in the same way reproduces theconditions prevalent in the Transvaal, while the zone of coastlands, being abundantlywatered and exposed to the reg\ilar action of the trade-winds and marinebreezes, belongs rather to tropical Africa. The fierce hurricanes so destructive onthe high seas, are unknown on this seaboard of the Zambese delta. The mostcarefully studied part of the whole basin is that of Lake Nyassa, where Europeanmissionaries have been stationed for some jears. Here the rains, which begin inDecember and last till April or May, arc sufficiently copious, even in a comjjarativelydry year, amounting to 90 inches at Bandawe. Towards the south therainfall gradually diminishes, being scarcely more than 33 inches at Tete, on theZambese.*Flora.A striking contrast is presented between the wealth of the vegetation on theseaboard and its poverty farther inland. To the rich flora of the coastlands theaspect of equatorial forests is imparted by the great variety of palms, includingeven a species of the banyan, or as it is here called, the " many-legged tree." Butin the interior an exuberant vegetation occurs only in the districts more favouredby a copious rainfall or an abundant supply of running waters. Such are, forinstance, the summits of the cliffs exposed to the heavy vapours constantly rollingup from the bottomless chasm of the great Victoria Falls.Sjieaking generally the Zambese basin, which is entirely comprised withinthe toi'rid zone, yields in richness of vegetation to that of the better wateredregion of the Congo. Its flora is mainly composed of forms common to thatbotanical zone, but also includes a few species which have penetrated from theCape northwards beyond the tropic of Cajiricorn. One of these immigrants is the* Temperatiire at Bandawe, on tlie west side of Nyaasa, 11° 4' S. latitude: mean for November,hottest month, SoT. ; May, coldest month, 60°; extreme heat, 99°; extreme cold, 54". Mean temperatureat Teto, IG' 10' S. latitude, 62' F. : mean for November, hottest month, 83°; July, coldest month,72° F.