The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

3IGSOUTH AND EAST Al'EIOA.of from 4,000 to G,000 feet, which has been carved into parallel sections by therunning waters, and which gradually merges in the surrounding plains. Thisvast sustaining platform, which projects some 12 miles beyond the normal slopeof the volcano, constitutes the Chaga countrj-, the only fertile and inhabited partof the whole clump of mountains.The snow rests throughout the year on both crests ofKilima-Njaro, eitlier ina uniform mass, or in streaks and patches. From season to season, almost fromday to day, and even during the dry period, the aspect of the upper slopes undergoescontinual change, due to the alternate expansion and decrease of the snowfields.Till recently the coast people supposed that this snowy mantle, glitteringin the tropical sun, was a solid mass of silver, and expeditions were frequentlyorganised to scale the escarpments of the mountain in search of the precious metal,which when reached melted into water at the touch of their profane hands. Thesnows usually descend lowest in the month of October, especially on the westernslopes, where they stand at the level of about 14,000 feet above the sea ; in Julyand August they recede nearest to the summit of both cones. The ascent of themountain, at all times extremel}' difficult, is most easily performed during thesnowy months, because at that time there is less fog, and, strange as it may seem,the cold is then less intense. The summits are seldom altogether free from cloudsor mist. But when the snow-capped dome is seen glittering in the sun highabove the lower fogs, it appears all the more magnificcnt that it seems entirelysevered from the earth by the intervening oceans of vapours. Then it is indeedthe Ngaje Ngai, or " House of God," as the Masai call it. They also give it themore simple title of Dunye Ebor, or " White Mountain."TitENjiri Pi.aix.The opposite slopes of Kilima-Njaro present a most remarkable contrast intheir general appearance. All the streams which take their rise amid the snowsof the higher regions flow exclusively down the southern flanks of the mountain.A few torrents have no doubt their sources on the east and west sides, but thesesources are all situated about the base, ao that here the upper slopes are destituteofrunning waters, while the northern flanks are everywhere perfectly dry on thesurface. It is watered by no streams. Hence the Njiri jjlain, which on this sidestretches along the foot of the mountain, is a complete desert, although a fewsprings are seen bubbling up here and there. These springs, which flow to thesurrounding lagoons and saline reservoirs, are evidently themselves fed by undergroundstreams concealed amid the ashes and scoriaD of the volcano.The Njiri reservoirs are not the only closed basins occurring round about theperiphery of Kilima-Njaro. One of these basins lying at its south-east foot, andknown as Lake Chala, is a flooded igneous crater, whose almost vertical walls ofscoritc are encircled on the summit by a garland of verdure. Its waters are sweetand transparent. The Masai have a tradition that the lake was formed during aviolent eruption, during which oik- of their villages disappeared; and, as in so