NYASALAND PROTECTORATE. Nyasaland covers rather more than 40,000 sq.m., of which 37,890 are land. The country is situated between
45' and 17° 15' S., and between 33° and 36° E. Its length from north to south is about 52o m., while its width varies from 5o to roo miles. It is bounded on the west by northern Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa, on the north-east by Tanganyika Territory, and on the east and south by Portuguese East Africa. The northern half of its eastern boundary is formed by Lake Nyasa.
Nyasaland consists of elevated plateaux, sometimes separated by low-lying ground. The most important of these are the Nkonde mountains in the north-west, 6,000 to 7,000 ft. high, the Nyika plateau, rising to over 8,000 ft., and the Angoni land plateau, whose highest points range between 5,00o and 6,000 ft., both of these plateaux being on the western side of the lake: the Mlanje massif, in the extreme south-east, mostly over 6,000 ft., with several peaks rising above the general level, one attain ing 9,843 ft., and the Shire highlands between Lake Shirwa and the Shire river, reaching, in their highest point, an elevation of 7,000 feet.
Lake Nyasa (q.v.), situated 1,645 ft. above sea-level, receives a number of comparatively small rivers from the neighbouring highlands, and is drained southward by the Shire river, which flows into the Zambezi. The lake has few good harbours, and is swept from time to time by violent northerly and southerly winds. Other large lakes are Lake Shirwa and Lake Chiuta, a sheet of water situated north of Lake Shirwa, and being 3o m. long and from 2 to 8 m. broad. The water of Lake Chiuta, like that of Lake Nyasa, is fresh.
In the low-lying regions about the Shire river and the lakes, the climate is hot and trying; the temperature may rise to 12o° in the shade, and the annual rainfall is less than 35 inches. The climate of the plateaux is naturally somewhat cooler and more healthy; frost may occur at night during the cool season, though even then the day temperatures may be considerable. The rainy
season lasts from the end of November to the end of March, but the rains vary considerably in quantity and duration. Records are insufficient to give reliable averages, but some of the higher sta tions may receive from 4o to 6o in. per annum. Much of the rain may fall in short, heavy showers. Europeans living in Nyasaland need to spend a period in a temperate climate every few years to recuperate their vitality. Malaria and blackwater fever are fairly common.
Large tracts of the country are still covered with forest, especially away from the centres of European or native settlement. The forests are of little economic value, apart from their effect in checking rapid run-off and soil erosion. Most of the trees are small, the diameter of their trunks at about 4 ft. from the ground being usually from 4 to 12 inches. Timber trees of greater size and value are to be found in damp ravines on the mountain sides and along the banks of the rivers. The most im portant of these are the patches of Mlanje cypress (Widdring tonia Whytei), which yields a soft, durable wood, immune from the attacks of termites. These trees grow on the higher slopes of Mlanje mountain, and are not found elsewhere in Nyasaland. Two species of Brachystegia—Mombo and Nchenga—provide the na tives with material for bark cloth and ropes. Tree planting is encouraged, and seeds are easily procurable of the Mlanje cypress, and of several kinds of eucalyptus, which is the most important of the exotic trees.
In 1931 the population consisted of 1,975 Euro peans, most of whom live in the Shire highlands, 1,591 Asiatics, and 1,599,888 natives. (See separate articles on the tribes YAOS, ANGONI, etc.) In 1901 the native population numbered only 736,724, the subsequent increase being due, to a considerable ex tent, to the immigration of Anguru from Portuguese territory.