Southern From Lake Tchad the country begins to rise till below the 10th degree of north latitude, where the edge of the ele vated plateau of high or southern Africa be gins. This division of the continent is, as far as known, completely surrounded, at a distance of 50 to 300 miles from the coast (which is usually low but rising inland), by what look like ranges of mountains varying in breadth and height; but which are really the escarpment of a tableland, or series of tablelands, of con siderable elevation and great diversity of sur face and direction, having hollows filled with greal lakes rivaling those of America in extent, and terraces over which the rivers break them selves in falls and rapids. The southern di vision has, like the northern, a desert region the Kalahari desert - but it is of small extent compared to the Sahara. In some respects it resembles the Sahara, but possesses more vege tation. The mountains which inclose the south tableland are mostly much higher on the east than on the west, and the slope of the land and the flow of the principal rivers, with the excep tion of the Zambezi, is from east to west. The east edge of the plateau reaches its highest ele vation and greatest extent in the mountainous country of Abyssinia, with heights of 10,000 to 14,000 or 16,000 feet. From this the system ex tends north in detached ranges or occasional elevations between the valley of the Nile and the Red Sea, with gradually diminishing height to the very delta of the Nile. The east edge of the Abyssinian plateau presents a steep un broken line of 7,000 feet in height for several hundred miles. This line of elevation extends south toward Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie and thence in a narrow belt and at a lower average level to the northeast of the Victoria Nyanza; it then proceeds in a south direction to Kilima Njaro, beyond which the plateau merges into the Pare Mountains in the neighborhood of the Pangani River. Immediately to the south of Lake Rudolf, Mount Nyiro rises to a height of 10,000 feet; Mount Elgon, to the northeast of Victoria Nyanza, 14,100 feet; Mount Kenia, 18,370 feet; Kilima-Njaro, 19,300 feet; Mount Meru, to the west of Kilima-Njaro, 14,000 feet The general level of the plateau between Mount Kenia and the lake is from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. To the west of Victoria Nyanza, between Lakes Albert and Albert Edward, Mount Ruwenzori rises to a height of 16,600 feet, and the active volcanic Kirunga Mountains, south of Lake Albert Edward, to 13,000 feet. All these moun tains are volcanic in origin, and between Kilima Njaro and the lake signs of volcanic activity are still visible. The central plateau reaches its greatest average height, over 4,000 feet, in the region embracing the Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyassa; it forms a broad belt reaching close to the east coast and in an equally broad belt extends from Lake Nyassa to the west coast. Above this are numerous detached heights, like the Rubeho Mountains, west of Zanzibar, the Livingstone Mountains around the north of Lake Nyassa, and the Mlanje heights south of that lake, Mount Mlanje being 9,680 feet. South of the Zambezi occur the Mashona and Matoppo highlands, ris ing in places to from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. Im mediately to the south of the Middle Limpopo a series of mountains begins which, under vari ous names - Zoutpansberg, Libdmbo, Drakens berg, Compassberg, Schneeberg, etc.- extends along the east and south coast and north to some distance beyond Cape Town. In Natal these rise to 10,000 and 12,000 feet, and in Cape Colony to 7,000 and 8,000 feet; the interior pla teau averaging about 4,000 feet, but falling to a lower level in the Kalahari desert. Between the Orange River and the Kunene, and the lat ter river and the Kongo, the escarpment con tinues, rising in places to 6,000 and 8,000 feet. The general level lowers considerably as the Kongo is reached. The low coast region ex tends some distance into the interior along this part of the we t coast, the descent from the in terior plateau giving rise to the cataracts which so seriously interrupt navigation on the lower Kongo. On both sides of the middle Kongo extends a considerable area which sinks from the generally high level of the interior to an average of only about 1,000 feet. From the Kongo and Kameruns the general level of the coast plateau is broken by the Crystal and other mountains rising to 3,000 and 4,000 feet, cul minating in the Kameruns Peak, a volcanic mountain rising to 13,000 feet. On the south of the Benue, in the Atlantika group, and be tween the Benue and the Niger, we find a broken mountain group with heights of from 6,000 to 10,000 feet; while in the interior north of the Gulf of Guinea there is a broad plateau, beginning at various distances from the coast, extending across the upper Niger, and rising to 2,000 and 3,000 feet with irregular ranges ris ing at places to from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. The Kong Mountains, in the region where the Niger has its sources, as a range do not exist. As the middle Niger is approached the general level lowers to that of the Sahara, while north the low coast region extends far into the interior till the Atlas is reached.
The Nile is the only great river of Africa which flows to the Mediterranean. It is now known to receive its waters primarily from the country drained by the great lakes, the Vic toria Nyanza, the Albert Nyanza and the Albert Edward Nyanza, and especially from the Vic toria Nyanza, which itself receives numerous streams. The Victoria Nile connects the Vic toria and the Albert Nyanza; and on leaving the latter the river flows in a winding course, of which the direction is almost due north, without further lake expansion, to the Mediter ranean. In descending from the lake elevations (of the Victoria 3,900, of the Albert Edward 3,200 feet, the latter connected by the Semliki River with the Albert 2,300 feet) it makes, both between the lakes and in its subsequent course, numerous falls. Those in upper Egypt are known as the Cataracts. Between lat. 5° and north, under the name of Bahr-el-Jebel, it receives numerous tributaries, mostly from the country to the south and west; the principal on the left bank being the Bahr-el-Ghazal, on the right the Sobat. After this it takes the
name of the White Nile, and receives through the Bahr-el-Azrek and Atbara, or Blue Nile and Black River, the drainage of Abyssinia. The Atbara brings the mud which forms so precious a deposit in Egypt. After this the Nile flows for 1,200 miles to the sea without receiving a tributary. Altogether it drains an area of more than 1,600,000 square miles. The Indian Ocean receives numerous African rivers, most of which are short, being the drainage merely of the external slopes of the escarpment of the interior plateau. Among the most considerable rivers on this coast are the Jub, which is formed by several streams rising in the border slopes near Abyssinia, is navigable with difficul ty to Bardera, and enters the ocean at the equa tor; the Webi Shebeli, formed by streams rising on the southeast slopes of Abyssinia, and losing itself in the sands on the coast near the mouth of the Jub; the Tana from Mount Kenia dis charging at Witu; the Sabaki south of the Tana; the Rovuma, which flows from the moun tains east of Lake Nyassa; the Beira; and the Limpopo or Crocodile, which enters 'the ocean north of Delagoa Bay. The only great river flowing from a distant point of the interior which breaks the mountain barrier of the east is the Zambezi, which has its embouchure be tween the Beira and Rovuma. It is the fourth in size of the continent. It drains a large part of the great tract of pastoral country south of the equatorial region. Several streams coming from the swampy plateau on the borders of Lunda and the Garenganze country unite to form the Zambezi, the principal being the Liba from the southwest edge of the Garenganze country. In its middle course it is joined by the Kafue and Loangwe from the north and the Shire from Lake Nyassa, and by the Chobe and some smaller streams from the south. Below the Chobe are the Victoria Falls, one of the greatest cataracts in the world; from which the river flows in a semi-circular course to the ocean, breaking through the Lupat Mountains, and discharging by several mouths, the most navigable of which is the Chinde. The river is navigable by vessels of some size to the Karoa bassa Rapids beyond the Shire, but above that only by boats and canoes. The drainage area of the Zambezi is 550,000 square miles.
Of the Atlantic rivers the Senegal, Gambia and Niger have their origin in the mountains near the coast of Senegambia. The Senegal flows in a northerly and westerly direction, its volume varying much according to the season. In the rainy season it is navigable for 500 to 700 miles, in the dry season for about a fourth of that distance. The Gambia takes a winding course to the west, and is navigable for about 400 miles, nearly its whole extent. The great est of these rivers, the Niger, rising in the inner slope of the same mountains, flows northeast to Timbuktu, whence it turns first east and after ward southeast, receiving the Sokoto, to its junction with the Benue, which comes from the mountains south of Lake Tchad. The upper part of the Niger is called the Joliba, and is flanked by several great swampy lakes; it after ward acquires the name of Quorra or Kawarra. In the northern part of its course it touches on the great desert. It is navigable for light ves sels above Timbuktu. Between the Sokoto and the Benue it is interrupted by shoals and rocks to below Boussa. From the junction it flows due south to the ocean, where it forms a wide alluvial delta and enters by a number of mouths, the most distant of which are 200 miles apart. The main channel is called the Nun. The drain age area of the Niger is 810,000 square miles. The Kongo, the second in extent of basin and the greatest in volume of the African rivers, flows from different slopes of the same water sheds as the Zambezi. Its identification with the Lualaba, the great stream discovered by Livingstone in the centre of the continent, was established by Stanley in 1876-77, this enterpris ing traveler having descended the river to the Atlantic from a point in the interior west of Tanganyika. The Lukuga, the outlet of Lake Tanganyika, discovered by Cameron, is a tribu tary of the Lualaba. The Chambeze, which rises in the mountains between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika, is the remotest source of the Kongo system. It falls into Lake Bangweolo, from which it issues under the name Luapula and flows north to Lake Mweru; from the north side of this lake issues the Lualaba, which passes through a magnificent series of lake-like expansions and receives numerous tributaries. Below Stanley Falls it receives the Lomami, and above Stanley Pool the Kwa, which is formed by the junction of the Kasai-Sankuru system with the Lukuallu or Kwango. Other tributaries come from the south and in the north it is fed by the Ubangi, which, under the name of the Welle-Makua, comes from the water-parting between the Nile and Kongo sys tems. The total length of the Kongo is about 3,000 miles, and its drainage area 1,450,000 square miles. Unlike most of the African rivers, the mouth of the Kongo forms an es tuary. It is estimated to pour into the ocean a larger body of water than the Mississippi. The Kwanza rises in the Mossamba Mountains and curves northwest to the ocean. Like most African rivers, its upper course is interrupted by cataracts, and its mouth closed by a bar. The Kunene rises on the opposite side of the same watershed and flows southwest to the At lantic. From it south to the Orange River fol lows a dry belt, through which no considerable river flows to the sea. The Orange, though it rises near the east coast, and flows nearly across the south part of the continent, passes for the greater part of its course through a desert region, receiving no tributaries, and is a shallow stream. Its headwaters, the Vaal and the Nu Gariep, rise on opposite slopes of the Draken berg Mountains and flow to their junction round opposite sides of the Orange River Colony. The Great Fish River, which drains Great Namaqualand, enters the Orange River near the termination of its course.