The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XII, No. 2 [‎300r] (102/154)

THE MONTHLY RECORD.
189
AFRICA..
Surveys in Buddu, Koki, and Ankole. —In a letter dated Buddu, April 18,
1898, Lieut. Hobart, one of the officers on military duty in Uganda, gives some
details respecting surveys carried out by him in the districts to the south-west of
that country, accompanied by a map. His routes have intersected Buddu and
Koki in all directions, and many minor corrections and additions have resulted.
The most important is the insertion of a new Lake, some 14 miles by 3, which
drains to the Victoria Nyanza by the Kibale or Kiwale river, just north of the Kagera.
The lake lies due north and south, and is named by the natives Kachera, but its
discoverer has named it Hobart. A lake, Kanyete or Kachera, was shown by
Lugard, who, however, did not visit it, and according to Lieut. Hobart there are
two distinct lakes of those names, as well as one named Kajanabatola (Villiers),
which means “ It comes as you look at it,” and refers to the sudden rise and fall
of its level, due apparently to subterranean action. Lieut. Hobart says that the
Germans have since 1894 occupied the district of Kibumbiro, part of which lies
north of 1° south, and therefore properly falls outside their sphere. He urges that
the Kagira (Kagera) is the natural boundary of Uganda, and speaks of a current said
to set across the Victoria Nyanza from its mouth towards the Victoria Nile. It is
known to the natives as Kiira, practically identical with the name of the river.
The Sulphur Springs of Amhoni, German East Africa.— In the Deutsches
Kolonialblatt for May 16, Herr Bernhardt gives a short account of the sulphur
springs which have been discovered on the banks of the Sigi, a small river
debouching into Tanga bay, and which have been thought capable of utilization as
a curative agent. The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. describes the geological features of the neighbour
hood, and discusses the probable origin of the springs and the means which might
be employed to make use of them for baths. At the point where they occur, the
Sigi has cut itself a deep channel through the limestone rock, which ends here as
an eastward-facing escarpment. The most copious spring occurs on the left bank
at the mouth of the gorge, issuing from a field of piled-up blocks at the foot of the
cliff. The level of the river varies considerably, according to the season and the
state of the tide, the fresh water being impounded at high tide, though no salt water
reaches the spot. The springs are situated at about mean water-level, being
completely covered at times. Herr Bornhardt considers that the spring water is
collected by the limestone and overlying strata of sandy clay, but is of opinion that
the sulphur is obtained from other strata of Jurassic age (marls, clay-slate, etc.),
which come to light on a tributary of the Sigi, and have been found to contain
concretions of iron pyrites. The broken nature of the limestone formation will
render doubtful the success of any efforts to raise the level of the spring-water by
dams. At low water, however, it might be utilized at its present level by the
excavation of a basin, while at high water it would have to be raised by pumping.
A sketch, showing the position of the springs, accompanies the article.
Lieut. Werther’s Explorations in German East Africa.— The expedition
carried out by Lieut. Werther in 1896-97 to the northern parts of German East
Africa, between Masailand and Unyamwezi, has already been briefly alluded to in
our pages. The cartographical results have now been published in Petermanns
Mitteilungen (1898, No. 4) on the scale of 1: 750,000, accompanied by a general
description of the country traversed; and as Lieut. Werther’s routes (including
those of his former journey in 1893) have intersected the country in all directions,
he is able to give, from personal knowledge, a very complete account of its
orographical and other features. The Nguru, Usagara, and Rubeho mountains
form, in his opinion, a connected system, almost all the streams from which belong