The partition of Africa . pidlydiminishes as we leave the coast. The north-east horn ofAfrica, including Somaliland, has from 10 to 25 inches,with the exception of an area from Lake Rudolf tobeyond the Jub, where the rainfall is from 5 to 10 , then, except in the centre of the Continent, inTropical Africa the rainfall is almost everywhere inade-quate for industrial operations ; so that where Europeansmight settle, so far as temperature goes, the water-supply is defective. Even, however, in the central belt,especially in East Africa, there are considerable areasof desert met with, wh
The partition of Africa . pidlydiminishes as we leave the coast. The north-east horn ofAfrica, including Somaliland, has from 10 to 25 inches,with the exception of an area from Lake Rudolf tobeyond the Jub, where the rainfall is from 5 to 10 , then, except in the centre of the Continent, inTropical Africa the rainfall is almost everywhere inade-quate for industrial operations ; so that where Europeansmight settle, so far as temperature goes, the water-supply is defective. Even, however, in the central belt,especially in East Africa, there are considerable areasof desert met with, where the water-supply is almost and Closely related to the supply of water from aboveis that on the surface of the Continent. One of themost characteristic features of Central Africa is itsgroup of great lakes—Victoria Nyanza, Albert andAlbert Edward Nyanzas, Tanganyika, Mweru, Bang-weolo, Nyasa—just on the eastern edge of the regionwhere the rainfall may be from 50 to 100 inches. On 1AM AII1 II Mil II HI lil. THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF AFRICA 473 the northern edge of the 25 to 50 inch area we findLake Chad, which is really not much more thanan enormous swamp varying very greatly in areaaccording to the season. South from the southernedge we find a corresponding swampy lake, Ngami,which may be all that remains of a much greater lake,into which, at no very remote period, the Zambesi mayhave discharged its waters. The only other lakes ofany consequence in Africa are Lake Dembea among theAbyssinian mountains, and Lake Rudolf to the north-east of Victoria Nyanza, situated in a comparativelydry region, and forming the receptacle of an inlanddrainage basin. But the great mass of lacustrine watersis concentrated in the centre of the Continent. It is not surprising, then, to find that the rivers ofAfrica, with one exception, draw their supplies fromthe centre of the Continent. The Nile drains thewaters of the three Nyanzas, and one of its chiefeastern feeders comes from the lak
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1895
