A NEW ISLAND. 167 of considerable altitude, which may be compared with Jebel Eriku, and still farther south it has yet higher peaks; the entire range is called by the Negroes, from the country behind it, the Mountains of Léndu. ‘The island, off which we lay, is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, which was not deep enough for the steamer. To judge from the great quantity of mud in it, this channel will ere long be quite filled up; meanwhile it is kept open by the strong current that is driven through it by the powerful south wind.

The island is very short, of crescent shape, and lies with its convexity towards the north. It is of quite recent formation, for in 1879, as we noticed whilst going across from Mahagi to the hot springs of Kibiro, the spot where it now lies was covered with shallow water. It was therefore formed within the space of about five years, for it has been already occupied. for two years. Its maximum length, from horn to horn, measures 3200 feet, and its maximum breadth 300 feet; its ereatest height above the level of the lake is about 6 feet. Its shores, which are flat and slope gradually down to the water, consist entirely of drift sand, and surround a firmer centre of rich dry mud. ‘Tall grass and reeds grow at the water's edge, and a species of acacia (Acacia mellifera) upon the higher parts of the island. A multitude of black-headed weaver-birds (Hyphantormis dinudiata) were flitting about the island, numerous little fly-catchers (Muscicapa) clung to the stems of the reeds, a flock of Phalacrocorax africanus were sunning themselves on the margin of the water, and close by them some huge crocodiles were lazily basking in the sun. These creatures seem to abound in the neighbourhood; we afterwards killed one which measured 114 feet in length. Turtles of great size must also be plentiful in these waters; at Jeast I infer so from the large eggs which we found so abundantly everywhere; but I never succeeded in getting possession of one of the animals themselves.

The origin of this island, to which the natives give the name of Tunguru, admits of easy explanation. The large volume of water contributed to the lake by the two principal feeders which join it in the south-west—viz., the Nyussi-Msisi and the