Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/428

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SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA.

"Solitary Mountain," the truncated cone of Kasigao, and Maungu with its half ruined crater, stand out in complete isolation like reefs or rocky islets in the midst of the sea. But Mount Ndara, called also Kilima-Kiburu, that is, the "Great Mountain," lying due west of Maungu, is flanked by a number of less elevated crests, giving to the whole group the aspect of a short Ibu continuous chain. Still farther west the plain stretching away towards Kilima-Njaro is dominated by a somewhat similar but more extensive group bearing the collective name of the Bura Mountains. But on every side — north, south, east, and west —

Fig. 108. — Kilima-Njaro.

all these secondary heights, whether isolated or grouped in clusters, disappear at some distance from Kilima-Njaro, leaving the monarch of African mountains to stand out in solitary grandeur.

Kilima-Njaro.

Kilima-Njaro, that is, the "White Mountain," as explained by Thomson, or more probably the "Demon's Mountain,"[1] as interpreted by Johnston, attains an altitude estimated at from 18,800 to nearly 20,000 feet.[2] It thus exceeds the

  1. From Kilima, Mountain, and Njaro, the name of a demon supposed to cause cold. But this name, current amongst the coast people, is quite unknown to the natives of the interior.
  2. Meyer, 19,500; Thomson, 19,800.