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VICTORIA NYANZA

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 46 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VICTORIA See also:NYANZA , the largest See also:lake in See also:Africa and See also:chief See also:reservoir of the See also:Nile, lying between o° 20' N. to 3° S. and 31° 40' to 34° 52' E. Among the fresh-See also:water lakes of the See also:world it is exceeded in See also:size by •Lake See also:Superior only and has an See also:area of over 26,000 sq. m., being nearly the size of See also:Scotland. In shape it is an irregular See also:quadrilateral, but its shores, See also:save on the See also:west, are deeply indented. Its greatest length, taking into See also:account the See also:principal gulfs, N. to S. is 250 m., its greatest breadth 200 M. Its See also:coast-See also:line exceeds moo m. It fills a depression in the central See also:part of the See also:great See also:plateau which stretches between the western (Albertine) and eastern rift-valleys (see AFRICA, § 1), and has an See also:elevation of about 3720 ft. above the See also:sea.' Its greatest ascertained See also:depth is some 270 ft., which compares with soundings of 2000 ft. on See also:Tanganyika and 2500 ft. on See also:Nyasa. Victoria Nyanza is remarkable for the severe and sudden storms which sweep across it, rendering See also:navigation dangerous. It contains many See also:groups of islands, the See also:majority being near the coast-line. The lake is full of reefs, many just below the See also:surface of the water, which is clear and very fresh. It is abundantly stocked with See also:fish. See also:Geological See also:research shows that the See also:land surrounding the lake consists of See also:gneiss, See also:quartz and schistose rocks, covered, in the higher regions, with See also:marl and red See also:clay, and in the valleys with a See also:rich See also:black See also:loam. Shores and Islands.—The shores of the lake See also:present varied aspects.

The western coast, which contains no large indentations, is, in its See also:

southern part, backed by precipices of 300 or more ft. high, behind which rise See also:downs to thrice the height of the cliffs. Going See also:north, the hills give way to See also:papyrus and ambach swamps, which See also:mark the See also:delta of the See also:Kagera. Beyond the mouth of that See also:river the hills reappear, and increase in height, till on reaching the N.W. corner of the nyanza they rise some 500 ft. above the water. This western See also:shore is marked by a continuous See also:fault line which runs parallel to the lake at a See also:short distance inland. The See also:northern coast of the lake is very deeply indented and is marked throughout its length by rocky headlands jutting into the See also:waters. This high land is very narrow, and the streams which rise on its northern See also:face within a mile or two of the nyanza drain north away from the lake. On a promontory about 30 M. See also:east of the Katonga (see below) is Entebbe, the See also:port of See also:Uganda and seat of the See also:British See also:administration. The chief indentations on the north See also:side are See also:Murchison See also:Bay and See also:Napoleon Gulf, the entrance to the last named being partly filled by the triangular-shaped See also:island of Buvuma or Uvuma (area 16o sq. m.). Napoleon Gulf itself is deeply indented, one bay, that of Jinja, See also:running N.W. and being the outlet of the Nile, the water here forcing its way through the See also:rock-See also:bound shore of the lake. The north-east corner of the lake is See also:flat and See also:bare. A narrow channel, partly masked by islands, leads into See also:Kavirondo Gulf, which, with an See also:average width of 6 m., extends 45 M. E. of the normal coast-line—a fact taken See also:advantage of in See also:building the railway from See also:Mombasa to the lake.

A promontory, 174 ft. above lake-level, jutting into the small bay of Ugowe, at the north-east end of Kavirondo Gulf, is the point where the railway terminates. The station is known as Port See also:

Florence. On the See also:south side of the gulf tall hills approach, and in some cases reach, the water's edge, and behind them towers the rugged range of Kasagunga with its saw-like edge. Proceeding south the shore trends generally south-west and is marked with many deep inlets, the coast presenting a See also:succession of bold bluffs, while inland the whole See also:district is distinctly mountainous. At the S.E. corner of the lake See also:Speke Gulf projects eastward, and at the S.W. corner Emin See also:Pasha Gulf pushes southward. Here the coast is barren and hilly, while See also:long ridges of rock run into the lake. The largest island in the lake, Ukerewe, on the S.E. coast, immediately north of Speke Gulf, is almost a See also:peninsula, but the See also:strip of land connecting it with the shore is pierced by two narrow channels about of a mile long. Ukerewe is 25 M. long, and 12 broad at its greatest width. It is uninhabited, wooded and hilly, rising 65o ft. above the lake. At the N.W. corner of the nyanza is the Sesse See also:archipelago, consisting of sixty-two islands. The largest island in this See also:group, namely, Bugala, is narrow, resembling the See also:letter S in shape, and is almost cut in two in the See also:middle. Most of these islands are densely forested, and some of them attain considerable elevation.

Their scenery is of striking beauty. See also:

Forty-two were inhabited.' Buvuma Island, at the entrance of Napoleon Gulf, has already been mentioned. Between it and as far as the mouth of Kavirondo Gulf are numerous other islands, of which the chief are Bugaia, Lolui, Rusunga and Mfwanganu. In See also:general characteristics and the beauty of their scenery these islands resemble those of the Sess6 archipelago. The islands are of ironstone formation overlying See also:quartzite and crystalline See also:schists. See also:Rivers.—The Kagera, the largest and most important of the lake 1 For the See also:altitude see Geog. Jour., See also:March 1907 and See also:July 1908. 2 To prevent the spread of sleeping sickness the inhabitants were removed to the mainland (19o9). affluents, which has its rise in the See also:hill See also:country east of Lake See also:Kivu, and enters the west side of the nyanza just north of 1 ° S., is described in the See also:article NILE, of which it is the most remote See also:head-stream. The other rivers entering Victoria Nyanza from the west are the Katonga and Ruizi, both north of the Kagera. The Katonga rises in the plateau east of the Dweru See also:branch of See also:Albert See also:Edward Nyanza, and after a sluggish course of 155 M. enters Victoria Nyanza in a wide swamp at its N.W. corner. The Ruizi (18o m.) is a deep, wide and See also:swift stream with sinuous course flowing in part through great See also:gorges and in part through large swamps.

It rises in the Ankole district and reaches the nyanza a little north of the Kagera. Between the Katonga and the Nile outlet, the rivers which rise See also:

close to the lake drain away northward, the See also:watershed being the lake shore. On the N.E. side of the nyanza, however, several considerable streams reach the lake—notably the Sio, Nzoia and Lukos (or Yala). The Nzoia (15o m.), the largest of the three, rises in the foothills. of the Elgeyo escarpment and flows swiftly over a rocky See also:bed in a south-See also:westerly direction, emptying into the lake south of See also:Berkeley By. On the east side the See also:Mara Dabagh enters the lake between I° and 2 S. It is, next to the Kagera, the largest of the lake tributaries. All the rivers mentioned are perennial, and most of them bring down a considerable See also:volume of water, even in the dry See also:season. On the S., S.E. and S.W. shores a number of short rivers drain into the lake. They See also:traverse a See also:tree-less and arid region, have but an intermittent flow, and are of little importance in the See also:hydrography of the district. The only outlet of the lake is the Nile (q.v.). Drainage Area, Rainfall and Lake Level.—The very important part played by the Victoria Nyanza in the Nile See also:system has led to careful study of its drainage See also:basin and rainfall and the perplexingvariations in the level of the lake. The area drained by the lake covers, with the lake itself, 92,240 sq. m.

In part it is densely forested, part consists of lofty mountains, and a considerable portion is somewhat arid tableland. According to the calculations of See also:

Sir See also:William Garstin the rainfall over the whole area averages 50 in. a See also:year. Allowing that as much as 25% of this amount enters the lake, this is See also:equivalent to a See also:total of 138,750,000,000 cub. metres in a year. Measurements at the See also:Ripon Falls show that i8,000,000,000, or some 13% of this amount, is taken off by the Nile, and when allow-, ance has been made for the See also:annual rise and fall of the lake-level it is apparent that by far the greater part of the water which enters the nyanza is lost by evaporation; in fact, that the amount See also:drawn off by the river plays a comparatively small part in the annual oscillation of the water surface. See also:Rain falls more or less in every See also:month, but is heaviest during March, See also:April, May and again in See also:September, See also:October and See also:November. The level of the lake is chiefly affected by the autumn rains and generally reaches its maximum in July. The annual rise and fall is on an average from I to 3 ft., but between November 1900 and See also:June 1901 a difference of 42 in. was recorded. Considerable See also:speculation was caused by the fact that whereas in 1878-79 the lake-level was high, from 1880 to 1890 the level was falling, and that after a few years (1892-95) of higher level there was, from 1896 to 1902, again a steady fall, amounting in seven years to 3o in. in the average levels of the lake. In 1903, however, the level See also:rose and everywhere the land gained from the lake in the previous years was flooded. These See also:variations are attributed by Sir William Garstin to deficiency or excess of rainfall. Any See also:secular shrinking of the lake in See also:common with the lakes of Central Africa generally must be so See also:gradual as to have no See also:practical importance. It must also be remembered that in such a vast See also:sheet of water as is the nyanza the See also:wind exercises an See also:influence on the level, tending to See also:pile up the water at different parts of the lake.

The winds may also be the cause of the daily variation of level, which on Speke Gulf has been found to reach 20 in.; but this may also partake of the See also:

character of a " See also:seiche." Currents setting towards the north or north-west have been observed in various parts of the lake. See also:Discovery and Exploration.—The quest for the Nile See also:sources led to the discovery of the lake by J. H. Speke in 1558, and it was by him named Victoria in See also:honour of the See also:queen of See also:England. In 1862 Speke and his See also:companion, J. A. See also:Grant, partially expldred the N.W. shore, leaving the lake at the Nile outlet. Great See also:differences of See also:opinion existed as to its size until its circumnavigation in 1874 by H. M. See also:Stanley, which proved it to be of vast extent. The invitation sent by See also:King Mtesa of Uganda through Stanley to the See also:Christian missionaries led to the despatch from England in 1876 of the Rev. C.

T. See also:

Wilson, to whom we owe our first detailed knowledge of the nyanza. Mr Wilson and Lieut. Shergold See also:Smith, R.N., made, in 1877, the first voyage across the nyanza. Lieut. Smith and a Mr O'See also:Neill, both members of the See also:Church Missionary Society, were in the same year murdered on Ukerewe Island. In 1889 Stanley further explored the lake, discovering Emin Pasha Gulf, the entrance to which is masked by several islands. In 1890 the ownership of the lake was divided by Great See also:Britain and See also:Germany, the firstdegree of south See also:latitude being taken as the boundary line. The southern portion, which See also:fell to Germany, was visited and described by scientists of that nation, whose See also:objects, however, were not primarily geographic. At the instance of the British See also:Foreign See also:Office a survey of the northern shores of the lake was carried out in 1899-1900 by See also:Commander B. Whitehouse, R.N. The same officer, in 1903, undertook, in agreement with the See also:German See also:government, a survey of the southern shores.

Commander Whitehouse's See also:

work led to considerable modification of the previously accepted maps. He discovered numerous islands and bays whose existence had previously been unknown. Previously to 1896 navigation was confined to Arab dhows, which See also:trade between the south end of the lake and Uganda, and to canoes. In the year named a small steamer (the" See also:Ruwenzori ") was launched on the lake by a See also:Zanzibar See also:firm, while in 1900 a somewhat larger steamer (the " William Mackinnon" ), built in See also:Glasgow at the instance of Sir W. Mackinnon, and afterwards taken over by the British government, made her first trip on the lake. In 1903, the year in which the railway from Mombasa to the lake was completed, a steamer of 600 tons See also:burden was launched at Port Florence. Since that date trade has considerably increased. See NILE and UGANDA and the British See also:Blue-See also:book See also:Egypt No. 2 (1904), which is a See also:Report by Sir Wm. Garstin upon the Basin of the Upper Nile. This report, besides giving (pp. 4-24) much See also:original See also:information upon the Victoria Nyanza, summarizes the information of previous travellers, whose See also:works are quoted.

In 1908 the British See also:

Admiralty published a See also:chart of the lake (See also:scale 4 in. to the mile) from the surveys of Commander Whitehouse. Non-See also:official books which See also:deal with the lake include: C. T. Wilson, Uganda and the Soudan (See also:London, 1882) ; (Sir) F. D. See also:Lugard, The Rise of our East See also:African See also:Empire, vol. ii. (London, 1893); See also:Franz Stuhlmann, Mit Emin Pasha, &c. (See also:Berlin, 1894) ; See also:Paul Kollmann, The Victoria Nyanza (See also:English See also:translation; London, 1899); E. G. Ravenstein, " The Lake-level of the Victoria Nyanza," See also:Geographical See also:Journal, October 1901; Sir H. H. See also:Johnston, The Uganda See also:Protectorate (London, 1902).

In most of these publications the descriptions of the lake occupy but a small part. (W. E. G.; F. R.

End of Article: VICTORIA NYANZA

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