Azaghvana E-Book 2003 - Flipbook - Page 447
We further see that we have placed Issege, or Isge according to Barth, as well as
where Moisel placed it, and finally [Izge] according to Google earth, and notice that Barth's
placing is about 15 km north of the Google placing, while Moisel mapped it between the two.
However, all mappings of Isge are quite close to the 11° latitude north, which Barth seems to
have placed correctly. We remember the 11° latitude near Ngoshe Sama in Gvoko, and we
recognise that Barth's Mt Legga is to the north of that, while his Mt Magar is south of Barth's
Sugur. The latter is where he thought the Sukur massif was situated.
If we compare Barth's two early views of the western chain with Petermann's map (Figure
26a) and our reconstruction of Barth's own map (Figure 26b), we recognise that Petermann
has correctly linked Barth's Mt Deladeba with the main mountain chain, but he puts Magar to
the north of Legga, while on Barth's map Mt Legga is clearly to the north of Mt Magar. We
also recognise that on Barth's map Mt Magar is at the level of latitude of Mt Gulak, while Mt
Legga is nearer the latitude of Isge. We think that the reason for Petermann's reversal might
be that Barth discusses Mt Magar (ibid:397) as the next massif after Mt Deladebe, but makes
no mention of Mt Legga in his text.
This is all a bit confusing, and Durghwe could theoretically be either Mt Legga or Mt Magar,
at least if we follow Petermann, but if we have another look at how Barth came to his view,
we might understand it better. Barth must have first perceived the Zelidva spur as a single
mountain far on the horizon because he could not see the chain, and only the following day
was he able to recognise that it was the top end of a whole mountain region. The reason was
his own change of perspective, which made him now see the Gwoza hills appearing in the
east rather than in the south. This is why we think Mt Delendeba appears to be separate in
Barth's view, and not as the most northern extension of a mountain range, and why on his
map the remainder of the Zelidva spur is missing.
We can see in Figure 26b that we have added Moisel's 1913 view of the Zelidva spur to his
mapping of the foothill of Kirawa, but recognise that Moisel's north orientation is not in tune
with Barth's projection which we accorded in terms of longitude with the Google map. The
Zelidva spur therefore appears too far east in our reconstruction, and disconnected from the
central massif of the Gwoza hills as taken from Barth. The reason for the error is that Moisel's
Zelidva spur would otherwise have appeared too far north. Neither do we know how much of
the Zelidva spur is missing on Barth's projection. We have added Moisel's position of the Disa
hills, which equally makes them appear too far east, meaning too close to what we have
identified as the central part of the Gwoza hills on Barth's map. Further north we see Bama
according to Google map, and Bama again as it appears on Moisel's map. If we double-check
with the general overview map (Figure 1) at the beginning of this book, we notice that the
Zelidva spur begins about 20km to the south of Bama.
We instantly recognise that Barth's Mt Deladeba or Dalantube is too far north, and that he
misjudged the distance when he first saw it on 5th June 1851, shortly after leaving Palamari.
We therefore conclude that Mt Legga could well be Durghwe, but can we be certain? Barth's
main perspective of the western chain of the Gwoza hills was from what he referred to as a
'fine lake' to the immediate north of Isge, and the same lake appears on Petermann's map as a
'lake full of fish'. However we can see in Figure 26b that Barth's Isge is about 10km north of
where Petermann placed his Isge, on more or less the 11° latitude.
We can see in Figures 26c-26e the three reconstructed views of the Gwoza hills as Barth
might have seen them. We now compare those views with a quote by Barth, from when he
stood on a rock elevation nearby the 'fine lake' to the immediate north of Isge. It was from this
high position that Barth (ibid:397) referred to Magar as the highest elevation of the Wandala
range (figure 26e):
The whole range of mountains, which forms the western barrier of the little country of Wandala,
lay open before me at a distance of about twenty miles behind it, towards the south, mountains of
more varied shape, and greater elevation, became visible... The highest elevation of the Wandala
range, which is called Magar, I estimated at about three thousand feet, while the chain in general
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