FIRST SIGHT OF A BUFFALO, 331 
would average about two pounds apiece in weight, and 
closely resembled a black bass. We tried exploding 
rockets under water, but without success. Two more 
marches over rough ground, covered with chaotic masses 
of loose rocks, occasionally alternating with clear grassy 
plains, brought us to a river-bed flowing into Alia Bay. At 
this point Lieutenant von Hohnel described a little island, 
on which wasa settlement of Elmolo; but the island, as well 
as the road Count Teleki took along the shore, was sub- 
merged, and we had to make a great detour, as the bay 
extended so far inland. I shot at the first buffalo any of 
us had seen up to the present time, but unfortunately 
there was such a gale of wind blowing from the southeast 
that none of my four shots took effect, to my great dis- 
appointment, as I despaired of seeing any more of these 
animals. There is scarcely one buffalo left out of the 
enormous herds that used to frequent the banks of Lake 
Rudolf. Shooting a gazelle and a hartebeest during puffs 
of wind at long range put me in a little better humor with 
myself, as I was discouraged at having missed the buffalo. 
After passing to the southern end of Alia Bay, we came 
to several small bits of land, that had been cut off by the 
high water so as to form islands, on which were a few 
Elmolo huts. Dodson and I noticed many silvery white 
fish here constantly rising from the water. We had seen 
these fish before, but although we had tried for them many 
times near Rusia, we were unable to catch any. I tried 
for them now by casting with an artificial fly, and suc- 
ceeded in striking a lively little fellow that fought like a 
brook trout. After a few minutes’ play I had the fish in 
the boat, and soon a second one followed; but this was all 
the success we had. The fish weighed a quarter of a pound 
each, and resembled a small salmon. We tied them up 
between sheets of tin and put them into the spirit jars; but 
