14 



THE EASTERX PROVINCE 



it completely overshadows the lake, and its blue-green reflections make 

 the whole surface look like a distant plain covered with herbage. The 

 north end of Lake Hannington is only separated from the waters of 

 Baringo by a marshy district, and it is quite conceivable that in seasons 

 of exce})tional rains the waters of the two may mingle. I have even 

 thought that Lake Hannington may be but a cut-ofif loop of Baringo, a 

 vestige of a time when that lake extended much farther to the south. 

 According to the natives' tradition, Baringo is far less in area than it was, 

 owing to an increasing drought which afflicts that part of the Kift A'alley. 



Fl.A.Ml.\UOE.S XESTS, LAKE HAXNIXGTUX 



Nevertheless, as regards Lake Hannington, this important fact should be 

 noted (it is illustrated in my photographs) — that right out in the middle 

 of the lake and at intervals along its shores there are the remains still 

 standing of a former forest. These trees appear to have been killed 

 partly by the saltish waters of the lake and in part by being made the 

 eyries of innumerable birds, such as storks, herons, and eagles. An 

 explanation of this might be that owing to recent volcanic action the 

 ground where Lake Hannington lies m^ay have collapsed into a trough 

 which has been slowly filled up with water — water which has dissolved 

 this natron salt from the soil. -.On the other hand, so far as native 



