22 



THE EASTERN PROVINCE 



race of the Protectorate, whom the late Captain Wellby described as a race 

 of giants. The Turkana are hardly distinguishable in appearance from the 

 Suk, and the language they speak is very nearly the same. Both Buk and 

 Turkana, as will be seen in the chapters dealing with this subject, are 

 related to the Masai physically and by language. 



In spite of the sterile nature of the country and the brackish water of 

 the lake, this is (or rather was) a sportsman's paradise; but three things 

 seem of late to have diminished the game in the Rudolf Province, one 

 being the continued and appalling drought which is apparently killing 



I». LAKE BARINGO, FROM THE WE.STEKX SIIUKE 



all the vegetation not growing near to permanent watercourses; the second, 

 the reckless attacks on elephants and rhinoceroses made by Swahili 

 caravans coming from Mombasa, sometimes under the leadership of Goanese 

 Indians; and thirdly, the ravages of the Abyssinians from the north. The 

 lake seems to swarm with fish, and there are many hippopotamuses and 

 crocodiles. The elephants of the Rudolf region are fierce, but carry mag- 

 nificent tusks. This is (or was) a country where, coming from the Zanzibar 

 coast or from South Africa, you first touched the influence of Arabia, for 

 the nomad tribes of this region keep large numbers of camels, which were 

 originally obtained from Southern Abyssinia or Somaliland. Others, again, 



