888 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
water is so gradual that there are no banks, and except in one or two 
places the lake can be reached without difficulty, for there is scarcely 
any marsh, and the land is firm with a sandy soil. We made our first 
voyage with the object of gaining the Shari mouth, but we found it 
was impossible to go south; a great barrier of dense marsh lay to 
our right. Hoping to find an outlet, we followed this belt as close as 
possible, but were eventually compelled to take a northeasterly course, 
the marsh giving way to continual low-lying land in the form of bays, 
in many places unapproachable owing to thick mud. Our prospects 
the first day were anything but bright, and the impossibility of get- 
ting into touch with the Buduma did not improve matters. Toward 
sundown we sighted a large fleet of canoes engaged in fishing opera- 
tions. They had not observed us, and under cover of the growing 
darkness we stole silently along under the lee of a promontory, and 
came within 500 yards of them. Then a great commotion followed. 
The canoes were drawn up out of the water, and boats and men dis- 
- appeared into the reeds. The next day the water to our left became 
studded with innumerable small sandy islands, overgrown with tall 
grass, and many strewn with shells. On account of mosquitoes star 
work was impossible, and consequently latitudes had to be taken dur- 
ing the day. 
For several days we toiled along with hardly any progress, the 
boat often scraping along the thick mud. Our hopes were more than 
once raised by the sight of what we took to be Buduma settlements on 
the land to our right, but on approaching these they turned out to be 
deserted cattle stations, which consisted of reed-built huts very small 
in circumference, not more than 4 feet high, and the sides toward the 
prevailing wind always plastered with mud. 
By now we found that our provisions had run out, and we were 
obliged to shoot gulls for food. By the following evening, however, 
our cartridges were almost finished, and we were forced to make 
for rats, which abound on the islands, digging them out of their 
holes and making humble pie of them, and this is how we lived for 
another six days, ever hoping to find a passage to the east; but, 
realizing at last the necessity of bringing our trip to a close, we 
changed our course to west, and after a tedious winding through a 
network of islands we emerged into open water. This continued 
for a distance of 15 miles till the Yo mouth was reached, where we 
encamped on a small island, the site of a Buduma fishing station, 
which presented a picturesque sight. There was a fleet of some 
twenty canoes, many full of dried fish, while hanging from frame- 
works of poles was fish in the process of drying. Their canoes, 
made of thick bundles of dry reeds tied together and turned up at 
the prow, are most picturesque. They are generally 18 feet long 
