390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
I then relinquished this, my third attempt, and once more returned 
to Kaddai. When within half a mile of the shore we found the 
water had disappeared, and as it was late the men slept in the boats 
and my bed was put up in 6 inches of water, and that night I slept 
on the floor of the lake. In the morning the water rose earlier than 
I did, and I had just time to get out of bed as the lake was getting in. 
IT then abandoned Kaddai as a starting point and trekked with 
the boats’ sections to Seyurum, a distance of 25 miles, which was the 
next point to the south where there was open water. This took me 
a month and a half owing to desertion and sickness. 
From Seyurum I made my fourth and last attempt, which necessi- 
tated three days’ cutting through great belts of reeds, papyrus, and 
maria bush which extended as far as eye could reach. We were 
obliged to spend the nights huddled up in the boats. Sleep was out 
of the question owing to the hordes of mosquitoes. Many of the 
men preferred to sit up to their necks in water all night. 
In the course of the work we discovered a gigantic turtle, nearly 
100 pounds in weight, with a shell of a pale lemon color. On getting 
through the reeds, we found 5 feet of water. The aspect of the lake 
was now quite different from that of the Yo basin. Instead of low 
islands, there were big island stretches, which formed continual prom- 
ontories ahead, overlapping one another on either side of our 
course, with channels sometimes not more than 100 yards wide; at 
other times forming deep bays as much as 2 miles in width, lined 
with belts of dark-green maria 10 to 30 feet in height. 
Up to this time the Budumas had held severely aloof, but now a: 
Kachella, or chief, of a large fishing fleet we met saluted us, and 
offered to show us the way to the other side. On the way he took 
us to his island, Karraragga, where we rested for two days. This 
island presented a very fertile appearance; the delicate green of young 
mimosa leaf was a pleasant sight after the sand-swept stretches of 
Bornu, and large herds of cattle roamed about at will. The Ka- 
chella’s town consisted of reed huts, conical in shape. Each dwelling 
had its low round mosquito-proof house covered with close-woven 
matting. 
The Buduma men are tall, with well-developed heads. Living as 
they do on fish, their skins are very sleek and oily. The women are 
small, and resemble the Kanembus. 
On leaving the island I went to Wunnda on the east side of the 
lake, thence followed the shore to the mouth of the Shari. About 12 
miles before reaching the Shari mouth one leaves the great somber 
maria belts behind and comes out into magnificent open water, and 
Chad for the first time assumes the grandeur of a lake. 
Before leaving Lake Chad I will attempt to give a general idea, 
based upon the observations I was able to make. As regards the size, 
