128 



THE WESTERN PROVINCE 



a few small islands just within the British sphere near the south-east corner, 

 and other islets close to the Bay of Katwe on the north-east. The water 

 of this lake, except perhaps in the very middle or near the south end, is 

 brackish, or at any rate unpalatable to man. Dense forest comes to within 

 a short distance of the east coast, but is se])arated from actual contact with 

 the water by a marshy belt that swarms with water-birds. Although the 

 rainfall on and around Lake Albert Edward must be considerable, the ground 

 on the north side of the lake exhibits a vegetation of somewhat starved 



103. THE SALT LAKE AT KATWE 



appearance, except where the shore is actually swampy. The principal object 

 in the grassy landscape (though about the salt lakes of the north there 

 is even an absence of grass, and the country looks blasted) is the tree 

 euphorbia which I described in connection with the Eastern Province. The 

 lake, of course, abounds in fish and in birds, the latter not seeming to mind 

 the brackish water at all. 



On some parts of its eastern and northern shores may be seen magnificent 

 displays of water-fowl. They may be observed, and even sketched, through 

 a field-glass. There are rows of Tantalus storks, with lemon-yellow beaks^ 

 white heads and breasts, black-green wings, and shoulder feathers of exquisite 



