HYDROGRAPHY OF JUBALAND 



title is another striking instance of the confusion in 

 geographical nomenclature which often shows itself 

 in the maps of a new country. " Lak " is itself the 

 native term in this part of Africa for a river-bed in 

 which water only occasionally runs, while "dera" is a 

 separate word, meaning, in Somali, " long." Another 

 strange mistake was the name given to a small water- 

 hole — Lake Worrta. For "worrta" is the Somali 

 word for "rainpool." 



In 1898 Captain C. O. Tanner surveyed the lower 

 part of the Lak Dera from the Deshek Wama to above 

 Afmadu, and he stated on his map that, according 

 to native report, it came from Lorian. He also 

 found another stream bed, the Lak Jiro, coming from 

 the north, which joined the Lak Dera at Afmadu. 



The hydrography of southern Jubaland had also 

 aroused considerable speculation, for along the coast 

 from Kismayu to Port Durnford there are a number 

 of small inlets and creeks, down which water had 

 been observed to flow occasionally. Where did this 

 water come from ? Were there any hills in the 

 interior, or a plateau, which they drained ? What was 

 the nature and importance of the " Lak Guranluga," 

 a river marked on every map, and which was stated 

 in an official report, published two years ago, to rise 

 in the El Lin^ swamp and to run southwards until 

 it joined the " River Arnole " ? What was the 

 character of the Bisahu Hamu, shown on every map 

 of Jubaland as a very large swamp lying on the 

 Equator, and fed by two streams from the north ? 

 Was there any important divide or watershed between 



^ The name El Lin does not seem to be known to the natives — at 

 any rate to none of those I met. It probably corresponds to the swamp 

 I have called Seyera on my map. 



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