NATURE 



193 



THURSDAY, JULY i, 1897. 



LAKES RUDOLF AND STEFANIE. 

 Through Unknown African Countries. The First Ex- 

 pedition from Somaliland to Lake Lamu. By A. 

 Donaldson Smith, M.D., F.R.G.S., Hon. Member of 

 Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil. Pp. xvi + 471, with illustrations 

 and five-sheet map. (London : E. Arnold, 1897.J 



THE region of Africa to the south of Eastern Abys- 

 sinia has been long regarded as of exceptional 

 interest, both by the naturalist and the novelist. So 

 early as 1847, when most geographers still believed that 

 the snows of Kilima Njaro were a traveller's tale, and 

 before Kenya had been seen by a European, Captain 

 Short returned from the Juba, and asserted the existence 

 of snow clad mountains away to the westward. Accord- 

 ing to the statements of some native traders to the court 

 of Abyssinia, the bamboo forests of the same region were 

 inhabited by tribes of dwarfs ; and these reports were 

 published by Captain Harris in 1844, long before the 

 measurements by Schweinfurth, the skeletons sent home 

 by Emin, and the discoveries of Stanley had called pro- 

 minent attention to the pigmy races of Equatorial Africa. 

 At a subsequent period, the late M. Abbadie placed a 

 great mountain in the same unvi sited district, exag- 

 gerating its height, as he recently naively remarked, in 

 the hope of calling attention to it. Suahili traders also 

 reported the existence in this region of two great lakes, 

 of which the larger was sometimes called Samburu, and 

 at others was confused with Baringo ; it was the hope 

 of reaching this lake region that led to the expedition of 

 Burton and Speke, which came to such a disastrous end 

 at the landing-place near Berbera. The excitability of 

 the Somali, and the fascination of the discoveries made 

 in East Africa south of the equator, subsequently diverted 

 attention from this region, and it was not until 1888 that 

 the first Europeans reached it. Teleki and Hohnel then 

 entered from the south, and found, as reported, that there 

 were two great lakes : the larger was named by its dis- 

 coverer Lake Rudolf, apparently on the principle of 

 Oliver St. John's dedication of his memoirs to Cromwell, 

 who, by persuading him to travel, had given him the 

 leisure in which to write them. After Teleki's return, 

 several attempts were made to reach the twin lakes from 

 the north, along Burton's projected route. But it was 

 not until 1895 that success was gained by the expedition 

 described in this volume. 



The author, Arthur Donaldson Smith, is a young 

 American doctor who prefers sport to surgery. He 

 made a preliminary excursion in Somaliland in 1893, in 

 order to gain experience of the people and the conditions 

 of travel. Having further prepared himself by a course 

 of training in geographical surveying, under Mr. Coles, 

 he returned to Berbera in June 1894. He was accom- 

 panied by two English companions— a young sportsman, 

 Mr. F. Gillett, and an experienced taxidermist and col- 

 lector, Mr. Dodson ; both of them gave him most loyal 

 assistance. A force of 82 Somali were enlisted, and 84 

 camels purchased. The expedition started from Berbera 

 on July 15; Dr. Smith had the advantage of the help of the 

 most famous of African caravan headmen, the late 

 Dualla Idris, who is, however, referred to as Haji Idris. 

 NO 1444. VOL. 56] 



The expedition crossed Somaliland to Milmil, and thence 

 struck westward, and somewhat southward, in the hope 

 of traversing the countries of the Arussa and Janjam 

 to Lake Rudolf The Webi Shebeli was crossed on 

 September i, and its course followed to a Galla settle- 

 ment round the remarkable tomb of Sheik Hussein 

 (the Seech Uscen of Bottcgo). The native tradition as to 

 the origin of this building is clearly a legend, and more 

 information about it would have been welcome. While 

 staying here, Dr. Smith heard that the Abyssinians were 

 in force at Ginea, a town a little distance to the south 

 Mr. Gillett went to ask the chief for permission to pro- 

 ceed ; but after considerable negotiations, during' which 

 the Abyssinians were friendly, the permission was re- 

 fused, and the expedition had to return to the Shebeli. 

 It descended this river to Bari, the village reached by 

 the brothers James and Lort-Phillips in the first crossmg 

 of Somaliland. Thence the persevering explorer again 

 turned westward, crossed the Juba, and marched over 

 the Borana Galla country to Lake Stefanie. After ex- 

 ploring this lake, and the district to the north, the 

 expedition continued westward to Lake Rudolf. Dr. 

 Smith followed the course of the riyer that flows into the 

 northern end of the lake for 75 miles. The river was 

 apparently about to turn to the north-east, but he could 

 follow it no further; and thus it is still uncertain whether 

 the Nianam is the lower part of the Omo. From Lake 

 Rudolf the expedition marched southward, across the 

 waterless wastes of the Rendile country to the Nyiro, 

 and descended the valley of the Tana to the coast. 



The narrative of the journey is of great interest through- 

 out. It abounds in sporting adventures, which are tersely 

 and vividly told. The author had narrow escapes from 

 elephants, rhinoceros, and lions. He came into conflict 

 with hostile tribes on one or two occasions; but it was 

 apparently not his fault. African natives are often fools, 

 and it is impossible to read the narrative without feeling 

 that there was nothing the author wanted more than 

 peace. He had diplomatic intercourse with many " kings" 

 and one " emperor," and throughout all his varied ex- 

 periences he showed himself a man of resource, of 

 courage, and of indomitable perseverance. 



The scientific results of the expedition were very 

 important. The five-sheet map, based on an extensive 

 series of astronomical observations, is very valuable. 

 The zoological collections were rich, especially in ver- 

 tebrates ; they are described in a series of appendices 

 by Dr. Giinther, Mr. R. I. Pocock, Prof. Jordan, and 

 others, whose names might well have been given in the 

 list of contents as well as the titles of their contribu- 

 tions. The collection of birds was, however, the most 

 important, though there is no report upon it, and there is 

 no complete reference to Dr. Sharpe's paper in which it 

 was described. The general value of the zoological collec- 

 tion lies in the fact that it comes from the unexplored area 

 between southern Somaliland and northern British East 

 Africa. Many of the separate observations are also of 

 interest. The author describes an attack made on a lion 

 by some hyenas ; he notes the existence of a large rhino- 

 ceros diflfering from the common species in the shape of 

 the front part of the head. This animal has been 

 recorded twice previously, but it is apparently still repre- 

 sented in Europe by a single horn. 



K 



