30 EASTERN ETHIOPIA m 



There are certain phenomena connected with the lake 

 which are worth consideration. The water of the main 

 lake is deep blue, sweet, and good to drink, but in the 

 bays it is dark and muddy : it varies greatly in depth, 

 being only a few feet in the shallow bays and 280 feet 

 in the main lake. The depth of the water also varies 

 according to the wetness of the seasons, but independ- 

 ently of these changes it is asserted that the surface of 

 the lake has been slowly sinking since 1878, as deter- 

 mined by markings on the cliff limiting the south shore. 

 Many bold headlands round the coast were formerly 

 islands, and many islands are separated from the main- 

 land by narraw and often shallow channels. In the 

 morning there is usually a land breeze from the south- 

 east, and towards evening from the lake to the land. 

 This action of the wind causes the level of the lake at 

 Port Florence to be twelve inches higher in the after- 

 noon than in the morning (Whitehouse). 



The movements of the curious papyrus islands are 

 associated with these breezes. Many of the bays and 

 creeks are filled with the beautiful papyrus rush, and 

 the Victoria Nyanza, like other large bodies of water, is 

 occasionally subject to violent storms which lead to the 

 formation of huge waves. These disturbances lead to 

 the detachment of large masses of papyrus rush from the 

 banks, and the morning land-breeze drives them into the 

 lake, and the evening breeze brings them back to the 

 shore. Papyrus islands are usually seen in a voyage 

 on the lake ; they form pretty objects floating about 

 in an irresponsible manner. It is common to see 

 a cormorant resting on -such a floating island, and 

 occasionally a crocodile. A papyrus island the size of 

 Trafalgar Square is sometimes occupied by a flock of 

 egrets, and has density enough, in virtue of the long 

 submerged roots of the rushes, to support a hippo- 

 potamus. Captain Gray informed me that on one 

 occasion, as his steamer entered Kavirondo Gulf, he 

 found the water so crowded with these floating islands 



