xix THE RIFT VALLEY AND ITS LAKES 245 



Nakuru. This picturesque lake lies in a basin 

 5845 miles above sea level, 57 miles from Lake Xaivasha. 

 It is surrounded in parts by high rocky precipices and 

 receives the water of the Enderit, Little, Enderit, and a 

 third stream enters it on the north. The water is salt : 

 the amount of solids it contains must be great for the 

 shore is covered with a thick deposit of soda. Lake 

 Xakuru has been a much more extensive sheet of water 

 than it is to-day. During the time my camp was near 

 it I made a careful examination of the wide area of 

 sloping ground to the north of the lake and found it 

 composed of alluvial debris, the favourite resort of many 

 burrowing animals. 



On the northern shore there is a thick reed-belt, a 

 thicket of acacia-trees, and excellent grass. The neigh- 

 bourhood of the lake abounds in abrupt precipices sur- 

 mounted with candelabra euphorbias, aloes, and aca- 

 cias. The thickets and reed-beds afford cover for many 

 animals, and its brackish waters are the resort of huge 

 flocks of birds. 



/,"/> Baringo. This body of fresh water has an 

 altitude of 3325 feet : it is 18 miles long and 10 broad 

 situated in a flat district. It receives the rivers Tigrish 

 and the lower Molo (Nyuki). Much uncertainty existed 

 concerning the position, the condition, and even the 

 actual existence of Baringo as a separate lake until 

 Thomson visited it in 1883. He described it as an 

 isolated basin of no great size, but exquisitely charming 

 with its pretty isles. 



The lake contains fishes, crocodiles, and hippopota- 

 muses. The neighbourhood of the lake abounds in 

 zebras, antelopes, jackals, baboons, and hyaenas. 



Thomson observes that one of the most remarkable 

 facts about Baringo is the large amount of water it 

 receives even in the dry season without rising in level 

 to any extent, or finding an outlet. In the w r et season 

 the level of the lake rises very little, probably not more 

 than two feet, yet the water remains sweet. 



