INTO THE GREAT RIFT 219 



the cattle, sheep, or goats drinli the water they die. 

 I could not quite understand this, for I found many 

 rhinoceros tracks leading to pools along the shore, 

 but it is possible that these animals were attracted by 

 the smell of the water and upon tasting it went away 

 without drinking. We found the heat near the lake 

 to be simply terrific, while the glare from the soda- 

 incrusted ground almost bhnded us. 



On the day following our trip to Hannington we 

 paid our first visit to Lake Baringo. It was open 

 veldt country and we were able to drive almost to the 

 water without great difficulty. From the shore of the 

 lake, a person gets the impression of being in the 

 bottom of a great crater, hemmed in on all sides by 

 mountainous masses. But there are no mountains 

 visible. The encirchng cliffs are escarpments; the 

 Laikipia on the east and the Kamasia on the west. 

 These precipitous walls tower on either hand almost 

 two thousand feet from the floor of the rift, then 

 twist and turn, giving the appearance of a soHd barrier 

 inclosing the valley on all sides. The bottom of this 

 tremendous depression is so deep below the surround- 

 ing plains that no cooling breezes ever find their way 

 into the inferno. 



Africa is fascinating in many ways. Its terrain, its 

 wild denizens of forest and veldt, its romantic coasts 

 are all alluring — even its heavens are mysterious. 

 At night the stars seem to hang almost within reach, 

 while the moon is glorious beyond description. When 

 the last stars fade in the morning, they leave the sky 

 an azure blue, and a search far and wide will disclose 

 not a single cloud. In the afternoon a few wisps of 

 white vapor appear from nowhere and these increase 



