CHAPTER XII 



LAKE RUDOLPH 



Final start for the lake — A desolate land — A curious fish — Trials during a hurricane 

 — Remains of a catastrophe — An aquatic race — Disturbed by a " shauri " — A 

 false alarm — A fisherman's paradise — Signs of Europeans — Remedy for lessening 

 the sick-roll — A fortunate coincidence — My first topi — At close quarters with a 

 rhino — Wealth of bird life — A feathered jockey — My cook's new entree — Simple 

 Christmas fare — The kraals of Reshiat. 



On 2nd December I made a final start for the lake, feeling that 

 at last Reshiat was within my reach ; for I had sufficient food 

 for all hands to last, with care, two months. For the first two 

 days the going was comparatively easy, and water plentiful. 

 The western face of Nyiro, under which our course lay, is 

 almost precipitous and very grand, topped with dark forests 

 and cut by narrow, giddy-looking gorges flanked with red cliffs, 

 and here and there hang waterfalls from the mountain side, 

 filled with the outpourings of the heavy clouds which often cap 

 the summit. But all these clear, cold, rushing streams which 

 pour out of the mountain disappear as if by magic in two or 

 three miles. Occasionally gaps in the ridges to our left afforded 

 glimpses of a wide valley beyond, in which a small lake could 

 be seen shining far below. This is in fact, I suppose, the 

 connecting portion of the " rift " stretching southward (or rather 

 south by west) from Bassu in the direction of Baringo. 



We were now entering among rough, stony hills, which 

 would have been hardly passable in places but for a capital 

 elephant path which we followed. It had probably been used 



