LAKE RUDOLPH 261 



My longing for one was, however, tempered by the contempla- 

 tion of the seas this furious wind raised out in the open 

 water of the wide channel between us and a large, barren- 

 looking island, which rose high out of the expanse of waves 

 opposite. Beyond again, a steep and rugged range of for- 

 bidding-looking hills, forming the western shore of this end of 

 the lake, seemed to come sheer down into the water. 



Being almost devoid of vegetation, this district has natur- 

 ally little animal life — a small troop of the ubiquitous grantii 

 here and there, and rarely a few oryx, was all I saw in the way 

 of game. It was difficult to shoot anything, as these were 

 singularly wild and the high wind made it hard to hold a rifle 

 steady, while the country was a bad one to get about in ; but 

 I managed to get a gazelle on the evening of our second day 

 on the lake, by making a careful stalk up one of the lava 

 ridges. The men continued to catch plenty of fish, though, of 

 various kinds, some very large. A goose also fell to my rook 

 rifle. 



The conditions had not improved on 8th December ; the 

 going was as bad as ever, and the hurricane, which had never 

 dropped for a moment for days, still blew, giving one no rest 

 and making things thoroughly uncomfortable. What with the 

 desolate surroundings and the uncertainty as to how far this 

 sort of thing would continue, I confess I was feeling a little 

 bit low-spirited, and a curious sight we came across rather 

 tended to depress me more, though I admit the folly of 

 allowing oneself to be affected by such influences. Alongside 

 a rocky gully, right on the lake side, a patch of the black lava 

 debris was covered thickly with bleached bones. From a 

 distance it looked like snow, and I wondered what in the world 

 it could be ; but on getting close I found it to consist of the 

 whitened bones of camels. Hundreds must have perished 

 here, all huddled in one little corner. What could be the 

 history of the catastrophe ? In a country, too, where now is 

 no sign of human inhabitants and which seems uninhabitable. 



