LAKE RUDOLPH 263 



it entered the lake. We had by this time got used to the lake 

 water, though not exactly to like it. It is perfectly wholesome, 

 and food cooked with it requires no salt. But it differs from 

 all other brack water in that it contains some property (perhaps 

 soda) which brings out the strength of tea made with it, so that 

 only half the quantity of leaves is needed, otherwise it will be 

 too black to drink ; whereas the saltish water so commonly met 

 with in Africa will not make tea. 



With the flatter shores a corresponding change in the 

 character of the lake washing them followed. Shoal water in- 

 shore, with weed and water grass, and wide shallow bays were 

 now its features, as contrasted with narrow little coves of deep 

 clear water and abrupt rocky banks, such as we had been 

 accustomed to. As a consequence of the more favourable 

 conditions, there were more geese and a much greater variety 

 of fish-eating fowl and waders ; pelicans, storks, ibises, etc. 

 To-day my tent could be pitched with pegs once more, the 

 camping-place I chose being bare smooth ground close to the 

 shore of a bay, in which was an islet with some huts on it. 

 We were obliged to choose a spot with a few trees near, so 

 that we might obtain firewood, the country being for the most 

 part without a stick ; but an additional inducement to halt here 

 was the wish to make the acquaintance of the fisher folk, whose 

 huts we had seen on the islet, and some of whom were paddling 

 about opposite in canoes. After a little hesitation they drew 

 nearer, and three men and a woman got out into the water and 

 waded towards us ; but it was only after a good deal of parley- 

 ing that they could be persuaded to come ashore. I gave 

 them beads and received some fish in return, and the men 

 bought a quantity, both dry and fresh (one very large), for iron 

 wire. While the bargaining was going on at the water's edge 

 I was able to get an interesting snap at them with my hand 

 camera, and it is one of the few photographs I took that has 

 not been utterly spoiled either by light getting in or from the 

 effects of the climate on the plates. 



