i66 A SAIL UPON THE ALBERT LAKE. 



tlie species which do occur, in localities that are so eminently 

 suited for them farther south. Some herons (Ardea alba and 

 A. comatd) went on fishing around the steamer, quite regard- 

 less of the bustle, and a little farther away I noticed specimens 

 of storks (Anastomus lamelligerus), Le Vaillant's darter (Plotus 

 Zevaillanti), and cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus). A few 

 yabirus (Mycteria senegalensis) were searching an inundated 

 low-lying piece of land, and on the margin of the lake a few 

 Egyptian geese (Chenalopex cegyptiacus) showed themselves. 

 With the pelicans mentioned above as having been observed 

 in the river, I close the list. Not a single plover was seen, 

 nor yet a strand-snipe or a duck. 



By noon we had enough wood on board, and with a very 

 fresh wind we steamed, at about one-third of a mile from 

 the shore, towards the south, having the western hills on our 

 right. In height these range from 1200 to 1500 feet; they 

 are for the most part thinly wooded, and their sides are often 

 seamed with watercourses ; thickets of bamboo appear in 

 places. The watercourses, however, are little more than rain- 

 channels, and even in the rainy season they are often dry. 

 Their direction is shown by the denudation and seaming of 

 the hillsides, and by the scattered blocks of stone ; they 

 have, of course, in most cases followed the natural foldings 

 and crevices of the rock. The level margin of the lake, the 

 width of which varies considerably, is for a short distance well 

 inhabited, but farther towards the south the huts disappear, 

 and park-like land is intermingled with fine groups of trees, 

 patches of desolate grass, and dense forest. On the east the 

 mountain chain was scarcely visible, owing to the veil of mist 

 that enveloped it. 



After less than an hour, we came upon a long spit of sand, 

 in the shape of a crescent. On keeping well to the west, we 

 soon perceived that it was an island, and came to anchor at 

 about fifty yards from its shore. This island lies somewhat 

 farther south than our deserted station of Mahagi, which we 

 recognised from three large trees growing there. Immediately 

 behind Mahagi, which bears N.N.W. (334°), the western chain 

 of hills descends with a gentle slope, and the more distant 

 range behind comes into view. The latter contains summits 



