1 84 A SAIL UPON THE ALBERT LAKE. 



ing on a sandy bottom. It issues from a mountain ravine, 

 and has clear cold water all the year through. This alone is 

 used for drinking by the people of Kibiro, for they state 

 that the waters of the lake are salt — a belief which finds credit 

 with our Arabs here, who call the lake Bahr-el-Malakh, i.e., 

 salt-lake. The only real difference is this, that the water in 

 the lake is soft, and always a little warm. 



On my way back I noticed in the tall grass a great number 

 of cylindrical fungi, about 1.6 to 2.0 in. high, and i in. in 

 diameter. The crown consisted of a small brown closely-set 

 cap, often punctured with holes ; the stalk was smooth, and 

 pale yellow in colour. The whole of the frame was shiny, and 

 gave out the odour of rotten fungus. From the troughs in the 

 saltworks I captured some specimens of the pretty little plover 

 (JEgialites pecuarius), which frequents them in numbers, and 

 on the lake-side a beautiful Buteo augur, var. nigra, which was 

 busy catching mice — both birds being novelties in our country. 

 I also procured some specimens of a tick, called by the Wanyoro 

 bilbo, which is greatly dreaded by Negroes, and, to judge from 

 the size of the creature, their fear is not ill grounded. They 

 employ a curious remedy against its attacks ; a scale of the pan- 

 golin (Manis sp.), calcined and pulverised, is mixed into a salve 

 with fat, and the preparation is then applied superficially. 

 Ocymum canum is also useful for the same purpose. 



By noon we had all our baggage on board and steam up, 

 and with a strong south-west wind, which whipped the lake 

 into short white waves, we started on our return journey. The 

 steamer was full of sheep and goats. Every one of my people 

 had been eager to purchase these animals, as well as salt and 

 tobacco ; and in order to encourage them in this commerce, I 

 had given them some ox-hides and a quantity of cowries. We 

 soon left the villages of Kibiro behind us, steering parallel to 

 the uninhabited foreshore towards the north, where the hills 

 appeared to be quite as lofty and as steep as at Kibiro. The 

 western shore was again enveloped in mist. 



Our little boat rode gaily over the waves, but when we got 

 about a mile and a quarter out into the lake she began to roll 

 so much that the majority of my people were again helpless with 

 sea-sickness, and most of them did not raise their heads again 



