THE SALT LAKE AND SEMLIKI VALLEY. 125 



of these alluvials is not at all difficult to under- 

 stand. It is simply the absence of water ; the soil 

 is either a mixture of sand and gravel, brought 

 down by the river and unable to retain water, or 

 the clayey mud due to an old swamp. Where 

 there is any kind of protection against wind, as 

 along the Nyamwamba river in its lower alluvial 

 part, it is covered by a wood, not exactly a forest, 

 of Acacias and other, chiefly thorny, shrubs and 

 trees. A similar wood also exists near the lake 

 itself, where there is a constant supply of moisture 

 in the air ; but these are as different as possible 

 from either the mountain forests or the low-level 

 jungle of the Victoria region. 



The one mentioned above, where the road 

 touches the shore of Lake Kuisamba, between the 

 Muhokia river and Chukarongo, is characteristic. 

 The tree trunks are quite distant from one another 

 without either moss, ferns, or fungi. The ground 

 is covered by yellow, burnt-up grass, and a few 

 other plants all equally dry and withered, and so 

 low that it is easy to see over the tops of every- 

 thing. There is, in fact, no protection against the 

 drying winds which pass through the trees and 

 rapidly scorch up all those plants which require 

 ground moisture. 



The future of these grassy monotonous plains is 

 extremely hard to estimate. There is probably 

 plenty of moisture underground, and in many 

 places irrigation is possible. On the whole I think 



