XIX THE RIFT VALLEY AND ITS LAKES 



H7 



.s(|uare studded with pools .smelling of sulphur aud 

 yellow patches of discoloured grass. There are nearly 

 fifty pools, extending to and under the surfiice of the 

 lake. The largest pool had a diameter of ten feet, and 

 the water is clear and more than twenty feet deep and the 

 bubbles could be seen rising from the bottom. Some of 

 the smaller pools throw out an intermittent jet of steam 

 and others are continuously on the boil. On a hill-side 

 behind the springs there is a steam vent, whicli hisses 

 and l)ooms incessantly. When visiting them it is the 

 usual custom to catch some of the fishes which al)ound 

 in the lake and cook them in one of the hot springs. 

 This form of amusement is well-known to tourists who 

 visit the famous lake in the Yellowstone Park. 



]\Iost travellers who have visited Lake Baringo express 

 the opinion that great changes have taken ])lace in its 

 physical conformation. The northern end of the lake 

 contains partly submerged trees. Powell-Cotton states 

 that some of the older natives remember when it was 

 possible to walk from the southern end of the lake to 

 the islands, where now there is comparatively deep 

 water. 



The country around this lake may be described as the 

 hunter's paradise. It abounds in large animals, in- 

 cluding elephants, and swarms with fiies and gnats. 



When Major Powell-Cotton visited the island in the 

 lake (in 1902) the natives were worried by bal)Oons, 

 which came around the huts and helped themselves to 

 food in spite of all remonstrance. The islanders begged 

 him to shoot some of the hooligans, but thc}^ were 

 cunning and kept out of the way. 



Lake Hannirujton. This lake is situated at a point 

 where the Rift Valley begins its northern descent. The 

 lake, which contains salt water, is concealed in a rift 

 under the Laikipia escarpment, so that it was overlooked 

 l)y the early explorers. The north end of the lake is 

 separated from Lake Baringo by a marshy district, and, 

 as Sir Harry Johnston points out, it is conceivable that 



