114 



ALONG LAKE RUDOLF 



quench their thirst. But for this we should certainly have 

 lost half our men by this time. 



Wednesday, March 14. — We marched for three hours and 

 a half in a north-westerly direction, first along the beach and 

 then at a little distance from it over low hills of lava. Here 

 and there occurred blue chalcedony, beautiful calcareous spar, 

 and coarse white or red sandstone. The white sand, in which 

 we often found felspar and gneiss, had led us to hope the day 

 before that a change was about to take place in the geological 

 character of the district, but in this we were disappointed. 



The course of the shore-line of course interested us most 

 deeply, and w^e gazed eagerly over to the beach on the opposite 

 side. We had now an almost boundless view towards the west 

 and north-west. The rugged chain of mountains, some 1,600 

 to 2,000 feet high, which shut in the southern end of the lake, 

 were now replaced by a flat strand stretching far away from 

 the water. Portions of the landscape beyond the lake were 

 well wooded, whilst others were enveloped in whirling clouds of 

 dust. Towards sunset a distant chain of mountains rose up 

 against the horizon which had been invisible during the day. 

 It was about the hour of sunset that we collected most of 

 our facts relating to the extent of the lake and the course of 

 its shores, a duty which, it will readily be understood, we 

 rigidly performed in our anxious and precarious position. 



Thursday, March 15.— The low mountains, which thus far 

 had run parallel with the lake, swerved northward after the first 

 hour's march to-day, whilst the coast line maintained its north- 

 westerly direction. Mount Longendoti, the most distant height 

 we had been able to see when we first caught sight of the water, 

 now reappeared, and we found that we were b.ut one day's 

 journey from it. The lake, however, still appeared to be endless. 



The path led to-day along the shore with scarcely a break. 

 The sandy, gently sloping beach was often strewn with dry 



