146 



ALONG LAKE RUDOLF 



Madschi a mvua ! (rainwater) was passed joyfully from lip to 

 lip, till tlie sliout was taken up by the last man in the rear. 



The mountains on the opposite shore of the lake rose up 

 at a distance of some twenty-two miles, clearly and sharply 

 defined, sinking down abruptly towards the water, and here 

 and there approaching quite close to the beach. Their relative 

 height may have been about 3,280 feet. 



We camped at the mouth of a dried-up brook, near to 

 which were a few shady trees, with numerous succulent 

 fresh green bushes. In the lake itself stood four elephants, 

 which went on feeding quietly in spite of our presence near 

 them ; but perhaps the breaking of the surf prevented them 

 from hearing the noise from our camp. There were a good 

 many zebras, Beisa antelopes, and gazelle Grantii in the bush ; 

 and some of our people surprised a young gazelle in its sleep 

 and caught it. On the beach were numerous crocodiles, in 

 spite of the strong breakers. 



We left the elephants undisturbed until they forsook the 

 lake and approached the camp in a hesitating manner. 

 Our hunting was equally undecided, for the wind veered so 

 often that we had constantly to change our position. In the 

 end, though we wounded several, all the animals got off. The 

 little herd was led by a full-grown bull without tusks. The 

 Swahili call such animals Bude, and they are evidently very 

 fierce, as they are always chosen as leaders. It was the Bude 

 in this case which warned his fellows to flee, and directed them 

 in their flight. The absence of tusks must be very rare, as this 

 was the only example we met with. 



During this hunt, which took place between one and two 

 o'clock in the afternoon, several showers of rain fell, and the 

 weather was unsettled for the rest of the day. As usual, 

 numbers of birds appeared just before sunset, to disappear 

 soon afterwards in the west. 



