DISCOVERY OF LAKE STEFANIE 



187 



inhabitants liad ventnred too close inshore dnring a temporary 

 rise of level and had been left stranded when the water receded 

 again. The water of the lake was very brackish, and bnt for 

 the rainpools it would have been impossible to remain where 

 we were. 



The altitude of the lake is 1,740 feet, and it is about thirteen 

 to fifteen miles broad by sixty-seven to seventy-five long. Its 

 direction is north by south. It is overlooked on the east by 

 the Trr range, the general altitude of which is 4,920 feet, and 

 on the west and north-west by the Amdrr mountains. 



In honour of Her Imperial Highness the Archduchess 

 Stefanie, widow of the Crown Prince Eudolf, Count Teleki 

 named the newly discovered sheet of water Lake Stefanie. 



Lake Stefanie is evidently rapidly receding, and our guide 

 was astonished to find how many feet lower it had become 

 during his three years' absence. In spite of the quantities of 

 salt in solution in the water we saw no deposits of that substance, 

 probably because they had been melted and washed away by 

 the rain. Crocodiles as well as fish were very numerous, but 

 about hippopotami we cannot speak with certainty, as we saw 

 no traces of them here. According to Lembasso, only one small 

 river flows into Lake Stefanie, and that one on the north. The 

 numerous channels abutting on the lake only contain water 

 now and then, which accounts for the neighbourhood being 

 uninhabited. 



There are said to be two villages near the northern shore of 

 the lake occupied by the Marie, who are on friendly terms with 

 the Burkeneji. These Marie cultivate dliurra, beans, and 

 tobacco and breed cattle. They trade with the Eeshiat, ex- 

 changing cattle, woollen material, and beads for ivory, but 

 Lembasso could not tell us either how they get their wares or 

 what they do with the ivory obtained. Unfortunately we were 

 not able to see anything of the Marie ourselves, as we had 



