LAKE DEBO. 
21 
her Royal Highness the Dauphiness. Two of these islands 
appear to command the mouth of the lake. Were a fort 
built on one of the three it would command the environs, and 
the navigation would be under the control of the possessor. 
To the N.N. E. of the island of Maria-Theresa we 
observed a hill about fifty or sixty fathoms high. It is 
composed of red earth, and of large porous rocks of the 
same colour. Some fishermen have established themselves 
on the declivity of this hill, which is extremely arid. 
Land is seen on every side of the lake except on the 
west, where it spreads out like an inland sea. On coast- 
ing along its northern side, and steering nearly W. N. W. to 
the distance of fifteen miles, we leave on the left a tongue 
of very flat land, which extends several miles southward. 
It seems to close the passage of the lake, and to form a 
kind of strait. Beyond this barrier the lake is prolonged, 
as I have said, towards the west, until it is lost in the 
horizon. 
The barrier I have just mentioned divides lake Debo 
into two lakes, the upper and the lower. That through 
which the boats passed, and in which the three islands I 
have mentioned are situated, is very large. It extends in 
an easterly direction, and is surrounded by extensive marshes. 
Land is visible on every side. 
When we had advanced as far as the middle of the 
first division, three of the large boats fired some muskets, 
to salute this majestic lake, and the crew of each boat 
shouted with all their might Salam 1 Salam ! repeating the 
cry several times. We stood off from the eastern bank 
and navigated with great caution : the lake was calm and 
the water clear. The current was not perceptible on its 
surface, the depth of the part which we navigated was 
twelve or thirteen feet. The canoes were merely rowed, and 
advanced very slowly. 1 could not recover from my surprise 
