620 THE FRESH-WATER LOCHS OF SCOTLAND 
volcano, 1600 feet in height, called by the natives Sugobo, is situated. 
The lake is fed by two rivers, and before the volcano became active 
the water was good to drink, though now it is very hot ; in places the 
water has evaporated, exposing a bed of deep black mud, hot, but 
with a hard crust of salt over the surface, while on the borders are 
solid mounds of salt. Former high-water marks are strewn with 
masses of bones and skeletons of fish large and small, evidently killed 
when the water became heated. On the other hand, C. W. Hobley,^ 
writing in 1906, said : — " The enormous Lake Sugota of the Intelligence 
Division, Map No. 1429 (d), is non-existent, and it is difficult to 
understand how it became delineated. The Sugota River is bounded 
by great walls of lava, so could hardly have flooded the plains. It, 
however, may be that Cavendish or one of the earlier explorers saw 
the whitey natron deposits from the slopes of Mount Nyiro, and took 
them for water."" 
Lake Rudolf (Basso Narok, "Dark Water in lat. '6° N., long. 
36° E., is over 200 miles long, about 3500 square miles in area, and 
lies at an elevation of 1250 feet above sea-level, its greatest depbh 
being 25 feet. Dr Donaldson Smith ^ says it is not like a lojig sheet 
of water lying in an abrupt cut or fissure in the earth's surface, but 
is a shallow basin in open country, very much spread out except 
at the southern end. The beach is composed of black sand, and 
hence Lake Rudolf is termed Black Lake by the Swahilis, while Lake 
Stefanie to the north-east, the shores of which are of white sand, is 
called White Lake. The western shores of Lake Rudolf are charac- 
terised by numerous lagoons, separated from the open water by low 
sand-bars (thrown up by the action of the waves), which are frequented 
by many water-birds. Evidences were noted in 1898 of a western 
encroachment of the lake. Several rivers flow towards the lake, but 
do not always discharge into it ; thus the Sacchi empties itself into a 
large area of swamp at the head of Sanderson Gulf before the shores 
of Lake Rudolf are actually reached, and the Keno and the Turkwell 
seldom reach the lake. It was generally concluded that the Omo was 
the only perennial feeder, but in 1899 Harrison^ found that even 
that river was dry, and that the level of the lake had sunk 12 feet 
during the year. In three stages, each probably of about one year's 
duration, it had sunk 28 feet. Austin * says the waters are impregnated 
1 See " Notes on the Geography and People of the Baringo District of the East 
African Protectorate," Geogr. Journ., vol. xxviii. p. 473, London, 1906. 
'■^ See "An Expedition through Somaliland to Lake Rudolf," Geogr. Journ., 
vol. viii. p. 226, 1896. 
^ See "A Journey from Zeila to Lake Rudolf," Geogr. Joiirn., vol. xviii, 
p. 272, 1901. 
^ See Geogr. Journ., vol. xiv. p. 150, 1899. 
