THE KISINGIRI AND GWASI DISTRICTS 129 
THE KISINGIBI AND GWASI DISTRICTS OF SOUTH 
KAVIRONDO, NYANZA PROVINCE 
By C. M. Dobbs 
The country in the vicinity of the Ulambwi Valley, including 
the islands of Lusinga and Mfangano, has always struck me 
as being extremely interesting, and I am sending the following 
few notes in the hope that they may be of interest to others as 
well. 
The Ulambwi Valley itself is a very low-lying strip of land 
running down between the high country of Kaniamwa on the 
east, and Gwasi, Kasigunga, and Kisingiri on the west. 
The Ulambwi river only exists during the rains, when 
indeed the whole valley is a swamp. In the dry weather, it 
is simply a line of caked mud running through thick bush to 
the lake. There is a fair amount of game — topi, hartebeeste, 
and mpala — in the valley, and at certain seasons the elephants 
come down from the higher country in Kabwoch and Kaniam- 
kago. About three years ago, when the elephants were being 
shot at continually in the higher country, one of them — a small 
bull — took refuge on Lusinga Island, which is separated from 
the mainland by a very narrow passage called Mbit a. It was 
not far from here that three or four elephants some time 
previously crossed over the Kavirondo Gulf to Uyoma, in 
Kisumu district. The natives say that they do not swim, 
but walk along the bottom with their trunks held up vertically. 
This elephant cannot have had much cover on Lusinga, 
which is to a great extent a desert. It was subsequently 
shot. To the west of the Ulambwi Valley and on the lake 
shore is the district of Kisingiri, the natives of which at one 
time made most of their money by manufacturing salt, in 
which there was quite a brisk trade carried on with the Baganda. 
The soil of a large part of this district along the lake shore 
is impregnated with salt, and the natives dig this up, and put 
it into earthenware pots. A small hole is knocked in the 
bottom of the pot, and water is poured in at the top. The 
water, filtrating through, comes out quite clean, but very 
