LAKE RUDOLPH 
51 
little combination stool and head-rest and their hair in plaits. 
But they were not nearly of so fine a physique as the Turkana 
and Korsmojo peoples. They wore brass ornaments in their 
ears and all carried spears and shields ; we hardly saw a bow 
and arrow. 
These natives proved to be the Reshiat, a tribe very rich 
in cattle and goats, living right on the north side of the lake. 
We were evidently expected, for two Reshiat chiefs promptly 
appeared on the scene and salaamed to us with the most 
profound respect, practically kissing our boots, one of the 
many evident signs of how strong a discipline was maintained 
by the Abyssinians. Most of the people wore a kind of skull 
cap, which I found out to be the breast of a pelican. This, 
in addition to being snow-white, was generally adorned with 
some ostrich feathers and was most picturesque. 
Circumstances now necessitated our marching to the 
Abyssinian post, and here we had to sit tight for some time, 
eventually marching up the banks of the Omo river, one of the 
finest rivers we had yet met with, having an average width of 
150 yards with a great volume of water. It swarmed with 
crocodiles, and while watering our sheep we had to constantly 
fire shots into the water, but even then in one day we lost 
eight sheep while watering. The River Omo has very steep 
banks, in some places being 60 feet high, from which many 
crocodiles can be seen fast asleep on the rocks with their 
mouths open ! It was not easy to imagine they were asleep, 
but the natives went one better and said that the birds hopped 
into their mouths and searched for food there ! The banks 
of the Omo were a comparative fairyland to the land we had 
previously travelled through. Here it was that we obtained 
our first plentiful supply of fresh water for many months. We 
also found some very fine wild dates, which the porters much 
enjoyed and we by no means despised. Timber, too, was plenti- 
ful and vast herds of topi were constantly in sight. Lions proved 
both numerous and troublesome round the camp at night. 
After following the Omo for five days we struck off in a 
north-easterly direction for Adis Abeba, marching thence to 
Jibouti, ultimately catching the French mail to Mombasa after 
a most interesting six months’ trip. 
