26 o 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
showed me a curious little fish he had caught, covered with a 
sort of prickles and marked with greenish stripes, which had 
the power of blowing itself out. He said a similar kind was 
found in the sea on the east coast. One of the fish I had for 
dinner and found it good. The only game I saw, besides a 
hippo or two, were a few grantii. Cormorants were numerous, 
and an odd pair or two of Egyptian geese might be seen, but 
not a duck of any kind. The lake has every appearance of 
being deep at this southern end, the shores sloping steeply 
down for the most part, so that you may get out of your depth 
close to the bank. One or two dead trees of some size, stand¬ 
ing in the water where it was now pretty deep, showed it to be 
considerably fuller now than it must have been for many con¬ 
secutive seasons a number of years ago. 
For a day or two more we plodded on, following generally 
the windings of the shores and occasionally cutting a corner 
over a promontory, through country of the same character— 
a succession of black (or rather dark reddish-brown) ridges 
composed of loose lumps of rough lava rock running down 
into the lake with difficult gullies, all full of stones, between. 
Sometimes the donkeys got into difficulties and their loads 
had to be carried past an awkward corner by hand, or one 
toppled over, burden and all, into the water, all causing delay; 
but, strange to say, not a man nor a donkey got lame, sick, or 
sorry. The gale continued the while with unabated violence, 
especially at night, making things very uncomfortable. It 
seemed to come down like an avalanche from the mountain, 
rushing into the deep basin of the lake, sometimes in terrific 
gusts. At times it was difficult even to stand, and cooking 
and eating were conducted under disadvantages. Nothing 
would stop on the table, the very tea was blown out of one’s 
cup, while black sand and small stones got into the food and 
filled one’s bed at night. 
At the same time the lake was beautiful, with many charm¬ 
ing little bays, suggestive of convenient anchorage for a boat. 
