XII 
LAKE RUDOLPH 
263 
it entered the lake. We had by this time got used to the lake 
water, though not exactly to like it. It is perfectly wholesome, 
and food cooked with it requires no salt. But it differs from 
all other brack water in that it contains some property (perhaps 
soda) which brings out the strength of tea made with it, so that 
only half the quantity of leaves is needed, otherwise it will be 
too black to drink ; whereas the saltish water so commonly met 
with in Africa will not make tea. 
With the flatter shores a corresponding change in the 
character of the lake washing them followed. Shoal water in¬ 
shore, with weed and water grass, and wide shallow bays were 
now its features, as contrasted with narrow little coves of deep 
clear water and abrupt rocky banks, such as we had been 
accustomed to. As a consequence of the more favourable 
conditions, there were more geese and a much greater variety 
of fish-eating fowl and waders ; pelicans, storks, ibises, etc. 
To-day my tent could be pitched with pegs once more, the 
camping-place I chose being bare smooth ground close to the 
shore of a bay, in which was an islet with some huts on it. 
We were obliged to choose a spot with a few trees near, so 
that we might obtain firewood, the country being for the most 
part without a stick ; but an additional inducement to halt here 
was the wish to make the acquaintance of the fisher folk, whose 
huts we had seen on the islet, and some of whom were paddling 
about opposite in canoes. After a little hesitation they drew 
nearer, and three men and a woman got out into the water and 
waded towards us ; but it was only after a good deal of parley¬ 
ing that they could be persuaded to come ashore. I gave 
them beads and received some fish in return, and the men 
bought a quantity, both dry and fresh (one very large), for iron 
wire. While the bargaining was going on at the water’s edge 
I was able to get an interesting snap at them with my hand 
camera, and it is one of the few photographs I took that has 
not been utterly spoiled either by light getting in or from the 
effects of the climate on the plates. 
