CH. XIII 
A SOJOURN AT RESHIAT AND KERE 
289 
end of the lake, and across its northern extremity the low 
shore could be made out Throughout the whole length of 
Bassu, with the exception of one part—the only one where 
there is a water-horizon to the westward—hills are visible 
across the lake, the land on its western banks being for the 
most part high, though of course the actual shore is nowhere 
visible, until it narrows at the north end where hills no longer 
border it. 
Until the last day or two I had never, during the whole 
journey along the lake, heard a mosquito ; since then a few had 
been in evidence, but here they swarmed. No doubt the water, 
impregnated with soda (or whatever the right name for its 
saline property may be), did not agree with them, but here, 
in the swampy border of the lake, where it is fresh, they find 
a congenial habitat. 
I had heard a good deal about Reshiat, when making 
inquiries about this country before leaving the coast, from 
the few Swahili traders who had visited it. The name is 
used by them to designate generally the inhabited region at 
the north end of Bassu, and I had pictured a populous and 
extensive district. My surprise, then, was considerable when, 
after one short march from its commencement, Mnyamiri told 
me that we had reached the last kraals or Reshiat proper ; 
the whole comprising but a few small villages scattered along 
the shore. 1 It is rather a pleasant bit of country (com¬ 
paratively so, at all events) ; some sandy ridges rise from the 
shore, fairly well grassed, with open plains behind and open 
water in front. 
I saw a good many hippos here, and herds of “ topi ” 
grazed sometimes quite close up to the kraals. I did not 
interfere with them during the march, but after camping 
among some clumps of “ suaki ” bush went out to procure meat. 
I first bagged a ram Grant’s gazelle (though not without some 
1 I afterwards learned that there is another district of the same name at the north¬ 
western corner of the lake. 
U 
