EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XIV 
78 
twigs, leaves and grass, and were fairly uniform in 
size. 
The lake liad an irresistible attraction for us, and in 
whichever direction the party started it always found 
its way round to some part of the lake shore. It was 
always instructive and often of absorbing interest to 
watcii the birds in the thickets, the wading birds in the 
The Silent Lake, the home of the hippopotamus. 
The birds are the sacred Ibis. 
water, and in the cool of the afternoon the school of 
hippopotamuses in the lake. These huge animals 
cautiously approached the shore for the purpose of 
reaching the rich green grass which grew so luxuriantly 
along the banks of the terminal section of the river : 
then they would slowly raise their huge heads, which 
look like logs of wood boating on the surhice of the 
