in p o d s . A b out fifteen days’ journey from the
lake , the natives also report a region wherein
are “ low hills which discharge smoke and sometimes
fire from their tops.” This district is called
Susa, and is a portion o f the Masai Land. A ll
concurred in stating that no stream runs north,
but that all waters for at least twenty d ays’
journey enter the lake. Beyond that distance
lies a small lake which discharges a stream
eastward— supposed b y me to be the Pangani.
On the 21st March we were passing under
the lee— for the wind blew then from the northeast,
o ff the land— o f the dark headlands of
Goshi, which at first rise s te ep ly from the lake
900 feet and, later, receding from the lake, attain
a height o f from 2000 to 3000 feet. On our
left towered the tall, tree-clad island o f Ugingo,
extending far to the north-west. Thin blue
columns o f smoke rising from the depths o f its
woods announced the presence o f man, prob ably
fishermen or fugitives from the mainland. Judging
from what I observed o f the slopes o f this
extremity o f U g e y e y a , I should sa y that much
o f this portion is uninhabited. Rounding the
point that confronts the island o f Ugingo, we
passed between two more uninhabited islands,
and then the dome-like hills o f Wakuneh burst
upon our view. Our impression o f the land on
this side was that it was a pastoral country,
and more thickly populated, for. smoke curled
ffigaS] BMDGEISLAND- 213
more frequently from above depressions and
sheltered positions.
A t evening we camped on Bridge Island, so
named from a natural bridge o f basaltic rock
which forms an irregular arch o f about 24 feet
in length b y about 12 feet in depth, and under
which we were able to pass from one side of
the island to the other. T h e island is covered
with brush-wood and tall grass, and in the
interstices o f the rocks, where the vegetable
deposit was o f great depth, g rew several fine
mangroves. The height is about 50 feet above
the lake, and from its summit we obtained a
fine view o f Ugingo Island, brooding in its
gloomy solitude, and o f the steep and high
ranges o f U g e y e y a , with the level plains o f
Wagansu and Wigassi extending eastward. T o
the west stretched an apparently boundless sea,
its face ruffled b y a Strong breeze, and farther
northward still loomed upward unknown lands,
their contour broken now b y rounded domes
and again b y sharp cones.
The number o f islands encountered next d ay
proved so troublesome to us that we were compelled
to creep cautiously along the shore. A s
we neared Nakidimo, we observed the water
change from its usual clear g r e y colour to that
o f a rich brown, and,- seeing a creek close by,
felt fully assured that we had discovered some
important river. A s we entered, the creek