The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XVI, No. 6 [‎341r] (34/232)

AN EXPEDITION BETWEEN LAKE RUDOLF AND THE NILE. 607
ceased to exist, and except a few representatives of the Hamar Koki
tribe, we saw no human beings at all until we reached the river
Nianam. The water was 12 feet lower in the shallow lake than it was
in 1895.
I was quite surprised at first at the manner of our reception by the
Murle and by their poverty. The rich villages that welcomed us in
1895 did not exist. There were only a few little groups of huts,
principally on the west bank of the river, that showed the remnants
of a once large and flourishing tribe. We spent nearly a whole day
endeavouring to get the people to come to us; but finally, when we
GAZELLA GRAN Til BRIGHTII.
gained their confidence, they were most eager to assist us. The secret
of the natives’ distress was to be found in Abyssinian raids. With the
help of the natives and their canoes we easily crossed the Nianam,
which was half dried up like all the streams we had crossed. On my
first journey I followed up what I supposed to be the Nianam for a
long distance to Mela; but since I was there that illustrious explorer,
the late Captain Bottego, discovered another river, the Omo, coming in
from the west. It is clear to me now that my river, which I will call
the Mela, and the Omo together in equal volume join at Oumba to
form the Nianam, the name given by Count Teleki to the large stream
flowing into the lake. ^
A remarkable change now occurred in the fauna. Not only did