Here it brought large quantities of the plant (_Vallisneriae_), from which the natives extract salt by burning, and which, if chewed, at once shows its saline properties by the taste.

Clouds of the kungo, or edible midges, floated on the Lake, and many rested on the bushes on land.
The reeds along the shores of the Lake were still crowded with fugitives, and a great loss of life must since have taken place; for, after the corn they had brought with them was expended, famine would ensue.

Even now we passed many women and children digging up the roots, about the size of peas, of an aromatic grass; and their wasted forms showed that this poor hard fare was to allay, if possible, the pangs of hunger.

The babies at the breast crowed to us as we passed, their mothers kneeling and grubbing for the roots; the poor little things still drawing nourishment from the natural fountain were unconscious of that sinking of heart which their parents must have felt in knowing that the supply for the little ones must soon fail.

No one would sell a bit of food to us: fishermen, even, would not part with the produce of their nets, except in exchange for some other kind of food.