We had to beach the boat every night to save
her from being swamped at anchor; and, did we not believe the gales
to be peculiar to one season of the year, would call Nyassa the "Lake
of Storms."
Distinct white marks on the rocks showed that, for some time during
the rainy season, the water of the lake is three feet above the point
to which it falls towards the close of the dry period of the year.
The rains begin here in November, and the permanent rise of the Shire
does not take place till January. The western side of Lake Nyassa,
with the exception of the great harbour to the west of Cape Maclear,
is, as has been said before, a succession of small bays of nearly
similar form, each having an open sandy beach and pebbly shore, and
being separated from its neighbour by a rocky headland, with detached
rocks extending some distance out to sea. The great south-western
bay referred to would form a magnificent harbour, the only really
good one we saw to the west.
The land immediately adjacent to the lake is low and fertile, though
in some places marshy and tenanted by large flocks of ducks, geese,
herons, crowned cranes, and other birds. In the southern parts we
have sometimes ten or a dozen miles of rich plains, bordered by what
seem high ranges of well-wooded hills, running nearly parallel with
the lake.
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