December 5, 1867.

As the end of the year approached, the colony began to lighten its work, and the present East African colony was not two years ago (February 1, 1865, when it first landed at the port of Dar es Salaam. It's a stage of being poor and white.

There is already a set of mature procedures to get started, which greatly reduces unnecessary troubles, and the immigration work is more convenient, just copy and paste the past experience.

So at the end of the year, the East African colonies were able to do things again, and although they had occupied the southern part of Kenya, the northern part of Kenya was still there.

In the northwest region, this year can only be watched, the local epidemic is not over yet, and the most optimistic estimate will not be able to take action until next year.

In the northern part of Kenya, the natural conditions are much worse than those in the south, mainly because of the relatively low precipitation, showing the coexistence of desert and grassland.

However, the East African colonies were not picky eaters, and the presence of grasslands meant that the precipitation was not bad, and the small amount of desert was not completely unacceptable.

The average precipitation in the north is about 300 mm to 400 mm, which means that it can reach about 500 mm to 600 mm in some areas. And in some desert areas, 200mm cannot be reached.

This precipitation condition is not bad, and it is possible to grow some drought-tolerant crops or to develop animal husbandry.

Of course, the premise is to avoid those deserts and arid areas, mainly near the north-east of Somalia, which is the driest area in all of Kenya.

This is mainly due to the influence of topography and ocean currents, the northwest is a flat river, and the southeast trade winds carry the water vapor of the Indian Ocean to the interior of East Africa, and in the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) region, affected by the topography, the southwest highlands of Kenya are rich in precipitation.

When the southeast trade winds cross the equator, they become southwesterly winds due to geostrophic deflection forces, and there is not much rain when they reach northeast Kenya.

The northeast trade winds, blowing from the Arabian Peninsula and mainly passing through the mainland, are difficult to carry a large amount of water vapor.

In addition, the Northeast coastal plain has a flat river, which has a weak effect on water vapor interception, and there is a cold snap in summer to cool down and reduce humidity, so a non-zonal tropical desert is formed.

The effect of topography on precipitation can be seen in Ethiopia, next door to Somalia, where the Ethiopian Plateau intercepts the water vapor of the southwest monsoon, causing more precipitation in the southwestern part of the Ethiopian Plateau, and even forming large-scale wetlands in the lower reaches of the river.

……

Lake Turkana.

The boundary lake between Kenya and Ethiopia, located in the northwestern part of Kenya.

Lake Turkana is the fourth largest lake in Africa, after the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria), Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) and Lake Malawi.

This time, Henriette (a character in Chapter 57) led a survey of northwest Kenya, and the conditions were much better than a year ago.

In the coffee-growing region of the foothills of Kenya, replenished with supplies, Henriette and his team set out on a journey to conquer northwest Kenya.

Today, Henriette sees the turquoise blue Lake Turkana.

"What a beautiful lake, even more magnificent than Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika)!" Henriette sighed.

In addition to the unique turquoise color, the main reason why Lake Turkana is striking is the stark contrast between the desert and the grasslands around the lake, giving people a visual impact.

"Captain, let's keep walking, this lake looks from south to north, obviously not to the end, these may be just the tip of it, and further north, maybe this is another large lake that can be compared to the three major lakes." Andy, a member of the expedition, said to Henriette.

"Well, we still have to continue to work hard, and this time maybe it's another major discovery, enough to make us famous in history." Henriette said.

Andy is very reasonable, the length of Lake Turkana Lake is about 200 kilometers from north to south, and even if it is the fastest speed, it will not be possible to reach the northernmost point in a few days.

……

In the following days, Henriette and his party traveled north along Lake Turkana, while documenting the ecological, climatic and hydrological characteristics of the lake.

The indigenous people call the lake Turkana, and the water is alkaline and home to a large number of algae (cyanobacteria), so it has a blue-green color.

There are Nile crocodiles, hippos and some fish living in the lake, there are also many wild animals around the lake, there are many dry rivers around the lake, I don't know if there is water in the rainy season, and there are no less than 100 species of birds (actually there are more than 300 species) in the lake.

On the seventh day, Henriette and his party reached the northern part of Lake Turkana, along the shores of the lake, where they saw the Omo River, the main source of water for Lake Turkana.

The Omo River originates in Ethiopia and flows through a rainy plateau in the upper reaches of the country, with abundant water and a tight river body, and the downstream channel is 150-200 meters wide, making it a rare major river in East Africa.

Ninety percent of Lake Turkana is fed by the Omo River, which is why Lake Turkana remains unshrunk in the desert.

Henriette et al. recorded in detail the hydrology and geography along the Omo River, a rare fertile land.

In contrast to the arid deserts and grasslands along Lake Turkana, the lower reaches of the Omo River are wide and well-watered, enough to feed at least 200,000 people.

The lower Omo River could be a key area for development in northern Kenya, although some drought-tolerant crops could also be grown in some areas around Lake Turkana.

Since then, the lower Omo River and Turkana have been regarded as the property of the East African colonies, and even in the future, the East African colonies have continued to encroach on the land of the upper Omo River in order to ensure the safety of the Omo River and Lake Turkana.

This is not a trivial matter, but it is a history in Ethiopia, which built a series of hydropower stations in the upper reaches of the Omo River in order to generate electricity.

This has led to a decrease in river water in the lower reaches and the drying up of Lake Turkana, which is mainly located in Kenya.

The Ethiopian government has left the Kenyans who depend on Lake Turkana alive and dead, and the shrinking of rivers and lakes has reduced fish production and sparked tribal conflicts over fishing rights over fishery resources in Kenya.

Therefore, Ernst demanded that the Omo River basin at least be in the hands of the colonial governments of East Africa and that the water source be secured.

At present, Ethiopia was still under the Abyssinian Empire, and its control over the south was not very tight, and it also faced threats from Western colonizers such as the British.

In 1863, Theodoros II of the Abyssinian Empire did something stupid and kidnapped British diplomats in Ethiopia and 58 Europeans in 1864 because the British Foreign Office did not reply to him (he wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, asking Britain to cooperate with him in opposing Egypt and the Ottoman Empire).

Ernst had to admire the old man's courage, but the next operation was even more surprising.

Theodorus released the hostages after the British Foreign Office asked an Iraqi in the service of Britain to bring a reply letter to Theodorus II.

Soon, however, Theodorus II reversed course and recaptured British diplomats in the Abyssinian Empire, while extorting a number of craftsmen and machines from the British government.

It was the British, who were in full swing, who had suffered this grievance, in the same month (December 1867) that Henriette and others explored Lake Turkana and the Omo River.

The British expedition to Abyssinia had been assembled in Bombay, India, ready to give some color to the unscrupulous Tiodorus II.

The fate of Theodorus II and the Abyssinian Empire was already known (the British robbed a large number of artifacts and treasures, including the crown of Theodorus II, who committed suicide after his defeat).

Next year, when Ethiopia and the British fight, it will also be the time for East Africa to expand in the Omo River basin, which will create conditions for Ernst and the East African colonies to annex the Omo River basin.

After the death of Theodorus II, the Abyssinian Empire (Ethiopia) fell into a brief period of princely strife, and for at least three or four years it did not pose a threat to the East African colonies.