Lake Funduji, located in southern Africa, near Pretoria, has long enjoyed a notoriety among locals. People not only do not swim there, but are even afraid to come close to an insidious reservoir teeming with huge crocodiles.
According to the ancient Bevenda tribe living near the coast of Funduji, the lake is an enchanted, cursed place. In their opinion, a person bathing in the lake will certainly face a terrible death - Python living at the bottom of the reservoir will swallow anyone who dares to enter his domain.
Python - the hero of Greek mythology - was born by Gaia, the goddess of agriculture. He looks like a huge monster, a giant slippery snake. According to ancient Greek legends, Python was supposed to guard the Delphic diviner of the goddess Themis and Gaia. In addition, he raised the son of Hera, Typhon - a hundred-headed monster-dragon with legs twisting like the bodies of a dozen snakes.
The brave Apollo rid the earth of Python by killing him in a duel. After that, a most beautiful palace appeared on the site of the prophecy. The famous Pythian Games were named after Python.
However, back to the mysterious Lake Funduji. Its waters hold three great secrets. The first is associated with the mysterious rapid evaporation of water from the lake. The fact is that up to hundreds of small streams and rivulets and the rather deep Mutwali River flow into the lake, which brings up to three million gallons of water to Funduji every hour. Despite this, water never leaves the shores of the lake. The question of where the excess lake water goes is still a rhetorical one.
The second mystery is related to the oceanic nature of the lake. Locals have repeatedly observed ebb and flow on Funduji. The European specialists who arrived at the place of the mysterious lake did not manage to register any constant water level. The indicators changed every hour within 1.5 meters.
Funduji's last secret is the lake water itself: it is dark, opaque, almost black in color. However, the curse of the lake water, apparently, does not work on the crocodiles living there. Swimming in the muddy waters of the lake, the animals feel great. But as soon as a person steps into the water, the abyss immediately absorbs him.
Bevenda claims that Funduji's curse is so strong that water cannot even be taken from the lake. Otherwise, the daredevil will die in severe torment. But a modern person cannot be frightened by such stories.
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In 1953, two scientists traveling in Africa, Alan Ellis and Bill Clayton, decided to go to the lake famous for its secrets and explore it. Arriving at the place, the travelers still did not dare to try their luck and swim. However, they filled all the vessels they had with lake water and then closed them tightly with plugs. Imagine the surprise of the researchers when the next morning they saw that there was not a drop of water left in the bottles. In this case, the vessels were not damaged and remained clogged.
The almost magical property of the water of the South African reservoir was confirmed by another expedition of scientists, which included Professor Burnside and his assistant William Tucker. They filled vessels made of different materials with lake water: glass, porcelain, plastic and bakelite. And the professor himself even tasted the water. It turned out to be musty and acrid, like acetic acid. When, at dawn, the travelers took out the vessels from the bags, they saw that they were all empty.
On that day, Professor Burnside suddenly felt a slight discomfort: stomach ache and nausea. Gradually he got worse and worse. However, the scientist bravely endured pain in the stomach.
The next morning, the researchers pulled the bottles out of their backpacks again. This time it turned out that they were again filled with lake water.
Meanwhile, the professor's illness became so severe that he no longer had the strength to endure the pain. Only then did he complain to the companions who accompanied him on the journey, about the pain in his stomach. William Tucker decided to transfer the professor to the hospital. A few hours later the patient died without regaining consciousness. An autopsy showed that death was due to inflammation of the small intestines. In this regard, the question arises: maybe the cause of the professor's poisoning was the water of Lake Funduji?
Belief in the existence of the mythological Python, living in the waters of the lake, seemed to be fully justified. One has only to remember two scary stories, the events of which unfolded on Funduji.
Locals recall how in 1947 two brothers Hendrik and Jacobus van Bllerk decided to experience the curse of the lake. They took a canoe and walked towards the coast. Hendrik got into the boat and swam into the middle of the reservoir. The younger brother, Jacobus, later recalled that the most mysterious of all that happened was that in the middle of the lake Hendrik's canoe seemed to freeze in place.
Despite the rower's best efforts, the boat did not move. A few minutes later, it seemed, a huge mouth opened, which swallowed up the small ship along with Hendrik. Thus, a person was punished for daring to break the spell and go against a higher power.
Just seven years after the incident described above, another terrible event took place on the lake. In the fall of 1954, a group of hunters approached the coast of Funduji. Seeing many crocodiles, they decided to shoot some of the animals. However, none of the hunters ever hit the target, although they were all professionals in their field.
After a while, everyone saw a huge crocodile crawl out of the water and went to a hunter named Gerald Kuhn. His companions began to shout to Kun to leave the shore immediately. However, the hunter, as if enchanted, stood without moving, and gazed intently at the approaching monster. After only a few seconds, the deadly animal disappeared into the waters of Funduji, taking away poor Kun in its mouth.
Until now, the properties of the water of the South African lake remain unexplored. Even the most famous luminaries of science cannot find a solution to its secrets. Probably, it will take a long time before a person can find an explanation for the mysterious phenomena occurring on Funduji. In the meantime, it remains only to wait …