Lake Ngami

“ But about thirty years ago the modern world was startled and gratified with its first glimpse at the Lake Regions of Africa. In 1849, Livingstone, Oswell and Murray, after weary marching across the Kalihari, or southern, desert, stood on the margin of Lake Ngami, the most southerly and first discovered of the great chain of equatorial lakes. They expected to find only a continuation of desert sands and desert hardships, but, lo! a mighty expanse of waters breaks on their vision, worth more as a discovery than a dozen nameless tribes or rivers. ”

“ It was also deemed advisable that we should take with us boats for the navigation of Lake Ngami, those used by the natives being unsafe. We therefore supplied ourselves with three, each adapted for a specific purpose.
Having thus provided, as far as possible, for all emergences, we transferred ourselves and baggage on board the splendid but unfortunate ship, the Dalhousie. [1] Here we [23] found, to our dismay, in addition to a number of other passengers, several hundred emigrants, destined to the Cape of Good Hope. ”

“ The men in question belonged to a tribe called Batoana, residing on the shores of the Lake Ngami. They were remarkably fine-looking fellows, stout and well built, with Caffre features and longish hair. Their appearance, indeed, was not unlike that of the Damaras. One and all were armed with a shield (oblong in form, and made of a single fold of ox-hide) , and a bundle of assegais of various descriptions, each provided with several barbs. What with these formidable weapons and their martial bearing, the aspect of these savages was imposing and warlike. ”

“ Blakeney. "Once at Lake Ngami, we shall manage very well, although the 'thirst' is a bad one after you leave the Lake River, before reaching Khama's chief town, Palachwe. But the main difficulties lie between here and Lake Ngami. We shall have to find our way down to the Okavango, cross that river somewhere--by no means a simple operation with a heavily-loaded wagon--and trek for the lake. I confess I don't like the look of the first part of the journey. It's almost unknown country, and bound to give us a lot of trouble." ”

“ The northern shore of Ngami is low and sandy, without a tree or bush, or any other kind of vegetation within half a mile, and more commonly a mile. Beyond this distance (almost all round the lake) the country is very thickly wooded with various sorts of acacia indigenous to Southern Africa, the Damara "parent tree," a few species of wild fruit-trees, and here and there an occasional baobob, which raises its enormous head high above the highest giant of the forest. ”

“ In July they struck the river Cubango, or Zonga, flowing eastward and, as far as known, losing itself in a great central salt-lake, or Dead Sea. They were told that the Zonga came out of Lake Ngami, further west. Ascending the river sixty miles they struck the lake, and were the first Europeans to behold this fine sheet of water. The great tribe about and beyond the lake is the Makololo, whose chief is Sebituane, a generous hearted and truly noble character. They could not see him on this trip. ”

“ Notwithstanding the wooded character of the country, it affords excellent pasturage; and the numerous old wells and pits found between Tunobis and the Ngami clearly indicate that these regions have, at no very remote period, been largely resorted to by some pastoral people.
I hoped to reach the Lake by the evening, but sunset found us still at a distance from the object of our enterprise. We encamped in a dense brake, near to which were several gigantic baobob [1] -trees, the first we had seen; the stems of some we judged to be from forty to sixty feet in circumference. ”

“ Galton proceeded from Walvis Bay through regions hitherto almost unknown into Ovamboland and arrived at a point within seven days of Lake Ngami. He was much pleased with the fertility of Ovamboland and the quiet, sociable disposition of the Ovambo people. His “Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical Central Africa” affords the fullest description of the land and the people. For many years the career of Charles J. Andersson was identified with Damaraland and the adjacent countries. He was the first European to travel across South-West Africa to Lake Ngami. ”

“ Great Namaqua-land is characterized by immense sandy plains, traversed by hill and rock, and thickly strewn with quartz, which reflects a dazzling and perplexing light. Two to three days' journey south of Rehoboth, the dense thorny bush, so peculiar to Damara-land, ceases, and with the exception of a few mimosas along the water-courses, and occasional ebony-trees, the arboreous vegetation is scanty and stunted. For more than six months of the year it is scorched by an almost vertical sun. The rains, which are always accompanied by heavy thunder, are periodical and very partial. ”

“ Gardening and agriculture are much practiced by the Bechuanas. These occupations are conducted in nearly a similar manner as that described among the Ovambo. The vegetables and the grain are also very much the same.
The only marketable articles as yet ascertained at the Lake are ostrich feathers, furs and skins of various sorts, rhinoceros horns, and ivory (elephant and hippopotamus) . The staple articles of exchange are beads, and more especially ammunition. Clothing is as yet but very little in demand, the people not being sufficiently advanced in civilization to care for such a luxury. ”

“ The western districts are much less broken than the central, and exhibit no undulations except in the vicinity of the ocean. There an immense level territory exists under the name of the Kalihari Desert, whose southern boundary is marked by the Gariep or Orange River, which drains rather than waters it. To the north this awful wilderness stretches as far as the Lake Ngami, thus covering the area comprised between the 29th and 30th parallels of south latitude. The pastoral country of Namaqua and Damaras bounds it on the west. Eastward it extends to the 24th meridian of west longitude. ”

“ No traveller traces its outlines in the same way. The least shifting shore lies on the south side, where the land is some- what more elevated. It even develops at some distance from the lake the chain of the Makkapolo hills, rising 1,200 feet above the level of the lake, which by different explorers is itself estimated at from 2,600 to nearly 3,000 feet above the sea. When discovered by Livingstone in 1849, Ngami appeared to stretch for about 60 miles from east to west, but was much narrower from north to south, the opposite shores being plainly visible in this direction. ”

“ Most of it is comparatively low; much of it is arid; some parts, especially those round Lake Ngami, are marshy and therefore malarious. It is thinly peopled, has not been ascertained to possess any mineral wealth, and lies far from any possible market. Parts of it may turn out to afford good pasture, but for the present little is said or thought about it, and no efforts have been made to develop it.
The third region comprises Matabililand and Mashonaland, that is, the country between the Transvaal Republic and the valley of the Middle Zambesi, all of which is now administered by the Company. ”

“ Here an almost countless number of rivers and streams are found, some flowing into the mighty Zambesi, and others into Lake Ngami.
Notwithstanding the dangers which must be encountered in crossing the vast Kalahara Desert, from the scarcity of water, the intense heat, the wild beasts, the savage people who inhabit its borders, and more than all, from the attacks of the Tsetse fly, whose poisonous bite speedily destroys cattle and horses, white traders from the colony occasionally traverse it, for the purpose of obtaining ivory from the natives. ”

“ The Ngami.—When discovered.—Its various Names.—Its Size and Form.—Great Changes in its Waters.—Singular Phenomenon.—The Teoge River.—The Zouga River.—The Mukuru-Mukovanja River.—Animals.—Birds.—Crocodiles.—Serpents.—Fish. At an early period of the present century rumors had reached Europeans of a vast lake in the interior of South Africa, but for a very long time its existence continued to be involved in mystery, and travelers and hunters were unavailingly expending their resources and energies to solve the grand problem. ”

“ I could say no more, for my heart failed me, and I sat down till the wagons came up; when, pointing to the dry river-bed, I told Galton that he saw the lake before him. "Nonsense!" he replied; "it is only the end or tail of it which you see there."
After having descended into the bed, we continued to travel, at a rapid pace, about a mile in a westerly direction, when, at a bend, we discovered a large patch of green reeds. At this sight a momentary ray of hope brightened up every countenance ”

“ Both banks of this peculiar water-course were hemmed in by one vast thorn-jungle, which seemed to defy the passage of man or beast. It was doubly fortunate, therefore, that we met this river, as its sides served as a good and open road, while a plentiful supply of water was afforded by the occasional pools. It was here, at last, that we arrived at some Damara villages, on the fifth day after leaving Otjironjuba. At first the natives tried to run away; but we captured a few women, which soon induced the men to return. These people had never before seen a white man ”

“ Very lately, indeed, a party of Griquas, about twenty in number, who were elephant-hunting to the northwest of the Ngami, and who were provided with three wagons and a large number of trek, or draft-oxen, lost, prior to their return to the Lake, all their cattle by the bite of the tsetse. Some horses, brought with them to further their sport, shared a similar fate. ”

“ Before they are much developed there is scarcely any indication of spiral turns, and they are then not unlike the horns of goats.
The nakong is a water-buck. By means of its peculiarly long hoofs (which are black) , not unfrequently attaining a length of six to seven inches, it is able to traverse with facility the reedy bogs and quagmires with which the lake country abounds—localities only fit for the feathery tribe. When at the Ngami I offered very tempting rewards to the natives if they would bring me this animal either dead or alive ”

“ Oswell agreeing to pay the guides, who were furnished by Sechele.
This expedition, which resulted in the discovery of Lake Ngami, set out from the missionary station at Kolobeng on the 1st of June, 1849. The way lay across the great Kalahari desert, seven hundred miles in breadth. This is a singular region. Though it has no running streams, and few and scanty wells, it abounds in animal and vegetable life. Men, animals, and plants accommodate themselves singularly to the scarcity of water. Grass is abundant, growing in tufts ”

“ The Lake is fed by the Teoge at its northwest extremity. The river never, perhaps, much exceeds forty yards; but it is deep, and, when at its greatest height, contains a large volume of water. Its annual overflow takes place in June, July, and August, and sometimes even later. The source of the Teoge is as yet unknown, but is supposed to be very distant. It may probably have its rise on the same high table-land as the Quanza, and other streams of importance. ”

“ The Bechuanas of the Lake are fond of the chase, and almost daily parties are sent out to provide for the chief’s table. But, though possessed of a great number of fire-arms, few of the men have as yet attained any proficiency in their use. By far the greater portion of animals slain are obtained by means of pitfalls dug by the Bushmen and the Bayeye along the banks of the rivers. As many as thirty to forty pitfalls may be seen extending in one continuous line.
Though the finny tribe is pretty numerous in the Lake and its rivers, none of the Bechunas take the trouble to catch them. ”

“ This is not, I believe, to be attributed to the upheaving or to the sinking of the land, but that, in all probability, the Lake was originally of its present size, or nearly so, when a sudden and unusually large flood poured into it from the interior, which, on account of the flatness of the country, could not be drained off as quickly as it flowed in, but caused the water to rise above its usual height, which, remaining in that state some time, soon destroyed the vegetation. ”

“ When Europeans first visited the Lake, they were, I am told, liberally entertained by Lecholètébè; but, whatever civility he might have shown to strangers in former times,much can not be said in favor of his hospitality at the present day. During my whole stay at the Lake, I never received from him so much as a handful of corn or a cup of milk. On the contrary, he, while we ourselves were almost starving, was in the habit of begging food daily from me.
If any thing takes his fancy—no matter what, it may be the shirt you wear—he has no scruple in asking you for it at once. ”

“ It is a perfect sea of reeds (with occasional openings) , and affords a favorite resort to innumerable herds of buffaloes.
About twenty miles before the Zouga ceases to flow it expands into a lake from two to four miles broad, and about twelve or fifteen in extent. During the dry season this river presents "a series of pools with dry spaces between."
The vegetation all along its course is varied and luxuriant, and in some places the scenery is quite charming, the banks of the river being often, to the very water's edge, covered with majestic trees of beautiful and dense foliage. ”