POLICY AND POWER OF LECHOLETÉBÈ.

421

vility 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 starying, 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. Upon your refusal, he will, perhaps, leave you for a time, but is sure to return and renew his request with the greatest pertinacity, never ceasing his solicitations till, by his vexatious importunity, he has succeeded in getting the object of his desire-a line of policy the success of which he seems fully to understand.

The arrival of several wagons at the Lake at the same time puts him in the highest glee. On these occasions he never fails to make his rounds, craving bread from one, sugar from another, coffee from a third, meat from a fourth, and

so on.

The traders, however, know how to take advantage of this weakness in his character, and often make him pay dearly for such articles as may captivate his fancy; for instance, I have known a man to get a good-sized bull-elephant tusk for three common copper drinking-cups!*

Lecholètébé possesses great power over his people, when he chooses to exercise it; but I am inclined to think their subjection is attributable more to superstition and the force of custom than to any real regard for his person. Generally speaking, he is not of a cruel disposition; but that he holds human life in very light estimation, the following incident, which came under my own immediate notice, serves to show.

*When the lake was first discovered, a man told me that he obtained, in exchange for a musket, twelve hundred pounds of ivory, worth, at the least, £240 sterling!

422 HUMAN LIFE LITTLE VALUED BY LECHOLETÉBÈ.

Having lately bought some horses, two Bushmen were ordered to take charge of them; but, unfortunately, by their neglect, one of the animals fell into a quagmire, and was suffocated. Being afraid to tell the truth, they reported to the chief that the horse had died from the effects of the bite of a snake. On hearing this, Lecholètébè questioned the men as to the part of the body wounded by the reptile, and being told that it was in the head, he ordered the men to lead him to the place, that he might see for himself. On arriving at the spot, he at once saw how the case stood, and told the Bushmen that the animal had not died from the bite of a snake, but was evidently choked in the mud, to which they confessed, as there was no longer any chance of concealing the truth. Without further question or remark, the chief ordered the halter of the dead horse to be loosened, and the hands and feet of the Bushmen to be secured with it. This being done, they were thrown into the mud alongside the dead quadruped, where, of course, they soon miserably perished, Lecholètébè coolly exclaiming, "There, now mind the horse!"

Another instance of the little value he sets on human (rather Bushman) life I have upon good authority. A Bushman lad, who had long been successfully engaged in sheepstealing, was at length detected, and, as a punishment for his crimes, was tied to a tree, and practiced upon with guns at the long distance of two hundred paces.

The object I had now chiefly in view was to visit a place called Libébé, situated considerably to the north of the Lake, not so much to see the country as to collect information in regard to the mighty waters (part of which are tributaries to the Ngami) lately brought to light in that remote region, as also to ascertain if any water communication existed with the sea. But many difficulties were in the way. My people refused almost to a man to accompany me; and as our agreement only bound them as far as the Ngami, I could not com

ANXIOUS TO VISIT LIBÈBÉ-LECHOLETÉBÈ CONSENTS. 423

pel them to go on. The parts that I should have to pass through are infected with fevers fatal to human life; and then, again, the tsetse fly abounds, which, from the ravages it causes among cattle, renders traveling by land almost impossible.

The only way left was to penetrate northward by water, if practicable; but here again I found serious impediments. I had no boat of my own, and Lecholètébè (like all native chiefs) was known to be particularly hostile to any attempt to pass beyond his territory. Not the most alluring promises of presents and rewards had yet succeeded in inducing him to assist any one in this matter. Consequently, I could not expect that he would treat me differently, the rather as I was really not in a position to offer him a bribe of any value. It being a darling scheme of mine, however, to penetrate to Libèbé, I was determined on carrying it out, if possible.

Accordingly, I seized the first favorable opportunity of broaching the subject to the chief, and requested he would furnish me with men and canoes. To my great astonishment, but no less delight, and without the slightest objection, he agreed to my proposal. As, however, I could not flatter myself that I had produced a more favorable impression than any other traveler, I suspected deceit of some kind, and the sequel proved I was not mistaken in my conjecture.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

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.

Ar 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 unavail

424

THE NGAMI-WHEN DISCOVERED-NAMES.

ingly expending their resources and energies to solve the grand problem.

The cause of all these failures was chiefly to be found in the desert and inhospitable regions which lie between the explorers and the supposed lake, commonly known as the Kalahari desert. Toward the close of 1849, however, and when the hope of our being able to overcome this apparently insurmountable barrier was almost extinguished, the great object was accomplished by the persevering exertions of Messrs. Oswell, Livingstone, and Murray, and the existence was made known of a fine fresh-water lake in the centre of South Africa.

This important and highly interesting discovery at once opened a new and extensive field for the inquiries of the geographer and the naturalist, and gave a fresh impulse to the enterprising and speculating spirit of the colonists of Southern Africa. The lake was described as a magnificent sheet of water, abounding in fish and hippopotami, and the country around as well stocked with elephants and other large game, while the vegetation was said to be on the most luxuriant scale. The discovery excited very considerable in

terest.

The Lake goes with the natives by different names—all of which are more or less appropriate-such as Inghàbé (the giraffe); Noka ea Botlètle (lake of the Botletle); Noka ea Mokoron (lake of boats); and Ngami, or The Waters. As the last designation is the one by which the Lake is best known to Europeans, I will retain it throughout the remainder of this narrative.

As before said, on taking a nearer survey of the Lake, I experienced some disappointment as to its attractions. It is, however, indisputably a fine sheet of water, but in size is somewhat overrated, the estimation of its length alone being at one time considered no less than one hundred miles, and the width about fifteen or sixteen. The misconception may

SIZE AND FORM OF THE LAKE.

425

thus, perhaps, be accounted for. In the first instance, no person, to the best of my belief, has ever yet been quite round it; secondly, the shores-with the exception of the south and west sides are low and sandy, and in hazy weather can not easily be distinguished; and, lastly, I am inclined to think that the discoverers mistook its length for its breadth, for, according to Cooly, "The travelers beheld with delight the fine river, and the Lake extending out of sight to the north and west." Again, my friend Mr. Frederick Green, who visited the Lake shortly after its discovery, thus states, in his manuscript journal, the impression he experienced on first viewing it.

"The day after reaching the town of Batoani, we took a ride to view the Lake. From the southern side, we could trace the opposite shore some ten or twelve miles, but beyond that distance, and to the westward, we could not, even with the aid of a telescope, discern any sign of land-only a blue horizon of water. In a subsequent journey, however, and when traveling along its southern shores, I found that the opposite strand could always be seen. When first viewing it, we were not, as we then thought, looking across, but lengthwise."

The whole circumference is probably about sixty or seventy geographical miles; its average breadth is seven miles, and not exceeding nine at its widest parts. Its shape, moreover, is narrow in the middle and bulging out at the two ends; and I may add, that the first reports received many years ago from the natives about the Lake, and which concurred in representing it of the shape of a pair of spectacles, are correct.

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,