e quantity were larger, it might go further in the dry rocky
bed of the Zouga, since seen still further to the east. The water
supply of this part of the river system, as will be more fully explained
further on, takes place in channels prepared for a much more copious
flow. It resembles a deserted Eastern garden, where all the embankments
and canals for irrigation can be traced, but where, the main dam and
sluices having been allowed to get out of repair, only a small portion
can be laid under water. In the case of the Zouga the channel is
perfect, but water enough to fill the whole channel never comes down;
and before it finds its way much beyond Kumadau, the upper supply ceases
to run and the rest becomes evaporated. The higher parts of its bed even
are much broader and more capacious than the lower toward Kumadau. The
water is not absorbed so much as lost in filling up an empty channel,
from which it is to be removed by the air and sun. There is, I am
convinced, no such thing in the country as a river running into sand and
becoming lost. The phenomenon, so convenient for geographers, haunted
my fancy for years; but I have failed in discovering any thing except a
most insignificant approach to it.

My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebituane, the great
chief of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two hundred miles
beyond. We had now come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called
Batauana. Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebituane
had conquered his father Moremi, and Lechulatebe received part of his
education while a captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible
man, ransomed him; and, having collected a number of families together,
abdicated the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe had
just come into power, he imagined that the proper way of showing his
abilities was to act directly contrary to every thing that his uncle
advised. When we came, the uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely,
therefore the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought to
have been an ox. So I proposed to my companions to loose the animal
and let him go, as a hint to his master. They, however, did not wish to
insult him. I, being more of a native, and familiar with their customs,
knew that this shabby present was an insult to us. We wished to purchase
some goats or oxen; Lechulatebe offered us elephants' tusks. "No, we can
not eat these; we want something to fill our sto