At Nchokotsa We Came Upon The First Of A Great Number Of Salt-Pans,
Covered With An Efflorescence Of Lime,
Probably the nitrate.
A thick belt of mopane-trees (a `Bauhinia') hides this salt-pan,
which is twenty miles in
Circumference, entirely from the view of a person
coming from the southeast; and, at the time the pan burst upon our view,
the setting sun was casting a beautiful blue haze over
the white incrustations, making the whole look exactly like a lake.
Oswell threw his hat up in the air at the sight, and shouted out a huzza
which made the poor Bushwoman and the Bakwains think him mad.
I was a little behind him, and was as completely deceived by it as he;
but, as we had agreed to allow each other to behold the lake
at the same instant, I felt a little chagrined that he had, unintentionally,
got the first glance. We had no idea that the long-looked-for lake was still
more than three hundred miles distant. One reason of our mistake was,
that the River Zouga was often spoken of by the same name as the lake,
viz., Noka ea Batletli ("River of the Batletli").
The mirage on these salinas was marvelous. It is never, I believe,
seen in perfection, except over such saline incrustations.
Here not a particle of imagination was necessary for realizing
the exact picture of large collections of water; the waves danced along above,
and the shadows of the trees were vividly reflected beneath the surface
in such an admirable manner, that the loose cattle, whose thirst
had not been slaked sufficiently by the very brackish water of Nchokotsa,
with the horses, dogs, and even the Hottentots ran off
toward the deceitful pools. A herd of zebras in the mirage
looked so exactly like elephants that Oswell began to saddle a horse
in order to hunt them; but a sort of break in the haze
dispelled the illusion. Looking to the west and northwest from Nchokotsa,
we could see columns of black smoke, exactly like those from a steam-engine,
rising to the clouds, and were assured that these arose
from the burning reeds of the Noka ea Batletli.
On the 4th of July we went forward on horseback toward what we supposed
to be the lake, and again and again did we seem to see it;
but at last we came to the veritable water of the Zouga,
and found it to be a river running to the N.E. A village of Bakurutse
lay on the opposite bank; these live among Batletli,
a tribe having a click in their language, and who were found by Sebituane
to possess large herds of the great horned cattle. They seem allied
to the Hottentot family. Mr. Oswell, in trying to cross the river,
got his horse bogged in the swampy bank. Two Bakwains and I managed
to get over by wading beside a fishing-weir. The people were friendly,
and informed us that this water came out of the Ngami. This news gladdened
all our hearts, for we now felt certain of reaching our goal. We might,
they said, be a moon on the way; but we had the River Zouga at our feet,
and by following it we should at last reach the broad water.
Next day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly with every one,
two of the Bamangwato, who had been sent on before us by Sekomi
to drive away all the Bushmen and Bakalahari from our path,
so that they should not assist or guide us, came and sat down by our fire.
We had seen their footsteps fresh in the way, and they had watched
our slow movements forward, and wondered to see how we, without any Bushmen,
found our way to the waters. This was the first time they had seen Ramotobi.
"You have reached the river now," said they; and we, quite disposed to laugh
at having won the game, felt no ill-will to any one. They seemed to feel
no enmity to us either; but, after an apparently friendly conversation,
proceeded to fulfill to the last the instructions of their chief.
Ascending the Zouga in our front, they circulated the report
that our object was to plunder all the tribes living on the river and lake;
but when they had got half way up the river, the principal man
sickened of fever, turned back some distance, and died.
His death had a good effect, for the villagers connected it with the injury
he was attempting to do to us. They all saw through Sekomi's reasons for
wishing us to fail in our attempt; and though they came to us at first armed,
kind and fair treatment soon produced perfect confidence.
When we had gone up the bank of this beautiful river about ninety-six miles
from the point where we first struck it, and understood that we were still
a considerable distance from the Ngami, we left all the oxen and wagons,
except Mr. Oswell's, which was the smallest, and one team, at Ngabisane,
in the hope that they would be recruited for the home journey,
while we made a push for the lake. The Bechuana chief of the Lake region,
who had sent men to Sechele, now sent orders to all the people on the river
to assist us, and we were received by the Bakoba, whose language
clearly shows that they bear an affinity to the tribes in the north.
They call themselves Bayeiye, i.e., men; but the Bechuanas call them Bakoba,
which contains somewhat of the idea of slaves. They have never
been known to fight, and, indeed, have a tradition that their forefathers,
in their first essays at war, made their bows of the Palma Christi,
and, when these broke, they gave up fighting altogether.
They have invariably submitted to the rule of every horde which has overrun
the countries adjacent to the rivers on which they specially love to dwell.
They are thus the Quakers of the body politic in Africa.
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