152 Discovery of the Great Lake " Ngami" of South Africa, 



portant and necessary part, towards the result which has been 

 finally achieved ; and at the very least, the name of the Rev. 

 Mr MofFat, the fellow missionary of Mr Livingston, deserves 

 mention whenever the great lake is spoken of. 



Its existence had been suspected long since, and its dis- 

 covery has been a constant theme of conversation for many 

 years past at the Cape. But yet the information of its where- 

 about, and size, and nature, were so very scanty, as to throw 

 more doubt over the matter, the further that it was examined 

 into. Up to a very recent date, the only persons who had ever 

 been able within the colony to bear testimony to the fact of 

 the existence of the great lake, from personal knowledge, 

 were two young Bechuana brought down by D. A. Smithes 

 expedition. They said, that when they were children, and 

 their tribe was flying from their enemies, they had been at 

 one period close to the great lake ; but, after the closest 

 cross-questioning, they left the matter more uncertain than 

 ever, for from the length of time that their tribe was flying 

 about in the desert in various directions, it would have been 

 quite possible to have reached the sea either to the east or 

 west, or the colony to the south ; and nothing certain could 

 be made out as to the mean resulting direction of the march- 

 ing and countermarching. 



Nevertheless, many were the ardent explorers who endea- 

 voured to reach this consummation, so greatly to be desired, 

 amid the arid plains of South Africa. The last which started, 

 and by far the most important of all that were ever organized 

 in Soutli Africa, was that of the Cape Town " Association 

 for Exploring Central Africa," and which started in 1834, 

 and returned in 1836. The party consisted of about seven 

 Europeans,as many waggons, and about thirty natives. The 

 whole was under the direction of Dr Andrew Smith, staff- 

 surgeon, who had admirably qualified himself for the com- 

 mand, by the experience of very many years spent chiefly in 

 the interior, and amongst the natives. Among the members of 

 the expedition, were an astronomer, well supplied with instru- 

 ments, and two artists, and Mr Charles Bell for landscape, 

 topography, and the manners and customs of the natives ; 

 and another, Mr Ford, for the natural history department. 



