ANXIOUS TO VISIT LIBEBE LECHOLETEBE 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 Lecholetebe (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 

 Libebe, 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 astonish- 

 ment, but no less delight, and without the slightest objec- 

 tion, he agreed to my proposal. As, however, I could not 

 flatter myself that I had produced a more favorable impres- 

 sion than any other traveler, I suspected deceit of some kind, 

 and the sequel proved I was not mistaken in my conjecture. 



CHAPTER XXXiy. 



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 bo 

 involved in mystery, and travelers and hunters were unavail- 



