430 THE MUKURU-MUKOVANJA. 



the country of several black nations, and ultimately discharg- 

 ing itself into the sea. This is the statement of a party of 

 Griquas who traveled in this direction in search of elephants. 

 I should, perhaps, h.ave hesitated to give credit to their ac- 

 count had it not, on more than one occasion, been corrobo- 

 rated. While on our visit to the Ovambo, we inquired, as 

 mentioned, if they were not aware of any permanently run- 

 ning river in their neighborhood, to which they immediately 

 and unhesitatingly replied in the affirmative. " The Cu- 

 nene," they said, " was only four or five days' foot-journey 

 distant from them," but added " that it was not to be com- 

 pared with a river called Mukuru-Mukovanja, that comes 

 out of Ovatjona-land (clearly the Bechuana country), of 

 which the Cunene is only a branch." This valuable and in- 

 teresting information was confirmed by the Hill-Damaras. 



Again, when Mr. Galton and myself, distant only some 

 eight or ten days' journey from the Lake, were obliged to 

 retrace our steps on account of excessive drought, we were 

 informed by the Bushmen of the existence of a large river 

 to the north, coming from Bechuana-land, and running west- 

 ward. They further added that another small river comes 

 from the same direction, but is soon lost in the sand, or ter- 

 minates in a marsh. Now, excepting that the latter is a 

 branch of the Teoge (instead of having its source in the 

 Lake, in common with the large river, as they asserted), their 

 account may be said to have been substantiated. 



From these statements, the existence of a river, in all 

 probability of great magnitude, and perhaps navigable to its 

 very source, or nearly so, is so far authenticated that I have 

 had no hesitation in laying it down on my map. Assuming 

 that the Teoge and the Mukuru-Mukovanja run parallel, 

 though in contrary directions, at the distance from each other 

 of two or three days' journey, as I was informed by the 

 Griquas above mentioned, there exists an almost uninterrupt- 

 ed navigation of several hundred miles, affording a compara- 



