the Birds of Ngamilmid. 305 



From Okwa we had two long stretches of about forty miles 

 without water. Then came several very pleasant days 

 travelling through the Ghanzi district, where quite a large 

 colony of Boers is springing up. Here we passed rocky 

 pans of water every five or six miles, and first began to 

 realize the proximity of tlie Okavango marshes. 



Large numbers of Ducks were flighting to these small 

 ])ans in the evening, numerous Painted and African Snipes 

 were also flushed, and one Pigmy Goose was obtained. The 

 vegetation had i^egun to change somewhat at Okwa, and 

 numerous scented shrubs and new varieties of acacias with 

 delicate tropical-looking foliage began to appear. Near 

 Okwa we had noticed a few stunted bushes with large semi- 

 tropical-looking dark gi'een leaves ; these bushes increased 

 in size and in frequency as we went north, till in Ngami- 

 land they grew into quite magnificent trees. There was 

 practically no change in the bird-life until the edge of the 

 marshes was reached. There the Red-crested Bustard dis- 

 appeared and another Francolin (F. sivainsoni) appeared, 

 which we had not seen before reaching the Ghanzi district. 

 On June 23rd we reached the first branch of the Okavango 

 liiver, about twenty miles north of Lake Ngami, iiaving been 

 in the desert since March 25th. We were lucky enough to 

 receive a most favourable first impression, for at this spot 

 we saw more Ducks and Geese, both as regards variety and 

 numbers, than at any other place visited during our stay in 

 Ngamiland. 



Lake Ngami and the Okavango Marshes. 



At the present day the importance and capacity of Lake 

 Ngami is infinitesimal when compared with the huge extent 

 of the Okavango marshes and the periodically flooded area to 

 the N. and N.E. of the lake ; and it is important to realize 

 that the origin and only source of all the intricate maze of 

 streams and marshes in Ngamiland is the great Okavango 

 River, which rises in the Mosamba Mountains in Portuguese 

 W. Africa and drains an enormous area with a very heavy 

 rainfall from September to February or March. The result 



