THE KALAHARI DESERT. 53 



Mr.Oswell "would be as determined as himself to get through 

 the Desert." 



Before narrating the incidents of this journey, I may give some 

 account of the great Kalahari Desert, in order that the reader may 

 understand in some degree the nature of the difficulties we had to 

 encounter. 



The space from the Orange River in the south, lat. 29°, to 

 Lake Ngami in the north, and from about 24° east long, to near 

 the west coast, has been called a desert simply because it con- 

 tains no running water, and very little water in wells. It is by 

 no means destitute of vegetation and inhabitants, for it is covered 

 with grass and a great variety of creeping plants ; besides which 

 there are large patches of bushes, and even trees. It is remark- 

 ably flat, but intersected in different parts by the beds of ancient 

 rivers ; and prodigious herds of certain antelopes, which require 

 little or no water, roam over the trackless plains. The inhab- 

 itants, Bushmen and Bakalahari, prey on the game and on the 

 countless rodentia and small species of the feline race which sub- 

 sist on these. In general, the soil is light-colored soft sand, 

 nearly pure silica. The beds of the ancient rivers contain much 

 alluvial soil ; and as that is baked hard by the burning sun, rain- 

 water stands in pools in some of them for several months in the 

 year. 



The quantity of grass which grows on this remarkable region 

 is astonishing, even to those who are familiar with India. It 

 usually rises in tufts with bare spaces between, or the intervals 

 are occupied by creeping plants, which, having their roots buried 

 far beneath the soil, feel little the effects of the scorching sun. 

 The number of these which have tuberous roots is very great ; 

 and their structure is intended to supply nutriment and moisture, 

 when, during the long droughts, they can be obtained nowhere 

 else. Here we have an example of a plant, not generally tuber- 

 bearing, becoming so under circumstances where that appendage 

 is necessary to act as a reservoir for preserving its life ; and the 

 same thing occurs in Angola to a species of grape-bearing vine, 

 which is so furnished for the same purpose. The plant to which 

 I at present refer is one of the cucurbitacese, which bears a 

 small, scarlet-colored, eatable cucumber. Another plant, named 

 Leroshua, is a blessing to the inhabitants of the Desert. We 



