68 THE BAMANGWATO AND THEIR CHIEF. Chap. III. 



copious flow. It resembles a deserted Eastern garden, where all 

 the embankments and canals for irrigation can be traced, but 

 where, the main dam and sluices having been allowed to get out 

 of repair, only a small portion can be laid under water. In the 

 case of the Zouga the channel is perfect, but water enough to fill 

 the whole channel never comes down ; and before it finds its way 

 much beyond Kumadau, the upper supply ceases to run, and 

 the rest becomes evaporated. The higher parts of its bed even 

 are much broader and more capacious than the lower towards 

 Kumadau. The water is not absorbed so much as lost in filling 

 up an empty channel, from which it is to be removed by the 

 air and sun. There is, I am convinced, no such tlung in the 

 country as a river running into sand and becoming lost. This 

 phenomenon, so convenient for geographers, haunted my fancy 

 for years ; but I have failed in discovering anything except a 

 most insignificant approach to it. 



My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebituane, 

 the great chief of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two 

 hundred miles beyond. We had now come to a half-tribe of the 

 Bamangwato, called Batauana. Their cliief was a young man 

 named Lechulatebe. Sebituane had conquered his father Mo- 

 remi, and Lechulatebe received part of his education while a 

 captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible man, ran- 

 somed him ; and, having collected a number of families together, 

 abdicated the chieftainship in favour of his nephew. As Lechu- 

 latebe had just come into power, he imagined that the proper 

 way of showing his abilities was to act directly contrary to every- 

 thing that Ins uncle advised. When we came, the uncle recom- 

 mended him to treat us handsomely, therefore the hopeful youth 

 presented us with a goat only. It ought to have been an ox. 

 So I proposed to my companions to loose the animal and let him 

 go, as a hint to Ins master. They, however, did not wish to 

 insult him. I, being more of a native, and familiar with their 

 customs, knew that this shabby present was an insult to us. 

 We wished to purchase some goats or oxen ; Lechulatebe offered 

 us elephants' tusks. " No, we cannot eat these ; we want some- 

 thing to fill our stomachs." " Neither can I ; but I hear you 

 white men are all very fond of these bones, so I offer them ; 

 I want to put the goats into my own stomach." A trader, who 



