Chap. Ill, SEROTLI. 38 



hides itself by day at the root in the sand, in order to escape 

 the piercing rays of the sun. The people are fund of it when 

 roasted, on account of its pleasant vegetable taste. "When 

 about to pass into the chrysalis state it buries itself in the 

 soil, and conies forth, if left undisturbed, a beautiful butterfly. 

 I sometimes referred to the transmutation with good effect as 

 an illustration of our own resurrection. 



Boatlaniima, our next station, is a lovely spot in this other- 

 wise arid region. The wells from which we had to lift the 

 water for our cattle were deep, but well filled. A few villages 

 of Bakalahari were found near them, and great numbers of 

 pallahs, springbucks, guinea-fowl, and small monkeys. 



Lopepe came next, and afforded another proof of the desic- 

 cation of the country. The first time I passed here there 

 was a large pool with a stream flowing out of it to the 

 south, and now it was with difficulty that we could get our 

 cattle watered, by digging down in the bottom of a well. 



At Mashiie we came upon a never-failing supply of pure 

 water in a sandstone rocky hollow. Here we left the road tj 

 the Bamangwato hills, and struck away to the north into the 

 Desert. Having watered the cattle at a well called Lobotani, 

 we next proceeded to Serotli, a real Kalahari fountain. The 

 country around is covered with bushes and trees of a kind of 

 leguminosse, with lilac flowers. The soil is soft white sand, 

 very trying to the strength of the oxen, as the wheels sink 

 into it over the felloes. At Serotli we found only a few 

 hollows like those made by the buffalo and rhinoceros when 

 they roll themselves in the mud. In a corner of one of these 

 there was a little water, which would have been quickly 

 lapped up by our dogs, had we not driven them away. This 

 was all the apparent supply for some eighty oxen, twenty 

 horses, and about a score of men, and it was to serve for the 

 next seventy miles — a journey of three days with the waggons. 

 Our guide, Eamotobi, who had spent his youth in the Desert, 

 declared that there was plenty of water at hand. B} T the aid 

 of spades and fingers two of the holes were cleared out till 

 they formed pits six feet deep and about as many broad. Our 

 guides were earnest in their injunctions to us not to break 

 through the hard stratum of sand at the bottom, in which case 

 " the water would go away." The value of the advice was 



