54 THE GUIDE SHOBO. Chap. IV. 



Ngaini and the Zouga. There are three varieties — spiral, 

 univalve, and bivalve. 



On one side of every saltpan in the country there is a spring 

 of water which is brackish and contains the nitrate of soda. 

 If this supply came from beds of rock-salt the water would 

 not be drinkable, and in some instances, where the salt in the 

 pan has been removed by human agency, no fresh deposit 

 occurs. It is therefore probable that the salt is the leavings 

 of the slightly brackish lakes of antiquity, large portions of 

 which must have been dried out in the general desiccation. 

 We have already seen that Lake Ngami tastes brackish when 

 the water becomes low and is greatly reduced in bulk, My 

 conjecture seems supported by the fact that the largest quan- 

 tities of salt have been found in the deepest hollows, which 

 have no outlet. 



We found a great number of wells in this tufa. As they 

 occasionally become full in seasons when no rain falls, it is 

 probable they receive some water by percolation from the 

 river system in the country beyond. A place called Matlo- 

 magan-yana, or the " Links," is quite a chain of never-failing 

 springy. Here we found many families of Bushmen. Unlike 

 those on the plains of the Kalahari, who are generally of short 

 stature and light-yellow colour, these were tall strapping 

 fellows, of dark complexion. Heat alone does not produce 

 blackness of skin, but heat with moisture seems to insure the 

 deepest hue. 



One of the Bushmen, named Shobo, consented to be our 

 guide over the waste between these springs and the country 

 of Sebituane. It is impossible to convey an idea of the dreary 

 scene on which we entered after leaving the Links. The only 

 vegetation was a low scrub in deep sand ; not a bird or insect 

 enlivened the landscape. To make matters worse, our guide 

 Shobo wandered to all points of the compass on the trails of 

 elephants which had been here in the rainy season. He 

 would then sit down in the path and say, "No water, all 

 country only ; — Shobo sleeps ; — he breaks down ; — country 

 only." Upon this he would coolly curl himself up and was 

 soon wrapt in slumber. On the morning of the fourth day he 

 professed ignorance of everything, and vanished altogether. 

 We continued in the direction in which we last saw him, and 



