KURUMAN AND ITS FOUNTAIN. QCJ' 



formed the bottom of the great primaeval valley of the 

 continent. I could not detect any diminution in the 

 flow of this gushing fountain during my residence in the 

 country ; but when Mr. Moffat first attempted a settle- 

 ment here, thirty -five years ago, he made a dam six or 

 seven miles below the present one, and led out the stream 

 for irrigation, where not a drop of the fountain-water 

 ever now flows. Other parts, fourteen miles below the 

 Kuruman gardens, are pointed out as having contained, 

 within the memory of people now living, hippopotami, and 

 pools sufficient to drown both men and cattle. This failure 

 of water must be chiefly ascribed to the general desicca- 

 tion of the country, but partly also to the amount of 

 irrigation carried on along both banks of the stream at 

 the mission station. This latter circumstance would have 

 more weight, were it not coincident with the failure of 

 fountains over a wide extent of country. 



Without at present entering minutely into this feature 

 of the climate, it may be remarked that the Kuruman 

 district presents evidence of this dry southern region 

 having, at no very distant date, been as well watered as 

 the country north of I^ake Ngami is now. Ancient river- - 

 beds and water-courses abound, and the very eyes of 

 fountains long since dried up may be seen, in which the 

 flow of centuries has worn these orifices from a slit to an 

 oval form, having on their sides the tufa so abundantly 

 deposited from these primitive waters ; and just where 

 the splashings, made when the stream fell on the rock 

 below, may be supposed to have reached and become 

 evaporated, the same phenomenon appears. Many of 

 these failing fountains no longer flow, because the brink 

 over which they ran is now too high, or because the 

 elevation of the western side of the country lifts the land 

 away from the water-supply below ; but let a cutting 

 be made from a lower level than the brink, and through 

 it to a t>art below the surface of the water, and water flows 

 perennially. Several of these ancient fountains have been 

 resuscitated by the Bechuanas near Kuruman, who occa- 

 sionally show their feelings of self-esteem by labouring for 

 months at deep cuttings, which, having once begun, they 

 feel bound in honour to persevere in, though told by a 

 missionary that they can never force water to run up hill. 



It is interesting to observe the industry of many Boers 

 in this region, in making long and deep canals irom lower 



