Notes on N'gamiland. 
389 
ocal names it bears successively in the neighbourhood of Tsau, viz., Dobe- 
Eiver, Moshwana-oa-kubo, and Mokolane, is a way rivers have in 
N'gamiland, v^here they generally take the name of the "naga," or 
"district," through which they run. It may here be remarked that the 
whole of N'gamiland, including the swamps, is divided up into "dinaga," 
or veldts, some being large areas and others again absurdly small. These 
" districts" are named after some predominating vegetation, or feature, or 
from some event that took place in them in the past — the latter being 
frequently of a most trivial nature. Although the Dobe-to-Mokolane 
channel is referred to, especially by the older men, as the Taoge, other 
rivers are not so fortunate and change their name during their course 
without any clue to their identity, e.g., the Mohohelo Eiver. 
Sixteen miles from Tsau the Maputle Eiver, which is the Mapenon 
higher up, is forded. This is a branch of the Taoge. 
On emerging from the ugly Moshu and Mooka scrub into the open 
sandy flat bordering the " Lake," there is nothing to be seen but a sea of 
reeds with the distant Mabele-a-pudi and Kwebe hills (porphyry) beyond. 
These are the only kopjes seen on the whole journey to Mababe. 
Between the Mababe and the Linyanti Eiver the next kopjes to be seen 
are the Gubatsa hills. 
The aneroid altitudes along the Lake given on the sketch map are 
merely relative to one another. Dr. Passarge makes both Tsau and the 
Lake 2,969 feet above sea-level (950 metres). 
The name N'gami is from " N'ama " (with a linguo-dental click after 
the '* N " sound) which in the language of the Makuba means — as one 
expects in African lake-names — " Lake." The Batawana have Sechuanized 
the word into " Nhabe," which is their name for it. 
On returning from the Mababe in August, as there was that season a 
good flow of water from the Kunyere and Thamalakane Elvers into the Lake, 
and the natives were of opinion that more water had run into it than there 
had been therein for several years past, the Lake was visited by canoe, 
proceeding down the Lake Eiver from Toten — the last part of this channel, 
on account of the slope of its bed into the Lake, runs very swiftly — then 
by a swift and fairly deep open channel, averaging 10 yards in width, 
through the reed bed, which gets slower in current until at about 
8 to 9 miles from Toten the channel ceased and the water became very 
shallow, breaking up into little runlets winding among the reeds. After 
about 100 yards along one of these runlets the water became too 
shallow for further progress by canoe, although the latter only drew 
9 inches. On getting out and wading amongst the thick aquatic vegeta- 
tion and reeds for another J mile, the water got shallower as one went on, 
and one came to the conclusion that there was nothing to see and also 
that the shallowing water could not extend at the most more than f mile 
28 
