Notes on N'gamilaiid. 
391 
fairly plentiful, fairly large herds of the latter being frequently met with. 
Bushbuck are also seen in a few parts. Sitatunga is not to be found, its 
habitat being in the heart of the deep swamps to the west. Warthog are 
fairly plentiful in many parts. The various antelope mentioned are only 
found in certain parts of the route, of course, and within their own 
particular limits. With regard to the larger carnivora : lion, leopard, 
hunting-leopard or chitah (not often actually seen), hyaena, crocuta, and 
hunting-dog. The leopard is to be found chiefly in the hills, but also on 
the river-system, especially on islands in the swamps where it preys on 
lechwe. These leopards seem almost as much at home in water as on 
land, being powerful swimmers. When hunted, they swim in the deep 
water through the reeds from island to island, and, when so escaping, 
generally baffle pursuit. 
Game is protected by the Government. The hunting rights of the 
Batawana, which they were allowed to retain, are vested in the chief, who, 
before white administration came into the country, was, according to old 
Bechuana law, sole owner of his couutry and all that is in it, including 
the trees and the soil ; and the Chief Mathiba, like his neighbour Khama, 
actively co-operates with the Government in the preservation of the game, 
giving very limited permission to his people at present to hunt, except in 
respect of the smaller and more numerous antelope such as steenbuck, 
duiker, lechwe, and pala. 
Crocodiles abound in the rivers and swamps, but are seldom actually 
seen in winter, owing to their bashfulness (above the surface, one should 
add), but may often be seen in summer basking in the sun on sandbanks. 
The small villages shown on the map north of the Lake are, with the 
exception of some of the Batawana outlying cattle-posts, mostly Makuba 
villages, excepting Gwangi's and those in its immediate vicinity, which are 
inhabited by Manaye — a fishing tribe from the Chobe which settled in 
Batawana country several generations ago — and some Massubia — an off- 
shoot of the Mampukushu — at M'banga's village, Mababe, and along the 
Linyanti; these last settled in N'gamiland some fifty years ago, having 
fled from Barotseland on account of oppression at the hands of the 
Barotse. 
In conclusion, it may be remarked that the young chief of the 
Batawana is progressive in his ideas and anxious to conduct things in his 
country according to English views. 
