SALT-PANS 
35 
At Nchokotsa wo camo upon tho first of a great number 
of salt-pans, covered with an efflorescence of lime, probably 
the nitrato. A thick belt of mopanc-treos (a Bauhinia ) 
hides this salt-pan, which is twenty miles in circumference, 
entirely from tho view of a pox-son coming from tho south- 
east ; and, at tho timo tho pan burst upon our view, the 
setting sun was casting a beautiful blue haze over tho white 
incrustations, making the whole look exactly like a lako. 
Oswell throw his hat up in tho air at tho sight, and shouted 
out a huzza which made tho poor Bushwoman and tho 
Bak wains think him mad. I was a little behind him, and 
was as completely deceived by it as ho; but, as wo bad 
agreed to allow each other to behold the lake at tho same 
• instant, I felt a little chagrined that he bad, unintentionally, 
got tho fii-st glance. Wo had no idea that tho long-looked- 
for lako was still more than thi-co hundred miles distant. 
One reason of our mistake was thaAnc river Zouga was 
ofton spoken of by the same name as the lake, — viz. : j\ oka 
ea Batletli, (“ .River of the Batlotli.”) 
On the 4th of July wo went forward on horseback toward 
what wo supposed to be the lake, and again and again did 
wo seem to see it; but at last we came to tho veritablo 
water of tbe Zouga, and found it to bo a river running to 
the N.E. A village of Bakurutse lay on the opposite bank: 
these live among Batletli, a tribe having a click in their 
lunguago, and who were found by Sebituano to possoss large 
herds of the gi-eat horned cattle. They seem allied to the 
Hottentot family. Mr. Oswell, in trying to cross the river, 
got his horse bogged in the swampy bank. Two Bakwains 
and I managed to get over by wading beside a fishing-weir. 
Tho people wore friendly, and informed us that this water 
came out of Ngami. This news gladdened all our hearts, 
for we now felt certain of reaching our goal. Wo might, 
they said, be a moon on the way: but we had the river 
Zouga at our feet, and by following it we should at last 
'“each the broad water. 
Next day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly 
