54 
SEROTLI. 
Chap. III. 
is perfectly flat, but covered with open forest and bush, with 
abundance of grass; the trees generally are a kind of acacia 
called ‘‘ Monato,” which appears a httle to the south of this region, 
and is common as far as Angola. A large caterpillar, called 
Nato,” feeds by night on the leaves of these trees, and comes 
down by day to bury itself at the root in the sand, in order to 
escape the piercing rays of the sun. The people dig for it there, 
and are fond of it when roasted, on account of its pleasant vege¬ 
table taste. Wlien about to pass into the chrysalis state it buries 
itself in the soil, and is sometimes sought for as food even then. 
If left undisturbed, it comes forth as a beautiful butterfly: the 
transmutation was sometimes employed by me with good effect, 
when speaking with the natives, as an illustration of our own 
great change and resurrection. 
The soil is sandy, and there are here and there indications 
that at spots which now afford no water whatever there were 
formerly wells and cattle stations. 
Boatlanama, our next station, is a lovely spot in the otherwise 
dry region. The weUs from which we had to lift out the water 
for our cattle are deep, but they were well filled. A few villages 
of Bakalahari were found near them, and great numbers of 
paUahs,. springbucks, guinea-fowl, and small monkeys. 
Lopepe came next. This place afforded another proof of the 
desiccation of the country. The first time I passed it, Lopepe 
was a large pool with a stream flowing out of it to the south; 
now it was with difficulty we could get our cattle watered, by 
diggmg down in the bottom of a well. 
At Mashiie—where we found a never-failing supply of pure 
water in a sandstone rocky hoUow—we left the road to the 
Bamangwato hills, and-struck away to the north into the Desert. 
Having watered the cattle at a well called Lobotani,* about N.W. 
of Bamangwato, we next proceeded to a real Kalahari fountain, 
called Serotli. The country around is covered with bushes and 
trees of a kind of leguminosse, with Hlac flowers. The soil is 
soft white sand, very trying to the strength of the oxen, as the 
wheels sink into it over the felloes and drag heavily. At Serotli 
we found only a few hoUows hke those made by the buffalo and 
rhinoceros when they roll themselves in the mud. In a corner 
of one of these there appeared water, which would have been 
