252 
THE NEW AFRICA 
Makari Kari, and this apparently romantic forecast of mine 
can soon be an accomplished fact. I have no hesitation in 
stating that boats of about eight feet draught would find 
no obstruction but the floating reed in their course from 
the head of the Makari Kari lake almost up to Indala’s island, 
and that boats of two to three feet draught could pass the 
channel connecting the Okovanga with the Chobe, in which 
the water again is deep enough to float the heaviest ironclad 
in existence. 
The country between Mongwato and the Makari Kari 
being practically a level for railway purposes, consisting of 
sand-belts alternating with turf laagtes, offers every facility 
for the building of railways at a minimum engineering cost. 
No cuttings or bridges are needed, culverts will hardly be 
necessary to carry off the water that rarely, if ever, accu¬ 
mulates in this dry waste, for it is a fact that while there is 
barely enough water to drink in the periodically occurring 
pans, no running water has ever been seen in the desert during 
the wettest season that has ever taken place within the know¬ 
ledge of the present generation, the rain being immediately 
absorbed by the porous sand, as it drops from the heavens. So 
much of fact. 
Theoretically speaking, to judge from the geological and 
topographical data pertaining to this part of the Kalahari 
desert, artesian wells should tap sufficient water to support 
great cattle runs, for which the climate is especially suited. 
Bare as the soil at present is, and covered by the ghosts of 
stunted leafless trees, it is surprising when it actually rains 
how the vegetation springs into life. Trees that apparently 
were dead before send forth verdant foliage, and a thin suc¬ 
culent grass carpets the ground, imparting a park-like 
appearance to the whole country. However, as these rains 
are most unreliable, occurring perhaps once in several years, 
it is easily comprehended why this part of the world is a 
waste. An artesian well would soon alter this, and change 
