detect no horizon where we stood looking S.S.W., nor nor could we form any idea of the extent of the lake, except from the reports of the inhabitants of the district; and, as they profess to go round it in three days, allowing twenty-five miles a day would make it seventyfive, or less than seventy geographical miles in circumference. Other guesses have been made since as to its circumference, ranging between seventy and one hundred miles. It is shallow, for I subsequently saw a native punting his canoe over seven or eight miles of the north-east end; it can never, therefore, be of much value as a commercial highway. In fact, during the months preceding the annual supply of water from the north, the lake is so shallow that it is with difficulty cattle can approach the water through the boggy, reedy banks. These are low on all sides, but on the west there is a space devoid of trees, showing that the waters have retired thence at no very ancient date. This is another of the proofs of desiccation met with so abundantly throughout the whole country. A number of dead trees lie on this space, some of them imbedded in the mud, right in the water. We were informed by the Bayeiye, who live on the lake, that when the annual inundation begins, not only trees of great size, but antelopes, are swept down by its rushing waters; the trees are gradually driven by the the winds to the opposite side, and become imbedded in mud.

"The water of the lake is perfectly fresh when full, but brackish when low; and that coming down the Tamunakle we found to be so clear, cold, and soft, the higher we ascended, that the idea of melting

snow was suggested to our minds. We found this region, with regard to that from which we had come, to be clearly a hollow, the lowest point being Lake Kumadau; the point of the ebullition of water, as shown by one of Newman's barometric thermometers, was only between 2071° and 206°, giving an elevation of not much more than two thousand feet above the level of the sea. We had descended above two thousand feet in coming to it from Kolobeng. It is the southern and lowest part of the great river system beyond, in which large tracts of country are inundated annually by tropical rains.

"My chief object in coming to the lake was to visit Sebituane, the great chief of the Makololo, who was reported to live some two hundred miles beyond. We had now come to a half-tribe of the Bamangwato, called Batauana. Their chief was a young man named Lechulatebe. Sebituane had conquered his father Morémi, and Lechulatebe received part of his education while a captive among the Bayeiye. His uncle, a sensible man, ransomed him; and, having collected a number of families together, abdicated the chieftainship in favor of his nephew. As Lechulatebe had just come into power, he imagined that the proper way of showing his abilities was to act directly contrary to everything that his uncle advised. When we came, the uncle recommended him to treat us handsomely, therefore the hopeful youth presented us with a goat only. It ought to have been an ox. So I proposed to my companions to loose the animal and let him go, as a hint to his master. They, however, did not wish to insult him. I, being more of a native,

and familiar with their customs, knew that this shabby present was an insult to us. We wished to purchase some goats or oxen; Lechulatebe offered us elephants' tusks. No, we cannot eat these; we want something to fill our stomachs.' 'Neither can I; but I hear you white men are all very fond of these bones, so I offer them; I want to put the goats into my own stomach.' A trader, who accompanied us, was then purchasing ivory at the rate of ten good large tusks for a musket worth thirteen shillings. They were called 'bones;' and I myself saw eight instances in which the tusks had been left to rot with the other bones where the elephant fell. The Batauana never had a chance of a market before; but, in less than two years after our discovery, not a man of them could be found who was not keenly alive to the great value of the article.

"On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to Lechulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that chief, he objected, fearing lest other white men should go thither also, and give Sebituane guns; whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession of fire-arms would give him such a superiority, that Sebituane would be afraid of him. It was in vain to explain that I would inculcate peace between them-that Sebituane had been a father to him and Sechele, and was as anxious to see me, as he, Lechulatebe, had been. He offered to give me as much ivory as I needed without going to that chief; but when I refused to take any, he unwillingly consented to give me guides. Next day, however, when Oswell and I were prepared to start, with the horses

only, we received a senseless refusal; and like Sekomi, who had thrown obstacles in our way, he sent men to Bayeiye with orders to refuse us a passage across the river. Trying hard to form a raft at a narrow part, I worked many hours in the water; but the dry wood was so worm-eaten that it would not bear the weight of a single person. I was not then aware of the number of alligators which exist in the Zouga, and never think of my labor in the water, without feeling thankful that I escaped their jaws. The season was now far advanced; and as Mr. Oswell, with his wonted generous feelings, volunteered, on the spot, to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat, we resolved to make our way south again."

The Makololo tribe, of which Livingstone speaks, were destined to play a very important part in his later explorations. Although disappointed in his first attempt to visit them, he had at least found a practicable way by which the interior of the continent might be reached. The discovery of Lake Ngami was received in Europe with great interest, and this success encouraged the London Missionary Society to employ Livingstone thenceforth in that work of exploration, which must, to some extent, precede the labors of the missionary. The immense numbers of elephants, also, which the travellers found on descending the Zouga River, drew the attention of sportsmen and traders to this region, and hastened the opening of the entire region to the southward and westward of the lake.

The return journey was accomplished without accident, and the party reached Kolobeng towards the close of the year 1849.

Ν

CHAPTER V.

LIVINGSTONE'S FIRST JOURNEY TO THE ZAMBESI.

IN April, 1850, Livingstone again left Kolobeng with

his wife, three children, and the chief Sechele, their object being to cross the Zouga at its lower end, follow the northern bank until they reached the other river, and then ascend the latter until they should find the Makololo country. The journey was prosecuted without much difficulty until, at the confluence of the Zouga with the Tamunakle, the appearance of the fly called tsetse obliged them to cross the former river in order to save their oxen. Here Livingstone learned that a party of Englishmen, who had come to the lake in search of ivory, were lying ill of fever, and turned aside for a time to take care of them.

The result of the undertaking, which promised so favorably, up to the last moment, will be best given in Livingstone's own words: "Sechele used all his powers of eloquence with Lechulatebe to induce him to furnish guides that I might be able to visit Sebituane on ox-back, while Mrs. Livingstone and the children remained at Lake Ngami. He yielded at last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the gift of Lieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the greatest value, both on account of the donor and the impossibility of my replacing it. Lechulatebe fell violently in love with it, and offered whatever number