botswana/namibia - Cour international de Justice

561. At paragraphs 294 to 296 the Botswana Memorial drew attention to the inaccuracy and
distortion resulting from the superimposition on geographical features of the drawing of a line
to indicate a boundary. The Sketch Maps of Bechuanaland Protectorate which were used to
illustrate the Bechuanaland Reports beginning in 1912 illustrate the unreliability of depiction
of international boundaries on maps. The Botswana Atlas sets out copies of the maps for the
years 1911-1915 (Maps 8 to 11). Mr. Rushworth very fairly states the position:
"The 1912 version has the boundary on the south side of the Chobe, changing to the north side
in 1915 and back to the south side in 1946 (sic). This demonstrates that when, for clarity, a
boundary has to be shown alongside a feature, the side it appears is chosen by the
draughtsman as a matter of convenience." (Namibian Memorial, Vol.V, Annex 102,p.41).
562. The Sketch Map of Bechuanaland Protectorate 1:2000,000 War Office Printed at OSO
1913 provides a further illustration of the problems which boundaries along rivers present to
mapmakers. Rushworth adequately sums up:
"Boundary alongside features at alternating sides. No island in Chobe. Note in key against
boundary symbols 'Where these follow a road or the main channel of a river they have been
shown to one side to prevent confusion". (Namibian Memorial, Vol. V. Annex 102,p.42).
563. The continuing perplexity of mapmakers as how to indicate boundaries on rivers is well
illustrated by the maps in Group d. in Mr. Rushworth's list of maps. Two methods adopted
were either to place the boundary line on one or other bank of the river or to indicate it along
the river but omitting any line at a bifurcation. Indeed, by the time of the 1933 British War
Office Map of Bechuanaland Protectorate, standard practice as regards intercolonial
boundaries along rivers was to place them alongside the river bank, alternating from one side
of the river to the other at regular intervals, of 10, 50 or 100 miles, according to the scale of
the map.
(G) A Chronological Survey of the Available Maps
564. A general chronological survey of the available maps will now be given. For quick
reference, at the end of this Chapter, a complete list is given of the maps in chronological
order for which Botswana has provided copies in its Atlas accompanying its Memorial and in
its Supplementary Atlas accompanying this Counter-Memorial. For a detailed examination of
the additional maps referred to by Botswana in this Chapter and of the 41 serial maps listed by
Mr. Rushworth, the Court is respectfully referred to the list of maps appended to this Chapter
and to Appendix 1 to this Counter-Memorial.
(i) The period prior to the 1890 Agreement
565. The maps, as well as the reports of the early explorers of Southern Central Africa, such
as Livingstone, Selous, Anderson, Schulz and Hammar, and Reid, all substantiate the
existence of the Chobe River as an independent perennial river (See Chapter 6, paras 355-65).
The Sketch Map of the Chobe River by Dr. Benjamin Bradshaw (Botswana Atlas, Map 1)
provides a valuable early and reasonably accurate depiction of the configuration of the island
and the two channels. As Mr. Rushworth comments, the scale and shape of the river is
remarkably good and the southern channel is accurately portrayed. In addition to the marked
sinuosity of the southern channel, of particular note is the sharp right hand turn which marks
the western entry point of the southern channel which is to be contrasted with the continuity