The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

210 ?OUTir AXP EAST AFRICA.Zambosc. But elsewhere notliing is visihle except Ihovny plants, scrul) or evendreary wastes of saud.During the greater part of the year, Lake Xganii discharges its overflow eastwardsthrough the Zuga eniissary, which, after flowing for some distance in thatdirection, trends to the south and again round to the east as far as the extensivesaline tract known as the Makarakara, or Jlakarikari, that is, the " Mirage."This shallow depression is occasionally flooded with a little water, which likeNganii, is constantly displaced by the prevailing and alternating winds. Betweenboth basins, for a di.stancc of no less than 240 miles west and east, Anderson'smeasurements coidd detect no difference of level, a few inches at the most probablyrepresenting the actual incline along this section of the ancient lacustrine depression.Hence the least obstruction, the slightest change of barometric pressure,the smallest alternation between atmospheric dryness and moistxire, the growth ofa few tufts of reeds, suffice to affect the flow of the waters wandering with undecidedcourse over the plain of the " thousand lakes." The whole region is traversedin every direction by fluvial beds alternately flooded or empty, by meres,swamps, and salines constantly displaced and restored.80 intricate are the ramifying branches of the laagtcn, that during the jieriodof high water the natives venturing in their frail barks on the sluggish streamsoften lose their wav and spend days in searching for the right channel to crossthe inundated plain. Even the Zuga, the only perennial river in this region ofimperceptible slope, reverses its current, which in April and May sets steadilyfrom Ngami, but during the two following mouths flows back to the lake. Duringthe floods the Mababe branch of the Zuga trends towards the north, and while aportion of its contents disappears amid the surrounding sands, another portionreaches the Chobe, which is itself a tributary of the Zambese. Thus the hydrographicsystems of the Ku-Bango and Zambese become periodically intermingled,and the original unity of the whole of this area of drainage is temporarilyre-established.At this season the almost boundless watery horizon is relieved here and thereby pleasant stretches of woodlands, clumps of graceful palms, or gigantic isolatedbaobabs. A few eminences, assuming the aspect of lofty hills, appear as isletsand archipelagos in the midst of the ancient inland sea thus annually revivedduring the rainy period. The periphery of this level plain consists to a greatextent of volcanic formations.Thk CaoBE.The Chobe or Kwa-ndo (Cuando), whose lower course connects the Eu-Bangowith the Zambese, rises like both of these rivers on the southern slope of thetransverse waterparting, which stretches from the Bihe territory across thecontinent in an oblique direction to the region of the great equatorial lakes. TheChobe trickles as a tiny brook from a swamp which fills a depression confinedbetween two hills, and according to Serpa Pinto, standing at an elevation of