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, as the springbuck and
_tsessebe_ (_Acronotus lunata_,) are swept down by its rushing waters;
the trees are gradually driven by the winds to the opposite side, and
become imbedded in mud.
When the lake is full, the water is perfectly fresh, but brackish when
low; and that coming down the Tamunak'le we found to be so clear, cold,
and soft, the higher we ascended, that the idea of melting snow was
suggested to our minds.
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