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KALAHARI DESERT

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 638 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KALAHARI See also:DESERT , a region of See also:South See also:Africa, lying mainly between 20° and 28° S. and 19° and 24° E., and covering fully 120,000 sq. m. The greater See also:part of this territory forms the western portion of the (See also:British) See also:Bechuanaland See also:protectorate, but it extends south into that part of Bechuanaland annexed to the Cape and See also:west into See also:German South-West Africa. The See also:Orange See also:river marks its See also:southern limit; westward it reaches to the See also:foot of the Nama and Damara hills, eastward to the cultivable parts of Bechuanaland, northward and See also:north-westward to the valley of the Okavango and the See also:bed of See also:Lake See also:Ngami. The Kalahari, part of the immense inner table-See also:land of South Africa, has an See also:average See also:elevation of over 3000 ft. with a See also:general slope from See also:east to west and a See also:dip northward to Ngami. Described by See also:Robert See also:Moffat as " the southern See also:Sahara," the Kalahari resembles the See also:great desert of North Africa in being generally arid and in being scored by the beds of dried-up See also:rivers. It presents however many points of difference from the Sahara. The See also:surface See also:soil is mainly red See also:sand, but in places See also:limestone overlies shale and conglomerates. The ground is undulating and its See also:appearance is comparable with that of the ocean at times of heavy swell. The crests of the waves are represented by sand See also:dunes, rising from 30 to 100 ft.; the troughs between the dunes vary greatly in breadth. On the eastern border See also:long See also:tongues of sand project into the veld, while the veld in places penetrates far into the desert. There are also, and especially along the river beds, extensive mud flats. After heavy See also:rain these become pans or lakes, and See also:water is then also found in mud-bottomed pools along the beds of the rivers.

The water in the pans is often brackish, and in some cases thickly encrusted with See also:

salt. Pans also occur in See also:crater-like depressions where See also:rock rises above the desert sands. A tough, See also:sun-bleached grass, growing See also:knee-high in tufts at intervals of about 15 in., covers the dunes and gives the general See also:colour of the landscape. Considerable parts of the Kalahari, chiefly in the west and north, are however covered, with dense scrub and there are occasional patches of See also:forest. Next to the lack of water the See also:chief characteristics of the desert are the tuberous and herbaceous See also:plants and the large See also:numbers of big See also:game found in it. Of the plants the most remarkable is the water-See also:melon, of which both the See also:bitter and sweet variety are found, and which supplies both See also:man and beast with water. The game includes the See also:lion, See also:leopard, See also:hippopotamus, See also:rhinoceros, See also:buffalo, See also:zebra, See also:quagga, many kinds of See also:antelope (among them the See also:kudu and See also:gnu), See also:baboon and See also:ostrich. The See also:elephant, See also:giraffe and See also:eland are also found. The See also:hunting of these three last-named animals is prohibited, and for all game there is a See also:close See also:time from the beginning of See also:September to the end of See also:February. The See also:climate is hot, dry and healthy, See also:save in the neighbourhood of the large marshes in the north, where malarial See also:fever is prevalent. In this region the drainage is N.E. to the great Makarikari See also:marsh and the Botletle, the river connecting the marsh with the Ngami See also:system. In the south the drainage is towards the Orange.

The Molopo and the See also:

Kuruman, which in their upper course in eastern Bechuanaland are perennial streams, lose their water by evaporation and percolation on their way westward through the Kalahari. The Molopo, a very imposing river on the See also:map, is dry in its See also:lower stretches. The See also:annual rainfall does not exceed ro in. It occurs in the summer months, September to See also:March, and chiefly in thunderstorms. The See also:country is suffering from progressive See also:desiccation, but there is See also:good See also:evidence of an abundant See also:supply of water not far beneath the surface. In the water-melon See also:season a few See also:white farmers living on the edge of the desert send their herds thither to graze. Such few spots as have been under cultivation by artificial See also:irrigation yield excellent returns to the See also:farmer; but the chief commercial products of the desert are the skins of animals. The Kalahari is the See also:home of wandering See also:Bushmen (q.v.), who live entirely by the See also:chase, killing their See also:prey with poisoned arrows, of Ba-Kalahari, and along the western border of See also:Hottentots, who are both hunters and See also:cattle-rearers. The Ba-Kalahari (men of the Kalahari), who constitute the See also:majority of the inhabitants, appear to belong to the Batau tribe of the Bechuanas, now no longer having See also:separate tribal existence, and traditionally reported to be the See also:oldest of the See also:Bechuana tribes. Their features are markedly See also:negroid, though their skin is less.See also:black than that of many See also:negro peoples. They have thin legs and arms. The Ba-Kalahari are said to have possessed enormous herds of large horned cattle until deprived of them and driven into the desert by a fresh See also:migration of more powerful Bechuana tribes.

Unlike the Bushmen, and in spite of desert See also:

life, the Ba-Kalahari have a true See also:passion for See also:agriculture and cattle-breeding. They carefully cultivate their gardens, though in many cases all they can grow is a scanty supply of melons and pumpkins, and they See also:rear small herds of goats. They are also See also:clever hunters, and from the neighbouring Bechuana chiefs obtain spears, knives, See also:tobacco and See also:dogs in See also:exchange for the skins of the animals they kill. In disposition they are peaceful to timidity, See also:grave and almost morose. See also:Livingstone states that he never saw Ba-Kalahari See also:children at See also:play. An ingenious method is employed to obtain water where there is no open well or See also:running stream. To one end of a See also:reed about 2 ft. long a bunch of grass is tied, and this end of the reed is inserted in a hole dug at a spot where water is known to exist under-ground, the wet sand being rammed down firmly See also:round it. An ostrich See also:egg-See also:shell, the usual water See also:vessel, is placed on the ground alongside the reed. The water-drawer, generally a' woman, then sucks up the water through the reed, dexterously squirting it into the adjacent egg-shell. To aid her aim she places between her lips a See also:straw, the other end of which is inserted in the shell. The shells, when filled, are buried, the See also:object of the Ba-Kalahari being to preserve their supplies from any sudden See also:raid by Bushmen or other foe. See also:Early travellers stated that no amount of bullying or hunting in a Ba-Kalahari See also:village would result in a find of water; but that on friendly relations being established the natives would bring a supply, however arid the See also:district.

The British See also:

government has since sunk See also:wells in one or two districts. Though the Ba Kalahari have no See also:religion in the strict sense of the word, they show traces of See also:totemism, and as Batau, i.e. " men of the lion," See also:revere rather than fear that beast. The Kalahari was first crossed to Lake Ngami by See also:David Living-See also:stone, accompanied by See also:William C. Oswell, in 1849. In 1878-1879 a party of Boers, with about three See also:hundred wagons, trekked from the See also:Transvaal across the Kalahari to Ngami and thence to the See also:hinterland of See also:Angola. Many of the party, men, See also:women and children, perished of thirst during the See also:journey. Survivors stated that in all some 250 See also:people and 9000 cattle died. See BECHUANALAND. See also:Die Kalahari, by Dr Siegfried Passarge (See also:Berlin, 1904), is a valuable See also:treatise on the See also:geology, See also:topography, See also:hydrography, climate and See also:flora of the desert, with maps and bibliography. The author spent two years (1896-1898) in the Kalahari. See also Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, &c., by David Livingstone (See also:London, 1857).

End of Article: KALAHARI DESERT

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