Whether This Process Of Desiccation Is As Rapid
Throughout The Continent As, In A Letter To The Late Dean Buckland,
In 1843, I showed to have been the case in the Bechuana country,
it is not for me to say;
But, though there is a slight tradition of the waters
having burst through the low hills south of the Barotse,
there is none of a sudden upheaval accompanied by an earthquake.
The formation of the crack of Mosioatunya is perhaps too ancient for that;
yet, although information of any remarkable event is often transmitted
in the native names, and they even retain a tradition which looks
like the story of Solomon and the harlots, there is not a name
like Tom Earthquake or Sam Shake-the-ground in the whole country.
They have a tradition which may refer to the building of the Tower of Babel,
but it ends in the bold builders getting their crowns cracked
by the fall of the scaffolding; and that they came out of a cave
called "Loey" (Noe?) in company with the beasts, and all point to it
in one direction, viz., the N.N.E. Loey, too, is an exception
in the language, as they use masculine instead of neuter pronouns to it.
If we take a glance back at the great valley, the form the rivers have taken
imparts the idea of a lake slowly drained out, for they have
cut out for themselves beds exactly like what we may see in the soft mud
of a shallow pool of rain-water, when that is let off by a furrow.
This idea would probably not strike a person on coming first into the country,
but more extensive acquaintance with the river system certainly would convey
the impression.
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