KALAHARI DESERT

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 May 1937, Page 4

KALAHARI DESERT

POSSIBILITIES OF RESTORATION. Once there was an inland sea called Ngami in the Kalahari Desert. To the east of it stretched an enormous lake, known to the natives as Makarikari; and to the west another lake, the Etosha Pan. Within living memory these three great sheets of water have vanished. Can they be restored, and thus throw open an area for cultivation in which, 'according to expert opinion, 3,000,000 white people could settle,” asks a writer in the “Christian Science Monitor.” That is the riddle of the lost lakes. In hard times, when farmers complain that the land is drying up, people in South Africa turn again and again to the schemes for making the desert blossom. David Livingstone discovered Ngami in 1849. “We could detect no horizon where we stood —‘nor could we form I any idea of the extent of the lake ex-1 cept from the reports of the inhabitants of the district,” he wrote. Liv-| ingstone had suffered intensely from I thirst during his famous journey across the desert to “this fine-looking sheet of water.’ Had he known it, he was the first and also the last white man to see Lake Ngami in all its

glory. Later travellers found a mere grass depression in the desert, containing muddy pools. It is still possible, however, to obtain water by digging below the surface, and there is good grazing for cattle in the area. The territory, years ago, became a refuge for oppressed and conquered tribes —Damaras and Hottentots who had fled from the Germans in the west; Mambukushu, who had been raided by Arab slavers for centuries. The country in which Ngami lies is i larger than France, and the desert surrounding the old lake supplied ample protection.

Once the possibilities of the Kalahari were realised, the problem of the disappearance of the lakes was carefully studied. Ngami lies 2,000 feet above sea level, and all agreed that the lake dried up owing to the choking of tho feeder rivers by sand and grass. It is believed that the great Zambesi once fed Ngami, for the old area of tlio lake was 50,000 square miles. Geologists have traced the faint course of a river leading out of Ngami in a southerly direction, and joining tho mighty Orange River far away in the Union of South Africa. That is I the link between the “lost lakes” and I the present dry climate of South Africa.

“Restore the lakes and make a garden of tho Kalahari and a large part of South Africa.” declares a group of distinguished experts.' Tho latej Professor E. H. L. Schwartz, of Gra-| hamstown, originated tho theory, and worked out a practical scheme to put his stupendous idea into effect. I’.y damming certain rivers in the not th. Professor Schwartz proposed turning them into their old channels! so that the lakes would bo filled. This would moisten the hot atmosphere of the desert and precipiate rain over a lingo area.

“South Africa is becoming a Sahara,” said Professor Schfartz. “Take warning from ’ the ruined cities of North Africa —Greek and Roman cities that flourished and died fur lack of water. Dam up the pirate rivers and restore the old conditions.” At

intervals, Parliament discussed hit scheme. In 1922 a reconnaissance expedition was sent out to explore the possibilities—engineers and natural scientists in motor cars and Colonel Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld, of the South African Air Force, with a squadron of aeroplanes. The airmen's photographs proved I that the Kunene River once flowed into the Etosha Pan. This had been one of the strongest points in the Schwartz theory. ’Pho Kumene to-day forms the border between South-west Africa and Angalo. Instead of supplying the interior, it rushes swiftly to the sea —races through deep gorges with its stolen waters. To-day the Etosha Pan, like Ngaini, is a waterless sea. Seventy miles long and 50 miles broad, the Etosha Pan shines blue and white under the sun. It is covered with salt.

Etosha, Ngami, Makarikari —arc 3 these the key to the future prosperity 'of South Africa? One day, I think, 1 public opinion will turn in favour of trying the gigantic experiment.