Otters are not uncommon in the rivers and the Lake. They appear to be of the same species as with us, but present great variety of color. The fur is good, and much sought after.
If the quadrupeds of the Lake Fauna are numerous and varied, the aves class is no less rich and abundant. In our first journey through Damara-land I had made such a complete collection of its birds and insects that I almost despaired of obtaining any thing new and interesting; but here I found at once an unexplored and almost unlimited field for the naturalist. Unfortunately, I was not in a state to be able to benefit, to any extent, by its abundance and variety, which I regret exceedingly.
The aquatic birds were particularly numerous and varied. A friend who visited the Lake assured me that here and on the Zouga he had, at one time and another, killed specimens of no less than nineteen species of ducks and geese. One of the latter varieties is not larger than a common teal, but clothed in the most brilliant plumage. The herons and water-hens vie with the duck tribe in numbers and gaudiness of plumage. During a hurried journey up the Teoge, I procured, in a short time, herons of upward of ten distinct species, besides several different kinds of storks, cranes, &c.
The Lake and its rivers swarm with crocodiles. During the cold time of the year they resort to deep water, where they remain in a state of comparative inactivity; but on the approach of the hot season they again come forward, and may be seen lying in great numbers along the banks, basking in the noonday sun, and looking exactly like so many logs of wood. I have often surprised them in this position; and, if not too close, they have invariably feigned to be asleep. The instant, however, that I have raised my gun, or even merely pointed toward them, they have plunged into the deep like a shot.
They are said occasionally to attain a gigantic size, but no authenticated instance has come to my knowledge of any specimen being killed which measured above fifteen or sixteen feet, though I have heard it asserted that they sometimes reach double that length.
The crocodile chiefly lives on quadrupeds, which he lies in wait for, and destroys when coming to drink; but he is said never to devour his prey before the flesh has arrived at a state of putrefaction.
When in its native element, the power of this animal must be enormous; for if the testimony of the inhabitants is to be relied on, he not unfrequently succeeds in destroying the buffalo, which they say he accomplishes by seizing the beast by the muzzle and dragging him into deep water, where he suffocates him. This being done, he hauls his victim back to the shore, and, pushing the carcass above water-mark, watches over it until it has become nicely tainted, when he commences his feast.
From the moist and swampy nature of the ground about the Lake and the rivers, snakes, as may well be supposed, are numerous; but, though they at times attain a gigantic size, they appear very harmless, being often destroyed by the natives, who devour them with great relish. I never myself saw a specimen exceeding seven or eight feet in length, but procured skins measuring fully three times that size. The Bushmen assured me that they not unfrequently surprise these monsters when asleep and gorged, and that on such occasions it was not unusual to dispatch them with a blow on the head from the knob-kierie. These snakes feed chiefly on birds and smaller quadrupeds.
The finny tribe was also pretty numerous; but my stay at the Lake was of too short a duration to collect much information on this head. I saw and tasted many different kinds, some of which were most excellent eating, and had a rich and agreeable flavor. The only ones, however, which I remember had any likeness to northern fishes were a sort of perch, and one or two barbel kinds.