They then dig down a foot or so, and find it.
But the most surprising plant of the Desert is the "Kengwe or Keme" ('Cucumis caffer'), the watermelon.

In years when more than the usual quantity of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are literally covered with these melons; this was the case annually when the fall of rain was greater than it is now, and the Bakwains sent trading parties every year to the lake.

It happens commonly once every ten or eleven years, and for the last three times its occurrence has coincided with an extraordinarily wet season.

Then animals of every sort and name, including man, rejoice in the rich supply.

The elephant, true lord of the forest, revels in this fruit, and so do the different species of rhinoceros, although naturally so diverse in their choice of pasture.
The various kinds of antelopes feed on them with equal avidity, and lions, hyaenas, jackals, and mice, all seem to know and appreciate the common blessing.