The Germans did not find tribes of natives on whose industry they could batten, and the inhabitants of Great Namaqualand and Damaraland were really unpromising material for such a purpose, not being pure-bred distinctive tribes, but bastard races with a strong admixture of half-castes. For decades the territory had been the refuge of criminals and cattle thieves, who had fled from the Cape Colony, after raiding the Bechuana cattle kraals. A great deal of the coast and part of the southern portion of the Colony is little else than an arid, waterless waste; in fact the rainfall in parts has been known to be half an inch in two years. Even at Walfisch Bay there is no fresh water to speak of, and for years water for all purposes was brought up the coast by steamers. It is a condition prevailing all along the coast, for even at Port Nolloth in Lesser Namaqualand, south of the Orange River, the inhabitants depend upon water condensed by the sea fogs and dripped from the roofs into tanks, which are by the way kept locked to prevent theft of the precious liquid. Powerful condensers have, however, for some time been used at various points on the coast to provide fresh water, and this is retailed at a high price. The Kalahari Desert stretches over the border of the Cape Colony and into Bechuanaland, and contains no surface water; although good results have been obtained by drilling to comparatively shallow depths, and the sandy soil proved highly productive on irrigation. The desert itself was occupied by nomad bushmen armed with bows and arrows poisoned by being laid in putrid human flesh, and who kept secret the places where they obtained water. Many of these are pools hidden beneath the earth's surface and from which the water can only be drawn up through a narrow channel by suction through a bamboo reed. A good substitute for water is found in the wild melons which grow in patches in the driest parts of the Kalahari, and on these police patrols in Bechuanaland have often to rely for water for themselves and animals. The arid zone is limited, however, and towards the north-east the land gradually rises to an elevated tableland, possessing a dry and one of the most perfect climates in the world. Approaching Angola again farther north the country becomes almost tropical. The majority of the veld is of the karoo type, covered with the remarkable karoo bush on the leafless twigs of which sheep thrive and fatten. The salt bush, similar to that valued in Australia for sheep, is found in abundance, but towards the north and coming under the influence of a rainfall the land, while there is no marked geological difference, produces grass instead of the salt bush, and there are belts of rich grass country as fine as any to be found in Southern Africa.