Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/55

Rh of rock which cause formidable cataracts : of these the fall named Aukurubies (in 20 40 E. long.), 150 feet in height, is the greatest. The Orange is not navigable excepting for boats for a few miles above its mouth, which is barred. Lakes are unknown in Cape Colony. Springs are frequent, and in sandstone districts afford excellent water, but in the Karroo country they are generally brackish. Hot or mineral springs occur in several districts.

The southern coastland of the colony is generally bold and rocky, the mountains often approaching the shore ; the Atlantic coast, on the other hand, is for the most part low and sandy. The great ocean currents viz., the Mozambique current which sweeps down round the south of the Cape Colony, and is deflected there over the great bank of Agulhas, the submarine apex of the continent, and the South Atlantic current flowing northward past the Cape peninsula, give rise to many local and minor currents in opposing directions close to the coast, forming great obstacles to navigation. The coast is indented by various bays and inlets ; few of these, however, afford convenient harbours, and the only one which is naturally safe in all winds is that of Saldanha Bay on the Atlantic. From eastward round to west, the chief points at which commerce reaches the coast are the port of East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo River in British Kaffraria, in which extensive harbour works are being constructed ; Port Alfred, or the Kowie mouth, which estuary has also been rendered more commodious by engineering operations, Port Elizabeth, in Algoa Bay, the second port of the colony in point of trade, but with many natural disadvantages ; Pleltenberg Bay, of importance in coasting trade ; the Knysna, a land-locked estuary in 23 E. ; Mossel Bay ; False Bay, a wide gulf formed by the peninsula of the Cape of Good Hope, and containing within it the well-sheltered naval station of Simon s Bay ; Table Bay, the harbour of Cape Town, which has been rendered safe by the construction of a great breakwater and docks ; Saldanha Bay, little visited, but one of the finest natural harbours in the world ; and Port Nolloth, the copper port of Namaqua Land, and the terminus of a railway from the mines. Angra Pequena Bay, in 26 40 S,. a British pos session on the barren Atlantic coast north of Cape Colony, was formerly visited in obtaining cattle, while the now nearly exhausted guano deposits of Ichaboe and Possession Islands, north and south of it, were being worked. Walfisch Bay, in 22 50 S., up to which point it is anticipated that the colonial territory will shortly be extended, is an inlet on a desolate waterless coast, affording secure anchorage, and for merly much visited by American whaling ships. Lighthouses are maintained at various ports and headlands on the coast.

In general character the climate of the Cape Colony is highly salubrious, and milder than that of England ; the atmosphere is clear and buoyant. So extensive, however, is the country, and so diversified in aspect and elevation, that there are naturally many varieties of climate within its limits. As far as moisture is concerned there is a gradual diminution from east to west across the country ; the prevailing winds in the interior are from eastward, and the moisture they draw from the Indian Ocean being expended in great part on the eastern slopes and mountain ranges, the western interior districts are left almost rainless. In the eastern divisions heavy rains and thunderstorms moderate the intense heat of summer, and keep the face of the country fresh and green. The winters are cold, but the air is then clear and agreeable. At Graham s Town the average annual temperature is G3, ranging from upwards of 100 to a minimum of 35, and the annual rainfall is about 33 inches. The south-western margin of the country outside the edge of the great Karroo plateau is for eight months of the year supplied with rain showers by westerly ocean winds. In summer (December, January, February) the dry south-east trade winds blow with great violence. The mean temperature of the year at the Cape of Good Hope is about 62 attaining a maximum of 100 and a minimum of 34, the average annual rainfall being 24 inches. At Worcester, on the inner border of this region, the yearly rainfall decreases to 12 inches. The low coast region in the extreme west is subject to great droughts and extreme range of daily temperature ; though it seldom rains there, dense fogs arise at dawn. The climate of the great Karroo plateau, which is about 3000 feet above the sea, is also characterized by severe droughts, by excessive heats during the day in summer, by cold nights, and by sharp cold in winter. Within the water-parting mountains the plains stretching to the Orange River, though also subject to long periods of drought, have a salu brious climate, which is clear and bracing in winter; while in summer the violent thunderstorms, which occur on an average every three or four days along the mountain ranges, render the air cool and pleasant, filling the water-channels and &quot; vleis,&quot; and reviving vegetation. Hot, dry winds from the northern deserts sometimes prevail for two or three days at a time in the central and eastern districts of the interior. Snow seldom falls in the coast region, but in the higher mountain tracts it lies for three or four months in the year. The summit of Table Mountain is occasionally sprinkled with snow for a day or two. Hail-storms are rare, but are of great violence after long droughts. The phenomenon of the mirage is common, both on the coast and in the heated plains of the interior. Ophthalmia and rheumatism are perhaps the only diseases of the colony which are at all prevalent ; low fevers are common on the flat western coastlands.

Though much of the land of the colony is dry and barren, the flora of the more fertile portions is remarkable and varied. We have seen that the forests are confined to the outward slopes of the extreme margins of the colony, the only patches of wood deserving the name being found in the Cedar Berg in the west, on two sides of Table Mountain, on the Outeniqua mountains facing the south coast, on the Olifants Hoek near Port Elizabeth, in the vicinity of King William s Town in British Kaffraria, and in the district of the Katberg or Stockenstroom farther inland. The inner slopes of Griqua Land East are also wooded. These patches of forest contain a great variety of useful woods, affording excellent timber; among the commonest trees are the yellow wood, which is also one of the largest, belonging to the yew species ; black iron wood ; heavy, close-grained, and durable stinkhout ; melkhout, a white wood used for wheelwork ; nieshout ; and the assegai or Cape lancewood. In no other country do bulbous plants and heaths exhibit so many beautiful varieties ; of the latter several hundred varieties are described. Of pod-bearing plants there are upwards of eighty genera : Cape &quot;everlasting&quot; flowsrs (gene rally species of Helichrywm) are in great numbers. Several species of aloe are indigenous to the Cape, and form a con siderable article of export. The so-called American aloe has also been naturalized. The castor-oil plant and many other plants of great value in medicine are indigenous in great abundance. Among Cape plants which are remarkable in their appearance and structure may be noted the cactus- like Euphorbise or spurge plants, the Stapdia or carrion flower, and the elephant s foot or Hottentots bread, a plant of the same order as the yam. Hooks, thorns, and prickles are characteristic of many South African plants. There are few indigenous fruits ; the kei apple is the fruit of a small tree or shrub found in Kaffraria and the eastern districts, where also the wild and Kaffre plums are common ; hard pears, gourds, water melons, and species of almond, chestnut, and lemon are also native. Almost all the fruits 