Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/412

* SOUTH AFRICA. 358 SOUTH AFRICA. into tropical Africa is through the gateways that connect the equatorial regions with the wide regions which white men. are developing in South Africa. The colonies and protectorates which are wholly or in part in South Africa are: Portu- guese East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Cape Colony, Orange River Colony. Transvaal Colony. Natal (including Zululand Province), Rhodesia (Southern). Basutoland. and Bechu- analand Protectorate (qq.v.), all except the first two belonging to Great Britain. ToPOGKAi'iiY. The coasts, like those of the rest of Africa, are chiefly straight and unbroken. They are deficient in good harbors and girdled by a tempestuous ocean with a never-ceasing surf. The west shore is very different in aspect from the south and east coasts. Nearly the whole of the west coast is low and sandy and the lands behind the shore line are barren and dismal. The south and east shores,, however, though on the whole as regular and unbroken as the west coast, are attractive instead of repellent in appearance, with their evergreen slopes, picturesque bays, and wooded kloofs. All the ports of the west coast are roadsteads excepting Saldanha Bay, a splendid natural harbor still luideveloped, and Cape Town, which, at enormous expense, has been made safe for shipping. None of the ports on the south coast is naturally good, but those of Port Elizabeth and East London have been made available for large trade by artificial improve- ments. The east coast has in Delagoa Bay the only first-class harbor in Africa, and one of tlie finest in the world. The port of Durban on this coast has been rendered good artificially, and the port of Beira and the Chinde branch of the Zambezi delta are also available for large ship- ping. Most of the interior of South Africa con- sists of high plateaus, elevated so far above the sea level that the influences of the temperate zone are extended hundreds of miles to the north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Johannesburg enjoys a temperate climate, while Rio de .Janeiro, in nearly the same latitude, is a tropical citj'. The high elevation of the most of South Africa is the chief element in its geographic unity. It is esti- mated that the area of the region which, in re- spect of temperature, is well adapted to become a home of the white race, is one-fifth as large as the area of the United States (exclusive of Alaska). The entire coastal plain is only 20 to 50 miles wide excepting where it broadens to 100 miles or more in the neighborhood of Beira and the Zam- bezi. Behind the plain the land begins to ascend in terraces. In the extreme south the coastal plain rises to 600 feet above the sea. Just north of it in Cape Colony are the Southern Karroo and the Bokkevelt. ioOO to 2000 feet high. Next come the Great Karroo with an average altitude of 3000 feet: then the loftiest of the Cape plateaus, the Northern Karroo, from 2700 to 6000 feet : then the diamond fields coun- try and the wide plains of the Orange River Colony, from 4000 to 5000 feet; the still more extensive plateau of the Transvaal, from 5000 to 7000 feet: and the more diversified uplands of the Matabeleland and Maslionaland region at a little lower level, sloping gradually to the plain of the Zambezi. In the west the irregular high- lands of Damaraland and Namaqualand rise steeply from the Atlantic coast plain, and merge indefinitely with the vast central plains of Be- chuanaland and the dreary expanse of the Kala- hari Desert, once the floor of an inland sea and now about 4000 feet above the sea level. In the east and southeast the lowlands of Portu- guese East Africa and the coast plain and plateau of Natal are skirted inland procipitously by the mighty rampart of the Drakensberg and other ranges that wall in the lofty interior plateaus. JIany of the mountains lining the periphery of the plateaus or rising within them have an altitude of 6000 to 10,000 feet The culminat- ing points appear to be the Montaux Sources, Champagne Castle, and jMount Hamilton, all three probably upward of 10,000 feet in eleva- tion, and the last perhaps not much short of 12,000 feet. Hydrography. The Zambezi alone is impor- tant for navigation. Most of the rivers are small and their mouths are hopelessly blocked by sand and rocks, excepting the Buffalo River, which with great difliculty has been made available for ocean steamers to East London, near its mouth. The Zambezi is navigable for about 260 miles from the sea. The north central portion of the region is an area of interior drainage, the waters disappearing in many so-called salt pans, where evaporation leaves au incrustation of salt on the surface. Climate. There are only two seasons: sum- mer (October to JIarch) and winter (April to September). Except in the south and east coastal regions the low average of atmospheric humidit}' is a marked characteristic. Pulmonary invalids from Europe prolong their lives in the dry. bracing air of the plateaus. January is usually the hottest month, with average maxi- nuun tempei'atures of 82° to 100° F. July is usually the coldest month, with temperatures ranging from 20° to 10° F. ' The Transvaal Colo- ny, although partly within the tropics, stands so high above the sea that the mean annual tem- perature is only 68.64° F., or only about 0.30° above the mean summer temperature of Englaml. Although entirely within the tropics, the annual temperature range in Matabeleland and ^la- shonaland is from 36° to 86°, so that these re- gions are by no means tropical. The Zambezi Valley and Portuguese East Africa are low, moist, and very unhealthful. More than half of South Africa is deficient in rainfall. The semi- arid region includes the entire western half of the country, which is dry because South Africa depends for rain upon the winds of the Indian Ocean, and the east coastlands and highlands receive the larger part of the precipitation, as the winds move westward. The Great Karroo and Great Namaqualand have less than 6 inches of rain in the year. With the exception of the Portuguese coastlands and the Zambezi belt. South Africa is one of the most healthful r.nu salubrious regions in the world. Flor.. The veldt and the karroo are the dis- tinctive features of South Africa. The word veldt ( = field) is applied to the enormous areas of rolling pasture Iniids found in Cape Colony, the Orange River Colony, the Transvaal Colony, and parts of Bechuanaland, covered with rough scrubby grass, mimosa, acacia, and other bushes; also to the herbage itself, as the sweet veldt and the sour veldt. The name karroo is taken from the little karroo plant, relished by sheep and