The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE KAEEOOS. 83points by the coast streams the loftiest is the Groote Znartc Bergen (" GreatBlack Mountains ") which lies farthest inland, and some of whose summits exceed7,000 feet. Towards its eastern extremity the Cockscomb (Groot "Wintcr-hoek)rises to an altitude of 6,000 feet above the north-west side of Algoa Bay.North of this outer orographic system of parallel chains crowded together alongthe seaboard, there is developed at a mean distance of over 120 miles from thecoast another much loftier range, which also trends in the normal direction fromwest to east, and whose sinuous windings are distinguished by different designations.At its western extremity near the Atlantic Coast Range it takes tlie nameof Koms-berg, which farther on is successively replaced by the Roggeveld andNieuweveld, where the term cclJ indicates softer outlines and more rounded contoursthan those of the steeper escarpments denoted by the herg. Still farther east themain range seems almost to merge in the surrounding upland plains ; but it soonrises again to a great height in the Snecuw-bergcn ("Snowy Mountains"), whoseloftiest peak, the Compass (9,000 feet), is the culmiuutiiig point in the Caperegion properly so called.Beyond this central nucleus the system bifurcates, the south-eastern branch,which is interrupted by an affluent of the Great Fish River, attaining in theGroot "Winter-berg an altitude of 7,800 feet. This branch terminates at themouth of the Great Kei River, western limit of Kafirland, while the secondramification, forming the divide between the Orange and Great Fish River basins,trends first northwards, then towards the east, where it merges in the lofty rangeseparating Kafirland and Xatal from Basutoland. Its eastern extremity, known bythe name of the Storm-bergen (" Storm Mountains "), is distinguished in the economichistory of the Cape for its extensive carboniferous deposits. The thin and somewhatschistose coalfields of the Storm-bergen occur chieflj- on the northern slopesof the range, and stretch far in the direction of the north ; but owing to the costof extraction and difiBculty of transport, the mines are little worked except tosupply the wants of the surrounding settlements. Old volcanoes with perfectlydistinct craters, which seem to have become extinct since the triassic cjioch, arestillvisible in the Storm-bergen ifountains.The undulating plain dotted over with patches of scrub, which stretches eastand west, between the ])arallel coast ranges and the great northern water-partingof the Roggeveld and Xicuwevcld, is known by the name of the Great Karroo, aHottentot word meaning arid laud. Farther north in the direction of the OrangeRiver extend other elevated plains interrupted here and there by small moimtainmasses, which consist for the most part of eruptive rocks, such as trapps and dolerites,forming natural colonnades often of a monumental aspect. These upland plainsare also karroos, throughout their whole extent presenting everywhere the samegeological constitution. They were formerly covered by vast stretches of marshywaters frequented by myriads of vertebrato reptiles, dicynodonts and other varieties,which are unlike any others found on the globe, and which probably became extinctbefore the close of the triassic period. According to Sir Richard Owen, thosehuge saurians were herbivorous, and appear to have been of amphibious habits.o 2