The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

90 SOUTH AXD EAST AFRICA.Throuj^hout its lower course the Orange receives no perennial contributionsfrom any (liroetion, the gorges which open in the quartz cliffs to the right and leftof its valley being for the most part merely the winding sand-beds of intermittentor altogether dried-np affluents. Hence as it approaches the sea it decreases involume, and although the main stream is over 40 feet deep during the great floods,it may bo forded for most of the year at certain points where a transverse passageis presented by the lateral ravines facing each other on both banks. But in thedeep rocky gorge by which it pierces the coast range on its seaward course, theOrange is almost inaccessible from either side. At several points the overhangingescarpments of the surrounding plateaux rise several hundred j-ards above itschannel, and the traveller might perish of thirst without finding a singlefissure or practicable track leading down to the tantalising stream which he seesflowing at his feet.The river, barred at every turning by projecting rocky ledges, rushes in abruptmeanderings between the enclosing granite cliffs, and at one point even trendssharpl}' to the south, flowing for some distance in this direction before it finds anopening in the last barrier obstructing its course to the sea. Above the bar itswaters are collected in an extensive lacustrine basin, above which hover countlessflocks of aquatic birds. It frequently happens that this basin becomes completelycut off from the sea by an intervening strij) of sand. During the fluvial inundationsthe swift current opens a broad channel to the Atlantic ; but even then it isinaccessible to shipping owing to the submarine banks resting on elevated rockyplateaux, where the surf beats incessantly. Hence vessels bound for this part ofthe coast are obliged to land at the small inlet of Cape Voltas, lying to the southof the Orange estuary. Thus this great river, which has a total course of no lessthan 1,300 miles, draining an area of over 500,000 square miles, is as useless forna-s-igation as it mostlj^ is for irrigation purposes.The Olifant, Breede, Great Fish,and Kei Rivers.None of the rivers reaching the Atlantic between the Orange and the Cape ofGood Hope, or for some distance east of that point, have room to develop a longcourse in the narrow space separating the coast ranges from the sea. Nor do any ofthem send down a great volume of water, notwithstanding the relatively heavy rainfallin this region. On the west side the largest is the Olifant, that is "Elephant,"River, which flows mainly in a north-westerly direction to the sea above St. HelenaBay. On the southern slope the Brecde-rivior (" Broad River ") collects thesurfacewaters from the uplands round about Capetown, and reaches the coasteast of Cape Agulhas through a channel accessible to vessels of 150 tons.Notwithstanding its comparatively small size the Breede is the only stream inCape Colony which has a seaport on its banks. Some miles farther east the SouthernOcean is reached by the Grootc-rivier ("Great River"), called also the Gaurits,whose ramifying fluvial sj'stem resembles the widespread branches of an oak.The Gamtoa, or Gamtoos, which like the Gaurits rises on the plain of the GreatKaroo, and like it also forces the parallel coast ranges through a series of romantic