The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

THE SWAKOP AXD KnOSIB EIVEES.G5reservoii's forms a veritable subterranean lake well stocked whh. fisli and maintainingitself always at the same level.Of all the wadys in this region, the most copious is the Omaruru, where thestream lasts longer and the vegetation is less scattered than along the otherwatercoiu-ses.The Omburo thermal spring rises in the sands of its upper courseat the foot of some basalt rocks, and the rivulet flows for several miles as asurface stream. But of all the local fluvial systems, the most wide-branchin"- andby far the longest is the Swakop, or Tsoakhub, whose course has a total length ofover 240 miles, exclusive of the lateral branches. Taking its rise to the east ofthe central Damara highlands, it traverses the plateau through deep rocky gorges,and reaches the coast just north of Walvisch Bay. Lying about midway betweenthe Cunene and the Orange Eiver, this transverse trough divides the whole territoryinto two nearly equal parts, Damaraland in the north and Great Namaqualandin the south.The Khosib or Kuisip, which intersects the Xamieb plain to a depth of over600 feet, also discharges, or rather formerly discharged, into Walvisch Bay,through an abrupt bend, which is bordered eastwards b}' the long sandy peninsulaof PeKcan Point.During the twelve years preceding 1878 this wady is saidto have never once reached the coast. South of these two intermittent streams,the other watercourses are arrested east of the dunes without even forming channelsas far as the sea. But the umarambas, or streams of the eastern slope,which flow either to the Ku-Bango or the Orange, or else lose themselves in thedistant saline marshes of the desert, form real river systems, if not in the abundanceof their waters or the regularity of their discharge, at least in the length oftheir fluvial beds.Consisting to a great extent of rocky uplands, hard clays, and moving sands,the southern section of the new German colony can have no agricultural value forits owners. Yet this was the first part to be annexed, and here were founded alltheir early stations.South of the Swakop, the whole ground cleared and broughtunder cultivation by the missionaries probably falls short of ten acres. But inthe northern districts, and especially in the Cunene valley, there stretch vastplains resembling the Portuguese territories of Huilla and Humpata. Lying inthe same river basin and endowed with a similar fertile soil, they also enjoypretty much the same climate, except that the atmosphere is somewhat drier andthe rainfall less abimdant. Nevertheless there is still sufiicient moisture to stimulatethe growth of large trees and even develop considerable forest tracts. HereIS still to be seen the gigantic baobab, while a few palms are met even south ofthe twentieth degrees of south latitude. The territory of the Ova-ilbos (Ovamboland),with its woodlands, glades, and clearings presents in many places theaspect of a boundless park, and here the natives support themselves mainly bytilling the land and cultivating fruit trees.Here also European peasantry mightimdoubtedly succeed, although their requirements greatly exceed the modestwants of the natives, and some of the Transvaal Boers have already formedsettlements in the district. Some hundreds of these immigrants, the same whoVOL. XIII.J