Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/113

I MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 81 rapid murine communications than are 3'et possible, they must always fool them* selves somewhat severed from the rest of the world. Physical Features of South Africa. The orography of the Austral regions resembles in its more salient features that of the whole continent, in which the chief mountain ranges are disposed not in the interior but round the souboard, usually attaining their greatest elevation in the vicinity of the east coast. In the same way in the southern section of the main- land the loftiest chains and eminences are developed parallel with and at no great distance from the seaboard, everywhere skirting the boundless oj)en or undulating plains of the interior. Here also the orographic system culmiuutcs on the east side, where the loftiest crests rise to an altitude of considerably over 1 1,000 feet. The outer scarps of tlie highlands and plateaux running parallel with the coast in Great Namaquuland are completely interrupted by the rocky valley of the Lower Orange River. South of this point the system is continued throughout the territory of the Little Namaquus, without, however, attaining the same eleva- tion as in the northern region. The land rises from terrace to terrace towards the crest of the granitic plateau, over which are scattered irregu'ar mountain masses, which present an imposing aspect when saen from the west, where the precipitous slopes come fully into view. But the effect is somewhat insignificant on the opposite or landward side, where their base is merged in the monotonous plateau of gneiss formation known as Great Bushmanland. The mean altitude of the whole range scarcely falls much below 3,500 feet South of the Namaqua region the m lin range, deeply furrowed by erosion, breaks into a numlwr of diverging ridges, some of which branch off towards the eastern highlands, while others are coniinued in parallel chains southwards. Each rand, or crest, forms a sort of rocky barrier between the plains of the seaboard and the upland steppes of the interior. South of the Olifant River these ramparts attain their greatest altitude, the Cedar Mountains culminating in the Sneeuw-Kop (6,100 feet), while the Olifant range rises in the Winter-hock to a height of 6,900 feet. For a few days during the cold season this peak is visible on the north-east horizon from Capetown, streaked with white and occasionally even completely wrapped in a snowy mantle. The Olifant Range with its southern extension terminates in the Ilang-Klip headland, which stands over against the Cape of Good Hope. The Capo itself, which projects more to the west in the form of a sickle, belongs to a coast rangi% of which only a few fragments survive, and which advances beyond the normal coast line between St. Helena Ray and False or Simon's Ray. At its northern extremity this range consists merely of a few disconnected hills; but towards the south it rises rapidly to a considerable elevation, enclosing Table Ray with a semicircular rampart of bold rocky summits. Here the impos-iiig "Table" Moun- tain lifts its huge and often cloud-capj)ed siindstone crtst to a height of 3,500 feet above its nearly vertical or rapidly sloping walls. The granite base of this mighty 108— At