Nasturtium, or Indian cress, Tropaeolum majus, a perennial climber, native of Peru, but in cultivation treated as a hardy annual. It climbs by means of the long stalk of the peltate leaf which is sensitive to contact like a tendril. The irregular flowers have five sepals united at the base, the dorsal one produced into a spurred development of the axis; of the five petals the two upper are slightly different and stand rather apart from the lower three; the eight stamens are unequal and the pistil consists of three carpels which form a fleshy fruit separating into three one-seeded portions. The flowers are sometimes eaten in salads, and the leaves and young green fruits are pickled in vinegar as a substitute for capers. The pungency of the nasturtium officinale, the water-cress, gave it its name nasi-tortium, that which twists the nose. The plant should have a warm situation, and the soil should be light and well enriched; sow thinly early in April, either near a fence or wall, or in an open spot, where it will require stakes 6 to 8 ft. high.
The dwarf form known as Tom Thumb (T. m. nanum), is an excellent bedding or border flower, growing about a foot high. Sow in April in the beds or borders; and again in May for a succession. Other fine annual Tropaeolums are T. Lobbianum with long spurred orange flowers and numerous varieties; and T. minus, a kind of miniature T. majus with yellow, scarlet and crimson varieties.
The genus Tropaeolum, native of South America and Mexico, includes about 35 species of generally climbing annual and perennial herbs with orange, yellow, rarely purple or blue, irregular flowers, T. peregrinum is the well-known canary creeper. The flame nasturtium with brilliant scarlet blossoms is T. speciosum from Chile; it has tuberous roots, as have also such well-known perennials as T. polyphyllum, T. pentaphyllum. Of these T. speciosum should be grown in England in positions facing north; it flourishes in Scotland.
Natal, a maritime province of the Union of South Africa, situated nearly between 27° and 31° S., 29° and 33° E. It is bounded S.E. by the Indian Ocean, S.W. by the Cape province and Basutoland, N.W. by the Orange Free State province, N. and N.E. by the Transvaal and Portuguese East Africa. It has a coast line of 376 m.; its greatest length N. to S. in a direct line is 247 m.; its greatest breadth E. to W., also in a direct line, 200 m. Natal has an area of 35,371 sq. m., being nearly three-quarters the size of England. (For map see South Africa.) The province consists of two great divisions, namely Natal proper and Zululand (q.v.). Natal proper has a seaboard of 166 m. and an area of 24,910 sq. m., Zululand, in which is included Amatongaland, a seaboard of 210 m. and an area of 10,461 sq. m. It lies north-east of Natal. In this article the description of the physical features, &c. refers only to Natal proper.
Physical Features.—The terrace formation of the land characteristic of other coast regions of South Africa prevails in Natal. The country may be likened to a steep and gigantic staircase leading to a broad and level land lying beyond its borders. The rocky barrier which shuts off this land is part of the Drakensberg range. From the mountain sides flow many rivers which dash in magnificent waterfalls and through deep gorges to the sea. Falling 8000 or more feet in little over 200 m., these streams are unnavigable. The south-eastern sides of the mountains are in part covered with heavy timber, while the semi-tropical luxuriance of the coast belt has earned for Natal the title of “the garden colony.”
The coast trends, in an almost unbroken line, from S.W. to N.E. It extends from the mouth of the Umtamvuna river (31° 4′ S., 30° 12′ E.), which separates Natal from the Cape, to the mouth of the Tugela (19° 15′ S., 31° 30′ E.), which marks the frontier between Natal and Zululand. The only considerable indentation is at Durban, about two-thirds of the distance from the Umtamvuna to the Tugela, where there is a wide and shallow bay, covering with its islands nearly 8 sq. m. The coast, though low and sandy in places, is for the most part rocky and dangerous. The warm Mozambique current sweeps down from the N.E., setting up a back drift close in shore. The southern entrance to Durban harbour is marked by a bold bluff, the Bluff of Natal, which is 250 ft. high and forested to the water’s edge. Opposite the Bluff a low sandy spit called the Point forms the northern entrance to the harbour. North of Durban the coast belt, hitherto very narrow, widens out and becomes more flat. But the greater part of the coast region, which has an average depth of 15 m., is broken and rugged. Ranges of hills lead to the first plateau, which has an average elevation of 2000 ft. and is of ill-defined extent. Here the land loses its semi-tropical character and resembles more the plains of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The second plateau, reached by a steep ascent, has an elevation of from nearly 4000 to fully 5000 ft. It is an undulating plain, grass-covered, but for the most part without trees or bush. It continues to the foot of the Drakensberg range, the mountains rising towards the S.W., with almost perpendicular sides, 6000 to 7000 ft. above the country at their base. Northwest, towards the Transvaal, the mountains are of lower elevation and more rounded contours.
Mountains.—Although the division of the country into terraces separated by ranges of hills is clearly marked in various districts, as for instance between Durban and Colenso, the province is traversed by many secondary chains, as well as by spurs of the Drakensberg. The highest points of that range, and the highest land in Africa south of Kilimanjaro, lie within the borders of Natal. The Drakensberg (q.v.), from Majuba Hill on the N.W. to Bushman’s Nek in the S.W., form the frontier of the province, the crest of the range being generally within Natal. This is the case in the Mont-aux-Sources (11,170 ft.) and Cathkin Peak or Champagne Castle (10,357 ft.); the top of the third great height, Giant’s Castle (9657 ft.), is in Basutoland, but its seaward slopes are in Natal. From Giant’s Castle to Mont-aux-Sources, in which, forsaking their general direction, the Drakensberg run S.E. to N .W., the mountains attain an elevation of 10,000 to 11,000 ft., with few breaks in their face. North of Mont-aux-Sources the mountain ridge sinks to 8000 and less feet, and here are several passes leading into the Orange Free State. Laing’s Nek is a pass into the Transvaal. The chief heights in Natal between Mont-aux-Sources and Laing’s Nek are Tintwa (7500 ft.), Inkwelo (6808 ft.) and the flat-topped Majuba (7000 ft.). Spurs from the Drakensberg, at right angles to the main range, cross the plateaus. The most northern, which runs E. from Majuba to the Lebombo Mountains, coincides roughly with the northern frontier of Natal. It is one of the transverse chains connecting the eastern coast range with the higher terraces and goes under a variety of names, such as Elands Berg and Ingome Mountains. A second range, the Biggarsberg, starts from the Drakensberg near Mount Malani and goes E.S.E. to the junction of Mooi, Buffalo and Tugela rivers. This range contains, in Indumeni (7200 ft.), the highest mountain in Natal outside the main Drakensberg. A third range runs N.E. from Giant’s Castle towards the Biggarsberg. It lies north of the Mooi river, and its most general name is Mooi River Heights. A fourth range also diverges from Giant’s Castle and ramifies in various branches over a large tract of country, one branch running by Pietermaritzburg to the Berea hills overlooking Durban. The chief height in this fourth range is Spion Kop (7037 ft.), about 25 m. S.E. of Giant’s Castle. This is not the Spion Kop rendered famous during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. That Spion Kop, with Vaal Kranz and Pieter’s Hills, are heights on the northern bank of the upper Tugela.
Secondary ranges with heights of 5000 and more feet are numerous, whilst lofty isolated mountains rise from the plateaus. The greatest of these isolated masses is Mahwaqa (6834 ft.), in the south-west part of the country. Of many flat-topped hills the best known is the Table Mountain east of Pietermaritzburg.
Rivers.—All the rivers of Natal not purely coast streams have their origin in the Drakensberg or its secondary ranges. The largest and longest, the Tugela, with the Buffalo, Mooi, Klip and other tributaries is treated separately. The Tugela basin drains the whole country north of a line drawn in a direct line east from Giant’s Castle. The Umkomaas (“gatherer of waters”) rises in Giant’s Castle and flows in a south-easterly course to the sea. Though it makes no large sweeps it has so tortuous a course that its length (some 200 m.) is twice that of the valley through which it flows. Its banks in its upper course are wild and picturesque, with occasional wide deep valleys, with climate and vegetation resembling the coast belt. The Umzimkulu river rises in Bamboo Castle, in the Drakensberg, and, with bolder curves than the Umkomaas, runs in a course generally parallel with that stream S.E. to the sea, its mouth being about 40 m. south of that of the Umkomaas. The Ingwangwane rises in the Drakensberg south of the Umzimkulu, which it joins after a course of some 50 m. Below the junction the Umzimkulu forms for some distance the frontier between Natal and the Griqualand East division of the Cape. The scenery along the river valley (120 m. long) is very striking, in turns rugged and desolate, verdant and smiling, with patches of dense forest and heights wooded to their summit. Port Shepstone is situated at the mouth of the river,
which, like that of all others in Natal, is obstructed by a bar. As a
