312 GREAT NAMAQUA-LAND. 



few words of this country, its inhabitants, their manners and 

 customs, &c. 



The portion of Africa known as Namaqua-land is divided 

 into two distinct parts, viz.. Little and Great Namaqua-land. 

 By the former is understood the territory (now British) be- 

 tween the Orange Elver and about the 31st degree of lati- 

 tude on the south ; by the latter, the country between the 

 last-named river and Damara-land, its eastern boundary be- 

 ing the Kalahari desert, while on the west it is washed by 

 the billows of the Atlantic Ocean. 



Great Namaqua-land covers a surface of no less than one 

 hundred and twelve thousand geographical square miles,* 

 with probably a population of scarcely thirty thousand souls, 

 or less than four persons to the square mile. Excepting the 

 great Sahara itself, there is, perhaps, not a country in the 

 world, of equal extent, so scantily peopled, so destitute of 

 water, so dismal, and so generally barren and useless. It is 

 truly a " region of curses." 



The coast-line of Great Namaqua-land, like that of Dama- 

 ra-land, consists of a dreary sandy waste, extending in places 

 from thirty to forty miles into the interior — in others to a 

 hundred or more — and is, with very few exceptions, unin- 

 habitable. 



Some of the rivers, such as the Kuisip, and others of little 

 importance, empty themselves into the Atlantic; but the 

 larger portion run in an easterly direction, and are chiefly 

 tributaries to the Fish River. This remarkable water-course, 

 which takes its rise in the most northerly limit of Great 

 Namaqua-land, finally joins the Orange River about three or 

 four days' journey from where the latter finds an outlet into 

 the sea, thus intersecting the country throughout its entu'e 

 length. 



Great Namaqua-land is characterized by immense sand}' 



* Or about 148,000 English square miles. The area of Damara-land 

 is about 29,000 English square miles. 



