LOrUEXZO MAUQrES 15 



plain is obtained from the summit of the cliiT, 

 which at this point forms the right bank, rising 

 ahnost perpendicularly out of the river to an 

 elevation of some (JO metres above sea-level. 

 Ten to fifteen miles to the eastward the limit of 

 the plain is defined by a low line of hills, sand- 

 dunes separating it from the coast. The 

 liicomati, a slender silver streak, lost in the 

 distance to north and south and threading its 

 way through this enormous Hat, presents but a 

 very insuflicient agent to have accumulated so 

 much alluvium, even when we allow it long 

 geological ages in which to have worked. 

 The course of the river being turned parallel to 

 the coast suggests that the plain had once been 

 an arm of the sea, and the existence of brackish 

 lakes scattered about confirms this view. When 

 the original outlet of the river became silted 

 up, diverting its course and shutting out the 

 sea, a great lagoon would be formed, afterwards 

 becoming a morass and swampy plain as we 

 see it now. At Manhica the river overflows 

 its banks, flooding the plain to a depth of 2 or 

 3 feet once in every four or five years, the 

 water remaining about six weeks. 



It is necessar}" to have a clear idea of these 

 floods to avoid making mistakes when selecting 

 areas for the cultivation say, of sugar, a crop 



