,503 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



General as- 

 pect. 



Moun- 

 tain*. 



or GOOD HOPE, an extensive European set- 

 ti emcn t on tlic southern extremity of the African 

 continent, lies In-tween 29 55', and 34 4-7' S. 

 Lat., and between 17 36', and 28 17' E. Long. 

 It i, bounded on the west and south by the ocean, 

 on the east by the Great Fish River, and Caffre- 

 land ; and on the north by the river Koussie, and the 

 country of the Bosjesmans. Its mean length is nearly 

 550, and mean breadth 233 English miles, and it 

 comprehends an area of about 128,150 square miles. 

 These boundaries are, in a great measure, imaginary ; 

 and to the northward especially, might be extended 

 very far beyond what is now accounted the limit, 

 without encroaching upon the territory of any nation; 

 while on the eastern side of the province, the CafFres 

 have for many years been systematically pressing in 

 upon the line of demarcation stipulated between them 

 and the Dutch ; and they actually held possession of 

 a large tract of the most productive part of the pro- 

 vince, to the westward of the Great Fish River, un- 

 til a very few months ago, when they became more 

 bold in their aggressions, and murdered the land- 

 droost, or chief magistrate of Graaf Reynet, the dis- 

 trict contiguous to their country, with all his family, 

 with the design of driving in the colonists, and add- 

 ing to their encroachments. Colonel Graham was 

 sent by the governor with an adequate force, and vi- 

 gorously pushed into the part of the country they 

 inhabited, routed them, and drove them within their 

 limits. The CafFres have been classed amongst sava- 

 ges ; but their steady perseverance in pursuing a uni- 

 form design for so long a period, would do credit to 

 the policy of an European state. Their system of 

 espionage is no less complete than their success in 

 concealing their own circumstances from their neigh- 

 bours : the British troops were, on the late occasion, 

 astonished to find a very considerable extent of land 

 in a state of high cultivation, at a very small distance 

 from the residence of the magistrate. 



We are not to estimate, however, the value of this 

 settlement by its extent of surface. The greater part 

 of it is covered with naked mountains, or sterile and 

 unprofitable plains, many of which are totally incapable 

 of any kind of culture, and even without a plant or 

 shrub fitted for the support of animal life ; while others 

 are in the season, covered with verdure, and frequented 

 by antelopes. These mountains generally run in the 

 direction of east and west, except those in the Cape 

 peninsula and the chain, which, beginning at False 

 Bay, stretches along the western coast to the north- 

 ward, as far as the mouth of Elephants river, and 

 is about 210 miles in length. The most southern 

 range extends along the coast, at between 20 and 

 60 miles distance from the sea ; the central range, 

 called Zwarteberg, or Black Mountain, runs pa- 

 rallel to it, is more lofty and rugged, and in many 



places i composed of double and sometimes treble 

 chains ; and the northern range, or Nieuwveld moun- 

 tains, which are still higher, (supposed to be about 

 10,000 feet above the level of the sea,) have their 

 summits sometimes covered with snow during the e- 

 verity of the winter season. The chain which extends 

 from the extremity of the Cape peninsula northwards, 

 is terminated by the Table Mountain, and its two 

 wings, the Devil's Hill, and Lion's Head. These Mountain, 

 three may be almost considered as one mountain, for 

 though their summits are disunited, yet they are all 

 joined at a considerable elevation above the common 

 base. The north side of the Table Mountain, which 

 faces the town, presents a bold and almost perpendi- 

 cular front, extending nearly two miles in length, 

 and broken into three divisions by two immense 

 chasms, which give it the appearance of a mighty 

 ruin. Its height is 3582 feet above the level ofTa- 

 ble Bay, that of Devil's Hill is 3315, and the Lion's 

 head is 2160. The mountains of this country, ac- 

 cording to Mr Barrow, " at a distance, possess nei- 

 ther the sublime nor the beautiful ; but the approach 

 to their bases, and the kloofs, (or passages by which 

 the mountains are ascended,) are awfully grand and 

 terrific ; sometimes their naked points of solid rock 

 rise almost perpendicularly, like a wall of masonry, 

 to the height of three, four, and even five thousand 

 feet, resembling the Table Mountain; sometimes 

 the inclination of the strata is so great, that the 

 whole mass of mountain appears to hare its centre 

 of gravity falling without the base, and as if it 

 momentarily threatened to strew the plain with its 

 venerable ruins ; in other places, where the looser 

 fragments have given way, they are irregularly peak* 

 ed, and broken into a variety of fantastic shapes." 

 We are also informed, by the same traveller, that 

 the component parts of those mountains consist 

 of sandstone, resting upon a base of granite. This 

 base, however, is in some mountains considerably 

 elevated above the general surface of the country, 

 and, in others, its summit is sunk far beneath it. f 

 In the Table Mountain, the granite base terminates 

 only at about 500 feet above the level of the sea. 

 From that commences a horizontal stratum of sili- 

 ceous sandstone of a dirty yellow colour, which is 

 covered by a deep brown sandstone, containing calci- 

 form ores of iron, and veins of hematite, and is sur- 

 mounted by a mass of a whitish grey shining granu- 

 lar quartz, about 1000 feet in height. The rocks on 

 the summit, which have entirely passed into sand- 

 stone, are surrounded with myriads of oval shaped 

 and rounded pebbles of semitransparent quartz, which 

 were formerly imbedded in them ; but no shells, pe- 

 trefactions of fishes, or impressions of plants, are to be 

 found, as some travellers have asserted. The compo- 

 sition of the other mountains is nearly similar to that 



f It has been observed, that wherever the granite rises above the general level of the country, numerous springs issue from 

 the surface of the rock ; and that the contrary position is invariably attended, with a scarcity of water. This last, indeed, i* 

 the more general situation of the granite throughout the colony. 



VOL. V. PAKT II. 3 r> 



