The Conquest of the Desert 



I believe, on the basis of half-an-hour's ride 

 along the river and two and a half hours' ride 

 away from the river into the " back country." 

 Between these river farms and the actual 

 desert there is a considerable area surveyed 

 into large farms, varying in size from 5000 to 

 50,000 morgen. Topographically, the district 

 consists of a vast undulating plain, with 

 mountainous regions at the south-west and 

 south-east corners. The only feature of any 

 distinction is the valley of the Molopo River. 

 This river, by the way, is now non-existent, 

 and, I am informed, the last occasion on which 

 water flowed in the bed was in 1894. In that 

 year the water did not reach the Orange River, 

 but, diverted by sand-dunes which had been 

 blown across its course, poured itself to the west 

 and was lost in the sand. At one time, however, 

 the river must have been an important stream, 

 and it has cut a considerable valley in the hard 

 quartzites of the Zwart Modder series. The 

 most remarkable feature of the district is 

 the presence of sand-dunes. Beginning on the 

 banks of the Orange River, they may be seen 

 in even greater extent as one travels northward, 

 till they occupy the entire country and form 

 the desert itself. The sand is generally of a 



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