CHAPTER XIII 



THE CATARACTS OF KING GEORGE * 



" Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers 

 have set " (Proverbs xxii. 28). 



" It seems surprising that such a wonderful work of God 

 should be concealed from the inspection of mankind in the 

 bosom of Wild Africa " (" Travels in South Africa," by 

 John Campbell, 1813). 



Two hundred and forty miles in a straight line 

 from the mouth of the Orange River, and over 

 a thousand from the leaping waters of its source 

 in the far-off mountains of the Basutos are the 

 Great Falls of that mighty stream. It was well 

 said by the ancients that out of Africa there 

 comes always something new. And so once 

 again we have to record a story of mystery and 

 romance. If you look at the map of north- 

 western Cape Colony where the Orange River 

 is bordered on the north by the district of 

 Gordonia, and on the south by the district of 

 Kenhart, you will see marked the Aughrabies 

 or Great Falls. Now these falls are incorrectly 



1 Reprinted by kind permission from The Nineteenth 

 Century and After, No. 439, September, 1913. 



151 



