4 Hf. C. Schunke.—The Transkeian Territories: [Jan. 28,. 
direct distance measured from source to mouth ranges from 5: 3 to” 
13: 5. The mean proportion obtained from a considerable number- 
of streams is 9: 5. 
DRAINAGE AREAS OF RIVERs. 
Principal Rivers. 
Great Kei River (portion of drainage area) oe io es 
[ Total drainage area of Kei River eve 7,520] 
Bashee bee ane oe be ee --- 2,210 
St. John’s River or Umzimvubu see ae eat ei, 
Umzimkulu (portion of drainage area)... ies Ses OARS. 
Secondary Rivers. 
Umtata ie abe Pe acd utd an 866 - 
Umtamvuna (portion of drainage area) ... ee as 430° 
Coast Rwvers. 
Group 1 between Kei and Bashee wee ee hy 984 
» 2 5... Bashee-and- Umtata oe ay Le 435 
el AS een Umtata and St. John’s ... Hie ae 746 
Be St. John’s and Umtamvuna x ison Maa: 
The coast line between the Kei River and the Umtamvuna shows: 
the characteristic features of the African coast—a distressing uni- 
formity—in a strong degree ; not a bay, not a bight is to be found 
along its whole length of sufficient depth to be of any account as 
a safe harbour. In a limited measure, the fine deep estuaries, near 
the river mouths, make good for this lamentable deficiency. They 
would afford excellent shelter even from the fiercest gales of the 
Indian Ocean, but that they have with but few exceptions the 
drawback of being obstructed by immense sandbanks. Not only 
that the rivers have too small a volume of water to throw out deposits 
seawards and to form anything resembling a delta, they do not even: 
offer sufficient power of resistance to the mighty agency of the ocean 
which flings enormous masses of sand up their beds constituting 
the obstructing sand bars. The action of the sea current from the. 
north-east, the returning eddy and the insignificant volume of the: 
water of the rivers combined, form sandspits which extend from the 
western points of the river mouths obliquely up the river beds. The 
volume of water carried seawards determines the length of the sand- 
