Tlic Transkei Gap. 



71 



N'Gobe, which has a course due east without a twist or turn for 

 7 miles. A short way from the road, down in the kloof, some 

 great rounded surfaces of the coarse micaceous variety of the Gap- 

 rock occur, but elsewhere, along its course, the river-bed is kept 

 constantly supplied with debris from the steep cliffs, so that the 

 underlying rock is not seen. There is a marked difference every- 

 where between the north and south sides of the river, the northern 

 l)eing covered with forest, while the southern are steep grassy slopes, 

 Avhich the natives, in spite of the difficulty of working, use for 

 planting their mealies and Kaffir corn. 



On the other side of the Kobonqaba the Gap-valley is continued 

 to the east ; the portion between the Kobonqaba and the Nxaxo 

 Pass being specially characteristic. An enlarged map of this portion 

 is given (Fig. 1) to show the general nature of the valleys in the 

 Gap ; elsewhere the valleys approach this type more or less closely. 



Fig. 1. 

 Showing the arrangement of the small streams in the Transkei Gap, with the 

 several neks between the valleys. The parallel lines represent the boundaries 

 of the Gap-rock ; the country north and south is composed of sedimentary 

 rocks lying nearly horizontal, and injected with dolerite. 



but nowhere have we seen the system so neatly developed, or on 

 so small a scale ; the valleys here look as if they were artificial 

 trenches with the banks trimmed by the spade. Actual outcrops of 

 the Gap-rock are rare about here, owing to fallen debris ; but under 

 Nxaxo Pass, on the west, a small block of the diorite was discovered 

 in situ. Between Nxaxo Pass and Lusizi Pass the valley is the 

 same. It will be noticed that the Kologha sheet covers the plateau 

 iibout here and that the south gap pierces it uninterruptedly, thus 

 giving us an interesting comparison of the disruptive forces belong- 

 ing to the northern and southern dykes. 



Looking east from the Manubi main road near Lusizi in the line of 

 the Gap, one has a magnificent view down the Kabakazi Biver, 

 w^hose whole length is within the Gap. At the head of the Eiver, 

 however, the foothills of the cliffs overlap too much, and it is only 



