0*6 NATURAL DIVISIONS OF AFRICA. Chap. V. 



two Christian Bechuanas from Kuruman, — than whom I never 

 6aw Letter servants, — by two Bakwain men, and two young 

 girls, who, having come as nurses with our children to the 

 Cape, were returning to their home at Kolobeng. Waggon- 

 travelling in Africa has been so often described, that I need 

 say no more than that it is a prolonged system of picnicking, 

 excellent for the health, and agreeable to those who are not 

 over fastidious about trifles, and who delight in the open air. 



Our route to the north lay near the centre of the cone- 

 shaped mass of land which constitutes the promontory of the 

 Cape. If we suppose this cono to be divided into three zones 

 or longitudinal bands, we find each presenting distinct pecu- 

 liarities of climate, physical appearance, and population. The 

 eastern zone is often furnished with mountains, well wooded 

 with evergreen succulent trees, on which neither fire nor 

 droughts can have the smallest effect (Strelitzia, Zamia horrida, 

 Portulacca afra, Schotia speciosa, Euphorbias, and Aloe arborescent). 

 Its seaboard gorges are clad with gigantic timber, and it is 

 comparatively well watered with streams and rivers. The 

 supply of rain is considerable, and the inhabitants (Caffres or 

 Zulus) are tail, muscular, and well made ; shrewd, energetic, 

 and brave ; and altogether merit the character given them by 

 military authorities, of being " magnificent savages." Their 

 splendid physical development and form of skull show that, 

 but for the black skin and woolly hair, they would take rank 

 among the foremost Europeans. 



The next division, which embraces the centre of the 

 continent, consists for the most part of extens'^, slightly 

 undulating plains. There are few springs, and still fewer 

 streams. Eain is far from abundant, and droughts may be 

 expected every few years. Without artificial irrigation no 

 European grain can be raised, and the inhabitants (Bechuanas), 

 are inferior to the Caffres in physical development. 



The western division is still more level than the middle, 

 being only rugged near the coast. It includes the great plain 

 of the Kalahari Desert. 



The probable reason why so little rain falls on this extensive 

 tract is that the prevailing winds of most of the interior are 

 easterly, and the water taken up by the atmosphere from the 

 Indian Ocean is deposited on the eastern hilly slope. It is e 



