2 STUPENDOUS PASS. 
we reached at the end of our first day’s ride, is De 
Toie’s Kloof, a steep pass over the first great range 
of mountains that separates the interior from the 
Cape. This ridge has been designated by a French 
naturalist as the “ back-bone of the earth ;” a name, 
however, says. Mr. Barrow, “ That is much more 
appropriate on account of its singular appearance 
than great extent. The naked summits of these 
mountains are pointed and jagged, like the vertebree 
of the back-bone of an animal: they consist of a 
number of sandstone strata, placed in a horizontal 
direction, containing a great deal of iron, being in 
places perfectly red; and they rest upon beds of | 
granite, clay, and slate.” 
The sun had been above the horizon for several 
hours when we began to ascend these heights on 
the following day. The exhalations from the earth: 
which usually indicate excessive heat, and which, in 
the earlier part of the morning, completely obscured 
the surrounding scenery, had begun to disperse ; so 
that when we reached the summit of the pass, all 
was bright and serene, a vast extent of cloudless 
sky spreading its interminable azure over the beau- 
tifully varied earth as far as the eye could reach. 
Before us lay a delightful prospect of mountain, hill, 
and dale. On one hand towered the lofty promontory 
of ‘Table Mountain, that ancient landmark of “ sea- 
tossed men ;” and on the other, immediately below, 
lay stretched along in quiet beauty the hamlets of 
