SOUTHERN AFRICA. 255 
other analogies might be drawn ; but these are more than suf- 
ficient to estabhsh the fact of there being a striking resem- 
blance between the two countries. 
The Orange river, at this time, though far from being full,, 
exhibited a very grand object ; but in its low state, when the 
water is clear, its stream and its bed must be exceedingly 
beautiful. In the level parts of the country, through which 
its smooth and easy current ran over pebbly beds, they were 
composed entirely of stones that were not common, nor were 
many of them wanting in beauty. AVe gathered among them 
a coarse kind of opals, cornelians, chalcedonies, and agates 
of every form and color, figured, plain, and striped, zoned, 
and stalactitical ; not thinly scattered here and there, but in 
such quantities that, judging by those few banks which were 
uncovered with water, a waggon-load might be collected in 
a few hours. The onyx and sardonyx were the most com- 
mon. These beds consisted generally of round and oval 
pebbles, some having a black ground, others iight-brownj 
and others chocolate color. These were inlaid with other 
small, white, quartzy pebbles, forming, on the smooth sur- 
faces of the former, circles, stripes, and irregular spots and 
lines. They appeared to be of that description of aggregated 
stones called, by some French mineralogists, variolites, and 
to which Mr. Kirwan has proposed to give the general name 
of porphyrites. The white parts grew as it were into the 
colored base, and adhered to it so closely as not to be easily 
separated. It is remarkable enough that this should be the 
only river in Southern Africa, at least between it and the Cape, 
in which stones of this nature are found. According to the 
