1811. 
TRIGONOMETRICAL MEASUREMENT. 
319 
I made several drawings of this enchanting scenery ; and 
afterwards, by an observation for the latitude, found we were in 
29° 40' 52" S. * 
I ascertained trigonometrically, by a base of four hundred and 
fifty feet along the shore, and having the trunk of a willow on the 
opposite side close to the water as an object, tliat the breadth of the 
river was nine hundred and thirty feet. This spot, as I afterwards 
observed, was one of the narrowest places, and the average breadth 
of the Gariep in this part of its course, may, perhaps, be more cor- 
rectly stated at three hundred and fifty yards, during its lowest state ; 
but when overflowing the banks, it may then probably be from a 
quarter of a mile, to a mile wide, a state in which, in point of fact, 
I never saw it, but venture this supposition as founded on the indu- 
bitable traces of it noticed on the adjoining country. 
The banks of this beautiful river are clothed with wood from 
its mouth upwards as far as it has been explored. This line of trees 
is sometimes a quarter of a mile in breadth, but is frequently 
interrupted by short intervals : it would furnish timber sufficient for 
all the purposes of colonization on its banks, and I cannot but 
believe that at some future period settlers will be tempted, by the 
advantages of a large river, to form a lengthened colony along its 
course. Although its frequent falls and rapids would, especially in 
that part of the year when its waters are low, prevent a continued 
navigation down to the ocean, yet it still remains to be proved that, 
at the time of its greatest annual floods, boats or rafts might not with 
safety convey the produce of the interior down to the sea-shore, 
without any interruption more than two or three " carrying-places." 
The main stem of the Gariep is without any constant branch, 
for at least five hundred miles upwards. It then receives the waters 
of three great rivers, the Ky Gariep or Yellow River, coming from 
the north-eastward ; the Maap or Muddy River, whose course and 
source is unknown ; and the Nu Gariep or Black River, some branches 
* 16th Sept. at the Gariep Station, the observed meridional altitude of the Sun's 
upper limb was 57° 39' 37 '. 
