150 
THE UNICOEN’S PASS. 
Chap. VII. 
against each other, have formed cavities in wliich the Bakaa took 
refuge against their enemies. The numerous chinks and cran¬ 
nies left by these huge fragments made it quite impossible for 
them enemies to smoke them out, as was done by the Boers to 
the people of Mankopane. 
Tills mass of basalt, about six miles long, has tilted up the 
rocks on both the east and west; these upheaved rocks are the 
ancient silurian schists which formed the bottom of the great 
primaeval valley, and like all the recent volcanic rocks of this 
country have a hot fountain in their vicinity, namely, that of 
Serinane. 
In passing tlmough these hills on our way north we enter a 
pass named Manakalongwe, or Unicorn’s Pass. The unicorn 
here is a large edible caterpillar, with an erect horn-like tail. 
The pass was also called Porapora (or gurgling of water), from a 
stream having run tlnough it. The scene must have been very 
different in former times from what it is now. Tliis is part of 
the river Mahalapi, wliich so-called river scarcely merits the 
name, any more than the meadows of Edinburgh deserve the 
title of North Loch. These hills are the last we shall see for 
months. The country beyond consisted of large patches of trap- 
covered tufa, having little soil or vegetation except tufts of 
grass and wait-a-bit thorns, in the midst of extensive sandy 
grass-covered plains. These yellow-coloured grassy plains, with 
moretloa and mahatla bushes, form quite a characteristic feature 
of the country. The yellow or dun-colour prevails during a great 
part of the year. The Bakwain liills are an exception to the 
usual flat surface, for they are covered with green trees to their 
tops, and the valleys are often of the most lovely green. The 
trees are larger too, and even the plains of the Bakwain country 
contain trees instead of bushes. If you look north from the hills 
we are now leaving, the country partakes of tins latter character. 
It appears as ff it were a flat covered with a forest of ordinary¬ 
sized trees from 20 to 30 feet liigh, buf when you travel over it 
they are not so closely planted but that a waggon with care may 
be guided among them. The grass gTows in tufts of the size of 
one’s hat, with bare soft sand between. Nowhere here have we 
an approach to English lawns, or the pleasing appearance of 
English greensward. 
