South-West Africa

by William Eveleigh

Great Namaqualand

Great Namaqualand, the country that stretches from the south of Damaraland to the Orange River, is a land of rugged hills, stony kopjes, and boundless plains. In the Karas Mountains, the main ridge rises again to a height of 6,600 feet above the sea, and the plateaux have a north to south direction. The boundless plains, really extended tablelands, are a principal feature of the country, and they are invariably sandy.

“Sir,” said a person who knew the country to Dr. Moffat in 1818, “you will find plenty of sand and stones, a thinly scattered population always suffering from want of water, on plains and hills roasted like a burnt loaf under the scorching rays of a cloudless sun.”

“Of the truth of this description,” says Moffat in his laconic fashion, “I soon had abundant evidence.”[2]

Although this portion of South-West Africa is regarded as semi-desert, at rare intervals after rain the plains are covered with long coarse grass and then they have to English eyes the appearance of a vast field of waving oats.