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DRAKENSBERG (Quathlamba or Kahlamba, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 474 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DRAKENSBERG (Quathlamba or Kahlamba, i.e. " heaped up and jagged," of the natives) , a See also:mountain See also:chain of S.E. See also:Africa, See also:running parallel to the See also:coast from See also:Basutoland to the See also:Limpopo river—a distance of some 600 m. The Drakensberg are the eastern See also:part of the rampart which forms the edge of the inner tableland of See also:South Africa. The sides of the mountains facing the See also:sea are in See also:general precipitous; on their inner See also:face they slope more or less gently to the See also:plateau. The culminating points of the range, and the highest lands in South Africa, are found in a See also:sharp See also:bend from S.E. to N.W. in about 29° S. 290 E., where " the See also:Berg " (as the range is called locally) forms the frontier between See also:Natal and Basutoland. Within 6o m. of one another are three mountains, See also:Giant's See also:Castle, See also:Champagne Castle or Cathkin See also:Peak, and Mont aux See also:Sources, 1o,000 to 11,000 or more ft. above the sea. From Mont aux Sources the normal N.E. direction of the range is resumed. Conspicuous among the heights along the See also:Orange See also:Free See also:State, See also:Transvaal and Natal frontiers are Tintwa, Malani, Inkwelo and Amajuba or See also:Majuba (q.v.), all between 7000 and 8000 ft. The Draken's Berg—the particular See also:hill from which the range is named—is 5682 ft. high and lies between Malani and Inkwelo heights. It was so named by the voortrekkers about 184o.

See also:

North of Majuba the range enters the Transvaal. Here the See also:elevation is generally See also:lower than •in the south, but the Mauch Berg is about 85oo ft. high. At its northernmost point the range joins the See also:Zoutpansberg. In their See also:southern part the Drakensberg See also:form the parting between the See also:rivers draining See also:west to the See also:Atlantic and those flowing south and See also:east to the See also:Indian Ocean. At Mont aux Sources rise the See also:chief headwaters of the Orange, See also:Tugela and other rivers. In the north, however, several streams rising in the interior plateau, e.g. the See also:Komati, the See also:Crocodile and the Olifants, See also:pierce the Drakensberg and reach the Indian Ocean. The range has numerous passes, many available for wheeled See also:traffic. See also:Van Reenen's Pass, between Tintwa and Malani, is crossed by a railway which connects the Orange Free State and Natal: See also:Laing's Nek, the See also:main pass leading from Natal to the Transvaal, which lies under the See also:shadow of Majuba, is pierced by a railway See also:tunnel. The railway from Delagoa See also:Bay to See also:Pretoria crosses the Drakensberg by a very steep gradient. Several subsidiary ranges See also:branch off from the main chain of the Berg. This is especially the See also:case in Natal, where one range is known as the Little Drakensberg.

End of Article: DRAKENSBERG (Quathlamba or Kahlamba, i.e. " heaped up and jagged," of the natives)

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