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ORANGE
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ORANGE , the longest See also:river of See also:South See also:Africa, almost traversing the See also:continent from ocean to ocean. It rises in See also:Basutoland, less than 200 M. from the See also:Indian Ocean, and flows See also:west, with wide sweeps south and See also:north, to the See also:Atlantic. It drains, with its tributaries, an See also:area estimated at over 400,000 sq. m., passing through more than twelve degrees of See also:longitude or 750 M. in a straight See also:line from source to mouth. The valley of the river exceeds loon m., and the stream has a length of not less than 1300 M. Its headstreams are in the highest See also:part of the See also:Drakensberg range, the See also:principal source, the Senku, rising, at an See also:elevation of more than 10,000 ft., on the south See also:face of the Mont aux See also:Sources in 28° 48' E., 28° 5o' S. The other headstreams are S.E. of the Senku source, in See also:Champagne See also:Castle, See also:Giant's Castle and other heights of the Drakensberg. The Giant's Castle source is not more than 13o m. west of the Indian ocean in a See also:direct line. Rising on the inner slopes of the hills these rivulets all join the Senku, which receives from the north several streams which rise in the Maluti Mountains. Of these the largest are the Semene and Senkunyane (little Senku) and the best known the Maletsunyane, by See also:reason of its magnificent See also:waterfall—an unbroken leap of 63o ft. Increased by the perennial See also:waters of these numerous torrents the Senku makes its way S.W. across the upland valleys between the Maluti and Drakensberg ranges. After a course of some 200 m., passing the S.W. corner of the Maluti Mountains, the Senku, already known as the Orange, receives the Makhaleng or "Kornet Spruit (90 m.), which rises in Machacha See also:Mountain. The Orange here enters the See also:great inner See also:plateau of South Africa, which at See also:Aliwal North, the first See also:town of any See also:size on the See also:banks of the river, 8o m. below the Kornet Spruit confluence, has an elevation of 4300 ft. See also:Forty See also:miles See also:lower down the Orange is joined by the first of its large tributaries, the See also:Caledon (230 m.), which, rising on the western See also:side of the Mont aux Sources, flows, first west and then south, through a broad and fertile valley north of the Maluti Mountains. At the confluence the See also:united stream has a width of 350 yards. See also:Thirty miles lower down the Orange reaches, in 25° 40' E., its southernmost point—30° 40' S., approaching within 20 M. of the Zuurberg range. In this part of its course the river receives from the south the streams, often intermittent, which rise on the See also:northern slopes of the See also:Storm-See also:berg, Zuurberg and Sneeuwberg ranges—the mountain See also:chain which forms the See also:water-parting between the See also:coast and inland drainage systems of South Africa. Of these See also:southern See also:rivers the See also:chief are the Kraai, which joins the Orange near Aliwal North, the Stormberg and the Zeekoe (See also:Sea Cow), the last named having a length of 120 M. From its most southern point the Orange turns sharply N.W. for 200 m., when having reached 29° 3' S., 23° 36' E. it is joined by its second great affluent, the See also:Vaal (q.v.). Here it bends south again, and with many a zigzag continues its See also:general See also:westerly direction, See also:crossing the arid plains of See also:Bechuana, Bushman and Namaqualands. Flowing between steep banks, considerably below the general level of the See also:country, here about 3000 ft., it receives, between the Vaal confluence and the Atlantic, a distance of more than 400 M. in a direct line, no perennial tributary but on the contrary loses a great See also:deal of its water by evaporation. In this region, nevertheless, See also:skeleton river systems See also:cover the country north and south. These usually dry sandy beds, which on many maps appear rivers of imposing length, for a few See also:hours or days following rare but violent See also:thunder-storms, are deep and turbulent streams. The northern See also:system consists of the Nosob and its tributaries, the Molopo and the See also:Kuruman. These unite their waters in about 20° 40' E. and 27° S., whence a channel known as the Molopo or Hygap runs south to the Orange. The southern system, which at one See also:time rendered fertile the great plains of western Cape See also:Colony, is represented by the Brak and Ongers rivers, and, farther west, by the Zak and Olifants rivers, which, united as the See also:Hartebeest, reach the Orange about 25 M. above the mouth of the Molopo. These rivers, in the wet See also:season and in places, have plenty of water, generally dissipated in vleis, pans and vloers (marshy and See also:lake See also:land). Between the mouths of the Hartebeest and Molopo, in 28° 35' S., 20° 20' E., are the great waterfalls of the Orange, where in a See also:series of cataracts and cascades the river drops 400 ft. in 16 m. The Aughrabies or See also:Hundred Falls, as they are called, are divided by ledges, reefs and islets, the last named often assuming fantastic shapes. Below the falls the river rushes through a rocky See also:gorge, and openings in the cliffs to the water are rare. These openings are usually the sandy beds of dried-up or intermittent afluents, such as the Bak, See also:Ham, Houm, Aub (or Great See also:Fish) rivers of Great See also:Namaqualand. As it approaches the Atlantic, the Orange, in its efforts to See also:pierce the mountain barrier which See also:guards the coast, is deflected north and then south, making a See also:loop of fully 90 in., of which the two ends are but 38 m. apart. Crossing the narrow coast See also:plain the river, with a south-westerly sweep, enters the ocean by a single mouth, studded with small islands, in 28° 37' S., 16° 30' E. A large See also:sand See also:bar obstructs the entrance to the river, which is not quite 1 m. wide. The river when in See also:flood, at which time it has a See also:depth of 4o ft., scours a channel through the bar, but the Orange is at all times inaccessible to sea-going vessels. Above the bar it is navigable by small vessels for 30 or 40 in. In the neighbourhood of the Vaal confluence, where the river passes through alluvial land, and at some other places, the waters of the Orange are used, and are capable of being much more largely used, for See also:irrigation purposes. The See also:Hottentots See also:call the Orange the Garib (great water), corrupted by the Dutch into Gariep. The See also:early Dutch settlers called it simply Groote-Rivier. It was first visited by Europeans about the beginning of the 18th See also:century. In 1685 See also:Simon See also:van der Stell, then See also:governor of the Cape, led an expedition into Little Namaqualand and discovered the Koper Berg. In 1704 and 1705 other expeditions to Namaqualand were made. Attempts to mine the See also:copper followed, and the prospectors and hunters who penetrated northward sent to the Cape reports of the existence of a great river whose waters always flowed. The first scientific expedition to reach the Orange was that under See also:Captain See also: In 1778 Lieut. W. See also:Paterson, an See also:English traveller, reached the river in its lower course, and in 1779 Paterson and Gordon journeyed along the west coast of the colony and explored the mouth of the river. F. Le Vaillant also visited the Orange near its mouth in 1784. See also:Mission stations north of the Orange were established a few years later, and in 1813 the Rev. See also: Daumas in 1836. The See also:story of Hop's expedition is told in the Nouvelle description du Cap de Bonne See also:Esperance (See also:Amsterdam, 1778). Lieut. Paterson gave his experiences in A Narrative of Four Journeys into the Country of the Hottentots and Caffraria in the Years 2777–7778–7779 (London, 1789). See also Campbell's Travels in South Africa (London, 1815), Arbousset and Daumas' Relation d'un voyage d'exploration au See also:nord-est de la colonie du Cap de Bonne Esperance en 1836 (See also:Paris, 1842), and Farini's Through the See also:Kalahari See also:Desert (London, 1886). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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