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VAAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 830 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VAAL , a See also:

river of See also:South See also:Africa, See also:chief affluent of the See also:Orange (q.v.). It rises at an See also:elevation of over 5000 ft. above the See also:sea on the slopes of the Klipstapel, in the See also:Drakensberg mountains, See also:Ermelo See also:district of the See also:Transvaal, and about 170 M. in a See also:direct See also:line See also:west of Delagoa See also:Bay. It flows in a See also:general S.W. direction, with a markedly winding course, across the See also:plateau of inner South Africa, joining the Orange in 29° 3' S., 23° 36' E. The river valley is about 500 M. See also:long, the length of the river being some 750 M. The first considerable tributary is the Klip (8o m. long), which rises in the Draken's See also:Berg (the See also:hill which gives its name to the range) and flows N.W., its junction with the Vaal being in 27° S., 29° 6' E., 12 m. S.W. of See also:Standerton. From this point to the eastern frontier of the Cape the Vaal forms the boundary between the Orange See also:Free See also:State and the Transvaal. The river is usually shallow and is fordable at many places, known as drifts. But after the heavy summer rains the stream attains a See also:depth of 30 or more feet. At such times the See also:banks, which are lined with willows and in places very steep, are inundated. As a See also:rule little See also:water is added to the Vaal by its tributaries. Of these, the Wilge (190 m.), which also rises on the inner slopes of the Drakensberg, flows first S.W., then N.W. across the eastern See also:part of Orange Free State and joins the Vaal 6o m. below the Klip confluence.

See also:

Lower down the river receives from the south the Rhenoster, Valsch, See also:Vet and other streams which drain the See also:northern part of the Orange Free State. On the See also:north the See also:basin of the Vaal is contracted by the Witwatersrand and Magaliesberg range, and its tributaries are few and, See also:save in the See also:case of the Harts river, See also:short. The Klip, not to be See also:con-founded with the See also:southern Klip already described, rises on the south See also:side of the Witwatersrand about 15 m. W. of See also:Johannesburg, is joined by several small streams, and after a S.E. course of 70 M. reaches the Vaal 2 M. E. of Vereeniging. The Klip is of importance in the See also:supply of water to many of the See also:Black See also:Reef See also:gold mines. The Mooi rises in the Witwatersrand west of the Klip and, after See also:running almost due S. 75 m., unites with the See also:main stream about 90 M. below Vereeniging. It gets its name Mooi (Beautiful) on See also:account of the picturesqueness of its banks. Some of its See also:sources are at Wonderfontein, where they issue from stalactite caves. The Harts river (zoo m.) rises on the S.W. slopes of the Witwatersrand and flowing S. by W. unites with the Vaal about 65 m. above the confluence of that stream with the Orange. The See also:volume of water in the Harts is often very slight, but that part of the See also:country, the eastern See also:division of Griqualand West, in which the Vaal receives its last tributaries and itself joins the Orange, is the best watered of any of the inland districts of the Cape.

The Vaal here flows in a wide rocky channel, with banks 3o ft. high, through an alluvial See also:

plain rendered famous in 1867–7o by the See also:discovery of diamonds in the See also:bed of the river and along its banks. The diamonds are washed out by the water and found amid debris of all kinds, frequently embedded in immense boulders. The last affluent of the Vaal, the Riet river, rises in the Beyers See also:Bergen S.E. of Reddersburg and flows N.W. 200 M. through Orange Free State, being joined, a mile or two within the Cape frontier, by the Modder river (175 m.), which rises in the same district as the Riet but takes a more northerly course. The See also:united Riet-Modder joins the Vaal 18 m. above the Orange confluence. The name Vaal is a partial See also:translation by the Dutch settlers of the Hottentot name of the river—Kai Gariep, properly Garib (yellow water), in reference to the clayey See also:colour of the stream. The Transvaal is so named because the first See also:white immigrants reached the country from the south by See also:crossing the Vaal.

End of Article: VAAL

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