A glance at the map of Africa shows that the territory now known as British South-West Africa--formerly German South-West Africa--is a triangular mass with the abrupt apex resting on the Orange River. It comprises Ovamboland, in the north; Damaraland, the central portion of the country; Great Namaqualand, in the south, and a tongue of land running out from the north-east corner called the Caprivizipfel, and has a total area of 322,450 square miles. This vast territory, into which half a dozen Englands could be dropped with ease, is bounded on the north by the Kunene River, Portuguese West Africa, and Rhodesia; on the east by British Bechuanaland, and the Gordonia portion of the Cape Province; on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; and on the south by the Orange River. Some idea of the length of the eastern boundary, for instance, may be obtained when it is stated that while the southern extremity touches the Orange, a distance of only 400 miles from Cape Town, the far corner of the Caprivi enclave is north-west of the Victoria Falls. No less than 900 miles of coast-line stretch from the mouth of the Orange to the Kunene estuary. PHYSICAL FEATURES The physical structure of the country is extremely simple. The dominant physical facts are: a slowly rising sandy coast belt; a high interior plateau, broken by isolated mountain ranges; and a gently falling eastern strip of sandy country that merges in the level expanse of the Kalahari Desert. THE COAST STRIP OR THE NAMIB The coast strip is a desert, varying from 15 to 100 miles in width, stretching from the Kunene to the Orange, in which at only a few places is fresh water obtainable. To this desert the designation “Namib” has been applied--a name originally restricted to the middle portion of the strip. Dr. Stapff divides it into three parts: the stony desert north of Walvis Bay, the valley of the Kuisip converging on Walvis Bay, and the long sand dunes that run south from Walvis Bay to the Orange. As a picture of dreariness and desolation this desert in places is not surpassed even by the Sahara. South of Walvis Bay there run from north to south mile upon mile of yellowish grey sand in long lines of immense dunes some of them 600 feet in height. Dark, rocky hills, with faces scarred and scoured into grotesque shapes, cut across the lines here and there, and heap up the sand at their base on the windward side in numerous hillocks. In some of the depressions formed by the dunes the white basins of _vleís_ reflect the burning rays of the sun. Fierce sandstorms rage over the dunes at intervals, and the dense yellow clouds sweep along close to the earth at a terrific speed, blotting out the light of the sun, raining a perfect hurricane of gritty particles upon the traveller unfortunate enough to be found in the track of the tornado.