The pass was also called Porapora (or gurgling of water), from a stream having run through it.
The scene must have been very different in former times from what it is now.

This is part of the River Mahalapi, which so-called river scarcely merits the name, any more than the meadows of Edinburgh deserve the title of North Loch.

These hills are the last we shall see for months.
The country beyond consisted of large patches of trap-covered tufa, having little soil or vegetation except tufts of grass and wait-a-bit thorns, in the midst of extensive sandy, grass-covered plains.

These yellow-colored, grassy plains, with moretloa and mahatla bushes, form quite a characteristic feature of the country.

The yellow or dun-color prevails during a great part of the year.