Illustrated official handbook of
the Cape and South Africa
Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)














1








Illustrated Official Handbook
OF
THE CAPE AND SOUTH AFRICA
A Resumt of
THE HISTORY, CONDITIONS, POPULATIONS
PRODUCTIONS AND RESOURCES
OF THE SEVERAL
Colonies, States, ano {Territories.
EDITED BY
JOHN NOBLE, C.M.G.
'Semper aliquid novi Africa affert."—Pliny.
SECOND EDITION.
J. C. JUTA & CO.
LONDON: 36, BASINGHALL STREET.
CAPE TOWN. I JOHANNESBURG.
PORT ELIZABETH. •
1896.
Entered at Stationers' Hall.'] [All rigkts reserved.


LONDON: PRINTFD BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.


ERRATA.
On i«i;e 160, lino 25, for " port" read "post."
„ 175, line 10, for " commands " read " commando."
„ 1 96, line 25, for "or" read "on."
„ 197, for " 1887 " read " 1877."
„ 201, for " Kalihari" read "Kalahari."
„ 269, line 29, for "Hoet" read " Hoek."
„ 368, lino 8, for "54 miles" read " 70 miles."
„ 424, line 14, for "Langsberg" read " Langeberg."
„ 446, line 18, for " 1851" read " 1855."
„ 541, foot of page, for " 64 ■ 5 F." read " 62187 F."





( v )
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION.
A secosd and cheaper edition of this Handbook having been called for, it is
necessary to preface it with some notice of events and charjges which have
taken place since these pages were first sent to press a little more than two
years ago.
During this brief period South Africa has prominently attracted the attention
of all parts of the civilised world by the rapid development of its wealth and
resources, and the remarkable growth of trade and commerce following thereon.
The potent circumstance which led to this was the discovery of the untold
mineral treasures of the Witwatersrand, and other parts of the South African
Republic, formerly regarded as bleak and worthless pastoral regions. The unique
occurrence at the Rand of auriferous conglomerate beds of unparalleled con-
tinuity and reliability, and the presence in close proximity thereto of abundant
and cheap fuel to work them profitably with suitable mining and reduction
plants, were factors whose importance were soon and widely recognised.
European and Colonial capitalists and men of enterprise were not slow to
exploit and to invest in so promising a field of operations. In an unprecedentedly
short time a solid and steadily increasing mining industry, with the city of
Johannesburg as its principal centre, was established; and from the first start ia
1887 each year has shown a continuous augmentation of the annual output of
gold bullion, until now the country has been raised to the enviable position of
being at the head of the list of the gold-producing areas of the world.
Following upon the creation of this gold-mining industry, attention was-
further directed to South Africa by the spirited enterprise which the Chartered
Company set in motion for the development of the native territories to the
northward. Within a comparatively brief period they have been successful in
rescuing from barbarism three rich provinces, portions of which are undoubtedly
highly mineralised, whilst others embrace an unlimited extent of pastoral and
arable lands, offering wide fields for European colonisation and settlement. They
have already occupied and established all the machinery of government and
British colonial law over both Mashonaland and Matabeleland—the "Land of
Ophir" of ancient times—and they have now undertaken the direct control and


vi
INTRODUCTION.
administration of tho healthy plateaux lands north of the Zambesi, up to the
lake shore of Tanganyika in Central Africa—
"The last and the largest empire
On the map that is half unrolled."
These movements and developments have stirred and affected all the Colonies
and States of South Africa most advantageously, awakening new interests,
stimulating new enterprises, and creating new and expanding markets. Men
and money are, as a consequence, pouring into the country through its ports on
the seaboard. The means of communication are being rapidly improved, both
by ocean and land; railways are being extended, and telegraph offices have
spread to such distant points as Buluwayo, Salisbury and Blantyre, while, as
marked signs of the general prosperity, colonial productions, commerce, and the
public revenues are multiplying and advancing in an unprecedented degree.
In other parts of South Africa, as a sequel to the events of late years, there
have been annexations and amalgamations of territories, and some extension of
British colonial dominion, entailing a rearrangement of the political map. The
area of the Cape Colony has been enlarged by at least 55,240 square miles, and
its population added to by about 272,000 persons, from the incorporation within
its limits of the native territory of Pondoland and of the Crown colony of British
Bechuanaland.
The annexation of Pondoland was peaceably effected in the early part of 1894.
The territory had for months previously been in the throes of a civil war; the
paramount chief, Sigcau, and his adherents contending with a former councillor
named Umhlangaso and some subordinate chiefs and their supporters. Their
proceedings led to the occurrence of acts of violence on the Natal border and
- entailed chronic outlay and trouble on the Cape Government. The Imperial
authorities gave their sanction to annexation, whenever circumstances appeared
favourable for carrying it out, and the Cape Prime Minister and Her Majesty's
High Commissioner considered the time had come, inasmuch as a continuance of
the state of misrule which prevailed in Pondoland could not be tolerated. A
movement of the Cape Mounted Police Force, with artillery and Maxim guns,
was made at different points on the border as a demonstration, and a message
was sent to Sigcau requiring him in the interests of peace to submit himself and
his people to the control of the Government. After some consideration of the
matter the paramount chief, Sigcau, and also the chief, Nqwiliso, exercising
authority in Western Pondoland, signed deeds of submission to the Governor and
the general laws of the Cape Colony, and on the 21st of March, 1894, a proclama-
tion was issued accepting the cession of the territory and declaring the Poudos
British subjects. A pension of £500 per annum was granted to each of the
chiefs, Sigcau and Nqwiliso, during their lifetime and good behaviour. European
magistrates were placed in various parts of the territory, and the machinery of a
civilised administration put into operation in similar manner to that exercised in
the other Transkeian territories. Eastern Pondoland was added to the magis-


INTRODUCTION.
vii
terial division of Griqualand East,and Western Pondoland to that of Tcmbuland.
The Pondos, who have their lands and other rights reserved to them, seem well
satisfied with the change; they have protection of life and property assured
them, and the savage custom of "smelling-out" on charges of witchcraft, with
the abhorrent accompaniments of torture, death, and confiscation of property, is
no longer tolerated under British colonial rule. The country is one of the fairest
parts of South Africa, exceptionally fertile, and capable of sustaining a large
population, and efforts are now being made to open it up by a railway from the
natural port of St. John's River, which, by facilitating transport, will serve to
develop its great capabilities.
The annexation of British Bechuanaland was completed on the 16th of
November, 1895. This extends the northern boundary of the Cape Colony
to the Molopo River, and the north-western to a point where the twentieth
meridian east of Greenwich intercepts the Nosop or Oup River, in the Kalahari
desert. It is the first instalment of the advantages assured to the parent State
of South Africa from the first inception of the policy of northern expansion and
development ten years ago. The Imperial Government, under whose administra-
tion its affairs were carried on from that time until the present, has made the
Colony a free gift of the country, unencumbered by any liabilities, but reserving
for the use of the aboriginal inhabitants the lands or locations already set apart
for them, and continuing the existing jurisdiction of the petty chiefs in minor
cases within their tribe, according to native law, as well as the law prohibiting
the sale or supply of intoxicating drinks to natives. In other respects the laws
of the Cape Colony have full force and effect, and the colonial magistrates have
jurisdiction in all cases either between Europeans, or Europeans and natives,
or natives of different tribes. Representation of the people in the Cape
Parliament, under the franchise laws of the Colony, is provided for by the
creation of the territory as an electoral province, returning one member to the
Legislative Council, and the formation of two electoral divisions, viz., (1) the
division of Vryburg (including the districts of Vryburg, Taungs, Kuruman and
Gordonia), returning two members to the House of Assembly, and (2) the
division of Mafeking, returning one member to the House of Assembly.
The unallotted Crown lands in the province are estimated at 20,000 square
miles. The recently enacted Lands Act (No. 40 of 1895), which applies to all
the Crown lands of the Cape Colony, has'introduced a new system of disposal
of these lands. The Minister of Agriculture may now offer surveyed lands for
"selection," and where two or more applications are made, the right of priority
is determined by lot. The applicant must make a declaration that he is of full
age, that he is not an owner of any land, and that he makes the application for
his own exclusive use and benefit. He must take occupation within six months,
and pay in advance, and yearly, a sum equal to one-twentieth the price fixed for
the land, together with the expenses of survey. He then receives a licence for
occupation for five years, during which he has an opportunity of finding out the
capabilities of the property. At the expiration of that period, if all the


viii
INTRODUCTION.
conditions have been fulfilled, the licensee receives title to the land, subject to
the payment of fifteen yearly payments as before, secured by mortgage bond in
favour of the Government.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate and the district of Tati, embracing the
country from Mafeking northwards to the Zambesi, is within the sphere of
operations of the British South Africa Company, but by an arrangement,
sanctioned by the Secretary of State (the Right Hon. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain)
in November 1895, the territories of the Bamangwato tribe, under the chief,
Khama; of the Bangwaketsi, under the chief, Bathoen, and of the Bakwena tribe,
under the chief, Sebele, are, for the' present, continued under the direct control
and supervision of the Imperial Government, represented by Her Majesty's
High Commissioner, the Bight Hon. Sir H. 1?. Robinson, who has succeeded
Sir Henry (now Lord) Loch. The Resident Commissioner is F. J. Newton, Esq.,
C.M.G., and he will be assisted by magistrates placed with each tribe, exercising
judicial powers ia all cases between white men and others not belonging to the
tribe, as well as in appeals from the decisions of the native chiefs. The importa-
tion of, or dealing in, strong drinks is strictly prohibited, and the people are te>
contribute, by the payment of a hut-tax, or tax of a similar nature, to the
defrayal of the cost of administration. Outside the boundaries of the territories,
of the tribes mentioned the British South Africa Company will have administra-
tion and control, but the chiefs will continue to have the hunting rights they
now enjoy there, under special regulations. A strip of territory in each reserve-
is ceded to the Company by the chiefs for the purpose of the construction of the-
railway from Mafeking to Buluwayo, which will extend from Montsioa's country,
north of the Molopo River, through the north-eastern part of the Protectorate.
The territory known as Swaziland has come under the administration and*
government of the South African Republic. After protracted negotiations on
the subject (see p. 409), a Convention, providing for the settlement of the
country, was agreed to in December 1894 by Sir H. B. Loch on behalf of Her
Majesty the Queen, and by President Kruger on behalf of the Republic The
Convention sets forth that, " Without the incorporation of Swaziland into the
South African Republic the [Government of the Republic shall have and be
secured in all rights and powers of protection, legislation, jurisdiction and
administration over Swaziland and the inhabitants thereof." It provides for the
welfare of the Swazi people by^guaranteeing to them that the management of
their internal affairs shall be in accordance with their own laws and customs, in
so far as these are not inconsistent^with civilised usages, and that they shall
have the use and occupation of the lands now in their possession; and it »
stipulated that no law hereafter made in Swaziland shall be in conflict with these
guarantees. It is also provided that the sale or supply of intoxicating liquors
to Swazi natives shall be prohibited. All British subjects residing in Swaziland,
or having property, grants or concessions therein, are secured in their rights, of
whatsoever kind, in like manner as if full burghers of the Republic, but they
shall obey the Government and conform to the laws established for Swaziland.


INTRODUCTION.
ir
Whit* male residents and their minor sons in the country on the 20th April,
1893, on making application, are entitled to claim the political privileges of n
natural-bom subject of the South African Republic, and the equal rights of tlio
Dutch and English languages in the courts of Swaziland shall be maintained.
The British Government reserves the power of exercising diplomatic representa-
tion in favour of the Swazi'nation or British subjects, in case any provision of
the Convention is not fairly and faithfully carried out, and a British Consul has
been appointed to reside in Swaziland to watch the working of the new agree-
ment.
This settlement of the Swaziland question led the British Government to
finally determine the future position of the small native territories to the east of
Swaziland, and extending to the Indian Ocean, between the northern frontier of
Zululand and the southern boundary of the Portuguese possessions. These had
been authoritatively declared in 1888 to be exclusively within the sphere of
British influence. The South African Republic, however, made claim to an
extension of territory eastward through the lands of the chiefs, Zimbaan and
Umbegesa, with the expectation of obtaining access to the sea, and extending
railway communication to an independent harbour on the coast. In the
Convention of 1890 the British Government showed a disposition to meet this
sentiment and desire of the Republic, and agreed to its acquisition of sovereign
rights over a strip of land within these territories for the construction of a railway
to Kosi Bay. This was accompanied by the stipulation that the Republic should
enter into the South African Customs Union, and permit the free importation of
all South African produce into the Republic; and further, that the foreign
relations of the territory should be in the hands of Her Majesty's Government,
so as to preclude the possibility of any new seaport being used to the prejudice
of the interests of the British Colonies or other States in South Africa. During
the period of the continuance of the Convention the Government of the South
African Republic showed no desire to enter into negotiations on these conditions,
and the opportunity of taking advantage of them expired with the lapse of tho
Convention itself, in the early part of 1895. Previous to this the British
Government received information that some subjects of the Republic were
illegitimately endeavouring to exercise control in those territories, and to obtain
concessions from the chiefs. It was then resolved to bring the country more
directly under British control by annexing it. On the 23rd of April, 1895, a
proclamation was issued vesting the sovereignty of the territories of Umbegesa,
Mdlaleni and Zimbaan, in Her Majesty the Queen, and incorporating them with
the Crown colony of Zululand. In the following month of May 1895 a British
Protectorate was declared over the territory known as Amatongaland, Maputuland
and Tembeland, and the Queen appointed the Governor of Zululand to be the
Special Commissioner for the same.
"Rhodesia" is the unofficial title now given to the territory of the British
South Africa Chartered Company. It includes the whole region extending north
and west of the South African Republic, as far as the southern boundaries of the


X
INTRODUCTION.
Congo State, and having as its eastern and western boundary the Portuguese and
German possessions. Its total area is approximately 750,000 square miles, and
the country has been described by Mons. Decle, who represented the French
Government on a scientific mission from the Cape to Uganda, as "the pick of
Central Africa on both sides of the Zambesi."
For about two years after the first occupation of Mashonaland by the pioneers
(see page 431), its colonisation and settlement were slowly but steadily pro-
gressing, when a collision with the impis of the Matabele king occurred in July
1893. This was occasioned by the attempt of the Matabele to carry on their
raids upon the Mashonas, whom they claimed as their "dogs," to be enslaved or
murdered at their pleasure. After an attempt by the High Commissioner to
arrange matters amicably, but without success, directions were given to thet
Administrator at Salisbury, to provide for the safety of the lives and property of
the settlers, and preparations for war were taken in hand by Mr. Rhodes and
Dr. Jameson. Nearly all the able-bodied men who were in Mashonaland
volunteered for service, and these were formed into an expeditionary force,
numbering about 700 Europeans, besides a contingent of 150 colonial natives, the
whole being supplemented by artillery, and Maxim, Gardner and Nordenfelt
guns. The plan of operations was to advance from Salisbury and Victoria along
the comparatively open country forming the watershed, in the direction of the
Matabele king's headquarters at Buluwayo. At the same time the British
Bechuanaland Police, under Captain Goold Adams, with other volunteers and
1800 natives under the chief, Khama, made a movement from the south and
westward by way of the Tati district. The Mashonaland expeditionary force,
however, bore the brunt of the campaigu. It was commanded by Major P. W.
Forbes, and accompanied by the Administrator, Dr. Jameson, with Major Sir
John Willoughby, Bart., as senior military officer. After a difficult march they
encountered the Matabele regiment', who attacked them in great force at points
near the Shangani and Imbembezi rivers. Numerous and brave though these
savage warriors wrerc, they were decisively beaten in two engagements by the
coolness and courage of the white men and the incessant death-dealing fire of
the Maxim guns. Within a little more than one month the military power of
the Matabele was defeated and broken up. The king, Lobengula, who fled from
Buluwayo, after setting fire to the place, became a fugitive, and with his death,
shortly after, there was an end to the campaign, which has been truly described
as "the most successful, expeditious and economic in the history of native
warfare."
The campaign was marked by one tragic incident which will always find a
place, as a record of heroism, in the annals of war. After the flight of the
Matabele king from Buluwayo, Major Allan Wilson, with a patrol of eighteen
men, was instructed to follow on the path of the fugitive and reconnoitre, with
instructions to return at sundown. They reached a spot on the Shangani River
where they found the king's wagons, surrounded by a large following of his
warriors. A message was immediately sent to Major Forbes informing him of


INTRODUCTION.
xi
this, and urging that the whole force and the Maxim guns should be at once sent
on to secure the king's capture. But at that moment Major Forbes' column was
surrounded by another body of the enemy, and expected to be attacked, and as the
river, which had to be crossed, was in flood, no movement could possibly be made
till the following morning. With the object of strengthening the patrol a party
of twenty mounted men, under Captain Borrow, was despatched to Major Wilson's
assistance. These succeeded in finding their way to their comrades; but when
they appeared without the remainder of the column or the Maxim guns, the
members of the patrol felt that " they were only so many more men sent to die,"
for they had ascertained from their scouts that the adjacent bush was filled with
Matabele. From information afterwards supplied by the natives, it appears that
Major Wilson attempted the capture of the king, but the latter fled on horse-
back with three of his iadunas, or headmen. On Wilson retreating he was
followed by numbers of the enemy, whose attacks were repeatedly repulsed by
the effective fire of the patrol. Then they suddenly encountered and were
surrounded by a large impi of the Matabele, who emerged from the cover of the
bush. In face of this overwhelming force the gallant little band made a heroic
defence, bravely meeting their death. They formed a ring with their horses
and fought two long hours, and as their horses fell a barricade was formed of
the bodies, behind which they continued their fire so long as they were able to
handle their rifles and their ammunition lasted. The natives wore especially
struck with admiration at the manner in which they fought on while wounded;
at the coolness with which one would take off his shirt while under fire, tear it
into strips and bind up the wounds of a comrade, and then renew the fight,
while others, maimed or disabled, still continued to load the rifles they could not
fire, and handed them to their comrades who could use them. When the last
of their number fell, and the end came, the native induna, Umjam, who had led
the Matabele attack, admiringly exclaimed, "These were men of men, who died
like men; their fathers were men before them." Two months afterwards the
bones of thirty-four of the party were found lying close together where they
had made their last stand. These remains were reverently gathered and
removed to consecrated ground near the ancient ruins of Zimbabwe, where a
monument is being erected to the memory of all whose lives were sacrificedV in
the war.
At the close of operations discussions took place with the Secretary of State
as to the future administration of the country, which the new circumstances
rendered necessary. There were objections on the part of the Imperial Govern-
ment to the creation of a Crown colony in that region, or to placing the country
under the direct rule of the High Commissioner. It was therefore finally
decided that the administration of Matabeleland as well as Mashonaland should
be vested in the British South Africa Company, at whose expense and responsi-
bility the recent campaign had been undertaken. This was embodied in an
agreement between Her Majesty's Government and the Company, executed on
the 18th of July, 1894. Provision was made therein for the government being


INTRODUCTION.
conducted, under the charter, by an administrator and a council of four members,
composed of a judge and three others. The regulations issued by them have
the force of law, after approval and promulgation by the High Commissioner.
The judicial establishment consists of a judge and a body of magistrates placed
throughout the several districts. The interests of the natives have been
provided for by a Commission setting aside locations sufficient for their grazing
and agricultural requirements, and they can hold and dispose of landed property
(other than the locations assigned them) in the same manner as others who are
not natives. The machinery of good government, based upon justice and
security, for white settlers as well as natives has now taken the place of the
despotic and terrorising rule which characterised the Matabele regime.
During the period from the beginning to the end of the war there was an
entire cessation of work and development in the country, but at its close i\
renewed stimulus to enterprise was given by the whole of the province of Mata-
beleland being thrown open,»in the first place, to the members of the expedi-
tionary force for the selection of farms and mineral claims, to which they were
entitled by reason of their services, and afterwards to the general public. Gold-
belts were found traversing some of the districts, and 15,000 claims were pegged
out within six months of the occupation. Some of these were on virgin reefs-
and others were partially worked veins, which evidently had been opened and
afterwards abandoned by the ancient gold-seekers on account of the difficulty
of working them with their primitive methods of mining. That an enormous
amount of gold was obtained from some of these workings at different periods
during the past centuries is unquestionable; but expert mining engineers are of
opinion that ore deposits quite as valuable as those worked in patt times have
been left untouched. Mr. J. Hays Hammond, who bears a high reputation in
the mining world, made a careful examination of several districts, both in
Mashonaland and Matabeleland, and satisfied himself that the auriferous quartz
veins are in general similar to those of California and other countries, and of the
class known as " true fissure veins." He recommends Rhodesia to the attention
of mining capitalists, regarding its prospects as very brilliant, and feeling
satisfied that, given a fair chance, by discrimination in the selection of mines,
proper economic mining, and thorough proving of the commercial value of
properties before establishing plants for the reduction of ores, it will develop
into a great mining country. Already in England capital to the amount of over
2 millions sterling has been subscribed for the opening up and working of
auriferous properties and other resources of Rhodesia. In Matabeleland itself
the sale by auction of " stands," or sites for buildings, in the newly formed town-
ships of Buluwayo and Gwelo has, within the last eighteen months, realised a
total sum of about £200,000. This is evidence of the belief of the public in the
potentialities of the country.
The difficulty aud cost of transport in a new territory devoid of water-
ways and railways, and distant many hundreds of miles from the sea-
board, has been up to the present time a great drawback to development and


INTRODUCTION.
xiii
progress, but energetic steps to overcome this disadvantage have lately been
taken. The means of travelling have been greatly improved, and postal and
passenger communication from Cape Town to Buluwayo is now effected within
eight days, and to Salisbury in three days more. Along the route from the
south 870 miles of railway are open and working between Cape Town and
Mafeking, and a further portion of 96 miles to Gaberone's is at present in
coarse of construction. Contemplated extensions will, during the next three
years, carry on the line from there to Palapye (197 miles), thence to the Tati
goldfields (100 miles), and to Buluwayo (110 miles). On the eastern route,
from the port of Beira, the railway is open for traffic between Fontesville and
Chimoio, a length of 118 miles, and a survey made for its ultimate extension to
Salisbury. This township is the capital and headquarters of the Rhodesia
administration, which now comprises :—
1. The province of Mashonaland, including the districts of Salisbury, Lo
Magundi, Mazoe, Charter, Hartley, Mangwendi, Sabi, Makoni, Umtai, Melsetter,
Victoria, MTibi and Tuli.
2. The province of Matabeleland, including the districts of Buluwayo, Bubi,
Gwelo, Belingwe, Gwanda, Bulalema, Mangwe, Wankie, Sebungu and Mafunga
BesL
3. The province of Northern Zambesia, which includes the territory north
of the Zambesi River up to the boundaries of the Congo State, and west of the
Xyassa Protectorate (now under the administration of the Crown) to the
boundaries of the Portuguese possessions.
At the Witwatersrand Gold Fields, in the South African Republic, the
sanguine expectations which were entertained two years ago as to the develop-
ment of its marvellous resources have been more than realised. The "centenary
record " of the production of gold for the month of June 1892 (see p. 474), which
was then declared at 100,000 oz., was doubled in June 1895, when the yield
advanced to 200,941 oz. for the month. And towards the close of 1895 the
President of the Chamber of Mines at Johannesburg (Mr. Lionel Philips)
announced that the population of the Rand now embraces 100,000 white people
and 60,000 natives, and that the gold production has increased to £664,000
sterling per month, or a shade within 8 millions sterling per annum. According
to the official report of the State Mining Engineer of the Republic it appears
that since the beginning of the gold industry, up to the end of 1894, the entire
production of gold within the State has been 7,254,683 oz., representing a valuo
of over 25 millions sterling. For the year 1893 the amount produced was
1,575,397 oz., valued at about 5J millions sterling, and for 1894 it reached
2,239,865 oz., valued at £7,667,152. The dividend distribution paid out by the
principal mining companies for the same periods show even a greater proportion
of advance than the gold production, chiefly due to improvements and economies
in the working and treatment of the ores.
The gold yielding capacity of the country is as yet far from having attained
to its zenith. Apart from the quartz-reef miniDg, which shows steady progress


xiv
INTRODUCTION.
in the Leydenburg, De Kaap and Zoutpansberg districts, there have been within
the last year important developments of the conglomerate main-reef series both
east and west of the central section of the Rand, as well as in the Heidelberg
and Klerksdorp districts; and the feasibility of profitably working, over large
areas, what are known as "deep-level" properties (see p. 478), as distinguished
from the "outcrop " properties, has been satisfactorily proved. These circumstances
all point to a very considerable expansion of the industry during the next few
years. Judging from present appearances, it may safely be reckoned that the
number of stamps now at work (about 2500 per head) will be nearly trebled
before the end of the century, and that the additional tonnage of ore crushed will
increase the production enormously. Mr. Hamilton Smith, who visited the mines
in 1892 (see p. 479), revisited them at the close of 1894 and made careful calcu-
lations as to_the amount of geld to be extracted from them. He forecasts
that the maximum product at the close of 1899 will exceed £12,500,000 per
annum, but he places the limit of profitable deep-level mining at between 3000
and 3500 feet. Mr. J. Hays Hammond and other engineers, who consider that
profitable mining may be carried to a vertical depth of at least 5000 feet, regard
Mr. Hamilton Smith's estimate far within the mark, and predict that the annual
output before the end of the century will exceed £20,000,000 worth of gold—
nearly as much as the whole of the world's production of gold in 1883.
The production of coal has continued to keep pace with the rapid development
of the gold mines. The output of the State for 1894 was 812,882 tons. Of
this the largest supply was from the Coal Trust Company's mine at Brakpan
(see p. 516), which, since its beginning in 1889, has yielded over 1 million
tons, and now gives a yearly output of 327,000 tons. There are a number of
other mines at and around the Boksburg district contributing to the supply,
and new properties have lately been opened and worked, at one of which there
is a seam of coal seventy-five feet in thickness, without any intervening layer of
shale or any foreign matter. The Middelburg area, on the Highveldt, including
the neighbourhood of Belfast and Ermelo, has been examined by mining
inspectors, who report that regular uninterrupted bedding may there be expected,
and coal seams of large extent have actually been proved at various points. A
corporation, under the name of the Consolidated Coal Mines Company, has
recently acquired interests over a number of these properties with a view to
providing for the growing requirements of the gold mines, as well as supplies of
coal for maritime purposes at the harbour of Delagoa Bay, which may become a
coaling depot for the Indian Ocean.
The beginning of the year 1895 witnessed the completion of the Delagoa Bay
railway line and the commencement of a regular service between Pretoria aDd
Lourenco Marquez, and before the close of the year the line from Durban to
Charlestown, on the Natal border, was extended and linked on to Johannesburg
and Pretoria. There is now, therefore, direct railway communication to the
Band from all the chief ports of South Africa—Cape Town, Port Elizabeth,
East London, Durban and Delagoa Bay. The importation of machinery,


INTRODUCTION.
XV
stores and supplies of all sorts for the mining population has advanced with
such strides that it has at times been difficult to cope with the vigorously
growing sea-borne and inland traffic, by far the greatest proportion of which
finds its way through the Cape Colony ports. For the eleven months (January
to November) of 1895 the value of merchandise entered at these ports for the
South African Republic was £3,891,470, as compared with £2,644^989 in the
corresponding period of 1894. The revenue of the Republic itself strikingly
exhibits the financial prosperity which has followed the development of the
wonderful mining industry. In 1892 the total revenue received was £1,225,896
(see p. 484); in 1894 it increased to £2,247,728. For the nine months ending
September 1895 it amounted to £2,428,748, and for the whole year it is likely
to approach the sum of 3 million pounds sterling.
In this expanding financial prosperity the Cape Colony, in common with
other parts of South Africa, has conspicuously shared. For the year ending in
June 1892 (see page 246) its total revenue was £4,495,344. For the year 1894
it amounted to £5,360,000. For the calendar year ending with December 1895
it will exceed £6,000,000, being an increase over the preceding year of about
three-quarters of a million pounds sterling.
The published trade returns of the imports and exports of the Cape Colony
for the eleven months (January to November) of 1895 show that its external
commerce has now reached a point exceeding all previous records :—
IMPORTS (Eleven Months).
1894. 1895.
Merchandise £9,975,346 £11,990,269
Government articles 383,112 291,305
Total 10,358,458 12,281,574
Specie 189,436 5,082,300
Grand Total ...£10,547,894 £17,363,874
EXPORTS (Eleven Months).
1894. 1895.
Colonial products £3,051,901 £3,463,630
Diamonds 2,820,494 4,350,821
Gold (raw) 6,586,636 7,286,170
Total 12,459,031 15,100,621
Imported goods re-exported ... 181,685 , 205,578
Total 12,640,716 15,306,199
Specie 112,457 104,219
Gband Total ...£12,753,173 £15,410,418


woi
INTRODUCTION.
A few administrative changes have taken place in the last two years. The
most important was the establishment of responsible government in Natal by
the Boyal Assent being given to the Constitution Act, No. 14 of 1893. The first
Ministry was appointed on the 10th of October, 1893, Sir John Robinson,
K.C.M.G., being Prime Minister, Colonial Secretary and Minister of Education;
the Hon. H. Escombe, Attorney-General; the Hon. G. M. Sutton, Treasurer; the
Hon. F. R. Moor, Secretary for Native Affairs; and the Hon T. K. Murray,
Minister of Lands and Works. At the same time the Hon. Sir Walter P. Hely-
Hutchinson, K.C.M.G., was appointed Governor of Natal and Zululand, in
succession to Sir Charles Mitchell. In the Cape Colony the first Rhodes
Ministry resigned in May 1893, and a new Cabinet was formed, the Right Hon.
C. J. Rhodes being Prime Minister and Secretary for Native Affairs; the Hon.
P. H. Faure, Colonial Secretary; Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, Treasurer; the Hon. W. P.
Schreiner, Attorney-General, succeeded shortly after by the Hon. H. H. Juta,
and re-appointed in the following year; the Hon. J. Laiog, Commissioner of
Public Works, and the Hon. J. Frost, C.M.G., Minister for Agriculture. In
1895 the Right Hon. Sir H. G. R. Robinson, Bart., G.C.M.G., was re-appointed
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and Her Majesty's High Commissioner for
South Africa in succession to Sir Henry Brougham Loch (now Lord Loch).
Towards the close of this year, in consequence of continued ill-health, his
Honour F. W. Reitz placed his resignation of the office of President in the hands
of the Volksraad of the Orange Free State, much to the regret of all South
Africa.
Cape Tows, December 1895.


PREFACE.
It is nearly seven years since the 'Official Handbook of the Cape of Good
Hope' was first published. During that period remarkable developments have
taken place, not only in the Cape Colony, but in South Africa. To limit a
description of the Country now to any one section of it would fail to convey a
proper knowledge of its general circumstances, or do justice to the marvellous
progress it has made and the splendid prospects it. presents. This issue of the
* Official Handbook,' therefore, embraces some account of the past and present
conditions, not only of the Cape of Good Hope, but also of the other Colonies,
States, and Territories of South Africa. Its aim is to present to the public a
fuller and more perfect knowledge than is commonly possessed of the natural
history, products, and resources of this portion of the African Continent, and of
the political and social changes which have marked the advance of colonisation
throughout it.
In some degree, it is hoped, it may also be the means of familiarising the
various communities of South Africa with each other, stimulating them to
closer union in the promotion of the general interests of the country, and
opening up vistas of greater possibilities in the future, when amalgamated by
the bonds of a common fellowship they may form one people from the Cape
to the Zambesi.
The Editor heartily tenders his thanks to the numerous friends who have
assisted him with information, and particularly to those who have co-operated
with .him by contributing special papers for the present volume; viz., Messrs.
R. Trimcn, H. Bolus, D. E. Hutchius, P. D. Hahu, A. Douglass, D. Hutcheon,
W. Spilhaus, T. Reunert, W. R. Hindson, J. D. Don, P. Spencer, E. Williams,
P. Fitzpatrick, and Dr. C. Lawrence Herman. He has also pleasure in
acknowledging the obliging and ready manner in which he was supplied with
views of scenery and other objects, which have contributed to the illustration
of the work.
Parliament Houses, Cape Town,
1893.





CONTENTS.
CHAP.
1.—South Africa:
FEATCBE8 ..
Its Political Divisioxs and Physical
II.—Geology, Fossils, and Minerals of South Africa
III. —Vertebrate Fauna of South Africa
IV. —Flora of South Africa ..
V.—Woods and Forests
VI. —Discovery and Early Occupation of the Cape by
Europeans
VII. —British Rule during the Century
VIIL—The Cape Government, Institutions, Boads, Bail-
ways, and Harbours ..
IX.—Population, Metropolis, Commerce, Finances, Bank-
ing, and Industries
X.—Land and Agricultural Productions .
XI.—Viticulture ..
XII.—Live-Stock Husbandry
XIII. —Ostrich-Farming
XIV. —Sheep-Farming and Wool-Growing
XV.—The Diamond Mines of South Africa
XVI.—The Colony of Natal
XVII.—Tea Industry in Natal ..
XVIII.—Sugar Industry in Natal
XIX.—Native Baces and Territories
XX.—Pondoland ..
XXI. ZULULAND, AmATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND
XXII.—Basutoland: the Switzerland of South Africa ..
XXIII. —British Bechuanaland and Bechuana Protectorate
XXIV. —Mashonaland and the British South Africa Com-
pany's Territories
XXV.—The Orange Free State
XXVI.—The South African Bepublic
XXVII.—Gold-Mining at Witwatersraxu
XXVHI.—The Coal Fields
XXIX—The Silver Mines
XXX—The Portuguese Possessions
XXXI. —The German Protectorate in Namaqua
XXXII. —South Africa—Its Climate and Health Besobts
Statistics of Colonies, States, and Territories
a-Damaraland


MAP AND FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Tiar.
Map of South Africa, showing its Political Divisions .. Frontispiece
Cape Town and Table Bay in 1893 .. .. (J. T. Pocock) .. 1
The Hill, Claremont .. .. .. .. (Jarman) .. .. 3
Pontoon on the Vaal River .. .. .. (Trimm) .. .. 12
Blaauwkrantz River and Forest .. .. .. .. .. 18
Graham's Town .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 20
St. John's Gates, Looking Seaward .. .. (Kisch) .. .. 22
Victoria Palls, Zambesi River .. .. .. (W. EUerton Fry) 30
Giant Yellow wood Tree .. .. .. .. (Tudhopey.. .. 124
Cape Town and Table Bat in 1714 .. .. {From an old print) 153
Government House, from the Oak Avenue, Cape Town .. .. 203
Grave Street approach to Government House (A. J. Fuller) .. 233
Barely West, Vaal River Diggings .. .. (Trimm) .. .. 323
The Roadways, Kimberley Mine, 1872 .. .. .. .. .. 329
The Kimberley Mine, with Cobweb of Wire Ropes in 1873 .. 331
Kimberley Mine Under Reef in 1886 .. .. .. .. .. 333
Section of Kimberley Mine .. .. .. .. 344
Sorting Gravel at Waldek's Plant, Vaal River .. .. .. 354
Coolies Cuttisg the Sugar-cane .. .. .. (Carey) .. .. 380
Bloemfontein .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 441
Farm near Maoaliesbero Range .. .. .. (II. F. Gros) .. 461
Johannesburg: Eckstein's Buildings, 14th July, 1892 (Duffus) .. 474
Pretoria: the Government Buildings .. .. .. .. .. 480
Geological Chart of the Witwatersband Basin .. .. 491
Robinson Company's Battery .. .. .. .. .. .. 503


ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.
Constantia Vale .. .. ..
.. (S. B. Barnard) ..
IMG It
4
6
Steixehbosch
.. (S. B. Barnard) ..
7
Signal Post on the Plains
.. (Isaac Meiring) ..
11
13
Waterfall on Orange River
.. (Farini) ..
15
Port Elizabeth from the Hill ..
.. (Green)
20
22
Maletsunyane Falls
.. (Dr. Greathead) ..
25
Pioneer's Creek, Hoodie's Goldfields ..
.. (H. F. Gros)
26
Tiger Cheek, Leydenberg ..
.. (H. F. Gros)
27
43
SSEEZEWOOD IN THE PeRIF. FOREST..
.. (Tudhope) ..
133
Silver Tree on Slopes of Table Mountain
.. (A.H.Allis)
134
Commander Van Riebeek ..
.. (Morris) ..
141
The Old Castle Gate, Cape Town
.. (Pocock) ..
148
169
Sib Andbies Stockenstrom ..
. . ■ . . .
181
Anti-Convict Meeting on the Parade, Cape Town ..
183
Ms. John Fairbairn „
184
Sib C J. Brand
186
Gcaleka Chief, Kreli
186
Sir George Grey
187
Mb. Saul Solomon
188
Mr. William Porter
188
Sir J. C. Molteno ..
■ *
190
192
Cettwato
194
Sir H. B. Loch
.. (S. B. Barnard) ..
203
207
214
Old Cradock's Kloof
.. (Col. Michel!)
217
222
Entrance to Hex River Vallet ..
.. (/. Meiring)
222
Snow-capped Peaks
.. (I. Meiring)
223
.. (Logan)
224
226


viii
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.
PACK
Prince Alfred Docks (S. B. Barnard) .. 228
The Landing Jetty, Port Elizabeth .. .. (Harris) .. .. 229
Main Street, Pobt Elizabeth .. .. .. (Harris) .. .. 230
Buffalo River, East London .. .. .. (Stacey & Son) .. 231
Adderley Street, Cape Town .. .. .. (S.B.Barnard) .. 238
New Theatre, Darling Street .. .. .. .. .. .. 239
St. George's Street, Cape Town .. .. .. (S.B.Barnard) .. 240
Ohlsson's Breweries, Newlands .. .. .. .. .. .. 256
Kleine Schuur Vineyard, Rondebcsch .. .. .. .. .. 268
Wine Cellars, Groot Constantia .. .. .. .. .. 272
Grocp of Ostriches .. .. .. .. .. (Qreen) .. .. 297
Ostrich Incubation .. .. .. .. .. (Green) .. .. 303
An Ostrich Nest .. .. .. .. .. (Qreen) .. .. 303
428J-carat Diamond .. .. .. .. .. 346
De Beers Compound, Kimberley .. .. .. .. .. .. 348
Sir C. B. Mitchell 363
West Street, Durban .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 366
Town Hall, Durban.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 367
Church Street, Pietermaritzburq .. .. (0. Ferneyhough).. 368
Legislative Council Buildings .. .. .. (0. Ferneyhough).. 369
Zulu War Memorial (Q. Ferneyhough).. 373
Mount Edgecombe Sugar Factory .. .. .. .. .. 383
Titcs, a Cape Bushman .. .. .. .. (Shoyer) .. .. 393
Cape Bushman Armed .. .. .. .. (Shoyer) .. .. 394
Ama-Khosa Kafir .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 396
Mixed Races .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. •• 399
Lovedale Missionary Industrial Institution .. .. .. .. 400
The Basuto Chief Moshesh .. .. .. .. .. .. 414
President Reitz .. .. .. .. .. (8. B. Barnard) .. 445
President Brand .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 446
Wild Game on the Prairies .. .. .. .. .. ..450
Hillandale, near Bloemfontein .. .. .. (B. E. Brounger).. 455
Jagersfontein Diamond Mine .. .. .. (Harvey) .. .. 457
Post and Telegraph Offices .. .. .. .. .. .. 458
Dutch Reformed Church, Bloemfontein .. (B. E. Brounger) .. 459
President Burgers .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 463
The Highveld before tre Discovery of Gold .. (Oates) .. .. 472
Rissik Street, Johannesburg .. .. .. (Duffus Bros.) .. 476
Church Square, Pretoria .. .. .. .. (Perrin) .. .. 481
Crocoddle River Valley, Looking eastward .. .. .. .. 483
President Kruger (Duffus Bros.) .. 485
The Ff.rreira and Robinson Mines .. .. .. .. .. 496
Bottom of a Shaft .. .. .. .. .. .. .. •. 499
Robinson Chlorination Works .. .. .. .. .. .. 506
Brakpan Colliery .. .. .. .. .. ■• •• 516
Transvaal Silver Mines .. .. .. .. .. .. 523


INDEX TO [CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.
South Africa: Its Political Divisioxs'and Physical Features.
South Africa as a Field for Colonisation—Divisions, Area, and Population—Cape
Peninsula—Constantia—Simon's Bay and Capo Point—Stellenbosch—Paarl
—Bain's and Mitchell's Passes—Ladismith and Oudtshoorn—the Karroo-
Rivers and their Characteristics—Bushmanland—Orange River Waterfalls—
Xamaqualand and Damaraland—Kalahari Desert—George and Knysna—
Fish River Bush—Eastern Districts—Graham's Town and Port Elizabeth—
Transkeian Territories—St. John's River—Natal Coast Lands—Mont aux
Sources, the " Great Divide''—Basutoland Waterfall—The Kaap Valley and
Leydenberg—Tolo Azime Falls on the Limpopo—Mashonaland—Victoria
Falls of the Zambesi 1-31
CHAPTER II.
Geology, Fossils, and Minerals of South Africa.
TVork of Early Observers—Palaeozoic Formation—Sandstones of the Devonian
Period—Dwyka, or Trap Conglomerate—The Karroo Beds—Diamond-bear-
ing Pipes of Kimberley—Boring Operations—Jurassic and Cretaceous
Divisions—Denuding Agencies—Volcanic Activity—Limestone Caverns—
Palaeontology—Fossil Fauna—Minerals—Gold, Coal, Copper, Silver, and
Lead, Cinnabar, Iron, Manganese, Antimony, Cobalt, Tin—Earthy and
Saline Minerals—Nitre Deposits—Limestones—Marble and Building Stones
—Mineral Springs—Geological and Mineralogical Specimens .. 32-49
CHAPTER III.
Vertebrate Fauna of South Africa.
Vertebrate Fauna—Features of Animal Life—The Days of the Early Settle-
ment—Naturalists and Explorers—Mammalia—Birds—Reptiles—Amphi-
bians—Fishes—Protection of Game .. .. .. .. .. 50-90
CHAPTER IV.
Flora of South Africa.
Piichness of Forms—South-western Region—Tropical Region—The Karroo
Region—Composite Region—Kalahari Region—European Plants .. 91-123


X
INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER V.
A
Woods and Forests.
Naturalised Species in the Cape Peninsula—Government Plantations—Australian
Wattle Barks—Timber Forests—The Knysna-Forest Management—Sleeper
Industry—Woods of the Forest—Yellow-wood—Stinkwood or Laurel—
Sneezewood—Wagon Woods—Silver Tree—Scrub Forest—Forest Depart-
ment 124-137
CHAPTER VI.
Discovery and Early Occupation of the Cape by Europeans.
Tradition of Phoenician Exploration—Diaz's Discovery of the Cape—Vasco da
Gama's Voyage—Van Riebeek's Expedition—Experiences of the first
Europeans in Table Valley—The Aboriginal Races—Relations with the
Hottentots—Free Burghers Settled as Colonists—First Colonial War—
Decimation of the Hottentots by Small-pox—Governor Van der Stell's
Rule—Arrival of Huguenot Refugees—The French Language Suppressed—
Troubles between the Colonists and Governor Van der Stell—Arbitrary
System of Government—Dispersion of the Population—Collision with
Bushmen and Kafirs—Attempted British Conquest of the Cape in 1781—
Efforts of Colonists to Secure Freedom of Trade—Rebellion at Graaff-Reinet
and Swellendam—Seizure of the Capo by English Forces—Disturbances ia
the Inland Districts—the Cape Restored to Holland—Reforms in Govern-
ment—Final Cession of the Cape to Great Britain. .. .. 138-166
CHAPTER VII.
British Rule during the Century.
British Administration—Expulsion of Kafirs from the Colony—The Kafir
Attack on Graham's Town—Arrival of British Settlers in 1820—Lord
Charles Somerset's Government—Anglicising the Colony—The Magna
Charta of the Aborigines—The Slave Emancipation Act—The War of 1834
—Sanguinary Reign of Chaka—Trek of the Emigrant Boers—Treachery of
Dingaan—Death of P. Retief—Defeat of Dingaan and the Zulus—Occupa-
tion of Natal, and Hostilities—Natal declared a British Colony—Orange
River Sovereignty—The Sand River Convention—Abandonment of the
Sovereignty—The Glenelg Policy—Stockcnstrom Treaties—The Anti-Con-
vict Agitation—Grant of Representative Government—Sir George Grey's
Native Policy—The Kafir Cattle-killing Delusion—Annexation of British
Kaffraria—The Diamond Fields Discovered—Responsible Government Intro-
duced—Lord Carnarvon"s Confederation Proposals—Annexation of the
Transvaal—Sir Bartle Frero's Government—Native Disturbances—The
Zulu War—Restoration of Cetywayo—The New Republic in Zululand—
Zululand made British Territory—The Basuto Disarmament War-
Treachery of Umhlonhlo—Transvaal Deputations—The War of Indepen-
dence—Majuba Hill and Peace Negotiations—The Transvaal Suzerainty—


INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
The London Convention of 1884—Trade Route to the North—Freebooters
in Bechuanaland—Bechuanaland Protectorate—Sir C. Warren's Expedition
—British Sovereignty over British Bechuanaland—Mataheleland, Mashona-
land, and Zambesia 167-202
CHAPTER VIII.
The Cape Government, Institutions, Roads, Railways, and Harbours.
Governor and Parliament—The Ministry or Cabinet—List of Ministers—Parlia-
ment Houses and the Parliament—The Franchise and Ballot—Courts of
Law—Registry and Transfer of Landed Property—The Administration
of Estates—Educational System—Colonial Defence—Public Libraries—
Museums and Royal Observatory—Hospitals, Asylums, and Leper Institu-
tions—Thrift and Providence of the People—Recreations and Sports—
Mountain Passes, Roads, and Bridges—Beginning and Extension of Rail-
ways^—Customs Conference and Customs Union—Orange Free State Rail-
ways—Train Service to Kimberley and Johannesburg—Main and Connecting
Lines—Engineering Features and Highest Altitudes—Norval's Pont
Bridge—Hex River Pass—Matjesfontein—Railway Workshops—Colonial
Coal—Outlay and Earnings on Railways—Private Lines of Railway—Postal
System and Ocean Mail Service—Telegraph Lines—Harbours—Table Bay
Docks—Algoa Bay and Port Elizabeth—Buffalo River and East London—
Lighthouses 203-232
CHAPTER IX.
Population, Metropolis, Commerce, Finances, Banking, and Industries.
Population—Races—Occupations—Conjugal Conditions—Religious Denomina-
tions^—Cape Town, the Metropolis—Adderley Street—St. George's Street—
Government House—The Gardens—Mayor and Town Council—City Im-
provements—Other Chief Towns—Commerce—Revenue and Expenditure—
Expenditure Chargeable to Loan Acts—Public Debt—Appropriation of
Public Debt—Railway Construction— Banking Business—Colonial Indus-
tries—Fisheries 233-258
CHAPTER X.
Land asd Agricultural Productions.
Land Laws—Value of Land—Agricultural Department—Production—Wheat-
growing in the West and in the Eastern Coast Districts—Fruit-growing
259-2GO
CHAPTER XI.
Viticulture.
Introduction of the Vine—Number of Vine-stocks—Output of Wines and Spirits
—Principal Wine Districts—Production of Cape Vineyards—Phylloxera
267-272


zii
INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER XII.
Live Stock Husbandry.
The Cape Horse and Horse-breeding—Mules—Asses—Cattle, Pure-bred Afri-
kander and Imported—Dairy-farming and Travelling Dairies—The Cape
Goat—The Angora Goat 273-290
CHAPTER XIII.
Ostbich Farming.
Domestication and Farming of the Ostrich—Wild Birds—Artificial Hatching—
Export and Value of Ostrich Feathers—Census of the Ostrich-rearing
Districts—Visit to an Ostrich Farm in the Cape Colony.. .. 297-305
CHAPTER XIV.
Sheep-farming and Wool-growing.
Growth of the Wool Manufacture—Introduction of Merino Sheep at the Cape—
Distribution of Sheep in the Colony—Coast Districts—Karroo Sheep-walks
—Different Breeds of Sheep—Values of Wool—Wool-washeries—Wool
Seasons—Character of Cape Wools 306-322
CHAPTER XV.
The Diamond Mines of South Africa.
Discovery of the First Diamond - Early Days on the Fields—The Diamondiferous
Area—The Town of Kimberley—Occurrence of the Diamonds—The Road-
ways in Kimberley Mine—Reef Difficulties—De Beers Mine—Dutoitspan
and Bultfonteiu—Formation of Companies—Amalgamation—The De Beers
Company and its Operations—The Diamond-bearing Pipe of the Kimberley
Mine—Present Mode of Winning the Diamonds—The Largest Stone Found
—The Native Compounds—Kenilworth Village—Dutoitspan and Bult-
fontein Companies—The Premier (Wesselton) Mine—Jagersfontein and
Koffyfontein Mines — The River Diggings — Production of Diamonds
323-350
CHAPTER XVI.
The Colony of Natal.
Early History—Native Policy—Byrne's Immigration—Representative Institu-
tions —Langalibalele Disturbance —Revenue and Commerce—Area and
Population—Present Government—Institutions—Port Natal—Town of
Durban—City of Maritzburg—Agricultural and Pastoral Capabilities—
Lands and their Value—Coalfields—Railways—Zulu War Memorial
357-373
-


INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
xiii
CHAPTER XVII.
+ Tea Industry in Natal.
Beginning of the Industry-Cultivation and Manufacture—Grades of Quality
and Acreage Planted 374-376
CHAPTER XVIII.
Suoab Industry in Natal.
First Crop Raised—Slow Growth of the Industry—The Labour Difficulty-
Native Kafir Mills—Development—Mount Edgecombe Factory—Production
to Date—Present Position—Prospects of the Industry—Customs Union
377-390
CHAPTER XIX.
Native Races and Territories.
Primitive Races—Hottentots andBushmen—Structure of their Language—Present
Type of Bushmen—The Kafir and Bantu Races—Traits of Character—Pro-
gress in Civilisation—Mixed Races—Government of the Kafir Tribes—Mis-
sions—Lovedale Industrial Institution 391-400
CHAPTER XX.
PONDOLAND.
History-Protectorate of the Coast—Agreement with Umquikela-Condition of
Pondoland—Smelling-out and Witchcraft 401-404
CHAPTER XXI.
Zululand, Amatonoaland and Swaziland.
ZULULAND declared British Territory—Physical Features, Area, Population—
Revenue—Government—Districts—Cattle raising and Agriculture—Missions
—Occupation by Europeans only for Mission, Trading or Mining Purposes—
Gold and other Minerals. AMATONGALAND—Area and Population-
Character of the Country—Its Productions—Kosi River Mouth. SWAZI-
LAND—Population—Area—Features—The late King Umbandine—Con-
cession Granting—Various Forms of Concessions—Joint Commission—Provi-
sional Government—Convention of 1890 with the South African Republic—
Negotiations for Future Government .. .. .. .. 405-410
CHAPTER XXII.
Basutoland, the Switzerland of Sodth Africa.
Physical Aspects—Mineral Wealth—Game on the Drakensberg—Last of the
Bushmen—LiveStock—Basuto Ponies—Agriculture—Trade and Capabilities
—Census—Revenue—Educational Agencies—Witchcraft abolished—History


xiv
INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
of Moshesh and the Tribe—Cannibalism—The French Missionaries—Terri-
torial Disputes—Fighting at Viervoet—Battle of Berea Mountain—Moshesh's
Submission—Wars with the Free State—Saved by the British Government
—Annexed to Cape Colony—Disarmament Proclamation—War of 1880—
Imperial Control Resumed—Land Law Communal—Taxes—Mode of Life—
Government .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 411-42li
CHAPTER XXIII.
British Bechuanaland and Bechuana Protectorate.
The Bechuana People—Early Missionaries—Pretorious' Proclamation of 18G8
extending the South African Republic to Lake Ngami—London Convention
of 1884—Cape Trade Route to the Interior—Government and Revenue—
Suitability for Cattle-ranching—Agricultural Production—Rainfall—Water-
boring and Well-sinking—Lands and their Value—The Protectorate—Tho
Kalahari Desert 423-429
CHAPTER XXIV.
Mashonaland and the British Sooth Africa Company's Territories.
Expansion of British Sphere—Treaty with the Matabele Chief, Lobengula—The
Rudd Concession—The British South Africa Company—The Pioneer Expe-
dition—Character of the Country—Salisbury and other Townships—The
Gold-bearing Area—Result of Crushings—The Beira Railway—Agricultural
and Pastoral Prospects—Sphere of tho British South Africa Company north
of the Zambesi—The Imperial Commissioner in Nyassaland—The Zimbabwe
Ruins—Their Sabaean or Phoenician Origin—Association with the Ancient
Land of Ophir—Arabs and Portuguese on the East Coast—Free Navigation
of the Zambesi 430-440
CHAPTER XXV.
The Orange Fkee Statu.
Aboriginal Occupants—The Griquas and Bergenaars—The Bechuana Boy—
Boer Emigrants—British Sovereignty Proclaimed—Disturbances and Battle
of Boomplaats—The Sovereignty Abandoned—Convention of Bloemfontein
—Republic Established—The Constitution—Successive Presidents—Troubles
with the Griquas—Wars with the Basutos—President Brand—The Diamond
Fields Territory—Compensation by British Government—Progress of tho
State—Customs Union—Railway Lines—Area and Features of the Country
—Census and Revenue—Government—Franchise—Education—Religion—
Statute Law—The Commando and Liquor Laws of tho State—Pastoral
Resources—Agriculture—Ladybrand and the Conquered Territory—Minerals
—Coal—Saltpans—Diamond Mines—Bloemfontein and its Institutions—
—The New Raadzaal—Resort for Invalids—Snow-storms—Towns and Vil-
lages—The Maroko District 441-460


INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
XV
CHAPTER XXVI.
The South African Republic.
Early History—Sand River Convention—President Burgers—Annexation and
Retrocession—Physical Aspect—Population—Land: its Value and Capa-
bilities—Gold Discovery—The Sheba Mine—The Kaap Fields—The
"Banket" at Witwatersrand—The Centenary Record—Johannesburg—
Deep Level Mining—Future of the Industry—Outlying Fields—Pretoria—
Railways—The Delagoa Bay Line—Revenue and Expenditure—Commerce
—The Grondwet, or Constitution—The President and Executive—The First
and Second Baad—The Franchise—Naturalisation—Judicial System—
Public Education— Concessions—The Pretoria Mint—Unification of Coinage
461-490
CHAPTER XXVII.
Gold-Mining at Witwatebsband.
The " Banket," or Conglomerate Formation—Geological Chart—The Rand Basin
—The Main Reef Series—The Inner Series of Reefs—The Early Workings—
Output of Gold from the Rand—Active Workings—Reef Occurrences—
Deep Levels—Development and Mine Equipment—Milling—Concentration
—Chlorination—Tailings and their Treatments—Cyanide Process—Molloy
Process—Results of Gold Extraction—Cyanide Losses—Cost of Mining and
Milling—Machinery, Labour, &c. .. .. .. .. .. 491-512
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Coal Fields.
The Coal Measures of the South African Republic—The Vereeniging Collieries—
Brakpan Collier)'—Method of Mining 513-518
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Silveb Mines.
Smelting Industry—Experiments in the Manufacture of Coke—Discovery of
Silver Ores—Albert Mine—Concentration Works—The Willows and Other
Properties—The Transvaal Silver Mine—Reduction Works—Concentrating
Machinery—Other Properties .. .. .. .. .. 519-520
CHAPTER XXX.
The Portuguese Possessions.
Estado d'Africa Oriental—Provinces of Mozambique and Loreueo Marques—Area
and Population and Trade—Quillimane—Chinde River Mouth—Transit
Dues Across Portuguese Territory—Senna and Tete Coal Beds—Agriculture,
Sugar-cane, Coffee, and Fruits—Concessions to Companies—Beira Pioneer
Railway, and Port Beira—Sofala, Chiloane, and Inhambane—Pearl Fisheries
—Lorenco Marques and Delagoa Bay—Population—Trade—Climate—
Steam Communication 527-529


xvi
INDEX TO CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER XXXI.
The German Protectorate in Namaqtja-Damabaland.
Early Relation of Cape Colony with West Coast Territory—Herero Application
for British Protection—Walwich Bay Annexed—Mr. Palgrave's Mission—
Sir Bartle Frcre's Recommendations—Extension Disapproved of by Imperial
Authorities—Annexation by Germany—Boundary of the German Protec-
torate—Area and Population—Hottentots, Bushmen, Damaras,Hill Damaras,
Tribes of Ovamboland—Physical Features—Climate—Geology and Minerals
—Trade—German and English Developing Companies—Walwich Bay
530-535
CHAPTER XXXII.
South Afbica—Its Climate and Health Resorts.
Suitability of the Climate for Europeans—The Seasons—The Coast Climate—
The Climate of the Karroo—The Climate of the Interior Plateau—The
Climate of the Transvaal—The Climate of the Mountain Regions—The
Climate of the Natal Highlands—General Remarks for Invalids.. 536-565
Statistics of Colonies, States, and Territories .. .. .. 566






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ILLUSTRATED OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
OF
THE CAPE AND SOUTH AFRICA,
CHAPTER I.
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
South Africa is daily growing into prominence and awakening
wide interest. Although long-neglected and comparatively ignored
as a field for settlement, it is now being universally recognised as
a country possessed of great and varied resources, giving bright
promise for the future.
It has a most healthful climate, where cloudless skies, con-
tinuous sunshine, and dry air can be enjoyed to perfection. Its
lands give scope for every kind of pastoral and agricultural
occupation. Flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and troops of horses
feed entirely on its natural plants aud grasses. Its soils are
fertile, offering the most ample choice to the cultivator, and
producing almost anything and everything grown in tropical or
in temperate latitudes. Its mineral deposits are varied and
abundant, and some seem well-nigh inexhaustible. Its flora
is; one of the richest on the earth's surface. Its fauna embraces
the most interesting and conspicuous forms of the animal kingdom,
and its inland regions are still the sportsman's paradise. It has
settled European communities, some of whom have for successive
generations been engaged in the pioneering work of colonization;
and within its borders are native populations amenable to civil-
izing influences, and capable of becoming an increasingly im-
portant and valuable industrial element.
Its external trade and commerce, as represented by the imports
and exports at the British colonial ports of the Cape and
Natal, amount to twenty-six and a half millions sterling pel-
annum. Its developed productions and exports comprise corn,
B


2
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
wine, and wool; sugar, coffee, tea, rice, and all kinds of fruits;
horses, cattle, sheep, and goats; mohair, ostrich feathers, ivory,
horns, and hides; diamonds, coal, and timber; gold, silver, copper,
iron, lead, manganese and numerous other mineral substances.
And now that means of intercommunication have been multi-
plied, and railways are penetrating from its various seaports to
its rich interior, it is impossible to forecast the possibilities of
industrial growth and expansion which are as yet dormant.
Under the title of "South Africa" is embraced the country
stretching from the extremity of the continent at Cape L'Agulkas
in 34° 50' S. lat., northward into the Tropics, having as its
boundary a line stretching from west to east, in about S. lat. 16°,
above the Cunene and the great Zambesi Kivers. Strictly speak-
ing, the lands which lie further to the north, extending over
Barotseland to the borders of the Congo Territory, and over
Nyassaland to the limits of German East Africa, between Lake
Tanganyika and Lake Nyassa, should be also included, as they
are within the sphere of British influence and the administration
of the British South Africa Company. But taking the territories
from the Cape to the Zambesi as the limit for the purposes of
this work, they embrace an approximate area of one ana a quarter
million square miles, considerably exceeding the size of British
India. Tneir population, including the native races and persons
of all shades of colour, is estimated at over four and a quarter
millions; and of these, the Europeans, or persons of European
descent, number about six hundred and sixty-eight thousand.
Politically, the country contains several divisions. The
southern and most populous portion is the Cape Colony, which,
together with the islands on its western coast, and Natal, Zulu-
land, Basutoland, British Bechuanaland, the Protectorate of
Bechuanaland, and the Chartered Company's territory in Masho-
naland, Zambesia, and Nyassaland, form the British Possessions.
There are two independent republican states, namely, the Orange
Free State and the South African Bepublic. There are several
quasi-independent native territories, such as Pondoland, Swazi-
land, Amatongalaud, Matabeleland, and Ngamiland. The Portu-
guese Possessions, including Gazaland, stretch, on the east coast,
from Delagoa Bay to Mozambique. And, on the west coast, north
of the Orange Kiver, are the territories of Great Namaqua-
land and Damaraland, under the acknowledged Protectorate of
Germany.
Although South Africa everywhere bears a peculiar impress
characteristic of itself, it has much variety of surface and scenery;
and anyone travelling over its southern coast valleys, its central
tablelands or inland plains, its north-western desert tracts, or its








AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
3
semi-tropical eastern slopes, will realise that each locality has
marked physical features differing from the other.
The Cape Peninsula, which is usually the first portion of
Southern Africa the voyager from England becomes acquainted
with, gives a good impression of the characteristic boldness and
grandeur of the mountain scenery. The peninsula is, for the most
part, a mountain ridge extending for thirty miles from Table
Bay on the north, to its extremity, along the spacious indenture
of False Bay, on the south-east. The whole of the range rises
abruptly from the seaward side, in a bare imposing mass, with a
dozen headlands jutting out, forming what are known as the
Twelve Apostles. On the eastern side the rocky escarpments
are relieved by dense vegetation in the "kloofs" or ravines, and
at their base are spread a succession of plantations and woods
sheltering the numerous villas and mansions of suburban resi-
dents. The range terminates on the north with the titanic wall
of rock, named the Table Mountain, rising almost perpendicularly
to a height of 3,582 feet, facing Table Bay. It is flanked on the
left by the picturesque Devil's Peak—the "Windberg" of old
navigators—and on the right by the Lion's Head, which slopes
away to the round-backed hill known as the Rump, or Signal
Station. In the amphitheatre formed by these elevations is
spread out the city of Cape Town.
There are numerous eminences of similar tabular form through-
out the country, but it is an aphorism among Africanders, or Cape-
born colonists, that "there is but one Table Mountain." The
views along its plateau, slopes, and kloofs, present a microcosm
of all that is best in South African scenery; and this, together
with the advantage of proximity to the capital, a pleasant climate,
and the enjoyment of all the comforts and conveniences of life,
have made its environs attractive and favourite places of residence.
A railway service from Sea Point to Simon's Town gives
facilities for travel from one end of the peninsula to the other;
bat there are many beautiful drives and walks in every direction.
A favourite one is that from Cape Town, over the Kloof, to
Camp's Bay and Sea Point. The road winds up from the city
to the neck of the Kloof, between the western side of Table
Mountain and the peaked Lion's Head, with lovelv views land-
ward and seaward, the one embracing the city and the circling
shores of Table Bay, the softly-rounded Tygerberg Hills, and the
serrated summits of the distant Drakenstein Range; while on the
other, there are steep rocky cliffs, a mingling of bush and foliage,
and the changing and shifting lights of the boundless ocean.
Another enjoyable drive is that round the Victoria Road, by
way of Sea Point to Hout's Bay, Constantia, and Wynberg, com-
b 2


4
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
pleting the circuit of Table Mountain. It commands as fine a
combination of scenery as is to be found in any part of the world.
Portion of the road winds along the precipitous slopes on the
mountain side, overlooking the rocky seashore, washed by the
blue waters of the Atlantic, and reminding one of the picturesque
loveliness of the Cornice Road along the Riviera. Then it ascends
to the ridge, where the Hout's Bay and valley open out, like a
Scottish loch and glen. The beach is the goal of picnicing
tourists; but there are many spots affording welcome shade
from the blazing sun, where the eye is refreshed with running
waters, the cool green of surrounding vineyards, and the
wooded gorges and kloofs at the back of Table Mountain. On
leaving the valley and reaching the Hout's Bay Nek there is a
pleasing panoramic view overlooking the vale of Constantia,

CONSTANTIA VALE.
Wynberg, Claremont, and the wide-stretching Flats, with the
white sandhills along the shores of False Bay at Muizeuberg.
Beautiful plantations of the silver-tree occur extensively on the
hill-sides, their glossy leaves, when stirred by the wind, flashing
and glistening in the sun, and picturesquely contrasting with the
sombre pines, chestnuts, and oak trees bordering the road. The
famous Constantia vineyards here invite a passing visit, especially
in the vintage season, when the grape harvest is being gathered,
and the wine-presses overflow with the luscious juice, which in,
former times was wont to soften the temper of Ministers and
sweeten the lips of Royalty itself.* Soon after, the Military
* The Dutch East India Company had an agreement 'with the proprietors of the
Constantia wino-farms for a yearly supply of their choicest vintage, and this was
continued for some time after the cession of the Cape. A portion of the supply was
sent to England, where it was given away to high officers of State, and Eoyalty
itself. It is related that Sheridan was dining with Lord Chancellor Thurlow, on an


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
5
Camp on Wynberg Hill is passed, and the village of Wynberg is
reached, with its shaded streets, and handsome residences,
surrounded on all sides by enchanting scenery. From there to
Cape Town, the road continues through Claremont, Newlands,
Rondebosch, and Mowbray, half hid beneath magnificent avenues
of oaks and pines.
Near the extremity of the Peninsula is the harbour of Simon's
Bay, the chief station and depot of the Eoyal Navy on the
South African Coast. The bay is well sheltered, and affords
secure anchorage to the largest vessels afloat within a compara-
tively short distance of the shore. On the hills above, fortifica-
tions have lately been erected, with heavy armament, rendering the
place well-nigh impregnable against attack by sea. The Naval
Yard, adjoining the Admiralty House, and covering a large
portion of the fore-shore, is an extensive establishment, provided
with stores, machinery, and every appliance for equipping and
repairing modern war-ships. In the precincts of Simon's Town,
and at Kalk Bay, and other inlets along the shore of False Bay,
are several favourite watering-places, which are the resort of
business men from the metropolis, as well as from Kimberley and
Johannesberg, throughout the summer season.
A few miles beyond Simon's Town is the real "Cape of Good
Hope," which the Portuguese poet Camoens celebrates in his
Lusiad as the "southern point of Afric's coast," although geo-
graphically the low shelving bank of L'Agulhas is the actual
extremity of the continent. Cape Point, as it is locally termed,
is a precipitous sandstone cliff, on whicb a lighthouse is erected,
showing a revolving catoptric light of the first order, visible at a
distance of thirty-six miles. The view from this headland is very
grand, overlooking the foaming breakers nearly nine hundred feet
below, and taking in the waters of False Bay and the great wide
expanse of the South Atlantic.
"Here the white surge comes bounding to the shore,
And the cliff answers to its angry roar,
For where the Cape of Storms heaves high its steep,
The clear south-easter foams along the deep,—
Whirls the wild spray in gusts of driving snow,
And sweeps with its salt Bhower the reeling prow;
While round each winding bay and jutting rock,
The glassy swell rolls with its thunder shock;
Or, deepening vast and sullen, heaves away
To the lone isles beneath descending day."
occasion when some of tliis wine was produced, which tickled the palate of the
connoisseur so much that he set bis wits to work to get more of it. The Chancellor,
however, was not easily induced to produce his Constantia in such profusion, and
Sheridan turned to a gentleman sitting further down, and said. "Pass up that
decanter, for since we cannot double the Cape, I must return to Madeira."


6
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
At the southern end of the Colony, the coast ha9 a general
trend from the south-east to the north-west; and parallel with it
the land gradually rises in successive ridges, with intervening
valleys, to the elevated terrace forming the boundary of the
Karoo. This seaboard region, extending at distances varying
from twenty to one hundred and twenty miles from the coast,
is rich in varied scenery, with bold hill ranges and charming
fertile valleys, whilst scattered over it are numerous attractive
towns and villages. Along the foot spurs of the first line of
mountains, collectively named the Drakenstein Kange, are the

simon's town.
vine-growing valleys of Hottentots Holland, Stellenbosch, Paarl,
Franschehock, Wellington, Twenty-four Eiver, and Oliphant's
River; and, extending from them to the seaboard, are extensive
undulating arable lands, forming the great grain-producing
districts of Koeberg, Darling, Saldanali Bay, Malmesbury,
Piquetberg, and Clanwilliam. Nothing in South Africa surpasses
this portion of the country for tillage and wealth of cultivation.
Throughout the harvest season, for fifty or sixty miles on a
stretch in every direction, the eye rests on a succession of corn-
fields, waving in the brilliant sunshine, and interspersed amongst


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
7
them, dotted over the plains, or perched on the tops of the
rounded hills, are the comfortable-looking, whitewashed home-
steads of the corn-farmers. The old towns, such as Stellenbosch
and the Paarl, are singularly quaint and interesting. Their
existence dates backward for nearly two centuries, and they still
retain the characteristics of the old Dutch and French settlers
who built them.
Stellenbosch is prettily situated on a plain watered by the
Eerste .River, and embosomed in an amphitheatre of hills and
mountains. The streets are at right-angles to each other, and

STELLENBOSCH.
precisely alike in appearance, shaded by venerable oaks, and lined
on either side with detached old-fashioned gable-faced houses,
having " stoeps" or raised terraces in front, and a background
of garden, orchard, or vineyard. The place is suggestive of a
quiet, rural elysium, where life is passed without hurry or
apprehension. It has, of late years, become one of the chief
educational centres of the country—its theological and arts
colleges, and its schools and ladies' seminaries, attracting students
from all parts of South Africa.
The Paarl is distant about fifteen miles, and situate at the foot


8
South afbioa: itb divisions
of the granite ridge whose enormous boulders, glistening like
"pearls' in the sun, gave the place its name. The town forms
one continuous street, stretching for several miles, the houses,
wine stores, and factories, with their whitewashed fronts and
gables shining out from under rows of old oaks and pine trees;
and along the slopes of the hills and over the valley trim peach
gardens, lemon and orange groves, and vineyards are thickly
planted. The Berg Biver, which rises in the mountains above
Fransche Hock, flows through the Drakenstein and Paarl Valley
to St. Helena Bay, where it discharges itself into the Atlantic.
It is a perennial stream, and one of the few colonial rivers
navigable by small craft for some distance from its mouth.
The vale of Hottentots Holland, half enclosed by the moun-
tains, and open to the cooling breezes of False Bay, is another
pleasing spot, where marine enjoyments may be varied with rural
Eleasures among the picturesque well-wooded estates which are to
e found there. One of these, named " Vergelegen," has some
interesting historical associations: it was laid out at the end of the
seventeenth century by the Dutch Governor Adrian Vander Stell,
whose plantations of stately oak and camphor-wood trees still
flourish.
Behind the high wall of the Drakenstein mountain range is the
Tulbagh and Worcester valley, which can be reached either by
rail, making a detour round Tulbagh Kloof, or by one of
the Cape mountain roads known as "Bain's Pass," proceeding
from the village of Wellington. This road ascends with many a
curve and stretch for some seven or eight miles to the summit of
the Drakenstein range, where it commands a most extensive and
pleasing landscape, and then descends through a defile of rugged
mountainous masses to the Breede Biver at Darling Bridge.
All along this descent of the mountain the road has been blasted
and scarped out of the hard quartzose sandstone—in some places
being cut through massive buttresses, leaving gigantic gates,
natural arches, and overhanging ledges; in others it is carried
across abyss-like gaps, built up with precipitous retaining walls
from 100 to 300 feet high. "Hills upon hills in quick succession
rise" as you advance, and new objects of interest and admiration
are ever presenting themselves. The rock scenery is singularly
weird and fantastic—now rising high in majestic walls, then piled
up in craggy pinnacles—here standing in gaunt spectral groups,
or there strewn in broken and crumbled confusion. In many
places its weather-worn character might convey a dreary impres-
sion, if it were not for the endless variety of light and shade
arising from the winding course of the road, and the colours and
forms of the vegetation fringing the sides of the mountains. There


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
I)
is generally a rich display of characteristic Cape flora. Heaths
of scarlet, purple, and other hues; bulbs of great variety; orchids,
ferns, and several handsome shrubs and dwarf trees, alternate
together with grasses, creepers, and soft mosses; and the stratified
formation of the sandstone encloses many humid recesses whence
issue rills and streams which keep these evergreen and fresh all
the year round. The flowering season of September, however, is
the time to see the Pass to advantage; after the rains there are
countless sprays, cascades, and waterfalls, leaping from ledge and
precipice, and rushing down to swell the dark tarn-like pools and
roaring torrent of the Witte River at the bottom of the deep
ravine.
Emerging from the Kloof at Darling Bridge, the flats forming
the Tulbagh and Worcester valley are traversed, and then the
Michell's Pass in Mostert's Hoek is reached. This is another
mountain scene of great boldness and picturesque beauty. The
Breede Biver, a clear wide stream, is bridged across at the
entrance, and the road ascends along the left bank for a length
of about six miles, the whole of it being scarped out of the rock,
and strengthened by a retaining wall, from three to forty feet in
height. The old road—little more than a cattle track—is still to
be seen climbing over projecting krantzes, and then descending
abruptly to the river bed, and fifty-year-old inhabitants delight
to tell of their perilous adventures in crossing it years ago, when
waggons and produce had to be carried over piecemeal, or on the
back of oxen, and afterwards put together and re-arranged, when
they had managed to scramble through. In this Kloof the moun-
tains rise in wild picturesque confusion, the cliffs, peaks, and
ranges seeming to topple in every direction from the arched and
undulating stratification of the rocks, while the many grassy
hollows and patches of flowering heaths and shrubs clothing their
feet, give a verdant beauty to the scene. The charm of them, as
of all South African mountains, is enhanced by the rich and won-
derful colour effects of the morning and evening sunlight. In
the full noonday glare they exhibit nothing but the rugged, grey,
naked rock; but the scene is glorious when at sunrise the purple
light of dawn gives place to magnificent flame-bursts of crimson
and gold: or, again, before sunset, when they are overspread by
beautiful ever-changing tints, from a rosy purple to vivid bronze
intensifying the dark steel-blue shades cast by the craggy projec-
tions on their furrowed sides.
Beaching the summit of the pass, nearly 2,000 feet above the
sea, the village of Ceres, a favourite health resort, and the district
of Warm Bokkveld are seen stretched out below in a circular
basin, bounded by the heights of the Cold Bokkveld, frequently


10
SOUTH AFEICA: ITS DIVISIONS
snow-capped in winter. Here is the watershed of the West—the
mountains attaining their highest point (6840 feet) in the lofty
peak of the Winterhoek. The drainage on one side gathers into
the Oliphant's Eiver, which empties itself into the Atlantic; and
on the other side forms the Breede River, which winds its way
through the districts of Worcester, Robertson, and Swellendam,
and flows into the Indian Ocean.
Worcester, one of the prettiest country townships in South
Africa, lies amidst pleasing picturesque scenery in the Breede
River basin, which extends in a direct line from east to west about
forty miles. An endless chain of high hills runs on each side of it,
enclosing narrow fertile valleys, such as the Goudini, Hex River,
Klaasvogel's River, Montagu, and the elevated slopes of the Keisi
and the Koo, behind Robertson, where cherries and other European
fruits grow to perfection. On the opposite side an opening
through the Boschesveld leads past the hamlet of VilHersdorp and
the Moravian mission station of Genadendal to the valley of the
River Zonder End and the districts of Caledon and Bredasdorp,
rich in cornlands, vineyards, and sheep-walks. Further eastwards
the Langebergen Range, furrowed with ravines and serrated with
crags, bounds the maritime districts of Swellendam, Heidelberg,
and Riversdale, where is the extreme limit of the climatic tract
visited by the westerly winds and rain. Through a gap in these
mountains the Gauritz River, carrying off the principal drainage
of the southern Karoo, finds its wav to the sea south of Mossel
Bay.
Behind the rocky barrier of the Langebergen and Outeniqua
Mountains is another group of valleys, forming the divisions of
Ladismith, Oudtshoorn, and Uniondale. These are notable for
their productiveness. Oudtshoorn especially is an important
agriculture centre, celebrated for its prolific yield of grain, wine,
brandy, dried fruits, vegetables, and tobacco, as well as for its
luxuriant lucerne fields and extensive ostrich camps. The soil,
which has a Karoo-like character, yields two crops a year. It is
all watered, or capable of being watered, from permanent streams,
and about 24,000 acres of land are under irrigation in the district.
Leaving the seaboard and climbing the inland mountains by the
railway which ascends to the top of the Hex River Pass in the
west, or that which winds through the hilly ridges of the Zuurberg
and Alicedale in the east, the plateau of the Great Karoo is
reached. There we emerge upon arid, undulating plains more or
less diversified, with flat-topped or conical-shaped hills of sand-
stone, shale, and trap rock. The surface of the country, which is
from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sea-level, is peppered over with


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
11
bushes, a few inches high and short distances apart, bearing a
ridiculous resemblance to the arrangement of woolly tufts on a
Hottentot's head. This stunted-looking vegetation is varied now
and again with a line of diminutive mimosa trees, marking the
course of the periodical river-beds, which for the greater part
of the year are waterless. There are little or no indications
of life of any sort. Farm dwellings are few and far between.
Occasionally a flock of sheep, goats, or ostriches may be
seen browsing on the shrubs which form the pasturage. Wild
game is rarely met with. Sometimes, as the eye gazes over
the wide-stretching flats it catches sight of distant waters—
the one feature so much lacking in the Karoo. These are optical
lakes—margined with wood or ornamented with floating islands—

SIGNAL-POST ON THE PLAINS.
the creations of mirage. They introduce a pleasing but short-
lived variety into the landscape, and suggest how tantalising such
atmospheric illusions must be to the thirsy traveller.
"When the hot air quivers and the sultry breeze
Floats o'er the desert, with a show
Of distant watera mocking his distress."
At other times portions of the country have the semblance of
a brilliant flower-garden. When thunder-clouds break over any
area, and heavy rain falls, it is marvellous to see the magical
transformation of the sparsely-covered soil; grasses and flowers
springing up with startling rapidity and in countless variety,
carpeting the surface with every colour and hue. But generally
the unbroken sameness of feature of the interminable plain and
hill, and hill and plain, throughout this tract, makes travelling
even by a fast train somewhat monotonous; and during periods


12
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
of drought, when the vegetation is withered and dry, the parched
earth devoid of verdure, and the stony ridges in places like the
Gouph are gleaming with heat, it becomes wearisome in the
extreme.
There are many persons, however, to whom the Karoo has a
singular attraction. Its sunny Bky, its translucent atmosphere,
its dry buoyant air—"exhilarating as wine to the senses '—its
starry, balmy, and dewless nights; its measureless expanse; its
vast, unbroken solitude, and even its weird desolateness, seem to
have a peculiar charm, which clings to the memory of those who
have dwelt in any part of it.
The Karoo plateau extends from Calvinia in the west to
Middleburg in the east, and north from the Zwarteberg moun-
tains to the Orange River, thus covering an area of considerably
over 100,000 square miles. Unattractive as the vegetation on
its surface may appear, it supplies a valuable fodder, suitable
for all description of stock. At the higher elevations along the
slopes of the mountain ranges like those of the Nieuwveld and
Sneeuwbergen, grasses abound, while in the valleys grass and
bush are intermingled, and on the flats aromatic bushes and
shrubs prevail. The bush has an advantage over grass in that
it is not injured by frost in winter, and even in seasons of
drought, when it appears only a parched, brown stubble, sapless
as a worn-out broom, it still affords nourishment to animals, pro-
vided drinking water is available. Stock, therefore, can be
maintained upon it in good condition throughout the year. This
constitutes the Karoo, a part of the best sheep-walks of South
Africa. There ure now depastured over its plains nearly six
millions of fine-woolled sheep, in flocks varying from 1,500 to
20,000, in addition to upwards of two millions of" fat-tail " breeds,
arid numerous herds of goats, cattle, and horses.
Although the Karoo districts are chiefly pastoral, the soil, like
that of Oudtshoorn, is naturally rich, and only requires the
stimulating power of water to produce a marvellous yield. In
favourable situations along the rivers, farmers form weirs or dams,
and lead out furrows from which the arable lands are irrigated ; in
other cases they raise the water by centrifugal pumps from the
bed of streams which, like the Orange River, run at great depths
below the surface of the adjacent lands. Over a great part of the
country water can be found by sinking. The horizontal sandstone
and shale, which form the plains, are generally intersected by
igneous dykes, known to the farmers as " Yzer-klip kopjes" (iron-
stone ridges). These strike vertically through the stratified Deds,
and arrest the veins of water which permeate them, forming
underground reservoirs. By observing the natural drainage area,








AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
13
and sinking alongside these dykes, springs of considerable volume
may be found. In addition to the igneous dykes there are also
limestone bands traversing the shale beds, and these sometimes
seal up the fissures of the stratified beds so hermetically that
springs are produced by their interposition in the same way as
with the dykes. The number of windmills dotted over the Karoo
indicates that well-sinking has of late years been much resorted to.
The usual method, however, of conserving the limited rainfall
is by the construction of dams, or natural reservoirs, and im-
pounding the flood waters, which would otherwise flow off to
the sea; indeed, the greater part of the country is entirely
flependent upon water thus collected for the use of stock and
other purposes.

DAM OF CRANMERE, PROPERTY OF G. M. PALMER, ESQ., M.P.
The physical characteristics of South African rivers are
different from those of England. On a few of them, such as the
Vaal, the Orange, the St. John's Eivers, and others, there are
broad reaches and wood-fringed stretches of flowing water; but
the greater number of them run in tortuous deep channels with
bare precipitous banks. Dryness throughout the most part of the
year is the normal condition of those in the Karoo. There are,
however, a few, with great drainage areas, or led from springs
along the mountain ranges, which have a perennial flow, except in
seasons of great drought. Among them, on the eastern side, is
the Great Fish Eiver, which has its sources in the upper part of
the Cradock district, and finds its way circuitously to the Indian
Ocean, and the Sunday's River, rising in the central mountain chain
of the Sneeuwbergen, above Graaff Keinet, and emptying itself


14
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
into Algoa Bay. On the western side, the tributaries of the
Oliphant's Eiver drain the borders of Bushmanland and Calvinia,
and carry a rich deposit of silt to its debouchure on the coast.
And on the tract sloping northward from the Nieuwveld Mountains,
the Zak Biver, a tributary of the Orange Biver, when in flood,
becomes a stream of fluid silt, one or two feet deep, spreading over
the level lands for a breadth of one to five miles, enabling the
farmers along this portion of its course to cultivate extensively
without fertilisers, and gather crops which appear almost fabulous.
The rainfall of the Karoo districts varies according to locality,
but it may be stated at from ten to twenty inches. Over the
north-western districts, of which Bushmanland forms a part, it is
not more than five inches. The westerly winter rains, which visit the
southern angle of the continent, do not touch this part of the
country, and it is entirely dependent upon the thunderstorms of the
summer-time. When these fall, the plain for miles soon becomes
a grassy meadow, covered with what is locally known as the
Bushman grass—" Dwa-dwa" (Arthratherum Irevifolium, Necs.),
on which all stock thrive, and quickly grow fat. This grass retains
some of its nutritious qualities even when it is dry, and as long
as stock have a supply of water (usually found by digging wells),
they keep their condition. This extensive tract is chiefly utilised
for nomadic depasturage, and is occupied by the class known as
"Trek Boers," and the representatives of farmers in the adjacent
districts who lease the grazing lands from Government and send
their cattle there.
Alongside of this belt of dry country, the Great Orange River
runs in its deep valley basin, carrying at times a volume of water
estimated at 50,000 tons per minute. This stream—known to
the natives and old colonists as the " Garieb "—has its source in
the far distant and lofty range of the Drakensberg, on the borders
of Natal. Traversing the continent from east to west, it receives
as its principal tributaries the Caledon and Vaal Rivers, and
carries off the southern and western drainage of the Orange Free
State, Griqualand West, Bechuanaland, Great Namaqualand, and
that of the northern slopes of the Karoo districts. Its length is
about 1000 miles, and the area drained by it and its tributaries is
estimated at over 300,000 square miles. An enormous volume of
water finds its way along its course. At some places, as at the
Narrows above Colesberg, it is compressed between precipitous
hills into a channel of not more than one hundred yards wide;
but elsewhere it attains a breadth of three to five hundred yards,
and between Upington and the Great Falls it spreads over
several miles, reticulating among twenty or thirty islands covered
with dense bush—one of them ten miles long by one broad in its


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
15
centre. When in full flood, which occurs at intervals during the
summer months, its waters rise to a great height, filling the
channel from bank to bank and sometimes submerging the islands
as well as the trees and bush along its margin. In the flood of
1874 it was observed to rise thirty feet in five days, whilst its
speed in the deeper channels was six miles an hour. At such
times, the Great Falls of Augrahbies are a grand spectacle to
witness, but when it is low the water is not sufficient to create any
effect. Here the river has cut a channel in the solid granitic gneiss
which forms the country
rock. The main chasm has
a depth of two hundred feet
with a width of seven hun-
dred, and branches out into
several lateral and smaller
ones, extending over a dis-
tance of four miles. Above
this the stream is nearly
three miles wide, contract-
ing just at the Falls, and
pouring over the rocks in a
succession of cascades and
rapids. A striking feature
which imparts grandeur to
the scene is the immense
boss of rock forming the
precipitous wall of the
gorge over which the waters
rush headlong with deafen-
ing roar, while all around
are a chaotic assemblage
of boulders, tossed into
every position, and per-
forated on the surface with pebbly water-worn holes, varying
from the size of a cup to that of a cauldron.*
Notwithstanding the extent and volume of the Orange Eiver,
it is yet comparatively useless for the purposes for which rivers
in other countries are employed. The depth of its channel in the
valley basin through which it flows has prevented its fertilizing

WATERFALL ON THE ORAJJGE RIVER.
* These falls were first described by Mr. G. Thompson, in his 'Travels in South
Africa,' in 1827; afterwards by Mr. Robert Moffat in 1856, and Mr. Dunn in 1872;
and more recently, in 1885, by Mr. G. A. Farini, who counted and mapped down
nearly a hundred distinct cascades, and was successful in sketching and photograph-
j of them, which are reproduced in his work 'Through the Kalihari';
1 by Sampson Low & Co., London.


Ill
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
element being utilized to any extent for irrigation; and the
numerous obstructions throughout its course, from the sand-bar
at its mouth to the rapids and falls inland, make it practically
unnavigable.
A strip of arid desert extends parallel with the western coast
rom the Orange Eiver mouth to the Cunene River, having its
greatest breadth in Great Namaqualand and Damaraland, and
narrowing more and more towards the north. It is almost
destitute of water, and there is little vegetation on the ever-
shifting sand-hills, except some prickly grass and reeds, and the
melon-shaped fruit of the Naras plant. Going eastwards the
country gradually changes to a more fertile region; the further
from the sea, the more the vegetation improves. The drearv
sand hills are succeeded by characteristic Karoo bushes, whilst
further east patches of mimosa alternate with open, grassy glades
and forests of the larger thorn trees. The greater pait of Damara-
land is a well-pastured country, carrying innumerable herds of
native cattle, and from the central watershed of the Eyto
Mountain (7,000 feet above the sea level) springs and streams
flow east and west, and plains of rich alluvial soil slope away
towards the central basin. Over these plains there are, strictly
speaking, no river beds or ravines to mark the periodical stream?,
but ouly a scarcely-perceptible indentation or surface depression
termed "Omurambe," of which the Omurambo ou Omatoka is one
of the principal. Although covered with high rank grass, water
is always found in them at a depth of six to ten feet.
The Kalihari desert is not devoid of vegetation. To a great
extent it is covered with nutritious grasses, bushes and trees; and
in the southern, western, and eastern parts it is occupied by
farmers, Bastards, Hottentots, and others, some of whom have lately
gone in from the Cape Colony with their flocks, finding good
pasturage in many places, and obtaining water by sinking in the
sedimentary rocks. Portions of it, however, consist of great
stretches of sand dunes, alternating with many miles of limestone
flats. These sand dunes, which run from W.N.W. to e.s.e. some-
times rise from fifty to one hundred feet high, and present the
appearance of a sea of sand in successive waves or billows. Over
these sandy wastes varieties of the " Dwa-Dwa" grass and fodder
plants are found interspersed with trees, chiefly mimosas, kameel,
witgat, and wacht-en-beitje. In some localities the trees are
thickly grown, and present quite a forest-like appearance. No
waters run on the surface. The rivers, such as the Molopo and
Hygab, which appear on the maps as traversing the country, are
dry beds whose waters inexplicably vanish. The Molopo, for
instance, is a fair stream from Mafeking to Pitsanie, but thence it


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
17
diminishes gradually, and at Lotlakani is entirely lost. There
is every likelihood, however, that all over the Kalihari natural
underground reservoirs exist, awaiting to be opened up by
enterprising and intelligent well-sinkers. When this is done,
the country may be found to have great pastoral capabilities.
At present Nature has provided a wonderful substitute for
drinking water in the Tsoma plant, which covers a great
part of the ground, and for three or four months of the
year bears a fruit in appearance very like a small round water-
melon, supplying both food and drink for man and beast.
During rainy seasons, when the Tsoma is known to be plentiful,
the Bushmen, Bakalahari, and other native hunters, make the
desert their home, chasing and killing wild game and ostriches,
which are at times very numerous. But the central part, extend-
ing from the supposed underground course of the Molopo River
northwards to near Lake Ngami, may be said to be as yet
practically unexplored, and uninhabited by white men. The Trek
Boers, who crossed the eastern side of it in 1877-78 on their route
to Ovampoland and Humpata, endured great suffering from the
absence of water, and aptly gave it the name of Dorstland
(Thirstland). Even in the northern parts of Bechuanaland, outside
the Kalihari, there are long reaches without much surface water,
and the traveller has to journey sixty or seventy miles at a time
before either sand river, pit, or vlei is met with to refresh his
cattle. Such is the character of the road from Khama's picturesque
town of Palachwe northward to the Botleitle River on the way to
Lake Ngami, and likewise along the route northwards by the
great salt lake of Makarikari to the Victoria Falls of the
Zambesi.
Leaving these waterless wastes of the Dorstland and the inland
plains, we turn to the region on the eastern side of South Africa
facing the Indian Ocean. Here are the highest mountains, the
finest forests, the most verdant slopes, and the richest valleys.
Water is abundant, running streams intersecting and traversing it
in all directions. And along its shores, the warm ocean current,
flowing south from the Mozambique Channel, contributes to
maintain a uniformly luxuriant semi-tropical vegetation.
Commencing at the valley of the Brak River, near Mossel Bay,
we enter upon the grassy flats, common to the south-eastern
coastlands, and known as the "Zuurveldt," or "sour grass,"
country from the absence of saliferous and alkaline ingredients.
At the George and Knysna we have what is rare at the Cape, a
combination of mountain, forest, and lake scenery. The slopes of
the Outeniqua Mountains, and the abrupt ravines through which
o


18
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
the crystal streams of the Kaieman and Silver Rivers flow, are all
clothed in wooded beauty, and on the flats below are the placid
waters of the George Lakes, stretching for two or three miles
near the margin of the sea. The basin in which the village of
Knysna lies makes an equally attractive picture, with its land-
locked waters surrounded by verdant hills, alternating with the
glossy sombre forests rising, range above range, to the distant
highlands in the background. These forests, the greater portion
of which are wholly virgin, extend for a distance of over a hundred
and fifty miles. From the Knysna, on to Blaauwkrantz and
Zitzikamma, at intervals they cover hill and valley and deep
ravine, diversified here and there with grassy glades, dense
thickets, and tangled brake, where elephant and buffalo still
find shelter. Under the green spreading foliage, and amidst a
dense mass of vegetation, you catch suulit glimpses of rich and
varied forms of flowering plant life; while monarch Yellow-
woods of majestic stature rise overhead, some with the parasite
"old man's beard" swinging from their branches like grey locks,
and others witli festoons of the wild vine or other climbing plants
running up their boles, or clustering over their crowns. Pene-
trating the shaded recesses, as far as the tangled undergrowth
will permit, you can realise that amidst all that is wildly
luxuriant and beautiful, "Nature reigns supreme in awful lone-
liness." The deep, impressive silence of these woods is continuous
and unbroken, save perchance by the wind rustling among the
trees, the chirp of an insect, or the movement or note of a bird—
the beautifully-coloured loorie, or the golden-coated oriole
hopping from branch to branch; or it may be the bell-bird, with
its solemn chime, tolling at intervals like the clang of an anvil.
These primeval forests, which yield a never-failing delight to
the traveller, terminate near to Humansdorp. The general aspect
of the country from there is not so romantic or attractive until the
Van Staaden's River Valley is reached (about twenty-five miles
from Port Elizabeth), where that lover of Nature, the late
Miss Marianne North, was so charmed with the scenery and the
indigenous vegetation. The pleasing variety, characteristic of
the eastern districts, is now met with. Hill and dale succeed one
another, with clumps of evergreen shrubbery and broad grassy
lawns between. The gaunt leafless Euphorbia; the Aloe, with its
spear-like leaves and tall scarlet spikes; the spiny palm-like
Zamia; the Spekboom, with its pale green foliage and bright
blossoms; the elephant's foot, the Strilitzia, the ivy-geranium,
the Plumbago, and numerous other shrubs and flowering plants,
make their appearance, whose strange and peculiar forms at once
strike the eye. These are common to the tract of " bush," as it is








AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
19
termed, which stretches with few breaks from near the Sunday's
River, across the Addo Heighta and the Bushman's River, to the
Great Fish River, along both sides of which it forms a belt
several miles wide. The trees and shrubs are not of great height,
but form an impenetrable jungle, in some places so excessively
dense that there is no getting through except by the old
elephant paths. In former war-times, the Kaffirs occupied these
thickets as natural strongholds, whence they could surprise their
objects of attack or elude their pursuers; and to clear them it
was suggested that the bush should be burnt down, but owing to
the vegetation being so succulent, fire had little effect upon it,
even in the driest weather. Now, however, the woodman with
his axe is gradually encroaching upon it, for fuel supplies to the
adjacent towns.
The heights of the Great Fish Kiver near to Breakfast Vlei,
beyond Graham's Town, command an extensive prospect of what
is most striking and attractive in the features of this section of
the country. It is a glorious panorama of park-like grassy slopes,
deep woody kloofs, verdant ridges, precipitous rocky gorges, and
open valley basins, with a background of towering mountains
whose peaks, sometimes snow-capped, melt into the haze on the
distant horizon. These mountains are the chain of the Great
Winterberg, attaining to an altitude of 7,800 feet and extending
eastwards as the Diaima, the Katberg, Elandsberg, Gaikas Kop,
and the famed Amatola or Seven-kloof Mountain, terminating in
the Buffalo and Kologha Range in the division of King William's
Town. Along many of these, other parallel ranges and spurs of
lesser elevation curve in and out enclosing intervening fertile
glens and open valleys; and from different points there flow
down streams and torrents which form the Koonap, the Kat, the
Oliumie, Keiskamma and Buffalo Rivers. On the northern side of
the mountains, again, there are the rolling grassy uplands of the
Bontebok Flats and Cathcart, and the succession of grassy basins
and hills of the Queen's Town division, rising upwards to the
higher plateau of the Stormberg and the Drakensberg.
Seventy years ago the whole of this portion of the Cape Colony
was uninhabited by Europeans. It was only after 1820, when the
British settlement was formed in Albany, that it began to be
occupied. Those early pioneers had a very trying initial experi-
ence. Rust blighted their first year's crops, floods swept away
their newly-built houses and gardens, Kaffir thieves carried off
their cattle, and more than once they had to brave the surge of
savage warfare. But they struggled heroically through all their
difficulties, and ultimately succeeded as well as emigrants have
done anywhere, not ODly establishing themselves on the pasture-


20
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
lands and soil, but also developing manifold commercial enterprises
in various directions. At the sources of the Kowie River, where in
1820 there was only a military barracks and a dozen small houses,
the city of Graham's Town now covers the wide valley basin with
its cathedral and churches, its courts, town-hall, and museum, its
colleges and schools, its shops and stores, tree-lined thoroughfares,
and its English community. And where a small fortification and
a few thatched cottages along the barren sand-hills were the only
evidence of civilisation on the shores of Algoa Bay, there is now
the wide-extending, prosperous, and populous seaport town of Port
Elizabeth. Throughout these eastern districts, other towns and
villages have been established, such as Queen's Town, King

PORT ELIZABETH FBOM THE HILL.
William's Town, and East London, whose rise and progress within
the last twenty-five or thirty years is phenomenal. Cattle-rearing,
wool-growing, and agriculture have been the staple industries
contributing to their advance and prosperity. In this part of
the colony the best fattening pastures are to be found, and some
of them carry more stock per area than any other part of South
Africa. In Stutterheim the density of line-woolled sheep per
square mile is 445'16; in Barkly East it is 389*58, and in
Cathcart 324.74. Over the whole of these eastern districts
upwards of four millions of merino sheep are depastured, besides
cattle, horses, ostriches, and goats.
Progressing eastwards, and crossing the Great Kei River, we
enter what is known as the Transkeian territories. This formerly
bore the general designation of Kaffirland, from its population
being entirely of the Kaffir race; but now there are a considerable
number of Europeans settled throughout it, and towns have
sprung up at the principal seats of magistracy. But the mass of
the population, if not a savage, is at least an uncivilized one.



!





AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
21
Dotted everywhere over the country, but principally on the rising
ground and hill tops, are the numberless kraals or circle of huts
of the native inhabitants, with their cultivated lands or gardens
down in the valleys, and their sleek cattle grazing on the grassy
slopes. The broad features of the country are much in common
with those of Natal, which adjoins it, and unitedly they form by
far the fairest portion of South Africa. The great mountain
chain of the Drakensberg marks their north-western boundary,
running like a great wall or buttress of rock at an elevation of
from 6,000 to 11,000 feet, and at distances varying from one to
two hundred miles from the coast. From this high elevation the
land slopes continuously downwards to the ocean. The descent,
however, is made by successive steps or terraces, so that the
country is divided into various plateaux differing slightly in
character, but with a great varying range of temperature, from
the peaks of the frequently snow-clad Drakensberg to the tropical
shore-belt. The natives gave the high mountain range the name
of Quathlamba, signifying a mass heaped up in a jagged manner,
and this fittingly describes its appearance from many parts
on its eastern side. The rocks on its summits assume the most
fantastic shapes and forms, and it requires but a little stretch
of the imagination to see castles, turrets, spires, and pinnacles
in their rugged heights. Along their base a belt of undulating
country, covered with coarse grass, is followed by a succession of
wood-crested hills and open valleys abundantly pastured. It is
all dissected by mountain torrents, most of which unite as they
reach the middle terrace, forming the large rivers known as
the Bashee, the Umtata, and the Umzimvoobu. Waterfalls are
numerous, the largest being on the Tsitsa River, along the main
road from Umtata to Kokstad, where the water, after running
through some wooded gorges, rushes over the edge of a precipice
iDto an abyss 375 feet below. From the central plateau, the land
breaks away to the lower terrace; and following the ridges of the
watershed there are some wildly picturesque views to be had of
the rocky ravines and huge perpendicular krantzes along the
river channels, as well as charming glimpses of the grassy hills
and bushy valleys extending down to the ocean's edge.
The finest scenery, however, is at the Umzimvoobu or St. John's
River mouth, which may be reached from Umtata through Western
Pondoland, and from Kokstad in Griqualand East, or by steamer
along the coast from Natal. Approached from seaward, the river
mouth is a noticeable object. A lofty table-topped mountain
appears to have been rent asunder, leaving a wedge-shaped gap
through which the river flows to the sea. The edges of the cliffs,
which near to the mouth lie about 2,000 feet apart, approach each


22
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
other, until at the top of the first reach they are 1,500 feet wide;
rising in abrupt forest-clad steeps to a height of six to seven
hundred feet. From these mountain edges, on both sides of the
river, plateaux extend until on each side other precipitous cliffs
rise, which culminate about a mile-and-a-half from the sea, where
they attain a height of near to 1,200 feet. These are the well-
known " Gates" of the St. John's or Unizimvoobu River.

THE GATES OF ST. JOHN.
"Liko giant sentinels on either band,
The stately portals of tho river stand,
Their rugged crests, and headlands bold and free,
Rising in silent grandeur o'er the sea,
Whose foaming waves engird with silvery showers
St. John's grand cliffs and castellated towere.
Low at their feet, in deep eternal shade,
The river flows past mountain, krantz, and glade,
Onward and onward from its distant source,
Till, midst this scene Bublime, it ends its course." *
After passing through the channel, which has a depth of 14 feet
on the bar, the river broadens into fine reaches, and may be
ascended for a distance of ten or twelve miles when the elevated
lands fall back, forming a fine amphitheatre with gracefully-
* Lines by " Adean" (J. F. Ingrain Esq.).








AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
2.°>
swelling hills on either hand. From inside the " Gates," looking
seaward, where the white line of foam indicates the union of
the river with the ocean, is an exceedingly beautiful view. Here
the river has more the appearance of a lake than of a rolling
stream. There is an expanse of lovely sky-blue water nearly five
hundred yards wide, between stately mountains and luxuriantly-
foliaged hills. The steep-wooded slopes come down to the water's
edge, and in some spots the thick tangled forest growth over-
hangs the margin, forming natural arcades. To appreciate the
unique character of the scenery, one must witness the indescribable
beauties of the spot and its surroundings—long, silent, vistas of
forest, with the ripple of water sounding through them, tumbled
masses of rock covered with mosses, ferns and flowering creepers
of all sorts, in most bewildering luxuriance, twining in heavy clus-
tering masses around majestic old trees, whose every bough and
leaf find their reflection as in a mirror in the placid waters, until
in some places it is difficult to tell where the reality ends and the
shadow begins. The exquisite semi-tropical vegetation, African
in its type and almost Brazilian in its beauty; the charms of light
and shade over the grand panorama of mountain, wood, and water;
and the glimpses of hill and dale, forming the high lands in the
extreme distance and seemingly merging into the cobalt sky,
furnish a picture of virgin Nature untouched by Art rarely to bo
met with.
The coast-lands of Natal, which may be seen from the deck of
any of the mail-steamers passing along its shores, never fail to
attract attention and charm the eye. They form a succession of
undulated and rounded hills, swathed in a luxuriance of grass,
bushy foliage, and bright blossoms. Sometimes they extend for
miles without a sign of life or of man's industry, and impress one
with a sense of exuberant African wildness. In various situations,
however, the sylvan scene is enlivened and humanised by the
appearance of verandahed houses and homesteads, picturesquely
perched on the airy hill-tops, in the centre of what seem to be
natural landscape gardens; and around them, on the swelling
outlines of adjacent hills, are fields of sugar-cane, or patches of
coffee or tea plants, with groves of mangoes, bananas, or pines.
Immediately behind, the country opens out into higher elevations
and deeper valleys, ornamented with wooded copses and park-like
glades, and then suddenly rises to the midland and upland
terraces, where semi-tropical beauty and luxuriance is exchanged
for the characteristic features and more familiar productions of
the temperate region.
At no great distance from here is the highest land in South
Africa, to which the first French missionaries in Basutoland gave


24
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
the name of "Mont aux Sources." It is easily reached by railway
from Durban to Harrismith, and a day's cart journey from there
to Witzieshoek, where the final ascent to the loftiest accessible
point is made over bridle-paths on hoi-seback. The great chain
of the Drakensberg attains its culminating height near where the
boundaries of Natal, Basutoland, and the Orange Free State join.
From the Natal side it has the appearance of a perpendicular
rocky rampart, with bold prominent crests—one of which, desig-
nated Champagne Castle, is about 12,000 feet, and the other,
named Giant's Castle, about 11,000 feet high. On the other side
there is no marked dip or fall of country, for the mountain is but
the rim or edge of the great central plateau extending, with
undulating sweep, westward and northward. Here, however,
parallel ranges occur, forming a series of lofty ridges, known to
the Basutos as the Maluti, or Double Mountains. This is the
Alpine region of South Africa, with grand and savage scenery—
a land of jagged peaks and scarped precipices, ot wind-swept
bleak hills and snow-clad summits, of rushing streams and foaming
cataracts. Within an area of not more than thirty or forty square
miles, the head waters of the Orange, the Vaal, the Caledon, and
the Tugela rise and flow to the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans
respectively. The "Great Divide" is between Champagne
Castle, or Cathkin Peak, and the Mont aux Sources, where the
water seems to well out of the shallow valleys and swamps in the
broken country between the mountains. Three different streams,
named by the Basutos the Sengu, Seate, and Semenu, run south-
ward, forming the head tributaries of the Orange River. Another
stream, the Muchachaning, flows westward, forming the Caledou
River, which afterwards also joins the Orange. A third, named
the Eland, flows north, joining the Wilge and the Vaal Rivers,
and ultimately unites with the Orange River, making a circuit of
nearly 1,700 miles before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. A
fourth, rising in a valley parallel with that of the Eland, and not
many miles distant from where it has its source, flows due east-
ward over the rocky cliff of the Drakensberg, falling in an un-
broken perpendicular stream for nearly 1,800 feet, and winds its
way through Natal to the Indian Ocean. The scenery on the
mountains, when not obscured by rain or cloud, is strikingly
where for sublimity and beauty. On the western side, overlooking
Basutoland, there is a billowy sea of mountain peaks and crests,
deep river valleys, precipitous gorges, and rushing waterfalls, like
those of the Maletsunyane, leaping 630 feet from the top of the
cliff to the basin below. To the northward there are the plains
of the Orange Free State, the heights of the historic Amajuba,
superb; and at some

presents features unequalled any-


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
25
the Highveldt of the South African Republic, and the northern
portions of Zululand; while, looking over the eastern ridge of

MALETSUHYAJJE FALLS, BASUTOLAND.
the Drakensberg, the "garden colony" of Natal is spread out
like a map, presenting an extended vista of ridges, conical hills,


26
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
flat-topped mountains, cup-shaped valleys, gleaming rivers and
endless breadths of grassy sward, darkened here and there by the
more sombre tints of bush and forest, and bounded by the sea.
The Drakensberg continues to mark the margin of the high
plateau as it stretches away on the eastern side of the South
African Republic; and between it and the coast are a series of
gradually sloping terraces bounded by a minor range named the
Lobombo, which, with a width of about ten miles and an eleva-

riONEEIi's CItEEK, MOODIE'S GOLDFIELDS.
tion not exceeding 1,000 feet, extends from the Zululand border
north to the Limpopo. The principal mountain range, at some
points along its line, still shows the characteristic rocky escarp-
ment, as at the Goodwan Plateau, where it presents a precipitous
face of 1,500 feet, fronting the Knap Valley and the auriferous
tract of the Barberton, Sheba Hill, and Hoodie's Goldfields. In
other places it forms broken and detached mountains, some of
them, like Spitzkop and Mauchberg in the Leydenberg district,
having an altitude of 6,000 to 7,000 feet, while many of the
elevations are cut into broad rich valleys and wide expanses of
fertile lands, lying in magnificent sequestered solitude. Diverg-
ing more and more from the coast, it trends northward and joins


AND PHYSICAL FEATURES.
27
the tablelands of the Zoutpansberg district with Eersteliug,
Mount Mare, and Pietersburg on one side, and on the other what
is termed the Low Country—a beautiful fertile region, but sickly
in summer, covered with trees and luxuriant tropical vegetation,
and including within it the gold-bearing zone of the Murchison
and Sutherland ranges. The opeuiug of the Selati Eailway from
Komatie Poort to Leydsdorp will soon aid in the development of
its rich resources.
The line of the Drakensberg still forms the main watershed.

tiger's cbeek, leydenbebo.
From its eastern slopes the Ingenya, or Crocodile, the Sabi, and
the Komatie take their course towards the Lobombo, where they
unite as the Umkomogazi, Manice, or King George's Kiver, dis-
charging itself into Delagoa Bay. From the tablelands on its
western side at Witwatersrand there rise the sources of the Lim-
popo, or "Krockodile" River, as it was named by the Dutch
pioneers, on account of the number of crocodiles frequenting its
waters. This river, in a course of little less than 900 miles,
describes nearly three-quarters of a circle, first running north-
west, then north and east, forming the boundary limits of the
Republic, and then turning to the south-east, where it flows into
the Indian Ocean. Its drainage area includes, besides the South


28
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
African Kepublic, a considerable portion of Bechuaualand, Mata-
beleland, Mashonaland, and Gazaland; but, like other South
African streams, it is unnavigable except for a distance of sixty
miles from its mouth, and then only for light-draught vessels.
At the north-eastern corner of the Republic, on the edge of the
plateau where the land drops off coastwards, are the Tolo Azirne
Falls of the Limpopo. These form a series of cataracts by which
the river precipitates its waters through a huge rent in the land
to a lower level. The late Capt. Elton, who visited them in 1870,
describes their peculiar formation and surroundings as of sufficient
interest to repay the exertions of any traveller who may direct his
steps that way. Above the Falls, the river rushes in a dozen
different channels in seething and foaming rapids, separated by
islands, and then, on reaching the gorge, leaps in a succession of
parallel cascades (six in number) into the abyss below, thundering
majestically and aimost obscured by clouds of spray rising from
the torrent which races down into a circular basin surrounded by
high escarped cliffs, whence it escapes by a deep narrow outlet on
its seaward course.
In these tropical regions, the country between the foothills of
the inland terraces and the seaboard, as well as along the
river valleys and minor elevations, is apt, especially during
the summer season, to be unhealthy for men and animals.
It is subject to malarial fever and the deadly tsetse-fly. For
the insect pest there is no known remedy, for it decimates cattle,
horses, asses, or any beast of burden. The fever, however,
succumbs to careful treatment; and as a precaution against it,
elevation of residence, proper food and shelter, strict attention to
rules of health and temperance, and avoidance of the miasmatic
air of night or early morning, are of importance. But experience
has shown that the more rapidly the fever tracts are passed
through, and the healthy higher country reached, the better it
is. From the shores of Delagoa Bay and through the river valleys
of the Komatie and Crocodile, a railway now quickly carries the
traveller to the uplands of the Drakensberg and the Highveldt;
and over the flats of the littoral at Port Beira, and through the
fly-belts along the Pungwe River, another line of railway has just
been laid down, facilitating passage and transport to Umtali and
Salisbury on the elevated plateau known as Mashonaland.
This is the territory recently opened up to colonisation by the
British South Africa Chartered Company. It has an area of
about 150,000 square miles between the Limpopo on the south,
the Zambesi River on the north, and the Portuguese possessions
on the east. Its north-western part is occupied by the Matabele,
a Zulu tribe who established themselves there fifty years ago,


AND PHYSICAL FEATCRES.
29
and on its eastern and southern slopes are broken remnants of
the Makalaka tribe, commonly named Mashonas. Its centre is
Fort Salisbury, on the high slopes of the watershed formed by the
Matopa and Umvokwe Mountains. Although it lies within the
tropics, and only 18° south of the equator, its great elevation—
from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea-level—counteracts any injurious
effects, making it climatically healthy and fit for Europeans. A
cool south-east trade wind blows nearly all the year round, and the
temperature ranges from 36° to 86° Fahr. .Rain is plentiful in the
summer (from September to March), but scarcely a drop falls
during the winter season, which is dry, bracing, and invigorating.
Generally speaking, fever is confined to the lower portions of the
country, where the gigantic baobab and the mopani trees grow,
below the altitude of 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Many parts are surpris-
ingly beautiful. Wood, dell, and water ofttimes vary the landscape
There are fine stretches of forest and bush, and tree-clad slopes
and parks alive with herds of varied wild game. There are great
granite hills of rugged character and picturesque variety of iorm.
There are rich grazing lands and good arable soils, with a network
of streams springing from the higher lands and running near the
surface, giving favourable facilities for irrigation. The few native
Mashona inhabitants cultivate tobacco, rice, sweet potatoes, maize,
beans, pumpkins, and other vegetables ; but there are traces of agri-
culture on an extended scale in former years, when a considerable
population must have occupied the land; and unique ancient
ruins and old reef-workings attest that at some far-remote period it
was occupied by a colony of the early gold-seeking races of the
north—possibly Phoenicians or Sabaeans. On the sites of some of
the ancient primitive workings, and over a wide stretch of virgin
country from Victoria on the west to Mazoe and Umtali on the
east, gold-bearing formations associated with the stratified rocks
have been found and tested to a considerable depth, and several of
them have proved so far to be wondrously rich. Their full
development and working has been awaiting the advent of the
Beira railway, now completed, for the transport of mining and ore-
crushing machinery. It'the roseate views of the prospectors are even
only partially borne out, by the production of gold in the next
year or two, the mineral wealth of Mashonaland will be a magnet
drawing thousands into this new country to participate in the
abundance of its riches.
One other natural feature remains to be noticed—the Victoria
Falls of the Zambesi Kiver, named in the native Sechuana
language, Moose-oa-tuneya, or "The smoke that sounds." These
form the most wonderful sight in South Africa. For grandeur
and magnificence they rival the Falls of Niagara. Dr. Living-


30
SOUTH AFRICA: ITS DIVISIONS
stone, the explorer, was the first to bring them to the notice of
the world in 1855. They were afterwards vividly described and
pictured by the pen and pencil of the artist traveller, Mr. Thomas
Baines; and within the past year their beauty and picturesqueness
at every point have been successfully photographed with the camera
by Mr. W. Ellerton Fry. The opening up of the route to the
north has made the approach to these Falls much easier than it
was before, and they may now be considered as almost within the
happy hunting-ground of the globe-trotter, or the visitor seeking
pleasure, recreation or health. To get to the Falls the only-
practicable way is by ox-waggon from the railway terminus at
Vryburg, or from Mafeking, when the railway will be open to the
latter place. It involves a journey extending over from six to
eight months there and back. A visitor may arrange for all the
details of transport with some reliable person who has been through
the country before, and knows the route and the difficulties of
travelling along it. By leaving Cape Town in the month of
March, he will be able to fit out at Vryburg or Palachwe, to spend
a week or two on the road hunting when the big game is at
Thlamakinyana or at Daka, to visit the Falls at all points, and
return again to Palachwe, while there is sufficient pasturage
and before the waters dry up along the road. Stores ana supplies
will have to be taken, as but little food besides milk can be got
from the natives. If the visitor is a keen hunter, sufficient game
can be shot to furnish fresh meat, as after leaving Khama's cattle-
posts there is wild game in abundance, from elephants down to the
small antelopes, and partridges, francolines, guinea-fowl, as well
as duck, where there is water. Panda-ma-tenka, distant about
380 miles from Palachwe and 60 miles from the Victoria Falls,
is the furthest point to which waggons and cattle are taken, as
beyond there the tsetse-fly is found. The remainder of the journey
can be done on foot or with carriers. July or August are about
the best months to be there, for there is sufficient water then to
make the Falls a grand scene, and the climate is enjoyable and
healthy.
The Zambesi is the largest of all the African rivers which flow
to the Indian Ocean. It has its sources in the marshes of Lake
Dilolo, between 11° and 12° south latitude, and running south
through the Barotse country, turns to the east, receiving the
waters of the Chobi. It then proceeds on its course, a broad
tranquil-flowing stream, through many large islands bordered
with palms and covered with luxuriant vegetation, until suddenly
it falls over the edge of a chasm of hard basaltic rock into an
abyss four hundred feet deep, the foaming mass of waters rebound-
ing and thundering below, and sending up high columns of vapour








AND PHYSICAL JPEATUBES.
31
nearly always tinged with prismatic colours, and visible some-
times at a distance of sixty miles. The chasm into which the
waters fall is one mile long, 100 yards wide, and 400 feet deep.
Below this the river is contracted into a space of about seventy
yards, and rushes, boiling and roaring, between perpendicular
fissured cliffs some 400 feet high, in a southern direction for a
considerable distance, until at Wankie's Town, near Logier's Hill,
it emerges on the open plains. Close to the Falls the vegetation
is superb; the umbrageous trees, ferns, and flowers are constantly
watered by the ascending spray, and the effect of this in the
tropics is an arboreal and botanical garden, beautifully clothed
with a profusion of colours. The immense volume of water
poured over the Falls when the river is in flood, the great height
of the flow, the wondrous altitude of the ascending spray clouds,
the brilliancy of the rainbows, and the gorgeous tropical scenery,
all combine the elements of magnificence and beauty, and many
who have seen both the American and the African cataracts, have
expressed the opinion that the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi is
the grander of the two. To quote the words of Mr. F. C. Selous,
it is "one of, if not the most transcendently-beautiful natural
phenomenon on this side of Paradise."


( 32 )
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS OF
SOUTH AFRICA.
Although the richest of metals and the rarest and most
valuable of precious stones have been found in South Africa, there
has not as yet been any systematic geological survey of the
country. Only in some isolated portions of it have any details
been worked out. But the labour and investigations of several
qualified observers, embodied in published topographical and
geological reports, supply materials for attaining to tolerably
definite conclusions as to the main features of the rock-formations.
In character and grouping most of them are the equivalents of
well-explored analogous formations in Europe, Australia, and
India.
The first observations, which formed the foundation for all sub-
sequent work, were made by the late Mr. Andrew Geddes Bain,
whose name is honourably associated with the country as the con-
structor of the magnificent mountain passes of the Cape Colony.
In the course of his official duties as a road engineer he had
specially favourable opportunity of study, and although an
amateur, working purely from love of the science and without any
aid from Government, the results of his labours elicited the highest
c(jmmendation from the Geological Society, who published his
papers, accompanied by map and sections, in the volume of
the Society's Transactions for 1856. Shortly after this, the indica-
tions of mineral wealth in the copper districts of Namaqualand
induced the Cape Government to secure the services of Mr. Andrew
Wyley, of the British Geological Survey, for a period of three or
four years. The work performed by him consisted of an ex-
haustive report on the geology of Little Namaqualand, and a
detailed account of a visit to the Stormberg, and of two journeys
across the Colony, describing the various formations he met with.
Unfortunately, just as he had acquired a general grasp of the
geology of the country, his services were discontinued by the
Government, and his valuable experience lost. In 1871, Mr. E. J.
Dunn, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Victoria, who was highly


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
33
recommended by the late Mr. Daintree, the accomplished Govern-
ment Geologist of Queensland, undertook some prospecting and
geological investigations for the Cape Government. He traversed
the south-eastern coast districts from Caledon to George; also
the north-western region of Bushmanland, portion of Little
Namaqualand, and the coal-bearing districts of the Stormberg,
embodying the information obtained by him respecting the coal-
fields in a map and sections, shewing their value and extent.
Mr. Dunn was also engaged to explore various localities in the
Orange Free State, Natal, and the South African Republic; and
although this intermittent research did not allowof any scientifically-
connected working out of the geology of the country, it enabled
him to prepare and publish a geological sketch map of South
Africa shewing the various rock systems and their relative
positions, so far as the same have been as yet determined.* In
this compilation were embodied the results of Mr. Dunn's personal
investigations as well as those of others whose zealous labours and
investigations had thrown light upon the subject, among whom
may be named Dr. W. G. Atherstone, of Graham's Town, the late
Dr. Rubidge and R. Pinchin, of Port Elizabeth, and Mr. George
W. Stow, of Queen's Town; Mr. T. Bain, the Geological and
Irrigation Surveyor of Cape Town ; Dr. Sutherland, of Natal; and
Mr. E. Button, of the South African Republic.
The ancient sedimentary deposits of the Palaeozoic or primary
formation constitute the littoral zone, and are noticeably de-
veloped over the southern and western parts of the Cape Colony
and the eastern side of the South African Republic. The lower
members of the group are clayslates, varying from soft mud
stones to fine argillaceous schists and gritty sandstones. Cape
"Malmesbury" and "Leydenburg" beds, from their common
occurrence in these districts, and they are classed as Silurian.
Through and over these old rocks masses of granite were pro-
truded, outcrops of which occur at Sea Point, Platteklip, and
Wynberg, in the Cape Peninsula, as well as at the Paarl. There
is a large area of it spreading as the basement rock north-
west to Namaqualand and Damaraland, where the prevailing
formations are granite, gneiss, metamorphic slates and lime-
stone!". To the eastward there is an intrusion at Mossel Bay
and George, and again in Natal. The granite reappears in
* Published by Sands & Macdougall, Melbourne (1875), and Juta & Co., Cape
Town. A geological map of the Transvaal (South African Republic), by Mr. P. P. T.
Struben, has been published by J. Wyld, Charing Cross; and a volume on the
"Geological Features of the Transvaal," by Charles J. Alford, F.G.S., published
by E. Stanford, Cockspur Street, London.
Town stands on these rocks.

designated the


34
GEOLOGY, FOSSIL8, AND MINERALS.
mass in the South African Republic, notably in the De Kaap
Valley and Zoutpansberg, where it is flanked by metamorphic
rocks, and penetrated through by trap dykes. Thence it ex-
tends over the high plateaux of Bechuanaland, Mashonaland and
Matabeleland, where it forms picturesque pinnacles and rounded
domes.
Lying unconformably on the clayslate, and above the granite and
gneiss, and the metamorphic schists and limestone associated with
them, is a great horizontal deposit of quartzose sandstone, with,
in some places, embedded pebbles. This forms the well-known
stratified rock of Table Mountain, the Lion's Head, Drakenstein,
Hottentot's Holland,Langebergen and other coast mountain ranges.
It constitutes the elevated hills of Great Namaqualand and the
tabular elevations in Natal and the South African Republic.
Like the clayslates of the lower horizon, it has as yet proved
entirely unfossiliferous. But resting upon this quartzose sand-
stone, in the second belt of mountains,—stretching from the
Cedarbergen and Bokkveld, and along the railway ascent at
Hex River, to the flanks of the Great Zwarteberg at Seven
Weeks' Poort,—are deposits of argillaceous shales abounding
in organic remains of trilobites, branchiapods, encrinites and
other fossils characteristic of that subdivision of the primary
or Pala?ozoic period known as the Devonian, or old red sand-
stone.
Conformable to these fossiliferous deposits is a white coarse
sandstone and quartzite, forming the Wittebergen or Klein Zwarte-
bergen on the west, and the Groot River Heights, Klein
Winterhock, and Zuurberg as far as Albany, in the east. This
Mr. A. G. Bain and Mr. Wyley classed as carboniferous, from
Lepidodendra and other fossil plants of the carboniferous era
being found among them. Detached patches of the same system
of rocks occur in portions of the coast districts of Natal and in
Swazieland.
Succeeding these sandstones and quartzites is a composite
formation which lias been a puzzling problem to many geologists,
and whose true character cannot be said to be as yet clearly
defined. On Dunn's geological map it is designated the " Dwyka
Conglomerate," from its characteristic occurrence near the River
Dwyka, in the Great Karoo. The peculiar feature of this con-
glomerate is that there are embedded in it fragments of rock
derived from all the formations known in South Africa, such as
granite, gneiss, quartz, jasper, porphyry, amygdaloid, limestone,
schist, slate, shale, sandstone, and trap, and of sizes varying from
that of a pin's head to blocks several feet square; the whole
being set or fixed in an indurated and, in some instances, meta-


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
35
morphosed, muddy substance.* At localities hundreds of miles
apart from each other the rock presents much the same uni-
formity of character and appearance. When weathered, its
schistose structure bristles on the flats and mountains like inclined
grave-stones; the old colonists name them "Bushmen stones"
because the Bushmen hid among them in former days. Striking
examples of this weathering are to be seen on the craggy hills
approaching to the Matjesfontein Railway Station.
Mr. Dunn, in 1886, reported that he had traced the outcrop of
this conglomerate from the Vaal River, near Kimberley, along
the Vaal and Orange Rivers, passing Hope Town, then westwards
towards Prieska, thence along the south-west of Doornberg and
Ezelberg, and through a broad belt, twenty to forty miles across,
known as the Kijenveld. From Lemoenfontein Pass, in Bushman-
land, the belt bends southward, passing about twenty miles to the
west of Calvinia. From this it becomes altered and involved in
the plications of the enclosing strata. It afterwards continues on
past Patats River, near Karoo Poort; thence in a double belt it
runs nearly due east past Matjesfontein, Buffalo River, and Prince
Albert and Willowmore, to Mount Stewart, on the Graaff Reinet
Railway; north of Alicedale, on the Graham's Town Railway;
north of Botha's Hill, and out to the sea at Goulana River-mouth.
It reappears at St. John's River, crosses the Umzimkulu River,
near the drift, passes to the east of Richmond in Natal, one belt
passing Pietermaritzburg and Grey Town on to the junction of
the Buffalo and TugelaRivers, while another passes along the coast
and shows at the Umgeni Quarry, near Durban.
Within the last year an outcrop of the same formation was
found by Mr. T. Bain at Mafeking, on the border of British
Bechuanaland, and it is, therefore, evident that its northern
limit is much higher up than was supposed, and is still quite
undefined. The rim of the basin embraced by the outcrop so
observed is over 800 miles in length, with a mean breadth of 250
miles. It includes the greater portion of Cape Colony, the
Orange Free State, and Natal, and a portion of the circuit still
remains open, for geologists to work out and fill up.
The origin of this peculiar formation has been much debated.
Mr. A. G. Bain considered it to be of igneous origin, and named
it a "claystono porphyry." Mr. Wyley designated it a trap
conglomerate. Dr. Sutherland, of Natal, thought it probably
* Professor 8eeley Bays that the base of which the conglomerate is composed
suggests that it has been dust of volcanic ash ejected from tho earth into the air,
and after being ejected into the air has fallen into water, and then consolidated, as
with cement, the pebbles and boulders stretching on a vast seashore, assuming many
of the characteristics of volcanic rock.
D 2


36
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MLNERAL8.
a "boulder clay," identified with ancient moraines, and akin to
the Scandinavian drift. This supposition has been supported
by Mr. Dunn, who found some of the small pebbles weathered
out of the rocks at Matjesfontein and other places distinctly
ice-scratched and grooved, and who also had discovered, about
a mile north-west from the junction of the Orange and
Vaal Rivers, a distinctly glacial surface, with the conglomerate
resting upon it. Mr. Dunn was satisfied that the conglomerate
of the northern portion of the colony, and that south of the
Karoo, were one and the Fame rock, and came to the conclusion
that the wide distribution of its varied and far-borne material was
owing to its transport and deposition by glacier or iceberg agency.
The Dwyka or trap conglomerate is followed by a succession of
shales and sandstones of immense thickness, which Mr. A. G. Bain
named the lacustrine or reptiliferous beds, from the general
uniformity and homogeneity of the deposits, and the fossil reptilian
remains found in them. Mr. Wyley classed them as the equiva-
lent of the English coal measures, dividing them into a series
which he named in order of succession—(1) the Karoo shales,
(2) the lower, (3) the middle, and (4) the upper coal measures;
for, though coal was confined to tho latter—the Stormberg rocks
—he had met with fossil plants at varying levels of the forma-
tion.
In the course of investigations in search of coal in the Camdeboo
and Nieuweld mountains in 1879, Mr. Dunn found that the lower
Karoo beds were older, and quite unconformable to the upper
Karoo beds. As there was a great gap in time separating them,
he thought the relations of those rocks should be distinguished
by different names, and, retaining for the upper series the old
name of Karoo beds, he gave the name of Ecca beds to the lower,
at the same time embracing in the group the Dwyka and other con-
glomerates, and the dark arenaceous shales next to them. He
accordingly classed them in the following order of super-posi-
tion :—
TlUknrss la
Nature of Beds. Fossils. feet.
Stormberg Beds. Volcanic. 2,510
Care Bandstono. Fragments of reptilian
bones.
Red and purple shale Nearly perfect ditto.
and sandstone.
Coal, witli grey shale and Dants, ferns, and fossil
sandstone. wood.
Karoo Beds . . Durk red, purple to grey, Ferns in sandstone. 5,000
and light brown shales Reptilian remains from
and sandstone. base to summit, sili-
cified wood and plant
impressions in lower


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
37
Thickness in
Nature of Beds. Fossils. feet.
Ecca Beds . . Shales and sandstone.
Black shales with anthra- Glossopteris and Cak- Unknown,
cite. mites.
Brown and dark mica-
ceous sandstone.
Black shales, nodule of
anthraconite.
Dwyka conglomerate
(several beds).
Dark arenaceous shales.
Beds below uncertain.
Professor A. H. Green, now of Oxford, who visited the Cape
in 1883, and made a special report to the Government on the coal
deposits, confirmed the observations of Mr. Dunn as to the strong
unconformity between the Ecca and the overlying horizontal Karoo
beds. The Ecca series is well seen on the Queen's Road, between
Graham's Town and Fort Beaufort. They extend in a succession
of wavy folds to Calvinia on the west, to the Witteberg on the
south, the Nieuweld and Camdeboo on the north, and eastward
they stretch away past Aberdeen, Pearstou, Koonap, and Fort
Beaufort to the coast near East London.
The Karoo beds, which unconformably cover these Ecca beds,
occupy a far more extensive area. Their southernmost boundary is
Klipplaat, on the Graaff Beinet Railway, and twelve miles soutli of
Wagonmakers Kraal, on the Beaufort line. Their western limit is
the gneiss and crystallised limestone of Calvinia and Bushmanland,
and irotn there they spread north past Hope Town to Kimberley,
over the Orange Free State as far as Cronstadt; and eastward
they are represented in Natal, near to Richmond, Pietermaritz-
burg, and Greytown. They repose on very different rocks at
different localities. For quite five hundred miles on the south
and south-west sides the floor is of Ecca beds; on the west, gneiss
and old schistose rocks, crystalline limestone, etc.; in Griqualand
West similar rocks; and in Natal on Ecca beds. At New Scotland,
South African Republic, the Karoo beds are unrepresented, the
Stormberg coal beds lying immediately on gneissose and schistose
rocks.
The hills and mountains formed of these Karoo beds have a
very characteristic aspect. They consist of alternations of hori-
zontal sandstone and shale, with sometimes a capping of basalt,
and when viewed from a distance their sides and precipices have
a striking banded appearance, resulting from the unequal weather-
ing of the hard and soft beds of which they are composed.
It is in the Karoo shales that the diamond-bearing pipes occur.
At Bultfontein and Dutoitspan Mines the shale has not been
bottomed, but it has a greater thickness there than at the more


38
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
northern mines of Kimberley and De Beers, whilst at the Vaal
River Diggings it thins out altogether, thus confirming the sup-
position that the Kimberley Mines are situated at the northern
rim of the saucer-shaped basin, which was once the great fresh-
water lake of the Karoo area. Intrusive trap is met with amoDg
the shales, and underlying is an amygdaloidal trap or melaphyre
—an exceedingly hard rock, with nodules of augite and quartz.
Underneath this is a quartzite, and in the Kimberley Mine rock
shaft, at a depth of 1,141 feet from the surface, the quartzite
changes to metamorphic slates, interlaminated with thin layers of
sandstone. This is the oldest rock that has so far been pierced.
The occurrence of small outcrops of anthracite coal of superior
quality on the Nieuweld and Camdeboo Mountains, where the
rocks had been faulted, taken together with the presence of the
carbonaceous shales in the Kimberley mines, and at other parts of
the Karoo basin defined by the rim of the "Dwyka conglomerate,"
led to the supposition that workable coal deposits might be found
in the Ecca beds or the dark shales beneath the Karoo group, if
they were thoroughly explored. Boring operations were there-
fore undertaken in 1887 at the northern side of the basin,
beyond De Aar, but after reaching a depth of 700 feet they were
discontinued, on account of the drill being on a dolerite dyke.
At Kruidfontein, near Fraserburg Koad, a bore hole of 1,200
feet was made; and at Camdeboo, in three successive stages,
2,400 feet was bored, but without result.
The only formation in the Cape Colony in which workable coal
has as yet-been found is the Stormberg rocks, which are classed
as of the secondary, or Mesozoic epoch. They lie immediately
and conformably on the top strata of the Karoo beds, and have a
thickness of about 1,000 feet. They consist of coarse, grey
quartzose grits passing into a conglomerate, and alternating
with thin bands of shales and claystones, with which are inter-
calated the coal seams. Above this coal-hearing deposit—which
is apparently the edge of the great coal basin extending to Natal,
the South African Republic, and the Free State—are red and
purple sandstones; and, covering them, is a massive bedded
sandstone which, from the manner in which it has been affected
by water and weathering, has been named the " cave sandstone."
The scenery resulting therefrom is weird and picturesque, the
rock forming craggy precipices, fantastically shaped masses, and
detached monoliths. One of the caves is 360 feet wide at the
mouth, 144 feet deep, 60 feet high at the entrance, and is said to
be sufficiently large to hold 3,000 sheep. Similar caves are
numerous along the edge of the sandstone. The top of these
beds are composed of volcanic material.


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
3!)
A later division of the secondary period, viz., the Jurassic or
oolitic, is represented in the Cape Colony by the deposits along
the course of the Sunday's Eiver; while yet another division, the
Cretaceous, has its equivalent in a deposit of small extent, rising
from 60 to 100 feet above the sea-shore, near the Umtavuna River,
in Alfred District, Natal. It is rich in fossils of ammonites and
bivalves of great size and variety.
The tertiary and quaternary formations are represented in
the clays, limestones, and sandstones found in the Zwartkops
River Valley, Uitenhage, and portions of Alexandria and Bredas-
dorp Districts, the Cape Flats, and elsewhere. Drift deposits of
pliocene, and probably post-pliocene, age are found at various
places along the valleys of the Vaal and the Orange Rivera. In
some localities, as at Hebron, Pniel, Hope Town, and Aries,
towards the mouth of the river, these deposits are of great
breadth and thickness. They consist of well-rounded boulders
and pebbles of igneous rocks, amygdaloid?, jasper, chalcedony,
agate, etc., as well as garnets and diamonds.
These accumulations point to denuding agencies on a gigantic
scale, such as may have been produced by the bursting of great
lake basins, or the sudden upheaval of their beds, or perhaps a
combination of both, the weight and velocity of the escaped
waters forcing a way for themselves through the "poorts" or
gaps of the coast barrier ranges, carrying along with them many
thousands of feet of the yielding stratified rocks, and carving and
moulding the surface features of the country into hills, valleys,
and plains, as we now find them.
The evidences of volcanic activity at various remote periods of
time are most abundant throughout South Africa. Along th9
south-western and north-western sides of the Karoo basin few
dykes or eruptive trappean masses are met with; but in the
midland, northern, and eastern parts of the Cape Colony, and
adjacent states and territories, extensive developments of intrusive
rock occur. These indicate that, after the deposit of the Karoo
beds, and probably at the close of the period occupied in the
accumulation of the Stormberg beds, vast masses of dolerite, in
the form of dykes and lateral sheets, pierced through, or welled
over the stratified rocks in all directions; and in many localities
there is evidence even of the earlier intrusive matter being pene-
trated at all angles by newer dykes and flows. Except in limited
areas, they do not seem to have greatly tilted or disturbed the
strata, although, near the points of contact, they invariably indu-
rated the sandstones and shales, and, spreading over their summit,
gave them the doleritic capping which has markedly helped to
preserve them from the effects of denuding and erosive forces.


40
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
In the Stormberg, where the hills attain a height of over 7,000
feet above sea-level, the dolerite flows seem to have been of great
extent. Some of the sections there show a thickness of 400 feet
of volcanic material, consisting of compact bedded lava, stratified
ash, tuff conglomerate, amygdaloid (zeolite), and vesicular lava.
In this tract traces of the former centres of eruptive activity are
met with. Two of them still preserve a crater-like form—one is
locally known as " Glat Kopjes," and the other as "Telemachus
Kop." Mr. Dunn, in describing the latter, says:—" The kop,
after which the farm is named, is a somewhat conical hill, rising
1,100 feet above the spruit at its base, and forms the southern lip
of the old volcano. It is principally made .up of extremely
tough, heavy, doleritic rock. The rest of the crater is marked
out by a circular range of low hills; the eastern side is particu-
larly well defined. Eight round the crater's shell the rock
appears to be of the same character as the kop, and is rudely-
columnar j but within the crater volcanic rocks, differing widely
in colour and texture, and their mineral constituents, abound.
Tuff conglomerate, containing pieces of very vesicular lava in
abundance, mixed with many varieties of eruptive rock, is found
on the east side of the basin, also on the outside of the west rim.
Grey felspathic lavas occupy the lower central parts of the basin.
On the north rim a dyke of dark, blue-black crystalline rock (of
the same type as the most recent system of dykes) cuts through
the other igneous rocks. Zeolitic amygdaloid is represented, and
agate-bearing amygdaloid also. Huge masses of sandstone aro
enveloped in the igneous rock, and are invariably highly altered
by heat. Only at a centre of volcanic activity could such
a variety of igneous rocks be collected." The agates and
amygdaloids, which are in situ on the mountains of the Storm-
berg and its continuation, the Drakensberg, point to the source
of the accumulations of pebbles which form the drift deposits
along the great river-beds whose streams rise in that elevated
range.
Subterranean caverns occur in the limestone formation at the
base of the Zwarteberg Range in the district of Oudtshoorn, Cape
Colony. These are known as the Cango Caves, and contain a
series of very interesting vaults and grottoes decorated with
stalactite and stalagmite formations in varied designs. Although
persons have penetrated them for a distance of over a mile, they
have never been explored to the end; and their inner recesses
still remain as a field of adventure for anyone ambitious of going
where man has never been before. They have been graphically
described by Lieut. Shirwell, an Indian visitor, who explored
them suitably provided with appliances for illuminating the


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
41
caverns, and who declared that Elephanta, and other caves of
India, did not gratify him so much as these.
At Wonderfontein, near Potchefstrom, South African Re-
public, there are a series of caves and vast chambers, through
which the Mooi River flows in a subterranean course. Mr. C. J.
Alford says that these caves have been formed in calcareous
quartzite by erosion, and that the veins of calcito dissolved have
been redeposited in stalactitic formation. In the north-east of
Mashoualand, Mr. F. C. Selous, a few years ago, discovered, in
the Limestone caves at Sinoia's, a subterranean pool or lakelet,
approached by underground passages and chambers with stalactite
pillars. The lake is illuminated by the light refracted and in-
ternally reflected in the clear liquid water, producing, it is said,
a cerulean tinge, like the famed Grotta Azzura of Capri.
The Palaeontology, like the geology of South Africa, has only
been partially investigated. Among the first collectors of fossils
which threw some light on the distribution of extinct life over the
country was Dr. Andrew Smith, whose specimens were submitted
to Sir R. Murchison, and referred to in his work on the Silurian
system. The next was Mr. A. G. Bain, whose collections of the
Palaeozoic series were examined and described in 1856 by Mr.
Sharpe, President of the Geological Society, and Mr. J. W. Salter.
Since that time there have been many explorers and collectors—
foremost amongst them being Dr. Atherstone, Dr. Sutherland
and Mr. T. Bain, Mr. Orpen, Mr. H. W. Piers, Mr. Brown, Dr.
Berry, and Dr. Kannemeyer—several of whose specimens have
found a place in the museums of the colony, as well as of Europe.
Some interest attaches to the ancient flora associated with the
coal measures. Fossil specimens of Lepidodendra were found
by Mr. Wyley in 1856 in a quarry near to Riveisdale, and at a
later period by Mr. T. Bain and Dr. Atherstone in the Witteberg
or Klein Zwartebergen, as well as in Albany. Again, in 1878,
Mr. Dunn found in the shales of the Camdeboo Mountains im-
pressions of Olossopteris Browniana and Catamites. These plants
undoubtedly flourished in the Devonian and carboniferous sub-
division of the Palaeozoic period, and their organic remains are
identified with what are known as the true coal measures in
Europe, America, and Australia; but no coal-bearing strata of
this age has as yet been unfolded in South Africa.
The Stormberg coal measures belong to a higher and newer
geological horizon. The occurrence of Pecopteris, Taseniopteris,
Sphenopteris, and other species of ferns, as well as the fossil
fauna found in the underlying rocks, identify them with the
carbonaceous formation of the Mesozoic period. Both the flora


42
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
and fauna find their analogies in India and Australasia, where
somewhat similar deposits of coal, with a large proportion of
ash, are worked. Silicified wood, fossil stumps, and fragments of
trunks and branches of trees, evidencing the forest growth which
existed during this period, extend northward through Basutoland
and over a portion of the south-eastern side of the at present
treeless Orange Free State. And in the sandstones above them,
around Winberg, Senekal, and its neighbourhood, numerous speci-
mens are met with of fossil fish, identified as gaunoids of the early
Mesozoic group.
Mr. A. R. Sawyer, however, has recently reported that in the
coal basin, resting on the sandstones and quartzites around Veree-
niging, near to the junction of the Vaal and the Klip rivers, in
the Orange Free State (about thirty-five miles south of Johannes-
burg), he has come across two fossils of Lepidodendron and one
of Favularia, which leave no doubt on his mind that the rocks
within that area are of the Palaeozoic carboniferous formation.
The fossils have been verified by Professor Wilkinson, of Owen's
College. In South Africa, as in Queensland and New South
Wales, the coal measures may be proved, by further research, to
belong to distinct geological periods.
The special division of South African palaeontology, which has
as yet been carefully worked up, is the rich fossil fauna found in
the Karoo beds. Numerous specimens of the organic remains of
this old world reptilian vertebrate life have been sent to England,
where they have been extracted from the matrix and elucidated
by such eminent men as the late Sir Richard Owen, Professor
Huxley, and Professor G. H. Seeley. A descriptive and illus-
trated catalogue of the leading types, prepared by Sir Richard
Owen, was published in 1876, by the trustees of the British
Museum, and since then considerable additions to the list have
been made.
The specimens developed furnish conclusive evidence to the
anatomist that these extinct saurians—now feebly represented by
the lizards and alligators—were grand in bulk, numerous in
individuals, and most varied in species; and their form and
structure showed that they were endowed with kinds and powers
of locomotion, and with instruments for obtaining and dealing
with vegetable and animal food, which have been continued and
advanced through higher forms of vertebrates. One of them,
named the Pariasaurus Bainii (after Mr. T. Bain), was recently
restored under the supervision of Professor G. H. Seeley. The
limbs of the animal indicate that it was more terrestrial than
aquatic. It was common to that part of the country known as the
"Gouph," between Prince Albert Road Station and the Nieuweld


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
43
Mountains. Its bones were found, complete in all their parts,
near the Fraserburg Road Station, and have been developed, as
here shown.
Another species, the Dicynodonts, had a skull as large as that of an
ox, and two tusk-like teeth external to the lower jaw. The Oudeno-
dents had no teeth, but one of them in its physiognomy must have
resembled an owl, with its horny beak curving downwards and
backwards, and to this may have been added a pair of tusks
descending vertically, as in the walrus. The Theriodonts, a very
numerous family, had incisors, canines, and molars, the nipping
teeth of carnivorous animals; and one species, in addition to this
dentition and an associated humeral structure, afforded evidence
of a bony formation of the forepaw, exemplifying an advance
towards the mammalian type of a later period of time.
As to the age of these reptilia, Sir Richard Owen came to the

PABUHACBC8 BAIN'II.
conclusion, from the evidence before him, that they were not later
in time than the Trias, and probably lived in the Palaeozoic
period, at or near to a lake basin of the ancient continent which
exceeded in extent Tanganyika or any of the inland fresh-water
seas discovered by explorers.
The mineral resources of South Africa are known to be varied
and extensive. With the single exception of the copper ores of
Namaqualand, which have been continuously worked since 1852,
the stores of native metals and carbonaceous minerals existing
over its wide, and in many parts untrodden area, remained
undisclosed and undeveloped until about twenty-five years ago.
The accidental discovery of diamonds in 1867 gave the first
stimulus to prospecting and research; and since then discovery
after discovery has rewarded exploration, until now it is recog-
nised that if the country is not the actual "Ophir" of King


44
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
Solomon's days, it has a claim to rank, in respect to mineral
wealth, with some of the most favoured parts of the world.
Gold, diamonds, copper, silver, lead, and coal are the principal
minerals of economic value at present mined. The important
industries connected with most of these are dealt with elsewhere
in this volume. It is only necessary here to refer briefly to the
mode of occurrence of some of these products and to enumerate
others worthy of notice.
Native gold has been proved to exist in several parts of the
Cape Colony; but nowhere has it as yet been found in paying
quantities. In the Knysna district it occurs among the quartz
reefs in the clayslates, schists and sandstone, as well as in
alluvial drifts. Between 1887 and 1891 a considerable amount
of capital was expended by companies and individuals in develop-
ing and testing the auriferous area around Millwood, extending
from the Karatara to the Homtini Rivers. During this period
a total of over 2100 ozs. of gold was registered as won; but this
was not sufficient to inspire hope or encourage more extensive
workings. The development, carried out to a depth of over
seventy feet, only proved the poverty of the reefs underground.
The alluvial near the bed rock and at the bends of the rivers,
worked by sinking pits and sluicing in a rough and ready way,
was in some instances fairly payable. Two claims yielded 14 lbs.
of gold in seven months' irregular working with ten labourers.
Other portions produced little more than a few specks of gold.
The average amount the alluvial yielded was about 8 grains per
cubic foot of wash—a return not sufficiently remunerative.
In 1891, gold was discovered in the district of Prince Albert,
at two farms named Spreeuwfontein and Waterfal, in the Gouph,
a locality where some twenty years before a nugget of 2 ozs.
3 dwts. had been picked up by a cattleherd. The gold was
found chiefly as alluvial in the crevices of the shales and sand-
stones, traversed by thin veins or reefs of quartz, forming
the bed rocks of the creeks and rivers. In some instances the
hard matrix in which the saurian fossils common to the locality
are found were incrusted with cubes of iron pyrites carrying
visible gold. From August to December over 500 ounces were
collected, including a number of small nuggets; but after a
time digging was discontinued, it being found of an unpayable
character.
In 1892, alluvial gold of similar nugget form to that of Prince
Albert was found near Kaboos, situate in the Eichterveld, at the
north-west corner of Namaqualand. This tract had been pro-
spected twenty years previously by Mr. Dunn, who reported having
found traces of gold at various spots from Stinkfontein towards


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINEBALS.
45
Missionary's Drift, on the Orange River. The formation is granite,
gneiss, and quartz, with schists, sandstone and conglomerates,
crossed by dykes of greenstone. This part of the country being
extremely arid and void of food supplies, has as yet offered no
attraction to the prospector.
Gold has also been found in pockets of prehnite varying from
two to four feet in thickness, occurring in the igneous dykes near
Cradock, and supposed to be derived from the sub-aerial decompo-
sition of the surrounding dolerite rocks. At Laakenvley and
Karoopoort, in the Ceres district, numerous quartz reefs occur
which have been prospected and yield small grains of tha metal
in many places.
In Natal, gold has been found in the quartzose veins which
traverse the gneiss of the Umzinto district, and also at the
junction of the Tugela and Buffalo River in Umsinga district, and
m Zululand. In the South African Republic, gold-mining over
a wide area is carried on with very marked success, as is shewn in
another chapter. In Mashonaland a gold-bearing formation of
great extent has been proved, and its development is now in
course of progress.
Cinnabar has been discovered near Zeerust, and east of Barber-
ton, in the South African Republic; and native quicksilver has
been reported from the neighbourhood of Daniel's Kuil, Griqualand
West.
Coal exists over an area of about 56,000 square mile?, embracing
parts of the Cape Colony, the Free State, the South African
Republic and Natal. Lignite occurs on the Cape Flats, and in
the bed of the Oliphant's River, Oudtshoorn. As yet no trace of
mineral oils has been met with.
Copper mines, as already stated, have been worked in Namaqua-
land for forty years past. They are in the hands of two English
companies—the Cape Copper Mining Company and the Namaqua
Mining Company. A total quantity of about 500,000 tons has
been exported, and the annual production now is over 30,000 tons
with a percentage of 27J at Ookiep. The ores—comprising
silicates, carbonates, oxides and sulphurets—occur in distinctive
lodes of intrusive felspathic rock, chiefly in the gneiss and schists.
Ookiep, belonging to the Cape Copper Mining Company, is the
principal mine; its shaft has reached a depth of 117 fathoms in
ore-bearing rock. Copper deposits are found in several other
parts of Namaqualand as well as in Damaraland, where at one
time the Matchless mine was worked by the Walwich Bay Mining
Company, and at Otave there is an extensive outcrop, honey-
combed with shallow pits, where the native Bushmen extracted
the surface ore. In the South African Republic similar formations


46
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
exist, and near the Rooiberg, and at the Polabora there are ancient
workings, showing that copper was mined there in remote times.
Copper indications occur in Natal, in the county of Durban, and
in the Tugela Valley. They are also found in the higher parts of
Eastern Pondoland and in the Zuurberg, near Mount Ayliff.
Argentiferous galena has been found at Van Staden's River, about
twenty miles from Port Elizabeth, but so irregularly and sparsely
disseminated as to give no hope of remunerative working. In
Hope Town, Calvinia, St. John's River, and Tembuland it has
also been met with. In the South African Republic it is of fre-
quent occurrence, and in the district of Marico lead mines were
worked with some success for a time. Near to Pretoria and Mid-
delburg there appear to be true fissure lodes in the granite carrying
massive seams of argentiferous copper and galena, which give
promise of a rich yield of silver ore. These will be found described
in another chapter.
Iron ores are widely distributed. There are several varieties—
magnetite, red iron ore,specular and hematite—in the Cape Colony,
Free State, and Natal. In the South African Republic they are
very abundant, occurring sometimes in almost pure masses—such
as the Yzerberg, near Eersteling; and in Leydenburg and
Zoutpansberg districts the ore is forged by the natives into
weapons and other articles. Iron pyrites is found in all direc-
tions, and some from the Orange Free State has proved to be
auriferous.
Of Manganese ores there are five varieties, pyrolusite (Manganese
di-oxide), polianite, psilomelane, wad (manganese hydrate), and
rhodonite, known as silicate of manganese, all of which are to be
found in the Drakenstein Mountains, near Du Toits Kloof, the
Cape district, and in Tembuland, Griqualand West, and the South
African Republic.
Antimony ores, both the grey and plumosite, and also zinc,
occur in Namaqualand, Zeerust, and at the Maitland Mines. Tin
has been found in the granitic formation 60 miles east of Lake
Chrissie.
Cobalt and nickel have been worked on the Oliphants River in
the district of Middelburg, South African Republic. From 1876
to 1879 about 67 tons of cobalt were exported through Natal.
In regard to earthy minerals, the country is rich in all descrip-
tions. There is, of quartz (silicate dioxide), rock crystal, rose
quartz, citrine, common quartz, and chalcedony; of felspar,
orthoclase, oligolase, and periclase; of mica, phengite and
biotile. There is also chabasite, prehnite, kaolin, hornblende,
asbestos, crocidolite, augite, olivine, iolite, tourmaline, garnet,
cyanite, corundum (emery), and beryl. Agates, in the Vaal and


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
47
Orange Rivers, are of many colours and shades. Garnets, both
red and green, are also found there, some in rounded forms,
rivalling the ruby in colour. Crocidolite,' a remarkably hand-
some, ornamental stone, occurs in Griqualand West, and also
south of the Orange River; it is now being largely worked
up into jewellery, and is specially susceptible of artistic effect
on account of the variety of shades and colours in which it is
found.
The saline minerals are—common salt, soda, nitre, alum, and
calcspar. There are extensive salt-pans in the Cape Colony,
Bechuanaland, Orange Free State, and the South African Re-
public. These are in the form of basin-shaped depressions,
"occurring in different formations, such as the Karoo shale, gneiss,
and granite; and, near Port Elizabeth, in the secondary beds.
They contain deposits of saline matter, covered with a stratum of
silt. The saline matter (chloride of sodium) is dissolved by the
rains, and, when re-deposited by evaporation, is scraped off and
gathered. Large quantities are annually collected and sent to
market, the estimated annual value of the produce of the Cape
Colony alone being over £20,000. At some places the salt is
raised and evaporated in artificially heated pans, thereby securing
an increased and constant supply. The largest production in Cape
Colony is from the Uitenhage salt-pan, where as much as 100,000
bushels per annum have been taken out. Malmesbury, Cradock,
Port Elizabeth, and Herbert salt-pans come next. In Calvinia
and Namaqualand some of the salt-pans are several miles in cir-
cumference. Those in Bechuanaland and Zoutpansberg are also
of considerable area. A short distance north of Pretoria a pan
occurs in a granite basin of cone shape, the saline deposit in its
centre covering about 400,000 square yards.
Deposits of nitre have recently been discovered near the banks
of the Orange River, between Prieska and Upington, which are
likely to develop into an important industry. Nitre has also been
found in small quantities associated with doleritic masses in clefts
and crevices of the Nieuweld Mountains.
Sulphur has been obtained in the Nieuweld Range, south-west
of Fraserburg, and also on the Cape Flats, the deposits supposed
to be from exhausted springs.
Beds of limestone and marl are found in several of the western
districts of the Cape Colony, and crusts of calcareous tufa overlie
the Karoo plains all over the inland districts. Near Saron, in
the district of Tulbagh, there is a magnesia limestone suitable
for hydraulic cement. In the Karoo shales, and especially in the
red beds, lines of nodular concretions (septaria) abound. Those
that have weathered out are strewn over the surface of the ground,


4S
GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
and attract notice from their peculiar markings and forma. An
analysis of the septaria by Dr. flahn gives the following result :—
Silicate of alumina, Potash, and Soda ... 18-4 per cent.
Carbonate of lime... ... 76*4 „
Ditto iron 4*3 „
Ditto magnesia ... ... ... *3 „
Water ... ... ... ... ... -6 „
Marble of mottled colour is met with at Schoornau's Hook,
Oudtshoorn, at Vogelvlei, Tulbagb, Worcester, Swellendam,
Namaqualand, and at Troe Troe in the Van Rhyn's Dorp
district. In Natal, near the Umzimkulu River, there is a very
handsome crystalline white marble, forming a mass extending
over thirty square miles, and 1,000 feet thick. In the South
African Republic, besides tufaceous limestone, there are ex-
tensive beds of dolomite, and a calcareous quartzite which yields
lime on calcination. Cement works have been established near
Pretoria.
There are abundant supplies of building stone everywhere.
The Paarl granite, utilised for the basement of the Cape Parlia-
ment Houses, as well as for the graving dock, Table Bay, is
especially fine-grained and handsome. Sandstones and freestones
are abundant, and those used in the building of the Oudtshoorn
and Cradock churches, the Raadzaal at Bloemfontein, and the State
offices at Pretoria, show that they are a beautiful and durable
material. There are also sandstones and grits suitable for mill
and grindstones. Clays, adapted for every purpose, from the
manufacture of the finest pottery to tiles and bricks, are very
extensively met with.
Mineral springs—sulphur, chalybeate, and thermal—are dis-
tributed over many part3 of the Cape Colony. All of them are
considered to possess more or less of curative power in chronic
cases of rheumatic and cutaneous diseases. The chief sulphur
springs are at Malmesbury, Fraserburg, Graaff Reinet, Hanover,
Colesberg, Cradock, Fort Beaufort, Willowmore, Aliwal North,
and St. John's River. The thermal springs include the remark-
able Brandvlei (fire lake), near Worcester, where the water, at
a temperature of 145", wells out from the ground over a space of
about 300 yards long by ten broad. In the same district is the
spring of Goudini, and in the adjoining district of Robertson,
that of Montagu, which is much frequented. At the Oliphant's
River, near Clanwilliam district; at Woolfkraal, Oudtshoorn dis-
trict; at Toverwatirsport; and at Balmoral and Sandfontein, in
the Uitenhage district, there are similar thermal springs.
The chalybeate springs near Caledon are a favourite resort.


GEOLOGY, FOSSILS, AND MINERALS.
■ir>
They are both chalybeate and thermal, having a temperature of
110°. Dr. Hahn's analysis of the Caledon water is;
Ferrous carbonate
Sodic sulphate ...
Common salt ...
Silica
Aluminia
Calcic sulphate...
Calcic carbonate
Magnesic sulphate
i as follows:
2-100 grains per gall.
•862 „
4027 „
1-802 „
•756 .,
1-624 „
(trace)
1-054 ,.
12-225
The principal and valuable constituent is ferrous carbonate,
which is present in the water as bicarbonate. On exposure to the
air this changes into yellowish-brown insoluble basic ferric car-
bonate, which soon turns into the mineral limonite, which also
forms the hard, solid ironstone of the hill in which the springs
are. The water, when freely used as it comes from the spring,
contains the iron in a condition in which it is most readily
absorbed into the system.
Sulphur and thermal springs occur also in the South African
Republic. One of them, named the " Warm Bad," situate between
Pretoria and Nylstrom, is mucli frequented, especially by the
Boers, who form encampments with their tents and waggons in
considerable numbers around the spring. Lithium forms ono of
the constituents of the water. An analysis made by Dr. Halin
shows that a gallon contains in solution:—
Carbonate of soda...
Common salt
Carbonate of lithium
Carbonate of lime
Iron
Sulphur of magnesia
Silica
16-84 grains.
9-168 „
•12
1- 82
•29
•36
2- 45
A series of geological and mineralogical specimens of the rocks
of South Africa, collected by Dr. P. D. Hahn, Professor of
Chemistry in the South African College, has been placed in the
Cape Court, at the World's Fair, Chicago.


( 50 )
CHAPTER III.
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA *
By Roland Trimen, F.R.S., etc.,
Curator of the South-African Museum, Cape Town.
When ou the map we look at the huge African Continent,
lying, unlike the other three great land-masses of the globe,
wholly in tropical and warm-temperate latitudes, and unbroken
by either spaces of sea or continuous ranges of lofty mountains,
it would be natural to expect much uniformity in its fauna and
flora. There are apparently no insurmountable physical barriers,
and no extreme climatal differences, to hinder the free range and
dispersal of either animals or plants; and it seems reasonable to
suppose that not only the broad tropical belts on either side of
the equator, but also the warm-temperate extremities under
almost corresponding Northern and Southern latitudes, would be
inhabited by much the same organic forms.
In Africa itself, however, it is found that no such sameness of
physical conditions exists; the main element of disturbance
consisting in an immense desert tract, which occupies the
broadest portion of the northern half, and stretches from the
Atlantic to the Red Sea, and from near Lake Tchad in Lat. 153
to the Atlas Range in 33°. This enormous arid region, whose
area is roughly estimated as about one-third of that of the whole
continent (or about equal to all Europe excluding Scandinavia),
constitutes an absolute barrier to inter-communication as regards
the vast majority of living things native to tracts situated
respectively to the north and to the south of it; and it is found
accordingly that only a very small number of forms inhabits
alike the countries adjoining the Sahara on its northern and
* The proposal that I should contribute a short account of South-African Zoology to this '• Hand-Rook"
haw been to me the source of some perplexity. I had a sincere desire to comply with the request, but
have found it most difficult, with the best endeavours, to do so with any satisfaction within the limits of
the few pages available. After mauy futile attempts to compress so great a subject into such narrow
bounds, I have been compelled to abandon the larger part of it, vid., the Invertebrate animals, and to
confine this sketch to the Vertebrata only. Even thus limited the subject is unmanageably big; at every
turn one has to condense to baldness or to omit altogether; with the result that what at the outset looked
a somewhat promising memoir 1b reduced to the barest outline.—R. T.


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
51
southern borders, although a larger proportion penetrates the
great desert region to varying depths. In the central parts of
the Sahara the scanty fauna and flora are apparently in the main
derived from the immigrant species, adapted to its abnormal
conditions.
Whether the existing Sahara represents the site of one or more
ancient seas or not, it seems unquestionable that by far the
greater part gives evidence of unbroken aerial exposure for a
very extended period; so that, either as desert or sea, its pro-
longed existence has been an impassable barrier between temperate
North Africa and the more southern regions. It is this condition
of things which accounts for the fact that temperate North and
South Africa are altogether unlike in their native animals and
plants; the former being inseparable, from a natural history
standpoint, from Southern Europe, while the latter is emphatically
part and parcel of the "Ethiopian " region, or Africa proper.
In briefly considering, therefore, the salient features of animal
life in South Africa, it must be borne in mind that they agree,
in the main, with those presented by the great inter-tropical
area—in fact that, taking such larger zoological groups as
"families," there is but little difference, while in genera and
species South Africa exhibits a fair amount of divergence.
There is an admitted difficulty, in the absence of any well-
marked natural boundary, in deciding what should be considered
as the northern limit of South Africa. Wallace, in 1876, thought
that the Kalahari Desert and the Limpopo River constituted
perhaps the best boundary of his "South-African Sub-Region;"
but he also included a considerable northward extension along
the coast belt as far as Mozambique. Bowdler Sharpe, in 1884,
on ornithological grounds, made South Africa extend not only
to the Zambesi, but, on the western side, as far north as the
River Quanza, thus including nearly the whole of Angola; while
Heilprin, in 1887, did not hold the extra-tropical tract sufficiently
pronounced in its zoological features to warrant its separation
trom his great "East-Central Sub-Region," which otherwise
agrees with Wallace's "East-African" one. It will be found
that the more the boundary adopted encroaches on the tropical
area, so in proportion does it become more difficult to distinguish
the Southern from the general Ethiopian fauna; and I have on
this account for many years taken the Tropic of Capricorn as
the most convenient limit. This boundary, although an arbitrary
one, has the great advantage of being recognizable at a glance,
and intelligible to every one, defining South Africa as that part
of the continent which lies to the south outside the great tropical
area.
E 2


52 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
The main features of the higher vertebrate life of Africa proper
are well known. They consist, as regards mammals, in the
striking development of the higher monkeys, including two—
gorilla and chimpanzee—of the three existing apes nearest to
man; the unequalled number and variety of antelopes; the pre-
valence of both large and small carnivora, including several peculiar
genera; the exclusive possession of such now isolated forms as
the hyraces, the giraffe, two hippopotami, and the aardvaarks,
and the existence of a species of elephant and two species of
rhinoceros peculiar to the region; while the golden moles,
jumping (shrews, zorilla, the suricate and other viverrines, the
zebras and the wart-hogs, are all specially characteristic of the
continent. These notable features are emphasized by the total
absence of such prominent other Old-World groups of animals as
deer, goats and sheep, camels, and bears.
The absolutely peculiar Ethiopian groups of birds are the
plaintain-eaters, colies, wood-hoopoes, and secretary; but others
of marked development are the weaver-finches, starlings, shrikes:,
Bun-birds, barbets, cuckoos, rollers, bee-eaters, honey-guides, and
hornbills. Very prevalent also are the vultures, eagles, and
hawks; the fly-catchers, warblers, fruit-thrushes, and larks, the
guinea-fowls and francolin partridges, and the bustards. On the
other hand, Africa is apparently very poor in parrots, and poor in
pigeons, and in woodpeckers is no richer than the Palsearctic
Begion.
It is with less knowledge at disposal that the Ethiopian reptiles,
amphibians, and freshwater fishes can be discussed; these verte-
brate classes having received comparatively little attention from
both collectors and zoologists, and the region having as yet been
most imperfectly explored as far as they are concerned. As
regards reptiles, the tortoises are moderately numerous, the
typical genus Testudo being well represented in the south; there
are four crocodiles, including a genus peculiar to Madagascar;
lizards number not far from 300 known species, three of the
families being absolutely peculiar, and those of the skinks,
geckos, amphisbaenians and chameleons, especially numerous and
characteristic; and among the rather limited number of snakes
are specially noticeable four boas, a considerable series of
venomous colubrine forms (Elapinas), a peculiar sub-family of
egg-swallowers (Basypeltinm), and the most formidable of known
vipers.
The Amphibians or Batrachians consist almost entirely of the
higher order (Salientia), no newts or salamanders having been
discovered, and only a few of the legless burrowing groups of
coecilians occurring. Three-fourths of the frogs and toads belong


TEE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
53
to the family Banidas, only eight species of Bujonidm being
recorded. The most remarkable and peculiar family is that of
the clawed and tongueless Bactylethridse, which, with the extra-
ordinary Pipa of South America, constitute a distinct sub-order.
Among the Freshwater Fishes are especially prominent the
Cat-fishes (Siluridte); the curious Mormyridse, peculiar to Africa;
and the Carp and Barbel family (CyprinicUe); all belonging to
the order Physostomi, in each of which from fifty to sixty species
are known. Next in number are the Characinldm, appertaining
to the same order, and containing a very large proportion of
peculiar forms, including the formidable species of Mydroeyon,
whose teeth are exposed and interlocking like a crocodile's. In
the order Acanthopterygii the only well-represented family is that
of the Chromides—perch-like fishes, of which there are three
peculiar Ethiopian genera; but the few Ldbyrinthici are very
remarkable, being closely allied to the Indian "climbing perch,"
and like it possessing an accessory breathing organ enabling them
to live for some time out of the water. The now almost extinct
order of Ganoids, so numerous in palajozoic and mesozoic formations,
has three African representatives; of which the most striking is
the well-known Protopterus, of the sub-order Dipnoi, distinguished
by the possession of both lung and gills.
In these main features of vertebrate life South Africa, to a
large extent, agrees with the great mass of the continent, but, as
might be expected from its climatal and other physical con-
ditions, it exhibits a very considerable falling off in most of the
characteristically tropical groups, such as the monkeys, the parrots
and plantain-eaters, the crocodiles and water-tortoises, and
especially the lake and river fishes in nearly all the families.
The peculiarity formerly attributed to the South-African fauna
was naturally much exaggerated, because many conspicuous forms
were first discovered at the Cape, and thought to be confined to it,
whereas every advance of exploration, as the interior was opened
up, has shown that by far the greater number of these animals
have a wide range through Tropical Africa also. At the same
time, as stated above, there is a very noticeable amount of
specialization, thirteen genera of mammals, nine of birds, nine of
reptiles, one of amphibians, and two of fishes, appearing to be
strictly confined to temperate South Africa.
It requires some effort of imagination at the present day—
when, except in a few mountainous and wooded tracts, or in
localities where special protection is exercised by Government
or by private land-holders, the larger animals have been ex-
terminated—to picture to one's self the marvellous display of
mammalian life which met the eyes of the settlers in this country


54 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
two centuries and a half ago. It is clear that the whole country
teemed with beasts innumerable—was, indeed, packed with the
ferse naturm down to the very margin of the ocean, while man,
in the humble shape of the "strand-looper" and "Kaapmans"
Hottentots, held but a secondary place. In April, 1652, when
Van Kiebeek and his companions landed in Table Bay, hippo-
potami occupied a swamp fed by a stream on the site of the
present Church Square in Cape Town, and "harts and elands"
were numerous on the slopes of Table Mountain. In the ensuing
winter the Commander's 'Journal' describes the country as
"swarming with elands, hartebeests, and steenboks," and Hout
Bay, in the Cape peninsula, as "full of game, harts, hinds,
rheeboks, steenboks, and elands," besides a vast variety of birds.
The lion evidently nourished exceedingly in this unequalled
game country; and one is almost surprised to find that noble
beast so insistent on a change of diet as to call for so stirring an
entry in the Commanders diary as the following for the
23rd January, 1653:—"Last night the lions appeared about to
storm the fort for the sheep within it." Not long afterwards a
lion was seen prowling about Van Riebeek's own garden—
tradition says under that tall and venerable "mimosa" acacia
in the present Houses of Parliament enclosure which succumbed
to the wintry gales only a few weeks ago. On the very short
northward expedition overland to Saldanha Bay the explorers
"saw many rhinoceroses, and on two occasions were obliged to
make a detour to avoid troops of elephants." Four years later,
when the first exploring party reached the Paarl Valley, they
found there "many rhinoceroses and zebras, and great numbers
of hippopotami in the river." Lions continued to be a constant
plague to the founders of Cape Town up to the close of the
century; as late as June, 1694, we read that nine cows were
killed by them within sight of the Castle. In 1685 Commander
Van der Stel made his memorable expedition to Namaqualand,
and had not got further than near the Piketberg when a
rhinoceros furiously charged his carriage, and went near to make
nn end of His Honour when he jumped out.
Only the briefest of reference can here be made to the long
series of naturalists and explorers who down to recent times have
brought to light the riches of the South-African fauna. The
pioneer was the German, Peter Kolben, who was at the Cape from
1705 to 1713, and whose account of the country, its native tribes
and products, animal and vegetable, was first published at
Nuremberg in 1719. It was during the beneficent rule of
Governor Byk Tulbagh, from 1751-71, that considerable collections
of zoological specimens were, under his auspices, made and sent


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
55
to Europe; and the immortal Linnaeus, then at the zenith of his
renown, makes repeated acknowledgment of Tulbagh as the
contributor of the South-African material at his disposal, and
names the finest of the Cape butterflies after that excellent
Governor. Between 1772 and the close of the century came the
work of the Swedish naturalists, C. P. Thunberg and A. Sparrman,
and the researches of the Frenchman, Levaillant. The first half
of the present century witnessed the successive labours of three
eminent men of science whose names are inseparably associated with
South-African natural history, vid.:—H. Lichtenstein (1803-06),
W. Burchell (1810-12), and Andrew Smith (1833-36). The
latter's 'Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa,' published
by the English Government in 1849, is a worthy monument to
the man who organized and carried out one of the most successful
and fruitful scientific explorations ever undertaken. W. C.
Harris's hunting expedition ensued in 1836-38, and his fine folio,
'Game and Wild Animals of South Africa,' published in 1840, is
a valuable contribution to the history of the mammalian fauna of
the country. In 1838^5 very extensive researches and collections
were made in the South-East by J. A. Wahlberg, a most able and
energetic Swedish naturalist, whose materials were after his
untimely death exhaustively worked up by Sundevall, Boheman,
Fahrseus, and others among his scientific compatriots. F. Krauss
about the same time visited the Cape and Natal, and worked
assiduously at the invertebrate marine animals, the results being
published by him at Stuttgart in two excellent treatises on the
Crustaceans (1843) and Mollusks (1848).
Activity in every direction of biological research has been one
of the prominent characteristics of the current half of our
century, and South-African animals of all classes have, in
common with those of the world at large, been the subjects of
very numerous memoirs published in Europe and America; but
as far as regards complete works specially devoted to the South-
African fauna, the last forty years have not been by any means
prolific. Birds and Insects have always been the groups most
widely collected and observed; and the few faunistic works (as
distinguished from books of the hunter and sportsman) relating to
South Africa, published since 1850, have treated chiefly of those
groups. Among them may be mentioned Layard's 'Birds of
South Africa,' published in '1867, the second edition of which,
edited by Bowdler Sharpe, came out in parts, 1875-84; Holub's
and Von Pelzeln's 'Beitrage zur Ornithologie Sud-Afrikas'
(1882); Boheman's • Insecta Caffrariae' (1848-55), containing
the Coleoptera only, with subsequent additions by Fahraeus
(1872-77); Stal's 'Hemiptera Africana' (1864-66), dealing


56 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
with all the Ethiopian species; Loew's 'Dipteren-Fauna Sud-
Afrikas' (1860); Peringuey's ' Contributions to the South-African
Coleopterous Fauna' (1885-92); and the writer's 'Rhopalocera
AfricsB Australia' (1862-65), and 'South-African Butterflies'
(1887-89), the latter with the collaboration of J. H. Bowker.*
Although no separate work on the grand mammalian fauna lias
seen the light during the period we are now considering, the
papers devoted to that class have been many, and among them
some of the most interesting have been those treating of the past
and present distribution of the larger species throughout South
Africa. Mr. T. E. Buckley published, in 1876 and 1877, two
papers on this subject, founded partly on personal observation, in
the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London; and Mr. F.
C. Selous contributed to the same serial in 1881 two valuable
articles, embodying his researches of many years in the interior.
Quite recently Mr. H. A. Bryden, in 'Kloof and Karroo' (1889),
gave an excellent resume of this matter, treating specially of the
Cape Colony, where his own experience lay.
With this too brief introduction, it may be of interest to note
more systematically some of the prominent constituents of the
South-African fauna, giving special attention to those forms
which appear to be exclusively confined to the extra-tropical
area.
Mammalia.
Beginning with the Mammals, we are at once struck with the
scarcity of monkeys. The active and intelligent little Vervets
{Cercopiihecus Lalandii and C.pygerythrus, by some zoologists held
as one species) inhabit only wooded tracts, chiefly on the eastern
side of the country; they belong to a genus numerously repre-
sented in tropical Africa, but seem to be peculiar to the south.
The only other monkey is the well-known Chacma Baboon
(Cynocephalus porcarius), prevalent throughout rocky and moun-
tainous tracts. Always known as a robber of gardens, this power-
ful species has of late acquired the pernicious habit of slaughtering
suckling lambs for the sake of the milk in their stomachs, and has
thus become as much the recognised foe of the Cape sheep-
farmer as the "Kea" ground-parrot is of the New Zealand
colonist. This baboon extends tar into the tropics, and in the
Zambesi valley is so plentiful as to be a positive nuisance to the
hunter.
» Mr. G. B. Sowerby has this year published a very useful Cataloguo of the
Marine Shells of South Africa,' with figures of the new, and previously uufigured,
■pedes.


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VEETEBBATE FAUNA.
5?
In the singular group of Lemurs, so characteristic of Mada-
gascar, there are two genera (Perodidicus and Galago) which are
confined to continental Africa. Two species of Galago inhabit
the south; the larger one, G. Garnettii, seems to be very scarce,
but has been found in Natal, while the other, G. maholi, is well
known as a native of wooded country near the upper Limpopo
and to the northward. The latter is an engaging little creature,
not larger than a rat, with the softest of furs, a grand bushy tail,
very large dark brown eyes, and round erect ears. It is known
by the names of "nagt-apie" and " bush baby," and is often kept
as a pet. Quiet and sleepy during the day, this diminutive being
becomes all alive after sunset, leaping and springing in all
directions, and aptly clinging with its monkey-like hands and
feet wherever it alights.
The Bats of South Africa, like those of many other countries,
are, in consequence of their crepuscular and nocturnal habits, far
more unfamiliar than the other mammals; and it is most probable
that various new species await discovery. Of the twenty-two
species included by Dobson in his British Museum ' Catalogue
of Chiroptera,' published in 1878, five appear to be peculiar.
Only three kinds of Pteropodidse, or fruit-eating bats, are recorded,
all the rest belonging to the insect-eating families of smaller
bats, Rhinolophidte, Nycteridse, Vespertilionidm, and Emballo-
neuricUe; and it is to the two last families that the kinds believed
to be endemic belong. The three fruit-bats have a wide African
distribution; but while the largest, Epomophorus Gambianus, is
confined to eastern South Africa, and apparently is not numerous
there, and Cynonycteris straminea is recorded from Hondeklip
Bay (Namaqualand) only, C. collaris is common throughout the
country. The last-named bat, though without the "grand
accommodation" afforded by the pendulous and capacious lips of
Epomophorus, manages to dispose of an amount of fruit quite
amazing, considering its small size, and is especially partial to
ripe loquats. The commonest insectivorous species are the leaf-
nosed Bhinolophus Capensis, and the little Vesperugo minutus and
Miniopterus Schreibersii. A strikingly coloured bat is the rare
■Nyctinomus Africanus, from the Transvaal, whose fur is bright
orange-chestnut throughout.
The Insectivora are not numerous, including only a solitary
hedgehog, three shrews, four jumping shrews, and lour golden
moles; but there is much peculiarity among them, one of the
shrews, Myosorex varius, constituting an endemic genus, and all
the species of jumping shrews {Maeroseelides) and golden moles
(Chrysochloris) appearing also to be confined to South Africa.
The long-snouted jumping shrews, mounted on their very long,


58 THE 80UTH-AFBICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
thin hind legs, are most comical-looking little creatures; they
extend throughout Africa, but are best represented south of the
Equator. The golden moles are a very distinct family, confined
to the limits just mentioned, and stand almost alone among
mammals in the metallic lustre of their fur. The largest species,
C. Trevelyani, inhabits the south-east of Cape Colony, and its
discovery in 1874 was due to the Kafirs near King William's
Town using its skin for a tobacco-pouch.
In a country teeming with herbivorous mammals there cannot
fail to be a number of Carnivora, and we find the south, no less
than other parts of Africa, to be, rich in predaceous species, large
and small. That most beautiful of the great cats— the tiger—so
dominant and widely ranging in Asia, is strangely absent from a
land where its exceptional powers of destruction would have
found the amplest field for exercise. This is the more striking
in view of the fact that its congeners the lion, the leopard, the
cheetah, and the caracal, are all common to India and Africa,
and seems to indicate that the tiger is of a development more
recent than the age when Southern Asia and Africa were so
closely connected as to admit of the spread of animal life from
one to the other.
The lion and the leopard at one time occupied the whole of
South Africa; but while the latter survives in many, if not all,
parts of the Cape Colony where suitable retreats are available,
one must go far afield indeed to encounter the former. The
cheetah, or hunting-leopard, seems never to have been so widely
or generally distributed, being emphatically a denizen of the
upland plains, and specially adapted for the chase of antelopes.
Both the caracal ("red lynx") and the serval ("tiger-cat") are
species of middle stature, and prey on small mammals and birds;
and the same is the case with the ordinary wild or Kaffir cat
(Felis Caffra), which has a very extended African range. It may
here be noted that a very curious local race of the leopard, and a
still more remarkable one of the cheetah, have occurred, and may
perhaps still survive in South Africa. The former (of which three
examples have been recorded) existed in the neighbourhood of
the Koonap Eiver, in the Fort Beaufort District of Cape Colony,
and is distinguished by a multitude of very small black spots,
in parts densely packed, to the exclusion of the ordinary large
"rose" or ring spots, except in a few places; it looks like a
variation in the direction of the well-known wholly black form
which occurs not uncommonly in South India. The peculiar race
of the cheetah is even more pronounced; in this case all the
ordinary black spots and face stripes are replaced by dull-tawny
ones, and the fur is so dense that the name of Felis lanea, or


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
59
•woolly cheetah, has been bestowed on the variety. For many
years an adult specimen, from Nel's Poort, in the Beaufort West
District of Cape Colony, had been preserved in the South-
African Museum, and in 1877 a living example from the same
locality was obtained for the Zoological Society's Gardens in
London; while since then three skins have been discovered in
farm-houses in the same very limited area. In both these cases
it should be observed that the variety existed, and apparently
perpetuated itself, although surrounded by individuals of the
normal type. It is curious that, in 1882, the skin of a pale,
sandy-coloured variation of the leopard (F. pardus), from
Matabele-land, was brought to notice by Dr. Giinther, who
pointed out its resemblance to the above-noted race of cheetah.
The two hyaenas of the South, JET. brunnea and H. crocata,
formerly abounded; but since strychnine has come to the aid of
fire-arms in destroying wild animals noxious to the sheep-farmer,
they are both very fast disappearing from all settled districts, and
the endemic brown species (which appears to have had originally
a very restricted distribution in comparison with that of the
spotted one) has become extremely rare. A very singular little
carnivore, resembling a small striped hyaena, is the "aard-wolf"
(Proteles cristatus), constituting not only a genus but a family
wholly peculiar to South Africa.* This animal has the evil
reputation of killing young lambs and poultry, but its dentition is
so very weak and defective that this is probably a charge but
little substantiated, especially as the stomachs of specimens
examined have been found to contain mainly insect food. It
appears, moreover, from, experiments with captive individuals
that the aard-wolf has no disposition to attack living vertebrate
animals.
The dog family includes two notable South-African genera,
viel., Lyceum, the "hunting-dog," and Otocyon, a relation of the
fennecs or large-eared foxes. The hunting-dog is in some
respects allied to the hyaenas, but runs down living prey with the
utmost pertinacity and ferocity—usually in packs, but also singly
in the case of weak or wounded animals. Very different from
Lyceum pictus is the little Otocyon megalotis, which closely
resembles the fennecs, but has the extraordinary number of
forty-six or forty-eight teeth—lour to six more than any other
member of the family, the excess being in the molars, of which
there are on each side in the upper jaw three or four, and in the
lower jaw four. Such a liberal allowance of molars is given to no
* Since writing the above statement, I have found a record of the occurrence of
Protelu in Angola, and even as far to the north-east as Somali-land (1891).


60 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
other living heterodont mammal; but Otocyon seems by no
means more inclined to use its teeth on this account; specimens
in captivity being specially gentle and affectionate.
The Viverrine carnivora—genets, ichneumons, &c.—are well
represented, nine species being known, belonging to five different
genera; of these, three genera—Helogale, Cynictis, and Byzsena—
and six of the species are endemic. Though small in stature,
these creatures, like the weasel tribe, are mostly very ferocious
and bloodthirsty, and hunt down every living tiling that they can
master. The two black-spotted genets (Genetta felina and
G. tigrina), known as "musk-cats," and the various ichneumons
of the genera Herpestes and Helogale, are all of the worst temper
in captivity; but the pretty little " mier-kat" (Byzsena suricata),
is exceptionally good-natured and intelligent, and makes a charm-
ing pet. This small beast seems possessed by insatiable curiosity,
and is perpetually on the search for insect prey, using its long
claws with much energy in scraping up the soil, and then sitting
up erect on its haunches, and looking eagerly round in all
directions. It is also blessed with the most remarkable self-
composure and sang-froid, and it is amazing to see it coolly poke
its long sensitive nose into the very face of a cat or dog ten times
its size 1
Two kinds of otters inhabit the country. The widely-distri-
buted species, whose skins are so largely utilized for karossss, is
the so-called nailless otter (Lutra Capensis), which has blunt or
partly rudimentary claws; it extends to Mozambique, and perhaps
also to West Africa. The second species, L. maculicollis, seems to
be confined to Natal and the neighbouring parts. Other Mustelides
are the badger-like ratel, distinguished as a plunderer of wild
bees' nests; the zorilla, or African skunk, not distantly related to
the pole-cats, a very handsome, but most malodorous little beast;
and a very unique weasel, the Mustela dlMnucha of Gray, which
in its extraordinary black-and-white livery appears to be imitative
of the zorilla, and has been made by Mr. O. Thomas the type of
an endemic genus, Pcecilogale.
The only seal which can now be regarded as native to South
African shores is one of the "fur-seals " or "sea-bears " (Otariidse),
distinguished by their small external ears, and by hind limbs
sufficiently developed to admit of freer motion on land than is
possible to the true seals (Phocidm). This species (Otaria pusilla)
is still numerous along the coast, specimens occasionally even
entering the docks in Table Bay. Eobben Island and Seal Cape
owe their names to this animal, whose skins and oil yield a con-
siderable annual return among the colonial products. Of the two
true antarctic seals which have been met with on the Cape coast,


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 61
one is Ogmorhinus leptonyx, called the "sea-leopard," with a
most formidable series of acute tricuspid teeth; and the other
Macrorhinns leoninus, the "sea-elephant," hugest of all seals, but
with a dentition extraordinarily feeble.
Next to the Ungulate animals the Rodentia are most nume-
rously represented among South-African mammals; thirty-two
species are known, and there can be little doubt that a good many
small ones remain to be discovered. The list comprises three
squirrels, two dormice, seventeen mice, three mole-rats, the
jumping hare, a porcupine, three true hares, and two Octodontinm.
Two of the squirrels belong to the curious burrowing genus,
Xerus, which is confined to Africa, and are notable for their
coarse scanty hair, bottle-brush tails, and rudimentary external
ears. There are three peculiar genera among the mice—
Mystromys, Dasymys, and Dendromys,—and one (Petromys) among
the Octodontinae. The mole-rats—BcUhyergus maritimus ("sand-
mole ") and two kinds of Georychus (" bles-mole ")—are curious
animals, with long exposed incisor teeth, powerful claws for
burrowing, and exceedin-ly small eyes. Their fur is remarkably
soft and dense, and wouli doubtless be valuable commercially if
collected in sufficient quantity; this would be a set-off against
their ravages among cultivated bulbs and tubers, and the very
awkward traps for horsemen made by their deep burrows.
Bathyergus, by much the larger of the two forms, is confined to
the (Jap9. The "jumping hare" (Pedetes Caffer) is the giant of
the jerboa tribe, looking not unlike one of the small kangaroos;
it has a wide range south of the equator, and its nocturnal
depredations among the crops are said to be considerable.
Another nightly prowler of vegetarian tastes is the porcupine,
separated by Peters (as Eystrix Africse-australis) from the
common species of Europe and North and West Africa on account
of some important differences in the formation of the skull.
This animal is generally distributed in South Africa, and is found
as far north as Tette and Querimba. The hares are known as the
common or "vlakte" (Lepus Capensis), the "rock" (L. crassi-
caudatus), and the "rheebok" (L. saxatilis), of which the latter
k much the largest and extends to the Zambesi.
It is in the great Order Ungulata, embracing all the ruminant and
pachyderm mammals, that the African fauna is most conspicuous;
and here South Africa can boast the grand array of an elephant,
two kinds of rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, two remarkable forms of
swine, two species of hyrax, three zebras, the giraffe, a buffalo, and
no fewer than thirty-one antelopes.
The hippopotamus has long ceased to inhabit the rivers of the
Cape, where it was once so abundant. A specimen in the South


62
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAONA.
African Museum was one of three that, up to the year 1856, still
survived near the mouth of the Berg River, about ninety miles
north of Cape Town. In September of that year this example
was found dead on the river bank; he had a bullet-wound in
the throat, which was apparently the cause of death, and bore
many scars of recent wounds, apparently inflicted by his com-
panions. The skin of one of his two survivors was sent to the
Museum as late as 1874, but nothing has been heard as to the
fate of the third and last. In the lower waters of the Orange
River this animal is still to be found, as well as in the rivers on
the eastern side north of Natal; and its general distribution in
tropical African rivers will, now that its ivory is not as much in
request by the dentist, doubtless ensure it against the extermina-
tion which threatens almost every large wild mammal in these
days.
Neither of the two South-African pigs is peculiar, the
commoner of them, Potamoclioerus Africanus (" boschvaark"),
being recorded from the Zambesi and Damaraland, and the
wart-hog, Phacochaerus JEthiopicus, extending throughout tropical
Africa. The latter species is remarkable for the singular lobes
that project on each side of the face, and for the enormous size
of its curved upper tusks. It appears to have formerly inhabited
the eastern side of Cape Colony, but is now not to be met with
south of Zululand.
Among the ruminants, the first place is held by the mag-
nificent giraffe, whose many peculiarities of structure make it
the representative of a distinct family, which, though now con-
taining only a single species confined to Africa, included in
pliocene times a good many huge forms, chiefly Asiatic. It is
still doubtful whether this more than Saul among ruminants ever
extended to the south of the Orange Eiver, but it was unquestion-
ably a native of the country just to the north of that stream, and
still frequents Bechuanaland and the desert country westward
of it.
The known antelopes of Africa now number about ninety.
South Africa possesses thirty-one species, belonging to fourteen
genera; and it is noteworthy that while one of these genera,
Pelea (containing the "vaal rheebok" only), is peculiar to the
country, only two Ethiopian genera—Neotragus and Addax—are
without South-African representatives. Looking through the
long series of these beautiful animals, no one can help being
struck with admiration at their number and variety—from the
massive eland, six feet at the withers, to the diminutive blue-
buck, not bigger than a rabbit, there is an array of interesting
forms—conspicuous among which stand out the princely koodoo,


THE SODTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
63
chief of bush-bucks, and its smaller but more variegated ally the
rare inyala, the grand sable and roan antelopes, the painted
gemsbok, the stately water-buck, the fantastic gnoos, brown and
brindled, the elegant pallah, and the quaint red hartebeest and
bloom-glossed sassayby. A host of the smaller species—the pied
bontebok and blesbok; the graceful springbok, sole gazelle of the
South; the two reed-bucks, the bush-buck, duyker, steenbok,
grysbok, ourebi, and klipspringer, join with the rest to form an
unrivalled assemblage.
Besides the vaal rheebok, mentioned above, as constituting the
endemic genus Pelea, there are six species of antelopes which
appear to be peculiar to South Africa, vid.: the bontebok
(Alcelaphus pygargus), now surviving only on certain farms near
Cape Agulhas; the blesbok (A. albifrons), very closely allied to the
bontebok, but apparently always more northern in its range, and
formerly in immense numbers both in the Free State and the
Transvaal; the brown or white-tailed gnoo (Connochetes gnu), with
much the same distribution as the blesbok, and now become
extremely rare both in the north of Cape Colony and in the Free
State; the "roode rheebok" (Cervicapra reduncus), still reported
to be not uncommon in mountainous parts of the midland and
eastern districts of the Cape; and the beautiful little red-buck of
Natal (Cephalophus Natalensts), and its dwarf congener the blue-
buck (C. pygmseus), both confined to wooded tracts. Until this
year, that large and very handsome bush-buck the Inyala
(Tragelaphus Angasii) was thought to be peculiar to tho coast
country between St. Lucia and Delagoa Bays; but Dr. Sclater has
submitted to the Zoological Society a skin of it brought by Mr.
A. Sharpe from near the Murchison cataracts on the Shire Kiver,
Nyassa-land. It should be noted that three of the more striking
of the South-African genera—Oreas (the eland), Connochetes (the
gnoos), and Cervieapra (the reed-bucks)—appear to be confined to
Africa south of the equator; as well as four species belonging to
more widely spread genera, vid.: the springbok (Gazella euchore),
the steenbok (Nanotragus tragulus), the ourebi (N. scoparia), and
the duyker {Cephalophus Grimmia).
There is no more formidable bovine in existence than the Cape
buffalo {Bos Coffer); though in stature and stretch of horns less
than some of its Asiatic cousins, its muscular development and
massive horny front, backed by a temper of sullen ferocity, render
it an antagonist not to be trifled with, and hunting literature
teems with the accidents and hairbreadth escapes incident on
encounters with this dangerous beast. For many years the
destruction of the buffalo in Cape Colony has been prohibited
without express licence from the Government, and the animal
■


64 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
survives in some number in the forest districts of Plettenberg
Bay and Fish Eiver. An interesting point in connection with
this species is that, although in Eastern Africa it appears to
extend unchanged as far as the confines of Abyssinia, it is
replaced in that country, as well as in parts of the centre and
west of the continent, by smaller races (known as B. mquinoctialis,
centralis, and ptmilus) with shorter and thinner horns. Smaller
size in the Tropical portions of the African range of the same
species, or of closely-allied representative species, would not be
anticipated as probable; but the bush-buck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus)
presents a second instance of this among mammals, and I have
found as many as nine other cases noted among birds, one in
amphibians, and seven in butterflies.
The equine animals include two of the most beautifully marked
of all mammals, the mountain and Burchell's zebras. These two
species are of wide distribution in Central and Eastern Africa;
but, while it does not appear that Equus Burchellii ever extended
south of the Orange Kiver, E. zebra, on the contrary, was pre-
valent throughout the mountainous tracts of the Cape Colony,
and thanks to its attachment to elevated places, it still survives in
many different quarters. Quite recently (in July, 1892), Mr. S.
D. Bairstow saw a herd of about twenty within a few miles of the
town of Cradock in the north-east of the Colony. The third
species, E. quagga—formerly so numerous on the karroo plains—
has unhappily become extinct. Without the elaborate ornamenta-
tion of its allies, it was of high interest, both as a link between
them and the wild asses of North-East Africa, and as an endemic
species of South Africa proper, not ranging beyond the Vaal
Kiver. Moreover, it was a line strong animal, more horse-like
than its striped congeners, and, from the little evidence obtainable,
more amenaole to domestication. Mr. H. A. Bryden ('Kloof and
Karroo,' p. 393) is disposed to date the quagga's extinction in Cape
Colony as between 1860 and 1865, but notes that it survived in
the Orange Free State until more recent years.
The two African rhinoceroses are characterized by the absence
of canine and incisor teeth, and the want of those strong folds in
the skin which are conspicuous in the Asiatic species. B. bicornis,
the common or " black " two-horned kind, with a prehensile upper
lip, is prevalent all through the continent, and formerly extended
to the extreme south. It occasionally possesses a small third
horn. Gordon dimming mentions having shot one with this
additional horn, and I recently saw a specimen exhibiting this
variation in the British Museum. The so-called "white" or
square-nosed rhinoceros (B. simus) is of more interest, and calls
for a few remarks. In the first place, it may almost be regarded


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 65
as specially South-African, as it was discovered by Burchell (in
the year 1812) about Latakoo, and is unknown north of the
Zambesi; and secondly, it is the largest of all existing land
mammals, except the elephant, and is now on the verge of
extinction, if not already a creature of the past. Less than sixty
years ago it must have been still very numerous in the southern
part of its limited range, for Harris, writing of the "hosts" of
rhinoceroses seen by him near the Limpopo in 1837, observes:—
"On our way from the waggons to a hill not half a mile distant
we counted no less than twenty-two of the white species of
rhinoceros, and were compelled in self-defence to slaughter
four." * Even twenty years ago, Selous tells us, the animal was
fairly plentiful in the western half of tropical South Africa, and
up to 1874 he found them so on the River Chobe ; but in 1877
he saw the spoor of two only in the same district, and in 1879 no
spoor at all. More to the eastward, however, he found a good
many, as late as 1880, in northern Mashonaland and near the
Sabi River, and in 1883 he shot a pair in southern Mashonaland,
and preserved the skull and skin of the head of the male for the
South-African Museum. As this excellent authority is most
decidedly of opinion that B. simus, if not absolutely extinct,
survives in a very few individuals only, we may be thankful that
a mounted specimen of the adult exists in the Leyden Museum.
A very characteristic feature of this huge rhinoceros is the length
of the front horn, the female having a thinner but longer horn
than the male. This superior length in the female may be
associated with the fact—first recorded by Gordon Cumin ing,
and since confirmed by Selous and other hunters—that when a
young calf accompanies its mother, whether in walking, trotting,
or galloping, it keeps always close in front of her, and is guided
exactly by the mother holding the point of her horn upon its
back. A good illustration of this maternal directing care is
given in vol. ii. of Cumming's 'Five Years of a Hunter's Life in
South Africa ' (1850). The longest horn seen by Selous measured
* Harris writes not only graphically, but in the main accurately, of the animals
he met with, and thus it is the more astounding to find the following extraordinary
statemout on the samo page (183) of his 'Wild Sports of Southern Africa*
(5th edition, 1852), from which I have quoted the abovo:—" In removing the hom"
[of a rhinoceros, but of which species is not noted] " with an axe, the brain was
discovered, seated in a cavity below it, at tlie very extremity of the snout" [11]—"a
phenomenon which may in some measure account for its want of intelligence and
piggish obstinacy, as well as for the extraordinary acutencss of smell with which it
is endowed." As the deliberate statement of a hunter-naturalist of great experience,
this amazing blunder is probably unequalled in the entire range of zoological
literature, and one can only marvel what it could have been in poor rhino's nose
that was so libellously declared to be his brain 1
F


66 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
4£ feet, hut one preserved in the British Museum is recorded
as three inches longer, "very slender and nearly straight." In
the South-African Museum there are two knobbed sticks made
from horns of this species, one of 4 feet 4 inches and the other
of 3 feet 10 inches.
Few animals are more familiar to the Cape colonist than the
curious little "dassie," or rock-rabbit (Eyrax Capensis), which
is so numerous and widely-spread a denizen of elevated rocky
situations from Table Mountain to Natal. So anomalous in
structure are this animal and its congeners (all continental-
African, except the Arabian and Syrian IT. Syriaca), that it has
been one of the greatest of zoological problems to make out their
true affinities and position among mammals. The general vague
resemblance to a rabbit is due merely to size and colouring, and
to the prominence of the incisor teeth; for the dentition and
the formation of the hind feet are actually very close to those of
the rhinoceros, and the brain is also of an Ungulate type, while
other portions of the internal anatomy are altogether peculiar.
Accordingly the genus has been advanced by modern naturalists
to the rank of a sub-oixler, or even order, Eyracoidea. One of the
most singular modifications in the dassies is that of the padded
and deeply-cleft soles of the feet, enabling the animal not only to
ascend almost perpendicular rocks, but also to adhere with much
tenacity to such surfaces. This peculiar structure is more developed
in those species of Eyrax that frequent trees, such as H. arboreus, a
species found from the eastern part of Cape Colony as far north
as Mombasa. H. Capensis, which was the first species scientifically
described, is peculiar to South Africa, unless E. Scioanus of South
Abyssinia is identical with it.
The African and Indian elephants are the sole living repre-
sentatives of the once numerous tribe of Proboscidea occupying
both the Old and New Worlds, and the African one has by some
authors, on account of various marked differences, been separated
generically as Loxodon Afrieanus. South of the Sahara there
seems to have been no limit to the range of this giant beast,
except the sea-coast itself. The early settlers, as above men-
tioned, met with troops of elephants in the sonth-west extremity
of the Cape Colony, and teeth of the animal are often exhumed
from superficial deposits in that quarter. The latest of the^e, a
small molar, was found the other day (July, 1892) quite close
to Capo Town, under an accumulation of blown sand on the
tints. Elephants, under protection by the Government, still
survive in the wild state in the Cape Colony, but only in
the coast-line forests of Knysna and Flettenburg Bay, and in
the Addo Bush, not far from Port Elizabeth. The incessant


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VEBTEBBATE FAUNA.
67
massacre of an animal that breeds so slowly could not go on
as it has done for the last hundred years without the inevitable
result of extermination; and indeed, apart from the preserved
herds just mentioned, it is only in some very out-of-the-way
tracts that wild elephants in any number can be met with south
of the Zambesi.
The last of the South-African mammals to be noted are those
singular Edentata the "aardvaark" (Orycteropus Capensis) and
the scaly ant-eater (Afanis Temminchii). These widely-different
animals are alike in being specially modified for feeding on the
termites or white ants, and tor breaking open the hard nests of
those insects. The long snout and ears, heavy slightly bristly
body, and strong hoof-like nails of Orycteropus fully account for
its local name. It sleeps by day in the burrows which it ex-
cavates, and so is rarely seen; but there can be no doubt that,
notwithstanding a good deal of persecution for the sake of its
flesh and skin, this bulky and muscular beast is still fairly
numerous, and likely to remain so in most parts of the Colony.
Unlike the manis, the aardvaark possess a few small teeth at the
back, and Mr. 0. Thomas has lately discovered that some of these
teeth are preceded by a milk-dentition,—a character distinguishing
the animal from all other edentates except a genus of armadillos
{Tatusia). The northward limit of 0. Capensis is not clearly
ascertained, but it is reputed to be found both in Angola and
Mozambique. The only other species, 0. asthiopicus—which is
a very close ally—inhabits N.E. Africa (Kordol'an and Upper
Nubia), and also, it would appear, Senegal in the north-west; but
where one form first replaces the other has not yet been
made out.
The scaly ant-eaters, also known as pangolins, are confined to
Africa and Southern Asia: and of the five African species only
one, M. Temminckii, extends to the south. All these animals look
more like reptiles than mammals, with their long bodies and tails,
short legs, narrow heads, and extraordinary armour of large over-
lapping scales; some are arboreal, climbing readily with the aid
of their strong claws, long tails, and the projecting points of
the scales. When rolled into a ball, with the scales thrown into
a half-erect position, one of these animals is safer than a hedge-
hog from ordinary assailants; but the South-African species
appears to have been much reduced in numbers by a superstitious
native custom of burning it in the kraals to bring fecundity to
cattle. The few specimens which have been acquired by the
Museum have mostly come from the north-east of the Cape Colony
and the Orange Free State, but the species is known to occur
throughout East Africa as far north as KordofaiL
f2


GS
THE SOUTH-AFBIOAN VEBTEBRATE FAUNA.
Birds.
Birds are beings of such bright animation, grace of movement,
and wealth of colouring—many of them exhibit such winning
intelligence, such melodious song, and such wonderful skill in
nest-building, that they are certainly the most attractive of
vertebrate animals. It is thus no wonder that they have every-
where received the special attention of field observers and of
zoologists, and are, as a class, probably more completely known
than any other, notwithstanding that the difficulties of their
classification remain exceptionally great, and are far from a satis-
factory solution. In South Africa the bird-fauna has been assidu-
ously collected and recorded, and we possess a very fair know-
ledge of its extent, character, and distribution over the country.
The occurrence of close upon seven hundred species has been
observed in this extra-tropical tract, but from this number should
properly be excluded some twenty kinds of albatrosses, petrels,
and allied birds, which are strictly oceanic denizens of a more
southern belt, only approaching or at seasons frequenting the
coast, without ever nesting on any part of it.
The Passerine birds are everywhere far in excess of any other
order, and their ranks in South Africa fall short only by about
sixty species from equalling all the other orders of native birds
combined. It is in this very numerous and most highly organised
order that eight of the nine genera and one hundred of the one
hundred and forty-three species peculiar to South Africa are
included, and the eleven other genera represented in South Africa
that are not known to occur north of the equator are also all
passerine. The most prevalent families are those of the thrushes,
warblers, and chats (49 species), weavers (46), babblers (37), fly-
catchers and larks (22 each), pipits and wagtails (19), shrikes (18),
and swallows and sun-birds (16 each); while the least numerous
are the crows and caterpillar-catchers (3 each), and the orioles
and drongo-shrikes (2 each).
Sustained melodious song, the crown of the higher bird life,
does not attain to its highest development among the South-
African Passeres, but the "wood-notes wild" of many of them
are yet of exquisite freshness and sweetness, as any one will
testily who has heard the Cape canaries, yellow bullfinches, ferru-
ginous lark, short-tailed pipit, and chat-thrush or robin. The
hooded chat, or " sehaap-wacliter," has quite a repertory of songs
and recitations, which he "adapts" from other birds', and even,
from mammals' utterances; and in this habit he is to some
extent followed by the handsome "bakbakiri" wood-shrike,


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 69
whose loud clear voice is ever cheerful and inspiriting, his
challenge generally evoking varied response from his fellows.
The male sun-birds (Nectariniidas), commonly known to the
Colonists as "sugar-birds," certainly excel in point of beauty,
their slender forms being set off by metallic colouring almost
rivalling that of humming-birds, and according well with the
rich hues of the flowers, from which they obtain their chief supply
of insect food. Several of them have a very sweet, short song.
The peculiar South-African genera and species are the lovely
orange-breast (AnthobapJies violacea), common in rocky localities,
and the two kinds of Promerops, which are of unusually plain
tints in both sexes, but conspicuous by their larger size and
extremely long tail feathers.
The native fly-catchers (Muscicapidas) exhibit the greatest
speciality, there being three endemic genera—Pogonocichla,
lAoptilus, and Stenostira—each represented by a single species
only. All three are small birds of retiring habits, but Stenostira
scita is a tiny creature only 4J inches long, numerous among the
river-bed "mimosas" {Acacia horrida) in the karroo districts of
the Cape, with a delicate plumage of black, gray, and rosy-white.
The seven other endemic species belong to the genera Chloropeta,
Alseonax, Smithornis, Batis, and Trochoceretis.
The shrikes (Laniidas) are mostly pugnacious and self-asserting
birds, and one of their most prominent representatives is the
"fiskal" (Lanius collaris), well known to all colonists as the
audacious and persistent assailant of caged birds. The "larders"
of this fierce little hunter often include quite a varied zoological
collection of impaled victims. I have noticed in them young
birds, small snakes, lizards, frogs, locusts, carpenter-bees, and
caterpillars. The " bakbakiri" bush-shrike (Laniarius gvituralis)
is much hustled and chased by the fiskal, although too strong
to be murdered by him. A still handsomer bush-shrike is L.
quadricolor, peculiar to Natal, whose green, yellow, and black
plumage is set off by a rich red gorget.
Among the Sturnidas. the glossy starlings, locally called
"spreeuws," are conspicuous, with their plumage shot with fine
metallic tints of bluish-purple, dark green and coppery. Most
beautiful of the family is the male of the small Plwlidauges
Verreauxii, a south-tropical species, which migrates a3 far as
Natal, whose changeable purple and lake upper plumage is con-
trasted with the purest white on the under parts.
Africa is the metropolis of the Ploceidas, a family including the
weavers, widow-birds, waxbill-finches, etc., notable for their
admirably-woven and singularly-shaped (often pendulous) nests,
and for the brilliant colours or vastly developed tail feathers


70 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
assumed by the males in the courting season. The nesting
places of such active and gregarious species as the yellow weaver
(Hyphantornis Capensis), the yellow reed-finch (Pyromelana
Capensis), or the latter's splendid congener the scarlet reed-finch
(P. oryx), are scenes of the utmost animation. The sociable
weaver (Philetterus soeius), inhabiting the country north of the
diamond fields, though very plainly coloured in both sexes, is
celebrated for the huge nest it builds in the "kameel-doorn"
acacia8,an abode accommodating thirty or forty pairs, and described
as consisting of a cartload, or several cartloads, of grass and sticks.
The Kafir-finch (Ghera progne) is a marvellous sight when in
courting attire. Such are the weight and dimensions of his glossy
black tail-plumes, that he is incapable of flight in a strong
breeze.
The Lark family (Alaudidm) is well represented, twenty-two
species occurring. Four belong to two peculiar genera (Certhi-
landa and Heterocorys); while three other genera are not known
north of the equator. Heterocorys includes only one short-billed
species, which is very rare; but Certhilauda contains three long-
billed species which are all widely distributed, C. gamda usually
keeping in small flocks. The common Mirafra apiata is quite
unique in the exquisite tinting and elaborate marking of its
plumage, making it look like a miniature game-bird.
The order Picarise comprises a number of not very closely
related families of birds, for the most part less familiar to non-
naturalists than the Passeres. In South Africa they are very far
from approaching the latter in number, eighty-five species only
being recorded; but most of them are distinguished by consider-
able size, bright colouring, or singularity of form. The swifts
and goatsuckers, the kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, hornbills,
hoopoes, and colies; the honey-guides and barbets; a trogon;
the plantain-eaters and cuckoos; the woodpeckers and a
■wryneck, compose this varied assemblage. The cuckoos head
the list with fifteen species; then follow the kingfishers with teu,
and the woodpeckers and barbets with nine each. It is the
woodpeckers (Picidce) alone which exhibit any generic form
specially characteristic of South Africa, Geocolaptes—containing
a single species, G. olivaceus—being peculiar. The bird in
question is an instance of special modification; wherever found,
in the Cape and Natal, it excavates not tree trunks but the soil,
preferring river-banks or hill-sides, and seems to flourish
throughout its range. In this ground-peeking habit it is nearer
to the American genus Colaptes than to its African relations. Of
the other Picidee only one kind, Campeihera notata, is peculiar;
it inhabits the wooded districts of the south-east of Cape Colony.


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
71
The kingfishers (Alcedinidee) include one of the largest
(Ceryle maxima, fourteen to sixteen inches in length), and one of
the smallest {Ispidina Natalensis, only four inches) species known.
The former is a bold fisher, securing fishes, frogs, and crabs with
its immensely powerful bill; but the tiny blue and orange
Ispidina is stated to pursue only butterflies and other insects.
The abundant Corythornis cyanostigma, not very much bigger
than the last-named and even more beautiful with its great
greenish-blue and black crest, is, however, a true fish-eater, and like
the English species lines its nest with the rejected bones. Two
species apparently peculiar to South Africa are Halcyon albiventris
and H. Senegaloides; the former a rather dull-coloured bird whicli
feeds on insects and worms, and is widely distributed, the latter
with much more blue about it, and confined to mangrove swamps
ou the Natal coast, where it lives chiefly on crabs.
Very grotesque-looking are most of the hornbills (Bueerotidm),
which rival the South-American toucans in the extraordinary
bulk and shape of their beaks. The males have a most surprising
custom of building in the females during incubation, only leaving
a small hole for supplying them with food. The most imposing
of the six South African species is the huge black ground hornbill,
Bucarax cafer, called " bromvogel" from its peculiar deep droning
cry. This bird is almost as large as a turkey, and usually goes
about in small companies of six to ten individuals. The primary
feathers of the wings are white, and have a startling effect when
one surprises a group of " bromvogels" into their laboured flight.
The colies (Uoliidm) are curious in many ways, one of their
structural features being that all four toes are directed forward.
The few species known are confined to Africa, and of the three
found in the south, one, Colius striatus, is peculiar. They are
known to the colonist as "mouse-birds," and are pleasant, sociable
little creatures, although undoubted depredators in the fruit-
garden. Their flight is very short, and they not only keep
together in little companies of about eight or ten, but have a
friendly habit of roosting for the night packed close together with
their head downward, so that in the dusk the cluster looks like a
nest.
Few birds have awakened more interest than the honey-guides
(Indicatoridse), owing to their celebrated faculty of leading the
way to wild bees' nests. They are a very limited group of about
eleven species (if we include the two kinds of Prodotiscus, one of
which, J*, regulus, is peculiar to Natal), and mostly natives of
Africa, only two belonging to the Oriental region. Four of the
feniis Indicator are found in the South, and three of these are
Down as guiding to bees' nests. The object of the birds is not


72 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
the honey but the grubs, which they devour with much eagerness
when the combs are exposed. The guiding habit would appear to
be one of comparatively recent acquisition—that is to say during
the human period; but very possibly its practice is in reality
much more ancient, and has simply been extended to man from
the ratel and other comb-robbing mammals found serviceable by
the bird. The honey-guides appear to have the same parasitic
habits as the cuckoos, some of them being known to lay their
eggs in the nests of barbets and woodpecker?.
It is curious that two of the chiefly South-American, but partly
Oriental family Trogonidm, should inhabit Africa, and still more
remarkable that these two should, in their green and crimson
colouring and serrated bill, be nearer to several American than
to any Indian species of the group. Hapaloderma Narina inhabits
the East and South, and is called "bush-loorie" by the Cape
colonists; it is one of the shyest of forest birds, and sits sluggishly
and apparently half-asleep on a branch, until some passing insect
rouses it into active pursuit. The late Jules Verreaux is
responsible for the discovery that the rich crimson on the under
parts of T. Narina is completely washed out during heavy rain
storms, and is revived in its full intensity only after an interval of
some days. That the red colouring-matter of the body-plumage
of this bird, as well as that of the wing-feathers of some plantain-
eaters, is readily extracted in alkali is well known; but it would
be an extraordinary thing if the statement should be confirmed
that the colour is so little " fast" as to be washed out of the living
bird by mere rain, and its restoration would seem equally
inexplicable.
The touracos or plantain-eaters (Musophagidm) belong to Africa
only; they are nearly confined to the tropics, not more than
three of the twenty-five known species being natives of South
Africa. Two of these three belong to the genus Turaeus; both
are singularly handsome, having green for the foundation tint of
their plumage and bright crimson wing primaries, but T. albocris~
tains—the "loorie" of the colonists—has a prominent, erect,
white-tipped crest, and T. porphyreoloplia, all the upper parts
shot with metallic purple and blue. The former is much the
commoner species, and is abundant in the Knysna forests; it
appears to be endemic, while the other species extends southward
from the Zambesi. The third kind, Sehizorhis concolor, is almost
wholly of a plain ashy grey; it occupies a wide belt of South
Tropical Africa, but does not extend extra-tropically further
than about 25° 24', where it was originally discovered by
Andrew Smith.
Of the fifteen cuckoos (Cucttfidfe) known in South Africa, all


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VEUTEURATE FAUNA.
73
appear to be summer immigrants only, except three species of
"lark-heel" (Centropua) and the "coucal" (Ceuthmoehares aus-
tralis). Most beautiful are the " emerald " (Cuculus smaragdineus)
and u golden" cuckoos (C. Klaasi and C. cupreus), especially the
former, wliich displays an intense metallic green upper surface in
contrast with under parts of canary-yellow.
The order of parrots (Psittaci) does not appear to flourish in
any part of Africa; Salvadori's just published British Museum
catalogue gives for the whole continent only twenty-five species
belonging to four genera. Temperate South Africa has but three
kinds, but four others are found south of the equator. The largest
of the three, Pyocephalus robustus, comes much further south than
the others, being not uncommon in woods on the eastern border
of Cape Colony; while P. Meyeri does not occur south of
Bechuanaland and Transvaal, and the little love-bird, Agapornis
roseicollis, scarcely comes across the Orange River. Both the
latter take very kindly to captivity, and are familiar pets in many
households.
The pigeon order (Columbse) also musters but feebly; there
are eleven native species, of which three appear to be endemic.
Some noticeable species are the green tree-pigeon (Treron Dela-
landii), the long-tailed ground-dove (CEna Capensis), and three
kinds of turtle-doves (Turtur). The peculiar pigeons are the
berry-loving "olive dove" (Palumbus arquatrix), a large and
handsome bird with bright yellow bill and legs, which chiefly
haunts the coast districts; the rare Turturiena Delegorguei, found
only in Natal; and the "cinnamon," or " lemon," dove (Haphpelia
larvata), which is widely spread in wooded parts.
In every way curiously intermediate between the pigeons and
the gallinaceous birds come the remarkable sand-grouse (Ptero-
clidae), which many ornithologists rank as a distinct order. They
are known in South Africa as "Namaqua partridges;" and, in
illustration of the debateable position they occupy, it may be
noted that a very warm dispute not long since took place at the
diamond fields as to their right to protection as "game " birds.
The game law vaguely mentions "grouse;" and as no true grouse
inhabits South Africa, it seemed pretty obvious that sand-grouse
must have been intended by the framers of the Act; but many
sportsmen, insisting on their indisputable affinity to pigeons alike
in structure and in flight, stoutly refused to make game of the
Pteroclidse, notwithstanding that they lay their eggs in the ground
and that the young are covered with down when hatched. Four
species are found in the country, but they mostly inhabit the
interior, P. Namaqua being the only one that habitually extends
its range through the Cape Colony. They are birds of very great


74
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
powers of flight, and seem to be constantly migrating from one
tract to another. Though keeping in pairs, or in small family
Sroups, while feeding, the sand-grouse assemble in immense
ocks in their morning and evening visits to the pools or " pans"
where they drink.
Three families of the order Gallium find a place in our fauna, but
those of the pheasants (Phasianidse) and reed-quails {Turnicid.ee)
have each but two representatives, the remaining thirteen species
all belonging to the partridges (Perdicidas). Two guinea-fowls
alone represent the pheasant tribe, but one of these, Numida
Verreauxi, appears to be strictly confined to the coast of Natal
and Zululand. Ten francolin partridges are native—all very
handsome birds; and three of them, the so-called "pheasant"
(Francolinus clamator),and the "grey-wing" and "red-wing" par-
tridges (F. afer and F. Levaillantii), are peculiar. There are three
true quails (Coturnix); but except the common quail (C. communis),
which though a regular migrant leaves stragglers who stay in
South Africa all the year, no member of the genus is numerous.
In the Accipitres, or birds of prey par excellence, South Africa is
rich, nearly all the families and sub-families being represented.
The list includes seventy species, vid.: six vultures, the secretary,
ten sparrow-hawks and goshawks, six harriers, three buzzards,
thirteen eagles, three kites, the honey-buzzard, thirteen falcons
and kestrels, the osprey, and thirteen owls. Out of this long
series one-tenth appear to be endemic, vid.: six diurnal species
and one owl. Looking through a collection of these voracious
birds, from the tiny falconet, Poliohierax semitorquatus, to the
huge lammergeier, Gypaetus ossifragus, one marvels how so many
species ever manage to find a living in the apparently poorly-
stocked wastes of South Africa. There can, indeed, be no doubt
that the competition for the available prey must be intensely keen
amongst them, and that their wonderful powers of seuse and of
muscle must be perpetually in the fullest exercise.
Notable among the diurnal raptorial birds is the secretary
(Serpentarius secretarius), whose reputation as a snake-eater has
stood it in good stead among the colonists. Its length of limb
undoubtedly gives it an advantage in dealing with a venomous
snake, but in all probability the bird avoids such formidable prey
as long as other food can be found. Like most of the larger
predaceous birds, it cannot afford to be particular, and devours
any kind of animal it can master, not disdaining insects on
occasion. The secretary is widely dispersed over the Africau
continent, but seems to be commoner in the South. The proper
position of this stately creature in its class has been much debated,
some points in its anatomy distinguishing it from the Accipitres


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
75
generally, and indicating alliance to both the cranes and the
Gallinse; but on the whole ornithologists now seem to be agreed
in regarding it as coming within accipitrine limits.
'The huge vultures, Gyps Eolbii and Otogyps auricularis, do not
show to advantage on the ground, and are objectionable alike to
eyes and nose after a gorge of carrion, but on the wing they are
the very perfection of ease and grace, floating in wide circles for
hours together, with every great wing-feather sharply outlined
against the sky, and often ascending to altitudes where they are
lost to our sight. In Natal, I once came upon a nesting-place of
Gyps Kolbii in a precipitous ravine. The old birds were all
absent when I arrived, but not long after began to return to their
nests among the crags; and it was a magnificent sight to watch
some fifty or more of them sweeping past, mostly on a level with
my position, but some both above and below it. Such was the
impetus with which the great birds passed, that I felt as if the
rush of air from the nearest of them would make me lose my
footing.
Among the many fine eagles are conspicuous the tawny
Aquila rapax, a near relative of the European golden eagle; the
black and white A. Verreauxii, known as the "dassie-fanger" and
"berg-haan," and formerly often seen about Table Mountain;
and the rare martial eagle (Spizaetus hellicosus), a most powerful
species with talons of unusual size and strength. The only eagle
peculiar to South Africa is Circaetus fasciolatus, confined to Natal.
One of the two endemic harriers is Circus maurus, a handsome
black and white species restricted to the Cape Colony. The
chanting goshawk, Melierax canorus, is also endemic; it is
commoner in the karroo districts than elsewhere, and really a
tolerable singer for a bird of prey. The very large buzzard,
Bvieo jakal, is also peculiar to the South; it has been known to
tackle with success even so active and pugnacious a venomous
snake as the " ringhals "(Sepedon hmmachates).
The South-African owls exhibit a striking variety in stature,
from the eagle owl {Bubo lacteus), which attacks even domestic
poultry, to the little Carine perlata, more formidable to insects
than to vertebrates. It is to the typical genus Strix that the
only endemic species (S. Capensis) belongs; this bird being
distinguished at once from the universal barn owl by its much
darker dorsal plumage and facial disk, and being very much
rarer than its familiar congener.
The rails, sun-grebes, cranes, and bustards, are associated in
the Order Geranomorphas. Among the sixteen South-African
species of rails (Ballidm), no fewer than seven are European
also, including such well-known birds as the water-rail, corncrake,


76 THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VEBTEBBATE EAUNA.
crested coot, and water-hen. Three of those recorded appear to
be peculiar, vid., the pretty little Corethrura pulchra, and C.
ruficollis, both pretty widely but sparsely distributed, and the very
rare Cotwrnicops Ayresii from Transvaal. The three cranes are
the "wattled" (Grus caruncvlata), the "Stanley" (Anthropoides
paradisia), and the "crowned" or "mahem" (Balearica chryso-
pelargus), of which the last is most remarkable. As many as ten
bustards (Otididw) adorn South Africa, where the larger species
are known as " paauws," and the smaller as " knor-haans." The
grandest is the "gom paauw " (Otis Kori), the male of which
attains a weight of thirty pounds and a height of four feet,
its expanded wings measuring eight feet across; this species is
known to occur as far north as Mashonaland and the Cunene
Eiver. The two other "paauws" (0. Caffra and 0. Inidvngii)
are considerably smaller but of fair stature, and much in request
for the table. The three endemic bustards are among the smaller
kinds or "knor-haans," vid.: the "common" (0. Afro), the
"vaal " (0. scolopacea), and the " blaauw" (0. cosrulescens); their
plumage is of singular beauty, and is set off in 0. scolopacea by a
rich pink gloss, while 0. coerulescens has nearly all the body and
neck of a soft blue.
The mass of the Order Limicolm consists of the Charadriidee, a
family comprising the plovers, sandpipers, snipes, curlews, and
other groups. There is little characteristically African among
these birds, except the coursers (Owrsorius), which are mainly
desert forms; ana, in fact, over half (twenty-two out of forty-
three) the species recorded as South-African are—like so many of
the swallows, warblers, and swifts—merely summer visitors from
the far North. This group is apparently the most migratory in
existence, and many species that visit us between September and
March spend the northern summer in their nesting haunts on or
near the Arctic circle ten thousand miles away! South Africa
seems to have but one endemic species, Burchell's courser
(Cursorius rufus), which frequents the karroos of Cape Colony
and elevated tracts in the north of Natal and in the Transvaal,
and, like all its congeners, is amazingly fleet of foot. Nearly
allied to the coursers are the singularly modified pratincoles
(Glareola), which, both in form and flight, are much like swallows,
among which Linnaeus originally placed the South-European
species G. pratincola. This species, on its southern migration,
only occasionally reaches South Africa; but Nordmann's pratincole
(G. melanoptera) is a regular summer visitor, being indeed the
"small locust-bird " of the colonists, and as the untiring destroyer
of the migratory locusts regarded with no ordinary interest and
favour. It is an interesting sight to watch a flock of these


THE SOUTH-AFRIOAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA. 77
wonderfully active little birds pursuing their winged prey high
in air; their beaks are so constructed that they easily snap off
the locusts' wings, and these rejected members fall in showers to
the earth, while the bodies are promptly devoured without
alighting.
Herons, storks, spoonbills, ibises, and flamingoes constitute the
Order Herodiones, wading birds, for the most part, of large size
and wide distribution. Of the herons, as many as seventeen are
known in South Africa, nine of them being also inhabitants of
Europe. The largest species, Ardea Goliatii, is mainly a south-
tropical bird, but extends through the Transvaal to Natal, and is
occasionally seen in the north of Cape Colony. The tufted
umbre, or "hammer-kop" (Scopus urribretta), is one of the most
remarkable allies of the heron family, its hook-tipped bill
relating it to the extraordinary Balceniceps rex of Central Africa.
It is very generally distributed from the Zambesi to the Cape of
Good Hope, haunting pools and streams at dusk, and feeding on
frogs and fish. There is nothing remarkable in the appearance
of this moderate-sized plain brown bird except its long, business-
like bill and large occipital crest; but its immense nest of sticks,
placed in a tree or on a rocky ledge, is a curious affair, measuring
live or six feet across, but having quite a small entrance. The
possible object of so huge a structure is to puzzle any inquisitive
enemy as to the actual position in the mass of the eggs or young
—on the principle of the acknowledged difficulty of finding a
needle in a haystack.
Three ibises are South-African, including the well-known
sacred ibis (I. cethiopica), which is met with in many parts, but
appears to be an irregular migrant. Of the other two, the bald
ibis (Geronticus calvus) is peculiar; it is locally known as " wilde
kalkoen," or "wild turkey," in allusion to its glossy metallic
plumage and bare head and neck.
In the Order Anseres three species of geese and thirteen of
ducks are South-African, but only one, a spiny-tailed duck
(Erismatura maccoa), is endemic. This is a handsome bird,
distinguished by its chestnut and brown plumage, black head and
pale-blue bill, as well as by the rigid tail-feathers. The tiny
goose (Nettapus auritus) is of great beauty, shining-green and
black above, and pale-rufous beneath; it is well worthy of
domestication among the ornamental water-birds.
The pelicans and gannets, the cormorants, and the darter or
"snake-bird," represent three families of the Order Steganopodes.
On the South-African coast the gannet (Sula Capensis) and the
smaller cormorant or "duyker" (Phalacrocorax Capensis) are
extremely abundant, and of importance as the chief yielders of


78 THE SOUTH-AFBICAN VEKTEBRATE FAUNA.
H-
the local supply of guano. On this account they (with the
penguin) have recently been placed by the Cape Government
under protection, notwithstanding that their abundance is to some
extent prejudicial to the fishing industry.
Among existing birds few are stranger than the penguins,
which constitute the Order Impennes, and are characteristic of
antarctic seas. The only species that can be held as a South-
African native is Spheniscus demersus, stragglers only of the
"macaroni " penguin (Eudyptes chrysocoma) having reached Cape
shores. The Capo penguin is very numerous and breeds on the
various islands close to the coast. Anderson notes that in the
breeding-places frequented by these birds they always occupy the
highest ground, the gannets coming next, and nearest to the sea
the cormorants.
The ostrich is the sole African representative of the sub-class
Raiitse, but the largest of that now very limited group, and
indeed of all existing birds. It has an extremely wide distribution
throughout the continent, extending also to Arabia and Syria.
There can be little doubt that in South Africa the demand
for its feathers would long ere this have occasioned its extinc-
tion, but for the fortunate discovery that it could readily be
domesticated. Several ornithologists have advocated the separa-
tion of the Southern from the Northern bird, under the name of
Struthio australis, on the very slight grounds that it is larger,
that the black plumage of the male is darker, that the skin on
the bare parts is bluish instead of flesh-coloured, that the top of
the head has some hair-like feathers instead of being bare, and
that the eggs are more deeply pitted. With regard to the
difference last mentioned, it is curious that Sclater (' Trans.
Zool. Soc.,' iv., p. 354) states that the egg attributed to the
Southern bird is smaller and less deeply pitted,—just the opposite
to Tristram's observation (' Ibis,' 1860, p. 74); but as a matter of
fact there is very great diversity in these respects among the
eggs of the Cape Ostrich, as every local breeder can testify.
Reptiles.
In comparison with their distinguished and now rather distant
relations the birds, reptiles have but few admirers and scarcely
any friends. Owing to the fatal venom of mauy snakes, it may
emphatically be said of reptiles generally that to most people
"the trail of the serpent is over them all." Only the tortoises
appear to have escaped the popular ban, and to be regarded with-
out dread or disgust; indeed, despite their decided want of
animation, they are not seldom treated as pets.


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE YlNm.. ^-t^^U- '/-SA
The Chelonia of South Africa are not by any
nor is there among them any peculiar genus; bury-aaJ
hand, there is rather a marked development of the strictly
terrestrial tortoises in comparison with other parts of the
continent. The eleven recorded African species of Testudo are
all found in the South, and no fewer than eight of them are
peculiar, and of the four species of Homopus three endemic species
are South-African. T. geometrica and its allies form the bulk of
these peculiar forms; they are handsomely marked small tortoises,
with more or less hooked noses, T. tentoria being distinguished by
the projection into humps of the dorsal shields or scutes. The
largest species is the well-known T. pardalis, which attains a
length of two feet, and is common in many parts of the country;
by the side of its small compatriots it looks very large, but is,
like all existing continental land tortoises, a mere dwarf in com-
parison with its huge insular congeners in Aldabra and (until
recently) the Galapagos archipelago. Both T. pardalis and the
next largest South-African species, T. calcarata, are found in
tropical East Africa, the latter as far north as Abyssinia.
Homopus is a genus of small tortoises highly characteristic of the
South, the only tropical species being one found in Senegal.
Cinixys, on the contrary, belongs to the tropical parts, but
C. Belliana is mentioned by Sir A. Smith as "inhabiting the
country to the north and east of Port Natal;" the species of this
genus are remarkable for having the front of the carapace hinged
and moveable.
Only two water-tortoises inhabit South-African streams and
pools—Sternothcenis sinuatus and Pelomedusa galeata—neither of
which attain any great size. The former is well distinguished by
having the front part of the plastron or under-shell moveable,
so as to enclose the bead and front limbs when drawn in.
The Ethiopian region possesses four crocodiles (including one
peculiar to Madagascar), but two of them appear to be limited to
the west tropical rivers, and the only species extending to South
Africa is the crocodile (Crocodilus vulgaris), which prevails
throughout the continent, except in those arid tracts where water
is merely temporary. The south and west of South Africa seem
never to have been tenanted by this formidable reptile, but to
the north and east of Cape Colony it was formerly numerous, and
is said to be still found in the coast rivers of Natal. The size
of this animal is commonly much overstated, "fully twenty feet"
being often given as its length; but the finest specimen in the
British Museum series, brought together from all parts of Africa,
measures under fifteen feet.
The great Order of Lizards (Sauria) does not seem to be very


so
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
extensively developed in South Africa; but it is not improbable
that a good many forms still await discovery in the less-known
districts. There are ten families and thirty-one genera repre-
sented, the number of species regarded as valid by Boulanger
being eighty-seven. It is interesting to note a considerable
amount of peculiarity in this limited number, seven genera and
fifty-nine species being South-African only, while two families
(Zonuridse and Gerrhosauridas) are almost confined to the country,
possessing beyond it only a very few representatives in the south-
tropical area and in Madagascar. The family richest in genera
is the Geckos, with 7, and then follow the Skinks with 6, and the
Lacertidm with 5. The Scincidse have 18 native species, the
Lacertidm 15, the Geckos 14, the Zonuridse 11, the Gerrho-
sauridas 8, and the Chameleons 7. The genera richest in endemic
species are in the Geckos, Pachydaetylus (6}; in the Zonuridas,
Zonurus (4); in the Lacertidm, Eremias (6); in the Scineidas,
Scelotes (7); and in the Cliammleontidm, Chammleon (6).
The Geckos are mainly nocturnal, as might be at once inferred
from their large eyes with vertical pupil; they usually have
their toes dilated into adhesive disks. Some of the smaller Cape
species of the genus Pachydaetylus are much dreaded for their
imaginary venomous character, and scant mercy is extended to
the harmless " gaetje," without regard to its services as a destroyer
of nocturnal insects. A numerous karroo species is Ptenopus
garrulus, which during the day sits in its burrow uttering a
curious, dry, monotonous note, the source of which is often a
complete puzzle to the bearer.
The spiny Agamidm are plentiful in dry and rocky places,
where they bask in the full sunshine. Seven species of Agama
are known in South Africa, and of these three are endemic
Quite similar in habits, and in some cases even more spiny, are
the Zonuridse, of which all the four known genera, and eleven out
of the fourteen known species, are native; two of the genera and
ten of the species being peculiar. The most remarkable member
of this family is Zonurus giganteus, which, next to the two great
Monitors and Gerrhosaurus validus, is the largest South-African
lizard, and bears a most formidable-looking array of long spines,
these being especially well developed at the back of the head
and on the tail. This is a native of the northern parts of the
Free State, westward from the Natal mountain boundary. A
smaller and not quite so prickly species is Z. cataphractus, which
inhabits the dry karroo country in the west of Cape Colony. A
widely-spread lizard of this family is Pseudocordylus microleptdotus,
Drakensberg; it presents a great variety of gradations in both
common on mountains


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
81
marking and colouring. The endemic genus Cliamassaura is
remarkable for its snake-like form, the tail being of great length,
as well as for the highly variable development of the limbs, one
of the three species having both pairs of legs small, but with the
usual five digits; the second, C. anguina, having the same, but
without digits; and the third, 0. maerolepis, having the hind
limbs without digits, while the fore limbs are entirely wanting.
The Varanidse contain many of the largest of existing lizards,
commonly known as Monitors. They are widely dispersed through
the tropical parts of the Old World, but four only are African.
Of the latter two inhabit South Africa, one being the well-known
Nile monitor (Varanus Niloticus), frequenting African streams
generally, and attaining a length of six feet. This species, as it
plunges suddenly into the water, is not seldom mistaken for a
crocodile; it is naturally more prevalent on the better-watered
eastern side of the country. The other kind, V. albigularis, seems
to have a much more restricted range, inhabiting East and South
Africa only. It is not a decidedly aquatic species, like V. Niloti-
eus, being often met far from water, mostly in rocky places. Its
length does not appear to exceed four and a half feet.
Only two representatives of the Amphisbsenidse are native.
These extraordinary creatures are limbless (in all but one
American species), blind, and without apparent ears; the head
is specially formed for burrowing, with the nostrils and small
mouth inferiorly situated, and the worm-like body is covered
with very small square plates arranged in very numerous rings.
Amphisbmna violacea is known from Inhambane only, and Memo-
peltis Capensis was discovered by Sir A. Smith towards the
eastern side, in latitude 24°.
The GerrhosauridsB are exclusively Ethiopian; three of the five
known genera, and eight of the fifteen species, occur in the
South, and of these one genus and six species are peculiar.
Gerrhosaurus vaiidus is, next to the monitors, the largest South-
African lizard, being 19£ inches in length. It was first described
by Sir A. Smith, who found it near the sources of the Orange
River, and it has since been met with at Tette on the Zambesi.
In this family, as in the Zonuridse, there is an endemic genus,
Tetradactylus, the three species of which exhibit great difference
in the development of the limbs. The scales of the body in this
family are quadrate, and usually form very regular longitudinal
and transverse series.
The skinks (Scineidse) are remarkable for having the body pro-
tected by bony plates underlying the scales; they have a general
tropical distribution in the Old World, a considerable proportion
of the known forms being African. They exhibit the tendency to
G


82
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
atrophy of the limbs very strongly; thus in the single genus
Seelotes the seven South-African species present four different
conditions, from very short but complete pentadactyle limbs to
none whatever. The last-named condition is also that of the
little Herpetoseps anguinus, an endemic genus and species recently
discovered at Port Elizabeth. Legless also are the three South-
African species of Acontias, of which the best known is the
extremely smooth A. meleagris, with the habits and much of the
appearance of the European " blind-worm" (Anguis fragilis).
The chameleons are unlike all other lizards, and are rightly
regarded as constituting a distinct sub-order. Very characteristic
are the short neck; deep laterally-compressed body; long thin
legs, with the digits unequally arranged to form clasping organs;
prehensile tail; granulated and tuberculed skin; large globular
eyes covered by a lid only pierced centrally for the pupil; and
extraordinarily extensible tongue. Besides the famous power of
assimilating their colour to the various tints of their immediate
surroundings, they possess another much more remarkable, and
indeed absolutely unique among vertebrates, vid.: that of moving
the eyes separately and independently. The whole tribe is essen-
tially Ethiopian, only three or four stragglers occurring along the
Mediterranean and in South Asia; and it attains a striking
development in Madagascar, where a peculiar genus (Broohesia)
and twenty-one species are found. The seven species of the genus
Chamseleon inhabiting South Africa are all of the smaller kind;
the best known is the "dwarf" (C. pvmilus) abundant about
Cape Town. C. Namaquensis, which inhabits arid districts of the
West, extending as far as Mossamedes, is of a considerably
modified " karroo " type; it is by no means so strictly arboreal as
its congeners, having stronger legs, and showing much more
activity on the ground. It is ordinarily of an inconspicuous
greyish brown, with darker spots and blotches, and never exhibits
any tinge of green, but in strong sunlight, or when excited,
becomes very handsomely pied with white and dark brown in long
irregular blotches.
The order of snakes (Ophidia) is stated by Boulanger to be not
much less numerous than the lizards; of the latter he recognises
about 16U0 species, and of the snakes about 1500. The whole
tribe is pre-eminently one that thrives in a high temperature and
copes but ill with any approach to a low one; and accordingly
the immense majority inhabits tropical latitudes, the number
rapidly diminishing even in the warm-temperate zones, and but
very few forms ranging beyond the latter limits. The recorded
snakes of temperate South Africa number about fifty, belonging
to thirty-lour different genera. Five of the nine families are


THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
S3
represented, but nearly four-fifths of the whole, or about thirty-
eight, belong to the great family Colubridse, leaving four each
to the Viperidse and the Typhlopidie, and one each to the
Glaueonidse and the Boidee. The only genera that appear not to
be found elsewhere are both Colubrida?, vid.: Lamprophis (two
species) in the sub-family Colubrinse, and Cyrtophis (one species)
in that of the Elapinse. As far as can be ascertained, in the
great paucity of data as to the range of these animals, about
twenty species are confined to South Africa.
The worm-like burrowing snakes included in the families
Typhlopidse and Glaueonidse are curious reptiles, rather numerous
in the tropics; they much resemble the limbless lizards of
several groups mentioned above, being of singularly feeble
structure, with small mouths containing very few teeth, and eyes
under the ocular shields. The largest South-African species is
Onychocephalus varius, which was discovered at Sena on the
Zambesi, bat also occurs at Delagoa Bay.
Very strikingly in contrast with these inert, unfinished-looking
little ophidians are the great and powerful boas (Boidee); but an
important link between these very dissimilar families is the
presence in both of remains of the pelvis and hind limbs. In the
boas the extremities of the rudimentary limbs usually protrude
just before the base of the tail. The South-African python, or
rock snake (Hortulia Natalensis), is by far the largest of the
native serpents, and, like all its tribe, is very handsome in
colouring and marking. Specimens of from filteen to eighteen
feet long are not uncommon, and some of even larger size are
reported to have been met with; but it may be fairly suspected
that the incomplete skin measuring twenty-five feet mentioned
by Sir A. Smith had been considerably stretched after removal
from the body. This species is known to extend as far as
Mozambique; it is still found in Natal and Zululand, and used to
occur in Kaffraria and the eastern districts of Cape Colony.
The Colubridse have been conveniently divided into three
series, according to the special character of their teeth: the first
(Aglypfui) have solid teeth without grooves throughout, and are
harmless; the second (Opisihoglypha) have some of the hinder
maxillary teeth grooved, and are suspected of being venomous to
some little extent; and the third (Proteroglypha) have the fore-
most maxillary teeth grooved or perforated, and are ceitainly
venomous. Twenty-one of the South-African Colubrine snakes
belong to the first or innocuous series, and seven others to the
slightly suspected series, while the remaining ten or eleven are
unmistakably provided with grooved poison langs in Irunt. The
first series includes the sub-families Colubrinse (19) and Busy-


84
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
leltinse (2); the second, the Dipsadinas (7); and the third, the
The Colubrina? include the large and abundant "black" or
"mole" snake (Coronella cana), and its close ally G. phoearum,
the latter confined to Eobben Island in Table Bay. The endemic
genus Lamprophis includes, besides its type L. Aurora, a very
handsome little species, L. Fiski, golden-yellow with black spots,
only known to inhabit the neighbourhood of Town's River in the
lower karroo. Psammophylax rhombeatus is widely distributed in
South Africa; it is a very active snake, and has perhaps gained
its local name of "schaapsticker," or "sheep-stinger," from its
general resemblance to the venomous Causus rhombeatus, one of
the Elapinm, a species very likely to resent the intrusion of
trampling sheep on its favourite haunts.
That many snakes have a taste for birds' eggs is notorious, but
Africa possesses a few species pre-eminently adapted for this kind
of food; they form the small sub-family Dasypeltinse (or Bachio-
dontinm). In the three kinds known, the ordinary (maxillary)
teeth are minute and very few, so that they do not fracture
the shell of an egg taken into the mouth; but, strangely enough,
at about two inches behind the head, a series of the inferior
processes of the vertebras project into the gullet, and when the
egg reaches these the constriction of the neck muscles enables
them to crack the shell without risk of losing any of its contents.
Of the two South-African species, Basypeltis soabra is the
commoner; and there is an example in the South-African
Museum which was caught with an ordinary hen's egg three-parts
swallowed. Extraordinary as is the distension which the jaws
and skins of snakes will undergo, the disproportion between the
normal size of this little creature's head and the egg is so immense
that it is almost incomprehensible how the jaws could by any
efforts contrive to " get outside " the morsel they had gorged. In
this instance I thought it highly probable that the Basypeltis
had overrated its powers, and was actually choked by its booty,
being unable to bring its gular teeth to bear with effect on so
large and thick an egg-shell.
Of the South African Dipsadinae the most notable is the fine
and active "boomslang" (Bucephalus Capensis), which varies
greatly in colouring and marking. It is a common and widely-
spread species, frequenting trees and bushes in its pursuit of birds,
which recognise it as an enemy, and often "mob" it with loud
cries. No venom-gland is to be found in this species, but the
elongated grooved hind teeth certainly favour the view that,
besides being serviceable in merely i-etaining a struggling prey,
they probably inject at the same time some poisonous iluid.


TtfE SOtffH-AFlUCAN VERfEBRATE FAUNA. 85
f
The truly venomous colubrine serpents are the Elapinm and
the Hydrophinie, with fully-developed poison glands communicating
with the grooved front maxillary teeth. The former include
among them the cobras or hooded snakes, of which the widely-
spread African species, Naja haje, is common in the southern
parts. It attains a length of from five to six feet, and varies in
colour from straw-yellow, or almost golden-yellow, through
several tints of mottled brown, to quite black. Its activity,
strength, and boldness, and the known deadliness of its bite,
render it justly dreaded.
Dendraspis angusticeps, the " mamba " of Natal and Zululand,
is still larger than the ordinary cobra, reaching the great length
of ten feet. More of a tree snake than its ally, it is remarkably
swift in its movements, and of fierce temper; and cases of speedy
death from its stroke are well authenticated.
The "ringhals" (Sepedon hasmaehates) is very generally dis-
tributed over South Africa, to which it appears to be peculiar,
and is well known as a most alert and pugnacious snake. When
excited it erects its anterior part and partially inflates the neck,
like a cobra; keeping the mouth open and the fangs raised, it
strikes repeatedly and with great force. It also has the habit
of ejecting to some distance an acrid saliva (with which some
venom from its copious supply is probably mingled), and has
thus gained another local name, "6puughslang."
Aspidelaps lubricus and Cyrtophis scutatus are related forms
apparently endemic — the latter, indeed, which extends from
Kaffraria to Inhambane, constituting a peculiar genus. Several
species of Elaps occur; they are singularly sluggish, have very
small mouths, and seem very disinclined to use their fangs. In
Atractaspis irregularis the fangs are prolonged so far backward,
and the mouth orifice is so small, that it is clear these weapons
cannot be used to strike in the ordinary way.
Only one of the sea-snakes (Hydrophinie) is known to reach the
Cape, vid.: Pelamis bicolor, the ino»t widely ranging of that most
singular group, which mainly inhabits the tropical shores of the
Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. They are readily recognised
by their laterally-compressed oar-like tails; all those known are
venomous. P. bicolor has been recorded from such extreme
distances apart, as the Persian Gulf, Japan, New Zealand, and
Central America; stragglers not seldom occur on the Cape coast
as far as False Bay.
While most of the venomous Colubrine snakes have nothing
repulsive in their appearance or physiognomy, there is something
in the whole aspect of the Viperidm that at once arouses a feeling
of dread and disgust, and certainly the flattened backwards


SO
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA
%
broadened head has an expression which, for concentrated
malignity and dull ferocity, has no equal throughout nature.
The larger forms, such as the puff-adder (Vipera arietans), the
West-African V. nasicornis and V. rhinoceros, the V. BusseUii of
India, and the rattlesnakes of America, are as deadly as the
cobras, and are perhaps more dangerous to man, on account of
their sluggishness by day. This inertness often leads to their
being trodden upon—an accident which they instantly resent
with murderous effect. The fangs of the vipers are much longer
than those of the Colubrine venomous snakes, and retain their
hold with far more tenacity. In South Africa the stroke of the
?uff-adder has in many cases proved fatal to man. The smaller
lape vipers are V. Atropos, known as the "Berg adder," a common
species in mountainous localities; V. inornata, a scarcer form
inhabiting arid tracts; and the little V. comuta, also a lover of
dry and sandy places, whose aspect is rendered especially for-
bidding by two pointed crests of scales immediately above the
eyes, earning for it the local title of " hornsman."
Amphibians.
The Amphibians or Batrachians of South Africa are far from
numerous; the twenty-nine species recorded all belong to the
tail-less or leaping order {Salientia). While there is a considerable
proportion (fourteen) of peculiar species, the only peculiar genus
appears to be Cacosternum. Four of the fourteen recognised
families are represented as follows, vid.: Ranidee or typical frogs,
seven genera and twenty species; Engystomatidse, four genera and
five species; Bufonidse, or toads, one genus and three species;
Dactylethridm, or clawed-toads, one genus and one species.
The largest South African irog is Bana adspersa, the "bull-
frog " of the colonists, a very robust species attaining the length
of six inches. Its head is large, and the under jaw has two large
bony prominences in front. Its deep hoarse note is a familiar
sound of the summer night in t he eastern districts of Cape Colony,
where this frog has the evil reputation of swallowing newly-
hatched ducklings. The species extends to the Zambesi and to
Mozambique.
Bana Grayi and B. fasciala are two species peculiar to the
South; the latter is very remarkable for the extraordinary length
of the fourth toe of the hind-foot, which is very nearly as long as
the body.
Next to Bana in the number (five) of its South-African repre-
sentatives conies the genus Bappia, confined to the Ethiopian
region. These little ree frogs have the toes dilated at the end


THE SOOTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAONA.
87
into disks which enable them to adhere securely to any surface,
however smooth and flat,—some species having another adhesive
disk covering the throat. They frequent leaves and flowers, and
several of them have the power of changing colour in accordance
with altered surroundings. B. marmorata is an abundant species
in Natal, and extends right through Africa as far as Abyssinia
and the Gambia; it is amazingly variable in its markings, and has
received on this account a dozen or more different names. This
species and B. Horstockii (which is common in Cape Colony) are
fond of sitting on the leaves of reeds and grasses in swampy spots.
It is in the family Engystomatidie that South Africa exhibits
peculiarity, four of the five species being endemic, and one of
these, a small Kaffrarian form, being the type of a new genus,
Cacostemum, described by Boulanger in 1887. Phrynomantis
bifaseiatus inhabits tropical and parts of temperate South Africa;
it frequents hollows under the bark of trees, and has the toe
expansions so frequent, in arboreal batrachinns. The genera
Breviceps (2 South African species) and Hemisus (1 species)
belong to the burrowing portion of the family, and only appear
above ground after very wet weather. Breviceps gibhosus and
B. verrucosus are by no means uncommon, and are the oddest
little figures imaginable, with their globular botlies, extremely
short legs, and blunt little head projecting very little beyond the
general rotund outline. When irritated these animals inflate
themselves to the utmost, and exude much moisture from their
skin. Hemisus guttatum inhabits Natal; it has much the appear-
ance and habits of Breviceps, but is readily distinguished by its
rather long acute snout and much longer hind-legs.
Of the Bufonidse South Africa possesses three species, all
belonging to the genus Bufo. The moderate-sized small-headed
B. carens is endemic; it is very rare, and was discovered by
Wahlberg in the interior somewhat north of Cape Colony. The
smaller B. angusticeps is not uncommon, and extends to the
Zambesi. The third species is the large and handsome B. regularis,
long known under the appropriate name of B. pantherinus, which
occurs in all parts of Africa, but is nowhere so big and so dis-
tinctly marked and coloured as in the South.
The tongueless Batrachians form a separate Sub-Order, and
among other special characters have the unique one of claws on
three of the hind toes. A very small number are known; they
are natives of Africa and tropical South America. The three
African species belong to the genus Xe?iopus, and, while all
inhabit the tropical zones, one only, X. Irnvis, extends to the
South, where, however, it is very common and generally dis-
tributed, flourishing in every pool. This curious batrachian


88 The souTh-afrIcan Vertebrate fauna.
attains to a good size, and its muscular hind-legs are said to be
worthy the respectful attention of the epicure when treated by a
competent clief. The tadpoles of Xenopus are singular in possess-
ing a spiracle on each side of the body, and a pair of long barbels
depending from the lower jaw.
Fisn.ES.
The paucity of Freshwater Fishes in temperate South Africa
is very remarkable; undoubtedly the scarcity of permanent rivers
and lakes is the main cause of this, but it hardly seems enough
to account for the extreme poverty of the country both in genera
and species. It is not improbable that some of the native kinds
remain undiscovered. At present the contrast between South and
Tropical Africa is most striking, although the latter cannot be
called very rich considering its immense area. About 250
species are known from Tropical African fresh waters, and even
from so near as the Zambesi river, thirty-two are recorded; but,
as far as I can discover, only fourteen South-African species,
belonging to five genera and representing no more than four
families, have been found. It is some consolation to note that
two of the genera (Spirdbranchus and Abrostomtis), and all the
species appear to be peculiar. Gunther has pointed out that the
few forms known are intimately related to those of Tropical
Africa, whereas the Marine Fishes of the Cape distinctly belong
to the south temperate zone, with only a few additions from the
adjacent tropical shores.
Among the three spiny-finned fishes, Spirdbranchus Capensis is
a most interesting little species. It belongs to the family called
Labyrinihici, from the possession of a complicated accessory
breathing-organ, in the cavity of which they can retain a little
water, enabling them to live for some time in the open air, or
enclosed in dried mud. Spirdbranchus is a near relative of the
celebrated "climbing perch" (Anabas seandens) of India, but it
does not appear to emulate that species in walking or clambering
about on dry land. It abounds in rivulets and pools, and meets
their drying-up very philosophically.
The two other South-African Acanthopterygii belong to the
Chromides, a family containing a good many tropical species;
they are Chromis Sparrmanni, a small species with prettily-
coloured and spotted fins, inhabiting streamlets to the north of
the Orange river, and Eemichromis guttatus, of about the same
size, described by Gunther, from some part of the Cape Colony
not recorded. The latter may be recognised by having the two
outer ventral rays produced into filaments.


TfiE SOTJTH-AFKtCAK VERTEBRATE FAtJJfA. 89
The great group of the Siluridse, or " cat-fishes," is represented
by Clarias Gariepensis, the only South-African freshwater fish
that attains a considerable size. This creature, known as
"plattekop," loves the mud, and is common in deep pools of
the Orange and Vaal rivers as well as of minor streams on
the eastern coast. Like nearly all the tribe, it has rather a
forbidding aspect, with its scaleless slimy body, and broad flat
bone-plated head bearing eight barbules. Burchell, the discoverer
of this fish, describes its flesh as white, rich, and nutritious.
It is stated to be sometimes met with over four feet in length.
The remaining freshwater fishes are of the soft-finned order,
and belong to the Cyprinidm or carp family,—two to the
peculiar genus Abrostomus, and eight to the very large and
widely-distributed genus Barbus. All of them have their bar-
bules dependent from the upper jaw. The two species of
Abrostomus inhabit the deeper pools of streams, and are said
to keep to the mud as closely as the "cat-fish " just mentioned.
They are not considered worth eating; but two of the larger
kinds of Barbus, which have the same habits — B. Capensis
and B. Mariquensis—are tolerable as table fish. The little B.
Burchelli and B. pallidus, commonly known as "carp" and
"minnows," frequent clearer streams in plenty, but their size is
too diminutive (about 4 inches and 2f inches long respectively)
to tempt the angler; the former species is distinguished by the
fins being bright red at their base.
The eels {Mursenidce) are not considered to be part of the
strictly fresh-water fishes, but rather to belong to the debatable
brackish-water series, consisting mainly of marine forms of which
some have more or less completely habituated themselves to fresh
water. Many of the species of Anguilla seem, however, to be
perfectly at home in the latter, ascending even to the sources of
the smallest streamlet, although never known to spawn in fresh
water. Two river-dwelling species are recorded as South-African,
via".: A. Idbiata from Natal, and A. Delalandii from the Cape
Colony. It is stated that in South Africa these fishes occur
only in rivers flowing and debouching eastward; and so
strange are the apparent irregularities in the distribution
of many of the species that this would be by no means in-
credible; but it may be mentioned that a very fine specimen
(I believe of A. Delalandii) was captured in the insignificant
Liesbeek stream, close to Cape Town, which runs into Table Bay,
as recently as December, 1891.
In concluding this necessarily most imperfect sketch of the
South-African Vertebrate Fauna, it is matter for congratulation
to record that the people of Cape Colony have of late years become


90
THE SOUTH-AFRICAN VERTEBRATE FAUNA.
alive to the alarmingly rapid disappearance of the larger game
animals, including birds; and that Jaws of increasing stringency
have successively been passed by the Legislature, not only pro-
viding a close season for all the surviving species, but absolutely
prohibiting any slaughter of the rarer kinds needing special
protection—and in some desperate cases of all game—in certain
districts for terms varying from one to three years. Though it is
unfortunately only too certain that this enlightened legislation
has come too late to save many of the finest native forms from
extinction, yet the good effect of these measures is already
appreciable in those districts where the residents possess sufficient
sense and activity to observe and enforce them. Another most
promising project is the restocking of our desolated hills and
plains with the more valuable antelopes, such as the eland,
hartebeest, koodoo, gemsbok, bontebok, blesbok, and springbok;
experiments here and there having amply indicated that nothing
more is needed in most cases but abstinence from persecution and
slaughter for a few years—this protection being largely aided by-
fencing in the more extensive lands on which the animals are
placed. Nature will not, indeed, ''bring back the mastodon;"
and where absolute extinction of any species throughout its range
has unhappily occurred we can only submit to the consequence of
our misdeeds; but there is nothing to prevent re-introducing
surviving species into country where they were formerly indigenous,
and so restoring one of our most characteristic surroundings to
something of its original beauty, and atoning to some extent for
the senseless destruction of some of the noblest forms in
creation.
■


( 91 )
CHAPTER IV.
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA/
By Haery Bolus, F.L.S.
Ever since the time of its first settlement the Cape has been a
constant source of pleasure and delight to the botanist and the
gardener. Though Cape plants have somewhat gone out of
fashion of late years, it is still probably true that no single country
in the world has contributed so largely to European conservatories
and gardens as the Cape of Good Hope. The despatch of plants,
indeed, began before the settlement by Van Riebeek, for we find
that one Heurnius, a missionary en route to the East, had sent to
his brother at Leyden several curious plants which were figured
by Stapel in his edition of Theophrastus' History of Plants, pub-
lished at Amsterdam in 1644. These are the earliest known
figures of Cape plants, and amongst them was the well known
Orbea variegata of the Lion's Rump, which was called a Fritillary,
and an Oxalis which, with equal reason, was styled a Trifolium!
But those were the days before Linnaeus had arisen with master
mind to reduce to order the rapidly increasing stores of vegetable
forms. In 1772 came Thunberg, the father of Cape Botany; in
1810, Burchell; in 1825-1834, Ecklon, Zeyher and Drege.' All
these made journeys of thousands of miles, and of several years in
duration, exploring the vegetation of the country. Besides them
were others of less note, and a host of gardeners and collectors of
seeds and living plants. From 1775 to 1835, Cape plants may be
said to have been quite the rage. The conservatories, temperate
houses, and gardens of England and the Continent teemed with
the Pelargoniums, Heaths, Proteas and other handsome flowering
shrubs, and the lovely bulbous plants of Iridese, Amaryllideae
and Liliacese; and the pages of the Botanical Magazine and
other similar periodicals were filled with figures and descriptions
of them.
The public taste of that day was amply justified. Perhaps the
recently increasing exportation of flowering bulbs may be taken as
an indication that the fashion will be revived. But though fashion
■ Reprinted by penniulon from t'uc 'Official Handbook of tue Cape of Good Hops'; Cape Town, I886-]


92
THE FLORA. OF SOOTH AFKICA.
in flowers may be variable, the interest of science is more perma-
nent; and notwithstanding the diligent exploration of the country
for the last hundred years, the constant discovery of new forms,
even up to the present day, has largely occupied the attention of
systematic botanists.
Without the means, in the present state of our knowledge, of
precisely comparing the relative number of species of flowering
plants in this, and any other portion of the earth's surface, enough
is known to enable us to say that South Africa ranks amongst the
richest of regions. But if we ascend to those higher systematic
groups called Genera and Orders, we can speak with a greater
approach to accuracy. These may be compared in two ways.
First, for the sake of the general reader, the numbers of these in
South Africa (and by the term South Africa let it be understood
that I mean always Africa south of the Tropic of Capricorn) may
be compared with the known total for the whole world. The
latter is taken from Bentham and Hooker's Genera Plantarum
(Journal of Botany xxi, 156) :—
Whole World Orders 200: Genera 7569
South Africa „ 142: „ 1255
Secondly, we may compare South Africa with another country, in
the same hemisphere, for the most part in the same temperate
zone, and of which the Flora is about as well known as that of
South Africa, e.g., Australia.
I take the figures for the latter from Sir J. D. Hooker's well-
known Essay: On the Flora of Australia (London, 1859). And we
have the following result:—
Australia Orders 152: Genera 1300
South Africa „ 142: „ 1255
The area, however, of Australia is five times larger than that of
extra-tropical South Africa; and what is of more importance is
the fact that its eastern coast line runs up into the tropics to
nearly the 10th degree of S. latitude. It will be evident, there-
fore, how much richer in variety of forms, relatively to area, is
the Southern extremity of the African continent, than that of
Australia.
There is another interesting point in the number of endemic
genera in each area, that is, of genera exclusively restricted to
each country. In Australia these are about 520 (Hooker); in
South Africa 446
Why South Africa should be so rich in vegetable forms, is a
question which cannot yet be fully answered. Proximate causes
appear to be


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
93
(1) The meeting and partial union of two (perhaps three)
distinct Floras of widely different age and origin.
(2) A highly diversified surface of the laud and of soil.
(3) A climate with much sunlight (or little cloud); a condi-
tion which seems everywhere favourable to the multi-
plication of forms.
No one could form an adequate or accurate conception of the
Flora of South Africa who should regard it as a single Region.
Meyer and Drege (Comment, de Plant. Afr. Austr. Lipsiae, 1835)
divided the Colony south of the Orange River and Natal, into five
Regions, and numerous districts and sub-districts. The value of
Drege's observations cannot be over-estimated, and form the neces-
sary basis of all later investigations; but the divisions were too
numerous, and broad distinctions were over-loaded with a mass of
subordinate detail. Grisebach ( Vegetation der Erde, Leipzig, 1872)
regarded the Colony proper as far eastward as the Kei River, as
forming one Region: the " Cape "; eastward of this he brought
down the continuation of his vast " Soudan Region," and north
of the Orange River, he constituted his " Kalahari Region " out
of Great Namaqualand, Damaraland, Bechuanaland, &c. As far
as they go, and except for the error in supposing the Orange
River to be a floral boundary, these Regions appear to me to be
natural. But Grisebach's "Cape Region" cannot possibly be
regarded as one; it must be divided into two at least; and perhaps
with more propriety into three. The Flora of the karroo of the
Cape may probably prove to be more distinct from that of the
Eolith-western portion of the Colony, than is the latter from that
of Australia.
1 propose, therefore, to regard South Africa as including five
natural Regions, two of which extend beyond its limits, while tho
others are included within them. These are :—
(1) The South-Western Region
(2) The Tropical African „ (Grisebach's " Soudan")
(3) The Karroo
(4) The Composite „
(5) The Kalahari „ (Grisebach)
THE SOUTH-WESTERN IiEGIO.V.
It is the South-Western Region which has for the most part
furnished that large quantity of garden plants which I have
referred to above, and which is the home of what has been for the
last hundred years popularly known as the Cape Flora. It is an
angular littoral strip, bounded on the west coast by the Olifant's
River and the mountains near it, but including properly the


94
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA,
mountain range from Cedarbergen up to the Kliamiesbergen; on
the east by the Van Staden's mountains; and inland by consider-
able mountain chains under various names. Its greatest width
does not exceed eighty miles, and probably averages not more
than fifty miles. The inland mountain chains referred to may
average 4000 feet in height, attaining sometimes (Great Winter-
hoek) 6800 feet. The surface of the Region is extremely
diversified; sandy and bushy tracts alternating on the coast with,
grassy downs, and vast mountain slopes of the most barren
appearance when lying a short distance inland, but clothed with
an immense variety of small plants.
The soils are varied, the exposed rocks being chiefly granite,
clayslate (Malmesbury beds: Silurian?) and sandstone (Table
Mountain Sandstone: Devonian); with insignificant exceptions,
tertiary deposits are absent, occurring only in low places and of
shallow depths. Throughout South Africa the influence of soils
upon the distribution of plants appears to be less important than
that of climate and exposure.
Rivers are few, and badly supplied with water except in winter;
practically, none of them are navigable.
The mean annual temperature of Cape Town is 16-25° C. (61-25°
Fahr.); of the six summer months 20° C, and of the six winter
months 12'5°C; the mean annual humidity of the atmosphere 71-83
per cent.; the mean annual rainfall in the city itself is 23-80
inches; but in the suburbs it reaches in some localities to 60 inches.
Further inland the temperature is higher, the extremes greater,
and the humidity and rainfall much less. At Worcester, situate
about 60 miles from Cape Town, the mean annual temperature
rises to 16-93° C.; the humidity is 54-40 per cent.; and the
average rainfall is 12 47 inches. About two-thirds of the whole
rainfall takes place during May, June, July, and August; and the
months of January to April are usually very dry. The whole
rainfall of this Region attains its maximum near Cape Town;
and diminishes rapidly as we proceed northward up the west
coast.
The prevailing aspect of the vegetation of this and the two next
Regions, thus of the whole Cape Colony except the eastern coast
region, is that of a number of low-growing scattered shrubs of a
dark or bluish green hue. With considerable exceptions this is,
nevertheless, the appearance which most commonly meets the eye.
Almost everywhere the " bush " is present. There are vast tracts
called the " Boschjesveld (bush country), from the uniformity of
this appearance. There, tlie chief bush is the "Rhenosterbush"
(Elytropappus rhinocerotw); but these are intermingled with others,
and in general they belong to the most various Orders. All have


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
95
usually very 9mall leaves, or of greyish green colour, or so covered
with a dull coloured indument, as to produce at a distance a
generally sombre aspect. On the coast the bushes are larger,
ranging from 4 to 8 feet. The following genera are some of those
which by their abundance largely contribute to make up the floral
landscape:—Mundtia, Pelargonium, Agathosma, Celastrus, Cas-
sine, Phylica, Rhus, Cyclopia, Borbonia, Aspalathus, Cliflbrtia,
Berzelia, Brunia, Staavia, Tetragonia, Aster, Athanasia, Stoebe,
Metalasia, Erica, Simocheilus, Myrsine, Euclea, Lycium, Loboste-
mon, Salvia, Penaea, Passerina, Leucadendron, Protea, Leuco-
spermum, Serruria, Myrica, &c. Interspersed among these are
numerous plants of the orders Orchideae, Irideae, Amaryllideae,
Liliaceae, with scattered tufts of Restiaceas, sedges, and grasses.
In the deep ravines of the mountain sides are dwarf trees,
growing closely, with dark foliage. Few indigenous trees attain
a greater height than 25 to 30 feet; and amongst these is the
remarkable and very characteristic Silver Tree (Leucadendron
argenteum), occurring almost exclusively on the Cape Peninsula.
Forests are only met with towards the Knysna and Zitzikamma.
These are chiefly composed of species of Podocarpus (Yellow-
wood), Ocotea (Stinkwood), Ptaeroxylon (Sneezewood), Olea
(Olive), Elaeodendron (Saffronwood), Cunonia (Rood Els), Vir-
gilia (Keurboom), Olinia (Ironwood), Cussonia, Ficus, Grewia,
Curtisia, Sideroxylon (Milkwood), Rhus, &c.,&c. Those of which
the vernacular names are quoted yield excellent timber. Trees of
the Podocarpus occasionally attain a height of 50 to 60 feet; but
few of the others exceed 25 to 30 feet.
There is little change in the aspect of the vegetation even at
greatly varying heights on the mountains; and near the coast
especially it is much less affected by altitude than is the case in
Europe. On Table Mountain some species are found from the
bottom to the top, having thus a vertical range of 3500 feet; and
there are many with a range of from 1000 to 2500 feet.
The flowering season begins about the end of May immediately
after the first winter rains. The numerous species of Oxalis first
made their appearance, and these are soon followed by great num-
bers of Irideae, Amaryllideae, Liliaceae, and other bulbous plants,
besides Mesembryanthemums and various Compositse. On the
mountains the flowering begins later and continues longer; but
though few plants may be found in flower in March and April,
yet they are never wholly absent. The imported oak has shed
its leaves for a period of six or eight weeks only (during
May and June) before the new growth begins. Everything
points to the fact that the true winter, the period of rest, is
here the dry season, viz., March—May; as soon as rain falls


96
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
even the winter temperature is sufficient, and vegetable life is
at once aroused to activity.
A few of the most beautiful, striking, or curious vegetable forms
of the region may here be mentioned, the majority of the examples
being taken from the highly representative and rich flora of the
Cape Peninsula, lying on its western extremity. The palm of
beauty must be awarded to the Bisa grandijlora, the grandest of
southern terrestrial orchids, as Cypripedium spectabile is of the
northern hemisphere. This is abundant on the streams of Table
Mountain, and is found also on the Hottentot's Holland mountain",
thirty to forty miles inland. Other fine orchids are Satyrium
corifolium, a brilliant orange, S. carneum and & erectum, Bisa
longicornis, a lovely blue, B. secunda, the delicate white B.fasciata,
and others; Pterygodium acutifolium, a fine deep golden yellow,
Ceratandra chloroleuca, and G. Rarveyana; the brilliant blue Bisa
(Hersclielia) graminifolia (long known as R. coelestis) and the
allied B. venmta, and B. purpurascens; and, finally, the small
beautifully fringed spider-like Bartholina pectinata and B. Ethelae.
Close upon these presses the so-called "Arum," the Richardia
africana, with its pure white spathe,—almost as common an orna-
ment of all moist low-lying ground as the common dock is an
accompaniment of English ditches. The Proteas are universal
objects of admiration, and few things can surpass P. cynaroides,
with its flesh-coloured involucres, P. speeiosa, P. coecinea, and a few
others. The singular Leucadendron argenteum, or Silver Tree, is
a striking ornament of the mountains about Cape Town. Next
come the Heaths, whose names would be legion. The most beauti-
ful, and those with the largest flowers, are denizens of the mountains
lying between the Hottentot's Holland range and the town of
Swellendam, being especially abundant about Caledon and Gena-
dendal. On Table Mountain, Erica cerinthoides, E. mammosa, E.
coecinea, E. spumosa, and E. hirta are amongst the finest, the latter
sometimes making a whole mountain side glow with its warm pink
tints. There are, probably 350 species of true heaths found in
this Kegion alone. Amongst Composita?, Gazania has some fine
species, while Relichrysum vestitum, Relipterum, spp., and Phoeno-
coma prolifera, are amongst the showiest of the everlasting flowers,
the heads of the first-named being gathered, dried, and ex-
ported in large quantities to Europe as immortelles, Bimorphotheca
annua has gay white rays, and, witli some species of Arctotis, makes
the fields look bright in spring. In the large Order, Leguminosa?,
Podalyria calyptrata, with its large rosy flowers, may, perhaps,
head the list, and Virgilia Capensis, Cyclopia spp., Rypocalyptus
obcordatus, and the widespread Sutherlandia frutescens, are
amongst the few handsome plants of an Order not remarkable for


THE FLORA OP SOUTH AFRICA.
97
its beauty in this Begion, but which consists for the most part of
inconspicuous shrublets. The Acacias are deficient; only A. horrida
occurring sparingly in the drier parts of the Begion. The Pelar-
goniums are abundant, and several species, P. cucullatum, P.
hetulinum, &c, are very handsome. Oxalises with white, red, and
yellow flowers, stud the fields in early spring. The numerous
species of the tribe Diosmeae, including Diosma, Barosma (some
of which, as B. crenulata, &c, furnish the Buchu of medicine),
Agathosma, Adenandra, &c, are mostly confined to this Begion.
The attractive Bochea coccinea is one of the chief ornaments of
Table Mountain; while the Cotyledons contribute some of the
most curious plants of the Begion, especially C. fascicularis, with
its smooth, thick, swollen tree-like stem; very abundant in the
neighbourhood of Worcester and Hex Biver. Near the Tulbagh
Waterfall occurs the rare and pretty Ixianthes relzioides, and in
the same neighbourhood, the curious Boridvla dentata, a shrubby
Droseraceous plant with extremely viscid leaves, which the farmers
hang up in their houses in order to catch flies. The showy Poly-
gala oppositifolia and P. rnyrtifolia are both widely distributed.
Plants parasitic on the roots of others take a prominent position in
our Flora. They include several handsome Harveyas, white, purple,
and orange; and in other orders the Cytinus dioicus, the curious
Hydnora africana; the foul-smelling Sarcophyte sanguinea and
Mysiropetalon spp. Labiats are not plentiful, but Salvia panicu-
lata and S. nivea are fine species. Turning to the Monocotyledons,
Orchideae have already been mentioned; Iridese are abundantly
represented in handsome species of Bomulea, Geissorhiza, Ixia,
Gladiolus, Watsonia, Babiana, &c.; Amaryllidere in Amaryllis
Belladonna, Nerine, Brunsvigia, Vallota, &c.; Hcitaminea) in the
peculiar and noble Strelitziae. Liliaceae are very varied and
numerous. The most conspicuous are the Aloes,—A. plioatilis with
an arborescent trunk, attaining a height on the western mountains
of 12 to 15 feet; the beautiful blue Agapanthus; the star-like
Ornithogalums; Rniphofia alooides, and many others. Prionium
palmita is a remarkable plant with the flower of a Juncus, and the
habit of a pine-apple, which in some parts fills the beds of certain
western rivers, ana reaches a height of eight or ten feet. Some
Bestiaceae and Cyperaceae attain to six or seven feet, and often
form a striking feature in the landscape. Ferns are not very
abundant, chiefly occurring in the deep ravines, where the arbor-
escent HemUelia Capensis is found several feet in height; and
Todea africana forms a handsome plant. Osmunda regalis is
It is in the orders and genera of plants exclusively or chiefly

aquilina is more commonly
n


98
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
found here that the most striking differences are to be found be-
tween this and the other Regions of South Africa. An immense
mass of observations has been collected, but has not yet been
tabulated. It must suffice to say that this Eegion is distinguished
by the comparative abundance of the Orders: Rutaceae, Bruniaceas
Ericaceae, Penaeacese, Proteaceae, Iridese and Restiacese; by the
tribe Stilbese of the Order Verbenacese; and by the large propor-
tionate number of the following Cape genera, of those richest in
species, belonging to other Orders: Pelargonium, Oxalis, Phylica,
Aspalathus, Cliffortia.
The following list of the sequence of Orders according to the
numbers of species of each is chiefly based upon Drege's collec-
tions which were very large and general. He, however, or rather
Ernst Meyer, considerably over-estimated the number of species
both of Restiacese and Iridese; and to follow his results implicitly
would be misleading. I have therefore framed the following list
in which the position of those Orders has been reduced:—
8. Cyperaceaa
9. Restiacese
10. LiliacesB
1. Composites
2. Leguminosse
3. Ericaceaj
4. Proteaceae
5. Iridese
6. Geraniacese
7. Graminese
11. Orchidese
12. Rutaceas
13. Scrophularineae
The fact of five such Orders as Ericaceae, Proteaceae, Iridese,
Geraniaceae, and Restiacese, occupying so high a position, is
sufficient to stamp this Region with a character peculiarly its
own.
Very remarkable is the deficiency of Rubiacese. This Order,
which is the fifth natural Order of the World, and the second of
India, does not only not find a place in the above list, but actually
constitutes less than one per cent, of the total Flora. The follow-
ing large Orders are also very poorly represented: Myrtaceae,
Aroideae (each 1 species) ; Laurineae (3 sp.); Acanthacese, Labiatae
and Asclepiadeae.
No trustworthy calculation of the number of species occurring
in the Region is available. Drege collected 2914 species; I should
estimate the total at about 4500 species. The richness of certain
localities is very great. On the Cape Peninsula alone, an area
about one-fourth larger than the Isle of Wight, I have collected
ninety species of Erica, and one hundred and twelve species of
Orchideae have been recorded; and the total number of species
of flowering plants is probably nearly two thousand.
The affinities of the Flora of this Region with that of Australia,


THE FLORA OF SOOTH AFRICA.
especially of South Western Australia, are very striking, and
have already been shown by Sir J. D. Hooker (loc. cit.), from the
Australian point of view.
Two very distinct Orders, Proteaceae, and Eestiaceae, are
abundant in both regions, and, except for a few outliers, do not
occur in any other countries: yet they have no single species, and
only two or three genera, in common, out of many. Proteaceae
form the third Order of the Australian Flora, and the fourth of
this Eegion. Diosmeae, a large tribe of Eutaceae abundant in
this Eegion, find a counterpart in Australia, in the tribe Boro-
nieae of the same Order. The tribe EriceaB of the Order Ericaceae,
has over 400 species in this Eegion alone: not one occurs in
Australia, but the place of the tribe is taken by the large Order
Epacrideae, closely allied to it, and which is almost confined to
Australia.
The following table of the nine largest Australian Orders is
taken from the same source, and is compared with the preceding
list of the Orders of this Eegion. I carry the latter up to twelve,
not being quite sure of the sequence of the smaller orders:—
Australia.
1. Leguminosae.
2. Myrtaceae.
3. Proteaceae.
4. Compositae.
5. Gramineae.
6. Cyperaceae.
7. Epacrideae.
8. Goodenovieae.
9. Orchideae.
S.-W. Region, S. Africa.
Compositae.
Lecruminosae.
Ericaceie.
Proteacea?.
Irideae.
Geraniaceae.
Gramineae.
Cyperaceae.
Eestiaceae.
Liliaceae.
Orchideae.
Eutaceae.
The number of identical genera in the foregoing orders is
extremely small. Of species, not one is known to be common to
both Eegions. There is no genus of Eutaceae or Proteaceae; and
only three of Eestiaceae (Eestio, Leptocarpus, Hypolaena) common
to both Eegions. In other Orders the number of identical genera,
if we except those of world-wide distribution, is extremely small.
The following in Composite have been pointed out by Bentham
(Linn. Soc. Journ. xiii, 552) :—
Brachycome 1 South African 36 Australian species
Helipterum 12 „ 30 „
ii 2


100
THE FLORA Of SOUTH AFBICA.
Helichrysum 137 South African 52 Australian species
Ca8sinia 1 „ 13 „
Athrixia 6 „ 5 „
Cotula 22 „ 9
besides the cosmopolitan genera Senecio and Gnaphalium. Not
all of these South-African genera belong to this Region, nor any
of them exclusively so; but Helipterum is very nearly restricted
to it, while Helichrysum is widely distributed over the whole of
Tropical as well as Southern Africa, though chiefly abundant in
the latter. On this subject Bentham remarks (Z.c. 553):—"This
approximation of the Composite of Australia and South Africa
may possibly date from times less ancient than those in which they
established a communication between the New and the Old World;
and it may even have been less remote than the period in which
flourished the common parents of Australian and South-African
Proteace» and Restiaceae, or of Australian Epacrideae and South-
African Ericeae; for it is exemplified not in tribes only, but also
in identical genera and sections." Amongst Liliaceae may be
mentioned the recent discovery in this Region of Nanolirion, a
close ally of Herpolirion hitherto only found in similar alpine
situations in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
The following Orders, characteristic of Australian vegetation,
abound most, after Australia, in South Africa: Thymeleap,
Haemodoraeeae, Droseraceae (Hooker); and another point of
approach is found in the remarkable deficiency in both countries
of the widely diffused Orders, Rubiacere, Laurineae, and Aroidea?.
On the other hand there are certain remarkable divergencies,
as pointed out in the following list, taken with modifications from
Sir J. Hooker's Essay before quoted.
The following Orders are represented in the Flora of this Region,
but are either comparatively rare or absent in Australia:—
Furnariacere, absent in Australia
Geraniaceae.
Caryophylleoe.
Kosaceae (Cliffortia).
Bruniaceae, absent
Crassulaceae.
Dipsaceae, ditto
Campanulaceae.
Ericea;, absent in Australia
SelagineaB, ditto
Stilbeae (tribe Verben.) ditto
Penaeaceae ditto
Podostemaceae ditto
Cytinaceae ditto
Piperaceaj ditto
Aloineae (tribe Liliac.) ditto
Temperate Australia contains the following orders that are rare
or absent in this Region:—
Dilleniaceae, absent in S. Africa Epacrideae, absent in S. Africa
Maguoliaceee, ditto Loganiaceae


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA. 101
TremandreaB, absent in S. Africa
Stackhousieae, ditto
Sapindaceae.
Halorageae.
Myrtaceae (1 species)
Caprifoliacea?, absent
Stylidiese, ditto
Goodenovieaa, (1 species)
MyoporinesB, absent in S. Africa
Monimiaceae, ditto
Casuarineae, ditto
Cupuliferae, ditto
Coniferae
Johnsonieae (tribe of Liliac.) do
Xeroteae (tribe of Junoao.) do
It is also noteworthy that whereas in the Orchideae of Australia
it is the tribes Vandeae and Neottieae which most largely prevail
(Ophrydeae being restricted to two species), in this Kegion the
Vandeae are few, and NeottieaB completely absent, while Ophry-
deae abound.
Sir J. Hooker conjectures the probability of a common origin of
the Australian and South African Floras, derived from ancestors
inhabiting a vast antarctic continent, of which the greater part has
been submerged. In connection with this it is not a little
remarkable that geologists tell us that the surface of the S.-W.
Region consists of the older rocks whicli are known to exist in
South Africa; the most recent being the Table Mountain Sand-
stone, which seems to be generally regarded as Devonian. But
this hypothesis must be understood as referring exclusively to that
portion of South Africa which is included in the Region I am
now treating of. The affinities of this Region with that of other
countries are more obscure, are certainly very slight, and have not
hitherto been elucidated.
On the eastern boundary the Flora of this Region passes gra-
dually into that of the Tropical African Region, and on the north,
where, however the boundary is much sharper and more defined,
into that of the Karroo Region.
The foreign vegetation naturalised in the Region demands a
brief notice. I have made a list of about 158 species, of which
the great majority are wide-spread European plants, with a few
American and Indian species, which have been recorded as more or
less naturalised throughout South Africa. The observations are im-
perfect as regards the eastern region, and the whole number would
probably be nearer 200 species. Of these about 130 may be found
within ten miles of Cape Town. Yet only the following can be
said to occur in sufficient number in that locality to attract atten-
tion :—Fumaria officinalis, Sisymbrium officinale, Brassica nigra,
Baphanus Baphanistrum, Trifolium angustifolium, Serpicula repens,
Sonchus oleraceus, Solatium Sodomaum, Datura Stramonium,
Nicotiana glauca, Bumex acetosella, Panicum sanguinale, Briza
maxima, Pferis aquilina. A species of prickly pear, Opuntia Tuna (?),


102
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
which is very abundant and troublesome in the Karroo Region,
occurs also in the drier eastern portions of this Eegion. Pinus
pinea (the stone ipine),Pinus pinaster, and Querous pedunculafa, have
been largely planted, but cannot be said to grow spontaneously;
although when once sown, the first named is one of the few intro-
duced plants which can contend successfully against the indigenous
undergrowth, in which the seed may be deposited without clearing,
and which it at length overtops and finally destroys. Few of the
introduced plants are found far from roadsides or human habita-
tions, and it is remarkable how small upon the whole is the in-
fluence they exert upon the aspect of the vegetation, and how weak
(with the sole exception of the Opuntia referred to) is their
aggressive power as against the indigenous Flora.
THE TROPICAL AFRICAN REGION.
This Region occupies almost the whole portion of the continent
which lies between the tropics. Owing to the warm and moist
climate caused by the currents of the Indian Ocean, the Flora re-
tains a sub-tropical character to an extent very much greater than
that of the west coast; and the Region puts forth an arm, which
reaches about as far south as Port Elizabeth, and the Van Staden's
mountains. From the Zitzikamma forest on the one side, to the
ending of the Zuurberg range near Graham's Town on the other,
may be regarded as a debatable territory, where the present
Region overlaps and intermingles with the South-Western Region.
Generally speaking, its inland boundary appears to be the highest
range of mountains which, under various names, and not always
quite continuously, run parallel with the coast—the Boschberg,
Kagaberg, Winterberg, Stormbergen, Quathlamba mountains,
Drakensbergen, &c. Thus it includes the Colonial districts of
Uitenhage and Somerset (in part), Albany, Bedford, Fort Beaufort,
Peddie, Queen's Town, King William's Town, East London, and
all the Transkeian territories, Natal, and Zululand, up to the
tropic. The width of the Region ranges in this portion from 60
to 100 miles.
The physical features of the country may bo easily understood
if it be remembered that a lofty mountain chain, reaching from
5000 to 10,000 feet in height, slopes down gradually to the sea,
sending down numerous rivers which cut up the intervening
country by their deep valleys. The surface of the country is
extremely varied; large tracts of bush alternating with open
grassy downs, grass and bush sometimes intermingled in park-
like stretches. In the western portion (the Addo and Fish River)
there are dense thickets of bushes 10 to 15 feet high; further


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
103
eastward and northward these become forests, and in many parts
the slopes of the mountains facing the sea are covered with woods
to the summit.
The general aspect of the country is much greener and more
luxuriant than that of the South-Western Eegion.
The climate of a Region stretching from the tropic to 34° S. is
of course, in some respects, very different in different localities.
At King William's Town, 1300 feet above the sea, the mean
annual temperature is about 18-9° C. (66° Fahr.), the rainfall about
26 in.; further inland the rainfall diminishes; towards Natal the
temperature gradually rises, and the rainfall is somewhat greater.
At Pietermaritzburg, in Natal, at an elevation of 2096 feet above
the sea, the mean annual temperature was 18-25° C. (64 ■ 83° Fahr.) j
the rainfall 30*23 inches; the humidity of the air 70'30 per cent.
(9 years' observations, Dr. Mann). But the most striking difference
between the climate of this and the South-Western Region is the
fact that the one has chiefly summer, the latter chiefly winter
rains.
The gradual transition from the South-Western to the Tropical
Flora is noticeable in the bordering districts already named. The
Cycadaceous Encephalartos (Kaffir bread) pushes one of its species
along the ridges of the Zuurberg as far west as the pass known as
Salt Pan's Neck. Leguminous plants begin to abound, especially
the bush Sehotia speciosa (Boer boon), a decidedly eastern type; and
the same dry tracts are occupied by a succulent Euphorbia with
four-angled thorny stems, E. tetragona (Noorsdoorn). In the woods
near the coast, from the Knysna eastward, epiphytic orchids begin
to occur (Polystachya, Angraecum and Mystacidium). Genera
belonging to Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, Rubiaceae, Asclepiadeae, and
Acanthaceae, become more numerous, both in individuals and
species. The only BtercvXia hitherto known in the Colony, S.
Alexandri, occurs in the Van Staden's Mountains, but has been
found nowhere else. Sanseviera ihyrsiflora covers the hill-sides
over large tracts, and affords excellent fibre, at present the subject
of experiments in rope manufacture. The beautiful Calodendron
Capense (Wild Chestnut), a tree of the Order Rutacere, occurs
throughout the Region; it has been met with on the Zambesi,
and even on the Kilimanjaro Mountain, a few degrees south of
the equator. The number of trees of handsome foliage and showy
flowers might almost be said to characterise the Region. I can
only mention a few of them occurring in the Colony, Kaffraria
and Natal:—Boscia Caffra,OncobaKraussiana, Dombeya (3 species),
Sparrmannia Africana, S. palmata, Turrtea obtusifolia, Acrido-
carpus natalitius, Millettia caffra, M. Sutherlandi, Erythrina caffra,
E. latissima, Sophora nitens, Calpurnia spp., Sehotia speciosa, 8.


104
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
brachypetala, S. latifolia, Gardenia spp., Pavetta (many species),
Burehellia Gapensis, Alberta magna, Tricalysia Capensis, &c. The
number of flowering shrubs is also very considerable amongst
Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, Rubiaceae, Asclepiadeae, Scrophularineae,
Acanthaceae, and many others. Greyia Sutherlandi is a curious
Sapindaceous tree, with handsome crimson flowers, which extends
from Kaffraria to Natal; it is allied to the endemic genera
Melianthus, Aitonia and Erythrophysa, the two latter belonging,
however, to the Karroo Flora. Oldenburgia arbuscula, a singular
looking composite of dwarf arboreous habit and very large flower
heads, occurs along the Zuurberg range, but must rather be
regarded as an outlier from the South-Western Region, where it
has two congeners, 0. Papionum and 0. paradoxa. Vernon ia,
which is almost entirely absent from the latter Region, begins to
abound here, and increases in species as we proceed towards the
tropic. The "everlastings" are well represented in many fine
species of Helichrysum; and even the Elytropappus rhinooerotis
(the Rhenoster bush) has pushed up as far as Graham's Town.
The Euphorbiaceae begin to occur in considerable numbers in
Albany, and, as will be seen presently, occupy a very important
position in this Region. Amongst the succulent species is the
noble E. grandidens, which attains a height of 30 feet or more in
favourable situations, and forms a very characteristic feature in
the wooded ravines of the Region. The Coniferae are not better
represented than in the western districts—two Podocarpi (Yellow
Woods), and the same Widdringtonia cupresaoides, being all that
occur. The Cycadaceae have been mentioned already, but besides
several species of Encephalartos there is the curious Stangeria
paradoxa which comes down as far south as Lower Albany; and
here it may be mentioned that the same genial climatic influences
bring a Palm within our limits, Phoenix reclinata being found in
the valley of the Kap River in the same district, this being pro-
bably its extreme boundary on the western side.
Amongst the Monocotyledons the OrchideaB have already been
mentioned. The difference between the South-Western Region
and the present one is here again evidenced. In the former the
species of the tribe Ophrydeae largely predominate over the
Vandese; here, the proportions are reversed. In Natal, Evlophia,
Lissochilus, and Polystaohya are abundant in species, and take the
place of the Disae and Satyria of the west. Calanthe natalensis
has lately been found as far south as the Perie Bush, near King
William's Town. The Strelitzise are found as far north as Natal,
and may occur beyond that country. Some of the finest Irideae
belong to this Region, especially the Gladioli, G. psittacinus,
G. papilio, G. Saundersii, &c. Amongst Amaryllideae may be



THE FLOBA OF SODTH AFRICA.
105
mentioned several fine species of Crinum, Brunsvigia, Haemanthus
and Olivia; of Liliaceae the noble Aloe Bainesii, a tree of from 40
to 60 feet in height, and by far the largest and finest of the
genus; also species of Gloriosa, Sandersonia, and Littonia. The
Cyperaceae and GramineaB, as will be seen hereafter, yield a con-
siderable number of species; Prioniwm Palmita occurs in Lower
Albany; and amongst the latter Panicum and Eragrostis pre-
dominate. But beyond the statement that a large part of the
intervening table land (if that may be so called which is really a
country of sloping downs) between the mountains and the coast
consists of grassy tracts, I have no information as to the pre-
dominance of particular genera or species in individuals.
Coming now to the composition of the systematic groups most
prevalent in and characteristic of the Kegion, we possess three
considerable collections. That made by Drege, some fifty years
ago, included 2278 entries of flowering plants, and was collected
over the whole area of the three Districts into which he divided
the Region. Many of the entries are, however, of the same
species, collected twice, or even thrice; so that it is only avail-
able for use as a whole, and even then upon the assumption that
the number of species collected more than once, in each Order,
bore an equal proportion to the whole. Secondly, a list of 1193
plants, collected in Albany district, mostly round Graham's Town,
by my friend Professor MacOwan, and which he has kindly given
me for this purpose. Lastly, a list of 1320 species collected by
Mr. J. M. Wood in and near the Inanda, not far from Durban,
Natal.
A few explanations are necessary respecting these collections.
It is true that the broadest result would have been obtained by
amalgamating them; but this would have required more time
than is available to me. The collection of Drege, being made
over the widest area, should be the most representative; but it is
certain that the Orchideae were neglected by him. In MacOwan's
collection there are 46 distinct species of Orchids; in Drege's
only 41 entries over the whole area, including duplicate entries
of the same species. In Wood's collection the Orchids probably
occupy too high a place; many iu his list were not named; I
counted them, necessarily, as distinct species, when doubtless
some were repetitions of the same species. On the other hand,
the Cyperaceas and Gramineae in his list, reaching to only 2*2 and
1«4 per cent, respectively, have clearly been collected much below
the average. With these remarks, 1 think it will be better to
give the three lists, side by side; and in some respects it will be
more instructive, since a comparison of Wood's and MacOwan's
well illustrates the known increase, as we proceed nearer to the


106
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
tropic, of the Orders Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Acanthaceae,
and the decrease of Ficoideae and Geraniaceae:—
Dirge's List.
MacOwan's List.
Wood's List.
General.
Local.
Local.
Per cent.
Per cent.
Per cent.
Composite
14-
CompoBitffi
17-5
Compositin
13-1
LeguminoBffl ..
9-9
Leguminoss ..
7-6
Leguminosa) ..
8-4
Gramineffi
7'7
Graminero
6'9
Liliaceffi
5-
Cyperaceffl
4-5
(Irchidea
3'8
Orchideie
4-2
Asclepiadese ..
31
Scrophularinea)
31
RubiacesB
4-
Labiatffi
3-
Asclepiadese ..
31
Euphorbiacese ..
4-
EuphorbiacesB ..
Rubiacea>
2-8
Cyperaceie
8-
Asclepiadeffl ..
3-9
2-7
Grassulacese
29
AcanthacetB ..
3-1
ScrophularineiB
2-6
Geraniaceje
2-4
Irideffi ..
2-8
Lilincem
26
Euphorbiacea>..
Iridea ..
2-
Scrophularinea)
2-2
Acnnthacero
2-4
2-
Cyperaceffl
Labiatffi
■1-1
Malvacew
2-2
LUiaceffi
2-
2-2
Irideie ..
2-
Ficoidesa
2*
Celastrinese
1-8
Orch ideas
1-8
Rubiaceie
1-8
Graminem
1-4
Anacardiaceffi ..
1-5
Umbellifora) ..
1-8
Malvaceffi
1-3
The difference between any one of these lists and that of the
South-Western Region will be apparent at a glance: EricaceaB,
Proteaceae, Restiaceae, and Rutaceie do not appear in the former
at all; and Geraniaceaa in only one of them, viz., that one collected
nearest to the South-Western Region; while the position of the
other Orders common to both, excepting Composites and Legu-
minossB, is widely different. Wood's list includes 2 Rutacese,
7 Erica?, 2 Proteaceae; Bruniaceae and Restiaceae are entirely
absent from it. About Graham's Town, however, MacOwan found
6 Rutaceae, 1 Bruniaceae, 8 Ericae, 6 Proteaceae, 6 Restiaceae.
The two Regions appear to overlap widely; a few Ericaceae have
been found on the mountain tops nearly up to the tropic, and one
or two Proteae occur in the Transvaal; while outliers of a tropical
type penetrate the South-Western Region as far as the Knysna
forests, and even a little beyond.
I have not sufficient data of the Flora of tropical Africa, as a
mass, to attempt to trace the affinities between it and the South-
Western Region. So far as that portion of the former is con-
cerned which stretches south of the actual tropic, and constitutes
the subject of the present sketch, there is an agreement in the fact
that Compositae and Leguminosae occupy respectively the first and
second place amongst the Orders of each Region, as they do amongst
the Orders of the whole World. This is important when we bear
in mind the undoubted affinity which exists between the Flora of
Tropical Afiica and that of India, because in the latter country
the Orders Leguminosae and Rubiaceae take the first and second
place. The similarity, in other respects, will be shown if we


THE FLORA. OF SOUTH AFRICA.
107
compare the sequence of Orders in India with that of Wood's
Natal list:—
India (Hooker) Natal (Wood)
Legnminoss Compoaitto
Bubiaceaj Le<<uminosa)
Orchides Liliaccto
Composite Orchideaj
Graminem Rubiacea)
Euphorbiace* Euphorbiaoero
Acantbacea Asclepiadese
CyperacetB Acanthaceae
Labiata) IridesB
If it be remembered that, as I have said above, Wood's list is
certainly unduly deficient in Grarainese and Cyperacese, which
should probably be included in the above, and would throw out
the two lowest orders, it will be seen that there is a considerable
agreement between the two.
The lists of Drege, MacOwan, and Wood, given above, contain
comparatively few naturalised foreign plants; yet we may not
infer that they exist only in such proportion; and exact informa-
tion is, in fact, wanting. My own personal acquaintance with
the Region is somewhat limited, extending only for about 150
miles of its south-western extremity. In the parts I have seen,
introduced plants, excepting Opuntia Tuna (?), in some of the drier
western parte of the Uitenhage district, Xanthium spinosum occa-
sionally, and Nicotiana glauca, are few in individuals, and exert
but a very small influence upon the aspect of the Flora. They
do not appear to differ much in character from those that have
been referred to under the South-Western Region. In Wood's
list, however, there are certain tropical weeds which, as might be
expected, do not occur in the older Colony.
THE KARROO REGION.
This Kegion includes on the west side the coast strip of
Namaqualand lying between the mountains and the sea. How
far it may extend north of the Orange River is unknown. South-
ward it stretches between the Khamiesbergen and the sea, and
thence passes over by tracts little known botanically, to the south
and west slopes of the Roggeveld mountains. Here it widens out
and includes all that large tract known colonially as the Karroo;
bounded on the north by the Roggeveld, N;< r.wveld and Sneeuw-
berg mountains, on the east by tho mountains fringing the Fish
River; on the south by the Zwarteberg range, Kamanassiebergen,
and finally the Zuurbergen, and on tho west by the mountains of
the Warm and Cold Bokkeveld,


108
THE FLORA OP SOUTH AFRICA.
Speaking broadly, it is a vast, shallow basin, surrounded by
mountains; but the mountains, while always loftier on the northern
side, are sometimes a mere rim on the southern. Its heigbt above
the sea ranges from 1800 to 2500 feet. But for the purposes of
floral computations I have reckoned all plants collected on the
southern slopes of the northern mountains, up to a height of about
3750 feet, as belonging to this Eegion. Above that height, in
certain localities, at least, the vegetation changes, and belongs to
the next (the Composite) Region.
It is traversed by numerous river-beds or torrents, mostly dry
or nearly so, except when filled by the summer thunderstorms,
when the beds suddenly fill, carry off a vast quantity of muddy
water for a few days, and soon again become dry. But water,
generally, is scarce, and springs are infrequent.
The country has been subjected to long ages of denudation by
rains and rivers, and exhibits its traces everywhere. It is probable
that since the interference of man, which, by sheep pasturage has
killed much vegetation and loosened and opened the soil, this
denudation has proceeded more rapidly, and in some places
enormous gullies have been formed where previously moist and
fertile valleys existed. The surface consists chiefly of vast plains
of light, reddish soil, which, when irrigated, is extremely fertile;
in other parts it is more sandy, and in some places the soil is
shaly, hard and barren. The plains are, however, broken by hills
or mountains, sometimes with flat tabular tops. Everywhere the
exposed rock is sandstone in beds, of varying colours and hardness,
which have been regarded by Wyley and Dunn as belonging to
the carboniferous measures. In the north-eastern portion these
are traversed by frequent doleritic dykes, which are sometimes
vertical, and sometimes lateral, forming cappings to the sandstone
hills.
The climate is one of great dryness and extremes of heat and
cold. The following observations have been recorded at Graaff-
Reinet, a town on the northern edge of the region, 2476 feet
above the sea:—Mean annual temperature 18° C. (64410 Fahr.};
mean of greatest range on any one day 3-26° C. (37'88° Fahr.);
extreme limits .of temperature (Dec. 20) 40 55° C. (105° Fahr.);
June 24, 3-56° O. (28° Fahr.); rainfall 13-19 in., of which about
two-thirds fell during the six summer months. The foregoing
are from three years' observations. Twenty-three years' obser-
vations give an average of 14-5 in. of rain. Other observations
of rainfall for other stations in the region for at least five years
are:—Prince Albert, 7"71 in.; Beaufort West, 919 in.; Willow-
more, 7'40 in.; Aberdeen, 12 in.; Jansenville, 9-44 in.; Springbok
(Namaqualand), 8'05 in, The following are from one year's (1883)


THE frLOfiA OF SOUTfi AFRICA.
109
observations only:—Port Nolloth, 2*66 in.; Touws River Station,
8"86 in.; Matjesfontein, 10-21 in. The greater part of the rains
take place during the summer thunderstorms; occasionally, in
the Eastern portions, a strong south-east wind brings up general
rain, but this is rare, the clouds being usually discharged in the
intervening mountain ranges which divide this .Region from the two
coast Eegions, and intercept its rains.
During periods of drought nothing can be imagined more
desolate and mournful than the appearance of the vegetation. The
soil is rarely covered, bare patches of greater or less extent inter-
vening between shrubs and bushes. These are frequently blackened
by drought as if they had been killed by fire. The largest and
indeed almost the only trees are those of the Acacia horrida
(Doornboom), which line the banks of the dry river beds as with a
fringe; and occasionally, on the higher mountain sides, a few
other trees of shrubby habit occur. For the most part the shrubs
are scattered, and range from 5 to 8 feet in height; with inter-
vening shrublets of 1 to 2 feet. Yet after copious rains all will
be changed within a week or two, as if by magic. Many of the
apparently dead bushes put forth bright green leaves; the
shrublets are covered with flowers often before leaves can be
seen; bulbous plants, which may not have flowered for several
years previously, send up their scapes with incredible rapidity,
and annual flowering herbs and grasses are everywhere seen where
formerly all was bare and barren. Namaqualand, perhaps,
exhibits this phenomenon to the most striking extent. I was
amazed on visiting that desert country after the rains of June to
July, 1883, to see tracts, hundreds of acres in extent, covered with
sheets of living fire, or glowing purple, visible from several miles
distance, caused by the beautiful Composite in flower; and
nothing is more singular than to see this luxuriance intermingled
with the black or white branches of dead shrubs killed by previous
droughts, standing like ghostly intruders on a scene of merriment
and joy. These charming displays pass away all too rapidly, and
in a month or two little that is beautiful remains.
1 proceed to speak of a few of the chief plants of the Region most
noteworthy, either from their beauty, singularity, or from their
being confined to, or peculiarly characteristic of it. I am best
acquainted with the Karroo of the Graaff-Reinet district, partly
with that of Namaqualand, and for the rest have only passed
through it as a rapid traveller. Several species of Heliophila are
extremely bright in spring, especially in the west; and the
monotypic Palmstruckia Capensis, which had only been gathered
before by Thunberg, has just been re-discovered in Namaqualand.
Cadaba juncea with its dark crimson flowers is a singular and


110
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
characteristic plant both of this and the next Region; while
Capparis oleoides (the Witgat boom) standing generally alone, 10
to 15 feet high, with its white trunk which has given its vernacular
name, is a prominent feature of many of the Karroo plains; the
young buds are nearly or quite as good for culinary purposes as
those of the Caper of Southern Europe. The Portulaceae occupy a
prominent place chiefly by the well-known Portulacaria afra (the
spek boom, or fat tree), a large shrub with fleshy acid leaves and
panicles of small pink flowers. This occupies the hill-sides, often
growing sub-socially in great masses and affording the most
favourite food for live-stock of all kinds. It also occurs, though
less abundantly, in the Tropical Eegion. In addition there are
several species of Anacampseros, one of Talinum, and one of
Portulaca besides the ubiquitous P. oleracea. Tamarix usneoides
occurs in Namaqualand, where it is used as fuel, and is the only
plant of the Order in our Kegion; it is recorded also by Drege as
from the central and eastern Karroo. Amongst Malvaceae are
four species of Hibiscus, one of the most curious of which is H.
urens, which looks at a short distance so much like a plant of the
gourd family that every botanist is astonished to find upon it the
flowers of a Hibiscus. Burchell says his Hottentots called it
WildeKalabas (Wild Calabash). Of Sterculiaceae, the genera Her-
mannia and Mahernia, are represented by 10 and 5 species re-
spectively. The large Order Sapindaceae includes Pappea Capensis
(the Wild Plum), a shrub of 15 or 20 feet, frequent on mountain
sides; Aitonia Capensis, also a shrub, the curious pendulous papery
capsules of which look like miniature Chinese lanterns hung on a
Christmas tree; the allied and even handsome Erythrophysa
undtdata, of Namaqualand; and several species of Melianthus.
The Greraniaceae are a numerous Order. The curious candle-
bush, Sarcocaulon Patersoni is here, besides numerous species
of Pelargonium. The latter are especially frequent in individuals,
and much diversified in structure, those with succulent stems
and leaves constituting a marked feature of the Flora These
include P. oblongatum, a handsome species from Namaqua-
land, with yellow flowers, lately figured in the Botanical
Magazine (t. 5996), P. flavum, P. carnosum, P. crithmifolium,
P. ferulaceum, P. pulehellum, P. sericeum, P. quinatum, the very
curious and rush-like, almost leafless, P. tetragonum, P. peltatum,
P. echinatum, and many others. The Oxalideae, though numerous,
and often brilliant, are less common than in the South Western
Kegion. The Kutaceae are conspicuous by their absence. I never
found but one species in the Region, a Diosma, on the mountains
of Namaqualand, evidently a straggler from their great home
further south. The Zygophyllums are frequent and mostly with


THE FLORA OP SOUTH AFRICA.
Ill
succulent leaves; of the same family is Augea Gapensis, a mono-
typic genus peculiar to the Central Karroo and abundant in many
flaces, with thick terete leaves like those of a Mesembrianthemum.
'hylica, so common in the South-Western districts, is here absent;
one or two species hover on the boundary line of some of the
mountains, but they are scarcely members of this Region. Anacar-
diaceaB are only represented by Rhus, of which there are about a
dozen species. The Leguminosaa do not occupy nearly so promi-
nent a place here as elsewhere. There are, however, several
species of Lotononis, Lebeckia, Indigofera, Rhynchosia, the widely
distributed Sutherlandia frutescens; and Sylitra bijlora, found in
this Region only. Schotia speciosa, an outlier of the Tropical Region,
occurs sparingly. Acacia horrida, the only species of this genus
within our limits, is scattered widely, but especially fringes the
river beds; the timber is largely used for fuel, and the bark for
tanning. The almost complete absence of Aspalathus is very
remarkable. Of Rosace® there are but two species of Grielum;
while Cliffortia and Rubus are both absent. Crassulacea? are an
important constituent of the Region, Crassula and Cotyledon being
numerous both in species and individuals. It is the Order
Ficoidese, however, that we may regard as the one most typical of
the Region. Mesembrianthemums are met with everywhere, from
the annual herb to the shrub with leaves of the most diverse
and curious shapes, with flowers of white, yellow, and reds of
many shades. In some portions vast tracts are covered with
M. spinosum growing sub-socially almost to the exclusion of any-
thing else, in Namaqualand is a huge species resembling if.
crystalUnum, but as large as a cabbage. Some of the larger
flowered species are extremely brilliant. Cussonia spicaia and
C. paniculata are trees of the order Araliace® with congeners
spread over the whole Colony. Rubiacese are here, as in the
S.-W. Region, remarkably deficient, not more than half a dozen
species occurring near Graaff-Reinet. Of Compositse the larger
genera are Pteronia, Pentzia, Helichrysum, Senecio, Othonna,
Euryops. Those most abundant in individuals are Aster JUifolius,
Chrt/socoma tenuifolia, Adenachsena parvifolia, Pentzia virgata, and
P. globosa, Erioceplialut glaber, Helichrysum spp.; most of them
are very aromatic, and, excepting the second, furnish excellent food
for live stock In Namaqualand a large species of Didelta, D.
spinosum, is used as a substitute for spinach, and is eaten greedily
by all animals. Several species of Arctotis, Yenidium, Gorteria, &c,
are exceedingly brilliant, and make a great display after rains.
Ericaceae are entirely absent. Olea verrucosa is one of the few
trees of the Region occurring sparingly in mountain ravines, and
furnishing the most useful wood for fencing poles and for fuel.


112
Tflt! FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Of the order Ebenaceae there are several species of Royena and
Euclea. Some genera of Asclepiadeae seem to indicate an affinity
with the Tropical Eegion and India. Such are Gromphocarpus,
Sarcosternma, Ceropegia. Of the genus Stapelia there are many
species, thinly scattered, besides Huernia, Piaranthus, Decabelone,
and the remarkable Hoodiro of Namaqualand. Adenium Nam-
aquanum (or Elephant's Trunk) is a curious Apocynaceous plant
of the same country. Gentianeae are almost, if not entirely,
wanting. Scrophularinere occupy a comparatively poor place,—
Diascia, Nemesia, Lyperia being the chief genera, with some of
the root parasites Alectra, Striga, and Hyobanclie sanguined.
Bhigozum trichotomum is a handsome Bignoniaceous shrub.
Acanthaceae are very deficient and probably constitute less than
one per cent, of the whole Flora. Selaginese are also few; Selago
leptostachya (Aar-boschje) is one of the good stock food plants. The
ashes of Salsola aphylla (Kanna-boseh) are used for soap-making;
and Atriplex HaJimus and A. Capensis (Vaal-boschje) are considered
most valuable food plants for sheep and goats. Hydnora Africana
occurs in the eastern, and H. triceps in the western Karroo. San-
talacea are represented; in Osyris compressa, the leaves of which
here and in the two preceding Regions, are very generally in
use for tanning; there are also several species of Thesium.
EuphorbiaceaB are chiefly confined to succulent Euphorbia?, in
many forms,—melon shaped, 4-angled, many-angled, and club-
shaped, in some tracts immensely abundant in individuals. During
severe droughts E. Caput-medusas (Fingerpoll) is in some places
cut up as food for cattle; as is also a spinous species (Euphorbia
sp.) after the spines have been previously burnt off. Several
species of Viscum, and a few Loranthi occur; Forskohlea Candida
seems to be peculiar to the Region. There are one or two species
of Ficus; and the widely distributed Salix Capensis occurs along
many of the river banks. Coniferae are entirely absent.
Orchideae are scarce. In the whole eastern Karroo I found
but one species, Habenaria armaria; but in Namaqualand on the
mountains, where the average rainfall does not exceed seven inches
yearly, I saw a IJolothrix, Satyrium pustulatum, Pterygodium Vo-
lucris, and Bisperis purpurata var. Of Haemodoraceae, Sanseviera
thyrsiflora is common on many hill-sides, but rarely flowers. It
may here be mentioned that this is a common condition of many
of the Karroo Monocotyledons. They pass years in a dormant
state; not until rain and temperature coincide suitably to their
n6ed will they flower. Hence one may live seven years near a
mountain side, and then first see it nearly covered with Hesperantha
falcata; or one may watch the numerous bulbs of Ammocharis
falcata in leaf for ten years, as I have done, and never see them


THE FLORA Of SOUTH AFRICA.
113
in flowef. Iridese and AmaryllideaB are neither by any means
abundant in species or individuals. Liliaceae are much richer, and
include Aloe (of which there are many fine species, A. dichotoma
of Namaqualand being one of the largest) Haworthia, Apicra,
Ornithogalum, Albuca, &c, in great variety and beauty; there are
also many Asparagi. Testudinaria elephantipes is one of the best
known and most curious plants of the Region. Juncaceas are
scarce; Cyperacese also but few, while Carex is entirely absent.
Of Restiaceaa, also, none have been found. Gramme© are some-
what rich in species, and occupy the second place amongst the
Orders of the Region; yet they occur chiefly in isolated tufts,
and rarely except in some specially favoured spot can anything
like turf be seen. They belong to many genera, amongst which
may be named Panicum, Andropogon, Aristida, and Eragrostis.
Of Ferns there are perhaps eight or ten species in the whole
Region. These are chiefly Cheilanthes, Pellaea, and Notho-
chlaena; most of them are peculiar to the Region, and five at least,
according to Lady Barkly, are found in Namaqualand only.
The predominating feature of this Region is the peculiar adapta-
tion of its vegetable life to meet the severe conditions of the dry
and hot climate and soil. Succulence, which may here be taken to
include thickened roots, stems or leaves, is displayed in the most
diverse Orders. At Graaff-Reinet, on the north-eastern border of
the Region, and where the climate is far less severe than further
west, I counted 31 per cent, of all flowering plants as more or
less succulent. In the central and western Karroo the proportion
would be much larger. The prevalence of thorny plants is also
very noticeable.
The following list of the chief Orders of the Region is taken
from a list of 611 flowering plants collected by me mostly near
Graaff-Reinet, all below 3750 feet above the sea, and being nearly
a complete collection of the plants within twenty miles of that
centre; to which are added 66 others collected by Drege, and by
myself, in other parts of the Region, further south and west. But
it does not include plants from Namaqualand, nor from the western
Karroo generally. Substantially, it is a fair representation of the
eastern Karroo; but I think it probable that a fuller and more
general collection would reduce the position of Graminese, raise
that of Ficoideje and Geraniaceae, and introduce the order Iridese
into the first twelve.
CHIEF ORDERS—EASTERN KARROO,
Per cent.
1. Composita) ..
2. G raininess ..
3. Ficoiden
171
9-2
6-8
I


114
TBE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Per cent.
4. Liliacete
5. CrassulacetB..
6. Leguminosce
7. Geraniacere ..
8. Scrophulnrinea)
9. Asclepiadefe..
10. Sterculiacese
11. Solanaoete ..
12. Cyperacese ..
6-5
5-3
8-8
2-9
2-9
2-5
2-5
2-2
20
The Flora shows but weak affinities with either of the two pre-
ceding Regions, and these are chiefly exhibited in widely distri-
buted genera common to the whole of Southern Africa. From the
South-western Region it differs in the complete absence of
Rutaceae, Bruniaceas, Ericaceae, Proteaceae, Penaeaceae, and Res-
tiacese, the six most characteristic orders of that Region; further,
in the scarcity of Leguminosae ; and in the almost complete absence
of the following large genera which are so abundant in and
characteristic of that Region: Muraltia, Phylica, Aspalathus,
Cliffortia, Athanasia, Arctotis, Gnidia, Struthiola. There is a point
of approach in the abundance of Geraniaceae; and there is a com-
mon scarcity of Rubiaceae and Acanthacese. From the Tropical
Region it is distinguished by abundance in Ficoideae and Cras-
sulaceas; and by its paucity of Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, and
Acanthaceae; to these might perhaps be added Malvaceae and
Euphorbiaceae, for these occur chiefly in the eastern Karroo, where
it borders on the Tropical Region. It may hereafter be found
that the affinities of this Region, together with the succeeding
one, are greater with the Kalahari Region than with any other, it'
indeed they might not be regarded as an extension of it. But at
present our knowledge of the Kalahari is too imperfect to enable
us to form a judgment.
With respect to the naturalized foreign plants of the Region, it
may readily be supposed that the heat and drought of the climate
would be unfavourable to European colonists. The number is
indeed few, and chiefly confined to weeds of cultivation, which is
here synonymous with irrigation; or to a few wayside weeds.
The number known to me does not exceed twenty-five. Those of
American origin are more prominent. Opuniia Tuna (?) already
mentioned, has a branched stem with obovate articulated joints,
covered with tufts of strong prickles; the flowers are yellow, and
the fruit much eaten by the natives and colonists. Drege does
not mention this plant, so that it must have been introduced, or, at
least, have spread, since his visit (1826-1834). It is now a most
troublesome pest, growing in some places sub-socially, and killing
out the native vegetation. So tenacious of life is it that a piece of
stem of a few square inches dropped upon the surface of the hot


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
115
dry soil, will take root and grow readily. Cattle and goats,
driven to browse upon it by drought, suffer by the laceration of
their mouths, and fall off in condition. Its eradication is slow
and laborious, needing either to be completely buried, or burnt.
The Xanthium spinosum is also a troublesome weed owing to its
hooked achenes becoming entangled in the wool of sheep.
Nicotiana glauca springs up immediately wherever quarries are
opened; Argemone Mexicana has fairly established itself, though
not yet abundant; and Amsinckia angustifolia, from Chili, has
been found in Namaqualand.
THE UPPER REGION, OR REGION OF COMPOSITES.
This Region is bounded on the west by the Hantam and Rogge-
veld mountains; southward by the continuation of the Roggeveld
range; the Nieuwveld, the Sneeuwberg range ; thence across by the
Boschberg and by the mountains about Daggaboer's Nek, towards
the north-western flanks of the Great Winterberg mountain;
eastward by the watershed which separates the waters of the Fish
River from those of the Kei, so as to include the districts of
Tarkastad and Albert, to the Orange River. Its northern
boundary is in part unexplored. I am informed by Mr. E. J.
Dunn, F.G.S., who has travelled through that part of the country
for the purpose of exploring its geology, that the boundary-line on
the north-west is well marked and coincident with the line of his
Dwyka Conglomerate and the Karroo Beds, the former being
covered by the Twa-grass (Arthratherum brevifolium) so charac-
teristic of the Kalahari Region, while the latter bear the stunted
bushes peculiar to this Region. This line would begin near the
Kabiskouw mountain, thence it extends in a curve towards Hope
Town, where it is certainly existent about thirty miles south of
that town. It then runs northward, crossing the Orange River.
The exact boundary in the Orange Free State is unknown to me,
but it is probable that it takes a wide curve eastward between
Bloemfontein and Smithfield, and again cuts the Orange River
south-west of Aliwal North. It is thus an elevated country slop-
ing gently from the southern edge towards the Orange River, at an
average elevation of from 5000 to 4000 feet above the sea I
have included in the Region that part of the districts of Middel-
burg, Cradock and Tarkastad, which is formed by the basin of
the Great Fish River above Daggaboers Nek. It is uncertain
whether this is correct. Drege regarded this tract as belonging
to the Karroo Region; but he passed rapidly through it (as I
have also done) and scarcely collected anything. His view would
have this consistency: that it would make the waters of the whole


116
THE FLORA OP SOUTH AFRICA.
Upper Region run into the Orange River; and those of the whole
Karroo Region into the Southern Ocean. But the tract in ques-
tion is somewhat more elevated than the rest of the Karroo, and
appeared to me from its deficiency in succulents to belong rather
to the present Region. The matter must be decided by further
evidence, since no collections, so far as I know, have been made
there.
The general aspect of the country is that of a vast treeless
plain, interspersed at great distances by a few isolated and flat-
topped mountains, or short ranges; or lower, and then very rugged
rocky hills. On these hills or in the few ravines of the monotonous
mountain sides, may be found a few stunted bushes. In fertile
shallow valleys (" vleis"), grassy patches, with more luxuriant
bushes 6 to 8 feet high, may be seen; but trees never, except such
few as have been planted by the hand of man; or except the few
(chiefly Salix capensis) which fringe the banks of the Orange
River, where it flows through this Region; and the predominant
and constantly prevailing aspect of the country is that of a heathy
tract, or dry elevated moorland, covered with small shrublets of a
dull green hue, the few intervening plants of different growth
which occur being too small or too lew to alter or modify the
general appearance above described.
Respecting the climate of thiB Region no observations for any
considerable length of time, excepting of the rainfall, have been
made. The extremes of temperature are considerable, the summer
maximum being nearly as high as in the Karroo Region, although
the summer nights are always cool; while the winter temperature
is much lower. Severe frosts are common, with occasional snows
in winter and hailstorms in summer. The rains are almost
entirely in the summer months, and usually accompanied by
thunderstorms. The following list of stations at which the rain-
fall has been observed for a period of five years or more is taken
from the Report of the Meteorological Commission for 1883. 1
take the stations in their order from west to east:—Fraserburg,
6-11 inches; Carnarvon, 7-78; Victoria West, 9*82; Richmond,
11-64; Hanover, 13-77; Middelburg, 14-17; Colesberg, 12-82;
Cradock, 13-19; Tarkastad, 17-08.
The following remarks on the plants chiefly characteristic of this
Region are based upon collections of 507 species of flowering plants
made by myself chiefly on the loftier portions of the Grraaff-Reinet
district (above 3750 feet above the sea) with a few in the districts
of Murraysburg, Richmond, Hanover and Colesberg; of 331 (other)
species collected by Drege in the same districts, together with
Albert and Aliwal North; and of 135 (other) species collected by
Mr. W. Tyson, chiefly in the district of Murraysburg; being a total


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
117
of 973 species. These lists and the calculations upon them, which
will be found on page 119, were made some time ago. I have
since doubted whether the higher mountain regions of the
Sneeuwberg, and of Aliwal, should not rather be regarded as
outlying tracts of the Tropical Kegion; the conditions of greater
moisture favouring the extension of eastern types which do not
occur in the immediately contiguous lower levels. The same
conditions have permitted the lodgment of a very few south-western
types. The result is to make the Kegion appear more rich in
forms than it otherwise would be, to the extent of probably 15 per
cent of the species, and 6 per cent, of the genera; and in so far
to increase the appearance of its affinities with the Tropical African
Kegion. I regret that time does not allow the revision of the list,
and that this statement must suffice.
The Geraniaceffi are fairly numerous, but do not here occupy,
either as to singularity of form, or in respect of the number of in-
dividuals, the same prominent position they hold in the preceding
Regions. One Rutacea, Baroama venusta, occurs on the Koudveld
Mountain, at about 6000 feet; also two Phylicae on the mountains
near Graaff-Reinet. The species of Rhus (Taai-boseh) are
numerous, 13 being recorded in our list. Leguminosae are mostly
small and inconspicuous shrublets of the genera Lotononis, Argyro-
lobium, Indigofera, and Lessertia. Lessertia annularis is said to
have poisonous effects upon cattle. The only handsome plant of
the Order, which has here 19 genera and 52 species, is the wide-
spread Sutherlundia fruteseens. Acacia horrida, the only tree of the
Order, and the only species of that genus occurring in the Region,
hardly belongs strictly to it, being found only sparingly in sheltered
valleys of the Sneeuwbergen, &c. A few species of CKffortia are
outliers of the South-western type growing only on the highest
mountains. Crassulaceae, similarly, though our list includes 33
species, are found very sparingly everywhere except upon the
southern border of the Region; and are few in individuals.
Ghtthriea capensis is a curious Passifloraceous plant with the habit
of a Primrose, only found hitherto upon the highest parts of the
Sneeuwbergen. Ficoidese are very deficient in individuals, and
the majority of those in our lists belong to the warmer parts about
Murraysburg. Rubiaceae have 11 species only, chiefly of Antho-
8permum, Rubia, and Galium. It is in Compositae that we find the
great strength of this Region, there being not less tban 61 genera
with 231 species. The largest genera are Helichrysum with 36
species; Senecio with 35 species; Berkheya, 11; Euryops, 10;
Pentzia and Gazania each 8 species. The species most numerous
in individuals are Chrytocoma tenuifolia, a small shrublet of little
or no value for stock, covering vast tracks in the central part of the


118
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Region, not indeed sociably, but intermingled with others, also, for
the most part, Compositse; Helichrysum hamulosum, Eriocephalus
glaber, and other species; Pentzia globosa, P. Burchellii, P. Cooperi,
all good stock plants; Othonnopsis cluytiaefolia and 0. pattens;
Euryops spp.; Gamolepis trifurcata; Tripteris leptoloba, T. spines-
eens; Arctotis stoechadifolia, &e. Five species of Ericaceae are
found on the highest mountains only, EbenacesB have five species
of Royena and Euclea, usually stunted rigid bushes. Olea verru-
cosa (the Olive) is sparingly distributed, and grows very poorly.
Of Asclepiade» there are twelve genera and 27 species. Three
species of Lycium are scattered, and one of them is a characteristic
shrub of the bleak and dreary Eoggeveld. Scrophularineae are well
represented in 20 genera and 38 species, of which the beautiful
deep blue flowers of Aptosimum depressum, and the sky-blue
Peliostomum origanoides, alone deserve notice, and are worthy of
cultivation. Bhigozum trichotomum is a Bignoniaceous shrub with
handsome yellow flowers, belonging to this as well as to the
Karroo Region. Acanthacese are deficient, having only 5 species;
Selagineaa, 15; Labiatae, 18; Thymelese only 7, of which Arthro-
solen polycephaltis, a useless wiry shrub, grows almost sociably in
some spots. Salix Capemis is only found in a few sheltered
valleys in the lowest part of the Region, or on the banks of the
Orange River.
Amongst the Monocotyledons OrchidesB have four species, all of
the higher mountains. Irideae are greatly diversified, having
12 genera and 20 species. Amaryllidesa are nearly as many,
Brunsvigia multiflora being one of the handsomest, and there are
several species of Hypoxia, mostly from the eastern mountains.
Aroideae are entirely absent. LiliaceaB are numerous; Aloes are
very few; and there are several species of Kniphofia (4); Scilla
(4); Ornithogalum (4); Bulbine (5); Asparagus (7); in all 20
genera with 47 species. Of RestiaceaB, 3 have been found on the
highest mountains, outliers from the S.W. Region. Cyperaceae
have 22 species, including 2 Carices. Graminese occupy a high
Sosition with 37 genera and 78 species. Though thus highly
iversified they do not occupy a prominent place in the landscape
of the country, everywhere occurring in isolated tufts, usually far
apart from each other. Those most abundant in individuals
appear to be Andropogon marginatus, Anthistiria ciliata, Aristida
vestita, &c, Danthonia disticha, B. villosa and others, Eragrostis
brizoides, E. striata, Melica dendroides (Bronkgras of the Colonists,
from its apparently intoxicating effects upon cattle which feed
upon it), Festuca scabra, &c, but I speak only of those parts of the
country which I have actually visited.
The following list of the sequence of Orders according to their


THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
119
number in species is prepared from the collections already men-
tioned :—
COMPOSITE REGION (EASTERN PORTION).
Per cent.
1. Composite 23-6
2. Graminese .. .. .. .. .. .. 8-0
3. LeguminoB» .. .. .. .. .. 5-3
4. Liliaceaa .. .. .. 4 ■ 8
5. ScrophularinesB .. .. .. .. .. 3'9
G. CrasBulacesB.. .. .. .. 3-3
7. Asclepiadem.. .. 2-7
8. Geraniacea? .. .. .. .. .. .. 2'5
9. Ficoideaa 2-4
10. Cyperaces 2-2
11. Irideao 2-0
12. Amaryllideie .. .. .. .. .. 1-9
It will at once be seen that the abundance of CompositaB is the
most striking characteristic of the Eegion. Here also, the pre-
ponderance of individuals is immensely in excess of the numerical
proportion of species.
As in the Karroo Region, Rutaceae, Ericaceas, Restiacese, are
practically absent; Bruniaceae, Penaeaceae, and Proteaceae, abso-
lutely so. In comparison with the Karroo Flora, Crassulaceae and
Ficoideae occupy a much lower position; while in this case again
the reduced proportion of species by no means represents the
paucity of individuals. Notwithstanding this circumstance the
relations with the Karroo Region are considerable in identical
genera and species; in a similar deficiency of Rubiaceae, Acan-
thaceae, Verbenaceae and Aroideae; and it may hereafter be found
desirable to treat the two Regions as sub-divisions of one.
With respect to the Tropical African Region and the South-
western Region the differences are more marked, as will be seen
by a comparison of the predominating Orders of each.
The naturalised plants of foreign origin call for little remark.
Those from Europe are confined to a few wayside weeds, or weeds
of cultivation. Xanthium spinosum is a troublesome pest; Argemone
Mexicana and Datura Metel have established themselves near the
Orange River. The Opuntia Tuna (?), so annoying in the Karroo
Region, is here little seen, only a few individuals straggling up
the warmer valleys of the mountains on the southern edge of the
Region.
THE KALAHARI REGION.
This Region extends but a slight distance into the Colony, and
since our knowledge of its Flora, excepting the eastern part, is
still comparatively small, I shall make but few remarks concern-
ing it. Grisebach {Joe. cit.) has carefully collected all that was


120
THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
known up to 1872, and the reader is referred to his pages for more
details than can be given here.
The northern boundary begins on the coast at about 18° S. lat.,
thence runs nearly due east, until it reaches about 30° of east
longitude, when it turns south to the Orange River, crosses this
near Hope Town, runs westwardly along the river and south of it
conterminously with the boundary of our Composite Region, until
it reaches the neighbourhood of the Kabiskouw Mountain; thence
northerly along the east side of the Namaqualand mountains to
the Orange River. Where it touches the coast again is unknown.
It thus includes Great Namaqualand, Damaraland, Ovampoland,
Bechuanaland, and great part, if not the whole, of the Transvaal,
and the Free State.
The surface of the country is mostly very sandy, and generally
speaking surface-water is everywhere very scarce, and springs in-
frequent. Nevertheless, when they do occur they are sometimes
strong and copious, and there is every reason to believe that im-
mense stores of underground water exist at no great depth over a
large part of the Eegion.
The climate is not yet well known. The heat in summer is
great, the nights cool, and even frosty in winter, and the rain-
fall which does not seem to be inconsiderable, is entirely one of
summer thunderstorms. In the colonial Karroo the soil being
baked, a large part of the rain runs off to the sea; here, on account
of the sandy nature of the soil, the greater part is retained, and,
in the case of heavy falls, goes to increase the underground stores.
The coast strip from 16° S. down to the Orange River mouth, and
bounded by the interior mountains, is even more dry and rainless
than that of Little Namaqualand, and probably should be joined
with the Karroo Region of the Colony.
The Kalahari is essentially a grass country interspersed with
isolated shrubs or trees. Towards the northern boundary, which
there corresponds with the southern limit of palms, these trees
are grouped in dense forests. Further south the country is open.
Alter the snmmer rains the grasses, which do not grow continu-
ously like turf, but in tufts like stooling wheat, shoot up rapidly
and acquire a height of three or four feet, sometimes even of five
and six feet. East of the copper-mines of Namaqualand they
have frequently been cut by the natives, and brought in loads for
sale us fodder. Species of Aristida (Twa-gras) are the most
abundant, but there are others coarser, and some of spinous
growth.
The trees appear to be chiefly Acacia? of several species, of
which A. giraffae (the Kameel doom), is one of the most widely dis-
tributed; others are armed with formidable thorns, These occur


THE FLORA. OF SOUTH AFEICA.
121
also, though sparingly, on the southern side of the Orange River;
and from their existence, from the abundance of Twa grass, the
presence of certain genera which do not occur further south, and
the absence of the composite shrubs, we may infer that this tract
known as Bushmanland, belongs to the Kalahari Eegion. The
much controverted point as to whether the Orange River forms the
floral boundary of the Colony, may now be regarded as decided in
the negative.* The Olive of the Colony (Olea verrucosa) also occurs
here, and a number of smaller shrubs, as Capparis, Zizyphus,
Grewia, Rhus, Tarchonanthus, Vangueria, Euclea, Royena, Lycium,
&c. The Mesembrianthemums of the Cape, and other succulent
Ficoideae, as also Crassulacese, appear to oe very scarce, though
not entirely absent. A species of Atriplex is regarded as valu-
able for stock in Bechuanaland. As very little is generally
known respecting the plants found in this Region, I will give the
following list of genera mentioned by Burchell, who travelled
beyond Litakun, collected by Dr. Muskett near Hope Town, or
found by myself near Kimberley and Barkly, in the south-eastern
part of the Region: Clematis, Cissampelos, Sisymbrium, Helio-
fhila, Senebiera, Lepidium, Cleome, Cadaba, Capparis, Oligomeris,
olygala, Anacampseros, Talinum, Sida, Sphseralcea, Hibiscus,
Melhania, Hermannia, Mahernia, Grewia, Corchorus, Triaspis,
Celastrus, Zizyphus, Aitonia, Rhus, Crotalaria, Argyrolobium,
Psoralea, Indigofera, Bolusia, Sesbania, Vigna, Cassia, Bauhinia,
Elephantorrhiza, Vahlia, Cotyledon, Myriophyllum, Terminalia,
Combretum, Mesembrianthemum, Tetragonia, Aizoon, Phar-
naceum, Vangueria, Vernonia, Pteronia, Nidorella, Nolletia,
Chrysocoma, Tarchonanthus, Helichrysum, Geigeria. Pentzia,
Senecio, Othonnopsis, Osteospermum, Wahlenbergia, Lobelia,
Royena, Euclea, Menodora, Olea, Raphionacme, Pachypodium,
Gomphocarpus, Dsamia, Barrowia, Ceropegia, Sebaea, Chironia,
Trichodesma, Heliotropium, Lithospermum, Ipomsea, Convolvulus,
Evolvulus, Falkia, Solanum, Lycium, Aptosimum, Peliostomum,
Nemesia, Rhigozum, Pterodiscus, Harpagophytum, Sesamum,
Barleria, Justicia, Bouchea, Ocimum, Salvia, Stachys, Leucas,
Boerhaavia, Celosia, Hermbstaedtia, Sericocoma, Atriplex, Salsola,
Oxygonum, Arthrosolen, Loranthus, Euphorbia, Croton, Ficus,
Salix, Lanaria, Cyanella, Babiana, Gladiolus, Crinum, Brunsvigia,
Buphane, Asparagus, Aloe, Bulbine, Eriospermum, Anthericum,
Tulbaghia, Dipcadi, Ornithogalum, Cyperus, Andropogon, Anthis-
tiria, Aristida.
* On this point I am indebted for valuable information to Mr. E. J. Dnnn, and
also to Dr. E. B. Muskett of Hope Town, -who first pointed ont to me that the state.
Dents on this subject of Burchell, usually so accurate, were mistaken,


122
THE FLORA OF SODTH AFRICA.
On the west coast near Walwich Bay is the very remarkable
Welwitschia mirabilis (Tumboa) of the Order Gnetacese; and the
singular Cucurbit, Acanthosicyos horrida, the fruit of which, is used
by the natives.
Towards the eastern edge of the Region, including part of the
Transvaal and the Free State, the Flora passes gradually over to
that of the Tropical African Region, and is especially rich, in tro-
pical types in the neighbourhood of the well-known Magalies-
bergen. The collections in the Transvaal have been considerable,
but I do not treat of them here chiefly because of their inter-
mediate character.
European Plants in the Cape Colony.
The following remarks on the European plants found in the
Cape Colony apply to all those parts of the several Regions I
have visited; but not to Katfraria and Natal, which I do not
know, except from the reports of others. I have already referred
to the fact that such plants are seldom found at any considerable
distance from human habitations, or from waysides. One may
walk for a whole day over mountain-sides, or even plains and
scarcely see a European plant. On Table Mountain, which, as
every one knows, is close to Cape Town, the resort of Europeans
for 200 years past, if the observer leaves the low valleys, where up
to 500 feet the common species I have named above on page 101
may be found* together with such plants as Verbena officinalis,
Verbascum virgatum, Phytolacca decandra, Sanicula Europaea,
Hypochaeris glabra, Anagallis arvensis, &c, he will find little or
nothing beyond. In fact I can remember no plant at an elevation
of 1000 feet except Bartsia Trixago, and even that is by no means
frequent. It is almost the same on the plains when one has left
houses and roads a few miles away. By some watercourse or
stream, Epilobium hirsutum, Lythrum hyssopifolium, Cotula corono-
pifolia, or some other water-loving plants may be met with, but
little else. Nor is the case different in other parts of the Colony
and on the higher mountains. On the highest parts of Compass-
berg (8500 feet?) and on the Winterhoeksberg (6500 feet) I did
not find a single European species, or indeed any foreign species.
It is true the situation was there unfavourable for many plants,
being steep, rocky, and sometimes dry. Yet the first named has
summer thunderstorms and winter snows, snd the latter regular
winter rain and snow, and it might nave been expected that some
hardy alpine species could here have found a lodgment. On
* I have there omitted Erigeron Canadewe, a common wayside weed.


THE FLOBA OF SOUTH AFRICA.
123
the lower mountains of the Eastern Kegion may be found
Thalictrum minus, Agrimonia Eupatoria, Bartsia Trixago; I can
recollect no others. On the Sneeuwberg mountains the first-
named and Blitum virgatum.
These facts seem to show that the arrival of the majority of the
introduced foreign plants in South Africa is of comparatively
recent date; of the great bulk of them probably contemporaneous
with that of civilized man.
The subject of European genera found within the Colony is a
much wider one; but I am unable to enter upon it here.
Summary.
Speaking generally, and disregarding exceptions, the Flora of
the Regions of South Africa is distinguished:—
1. By its highly differentiated character.
2. By its want of luxuriance of growth (but from this the
Tropical Region must be excepted).
3. By the narrow distribution area of each species.
4. By the deficiency of trees.
5. By the paucity of sociable plants.
0". By its power to resist the aggression of foreign invaders.


( 124 )
CHAPTER V.
SOUTH AFRICAN WOODS AND FORESTS.
By D. E. Hutchins, F. R. Met. Soc,
Conservator of Forests.
The woods and forests of South Africa fall naturally into three
classes:—First, the woods of naturalized species in the Cape
Peninsula and elsewhere; second, the indigenous high timber
forests, clothing at intervals the mountain ranges of the sea-
board; and third, the indigenous coast scrubs.
The indigenous forest that once clothed the slopes of the
Table Mountain range has disappeared, with the exception of a
few trees in the deepest gorges, where fire and axe could not
reach them. But to a great extent these ancient woods have
been replaced by others, in many respects more beautiful, and at
the same time more rapid-growing and useful. The Cluster Piue
(Pinus Pinaster), the Stone Pine (P. pinea), the Oak (Quercus
pedunculata), the White Poplar (Popuhis alba), are thoroughly
naturalized in the Cape Peninsula. They are hardier, grow more
rapidly, and reproduce themselves more easily than the indigenous
woods that they have replaced. The oak and poplar preserve
their European habits, and are leafless during the winter for three
or four months. Their bursting into leaf with more than the
glory of an English spring furnishes a sight that the forester
looks for in vain in the ever-green, ever-sombre native forests of
South Africa.
The Oak grows freely throughout South Africa, but reaches its
best development only in the west, where the winter rains produce
a climate similar to that of Southern Europe. Compared to the
English oak, the tree at the Cape has a foliage about twice as
dense, and an acorn almost twice as large. It grows more than
twice as fast, and there is nothing to show that the wood, under
skilful treatment, would not be as good as the oak of Europe.
The oak is the glory of the Cape Peninsula, growing with a
vigour and beauty that surpasses the same tree in Europe,
and, it is said, in New Zealand and Australia. The oak at
the Cape coppices freely, but is usually pollarded where small
wood is wanted. It is also the practice to plant it as a pollard,
instead of as a sapling. This treatment very naturally produces



THE TELLOWWOOD THEE.
[To face page 124.





WOODS AND FORESTS.
125
much unsound wood. The oak has been naturalized at the Cape
for oyer 200 years.
The Cluster Pine has been naturalized for a shorter time than
the oak, but, if possible, it is more at home. It is gradually
spreading itself nalwrally along the bleak terraces of Table
Mountain and over the barren sandy flats of the Cape Peninsula.
It grows very rapidly, sometimes as much as two inches in
diameter per annum, and produces a coarse wood useful for beams
and for all outdoor work when impregnated, but otherwise liable
to rapid decay. It is free from the disease that attacks the Stone
Pine, and, on account of its hardy and rapid growth, and its easy
natural reproduction, is the chief feature in sylviculture in the
western climate of South Africa. It is the same species as the
Maritime Pine of the French, the tree that has transformed the
barren sands of Gascony.
The Stone Pine resembles the Cluster Pine, except that
it is not so fast growing, and is liable to a fungoid disease;
otherwise, it is as completely naturalized as the Cluster Pine.
Indeed, the two pines grow side by side in the woods of the Cape
Peninsula, and to a stranger look exactly alike. The wood of the
Cluster Pine is slightly more durable. Neither should be em-
ployed out of doors unless injected. When injected, both are
useful for railway sleepers, and a variety of uses. At present they
are chiefly used for firewood.
The Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), introduced in 1828, is
now found as a planted tree throughout South Africa. There
are extensive plantations of Blue Gum trees, formed by the Govern-
ment, in Cape Colony, and by private owners in Natal. In these the
tree reproduces itself freely from coppice shoots—very sparingly
from seed. These plantations yield at the rate of ten tons (dry
weight) of wood per acre per year when in good growth. The wood
is used for firewood, pit-props, and occasionally, where a piece of
tough wood is wanted, for wagon work. But Blue Gum wood
is difficult to work when dry, and very liable to split while
drying.
The Poplar requires a cool climate, a moist situation, and a
good soil. Its wood is used for the same purposes as the imported
Poplar, viz., in match making, cheap furniture, and other light
work.
In the various Government plantations in Cape Colony, nearly
all the useful trees of the warm temperate zone are grown. It is
early as yet to say which kinds will ultimately prove the most
valuable introductions. In the two oldest established of the
Government plantations, at Tokai and Ceres Boad, the most
promising are:—


126
WOODS AND FORESTS.
One of the Ked Gums (EucalypA
tus rostrata) . . .J- Durable timber.
The Jarrah (E. marginata) . J
Kari (E. diversicolor) . . Fast-growing in sand.
Plane (Platanus occidentalis) . Furnishing shade; grows freely
from cuttings.
Pencil Cedar (Juniperm VirA Wood { nt> durable> and
gmiana) . . . V valuable for export.
Pencil Cedar (J. Bermuaiana) . ) r
Insignia Pine (Pinus insignis) . Fast growing and good wood>
but does not stand drought.
Canary Island Pine (P. Cana-
densis) .... Fair wood, transplants easily.
Jerusalem Pine (P. Halepensis) Stands drought well. Plant not
farther than one yard apart.
Camphor Tree (Laurus cam- Requires mild climate and care-
phora). ful planting. Wood valuable.
The American Black Walnut Wood useful for furniture and
(Yuglans nigra). a variety of purposes.
There is no elastic wood in South Africa, and the American ash
(Fraxinus Americana) and other woods are being grown in the
plantations to supply this want. Since the nurseries and planta-
tions at Tokai were begun in 1884, over half a million trees have
been sold to the public at a cheap rate to encourage tree-planting.
The average price per tree paid by the public has been a little
over three farthings. About two square miles have been planted
at an average cost of £8 4s. 6d. per acre. Altogether 2,000,000
trees have been planted or sold from this one plantation, at a
mean cost of 2±d. per tree. The Blue-gum timber from the Wor-
cester plantation, formed in 1876, is now being sold at a hand-
some profit to the Kimberley mines. The re-growth here is
better than the trees originally planted. Convict labour has been
largely utilised in producing these successful results.
Both at the Cape and Natal the Australian wattle barka
are successfully grown. Acacia decurrens (var. mollis), and A.
pycnantha yield the largest percentage of tan, but the growth of
neither of these species is at the Cape equal to that of A. saligna,
the common wattle of West Australia, now largely grown on the
Cape flats, or to the hardy Port Jackson wattles, Acacia glauco-
phylla, and A. cyclopia, that grow freely everywhere in South
Africa. Within the last few years these hardy species have
transformed considerable areas of 6andy wastes on the Cape
Peninsula. The dangerous sand drifts on the Cape flats, in
the neighbourhood of the main line of railway, have been
planted and fixed by the Forest Department. The Australian


WOODS AND FORESTS.
127
wattles are always successful in these plantations. The Cluster
Pine thrives in many of them. The system, which is pursued with
great success, is to fertilise the sand with town refuse brought
out by train. An extensive sand drift at Eerste River has
been dealt with during the past year. In Natal, the valuable
mollis variety of Acacia decurrens is grown with great success.
Timber Forest.
There is historic evidence that most, if not all, the ranges of
mountains facing the sea-board, as well as the higher mountains
for hundreds of miles inland, were at one time clothed with the
beautiful timber forests of which we have now remains at Knysna,
and in the east of the colony north of King Williamstown. This
forest is of the evergreen laurel-like character that exists in these
latitudes in various parts of the world. It is strikingly like the
"sholas" that constitute the chief glory of the lovely Nilgiri
Mountains in Southern India. In the South Africa of to-day,
timber forest begins in the Knysna forests, reappears on tho
Amatola Mountains, and thence extends through the Transkei to
Natal and Zululand. In fact, these timber forests form a well-
marked zone characterised by a cool damp climate, the altitude
increasing as the latitude decreases. At Knysna, the timber
forest ranges from sea level to a little over 2000 feet; along the
Amatolas from 2000 to 4000 feet; along the Drakensberg, from
4000 to 6000 feet The mean temperature of this region varies,
in Cape Colony, from 61° (the South of France) to 50° or 52° (a
little above that of the South of England). Frost and snow occur
in winter, but the latter does not lie long on the ground, owing to
the alternation of hot winds from the interior. Rain, which is
evenly distributed throughout the year at Knysna, becomes
scarcer in winter as we proceed eastward, till the rainless winters
of the Northern Drakensberg are reached.
Surveys of the timber forests are in progress. The latest
information under this head gives the following areas :—
sq. miles.
Cape Colony (including Transkei) . . 550
Natal 259*
Zululand, say ...... 75
Total . . 884
The whole of this 550 square miles of forest in Cape Colony is
public property, in charge of the Forest Department. More than
three-fourths of the Natal timber forests have been alienated, and
• Report of the Forest Commission of 1880.


128
WOODS AKD FORESTS.
are being rapidly destroyed. This inevitable destruction of
private forest is not peculiar to South Africa.
Of the wooded area3 in the Transvaal, Bechuanaland, and
Mashonaland, very little is known. So far as we have any
authentic information they are, as timber, of secondary importance,
tlie trees being usually of stunted growth and excessively hard.
The Kntsna Forests.
These occupy a narrow strip of country lying between the
Outeniqua Mountains and the sea. The forest region is about
110 miles long and ten miles broad, extending from George to
Wit Els in the Humansdorp Division. The topography of the
region is a plateau 600 feet above sea level, intersected by
numerous short rivers running from the Outeniqua Mountains to
the sea. The forests line the steep valleys of the rivers, occur in
patches on the plateau, and are nearly continuous along the flanks
of the mountains. Lying between the mountains and the sea,
this remarkable strip of country is everywhere characterised
by a sufficient rainfall varying from a yearly average of 20 inches
to 40 inches, distributed in a manner that is rare in S. Africa, i.e.
evenly throughout the year. As a consequence the forest vege-
tation assumes a luxuriant semi-tropical character. Within the
forest, the soil (whatever be the subjacent formation) is invariably
extremely fertile. Outside the forest the open country consists
of barren moor land—the Zuurveldt—which, on being analysed,
is found to be characterized by an almost complete absence
of plant food. Unless heavily manured it will support only a
useless vegetation of heather and rushes. The poverty of this
moorland soil is independent of the geological formation (which
varies); and contrasted with the rich forest soil, is very remark-
able. It is due to the climatic conditions of the country, viz.:—
1. The continuous rain washing out plant food as fast as the
decomposition of mineral matter produces it.
2. The absence of frost sufficient to have any effect in decom-
posing the rocks.
3. The veldt fires which periodically send seawards such plant
food as the surface vegetation has formed.
Within the forest different conditions prevail. There, Nature's
vast vegetable sponge retains plant food matter as fast as it is
formed, and the soil is one of ever-increasing richness. Theso
conditions prevail everywhere more or less within the forest
regions of South Africa, and have been one great cause of forest
destruction, the savage races ever seeking to occupy and destroy
fresh, rich, forest land.
It is thus a matter of the utmost importance to preserve and


WOODS AND FORESTS.
129
augment as far as may be the forest area. The destruction of the
forest means the swift degradation of a soil of surprising fertility
to one of phenomenal poverty. The first downward step in this
degradation is a forest fire, and this brings us to one of the chief
functions of the Forest Department, the replanting of burnt forest.
At Knysna, a large central nursery is maintained, and when, in
spite of the precautions taken, a forest fire does occur, the rich
soil teeming with the stored-up plant food of ages, is immediately
planted and thus re-occupied by trees.
For this purpose, at Knysna, a stock of strongly-grown
young trees are kept always on hand in the nurseries. The two
chief difficulties to contend with there are, the hot dry " berg"
winds and the luxuriant growth of weeds, difficulties that can be
met in no better way than by putting in large strong transplants
of the leaf shedding class of trees. No delay must take place in
planting burnt forest. In a few months, if ieft to itself, the soil
will be covered with a luxuriant growth of ferns and weeds
followed by an impenetrable thicket of bramble, Helichrysum,
Metalasia, Cape Gooseberry, Psoraleas, Khus, and Pelargoniums,
in which state planting becomes difficult and expensive. In
1891, for every tree cut in the Government Forests at Knysna,
twelve young trees were planted.
The general system on which the forests of the Colony are
managed approximates closely to what is known in German
forestry as "Femelschlagbetrieb," or selection-felling in groups,
which is briefly this. The forests, having been surveyed, are
divided into a working unit called the "Series." Each Series is
subdivided into forty Sections, one of which is cut over yearly.
In the Knysna Conservancy there are thirteen of such Series. The
size of the Sections varies within certain limits, according to the
grouping of the forests. The average at Knysna is 100 acres. The
trees which are cut yearly in each Section are those which, from old
age, irregular growth, or disease, are better cut now than left in
the forest. The marking and measuring of the trees in a forest
Section demands great care and considerable experience. Every
tree in the Section has to be examined and classed either for
felling or for reservation.
To a great extent the present system is an inversion of that
which prevailed previous to 1883, and which was rapidly ruining
the forests. Formerly the woodcutter selected the trees to be
felled, choosing those which best served his purpose. Now, the
selection is made by the Forest Department, in the interests of
the forests. The improvement and regularization of the forests
are the first objects sought, while at the same time the closest
attention is given to the utilization of colonial woods on which
K


130
WOODS AND FORESTS.
the forest revenue depends. The revenue from the Knysna
forests has doubled within the last live years and is now sufficient
to pay all the ordinary expenses of management. These results
in a young estate where there is much planting, road making,
building of cottages for foresters, etc., are very satisfactory. The
forests of Algeria do not as yet pay half their working expenses.
The more successful management of the Knysna forests has been
achieved mainly through the aid of the sleeper industry there.
This was established in 1884. The Government maintains its own
creosoting factory at Knysna, so that the soundness and durability
of the Knysna sleepers are guaranteed. Up to the close of 1891
the factory had turned out a total of over half a million sleepers.
The inclusive average cost of the Knysna sleeper, delivered on
the railway at Cape Town has been at the rate of 5s. 5d. per
sleeper, or deducting the timber dues paid to Government, about
4s. 9d. The cost of the imported pine sleeper, which is softer and
less durable than the Yellowwood sleeper, has averaged 5s. 6d.
The further importation of pine sleepers has now been abandoned;
likewise the use of the iron pot sleepers. Experience only can
show whether the costly sheet-iron trough sleeper, which is now in
favour, will in the end prove as good as the Yellowwood sleeper.
The Amatola Forests.
These occupy the southern slopes of the Amatola Mountains
and subsidiary ranges north of King Williamstown. They lie at
a mean elevation of 2000 feet above the Knysna forests, in a
more bracing and pleasant climate. Though very similar to the
Knysna forests, there is a distinct change of trees with the change
of climate to dry winters. The Stinkwood, Essenwood, Quar,
and Wit Els of Knysna disappear, and are replaced in the
Amatolas by Sneezewood, Kafir Plum, White Ironwood, Kafir
boom, and Wild Lemon. The veldt, or open country, is grass,
and furnishes good grazing for stock, thus making it easier to
work the Amatola than the Knysna forests. The stature and
growth of the trees on the Amatolas is quite equal to those at
Knysna. The Amatola forests are less compact than those at
Knysna, but more heavily timbered. The forests are managed on
the same system as those at Knysna. The railway passes through
the eastern end of the Amatolas, and there the forest had been
greatly destroyed—precisely the place where it was most valuable.
To remedy this, within the last few years, a large area near Grey-
town has been successfully re-forested with plantations of intro-
duced trees. A small plantation exists at Cathcart, further up the
line of railway; and it is intended to form a plantation further
north still, at Queenstown. The eastern type of forest first met


■WOODS AND FORESTS.
131
with on the Amatolas extends, with but little change, through the
Transkei and Natal to the highlands of Zululand. An excellent
description of the forests of Natal has been furnished lately by a
Cape forest officer.* The forest scenery of South Africa is one of
great natural beauty. From time to time the sober laurel-like
tints of the evergreen foliage are lit up by masses of gorgeous
flowers, such as the chestnut in the eastern forests and the more
richly beautiful and scented vleir at Knysna. Tree-ferns abound,
and gigantic creepers trail to the ground from the topmost branches
of lofty trees. Streams of water are met with everywhere, clear
and Alpine on the Amatolas, peaty and brown at Knysna. To
the painter the ever-changing scene offers rich contrasts of sun-
shine and cloud—effects that are not met with under the usual
hungry, empty sky of the clear atmosphere of the Cape. Added
to this, at Knysna, there is the blue of the illimitable Southern
Ocean and the white of the restless surf breaking on an iron-
bound coast at the foot of lofty cliffs.
Woods of the Timber Forests.
There are two species of Yellowwood—the Outeniqua Yellow-
wood {Podoearpus elongata, L'Herit), a tree of gigantic propor-
tions, and the Upright Yellowwood (Podocarpus lakfolia, L Herit),
averaging about one-half the size of the Outeniqua. The wood
of the latter is slightly harder and heavier than the former, but
in both the timber has practically the same properties—close,
even-grained, easily worked, and, though about the same weight
as Baltic pine, a good deal harder. Yellowwood, in fact, is one
of the best woods in existence for flooring; it wears like Teak,
and is free from the knots and splinters of pine flooring. Yellow-
wood furnishes excellent beams, and, when creosoted, first-class
sleepers. Yellowwood sleepers have been regularly used on the
Cape railways for the last eight years. Furniture made of
Yellowwood is steadily advancing in favour—the dark heart
found in a few old trees is specially ornamental. About eight-
tenths of all the large timber in Colonial forests is Yellowwood,
and in the best forests about one-half of all the trees are Yellow-
wood. Some of the old Yellowwood trees in the Knysna and
Amatola forests are magnificent specimens. The Outeniqua
Yellowwood, known as the " Eastern Monarch," measures twenty-*
three feet in girth by eighty feet in height. It is quite sound,
and not a very old tree. There are few finer sights in South
Africa than some of these grand old Yellowwood trees, their
• Report on the Forests of Natal. By H. G. Fourcade. Maritzburg: 1890.
K 2


132
WOODS AND FORESTS.
massive limbs flung out like those of an old oak, but with a
length of bole surpassing that of the finest oaks in Europe.
Stinkwood or Laurelwood.
Ocotea hullata (E. Mey) has been happily called the Oak of South
African forests. In weight, hardness and appearance (in the dark
kind) it is not unlike old oak. The light kind varies in colour from
a whitish to a golden yellow. In some specimens the grain has
a wavy mottled appearance with a lustre like that of polished
Crocidolite. Such a wood is naturally one of the most beautiful
for cabinet-work. The choicest furniture now made in Cape Town
is of Stinkwood. But the wood is difficult to season, and more
so to work, so that the ordinary prices quoted for Stinkwood
furniture are 25 per cent, above those for furniture made of oak,
walnut, or mahogany. The greater portion of the Stinkwood
used in the Colony goes into the felloes of cart and wagon wheels.
For this purpose its tough interlacing fibres make it admirably
adapted. There is no elastic wood like ash or hickory in the
forests of South Africa, but Stinkwood is the nearest approach to
them. Stinkwood sells readily in the forest at Is. per cubic foot,
as it stands. Being unsurpassed as a cabinet wood, it would be
exported if it were more abundant. At present it forms about
9 per cent, of the timber in the Knysna forests. The cultural
operations of the Forest Department tend steadily to increase
this proportion. In the eastern forests of the Colony Stinkwood
exists only as a botanical curiosity. In the Transkei and in Natal
it is again found. The different varieties of Stinkwood are pro-
duced by the same tree. The dark variety is not heart-wood,
but usually comes from old trees. Stinkwood has several
remarkable peculiarities of growth. The seed is almost always
bad; and the supply of seedlings produced naturally very
small. The trunk of the tree is snort-lived and much subject
to decay; but the root and stool are almost imperishable,
and constantly re-shoot whether the trunk has been cut by
man or fallen into decay of its own accord. Thus, the
more Stinkwood be cut the faster it grows (provided it be not
dominated), so that with proper care it is not difficult to increase
the proportion of this valuable tree in the forests. Being mostly
produced from coppice shoots, Stinkwood shows a better rate of
growth than the other valuable timbers of South Africa, which are
all very slow growing. Stinkwood derives its name from the
offensive smell emitted by the newly-cut wood. This smell soon
disappears. The laurel-like leaf, from which its other name is
derived, is spicy and aromatic, tasting like cinnamon when chewed.


WOODS AND FORESTS.
133
Sneezewood (Pteroxylon utile, E. and Z.).
Sueezewood rankswith Jarrah and Greenheart as an imperishable
wood. Put into the ground, it resists decay like a piece of stone.
Put into marine works, it has only once, and that under ex-
ceptional circumstances, allowed any entrance to the dreaded
Teredo navcdis. Sneezewood is unknown in the Knysna forest;
but in the eastern forests it is the most valuable species. From

SNEEZEWOOD IN THE PEBIE FOREST.
the Amatola forests it extends upwards along the eastern coast of
South Africa, always prized whenever a hard imperishable wood
is wanted. The splitheart of Sneezewood furnishes the best
fencing post known. Sneezewood sleepers are indestructible and
imperishable. A large proportion of the heavy outlay on railway
sleepers might have been saved, and the remainder kept in the
country, had the Sneezewood in the forests been conserved sooner.


134
WOODS AND FORESTS.
It was still sold on the King Williamstown market as firewood
when the writer took over the management of the Eastern
Conservancy in 1883. For half a century it was the favourite
firewood in the east of the Colony: and the burning of it was
like the burning of bank notes! It is now very strictly con-
served and propagated artificially to some extent. The wood
is imbued with a pungent essential oil, to which it owes its
durable qualities. On sawing it, if the sawdust reaches the
nostrils, violent fits of sneezing are produced. The leaf of
Sneezewood has a bitter taste like quinine. Sneezewood is
usually a small or middling-sized tree, neither very sound nor
well grown, but in the Amatola mountains specimens are
occasionally met with up to 6 feet in diameter and 35 feet of bole.
Wagon Woods.
Assegai (Curtisia faginea, Ait.) and White Pear [Apodytes
dimidiata, E. Mey), deserve special mention on account of their

SILVER TREE ON THE SIDE OF TABLE MOUNTAIN.
value as wagon woods; the first for spokes, the second for felloes.
Both have been much cut out, and would speedily become extinct
but for conservation and the cultural operations undertaken in
their favour by the Forest Department.


WOODS AND FORESTS.
135
Black Ironwood {Olea laurifola, Lam.) is at present the lete
noir of systematic forestry in South Africa. It forms about 20 per
cent, of the forest at Knysna. There is but a small local demand
for it, and a still smaller exportation, so that the wood is
accumulating on our hands in yearly increasing proportions.
Like many tropical trees, it is too hard and heavy to be profitably
worked, and not being durable, it is of no use for outdoor purposes.
Being a species of olive it has, when polished, the handsome
streaked appearance of olive-wood, and will doubtless some day be
profitably exported to Europe. A few tons went lately to Ham-
burg. Ironwood is a large lofty tree, with a clear bole, sometimes
reaching sixty feet in height.
The Clanwilliam Cedar (Callitris arbarea, Schrader), a middling-
sized tree with a whitish wood, coarser but even more fragrant
than Pencil Cedar, is peculiar to the lofty Cedarbergen mountains
on the west coast. It is only found above the winter snow-line.
It is becoming gradually exterminated by fires and cutting; but
conservation, on account of the difficulties of the locality, would
be so costly that it has not yet been attempted.
The curious Silver Tree (Lencadendron argentewn, B. Br.), is
peculiar to the slopes of the Table Mountain Range in the Cape
Peninsula, where it remains the sole flourishing remnant of the
ancient forest, coming up naturally, and mixing its soft white
foliage in striking contrast with the dark pines.
The following list embraces the chief timber trees of South
Africa:—
Weight of a
Common Name. Botanical Name. cubic foot (dry) in lbs.
Stinkwood .. .. Ocotea bullata (E. Mey) 49
Sneezewood Pteroxylon utile (E. and Z.) .. C8
Upright Yellowwood .. Podocarpus latifolia (L'Hent.) .. 37
Outeniqua do. .. .. Podocarpus elongata (L'Herit.) .. 29
Black Ironwood .. Olea laurifolia (Lamk.) .. .. 61
White Ironwood .. Toddalia lanceolata (Lamk.) .. 57
Wild Olive .. .. Olea verrucosa (Link.) .. .. 71
Assegai .. .. .. Curtisia faginea (Ait) .. .. 58
White Pear .. .. Apodytes dimidiata (E. Mey) .. 52
Kersewood .. .. Pterocelastrus variabilis (Loud.) 52
Wit-Els Platylophus trifoliatus (Don.) .. 38
Saffraau.. .. .. Eloeodendon croceum (D. C.) .. 54
Vlier Nuxia floribunda (Benth.) .. 47
Bed Els .. .. .. Cunonia Capensis (L.) .. .. 47
Easenwood .. .. Ekebergia Capensis (Spam.) .. 40
Hard Pear .. Olinia cymosa (Thunb.) .. .. 68
Buckenhout (Cape Beech) Myrsine melanophleos (B. Br.) .. 45
Kamassi.. .. .. Gonioma Kamassi (E. Mey.) .. 58
Mountain Pear .. .. Cathastrum Capense (Turcz.) .. 56
Cape Chestnut .. .. Calodendron Capense (Thunb.) .. 39
Kafir Coral or Boom .. Erythrina Kaffru (Thunb.) .. 16
Kafir Plum .. Harpephyllum Kaffrum (Bernh.) 39


13G
WOODS AKD FORESTS.
Scrub Forest.
The scrub forests, though occupying the largest area, are at
present of little economic importance, and can be dismissed in a
few words. In the present state of the country they will not pay
the expenses of survey, demarcation, or strict conservation. Their
water-retaining action is but of secondary importance. On the
other hand, they are not liable to be destroyed by fire, and when
near centres of* population form valuable fuel copses. The
desolate Addo Bush near Port Elizabeth has for many years fur-
nished fuel to that town. From thence, lining the valleys of
nearly all the rivers, the scrubs extend eastwards up the coast
through Cape Colony, the Transkei, Natal, and Zululand; the
number and tropical character of the species gradually increasing.
On the coast of the Knysna Division, Alexandria Division, and at
various points in the Transkei, the coast scrub rises to low timber
forest. Further inland, where it becomes too dry even for the
scrub forest, are often found extensive tracts occupied by the
grotesque and useless cactus-like Euphorbias. These could
probably be reclaimed by plantations of the Aleppo pine (Pintis
Halepensis) and the edible olive. The nearly allied wild olive
(Olea verrucosa) is a common tree of this region.
In 1886 a true species of Boxwood (Buxus Macowanai, Oliver)
was discovered by the Forest Department in the coast scrub forest
near East London. It was at once shipped to Europe in large
quantities. With it was sent a boxwood substitute—Kamassie—
from Knysna. Cape Boxwood was pronounced inferior in some
respects to the boxwood of commerce. Kamassi wood resembles
commercial Box still less. The enterprise was discredited, and
little has been shipped since. The Box forests of East London
form patches of what is known as pure forest (composed of one
species), and with their dense shade and clean soil are picturesque,
and a welcome relief from the interminable thorny bush which
usually constitutes the bulk of the scrub forests. A stunted
Sneezewood, producing the inferior "round " fencing pole, grows
in the scrubs. Very superior Sneezewood came formerly from
the Alexandria forests, and is exported still from the coast forests
of the Transkei.
The Lignum vitaa of South Africa—Umzambiti—(Milhttia
Caffra, Meisner) is a small tree of the coast scrubs, with a white
sapwood, and a rich dark red heartwood. It is a favourite wood for
walking sticks; and as the outcome of some carefully conducted
experiments with axles running at great speeds in diamond
cutting machinery, Umzambiti was pronounced superior to Lig-
num vita? for machinery bearings. Umzambiti is not only harder
than the Lignum vitae of commerce, but has been found to carry


WOODS AND FORESTS.
137
an axle with less friction. It was proposed at one time to use it
in the propeller bearings of steamships. The greatest obstacle
to its use for this and other allied purposes is the difficulty of
obtaining sound wood of any size. The tree, as it stands in the
forest, is so deeply buttressed, that it has the appearance of a
bundle of stakes grown together into a single bole.
The Foeest Department.
The Cape Forest Department is charged with the protection
and management of the Crown forests. It undertakes, in
addition, the encouragement of general tree-planting by the
distribution of plants and seeds free, or on a moderate payment,
to the public. Another of its duties is the inspection and control
of the Government-aided municipal tree-planting. In many parts
its most arduous task is the working of the Forest Act.
The Forest Department at the Cape was placed on its present
footing in 1883, the services of two professionally-trained forest
officers being obtained from Europe and from India. A forest
officer from the Cape is now going through the official course of
instruction in forestry at Cooper's Hill, London.
Cape Colony and the Transkei now form four Forest Con-
servancies: (1) The Western, or Cape Town; (2) The Midland,
or Knysna; (3) The Eastern, or King "Williamstown; (4) The
Transkei.
Each Conservancy is administered by a Conservator of Forests,
with a staff of assistants (termed District Forest Officers), of
Rangers, and of Foresters. The Natal Government has lately
secured the services of a professionally-trained forest officer from
Germany. Reckless management haB reduced the timber forests
of Natal to less than one-quarter of their former area.
The prudent administration of the Chartered Company is in
striking contrast. There is already a Forest Department in
Mashonaland, with an officer at its head who did good service in
the Cape Forest Department. Within the last few weeks a forest
ranger has been appointed to Bechuanaland.
The forests of Cape Colony are now managed on the method that
is the outcome of two, and sometimes of three, centuries of
experience in Europe. In 1883 this system was introduced at
Knysna, and the demarcation of the Eastern forests begun. In
1888 the Forest Act was passed, legalising the various Conservancy
regulations, and constituting the demarcated forests a national
trust for the benefit of the people of this country, and their
children after them. Previous to 1883, forest management in
Cape Colony was but a repetition of the oft-told tale of waste,
neglect, and final destruction by fire.


( 138 )
CHAPTER VI.
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE;
Its Discovery and Occupation by Edbopeans.
There is much that is unique in the history of the discovery
and early occupation of the Cape of Good Hope. Ancient tradi-
tion, handed down to us by the old Greek writer Herodotus, tells
of a voyage round Africa having been performed by Phoenician
seamen, who started from the Eed Sea and returned by the
Mediterranean, in the time of Pharaoh Necho, six centuries
before the Christian Era. The only object seemingly attained
was the determination of the insularity of the Continent. Many
authorities, however, regard the tradition as apocryphal, deeming
it improbable that such a feat as a voyage of three years over
so extensive a circuit of the ocean could have been accom-
plished with the fragile galleys of the early mariners. Others
maintain that extensive as the voyage was, the primitive craft
of the Phoenicians, accustomed to coast along the Red Sea
and the Gulf of Persia to India, might, in similar manner,
have safely doubled the promontory of the Cape. On this
point they have the supporting statement of Herodotus, that
the Phoenicians, following the indentures of the coast, repeatedly
spent periods on shore, where they drew their boats on land,
sowed grain in favourable places, waited till the crops ripened
under a tropical sun, reaped them, and then continued their
progress; and on their arrival in Egypt, recounted as a pheno-
menon "that in sailing round Africa they had the sun on their
right hand"—a strong confirmation of the probability of their
geographical achievement.
Written records of the commerce of the ancients with the East
Coast of Africa do not date further back than the first century of
the Christian era. At that time navigation extended from the
Red Sea and South Arabia to Quilloa, and probably as far south
as Sofala. The mariners of the period knew that the sea was
further navigable to the south-west, but had no idea of how or
where the continent ended. This shows that whatever knowledge
may have been acquired by the Phoenician explorers sent out by


THE CAPE OP GOOD HOPE.
139
Pharaoh Necho, it was not utilised or followed by any results.
To the world, South Africa remained an unknown land until near
the close of the fifteenth century, when the Portuguese navigators
solved the problem of an ocean route between Europe and the
East
In 1486 (six years previous to Christopher Columbus starting
on his first voyage across the Atlantic, which resulted in the
discovery of America), the King of Portugal, John II., sent out
two ships of fifty tons each, and a tender laden with surplus sup-
plies of food, to proceed along the west coast of Africa, beyond
the points which had been previously explored, in the hope that
they might reach its further extremity, and so discover a passage
to India. Bartholomew Diaz, one of a family of daring naviga-
tors, was in command of the expedition. Early in the following
year he unknowingly doubled the Cape. At the mouth of the
Orange River, on the west coast, a strong wind carried his ship
for several days due south; when it abated he steered in an
easterly direction, with the view of striking the land, but finding
none, altered his course for the north, and came into Flesh Bay,
near Gauritz River, on the eastern side of the Cape Colony.
Continuing eastward he entered Algoa Bay, and on a small island,
which still bears the name of St. Croix, set up a stone pillar
and cross, as a token of possession and symbol of the Christian
faith. He was eager to prosecute his mission still further eastward;
but the protests of the crews of his ships, who were worn with
fatigue, and alarmed at the heavy seas they passed through, com-
pelled him not to proceed further than the Rio de Infanta, now
known as the Great Fish River. On his return voyage Diaz
sighted the remarkable mountain range of the Cape Peninsula,
and named its southern point Cabo Tormentoso, or Stormy Cape;
but when he arrived at Lisbon, the King of Portugal, appreciating
the value of the discovery, and foreseeing the early realisation of
the long-coveted route to India, bestowed upon it the name of
good omen by which it has been known ever since—the " Cape of
Good Hope."
In the same year (1487) the Portuguese king, seeking by every
means to secure the success of the enterprise which he was deter-
mined to prosecute, sent two officers, Pedro de Covilham and de
Payva on a mission to Cairo and Aden, to gather all the geo-
graphical information they could regarding the East. At Aden,
Covilham embarked in an Arab vessel lor Calcutta and Goa, and
afterwards crossed the Indian Ocean to the African coast at Sofala,
where he learnt of its gold mines, and procured intelligence which
satisfied him that the dream of Prince Henry the Navigator
could be realised. He sent messengers to his royal master,


140
the cape op good hope.
reporting that ships, sailing from Portugal down the coast
of Gamia might be sure of reaching the termination of the
continent by persisting in a course to the south; and that when
they should arrive in the Eastern Ocean, their best direction
would be to inquire for Sofala and the Island of the Moon
(Madagascar).
With this valuable information in his possession, Vasco da Gama,
in 1497, started from Lisbon on his memorable expedition, which
Sractically accomplished and opened up the sea route to the East,
fe safely doubled the Cape, touched at Mossel Bay and Natal,
passed the low-lying land of Sofala in the night, got to Mozam-
bique and Melinda (where the Arab traders were then exchanging
their commodities for the gold of Sofala), and finally reached
India in the month of May, 1498, after a voyage of eleven
months.
The Portuguese did not make any permanent use of the
promontory which they had discovered and given an enduring
name to. For more than a century they passed and repassed it,
occasionally resorting to its waters for shelter and refreshment.
Table Bay was usually the point touched at; and there, in 1510,
Francis a'Almeida, the first Viceroy of the Portuguese East
Indies, while on his way home with a return fleet, met with his
death on the beach in an affray with the Hottentots. Afterwards
the English and Dutch began to share with the Portuguese in
the lucrative commerce of the Orient, and frequently availed'
themselves of the Cape as a place of call, using it as a primi-
tive post office—letters or dispatches being left under large
stones, on which the name of the vessel and the date were graven
for the information of ships expected to follow.
In 1620, two zealous Englishmen, Captain Andrew Shillinge and
Captain Humphrey Fitzherbert, commanders of a fleet of four
ships of the East India Company, then in Table Bay, of their own
motion landed and issued a proclamation of British sovereignty
over the Cape Peninsula and adjoining territory in the name of
their sovereign King James the First. But neither King James
nor the English East India Company saw the value or importance
of assuming dominion or occupation in South Africa then, and
declined to confirm the action.
The Dutch were more alive to the advantages which would
accrue to their commerce by having a permanent half-way
station there in connection with their navigation in the Eastern
seas. As early as 1602, the various private companies organised in
Holland for trade with the East were, in order to avoid the evils of
competition, amalgamated and formed into a sovereign company,
similar to the British Chartered Companies of the present day.


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
141
They were constituted under a charter granted by the States-
General of the Netherlands, which delegated to them the several
powers of government, and the monopoly of trade eastward of the
Cape of Good Hope, or westward of the Straits of Magellan. In
a comparatively short period they secured for themselves the
best marts in the Eastern seas, and gradually expelled the
Portuguese from nearly all their territorial possessions. In 1648
one of their richly-laden homeward bound ships, the Haarlem,
was wrecked in Table Bay, and the crew of that vessel, on finding
their way back to Holland, enlarged upon " the fruitfulness of the
soil, the temper of the air, the facilities for fattening cattle, and the
favourable character of the natives," and strongly recommended
the advantage of establishing a station at the Cape. The idea
was taken up and acted upon by the Netherlands East India
Company, who accordingly ordered possession to be taken of
Table Bay, and a fort to be built and gardens laid out there.
The command of the ex-
pedition, fitted out for this
purpose, was given to Jan
Anthony van Biebeek, a
surgeon in the employ of the
company, who had previously
sailed with outward-bound
ships to the Cape and India.
He left the Texel on the
24th December, 1651, with
three ships, the Dromedaris
(which carried his flag), the
Beijger, and the Qoede Hope,
and anchored in Table Bay
on the 6th of April, 1652.
The daily life he and his
companions led from the
date of their arrival is
minutely detailed in the
quaint and interesting jour-
nals and despatches of Van
Biebeek, which are still pre-
served in the Archives of the
Colony. Their first act was
to supplicate the blessings
of heaven on their work; "that the interests of the East
India Company might be promoted, justice maintained, and
the true Beformed Christian doctrine implanted and propagated
amongst the wild and savage inhabitants of the land." The

Commander van Eiebeek.


142
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
site for a fort was selected on a spot about half-way between
the present Cape Town railway station and the Castle. The
work of erecting it was rapidly advanced, and a residence for
the commander and stores were built. While this was being
carried on, steps were taken for supplementing the food supplies
of the garrison. Few natives visited them for some time, and all
they were able to procure from them in the shape of cattle were
a lean cow and calf. Wild game, described as " harts and elands,"
were numerous, but much to their vexation could not be approached
within musket shot. Fortunately, Table Bay yielded fish in
abundance, and Robben Island furnished sea-fowl eggs, penguins
and young seals, which were salted and divided among the people
as a change of diet. The winter season which 6et in, especially
during the months of July and August, proved an exceptionally
severe one. The weather was bleak and stormy, the mountains
were white with snow, and so much rain fell that "the land
resembled a sea." There was much sickness and some deaths;
and the men of the garrison began to murmur. One of them who
"wished the purser at the devil for serving out penguin flesh
instead of pork," was punished with one hundred blows from the
butt end of a musket. Another, who with three companions
deserted, and set out inland in the hope of escaping from the
country, but returned after four days, asking for mercy, was tried
and sentenced to be keel-hauled, to receive one hundred lashes,
and serve the year in chains—such being the modes of punishment
in those early days.
With the advent of the Cape spring, when the verdure of the
hills and the valleys afforded pleasure to the eye, the privations
and discomfort of the winter were forgotten. They had the
satisfaction of seeing the vegetable and other seeds which they
had sown, starting from the virgin soil; and soon enjoyed
the first products of their own planting. After this their cir-
cumstances began to improve. The natives brought in cattle
and sheep, exchanging them for pieces of brass and copper wire,
and tobacco; with the frequent addition of a "pimpeltje," or
dram of brandy. Elephant and hippopotamus tusks, ostrich
eggs, and occasionally feathers, and young ostriches were also
received from them. The country around Table Mountain was
explored, and found to contain fine forests, as well as fertile lands,
suitable for cultivation or pasture. Van Riebeek actively engaged
with his own party in the work of cultivating the ground and
the breeding of stock. Wheat, barley, oats, and maize were
sown with success. Vines, introduced from the Rhine, were soon
propagated, and a small quantity of wine made. The orange,
olive, mulberry, fig, peach, apple, and various other fruit trees


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
143
were planted. Horses were got from Java, and woolled sheep,
pigs, dogs, and rabbits, from Europe. Expeditions were from
time to time sent inland to "penetrate the secrets of the Dark
Continent," and especially to endeavour to find a route to the
territory of Monomotapa on the highlands of the Zambesi, in
order to tap its trade from the south, for the benefit of the Dutch
East India Company. Van Kiebeek thought that if the people of
Monomotapa once became acquainted with the Hollanders, and
compared their kind treatment with the imperious domination of
the Portuguese, they might be induced to bring their "gold,
ivory, and pearls," overland to the Cape, instead of to Sofala and
Mozambique. But, although one or two parties of volunteers,
encouraged by rewards offered by the government, made feeble
attempts to explore the country, the fabled "Land of Ophir"
was never reached by them.
After eleven years of service, Van Kiebeek found the Cape
Settlement " a lonesome melancholy place, where there was little
to be done but to barter for sheep and cattle with the stupid, lazy,
filthy Hottentots." He took credit for having accomplished what
lie had been sent to do. He had converted Table Valley from a
dry waste into a convenient place for the refreshment of the out-
ward and homeward bound fleets. Thirty-two tons of grain, the
produce of one harvest, were stored in the granaries, and cattle
were regularly supplied by the Hottentots, with whom he was in
amity. His zeal, industry, and devotion to the Company were
acknowledged by his appointment to the government of Malacca,
and later on he filled the office of Secretary to the Council of
Batavia. His son, born at the Cape in 1653, rose to the position
of Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
The aboriginal race inhabiting the country at this time were
known by the name of Hottentots, from the peculiarity of the
"clicks" used in the pronunciation of their language. The title
adopted by themselves was Khoi-Khoin, signifying the men of
men. In appearance they were of a medium height; their bodies
were slender, but well proportioned, with small hands and feet.
Their skin was of a yellow, olive colour; face oval, with prominent
projecting cheek-bones; eyes dark chestnut or black, and wide
apart; nose broad and thick and flat at the root; chin pointed;
and mouth large, with thick turned-up lips. Woolly hair grew
in short curly tufts on the head, and the beard was very scanty.
The females were rather smaller than the males, and among them
steatopyga was a common characteristic. They were a nomadic,
pastoral people, migrating with their herds and flocks wherever
good grazing was to be found. Their dwellings were a frame-
work of sticks, bent and lashed together, and covered with reed


144
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
mats. Of tillage or agriculture they knew nothing. Their food
was chiefly the flesh and offal of animals or game killed in
hunting, milk, edible roots, and wild fruits. Their weapons were
the assegai, club, and arrow. They clothed themselves in sheep-
skins, and loved to besmear their bodies with greasy substances.
A preparation of charcoal and fat, and the powdered leaves of
Diosnia, called by them Bucchu, was held in high estimation for
this purpose. Van Kiebeek had more than once to lament the
loss of a suit of clothes from the fervour with which some of them
embraced him, while they were thus besmeared with grease.
Their natural disposition was mild and placable, they were most
friendly and hospitable, and amongst themselves held in contempt
the person who could eat, drink, or smoke alone.
They had no national organization, but were divided into
several hordes or clans, each having its distinctive name and
chief. Those spread over the Cape Peninsula were known as
the Goringhaiquas, or Kaapmen, and claimed to be the occu-
pants of the country from time immemorial. Allied with them
were the Gorachouquas, who received the name of tobacco
thieves, because they had stolen the first crop of tobacco grown
by the colonists. In addition to them were a small body, who
had no live stock and subsisted by fishing, and were termed by
the new comers " strand-loopers," or beach-rangers. Then came
the Chochoquas, or Saldanhers, who roamed about with consider-
able herds of cattle and sheep between False Bay and Saldanha
Bay. The Little Chariguriquas had their kraals about Durban
and Groenekloof, in portion of what is now the district of
Malmesbury. To the north-west, from Clanwilliam to the
Orange river, were the Namaquas, who had large herds of cattle
and possessed ornaments manufactured out of copper and iron.
In alliance with the Namaquas were the Great Chariguriquas
(the progenitors of the Griquas of to-day), who were then living
near the Oliphant's river. More to the eastward, near the
sources of the Breede and Hex rivers, in what are now the
districts of Tulbagh and Worcester, were the Chainouquas,
whose chief Sousa, in 1660, visited Van Riebeek in great state
mounted on a red ox, and accompanied by his son's wife on a white,
spotted one. Along the Breede river—the Swellendam district—
were the Heusaquas, and beyond them, along the eastern coast,
were the Hamcumquas, Attaquas, Outeniquas, Damaquas, and
Gonaquas, extending as far eastward as the Keiskamma and
Great Kei rivers. Besides these, there was another branch of
them, sometimes referred to as Souquas, at other times as
Obiquas, and afterwards as "Bushmen," who appear to have been
widely spread, generally occupying the rugged and mountainous


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
145
parts of the country. They were low in stature, clad in skins
like the Hottentots, and spoke like them, " clucking like turkey
cocks." They had no cattle nor any property of their own, but
lived from hand to mouth on the game they hunted, the honey
they gathered, or the roots they obtained in the fields.
The intercourse and relations between the new and the ancient
occupiers of the country at the outset were carried on in a very
amicable and humane spirit. The Hottentots showed a good dis-
position towards the Dutch; and the Dutch, in accordance with
the orders issued by the East India Company, sought by kindness
and favours to gain their confidence and goodwill so as to do a
profitable business with them, and to secure safe travelling inland.
After a time, however, the pilfering and thievish habits of the
"beach-rangers" became very annoying, and one morning a
European youth engaged in herding cattle on the Lion's Hill was
found to have been murdered by them, and all the cattle carried
off. Even under this provocation the Commander forbade any
reprisals, lest the innocent should suffer for the guilty, and
directed that the natives were to be treated with as much or even
more kindness than before, so that the Company's traffic in cattle
might not in any way suffer. The Commander found that the
Hottentots were not always disposed to barter their stock for the
copper wire or tobacco which were the usual medium of exchange.
For weeks or months at a time they would pasture their flocks and
cattle within sight of the fort, but refuse to come near or part
with any. More than once Van Kiebeek recorded in his journal
how vexatious it was to behold so much cattle, and yet be unable
to obtain any, either by good treatment or barter; and how easy
it would be, if he only got the orders from his masters, to " cut off
ten thousand head of them, and seize as many of the savages for
transmission as slaves to India." But propositions of this nature
got no encouragement from the Company, who desired to keep
peace with the tribes and respect their property.
About three years after the foundation of the settlement a
suggestion was made for the encouragement of colonisation by
the emigration of free families to be settled near the fort, with
a view to strengthen the garrison and reduce the Company's
expenditure. Van JEtiebeek reported favourably of the plan,
recognising that it would contribute to the maintenance ot the
authority and defence of the Company, and that in course of
time the land occupied or brought under cultivation by the
colonists would be able to bear the imposition of such burdens as
would recompense the Company for any outlay incurred. It was
not, however, until the beginning of 1657 that the final arrange-
ments for this departure in policy were concluded. As all
L


146
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
endeavours to get persons to emigrate from Holland to the Cape
for such a purpose proved unsuccessful, it was resolved to make a
commencement with those accustomed to the place and acquainted
with the country. Nine soldiers and sailors in the service of the
Company, all described as Protestants and of good character,
were granted their discharge and permitted to settle as free
burghers on lands allotted them along the banks of the Liesbeek
river, at Eondebosch. A few were also permitted to maintain
themselves by their trades around the fort. Some of them soon
discontinued their farm work and returned to the Company's
service; but from time to time new men of different nationalities
—Germans, Danes, Portuguese, Flemish and Dutch—got their
discharge and tried their fortunes as colonial proprietors, until
in 1670 they numbered about ninety men. These were the
beginnings of the "boer" and "burgher" population of South
Africa.
They were supplied by the Company on credit with cattle,
implements and seeds, with which to carry on their operations.
As no servants were to be obtained from the Hottentots, who
could not be induced to work, the services of a few of the single
men of the garrison were lent to them, and afterwards slaves
were imported for them. They were allowed as much land as
they could bring under cultivation, and were exempted from the
payment of taxes for three years, but subsequently were liable to
an assessment, which was fixed at one-tenth of all produce raised
from their lands, and a tenth of all stock from the pasture lands
they were allowed to occupy. They had the privilege of catching
fish for their own consumption, and of disposing of such of their
fruits and vegetables as the Company did not require to the
crews of the Company's ships in the harbour. But they were not
permitted to sell any farm produce or any stock, except to the
Company, and at stipulated prices. For a short while they were
at liberty to purchase breeding cattle from the natives, provided
the articles employed in barter had been previously purchased
from the Company; but this permission was revoked, as the
competition of the burghers raised the price of cattle, and trade
in any form either with natives or foreigners was prohibited.
The first establishment of this small colony of burghers brought
to an issue the question of territorial and native rights. When
the Kaapmen Hottentots, in the course of their periodic migra-
tion, returned to their old pastures along the Liesbeek river,
they found the white man ploughing the land where they had
been accustomed to graze their cattle and dig out roots or
bulbs for their winter food. They then realised that the
Europeans intended taking permanent possession of the country,


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
147
and according to the words of one of them, they resolved to
prevent it, and to "dishearten the intruders by taking away
their cattle, and if that did not produce the effect, then to burn
their houses and corn until they were forced to go away." They
called the tribe of Gorachouquas to their aid, and swept off a
number of the colonists' cattle. So commenced the first Cape
colonial war, which occurred in 1659. The colonists and garrison
at the time were few in number, but they were fortunately
reinforced by the crews of some vessels which had put into Table
Bay. Hostilities continued for many months; and after two
engagements, in which seven natives were killed and one of their
leaders wounded, they came to the Company's Fort sueing for
peace, which was at once concluded. Both parties agreed not to
molest each other in the future, and the Salt and Liesbeek rivers
were recognised as the boundary of the colony.
The Dutch East India Company's hopes of a peaceful occupa-
tion of the Cape were rudely dispelled by these hostilities with
the Hottentots; and they feared frequent repetitions of such
conflicts with one or other of the more inland tribes. They
wrote: "The discontent shown by these people in consequence
of our appropriating to ourselves—and to their exclusion
—the land which they have used for their cattle from time
immemorial is neither surprising nor groundless, and we therefore
should be glad to see that we could purchase it from them, or
otherwise satisfy them." This suggestion of purchasing territory
was carried into effect a few years afterwards. A purchase was
made in 1672 from two of the Hottentot chiefs, who claimed to
be hereditary sovereigns, of all the country from the Cape
Peninsula to Saldanha Bay, "lands, rivers, creeks, forests, and
pastures inclusive," but with the condition that where the
colonists did not occupy the arable lands or pastures, the natives
might erect their kraals and graze their cattle freely. The
purchase amount of this cession was paid for in brandy, tobacco,
beads, and merchandise of the value of little more than one
hundred florins, or about ten pounds sterling.
After this, no further question arose as to the Company's
dominion over the soil. As the Europeans extended their occupa-
tion of the country the Hottentots receded. Feuds and quarrels
among themselves, the depredations of the Bushmen, who
constantly waged war upon them, and sometimes acts of
rapacity and violence committed by some of the burghers, who,
in defiance of the law, engaged in cattle-dealing, gradually led
to their impoverishment and disintegration. Many of the Kaap-
men crossed the range of mountains behind Hottentots Holland
and moved inland, and later on others followed their example.
l 2


148
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
The Chocoquas and Namaquas retired northwards towards the
Orange Eiver and the country beyond it, where their descendant?
still dwell. The other clans were decimated by disease. Small-
pox, which broke out at the Cape for the first time in 1713,
spread amongst them with great and fatal violence. The historiau
Valentyn says: "They declared the Dutch had bewitched them
with the beads and trinkets bartered to them, and throwing them
away, they fled into the country. They died in sucli multitudes,
that everywhere they lay unburied along the roads and high-
ways." In the following year, of all the various hordes about
the Cape, whose names have been preserved by Van Riebeek,
few were to be found; most of them had disappeared from the
Rcene, or merged imperceptibly into the other inland clans.
Struggling remnants of the latter continued for a while to
maintain their independence in the south-west and eastern
districts, living in small kraals or societies; the rest sought
service among the colonists as herdsmen, or became hangers-on
about the Company's cattle-posts and farms.
Soon after Van Riebeek'$
departure, in 1662, it became
an accepted policy of the Dutch
East India Company to plant a
colony at the Cape, and his suc-
cessor received instructions that
a strong stone fortress, capable
of holding a large garrison,
should be constructed for its
defence, in the place of the old
fort, whose earthen walls were
crumbling away. The castle—
a good specimen of the ancient
style of fortification, still stand-
ing in Cape Town—was com-
menced in 1666, a force of
several hundred men being
landed from the passing fleets
to proceed with the work; but
a period of about fourteen years
elapsed before it was finally
completed. During all this time there were very few accessions
to the number of colonists. Agriculture and the development
of the country were therefore at a standstill; according
to the testimony of one of the agents of the Compauy, the
place was daily retrograding. The farmers complained that,
after spending toil and labour on their lands and stock, they

THE OLD CASTLE GATE, CArE TOWS.


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
149
were denied a free market and a fair price for their produce.
.Repeatedly they approached the authorities, setting forth their
grievances, and asking that they might he placed in a better
position to enjoy the fruits of their industry; but their remon-
strances were characterized as "sedition and mutiny," and with
heavy hearts they found themselves compelled to submit to the
yoke of their masters, or be deported as "useless subjects" to
Mauritius, Ceylon, or Batavia. The severe and rigorous system
enforced by the Company was freely commented upon by some
of its own officers. Commissioner Verburg, in a memorandum
on the condition of the Cape in 1672, wrote: "The colonists here
bear the name of freemen, but they are so limited and restrained
in everything, that the absence of freedom is only too evident.
The orders and proclamations issued from time to time are too
minute, and in some respects rather too rigid, and if acted upon
to the letter, would produce the utter ruin of the burghers. This
caunot be endured by a new and growing colony, which requires
to be fostered with more freedom, gentleness, and kindness."
Representations such as these led to the Company now and again
authorising the raising of the price of grain and other produce,
so that the farmers might be able to maintain themselves, and
not acquire a distaste for labour; but otherwise there was no
change made in the administration of affairs.
In lb'79, Simon Van der Stell was appointed to the command of
the Settlement. After Van Eiebeek, he was in every way the
most conspicuous figure among the early governors. He strongly
pressed upon the Company the importance of increasing the free
population, urging that the colony had " excellent land in abund-
ance only awaiting labourers to till it." In response to his
appeal, which was strengthened by the recommendation of Commis-
sionerBaron van Rheede van Drakeenstein, then visiting the Cape,
another attempt was made to induce persons of the agricultural
class in Holland to emigrate to South Africa, and about fifty
mechanics and farmers, and a number of young women from the
orphan institutions of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, were provided
with passages in the outward bound fleets, and comfortably settled
among their fellow-countrymen.
It happened about five years after this that Holland was
receiving with sympathy and kindness the Protestant Huguenot
refugees, who were driven from France upon the revocation,
by Louis XIV., of the Edict of Nantes, which granted
them religious liberty. The States-General of the United Pro-
vinces proposed to the East India Company that they should
offer to some of these " exiles for religion's sake " a home in their
African possessions. Accordingly a scheme for their emigration


150
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
was planned. The conditions and regulations laid down provided
that they were to take the oath of fidelity to the Company,
have free passage to the Cape, and continue there for full
five years; that they should settle and maintain themselves by
cultivation, tillage, or handicrafts; that to those applying them-
selves to farming should be given as much ground as they could
bring under cultivation, and in case of requiring it, they should be
furnished with all implements necessary, and even seed, upon con-
dition that they should afterwards reimburse the Company for
such advances in corn, wine, or other goods.
These refugees, numbering in all about 300 men, women, and
children, arrived in the Colony during 1688 and 1689. The
public records contain a register of their names. Among them
are those of Du Plessis, Malherbe, Eosseau, Fouche, De Villiers,
Du Toit, Malan, Marais, Jourdan, Mesnard, Du Pre, Notier, Le
Febre, Cordier, Retief, Theron, Hugo, Joubert, Le Roux, Le
Grange, Labuscagne, and others, whose descendants are now
widely scattered over the whole of South Africa. The greater
portion of them upon their arrival, were placed on lands along
the Berg River Valley, where they soon cultivated "the cornfields
green and sunny vines," with which they had been familiar, and
the French names they gave to their farms, such as Le Parais,
Lamotte, Cabrier, Normandy, Rhone, Champagne, Languedoc,
and the "Fransche Hoek," remain memorials of the localities
where they fixed their abodes.
One of their countrymen, Francois Leguat, who visited the
country in 1698, has given a pleasing description of their con-
dition and surroundings at that time: "In some parts of the
Cape," he says, "the landskips are wonderfully fine, especially
where our new inhabitants were settled, and the air is admirably
good. Fine and large riverlets contribute to the fertility of the
soil, which furnishes wine in abundance, with all sorts of corn.
The little hills are covered with vines, exposed to the best sun,
and sheltered from the bad winds. Spring-water flows at the foot
of these hills, and waters in its course the gardens and orchards,
which are filled with all sorts of fruits, herbs, and pulse, as well
European as Indian. One of the refugees, named Taillefer, a
very honest and ingenious man, and curious above all things in
these particulars, has a garden which may very well pass for
fine. Nothing there is wanting, and all is iu so good order,
and so neat, that it may very well pass for charming. He
has likewise a great yard very well filled, and a large quantity
of oxen, sheep and horses, which according to the custom of the
country feed all the year without-doors, and find so great plenty
of nourishment, that they have no occasion for winter fodder.


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
151
This generous man receives and regales all those that are so
happy as to come and see him. He has the best wine in the
country, and which is not unlike our small wines of Champagne.
All this considered, it is certain the Cape is an extraordinary
refuge for the poor French Protestants. They there peaceably
enjoy their happiness, and live in good correspondence with the
Hollanders, who, as every one knows, are of a frank and downright
humour."
A minister of the Walloon Church, the Eev. Pierre Simond,
accompanied the Huguenot refugees, and remained with them
for a few years, holding religious services for them in the
French language on alternate Sundays at Stellenbosch and
Drakenstein. This community at Drakenstein after a time
endeavoured to consolidate themselves, and applied for the
privilege of forming a separate congregation and electing their
own vestry. A deputation of their leading men waited upon the
Governor and his Council with this request. Van der Stell was
enraged at the proposal; he regarded it as the first move in a
plot on the part of the emigrants to withdraw their obedience
from the Company, and to choose their own magistrates and
rulers. The deputation met with a peppery reception from him,
and were dismissed with a severe reprimand "to restrain their
French impertinences, and remember the oath of fidelity and
obedience to the Company which they had taken." Soon after-
wards they were all incorporated with the Dutch Keformed Church,
the authorities not permitting any other ecclesiastical establish-
ment or worship in the Settlement. Instructions were also given
that the use of the French language should be discouraged as
much as possible, so that it should in time entirely die out, and
that nothing but Dutch should be taught to the young to read
and write. In 1709, the use of French in addressing the
Government upon official matters was publicly forbidden; and
in 1724, the reading of the lessons at the church service in the
French language took place for the last time. In little more
than half a century after the arrival of the Huguenots, French had
almost ceased to be spoken among their children, who, by marriage
and social connections, had become merged with the Dutch and
Germans around them, using the Dutch language only.
In 1699 Governor Simon Van der Stell retired from office to
dwell upon the beautiful wine-farm near Wynberg, which he had
laid out and planted, and named "Constantia." During his
administration the town of Stellenbosch was founded, and the
valleys now known as Drakenstein and the Paarl were settled.
He personally led an expedition which explored the then far
distant copper regions of Namaqualand, where rich specimens of


152
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
ore were found, but abandoned as useless owing to the difficulty
of transport. To him and to his son, William Adrian Van der
Stell, who succeeded him, belong the distinction of successfully
acclimatising and planting European trees, such as the oak, fir,
and poplar, to which the Cape owes the grand leafy avenues,
which are the admiration and delight of the present generation.
Shortly after the accession of Adrian Van der Stell to tbe
Government, the burghers, who up to that time had been remark-
ably peaceful and industrious, began to feel that their privileges
were being more and more restricted. The governors and officers
of the Company were permitted to supplement their incomes by
engaging in private trade; grants of land were given them to
carry on farming, and they could dispose of their produce in com-
f>etition with the burghers. Both the Governor and his brother
lad private estates at Hottentots Holland; their father, the late
governor, had one at Constantia; the clergyman of the Cape like-
wise bad a farm at Zandvliet, and the burghers felt that tbey
were subjected to ruinous rivalry from their operations. In 1807
a memorial to the directors of the Company in Holland, setting
forth their grievances, was secretly framed, and signed by sixty-
three persons. In this document they complained, among other
things, of the "Unrighteous and haughty tyranny " of Governor
Van der Stell, by whom they alleged they were grievously
oppressed and treated as slaves. They charged him with having
abused the privilege of his position by employing the Company's
servants and slaves at his farm; that he had, in an underhand
manner, enriched himself by barter with the natives, and taken
their cattle by violence; that, in the name of his brother and
other friends, he furnished the Company's magazines with wheat
at higher prices than he paid the larmers; that, while he com-
pelled them to deliver wines at a low price, he disposed of them to
some foreign ships at ten times what they cost him; that persons
who wanted titles to land could not obtain the same unless the
solicitation was accompanied by a douceur, "for the Governor
listened readily to reasons that jingle "; and that at his caprice
he monopolised the pastures for his own cattle and those of his
brother and father, and that the latter was guilty of the ruinous
oppression of his neighbours.
VVhen it came to the knowledge of Van der Stell that a
document of this nature had been secretly forwarded to his
lords and masters, the East India Company, he instantly com-
menced proceedings against all whom he suspected of being
disaffected. By proclamation he declared that those engaged
in securing signatures in opposition to Government should be
punished with death as violators of the public peace. Many








THE CArE OF GOOD HOPE.
153
were arrested and committed to prison, others were put on board
ship and sent to Batavia and Holland, while some succeeded in
secreting themselves in the inland parts of the country till the
storm blew over. Among those sentenced to banishment and
carried to Holland by the homeward-bound fleets were three
colonists—Messrs. Peter Van der Byl, H. Huising, and Van der
Heiden, who carried with them the original of the memorial
against the Governor, and who, upon their arrival in Amsterdam,
were instrumental in gaining powerful friends to take up the
case of the burghers, and finally obtained the recall of Van der
Stell and his principal officers.
The details of the entire proceedings, showinar the peculiar
relations between the Governor and the governed in those early
days of the Cape Settlement, are set forth in a number of
cumbrous pamphlets in folio, printed in Holland at the time,
and illustrated with engravings of the Governor's farm at
Hottentots Holland, known as Vergelegen (now the property of
the Theunissen family), displaying the mansion, farm-houses,
parks, and vineyards, with lions, tigers, and buffaloes grazing in
the background. Governor Van der Stell, in his defence against
the accusations of the colonists, asserted that the hatred of a
small but violent portion of them was excited against him in
consequence of his strict adherence to the orders of the Company
in the prevention of persons engaging in illegal traffic with the
Hottentots and smuggling transactions with the Dutch and
foreign ships; and on these grounds the falsehoods set forth iu
the memorial had been invented.
The Dutch East India Company expressed their dissatisfaction
at these grave commotions and differences between the colonists
and the government. They directed that the Governor, the
Secunde or Assistant Governor, the clergyman, and the landdrost
of Stellenbosch, should all be deprived of authority and office;
and subsequently they were dismissed from the Company's service.
The sentences of imprisonment and banishment against the
colonists were annulled, and all were restored to their former
position. Lands owned or leased by officers of the Company were
ordered to be disposed of, and officials were forbidden in future to
possess any land other than a small garden plot, or to traffic in
any farm produce. All this, it was stated, was done "for the
quieting of disorder and the restoration of tranquillity."
When Adrian Van der Stell was removed, Governor Louis Van
Assenburg was appointed in his place, and he again was
succeeded by Governor Mauritz Basques de Chavonnes in 1714.
The free burgher population of the whole country at that time
numbered 647 men, 341 women, 467 sons, and 484 daughters.


154
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
They had 93 men servants, 1,178 male slaves, 240 female slaves,
and 221 slave children. Cape Town contained about 300 houses,
besides the castle and other buildings belonging to the Company,
and the Dutch Eeformed Church with its tower and spire. There
had been few accessions to the number of colonists after the
Huguenot emigration. The principal additions came from the
ranks of the Company's servants, who were allowed to obtain
burgher privileges, but with the reservation, that, if necessary, they
might be recalled to their former position and pay.
The general powers of government were exercised by the
Governor and a council composed of officers of the Company, who
were responsible to the directors in Holland. One or two of the
burghers had a seat and vote with them in the Courts of Justice
when any case affecting burgher interests was being heard. As
representing the proprietors of the settlement, the Governor
and council controlled and regulated the importations, produc-
tions, and trade of the community. According to the orders of
but what came from the Company's stores, and they were bound
to dispose of their corn, wine, and cattle to the Company at prices
varying with the fluctuating demands of its agents. Foreign or
coasting trade was forbidden them. Only the surplus of such
products as remained, after all the wants of the Company were
supplied, might be sold to the crews of foreign ships in port;
and even this limited commerce was subject to the permission of
the Fiscal, and the payment to him of a fee for the privilege. The
exaction of dues and fees, which went to supplement the in-
adequate pay of the officials, was incidental to nearly every busi-
ness transaction. When crops of grain were raised in excess of
the requirements of the Company, orders were given to restrict
production; at other times, when the presence of foreigners
advanced the prices of produce to a high rate, the delivery of
articles at a fixed price was enforced by penalties. In 1723 an
order of the council directed that every one selling fresh meat to
foreign ships was liable to be banished. At the same time it was
ordered that no vegetable even was to be sold to foreign ships,
and no cabbages to be pickled for exportation to India; every-
thing was to be kept for the^Company's ships and the public. All
offenders against this regulation were directed to be prosecuted as
disobedient and obnoxious inhabitants, and defrauders of the
Company's interests. Such restrictions as these upon production
and trade naturally repressed all enterprise, and checked the
development of the country.
Many of the colonists unable to endure the system which
prevailed near the capital crossed the mountain ranges and
their masters, the colonists


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
155
passed into the inland plains. There they obtained a subsistence
by imitating the native mode of life, killing game and grazing
cattle. Others soon followed their example. The authorities,
although at first opposed to the movement, after a time discovered
it to be of some advantage, as it "would add to their revenue,
and increase the food supplies of the settlement." In 1705, they
gave their formal sanction to the occupation of new tracts of
territory by issuing "loan leases," or squatting licences, to such
as preferred a request for them, but always subject to the
condition of resumption of the property at any time by the
Company. Wherever there was vacant land, whoever chose to
do so might apply for it; and if, after temporary occupation, ho
found any difficulty in securing permanent waters, or in grazing
his cattle, he immediately enlarged his range, and moved further
into the interior. It was in this manner that the early Cape
"Boers," or farmers, began the nomad habit of "trekking,"
which has been continued by their descendants along the border
of the European settlements until the present time.
This dispersion of the European population was in many ways
detrimental alike to themselves and their descendants. In the
inland districts, then designated "Overberg" (beyond the
mountains), they were scattered at distances far apart from each
other, and quite isolated from the outer world. They had to
supply their needs from the limited products of the country; for
they were without markets, roads, churches, schools, or any of
the conveniences that make life desirable. Happily, they carried
with them their Huguenot custom of family worship, and daily, in
wagon, tent or hut, the head of the household read from the
cherished Bible such lessons as served to maintain the principles
as well as the forms of morality and civilization among them.
Governor-General Imhoff, who visited the Cape in 1743, and
inspected the country for some distance inland, reported that the
state of the farmers in the remote districts was most lamentable,
and he represented that if their children were further neglected
they would lapse into barbarians. As a remedy, a magistracy
and church were established at Swellendam in 1745, the Gamtoos
Kiver being then declared the farthest limit of the settlement.
But when the colonists spread to the Bruintjes Hoogte, Camdeboo,
and the Sneeuwberg mountains, a magistracy was established in
1786, at Graaff-Keinet, and the Great 1 ish Kiver was proclaimed
as the territorial boundary of the Company's possessions.
Although measures had, from time to time, been taken to con-
fine the inhabitants within the limits of these districts, the
Government were never really able to control or restrain them.
From the Castle at Cape Town proclamations and placaats were


156
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOfE.
issued forbidding any burgher to leave his loan-farm, without
permission, on any pretext whatever, "or to proceed into the
interior on pain of corporal or capital punishment, aye, even to
the death, and the confiscation of all property." But these orders
were treated with indifference and contempt, and many of the
border farmers moved on from one place to another as their fancy
led them, some as elephant hunters crossing the boundary after
the large game, and others as " togtgangers" or traders, bartering
goods with the natives around or beyond them. Under these
circumstances, collisions and conflicts with the native races were
inevitable.
The colonists passing northward, through the Karroo plains,
encountered the hostility of the Bushmen, who were widely
spread over the country from the Roggeveldt and Camdeboo
mountains to the Orange River. The white man destroyed their
game, and they retaliated by taking the white man's cattle.
Then followed reprisals and acts of violence and revenge; and the
miseries which fell to the lot of both colonists and aborigines at
this time form one of the saddest pages in the annals of the
country. In the absence of military protection, the farmers, who
almost from their youth were expert in the use of fire-arms,
assembled for mutual defence, and proceeded in pursuit of
depredators, or attacked those by whom they were threatened or
disturbed. These armed assemblages were called "Commandoes,"
and the system was recognised by Government, who appointed a
Field-Commandant to each district and a Field-cornet to each
sub-division of a district. The Government, however, owing to
its distance from the common scene of hostilities, and also from
the want of a true knowledge of the state of things there, exercised
but little control over them. For nearly thirty years there was
continuous fighting with the Bushmen, apparently producing no
other effect than to render them the implacable enemy of the
white man, and finally resulting in what was virtually a war of
extermination. The old records of Graaff-Reinet show that
between 1786 and 1794 upwards of two hundred persons were
murdered by the Bushmen, and that the number of the latter
killed by " Commandoes" was not far short of two thousand five
hundred.
Those of the colonists who were advancing eastward encountered
the formidable Kafirs of the Ama-Kosa nation. Some of the
latter had been, for years previously, steadily encroaching upon
and conquering the Gonaqua Hottentots, westward of the Kei and
Keiskamma rivers. About the time of their first conflict with
Europeans, they appear to have been engaged in intertribal war
with some aboriginal neighbours; and the clans who were worsted


THE CAPE OP GOOD HOPE.
157
by their foes crossed to the western side of the Fish river, which
had been declared the boundary of the Colony. Here they com-
mitted aggressions on the colonists. Amicable means were tried
to induce them to retire to their side of the boundary line, but
all were futile. Commandoes of the burghers were then assembled
under Commandant Von Jarsveld, who successfully repulsed the
Kafirs in several encounters, and drove them back across the Fish
river, capturing large herds of cattle, which were distributed
among the forces. This, the first Kafir war, occurred in 1781.
About this period the struggle between England and her
American colonies had been some time in progress, and Holland
having become allied with France, was an active enemy against
England. War with that country was accordingly declared, and
the British Government planned an expedition in 1781 to seize
the Cape of Good Hope. This intention became known through
a spy named De la Motte, and a French fleet, under Admiral
Suffren, was without delay despatched for the protection of the
Dutch Company's possessions at the Cape. On its way out, off
the Cape Verde Islands, it accidently met with the English fleet,
under Commodore Johnstone, equipped for the capture of the
Cape. After a severe engagement, in which the English ships
were more or less disabled for a time, the French Admiral
pursued his way to Simon's Bay where he landed his troops, who
were immediately marched to Cape Town. The presence of this
force, composed chiefly of mercenary legions, saved the Cape
from conquest. Commodore Johnstone, following after Admiral
Suffren and finding him in possession of the defences, did not
attempt to make any attack, but contented himself with the
capture and destruction of a valuable fleet of the Dntch Com-
pany's homeward-bound ships, including the "Middelberg,"
which had taken shelter in Saldanha Bay. During the con-
tinuance of the war, however, all communication with Holland
ceased, and to meet the exigencies of the Cape settlement, loans
of money were raised from the colonists', and a paper currency
was thrown into circulation by Governor Van Plettenberg, with
a promise that the same would be afterwards redeemed. On the
resumption of peace the pledge was only partially fulfilled, and
for some years after paper continued to be the prevailing medium
for commercial transactions.
In the meantime, the colonists around Capo Town were trying
to make their voices heard with a view to bringing about a
change in the system of trade and government. Feeling them-
selves hampered in their internal commerce, they sought to be
allowed to participate in a free trade along the coast and to
Sofala, Mozambique, and Madagascar, but their application did


158
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
not meet with any favourable response. In 1779 they asked for
permission to send representatives to Holland to state their case;
but this also was refused them. Four of their number—Messrs.
Jacob van Keenen, Barend J. Artoys, Tielman' Boos, and N. G.
Heyns—soon afterwards took ship for Europe, carrying with
them a memorial signed by several hundreds of their fellow-
burghers, which they found means of placing before the Company.
In this memorial they charged the Governor, Joachim Ton
Plettenberg, and his officials with various acts of oppression and.
corruption. They complained of the arbitrary power exercised
by the authorities of seizing any of the inhabitants, and deport-
ing them, against their will, to the Indian factories. They asked
for a reform of the Court of Justice, and to be allowed a voice in
the Council of Policy. They prayed that all burghers might
be entitled to sell freely to foreign vessels without paying fees
to the Fiscal. And, as on previous occasions, they petitioned
to be allowed the right of trading beyond the colony in ships
freighted by themselves, in order to barter their produce for
that of other lands.
After a considerable lapse of time, Bome of the demands of
the colonists were met. Eegulations were promulgated to check
the abuses, on the part of officials, which had been complained of,
and a reform of the Court of Justice was effected by the admis-
sion to it of an equal number of burghers and officials. But the con-
cession of free trade and foreign commerce was still denied them.
"If that were granted," said one of the officials (the Fiscal Boers),
"the Cape would soon be no longer a subordinate colony, but an
independent State." The matter, however, was not aliowed to
rest. The colonists, in 1785, again sent delegates, who bore the
names of Bedelinghuys, Eoos, and Bresler, to appeal once more
to the directors of the Company, and, failing redress, to approach
the States-General of the Netherlands.
The long-continued prosperity of the Dutch East India Company
was at this time rapidly on the decline. Its finances were in con-
fusion, and there were complaints of misgovernment in other of
its possessions besides the Cape of Good Hope. The Stadtholder
of the Netherlands, in 1791, appointed two Commissioners, Messrs.
Nederberg and Frekenius, to inquire into the affairs of all the
settlements. On their arrival at the Cape in 1793 there was a
general expectation of the redress of abuses, and of reform in the
system of administration; but the result gave little satisfaction
to the colonists. The Commissioners reduced the establishments
of the Company, and imposed new taxes. They fixed a price at
which the Company was to be supplied with as much grain as it
needed, leaving the farmer at liberty to export any surplus they


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
159
had to India or Holland, provided it was sent in Dutch vessels.
The coast ports were declared open for trade, but the exportation
of goods in foreign vessels and traffic witli foreigners, except for
provisions, was prohibited. A Loan Bank was created to assist
the inhabitants by enabling them to get advances on mortgage
bonds and other securities, and the people were admonished by
proclamation not to live beyond their means. The Commissioners
then proceeded to Batavia, leaving the Cape in charge of Com-
missary-General Sluysken and the chief officers of the Company
as a Council of Eegency.
Internal troubles had meanwhile been accumulating. The
absence of any controlling power on the part of the government
in the remote districts produced its natural effect. Many of the
border colonists, when called upon to contribute their share of the
taxes, repudiated their obligation to pay anything for lands which
they said they had been obliged to defend at their own expense
without any assistance from the State. They complained of the
restrictions on the sale of produce, the inconvenience and loss
occasioned them by the depreciation of the paper currency, and of
the unsatisfactory relations existing with the natives, some of them
demanding that the Bushmen and Hottentots who were captured
in arms against the colony should be compelled to serve in
bondage. In February, 1795, the burghers of Bruintjes Hoogte
assembled at Graaff-Beinet. They declared themselves " unwilling
to obey the Dutch East India Company any longer, and that they
would be independent," and ordered their landdrost, or magis-
trate, to quit the Drostdy with all that belonged to him within a
few hours. Having no force to support him, the magistrate was
constrained to comply. In June of the same year the landdrost
of Swellendam was in similar manner expelled by the burghers of
his district, who appointed a landdrost and what was termed "a
national assembly" of their own. There was a general spirit of
disaffection to the rule of the Dutch East India Company through-
out the inland districts; but at this very juncture, when the dis-
agreement between the people and the government seriously
threatened the tranquillity of the country, an unexpected solution
of the difficulty was brought about by the course of political
events in Europe.
After the French Eevolution, the armies of the Convention, in
1795, overran Holland. It became, for a time, a French province,
and the Stadtholder, the Prince of Orange, had to nee as a
refugee to England, where he continued to co-operate with the
Allied Powers against France. It was feared the Dutch Colonies
would share the misfortunes of Holland; and the importance of
the Cape as a maritime station, at the extreme point of the


1G0
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
African Continent, was recognised. "Whoever is master of the
Cape," wrote Sir Francis Baring, " will be able to harass British
troops going and returning from India." The British Govern-
ment, therefore, resolved to make themselves master of it. A
squadron of war-ships, with a large body of troops, under Admiral
Elphinstone and General Craig, was dispatched from Spithead,
and the exiled Prince of Orange, acting in concert with the
British, addressed a letter to the authorities at the Cape, to
receive the fleet as allies come to protect the Colony against any
invasion by the French. The Acting Governor, Commissary
Sluysken, and his Council in Cape Town had received instructions
from the Chamber of Seventeen, representing the Company, to
oppose the landing of any force, as it was impossible to foresee the
turn events might take. They accordingly informed the British
Commanders that they would defend the Colony against any fleet
or army sent against them, whether French or British. They had
no adequate force, however, to maintain their position—the
military, the burghers, and the Hottentots who came to their aid
numbering little more than 3000 men. Their chief attention
was devoted to the strengthening of the military port at Muizen-
berg, between False and Table Bays. From the natural advan-
tages of the position it was regarded as another Thermopylae,
where any troops marching on Cape Town could easily be held
in check by a few brave, determined men. A well-equipped
battery and an artillery force were placed there, and the heights
and ridges of rocks above the position were occupied by sharp-
shooters. As the British land force advanced along the shore of
False Bay, the ships of the fleet co-operated with them, and the
heavy fire from their guns on the battery at Muizenberg
compelled the Dutch artillery to seek shelter. The simultaneous
appearance of the land force on the scene threw the whole camp
into confusion, and the Dutch troops hurriedly beat a retreat,
leaving behind them guns, tents, and ammunition. The British
were not in a position to follow up their success immediately, as
they possessed no cattle or carriage for transport; but soon
afterwards they were reinforced by the arrival of more ships with
troops and stores, and on the 16th September, 1795, marched on
to Kondebosch, within a short distance of Cape Town, where
articles of capitulation were signed by Commissary Sluysken and
his Council, surrendering the castle and town to the King of
Great Britain. With this act the rule of the Dutch East India
Company in South Africa came to a close.
From 1779 to 1803, the Cape was held temporarily by the
English Government as a possession by conquest. The inhabi-
tants were guaranteed the preservation of all the privileges they


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
161
formerly enjoyed, and it was announced to thorn that the
monopolies and restrictions on trade, which had hitherto
prevailed for the benefit of the Dutch East India Company,
were at an end. Every person was free to sell his own pro-
duce to whom and in what manner he chose, as best suited
his interests, and there was no restraint as to the navigation
of the coast, or the manner in which the produce might be
conveyed to a market. At Cape Town a large armed force was
maintained, and there was a profuse expenditure of money. It
was estimated that during these years more than a million
sterling of English money was spent in the Colony, whose
erports at that time did not exceed £15,000 per annum, and
wh< se European population of all ages and sexes was not above
25,000 in number.
In the inland districts, affairs were for some time in an un-
settled condition. At Swellendam, after the capitulation, the
former landdrost was reinstated. At Graaff-Reinet, the inhabi-
tants refused to take the oath of allegiance, and evinced as little
respect for the newly appointed magistrate as for the late officers
of the Dutch East India Company, whom they had sent about
their business. After a time, however, they submitted to the
ruling power, and for a few years tranquillity ensued. Then again
disturbances occurred which led to most unfortunate results.
The Court of Justice in Cape Town had issued a decree for the
arrest of one of the leading farmers, named Van Jaarsveld, who
had been commandant of the burghers. The charge against him
was that of falsifying a receipt, with the object of defrauding the
Orphan Chamber. His friends and neighbours conceived the
idea that his arrest was due to the part he had taken in the pre-
vious rebellion. Acting upon this, a body of them rescued him
from the officers escorting him to the capital; and then marched
npon Graaff-Reinet, where they bad summoned the farmers of the
district to assemble in arms. When this intelligence reached
Cape Town, the Acting Governor, General Dundas, immediately
despatched troops inland under the command of General
Vandeleur, who followed up the insurgents to Bruintjes Hoogte,
■where they finally surrendered and laid down their arms. The
leaders and others who were considered culpable were apprehended
and sent for trial before the Court of Justice, where some were
condemmed to death, and others were ordered "to be delivered to
the executioner blindfolded, and having kneeled down upon a
heap of sand, to have the sword waved over their head for
{ranishment, and then to be banished for the remainder of their
ives from the settlement." But owing to various circumstances
the execution of the sentence was postponed from time to time,
H


162
THE OAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
and the prisoners were finally set free, on the restoration of the
Colony to Holland.
During this insurrection, when the British troops marched
through the inland districts, numbers of the Hottentots, excited
by the commotion, flocked after them. Some came from their
kraals; others availed themselves of the prevailing disturbances
to abandon the service of the farmers, which they complained had
been cruel and oppressive to them. When the insurgents sur-
rendered, these Hottentots took advantage of the opportunity of
possessing themselves of some of their weapons; but the general
tranquillity of the country demanded their being disarmed, and
this was accordingly done. Their disarmament made them
suspicious of the intentions of the English towards them, and
when, upon order being restored in the district, they saw the
troops being withdrawn, they dreaded the probability of having
to return to the service of the masters from whom they had fled,
and whose anger and ill-will they feared. Some of them asked
the authorities to provide means for their subsistence, and allot
them certain unoccupied lands. Their appeal did not receive
immediate attention; and, with characteristic imprudence and
fickleness, a considerable number of them joined their barbarous
neighbours, the Kafirs, who were then investing the country from
the Bushman's to the Sunday's Kiver, and aggressively advancing
on the Europeans. The Kafirs welcomed theHottentot reinforce-
ment to their side, as several of them were possessed of, and
accustomed to the use of, firearms. Immediately upon this union,
they set about plundering and burning the farmers' houses, in
many cases murdering the defenceless inhabitants on the thres-
hold of their dwellings, and desolating the whole country from
the Sunday's Kiver westward even to Langekloof and Knysna.
The border farmers were confounded by this unexpected in-
vasion. They assembled for common defence from all the districts,
and commandoes of burghers from the neighbourhood of the
capital also took the field, together with the troops. General
Dundas, remembering the unfortunate events at San Domingo,
and Hayti, in 1791, feared the most serious consequences would
follow from a war of races, if the anarchy which prevailed was
not suppressed. He counselled that the Hottentots should be
appeased by all fair means, and secured the services of Mr.
Maynier (a former magistrate of Graaff-Reinet) to approach them,
and, if possible, establish a truce with them as well as with the
Kafirs. After much trouble this was accomplished, and hostilities
terminated. But for a long period afterwards a state of unrest
continued throughout the land, combined with a bitter feeling
against the Hottentots, who still roamed about the country.


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
163
These commotions which afflicted the horder districts at the
time were attributed by the authorities to the turbulent character
of many of the inhabitants, and their treatment of the natives by
whom they were surrounded. The British Secretary of State,
commenting upon the circumstances reported to him, wrote in
July, 1800: "Considering the tract of country over which these
border inhabitants are dispersed, the rude and uncultivated state
in which they live, and the wild notions of independence which
prevail among them, I am afraid any attempt to introduce civili-
sation and a strict administration of justice will be slow in their
progress, and likely, if not proceeded upon with caution and
management, rather to create a spirit of resistance, or to occasion
them to emigrate still further from the seat of government, rather
than answer the beneficent views in which they might be under-
taken. In fact, it appears to me the proper system of policy to
observe to them is to interfere as little as possible in their
domestic concerns and interior economy; to consider them rather
as distant communities dependent upon the Government rather
than as subjects necessarily amenable to the laws and regulations
established within the precincts of Government. Mutual advan-
tages, arising from barter and commerce, and a strict adherence
to good faith and justice in all relations with them, joined to
efficient protection and occasional acts of kindness on the part of
the Government, seem likely to be the best means of securing
their attachment." It was not until after the lapse of half a
century that the wisdom of this policy was recognised, and the
course indicated by it was adopted.
The peace of Europe, secured by the treaty of Amiens, brought
the Colony back to its relationship with Holland, and in 1803
the country was evacuated by the English. Mr. De Mist, a
member of the Council for the Asiatic Possessions (by which
department the business of the Dutch East India Company had
been latterly administered), was appointed as Commissary-General
for the Batavian Republic, to receive the Colony from the
English, and to install the new Governor, General Janssens, into
office. Upon the arrival of these functionaries they announced
to the inhabitants that the settlement would be no longer
dependent upon any commercial body, and that the people would
in future know no other Government than that which the
Batavians had appointed over themselves; and they expressed
the hope that all former contentions and divisions between the
inhabitants, as well as the turbulent opposition shown to the con-
stituted authorities, would be buried in oblivion. The Com-
missary-General was chiefly occupied with the organisation of the
civil government, and his liberal and benevolent views are set
M 2


164
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
forth in various measures then prepared by him for the conduct
of public affairs. The Colony was divided into five districts, each
adminstered by a landdrost, who was to be assisted by six of the
principal domiciliated burgher inhabitants and owners of property,
termed "Heemraden." These had to act judicially in certain
cases, and to consider and determine upon all district matters,
such as the protection of property, questions of land boundaries,
water rights, the planting of woods and preservation of forests.
Acting upon the principle "that the Colony must derive its im-
portance from the quantity and quality of its produce," the land-
drosts were enjoined to pay particular attention to the improvement
of agriculture, wine and fruit growing, and the breeding of cattle;
to encourage the formation of artificial pastures, and to provide
stalls for the protection of stock in winter, and especially to promote
the exchange of the native hairy sheep for the wool bearing
merinos, which it was wisely prophesied would be an inex-
haustible source of prosperity. The civilization of the Hottentot
race was to constitute one of the objects of their care; they were
to be considered and treated as a free people, having a legal right
of residence. The different tribes on the frontier were also
directed to be so dealt with that they could not have any just
cause for aggression against the inhabitants; and as long as the
use of slaves in the Colony was not abandoned, they were directed
to watch over the protection of these unfortunate beings, and by
authority and example to accustom the inhabitants to consider
and treat them as fellow-creatures, and not suffer any cruelty to
be practised upon them. In addition to these general instruc-
tions, laws were made relating to ecclesiastical matters, schools, a
militia force, district courts, and the appointment of field-cornets
—some of which are still part of the code of the Colony.
Governor Janssens gave his attention to the condition of the
border districts. He visited the frontier settlers and some of the
Kafir and Hottentot chiefs, endeavouring to re-establish a peaceable
understanding between them and the colonists. In many places
he witnessed the deplorable results of the disturbances which had
occurred—houses in ruins, fields desolated, and numerous families
impoverished, wandering about homeless, and living scantily upon
the small remnants of cattle they had been able to save from the
hands of their invaders. A number of the farmers were induced
to return to their old habitations and commence life anew. At
Graaff-Reinet a new Landdrost, Mr. Stockenstrom, was appointed,
under whom tranquillity was restored; and the district was sub-
divided, another magistracy being formed at the Zwartkops River
Valley, to which the name of " Uitenhage" was given. Between
the Sundays and Fish Rivers, however, the country was still


THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
165
occupied by Kafirs, who were then in revolt against their para-
mount chief, Gaika. They acknowledged the Fish Eiver was the
boundary of the Kafir territory, and promised to return there as
Boon as they had conquered or were reconciled to their chief, with
whom they were at war. But these promises were never fulfilled.
All the endeavours of the Dutch Border Commissioner to induce
them to quit the Colony and retire to their own country were in
vain, and the Government had no force to compel them. The
military establishment of the Cape was very far short of what
Governor Janssens considered it ought to be, but the finances of
the Batavian Bepublic were too impoverished to permit of its
increase, or even of its continued maintenance. In the mother
country the machine of government was merely kept going by
economising in all directions, and some of their statesmen even
mooted the question whether the possession of the southern point
of Africa was of any importance to Holland, especially in view of
the fact that its lot would always depend upon the position of
political affairs and final peace negotiations in Europe.
The course of events soon demonstrated this. The peace of
Amiens proved to be of short duration. War was again declared
in Europe. Hostilities were resumed between England and
France, and the importance of the Cape as a naval and military
position being again recognised by the British Government, an
expedition for its re-capture was sent out under the command of
General Sir David Baird. The fleet conveying this force reached
the Cape on the 5th January, 1806, and took up a position in the
channel between Bobben Island and Blueberg, on the northern
side of Table Bay, facing Cape Town. The troops effected a
landing, although the sea was breaking on the shore with great
violence. They moved off—about 4000 strong—in the direction
of Cape Town, but on rounding the spur of the Blueberg Hill
found themselves confronted and opposed by the Batavian and
Colonial forces under General Janssens. An engagement ensued,
but shortly after fire was opened the Waldeck battalion of the
Batavian troops began to retire, and the whole of the defensive
force soon afterwards gave way. Next day the British troops
advanced and took possession of Cape Town, and after a truce and
some preliminary overtures, terms of capitulation were signed by
General Janssens, one of the conditions being that the Batavian
troops should be embarked and sent straight to Holland, at the
expense of the British Government; and another was that the
burghers and inhabitants should preserve all the rights and
privileges hitherto enjoyed by them. These articles of capitula-
tion were ratified and confirmed in the Castle on the 19th
January, 1806.


166
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
This closed the administration of the Dutch Government in
South Africa. At the final conclusion of the Napoleonic war in
Europe, in 1815, the King of the Netherlands, by convention, and
in consideration of a payment of between two and three millions
sterling towards the settlement of the Low Countries, finally
ceded the Cape of Good Hope, along with other possessions, in
perpetuity to the British Crown.


( 167 )
CHAPTER VII.
BRITISH RULE DURING THE .CENTURY.
From the date of the surrender of the Cape to the British forces
nnder General Baird in 1806, the country virtually became a
British colony, although the final cession of it bv Holland to
Great Britain only occurred after the Congress of Vienna, some
eight years later. At that period, the total population numbered
73,663 souls, of whom 26,720 were of European descent, 17,657
Hottentots, and 29,256 slaves. The imports did not much exceed
£100,000 per annum, and the exports were not above £60,000.
The Governors appointed by the British Crown to administer
public affairs exercised supreme power and authority, showing,
however, a conservative regard for the old laws and institutions
of the settlement, and in the distribution of patronage they con-
ciliated the feelings of the Dutch colonists by judiciously appoint-
ing many of them to various offices in the civil service. Earl
Caledon, who held office from 1807 to 1811, opened up postal
communication with the inland districts, and established circuit
courts to administer justice among all classes with the same power
and authority as the Court of Justice in Cape Town. He also
issued regulations with the object of restraining the Hottentots
from leading a wandering, indolent life, and securing to them
protection when they entered the service of the inhabitants.
Sir John Cradock, in 1812, placed the tenure of land throughout
the colony on a permanent footing. The holders of " loan-leases"
were allowed to convert the same into perpetual quit-rent pro-
perties, to which they obtained title, enabling them to transmit
the same hereditarily, or to do with their lands and tenements as
they thought proper. He also opened public schools in the
country districts, providing for the first time for the education of
the scattered people. He likewise freed the eastern border from
those sections of the Kafir tribes who had intruded into the country
between the Fish and Sunday's Rivers. The basis of his action
in this matter was to secure the undisturbed occupation of the
territory surrendered by the Dutch, and put an end to the con-
tinual complaints of Kafir depredations.
A military force, under command of Colonel Graham, aided by


168
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
burgher forces headed by Mr. Stockenstrom, the magistrate of
Graaff-Eeinet, and Major Cuyler, the magistrate of Uitenhage,
entered the bushy country around the Zuurberg and Rietfontein
mountains, and after two weeks' operations succeeded in clearing
it of the Kafirs, who with their wives and cattle retired to the
east of the Fish River. Mr. Stockenstrom sacrificed his life on
this occasion by placing a fatal confidence in a party of Kafirs
whom he met on the top of the Zuurberg mountain. Accompanied
by some of his burgher officers, he dismounted and conversed
with the Kafirs; urging them to retire to their own country, and
assuring them not a shot would be fired if they did so quietly.
The Kafirs pleaded that they had bought the land they occupied,
and paid a number of cattle for it to some Dutch Commissioners,
and that it was not right for the Government to expel them. While
the "palaver" was proceeding, some natives arrived, who reported
that blood had been shed. The character of the meeting im-
mediately changed. The Kafirs fell upon Mr. Stockenstrom and
his party, nine of whom they put to death; the others managed
to effect their escape.
For some time after the expulsion of the Kafirs, the military
and burghers continued to guard the boundary west of the Fish
River. Colonel Graham urged that the vacated tract should at
once be occupied, and the former residents of the districts invited
to return to them: but the Governor opposed this, as he sought to
maintain the country as " neutral ground," and only sanctioned a
small number of farmers being encouraged to settle there, for the
convenience of the supply of the troops at the military head-
quarters, which received the name of Graham's Town.
Lord Charles Somerset succeeded Sir J. Cradock as Governor
in 1814, and he conceived a policy of recognising the supremacy
of the Kafir chief Gaika over all the other tribes inhabiting the
border, and of maintaining pacific relations with them by means
of his controlling power. An interview with Gaika and some of
the other chiefs was held on the frontier in 1817, and an arrange-
ment was come to acknowledging Gaika as the supreme authority
in Kafirland. Tribal feuds soon after broke out, and a fierce
intertribal war ensued, in which the colony became involved as
the ally of Gaika. The result was that the coast tribes, headed
by T'Slambie, invaded the border divisions, and attacked Graham's
Town, the headquarters of the troops, and the dep6t of stores and
ammunition. The Kafirs, numbering many thousands, formed
into three columns, and, sounding their wild war cry, advanced to
the assault with great impetuosity, but they were gallantly
encountered by a comparatively small body of men forming the
garrison under Colonel Wilshire. A destructive fire of artillery


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
169
and musketry was brought to bear upon them, and although some
of the foremost warriors bravely rushed on to the muzzles of the
guns, hurling their assegais at the artillerymen, they were forced
to retreat, leaving hundreds of their killed and wounded behind.
Since that time none of the native tribes have attempted an
assault upon any colonial town.
At the termination of hostilities a new disposition of the country
was made for the better defence of the border. It was stipulated
with the chiefs that the Chumie and Keiskamma Eivers should
be the eastern boundary, and that the country to be vacated as
far as the Fish River should remain unoccupied as neutral ground.
One of the reasons for this arrangement was that the occupation
by the Kafirs of the thickets along the Fish River exposed the
frontier to invasion, which even the established posts had been
unable to check. At the same time provision was made for
Elacing Christian missionaries among the Gaika tribe, the Rev.
tr. Brownlee and the Rev. W. R. Thomson being appointed to
reside with them, in order to cultivate friendly intercourse and
diffuse Christianity and the arts of civilised life.
Prior to 1820 the only accessions to the population of the
Colony from the United Kingdom had been
a few merchants and traders, and the civil
and military officers appointed to the station.
Lord Charles Somerset, during his visit to
the frontier, was so favourably impressed with
the appearance of the country west of the Keis-
kamma and Fish Rivers, which he described as
"unrivalled in the world for its beauty and fer-
tility," that he recommended the introduction
of a body of British emigrants to form a settle-
ment here. The recommendation was made at
a most opportune time, soon after the close of
the war with Napoleon I., when trade in
England was depressed and emigration was
looked to as an outlet for the relief of the
unemployed. The British Parliament sup-
ported it, and voted a sum of £50,000 L0BD c- somerset.
towards colonising the country. In a very
short time no less than 90,000 persons made application for
passages, although only 5000 or 6000 of them could be received.
The first transport ships, the Nautilus, Ocean, and Chapman,
arrived in Algoa Bay in April, 1820, and during the succeeding
months, they were followed by twenty-three other vessels convey-
ing the remainder of the emigrant band. The landing place,
then unnamed, was nothing more than a small fishing village,


170
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
surrounded by bare sand hills, with a military post (Fort
Eichard Donkin, the Acting Governor, anticipated from the
introduction of British industry and enterprise the formation
of an important commercial town at this place. He named it
"Port Elizabeth," after his deceased lady, to whose memory he
erected an obelisk on the hill, still known as Donkin's Reserve.
A few detached parties of the emigrants were distributed in the
Western districts of the Colony; the Scotch settlers under Mr.
Pringle were located on the Baviaan's River, in the Somerset
district; but the main body, numbering about 3800 souls, were
placed in the country between the Fish and Bushman's Rivers,
which received the name of Albany. Among the "heads of
parties" were many gentlemen of high acquirements and good
family connexions, retired military and naval officers, and other
persons of respectability, while the "parties" themselves com-
prised handicraftsmen and husbandmen.
Arrived in Albany, in a favourable season, all seemed fair and
beautiful. Wheat was extensively sown, and nothing could be
more promising than the crops in the early stage of their growth;
but just as the grain formed in the ear, the blight known as
"rust" attacked them and the whole became worthless. Wheat
proved a failure, not only for the first year, but for two or three
succeeding seasons. This calamity was followed by heavy floods,
which caused serious damage to houses and gardens and stock, and
subjected most of the emigrants to great privation. Their fellow-
colonists and their countrymen in England and in India, on learn-
ing of their disasters, generously contributed to their relief. But
the liberality of the Government, who through the Commissariat
of the army on the frontier continued to supply them with rations,
removed anything like absolute want; and the settlers themselves
showed a brave determination to endure and make the best of
their hardships, believing firmly in the natural resources of the
country.
As they became accustomed to the novelty of their situation,
several of them realised that it was impossible for families to live
on the one hundred acre grants of land which had been allotted
them, and they petitioned the Government for an augmentation
of their lands, which in some instances was acceded to, while in
other cases adjacent grants were obtained by purchase, enabling
many of the settlers to pursue the mode of farming—pastoral as
well as agricultural—usual in the Colony. Meanwhile, there was
a movement on the part of the more energetic and restless spirits
to seek other occupations and create new industries. Those who
were handicraftsmen found employment in Graham's Town, where

above the Bakens


BBITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
171
skilled labour was in demand. Others made hunting expeditions
into the country eastward along the coast, which was full of game
of all kinds, including troops of elephants; and not a few began
a contraband trade in cattle and ivory with the Kafirs. This led
to the establishment in 1821, of a fair at Fort Wilshire, on the
banks of the Keiskamma, where open and legitimate barter was
carried on—the beginning of a commerce which soon increased to
an extent far beyond what could have been anticipated. Many of
the settlers commenced trafficking with small capital, and found
their way to the fair on foot or on horseback, or in rude sleighs
drawn by oxen; but, pushing trade with energy and skill, not
only among the natives, but also among their Dutch fellow-
colonists, tbey ultimately laid the foundations of large and
successful mercantile establishments, and accumulated handsome
fortunes.
During the latter part of Lord Charles Somerset's administra-
tion, charges were brought against him of arbitrary and despotic
conduct. He interfered with the freedom of the press, summarily
placing it under a censorship; and he refused to sanction the
holding of any public meetings for the discussion of public affairs.
Against these and other acts the colonists protested and appealed
to England. The unpopularity of his government led to the
appointment of an Imperial Commission of Inquiry, who in-
vestigated the condition of the colony on the spot. Messrs.
Bigge, Colebroke, and Blair formed this commission; but before
their work was completed, leave was granted to Lord Charles
Somerset to return to England, ostensibly to rebut some of the
charges brought against him, but really to prepare for retire-
ment from office, which soon followed.
The Boyal Commissioners concluded their labours in 1826, and
presented elaborate reports, which furnish an interesting review
of the past administration of the Cape Government, its finances
and trade, and the condition of the population, including the
aborigines. The recommendations made by them led to the
introduction of many changes, which tended chiefly in the direc-
tion of Anglicising the Colony. An Executive Council was
appointed to assist the Governor with advice. A Supreme Court
of Justice, consisting of a Chief Justice and three Puisne Judges,
was established by Boyal Charter. A Circuit Court, presided
over by one of the Judges, was appointed to sit in every district
of the Colony once in every six months. Magistrates were placed
in charge of divisions, and to hold court in the district towns as
often as necessary—taking the place of the old courts of landdrost
and heemraden, composed of the most notable burgher inhabitants.
Schools were opened in the chief towns, for the purpose of facili-


172
BRITISH BULE DURING THE CENTURY.
tating the acquirement of the English language by all classes of
the colonists; competent teachers, chiefly from Scotland, arrived
some time previously to carry out this object; and, in 1827, the
language of the Mother Country was ordered to be exclusively
used in all official proceedings and business.
To many of the old colonists some of these changes were not
very acceptable. The substitution of the English for the Dutch
language in judicial and other proceedings touched feelings asso-
ciated with the dearest relations of life. The abolition of the
courts of "landdrost and heemraden" did away with the slight
share in the business of the country which they enjoyed. The
persons selected for the position of heemraden were generally the
most influential and intelligent landowners of each district; they
served as a b'nk between the authorities and the inhabitants, and
their opinion on public matters, as well as their co-operation with
the officers of government, proved on many occasions of great
advantage and importance. Usually, the Dutch part of the com-
munity showed a ready submission and acquiescence in all the
measures of the ruling power; but now they began to murmur
that " everything was becoming so English that they witb their
old Dutch habits were no longer in their own country."
There were other innovations which created dissatisfaction.
Governor Bourke, who succeeded Lord Charles Somerset, promul-
gated an ordinance placing the Hottentots and other [free persons
of colour on a level in the eye of the law with every other
inhabitant of the colony. This was the Magna Charta of the
aboriginal races; they were no longer to be subject to any
restraint on the part of their masters, except under the limitations
of the law. It, however, lead to the increase of vagrancy.
Soon afterwards the question of the emancipation of the slaves
came forward. It was preceded by regulations sent from England
and enacted in the colony, with a view of ameliorating the con-
dition of these unfortunate people. These contained provisions
which were impracticable in the circumstances of the widely-
spread and sparse population of the colony, and the announce-
ment of the intention to enforce them created great excitement
The slave-owners declared they would rather suffer the penalties
of the law than obey them, and entreated that they should be
suspended or repealed. In the face of this the Government
limited their operation to the metropolis and Graham's Town.
At this time a proposal for the gradual but ultimate extinction
of slavery originated with the colonists, who were slaveholders,
in Graafl'-lleinet and Cape Town; this was to free all female
children from a certain date to be agreed upon. Some persons
began to adopt this plan of manumission, when intelligence was


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
173
received that the British Parliament had passed the Slave
Emancipation Act. There was no disinclination on the part of
the colonists to emancipation on fair and equitable principles ; and
the announcement that £20,000,000 had been voted by Parliament
to compensate the proprietors gave an assurance that just com-
pensation would be given. The official appraisement of the
35,000 slaves in the colony was £3,000,000, and this amount was
expected to be paid. A year afterwards it became known that
the amount apportioned to the Cape was only £1,247,000; and
that the money would be paid in London to all presenting their
claims. When this was confirmed, the ferment and excitement
among the old colonists was revived. They bitterly complained
that the Government, which in former years had imported and
encouraged the sale of slaves, should now arbitrarily deprive
them of them at a little more than a third of their value. The
discontent was increased when they found that the compensation
money could only be received in London. Many owners in the
country districts became the dupes of agents, who purchased
their claims for half their value; others, regarding themselves as
unjustly treated, indignantly refused to touch the documents
entitling them to compensation—of which £5,900 remained
unclaimed.*
Early in 1834, Sir Benjamin Durban arrived as Governor. He
had to give effect to the Emancipation Act and also to carry out
the details of a retrenchment scheme under instructions from the
Colonial Department. The revenue of the Colony for some time
before had been inadequate to meet the charges of the civil
establishments, and extensive reductions were ordered to be
made. The Governor's emoluments were reduced from £10,000
to £5,000, without any allowances; the Commissioner-General's
office was abolished; and every official's salary, from the Chief
Justice down to a Junior clerk, was subjected to some reduction.
He had also to initiate a new Legislative Council, composed of
officials and nominated members, which had been granted to the
Colony. He had further to carry out a new policy for securing
the peace of the frontier by cultivating the goodwill of the chiels
through qualified Government agents to be placed with them.
While he was occupied in Cape Town preparing and maturing his
plans for giving effect to this policy, the frontier of the Colony was
suddenly invaded by Kafir hordes.
* The balance of the Slave Compensation Fund unclaimed and due to the Colony
at the National Debt Office in 1843 amounted to £5,906. This sum was transferred
to the Master of the Supreme Court of the Cape, and invested by him, the yearly
interest being paid to the Education Department in aid of mission schools for negro
apprentices.


174
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CEVTURY.
Two or three years previously, the Kafir chief Macomo with his
followers, who were occupying the beautiful valleys near the
sources of the Kat Eiver, made a raid upon a neighbouring Tembu
chief, and were punished for their misconduct by expulsion.
The country vacated was given to descendants of the Hottentot
race, over 2000 of whom were collected together and located
there. The expulsion of Macomo was followed in 1834 by the
ejectment of his brother Tyali and his followers from the Gaga
Eiver, and their removal across the Chumie River. The military
patrol, charged with the duty of removing them, destroyed their
kraals and seized some milch cows; a skirmish ensued, and a
brother of Tyali, named Klu-Klu, was slightly wounded. "The
blood of a chief had been shed." Macomo and Tyali made this a
cause of war, Botma, Eno, and other chiefs joined with them, and
they were supported and countenanced by the powerful tribe of
Gcalekas, under Hintza. Before the morning of the 23rd of
December, 1834, 10,000 Kafirs rushed over the border, carrying
terror and death into the homes of the astonished and unoffending
settlers. The inhabitants, both Dutch and English, living on
widely separated farms, had no warning, and could offer no
resistance. Within a week fifty farmers were slain, hundreds of
homesteads were burned down, and loads of spoil, consisting of
horses, cattle, goats, sheep, clothes, and whatever could be laid
hold of, carried off into Kafirland.
The Governor, aided by the colonists and the small force of
British troops, followed the Kafirs into their own country, and
after several months' fighting, succeeded in subduing them. As
an indemnity for the war, and a security for the future, British
sovereignty was proclaimed over the territory of the defeated
tribes as far as the Great Kei River, and about 16,000 Fingoes
(remnants of Zulu refugees who were in servitude with the Kafirs)
were released from their bondage and located in the colony.
A committee of the British House of Commons was at this time
directing its attention to the condition of the aborigines in various
parts of the empire. All the abuses and enormities of the early
days of colonisation were brought under review. The Secretary
of State, Lord Glenelg, imbibed the idea that the invasion of the
Cape frontier by the Kafirs was the natural reaction against the
white man's encroachments and oppression. He wrote to Sir B.
Durban that in his opinion the conduct of the colonists and of the
public authorities towards the Kafirs through a long series of
years had amply justified their rushing into war; that the
conquered had more justice on their side than the victorious
party, and that the claim of sovereignty over the new territory
must be renounced.


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
175
When this despatch of Lord Glenelg was made public, the
colonists generally felt keenly the false aspersions thus cast upon
their character. They had had no act nor part in the policies of
the successive officials who were charged with the conduct of
affairs on the border. On the contrary, they had borne the
brunt of each native trouble; some had their farms laid waste or
their cattle carried off; others had their horses and wagons
requisitioned by the Government, or they themselves were forced,
under severe penalties, to go on commands and serve, without pay
and at their own expense, as soldiers in the field. Those of
Dutch or French descent, upon whom the main burden of burgher
defence had fallen, were, from causes previously mentioned,
already predisposed against British rule; and this last act of the
Imperial Government in reinstating the Kafir chiefs as masters of
the country from the Fish to the Great Kei Eivers, intensified
their aversion to it. Their disaffection displayed itself in a
singular form. They resolved to quit the Colony, and seek fresh
fields and pastures new, where they would be able to govern
themselves without interference.
The project of emigration bad suggested itself to many of the
old colonists before this, but no organisation existed for giving
effect to it. Exploring parties went northwards of the Orange
River, and eastward through Kafirland to Natal. They brought
reports of extensive and fair pasture lands lying waste and un-
occupied. The region eastward of the Drakensberg had, between
the years 1812 and 1828, been the scene of barbaric warfare,
marked by countless aggressions and wholesale massacre of life.
This was due to the sanguinary acts of the chief Chaka, who,
with trained and disciplined forces under him, raised the Zulus
from an insignificant cian to be a powerful nation. He aimed at
universal sovereignty, destroying all other native governments;
exterminating such of their subjects as did not accept his rule,
and absorbing the conquered into his own followers. The fame of
his army spread far and wide; tribe after tribe was invaded,
routed, or put to death by them, and in a few years Chaka had
Jaramount sway over nearly all South-Eastern Africa, from the
.impopo to Kaffraria. It is estimated that not less than one
million human beings were destroyed during his reign. "He
turned thousands of square miles into literally a howling wilder-
ness, shed rivers of blood, annihilated whole communities, con-
verting the members of others into cannibals, and causing misery
and suffering, the full extent of which can never be known." His
was a violent death. He was murdered by one of his attendants
at the instigation of his brothers Dingaan and Umhlangana, who
themselves feared being put to death by him. The two brothers


176
BRITISH RULE DTJaiNQ THE CENTURT.
then quarrelled as to who should be chief. Dingaan, however,
managed to rid himself of his brother Umhlangana and was
acknowledged king of the Zulus. He soon showed that, although
less brave and warlike, and not so great a military genius as
Chaka, he was more than his equal in craft and savage treachery.
Those of the old Cape Colonists who were bent on emigration
began to make a move northwards. The Government was cogni-
sant of the movement, and sought to deter it, but found themselves
powerless. Sir Anthony Oliphant, who was Colonial Attorney-
General, advised that there was no law to prevent persons leaving
one country to try and better themselves in another; the same
sort of removal was going on every day from England to the
United States. So the exodus continued during the years 1835
to 1837. From Somerset, Cradock, and the Winterberg; from
Alexandria and Uitenhage; even from George, Swellendam, and
Beaufort West, detachments commenced their march. They sold
their properties for what they would fetch, and taking with them
their wagons, horses, oxen, flocks, and what they could collect in
money, went off with their families to seek their fortunes in the
interior.
As pre-arranged, they took their course across the Orange
River, tixing upon the neighbourhood of the Baralong village of
Thabanchu as their rendezvous. From there some of theni
advanced in small parties towards the Vaal River, but scarcely
had they reached the neighbourhood of the present town of
Kronstad, when they were surprised and set upon by native
warriors, who cruelly massacred them and carried off their wagons,
flocks, and herds. These assailants were Zulus of the Matabele
tribe under Moselekatse, who had some years before this rebelled
and fled from the chief Chaka, and conquered and depopulated the
country south and north of the Vaal River. The unhappy fate of
the advanced party made those who followed them more cautious;
they formed " laagers," or encampments, by drawing their wagons
close together in a circle or hollow square, filling up the openings
with bushes, which served as an entrenchment. Moselekatse's
forces continued to attack them; but with their firearms they
succeeded in keeping them at bay, and as further parties of the
emigrants joined them they formed a considerable commando, and
proceeded against Moselekatse at his headquarters, Mosega, in the
Marico district. There they overcame their savage enemy, who fled
with his people to the country between the Limpopo and Zambesi.
In 1837 the emigants were joined by one who, from the high
estimation in which he was held, was received and acknowledged
as their leader and chief. This was Mr. Pieter Retief, a descendant
of one of the old Huguenot families, who was bom and brought


BRITISH ROLE DURING THE CENTURY.
177
np in the division of the Paarl, near to Cape Town, but had moved
thence to the eastern frontier, where he had been resident for
nearly twenty years. He organised a simple form of government
amongst them, based upon the old regulations in force under the
Batavian Republic in the Colony. They then pursued their course
towards Natal; where, upon arrival, Retief, with a picked body of
men, went on to the headquarters of the Zulu king Dingaan, at
Umgunguhlova, beyond the Tugela, to negotiate for a cession of a
portion of the territory which was lying unoccupied. Dingaan
received them with apparent kindness, and agreed to grant their
request on condition of their regaining some cattle which a chief
living on the Drakensberg had carried off from him. The service
was performed, and the cattle restored, and Dingaan signed a
formal deed of cession of all the Natal territory, which was
witnessed by three of his counsellors and three of the emigrants.
The next morning, as Eetief and his party were preparing to
leave, Dingaan induced them to come unarmed into the enclosure
around his kraal. While there, witnessing a Zulu sham-fight,
and partaking of the native beer presented to them by the King,
they were all treacherously seized, and savagely put to death.
Immediately after the massacre, Dingaan sent out his forces to
exterminate the encampments of the emigrants, who, unconscious
of danger, were scattered over the upland country at the base
of the Drakensberg. They surprised those who were near the
Blaauwkrantz and Bushman's River before daybreak, and indis-
criminately butchered and mutilated, men, women and children,
five hundred souls in all. A few escaped, carrying the news to
the neighbouring parties, who hastily improvised defences by their
"wagon-laagers," and women, as well as men, with the aid of
their fire-arms, heroically succeeded in keeping in check the
masses of savages who assailed them, and finally drove them off.
The survivors, after this dreadful catastrophe, made the best
arrangements they could for united defence, resolving to avenge
themselves for the innocent blood which had been shed. The
English residents at the port of Natal espoused their cause. Both
forces took the field against Dingaan, but unsuccessfully—the
prestige of victory being with the Zulus. Soon afterwards, how-
ever, reinforcements reached the settlers by the arrival of fresh
parties of emigrants, among whom was Mr. Andries Pretorius, a
farmer from the district of Graaff-Reinet, who was elected their
leader and chief commandant in the place of the ill-fated Retief.
At the close of 1838, they found themselves strong enough to
resume the offensive; and advancing across the Tugela once more,
they gave battle to Dingaan and his army of about 10,000
warriors, on Sunday, the 16th December, still remembered as
N


178
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
"Dingaan's Day." The Boer force counted little over 400 fighting
men, but they were armed with guns, and entrenched in " laager."
The Zulus repeatedly attempted to rush their defences and open
their camp, but were beaten off with great loss, and finally routed
by 200 mounted men sallying out from the " laager " and charging
on both their flanks. This decisive victory for the emigrants was
subsequently followed by another expedition against Dingaan, in
which his own brother Panda, took the chief part in alliance
with the emigrants, and eventually the Zulu King became a
fugitive in Swaziland, where shortly afterwards he was killed.
The emigrants being now the acknowledged masters of the
country, set up Panda as chief of the Zulus east of the Tugela,
and occupied themselves with forming their own settlement in the
remainder of the territory. They laid out the town of Pietermar-
itzburg, appointed magistrates, and formed an elective legislative
body, the Volksraad, to regulate public affairs.
The Cape Government had witnessed the exodus of the emi-
grants without adopting any coercive measures to check it,
although the Imperial Government intimated its determination
to permit of no further colonisation or the formation of any
independent States by its subjects in that part of South Africa.
After the reported hostilities with the Zulus, a small detachment
of British troops was sent by the Cape Governor, Sir G. Napier,
to Natal, to occupy the port temporarily in order to give assistance
to defenceless persons and to prevent munitions of war being im-
ported for aggressions on the natives. But at the close of 1839,
these troops were withdrawn. This step was regarded by the
emigrants as an abandonment of the territory by Great Britain,
and they immediately hoisted the colours of what they termed
the "Bepublic of Natalia." The Volksraad at the same time
asked that their independence should be recognised by the
English Government, with whom they were ready to enter into
friendly alliance. Meanwhile, correspondence was passing between
the Cape authorities and the British Secretary of State on the
question of abandoning or resuming occupation of Natal. No
conclusion had been definitely arrived at, however, when, in 1842,
the emigrants had occasion to send a commando against a native
chief on the Pondoland border. The Cape Government foresaw
in this act a risk of disturbance on their eastern frontier, and sent
a handful of troops (200 men) overland to Natal to resume
possession. The emigrants protested, re-asserting their indepen-
dence, and received the military force with hostile demonstrations.
Actual hostilities soon began, Capt. Smith in command of the
troops marching on the emigrant camp; but he was repulsed by
Pretorius's forces, and obliged to retreat with the loss of several


BRITISH BDLE DURING THE CENTURY.
179
men and two guns. He and bis men were then closely besieged
in their camp for two months, almost without supplies. A friendly
Natal settler, Richard King, undertook to carry the news of their
position to the Cape Colony. Starting under cover of the night,
he rode all the way through Kafirland to Graham's Town, effect-
ing the journey in ten days. Reinforcements of troops, under
command of Lieut.-Colonel Cloete, were at once dispatched by
Her Majesty's ships to Port Natal, where they relieved Capt.
Smith's detachment, and dispersed the emigrant force which had
attempted to oppose their landing. The leaders of the emigrants
after this, seeing that further opposition was unavailing, soon
gave way, and signed a treaty of submission, and a general
amnesty was granted. On the 12th May, 1843, Natal was by
proclamation declared a British colony.
It was not, however, until the year 1845 that a regular govern-
ment was organised. During the two years' interregnum, Captain,
now Major, Smith held occupation as military commandant, while
the Volksraad elected by the emigrants attended to civil, judicial,
and general matters. At this time, thousands of the Zulu tribe
came pouring in across the border, at the Tugela River, to escape
the tyranny and cruelty of their chief Panda. Their overwhelm-
ing numbers, amounting to nearly 100,000, created a feeling of
general insecurity; and the occupants of farms abandoned their
isolated positions, declaring that all the evils of the Cape Kafir-
land were being reproduced around them. The Volksraad passed
a resolution requiring the Zulus to remove beyond the northern
and southern frontier within fourteen days after receiving notice
to do so; and they asked the military commandant to co-operate
in putting the order in force. To this measure, however, Major
Smith objected. His instructions were to prevent any violent
proceedings on the part of the farmers towards the natives, and
he urged the Volksraad to wait patiently until the plans for the
future management of the settlement were made.
The measures which the new Government announced with
regard to the apportionment of land and the location of the
natives, disgusted the greater number of the emigrants, who
proposed to withdraw from Natal to the inland territory north
and west of the Drakensberg. Before this movement was finally
accomplished, Mr. Andries Pretorius was chosen to proceed to
the Cape and plead his countrymen's suit before the Governor of
the Colony. He started on his mission, travelling overland,
through what is now the Orange Free State, and on arrival at
Graham's Town was bitterly disappointed to find that Sir H.
Pottinger, the Governor, refused to see him or to deal with the
matter of his complaints, as he was awaiting the arrival of a


180
BRITISH BULE DURING THE CENTURY.
successor. Disheartened and mortified, Pretorius retained and
reported the result of his mission to his brethren in Natal, who
immediately began to "trek" across the Drakensberg.
Sir Henry Smith, the new Governor and High Commissioner,
arrived at the end of 1847. He lost no time in visiting the
inland territories, and at the Tugela drift he met Pretorius and
his followers moving away with their herds and flocks to cross
the Vaal Eiver. He heard their grievances and invited them to
return to Natal, promising them title and possession of good and
extensive farms without delay. But the emigrants resolved to
continue their " trek," and seek independence and a home outside
the boundary of Natal.
The personal visit which Sir H. Smith had made to the country
north of the Orange Eiver, where he discussed affairs with the
Boers, the Griquas, and the Basuto and other chiefs, convinced
him that peace could not be maintained without some formal
government, and so in 1848 he issued a proclamation declaring
British sovereignty as far as the Vaal River and the Drakensberg.
The northern part of this territory was occupied by emigrants
who were for some years settled there and had formed a rude
government of their own. Their numbers were greatly increased
by other families who had left Natal after the resumption of
British authority there, under the idea that in those lands they
would not be interfered with by the Government of which they
desired to be free. They protested against the assumed British
sovereignty, and under the leadership of Pretorius took up arms
to prove that they were the majority in the country. They then
forcibly escorted the British Resident at Bloemfontein and theother
sovereignty officials to the Orange Kiver, where they dismissed them,
and declared themselves independent. When Sir H. Smith was
apprised of this, he hurried up from Cape Town with a military
force against Pretorius and his followers, and meeting them at a
place named Boomplaats he defeated and dispersed them. Pre-
torius was declared a rebel, a sum of £2,000 being put upon his
head; but he fled across the Vaal River, where he became
Commandant-General of the new republic formed there.
For some time afterwards, the government of the Sovereignty
was peacefully maintained, but, unfortunately, tranquillity was
again disturbed by petty hostilities between the Basutos and
other native tribes, in which the British Resident and the small
military force under him became mixed up. For the vindication
of British prestige, an imposing force, numbering 2000 troops,
was marched into the country in 1852, under the command of
Sir George Cathcart, who had then superseded Sir H. Smith as
Governor and High Commissioner. The Basuto chief, Moshesh


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
181
was called to account, and the battle of Berea was fought, which
could scarcely be claimed as a victory; but as the hostile chief,
on behalf of his people, immediately made a formal submission, it
was accepted, and peace proclaimed.
Tbe question of the retention or abandonment of the territory
tben arose. Sir G. Cathcart's expedition had convinced him that
to obviate the risk of serious consequences, the Government should
come to a decision either to abandon the Sovereignty, or place it
under a lieutenant-governor and council, with a necessary force
of at least 2000 men to support authority and keep in check not
only the emigrants of questionable loyalty, but also the petty
native tribes and the powerful chiefs of the Zulu and Basuto
tribes, Panda and Moshesh. The Imperial Government decided
that the project of maintaining the country by a permanent
military force of 2000 men was inadmissible, and as no particular
British interest was to be served by continuing to exercise
sovereignty there, they resolved to withdraw the Queen's
authority to the south bank of the Orange Biver. A pardon was
granted to Mr. Andries Pretoriu3; and on the 17th January, 1852,
at the Sand Biver, a convention was concluded with him and
other representatives of the emigrants who were settled across the
Vaal, giving them the right to govern themselves without any
interference on the part of the British Government. In 1853, a
special Commissioner, Sir George Clerk, was sent to carry through
the abandonment of the Orange Biver
Territory, which was formally ceded
over to certain delegates representing
its inhabitants; and the future inde-
pendence of the country and its govern-
ment was guaranteed in terms of a
Convention signed at Bloemfontein on
the 23rd February, 1854. British
officials in South Africa were clearly
given to understand that from that time
forward, they were not to interfere in
any wars, however sanguinary, which
might occur outside of the colonial
boundary, and that the different tribes
and communities there, were to be left
in a state of independence.
We must now revert to events in the Cape Colony. In accord-
ance with the policy laid down by Lord Glenelg, the Fish Biver
was fixed as the eastern boundary. Mr. Stockenstrom was ap-
pointed in 1836 to be Lieut-Governor, with full powers to
establish by treaty the new relations with the Kafir tribes,—


182 BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
the principles guiding him being the acknowledgment of the
independence of the tribes within their own territories; the ap-
pointment of British agents to reside with them, through whom
all intercourse between the colonists and natives should be regu-
lated, while the chiefs on their part should undertake to find and
restore, or give compensation for any property stolen from the
Colony, and further protect traders and Christian missionaries
residing with their leave in Kafirland. The new system worked
well under the immediate and active superintendence of its
organiser, whose firm and determined character was as familiar
to the Kafir as to the colonist, and to both he sought to ad-
minister justice impartially. He had, however to contend with
strong currents of prejudice and feeling aroused by the dislike
of the colonists towards the Glenelg policy, and was retired
from the service in 1839, when he was created a baronet and
awarded a life pension.
In 1846, the young Gaika chief, Sandilli, attained manhood,
and was surrounded by a war-party eager to test their strength
against the Colony. A member of his tribe was being sent from
Fort Beaufort to Graham's Town for trial on a charge of the
theft of an ox, when he was rescued by some of his countrymen,
and another prisoner to whom he was fastened was cruelly mutilated
and killed. The surrender of those concerned in this outrage was
refused, whereupon war was declared by the Governor, Sir P.
Maitland. The military force advancing into Kafirland met with
a reverse near Burnshill, having to retire and leave in possession
of the Kafirs a lengthy wagon train, containing the baggage of
the 7th Dragoon Guards. Martial law was proclaimed; burgher
forces from all parts of the colony were summoned into the held,
with Sir Andries Stockenstrom at their head; and hostilities were
prosecuted until the close of 1848, when the Gaikas surrendered
their arms, and the principals in the outrage near Fort Beaufort
were given up. In 1851 the Kafirs resumed hostilities, attacking
a column of troops in the Boomah Pass, and massacring the resi-
dents of the military villages in the Chumie basin. The insurgents
were joined by the Gcaleka's portion of the Tembus, and a number
of rebellious Hottentots, who all continued a harassing guerilla
warfare until 1853, when it was brought to an end by Sir G.
Cathcart. British sovereignty was at this time extended to
the Kei Kiver, and Kaffraria, with King William's Town as its
centre, was proclaimed a British dependency, governed by British
functionaries.
These long-continued Kafir wars contributed to give the Cape
a bad name, causing it to be regarded as an undesirable place for
settlement, and subjecting the colonists to the groundless and


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
183
unjust imputation that they were enriching themselves by the
military expenditure incurred at the expense of the Imperial
Government. These disturbances and Hostilities were really
ruinous to all classes of the inhabitants, and retarded the advance
and development of the country itself.
The colonists had not, at this period, any voice in the manage-
ment of public affairs. The Legislative Council was a nominee
body, its constitution being based upon the principle of re-
presentation by nomination of the Crown. Petitions for an
elected House of Representatives had been presented to the
Secretary of State as early as 1827; and applications for
the privilege of representation by the people were renewed

ANTI-CONVICT MEETING ON THE FABADE, CAPE TOWN.
at various periods after that, until, in 1849, an intimation was
received that the Home Government was favourably disposed to
entertain the matter. An event then occurred which brought
the Colony into some prominence, and obtained for it the
respect if not the approval of every other colony of the British
Crown.
The Secretary of State, Earl Grey, proposed to turn the Cape
into a penal settlement, and directed three hundred convicts, some
of whom were Irish political offenders, to be removed from Ber-
muda to Cape Town. As soon as this became known, memorials
and petitions from all parts of the country, remonstrating and
protesting against the action, poured in upon the Governor. The
Co lony from its first settlement was free from the taint of con-


184
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
victism, and the people were indignant at the idea of their country
being degraded and their character tarnished by its conversion
into a penal station. They also reasonably dreaded the evils
which might ensue if felons and bush-rangers once got intermixed
with the uncivilised natives along the borders. When the ship
Neptune, freighted with the convicts, arrived in Simon's Bay, the
spirit of the colonists was fairly aroused. Meetings were held in
the open air; petitions to the Queen, to the two Houses of Parlia-
ment, and to the people of England were adopted; and the com-
munity entered into a solemn pledge to suspend all business
transactions with tho Government until the order making the
Cape a penal station was reversed, and the convict ship was sent
away. This method of "passive resistance "—more recently
known as " boycotting "—was soon put into operation, and the
Government found nearly all its ordinary channels of supply
stopped. The struggle was prolonged for fully six months; but
the determined stand made by the colonists was successful.
Earl Grey confessed that he bad
committed an error; and in
February, 1850, an Order in
Council was issued revoking
the former one by which the
Cape was named as a penal
settlement, and the ship Nep-
tune with the convicts sailed
out of Simon's Bay for Van
Diemen's Land. Among the
men who took a prominent
Jart in this struggle was Mr.
ohn Fairbairn, President of
the Anti-Convict Association.
A quarter of a century pre-
viously he had fought the
battle for the freedom of the
press with Lord C. Somerset, and as a journalist, from 1824 to
1860, his enlightened writings exercised a great educating and
elevating influence upon the Cape and its people.
The satisfactory issue of the anti-convict contest stimulated the
desire of the colonists for Kepresentative Government, and Mr.
Fairbairn and Sir A. Stockenstrom were deputed to proceed to
England to vindicate the rights and interests of the colonists
before the British Parliament and people. In 1853, a Consti-
tution was granted, vesting the legislative power in the Governor
and an elective Council and Assembly. The first Parliament
met, and was formally opened by Lieut.-Governor Darling in

MR. J. FAIRBAIRN.


BRITISH RULE DURINO THE CENTURY.
185
Cape Town on the 1st July, 1854, and Sir C. J. Brand, who
was at the head of his profession at the Cape bar, and had been
returned as a member, was chosen as the
first Speaker of the House of Assembly.
In the same year, Sir George Grey
was appointed Governor and High Com-
missioner. He had previously admin-
istered the affairs of South Australia
and New Zealand, and evinced marked
ability in his dealings with the aboriginal
inhabitants of the latter place. He
initiated a new and able policy for the
peace of the Cape frontier. Hitherto,
the Kafir races had been left entirely
under the government of their own
chiefs, and subject to their own bar-
barous customs. The chiefs, although
within British possessions, were exercis-
ing independent power and jurisdictions, levying fees and fines,
of which they appropriated a considerable part—especially in
cases of the so-called offence of witchcraft, where the convicted
one was put to torture and death, and his property confiscated.
To remedy this state of things, Sir George Grey availed him-
self of the impecuniosity and greed of the Kafir. He made
a rough calculation of the fines received by the chiefs, and
offered them a monthly stipend, to be paid by Government on
condition of their relinquishing their authority. The offer was
accepted, and the worst part of Kafir policy was thus broken
down. By the new arrangement, no more cruelties under the
guise of suppressing witchcraft were permitted. All fees and fines
for public offences became a part of the revenue of the Crown.
The chiefs were still nominally to sit and hear cases, but they
were guided and controlled by European magistrates, who
administered a system of law based on equity and good conscience
in the first instance, but intended to merge by degrees into the
law of England, modified to suit the population. By this means
the nucleus of a machinery was provided which has since been
successfully extended for the control and government of the
several native tribes throughout Kafirland.
At the outset, this plan required a considerable expenditure,
but Sir George Grey was successful in securing an annual vote of
£40,000 from the Imperial Government, and when he asked the
Cape Parliament for its co-operation, it responded with an annual
vote of £50,000 for organising and equipping a police force for
the protection and security of the frontier. A further develop-


18G BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
ment of the policy was improving the tenure on which natives
held their land, by substituting individual for tribal title, and
thus giving them a vested interest in the soil. The country was
at the same time opened up by the construction of roads, on
which the natives were employed, thus acquiring habits of labour.
Industrial schools, hospitals, and other Christian agencies were
also at work to promote civilisation amongst the people.
Some of the Kafir chiefs, conscious of the new policy causing a
decadence of their power, devised a plot to overthrow it. Under
the influence of Kreli, a witch-doctor named Umlakazi, through
the medium of his niece, Non-
gase, prophesied an approach-
ing resurrection from the dead
of all the old chiefs and their
followers, who would unite
with the tribes to drive the
white men and the Fingoes
out of the country, and restore
the glory of the Amakosa
nation. In order that this
should be accomplished, it was
necessary that all Kafirs should
destroy their cattle and their
corn. Under the influence of
this delusion, a vast number
gcaleka chiep, KBELi. of the people sacrificed their
whole means of subsistence,
and when the appointed day of resurrection arrived, and the
predictions were unfulfilled, they were perfectly destitute and
prepared to commit any outrage. The Governor had been calmly
awaiting the development of the plot, and when the crisis was
reached he was prepared to suppress any outbreak, and to render
every charitable assistance possible to the foolish people who had
committed this act of national self-destruction. He at once pro-
vided employment for portions of the natives upon public works,
and distributed others in small numbers as labourers among the
farmers throughout the country. At this time about 30,000
Kafirs entered the Colony and obtained work. About 20,000
were believed to have died from sickness and starvation; and at
least 150,000 head of cattle were destroyed.
One result of this depopulation of the country was that large
tracts in British Kaflraria were cleared of their former occupants.
The Governor filled up some portions with European farmers
from the Colony, on a system of military tenure. The Anglo-
German Legion, disbanded after the close of the Crimean War,


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
187
■were also introduced and located there—the Colony contributing
towards the expense of bringing them out. And shortly after-
wards a body of agricultural labourers from North Germany were
introduced and settled in the neighbourhood of the military
villages along the Buffalo Biver.
While these matters of frontier policy more immediately
occupied Sir George Grey's attention, he was not neglectful of
other interests affecting the welfare and prosperity of the Colony
generally. The first railway line was commenced; telegraphs
were introduced; and the Crown lands were surveyed and thrown
open for public competition. Facilities for education were ex-
tended; lighthouses were erected on the seaboard; harbours were
opened and improved; and a breakwater and docks constructed
in Table Bay. Public aid was given for the encouragement of
immigration, and regular mail communication was established with
Great Britain. The sagacity, ^^^^^^^
decision, and tact which Sir
George Grey showed in his
public administration raised
him in the estimation not only
of the colonists, but of the
communities beyond the bor-
ders. He had far-sighted per-
ceptions of the possible expan-
sions of colonisation in South
Africa, and was the first to
give form and expression to
the idea of a union of all its
colonies and states. But the
Home Government disap-
proved of his action in this
matter; they were not pre-
pared to depart from the policy of limiting British sovereignty to
the Cape and Natal, and recalled him. A change of Ministry,
however, occurred at home, and he was re-instated, and resumed
office for another year, when his services were required by the
Crown to settle grave native difficulties which had arisen in New
Zealand. At this time, the youthful Prince Alfred (now H.K.H.
the Duke of Edinburgh) first visited the Cape, and accompanied
by Sir G. Grey made an extensive tour through South Africa,
receiving everywhere a thoroughly joyous and loyal reception.
Sir P. E. Wodehouse succeeded to the Governorship in 1862.
An Imperial policy of economy in all expenditure upon the
Colonies was then being adopted, and he was instructed to use all
means to make British Kaffraria self-supporting, or to incorporate

SIR GEORGE GREY.


188
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.

MB. SAUL SOLOMON.
it with the Cape. The Kaffrarians, however, resisted annexation,
as they wished to retain their separate government, and the
colonists opposed it, from an apprehension that they would be
burdened with the expense of the military defence of the frontier,
of which they could see no limit. The Governor suggested to the
Secretary of State that if it was desired to unite the two colonies,
it had better be done by an Act of the
Imperial Parliament. This suggestion
was adopted, and an annexing Bill was
introduced into the House of Commons
and became law—but it contained a
provision that the Cape Parliament
might, if so disposed, pass another
enactment arranging details, before it
came into operation. This was felt to
be a straining of the constitution, if not
a violation of the privileges of Parlia-
ment, and Mr. Saul Solomon, the senior
member for Cape Town—who was fear-
less in his advocacy of the rights of the
colony, and of fairness and justice for
all classes of its inhabitants—brought
forward a series of resolutions which were passed by the House
of Assembly, protesting against the action of the Government,
and censuring the Governor for having suggested Imperial
legislation without giving any
intimation to colonists that
such a grave step was in con-
templation. But the Imperial
Act being held in terrorem,
the Legislature accepted the
position, and in 1865 agreed
to a Bill incorporating British
Kaffraria with the colony, and
increasing the number of
constituencies entitled to re-
presentation in the Assembly,
as well as enlarging the
Legislative Council.
In the same year, Mr. Wil-
liam Porter, who had been
Attorney - General of the
Colony for over a quarter of a century, retired from office,
receiving the unanimous thanks of both Houses of the Legislature
for his public services. His distinguished attainments, high



r
MR. W. TORTER.


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
189
character, and large-heartedness gained for him the admiration
and attachment of colonists of all classes.
The country now entered upon a brief period of adversity.
Abnormal, seasons, and protracted droughts had occasioned great
loss of sheep and cattle; the wine farms were devastated with
oidium; and the wine trade itself was depressed, as Mr. Glad-
stone's alcoholic scale of duty almost excluded it from the
English market. Added to this, a war on the border, between
the Orange Free State and the Basuto tribe, disastrously affected
colonial business. But just at the time when the prospects of the
country were most gloomy, a change in its fortunes occurred.
In 1869, the Diamond Fields near the Vaal River unexpectedly
unfolded their hidden wealth, and in a short time afterwards
the success of the diamond mining industry, combined with
a return of favourable seasons, restored prosperity all over South
Africa.
The unhappy period of depression, however, brought to an issue
an important question, which had been a matter of controversy in
the Cape Colony for some time. By the Constitution granted in
1853, the Parliament was composed of representatives elected by
the people, while the members of the Executive who held seats in
both Chambers were appointed by and responsible to the Imperial
Government. This caused a want of harmony between the
Executive and the Legislature. During 1867 and 1869, when
the finances declined, the Government submitted a scheme
of taxation to equalise revenue and expenditure. The House of
Assembly resolved that instead of taxation there should be
retrenchment of expenditure. Matters threatened to come to a
deadlock. Sir P. Wodehouse dissolved Parliament and, with the
approval of the Home Government, appealed to the country—the
issue being whether the Legislature should be modified so as to
consist of a single Chamber of 36 members, giving the Executive
increased powers, or whether the Colony should have the Admin-
istration conducted, as in England, by a Cabinet possessing the
confidence of the Legislature. When the new Parliament met,
it at once rejected the reactionary proposal of the Governor, and
his period of service being completed, he retired.
Governor Sir Henry Barkly, experienced in the working of
Constitutional Government in Australia, was then sent out, with
authority to press the adoption of full self-government upon the
Colony. He submitted a measure introducing the principle of
responsible government, by qualifying persons holding certain
executive offices to be eligible as members of the Legislature,
and providing pensions for the existing executive officers in the
event of their retirement on political grounds. This was passed


190
BRITISH RULE DURINQ THE CENTURY.
by both Houses, and the new Constitution was assented to by the
Queen, and proclaimed on the 29th November, 1872, the first
Ministry being formed by Sir John Charles Molteno, who at once
inaugurated a vigorous policy for the development of the resources
of the country, obtaining Parliamentary
sanction for the construction of eight
hundred miles of railway, to open com-
munication from the seaports to the
inland districts.
While the Colony, in the full en-
joyment of self-government, was being
borne along on a progressive wave of
prosperity, affairs in the adjacent settle-
ments were getting into a labyrinth of
complications. The proclamation of
British sovereignty over the Diamond
Fields and the territory claimed by the
chief Waterboer, in 1871, created a
quarrel with the Orange Free State,
who resented the act as a violation
ot the Bloemfontein Convention of 1854. The South African
Eepublic also contended that it was an infringement of their
rights to lands north of the Vaal Kiver. In this case arbitra-
tion was mutually agreed upon and resorted to, but when the
award was given by the umpire—Lieut.-Governor Keate—it was
repudiated by the Volksraad of the Republic. Natal and other
portions of South Africa were at the same time protesting
against the indiscriminate manner in which the Government of
Griqualand West were permitting natives working at the
diamond mines to obtain and carry away fire-arms. All these
questions were being raised and agitated in 1874—and added to
this was the trouble of the Langalibalele disturbance in Natal—
when Lord Carnarvon took office as Secretary of State for the
Colonies. He thought that Confederation, such as he had assisted
in bringing into operation in the Canadian Dominion, might
open a way for the settlement of matters. He proposed a con-
ference of the Colonies and States, with a view to discuss
native policy and other South African affairs; and without any
revious consultation with the Cape Ministry, sent out his
espatches to be published, nominating the members of the
Conference, and appointing Mr. J. A. Froude, the historian,
as his representative. The Cape Government, however, at
once declined to further the proposal, objecting to the uncon-
stitutional and sudden manner in which the question of Con-
federation was introduced, and maintaining that any movement


BRITISH BOLE DURING THE CENTURY.
191
in its favour should be left to emanate from the expressed desire
of the people themselves.
In the spring of 1876, the Volksraad of the South African
Republic declared war upon a Bechuana tribe known as the
Baputi, under the chief Secocoeni, occupying the mountain
country adjoining Leydenburg. They had refused to pay hut-
tax to the Government and molested the farmers living near them.
A large commando, consisting of burghers and native allies,
marched against them, but the attempt to dislodge the chief and
his people from their stronghold was a failure. The High Com-
missioner, Sir H. Barkly, represented that these hostilities
threatened the peace of the whole country; that the natives were
everywhere excited and assuming an emboldened and unsatisfactory
attitude. There was believed to be an understanding, if not an
alliance between Secocoeni and the Zulu King Cetywayo, and the
Governor of Natal was apprehensive that the tranquillity of that
colony might be seriously affected. The Imperial authorities
thought, from the accounts which reached them, that there was an
inflammable atmosphere in South Africa, in which the fire of war,
if once kindled, might rapidly spread, and the safety of every
community throughout it De imperilled. They were urged from
various quarters to interpose, and even a cry came across from a
section of the inhabitants of the South African Republic pressing
the necessity of immediate action. Lord Carnarvon resolved to
send out Sir Theophilus Shepstone, as special commissioner,
armed with a commission that if the emergency were such as to
render it necessary, he was, with the approval of the High Com-
missioner, Sir H. Barkly, to annex such territory as he might
deem fit as a portion of the British dominions, and administer and
control its affairs. At the same time, reinforcements of troops
were sent out to strengthen the position in Natal.
Sir T. Shepstone, escorted by a handful of mounted policemen,
arrived at Pretoria in the early part of 1877. He was well
received by all parties, and the object of his mission was soon
communicated to the Volksraad. The Government of the
country was then in a weak condition; the President, Mr. Burgers,
had from various causes become unpopular with the Dutch
farmers, some of whom, with their families, were trekking away to
the Interior. Taxes were in great part unpaid, the Treasury was
well-nigh empty, and it had become almost impossible to carry on
the Administration. The President submitted to the Volksraad,
as an ultimatum, that the Government should be strengthened, or
it must fall into the hands of England. Mr. P. Kruger, who was
one of the members, disbelieved that the Queen's Government
—which never allowed the independence of a native tribe to be


192
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
taken from it—would take away the independence of the Republic
by force. He was hopeful that the State would extricate itself
from its difficulties; but if that hope failed, then everything would
fall into England's hands in an honourable way. The Volksraad
refused to accept the President's proposals, and separated without
doing anything. Sir T. Shepstone decided that the "emergency"
contemplated by his Commission had arisen, and on the 12th
April, 1877, proclaimed the Transvaal State to be British terri-
tory. The Executive and the President formally protested
against the act, intimating that they would immediately send a
deputation to England to defend the rights of the Republic,
and endeavour to obtain a solution of the matter by peaceable
means. During these extraordinary proceedings, while a country
nearly as large as France was being seized and annexed by an
unarmed British envoy, scarcely an angry word seems to have
been said, and not a single disturbance occurred. The troops
which soon after crossed the frontier of the State were as well
received as the Queen's representative had been.
Lord Carnarvon's
faith in the policy
of Confederation for
South Africa was still
strong; and looking
about for a master-
mind capable of for-
warding it, he selected
the tried and experi-
enced Indian admin-
istrator Sir Bartle
Frere, as successor to
Sir H. Barkly as Gover-
nor and High Com-
missioner in South
Africa. He arrived at
the Cape in April. 1877,
and had not been four
months there before
war broke out in Kafir-
land. The Gcaleka
chief Kreli attacked
the Fingoes, carrying
off their cattle, and
coming into collision
with the Colonial Mounted Police Force, killed one officer and
four men. The disturbance soon extended to the Gaika tribe


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
193
whose chief Saudilli, with portion of his followers, joined in hos-
tilities against the Colony. After several months' fighting, the
war was brought to a close by the dispersion of the Gcalekas, the
death of the Gaika chief Sandilli, and the surrender or capture of
others who had taken part in it. A difference arose between the
Governor and his Ministers as to the conduct of operations
for the suppression of the disturbance, and Sir J. C. Molteno
and his colleagues were dismissed from office, and a new Ministry,
under the Premiership of Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, succeeded them.
When Parliament assembled, the Governor's action was challenged
in the House of Assembly, but after a long debate a majority
affirmed a motion submitted by the Ministry, that under all the
circumstances of the case it was unavoidable.
A wave of excitement and hostility on the part of the natives
to the white inhabitants extended at this time from Kafirland
to Griqualand West, and along the course of the Orange River to
the sea. Officials, like Mr. C. Brownlee, engaged in the adminis-
tration of native affairs, reported that embassies from the Zulu
King, Cetywayo, were keeping up communications with the turbu-
lent chiefs, and seemed to be the mainspring of their actions. The
Zulus, as a nation, since the installation of Panda as king by the
emigrant farmers, had been left to themselves in entire barbarism.
Attention was called to their condition in 1861 by the occurrence
of internal disturbances between Panda and his sons, when there
were grave apprehensions of an invasion of Natal, and reinforce-
ments were hurried up from the Cape to protect it. Sir G. Grey
then pointed out the critical position of affairs, and urged that
the system pursued in Kaffraria of placing British officers in the
country, and establishing a system of civilised control, should be
adopted. But nothing was done. On the death of Panda, in
1873, his son, Cetywayo, succeeded to the kingship, and main-
tained in full force and vigour the military system peculiar to the
Zulug. He had long-standing disputes with the Government of
the South-African Republic with reference to disputed territory;
and, when the Transvaal State was annexed by Sir T. Shepstone,
the cause of difference was transferred to the British, for Zululand
was now encompassed by British possessions. It was arranged
that the matter should be settled by arbitration, the final award
being with the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere. Meanwhile
the attitude of the Zulus was not reassuring. Attacks were being
made on the occupants of the Transvaal territory north of the
Pongola, where men were murdered, cattle seized as booty, and
children carried off as captives. Two sons of a chief named
Sirayo crossed the Tugela into Natal, and forcibly took thence
two defenceless refugee women, whom they carried into Zulu
o


194
BRITISH EULE DUEING THE CENTUBY.
territory and there murdered them. Missionaries were forced by
constant threats to leave the country, and matters were regarded
as critical, for in the event of any collision the Zulu army were
strong enough to sweep Natal from end to end. In September,
1878, Sir Bartle Frere arrived at Natal, and gave his decision in
accordance with the report of the Commission on the boundary
dispute. It was in favour of the Zulu claim. In communicating
this to Cetywayo, he made a demand on him for the surrender of
the men who had violated Transvaal and Natal territory, and
required that he should disband his army, allow missionaries and
converts to return to their stations, and receive a British Resident,
with whose consent and that of his National Council he could alone
make war. These stipulations were not complied with, and the
High Commissioner handed over their enforcement to the Com-
mander of the Forces, Lord
Chelmsford. An advance was
made into Znluland. Unfor-
tunately there was no efficient
scouting, and the General was
ignorant of the whereabouts
of the Zulu army, although it
was then near to hirn. Camp
was formed at Isandlhwana,
and at dawn on the 22ud Jan-
uary, 1879, the General, with
the main body of the column,
went out to look for the enemy
while the remainder, consist-
ing of 700 Europeans and 600
cetywayo. Natives, was left in camp u nder
Col. Pulleine, of Her Majesty's
24th, who was afterwards joined by Col. Dumford, R.E. Bv
noon, the same day, an impi of the Zulu army, numbering
14,000 men, advanced upon the camp in«horse-shoe shape,
and gradually enclosed and captured it. No attempt to form a
square or "laager" for defence had been made, but the troops
gallantly stood together until their last cartridge had been fired,
when, attacked by overwhelming numbers, the end came. Only
about forty Europeans escaped. A portion of the Zulu force,
numbering 4000, then advanced to take possession of Korke's
Drift in Natal; but the heroic defence made by Lieuts. Chard
and Bromhead, with a company of the 24th Regiment, behind
an embankment of sacks of corn and biscuit boxes, was effectual
in repulsing them. The Zulu loss at Isandlhwana was not less
than 1000, and at Borke's Drift 350 bodies were found around


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
195
the post. After Isandlhwana several other engagements, includ-
ing the battle of Kambula, were fought, and eventually Lord
Chelmsford, strengthened by reinforcements, marched into the
heart of Zululand with a force of about 4000 men, and moving
in hollow rectangular formation, met and defeated the Zulu army
at Ulundi, on the 4th July, 1879. Soon afterwards Cetywayo
was captured, and all the influential chiefs gave in their sub-
mission. The Zulu military power, which had long hung like
a thunder-cloud over South-Eastern Africa, was thus broken,
although at a great cost of life and treasure.
Sir Garnet, now Lord, Wolseley, who was appointed temporarily
to the supreme civil and military command, arrived in Zululand
immediately after the victory of Ulundi. All that remained for
him to do was to make a political settlement of the country. He
was urged by experienced Colonists to bring the Zulu people
under civilised control, on the system introduced by Sir G. Grey,
and so successfully worked in Kaffraria. But as his instructions
from the Home Government were positive against annexing any
part of Zululand, he decided to divide it into thirteen districts,
each ruled by a chosen chief or kinglet, under conditions which
provided against the revival of any military organisation, and
mitigated many of their cruel laws. He, however, warned the
Secretary of State that there Would be no permanent peace if
Cetywayo were permitted to visit the theatre of his former power.
Through the instrumentality of well-meaning but misguided
sympathisers of the ex-king, who was a captive in the Castle,
Cape Town, he was taken to England, where it was decided by
the Liberal Government to restore him to part of his original
territory. Within a week after his restoration in the commence-
ment of 1883, disorder manifested itself. The tribes in Zululand
arrayed themselves into two parties, one forming the Usutus, or
the King's party, the other supporting the Hlubi chief, Usibepu,
one of the thirteen kinglets. The latter formed an alliance with
Omahu, a brother of Cetywayo, and their combined forces fell
upon the Usutus, destroying six thousand of them, and this was
followed up by Usibepu's followers holding a sanguinary carnival
in Cetywayo's territory ; killing all the king's people, regardless
of age or sex. The king for a time took refuge in the bush,"
but ultimately surrendered to the British Resident at Ekowe,
and the question of what should be done with him was solved by
his sudden death in February, 1884.
The British Government during these inter-tribal disturbances
declared that it had no responsibility in Zululand beyond the
Reserve, and declined to interfere in any way. After this declara-
tion, the farmers on the Transvaal border, who were affected by the
o 2


196
BBITISH BULE DUBING THE CENTUBY.
continual strife, resolved without further delay to try and settle
matters themselves. They installed Dinizulu, son of Cetywayo,
King of Zululand, and made an agreement with the Usutus,
that in return for their successful services, they woidd receive a
cession of land, sufficient to establish an independent State, which
would maintain peace in the country. About one hundred of
them then accompanied Dinizulu and the Usutus against Usibepu,
whom they defeated, and peace being thus restored they formed
the New Republic, with Vryheid as its centre, which has since
been joined to and incorporated into the South-African Republic.
The remainder of Zululand was, in 1887, taken over as British
territory, under the direct control of the Governor of Natal, and a
Commissioner and magistrates, with a police force put in charge
of the native population, now numbering over 140,000. Twelve
months later, Dinizulu and some of the chiefs created disturbances,
for which they were brought to trial, and being found guilty, were
sentenced to imprisonment, and deported to St. Helena, where they
at present remain.
"When Lord Wolseley superseded Sir Bartle Frere as High
Commissioner of South-east Africa, it was expected that the latter
would resign his other offices; but such a course did not appear
to him to be patriotic or loyal in the crisis of affairs in South
Africa. After his return to Cape Town, the Ministry of Sir
Gordon Sprigg submitted to Parliament proposals for a South-
African conference or confederation, which the Home Government
had pressed should be brought forward. No time could have been
more inappropriate for its consideration. Delegates from the
Transvaal were in the Colony, enlisting the sympathies of the
people in the endeavour to obtain redress of their wrongs. Lord
Wolseley's settlement of Zululand was universally condemned as
pregnant with trouble. There was no assurance that border
disturbances were at an end; and there was no desire on the part
of the Cape colonists to interfere in extra-colonial affairs, the
consequence of which might be a responsibility for Imperial
blunders. The Legislature declined to proceed with the proposals
by adopting the parliamentary form of avoiding a vote—" the pre-
vious question." The policy which Sir Bartle Frere had been
specially chosen to advance and complete was thus indefinitely
postponed, and it was intimated to him by Lord Kimberley tbat he
would be replaced by another Governor. On his departure, it
was felt throughout South Africa, that a man animated by a more
sincere desire to promote the interests of the country, had never
served the Queen.
The Cape Ministry had at this time a serious difficulty to deal
with. After the close of the war of 1877, a peace preservation


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
197
law was passed, restricting the possession and carrying of arms by
natives, so as to prevent the recurrence of disturbances. It was
first applied to the Kafirs and Fingoes on the frontier, and after-
wards extended to the Basutos. But its application in Basutolaud
was resisted, and in September 1880 nearly the whole tribe was in
revolt. Immediately afterwards there was a rising of the Basutos
in East Griqualand, followed by that of the Pondomise, Amaquati,
and some of the other tribes east of the Drakensberg. It was an
attempted native combination to kill all the magistrates, and get
rid of the Government. One of the chiefs, Umhlonhlo, who is
still a fugitive in Basutoland, murdered his magistrate, Mr.
Hamilton Hope, in a most treacherous manner. The chief volun-
teered to go with Mr. Hope to aid the Government; but while on
the way, his clansmen, the Pondomise, forming a semi-circle, began
a war dance, the warriors making, as is the custom, feints at
stabbing, when they suddenly rushed at Mr. Hope and two of his
companions, Warrene and Henman, killing them on the spot. In
a comparatively short time volunteer corps and auxiliary forces,
together with burghers, even from the remote west, were sent to
the front, and the outbreak in Kafirland was suppressed. After-
wards strenuous but unsuccessful efforts were made to reduce the
Basutos to submission by force of arms. There then arose a strong
colonial feeling in favour of the abandonment of the territory;
but, in view of the disastrous effect this action might have, the
British Government, in 1883, undertook the administration of the
country.
Meanwhile other troubles were accumulating across the Vaal
River. The act of the annexation of the Transvaal State in 1887
had been ratified by Lord Carnarvon on behalf of the Crown. It
was believed by him to be generally acceptable, partly because
there was no demonstration against it, beyond what was considered
a merely formal, half-hearted protest on the part of the Executive
Government, and partly because it was supported by addresses
from some of the residents in the towns, expressing satisfaction
with it. The mission of the first delegates to England, with the
object of annulling the annexation, was therefore a failure. Lord
Carnarvon informed them that the annexation could not be
questioned, and refused to submit the question to a popular vote
or "plebiscite." A second deputation, in 1878, consisting of
Messrs. P. Kruger and P. J. Joubert, carrying a memorial from
6000 inhabitants against the annexation, was equally unsuccessful.
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, then Secretary of State, informed
them that the Act of Sir T. Shepstone could not be rescinded,
and intimated in his place in Parliament that the determination
to reverse the line of policy adopted in 1852, when British


198
BRITISH BULE DURING THE CENTURY.
authority was withdrawn to the Orange Kiver, had been the
deliberate resolve of the Government. Deeply grieved and dis-
appointed the delegates returned, resolved in their own minds
that, failing redress, there was no alternative but a resort to arms
for the re-establishment of their independence. Sir Donald
Currie, whose friendly services had brought about a settlement of
the dispute with the Orange Free State, and with whom the dele-
gates had discussed the situation, realised the serious state of
affairs, and addressed the Government, suggesting steps which
might avoid trouble and bloodshed, but his overtures in the
interests of peace and goodwill were declined.
In the Transvaal matters were allowed to drift. The adminis-
tration, for two or three years after the annexation, continued to
be a temporary and provisional one. Promises had been made to
the people that a representative assembly or Volksraad would be
given them, through which they would have a share in the
government of the country. These promises were not fulfilled.
Sir T. Shepstone urged that they should be, but no agreement
could be come to as to the definite provisions of the constitution
to be established. After the Zulu war, Lord Wolseley, with a
large military force, entered the country and, assisted by Swan
allies, successfully stormed the stronghold of the chief Secocoeni,
in order to give peace to the north-east of the Transvaal and
restore the prestige of authority. Throughout this movement,
as well as during the Zulu war, the Dutch section of the Transvaal
inhabitants stood by in sullen inaction. They met in mass
meetings, however, persistently protesting against the annexation,
and evincing a dogged determination to accept nothing short of
absolute independence. They were encouraged to hope for this
by the Midlothian addresses of Mr. Gladstone, who strongly
denounced the annexation as an unjust act of coercion of a free
people; and when, shortly afterwards, Mr. Gladstone came into
office as Premier, and it was announced that it was still intended
to maintain the Queen's supremacy over the Transvaal, they were
bitterly disappointed. Meanwhile, Sir T. Shepstone retired, and
Sir W. Lanyon was appointed administrator. Lord Wolseley
initiated a nominated legislature, and before leaving the country
officially declared that British sovereignty would be maintained
in the Transvaal as long as the sun shone or the rivers flowed to
the sea. Under these circumstances the hostility to English
domination increased. No taxes were paid except under protest.
Plans were matured for a recourse to arms. The members of the
old Volksraad, which had not met since 1877, were summoned to
assemble on the 13th December, 1880, at Paardekraal, now known
as Xrugersdorp, on the high plateau of Witwatersrand. After


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
199
the formal opening proceedings, Messrs. Kroger, Joubert, and
Pretorius were appointed as a Triumvirate to carry on the govern-
ment under its republican constitution, and the burghers who had
assembled in arms under their commandants undertook to fight in
defence of that government to the death. Within little more than
a week the seat of government, Pretoria, and all the towns
garrisoned by English troops were invested by the Boer forces,
and their communications cut off; while a detachment of the 94th
regiment on its march from Leydenburg to Pretoria was attacked,
and its commanding officer and fifty-five men killed, besides seven
officers and ninety-one men wounded.
Sir George Colley, who was Governor of Natal and High Com-
missioner, on hearing of the rising, made immediate arrangements
for relieving the besieged garrisons in the Transvaal. All the
force he had available in Natal was little more than 1000 men
and six guns, and with these he marched to the border. The Boer
commandant, General Joubert, anticipated this movement, and at
once crossed into Natal, occupying the strong position of Laing's
Nek. When the English troops, on the 28th January, 1881,
attempted to storm the pass they were met with a hail of bullets
from the Boer sharpshooters and repulsed with heavy loss,
including Colonel Deane, of her Majesty s 58th, and other officers
who had led them. Another disaster was sustained at the Ingogo
Heights, on the 7th February. Shortly afterwards General Sir
Evelyn Wood arrived with reinforcements, and while these were
being hurried up to effect a passage over the Nek, Sir G. Colley
moved out of camp by night with about 400 men, and occupied
Majuba Hill, overlooking the Boer position. As soon as their pre-
sence there was discovered on the 27th February, a portion of the
Boer force scaled the mountain, and vindicated their courage and
marksmanship by driving the troops off it in panic and flight. Sir
George Colley, six officers, and ninety men were killed, and a
still larger number wounded and captured, while the Boer loss
was only one killed and five wounded. Commandant-General
Joubert, in reporting the affair, ascribed their success to the help
of the Almighty: "The troops fought like true heroes, but God
gave us the victory."
Before this engagement, President Brand,* of the Orange Free
State, was, in the interest of all South Africa, exercising his
influence for peace, and the Home Government authorised Sir G.
Colley to suspend hostilities if the Boers would desist from armed
opposition, while a scheme was developed for granting them
• In 1882, President Brand was created by Her Majesty the Queen, an Honorary
Knight Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George.


200
BRITISH KDLE DURING THE CENTURY.
autonomy. At this time the British force in Natal had been
increased to 10,000 men of all arms and 10,000 more were on
their way to South Africa, it being intended to place the supreme
command in the hands of General Sir F. Roberts. Owing to the
absence of the Triumvir Kruger at Rustenburg, there was a delay
to the negotiations for peace; but an armistice was agreed upon,
and subsequently a conference held between General Sir E.Wood
(who succeeded Sir G. Colley) and the Boer leaders, which
resulted in a settlement being come to, on the basis of the terms
.submitted by Lord Kimberley, Secretary of State, guaranteeing
complete self-government to the people of the Transvaal, under
their own Volksraad, subject to the suzerainty of the Queen and
her successors. A Royal Commission, consisting of Sir E. Wood,
Sir Henry de Villiers, and Sir Hercules Robinson, was appointed,
who drafted a Convention, in terms of the conditions agreed to,
which was ratified by the Volksraad of the Republic at Pretoria
on the 25th October, 1881.
A modification of this Convention was negotiated in 1884. A
deputation from the Volksraad of the Republic, consisting of
Messrs. Kruger, Du Toit, and Smit, accompanied by Mr. Ewald
E-sselen, visited London, and after friendly discussion with the
Earl of Derby, Secretary of State, it was mutually agreed that a
new convention—now known as the London Convention—should
be substituted for it. The suzerain rights were relinquished,
and the British Government withdrew from all responsibility for
the internal affairs of the State. By the provisions of this new
Convention, however, it reserved the right of veto over any
treaties the Republic may make with any state or nation, other
than the Orange Free State. It also prescribed complete
religious toleration, and stipulated that the native races should
be allowed to acquire title to land under certain conditions, have
access to the courts, and freedom to move about under a pass
system, in accordance with the assurance given to them at
Pretoria on the retrocession of the country.
The Convention further provided for the pacification of the
territory on the south-west border of the Republic, which had
been the subject of the Keate Award. A state of anarchy had
arisen there. The Batlapin, Baralong, and Koranna chiefs were
disputing with each other about territorial and sovereign rights.
Mankoroane and Montsioa, whose status was recognised by the
Keate Award, and who sought to come under British rule, were
on one side, while Massouw and Moshette, who claimed to be
subjects of the Republic, were on the other. After the retro-
cession of the Transvaal, the enmities of these chiefs broke out
into hostilities, and each of the belligerents called in to their


BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
201
assistance white volunteers or " freebooters," who were to receive
land in the conquered district as a reward for their services. The
allies of Massouw, on the lands thus acquired, formed a small
republic which they named Stellaland, and those of Moshette
one, called Goschen. To put an end to the intertribal disputes
and control the freebooters, as well as to keep open a British
trade route through these territories, the Convention of London
provided for an extension of the south-western boundary of the
Republic, so as to place Massouw and Moshette within its limits;
and a British protectorate was established over Montsioa, Man-
koroane, and the rest of the Bechuana tribe.
After the proclamation of the British Protectorate, a number of
the Goschen freebooters, using the Transvaal territory as a base
for their operations, continued their raids upon Montsioa, following
them up with an attack on his town, Mafeking. Mr. Rhodes,
representing the High Commissioner, witnessed these hostilities,
and protested against them as a violation of the Queen's territory.
After his departure, Montsioa was induced to call in Commandant
Joubert, representing the South African Republic, as a mediator,
and a few days afterwards a proclamation was issued by the Presi-
dent of the Republic assuming jurisdiction over Montsioa and his
people.
The British Government called upon the South-African Re-
public to disavow this act as a violation of the Convention, and
at the same time decided to send out a military force to expel
the freebooters from Bechuanaland, and establish peace and order
in the territory. The South-African Bepublic promptly withdrew
the annexation proclamation, stating that it had only been issued
for the establishment of peace on the border. The Cape Ministry
of Sir T. Upington intervened, with a view to effecting a peaceful
settlement, and paving the way for the annexation of the territory
to the Colony; but the terms concluded by them were not accept-
able to the High Commissioner, Sir H. Robinson, or the Imperial
Government. Military preparations were then proceeded with,
and a force of 4000 men, including 2000 irregular cavalry, under
the immediate command of Sir C. Warren, R.E., entered the
country without encountering any armed opposition, and peace
and order were soon established.
In 1885, the British Protectorate was declared extended over
Bechuanaland and the Kalihari, and the territory south of the
Molopo River was created a Crown Colony, under the name of
British Bechuanaland. In 1888, Matabeleland and Mashonaland
was proclaimed as within the sphere of British influence, and in
1889 a Royal Charter was granted to the British South Africa
Company, conferring powers of administration there. In May,


202
BRITISH RULE DURING THE CENTURY.
1891, an Order in Council was issued, authorising the High Com-
missioner, on Her Majesty's behalf, to exercise jurisdiction within
all those central parts of South Africa under her protection,
as bounded by British Bechuanaland, the German Protectorate,
the Rivers Chobe and Zambesi, the Portuguese possessions, and
the South-African Kepublic.








( 203 )
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS,
EOADS, RAILWAYS, AND HARBOURS.
The Cape Colony has a Governor and a Parliament of two Houses
—the Legislative Council and House of Assembly; and since
1872 it has enjoyed the political freedom of responsible or party
government, carried on according to the usage prevailing; in Great
Britain. The Governor represents the Crown, and is advised and
assisted in matters relating to the Colony by an Executive Council,
who are responsible to Parliament for the advice they give. He
can appoint or dismiss his ministers; but his ministers must always
possess the confidence of the majority of the people's representatives.
He is appointed by the Queen, but his salary is provided by the
Colony. The salary as Gover-
nor and High Commissioner is
£8,000 a year, with travelling
allowances and free residences
in town and country, and an
allowance of £1,000 from Im-
perial funds. The Governor,
as a branch of the Legislature,
assents to, or withholds assent
from, or reserves bills for the
pleasure of Her Majesty. He
«an summon, prorogue, and
dissolve the Parliament. In
case of appropriation of public
money, he must first recom-
mend the House of Assembly
to make provision accordingly,
before any appropriation can
become law. He can return
bills to either House for spe- governor and high commissioner.
cific amendment, after they
have been passed by both Houses, and before they are assented
to or reserved by him. Sir Henry Brougham Loch, K.C.M.G.,
K.C.B., is the present Governor, and as Her Majesty's High
Commissioner he represents the authority of the Crown in Basuto-
land, Bechuanaland, Matabeleland, and other territories beyond


204 THE oape: its government, institutions, etc.
these limits in South Africa, as well as in the transaction of
business with the Orange Free State and South-African Republics,
Pondoland, Swaziland, and other native States.
While the gifts of Representative and Responsible Govern-
ment have been granted to the Colony, the Crown has still the
prerogative of appointing the Governor and of exercising a veto
on legislation; it also remains the supreme fountain of justice, to
which ultimate appeals from the Judicatures of the Colony are
preferred; and the Imperial Parliament holds its indisputable
omnipotence over this, as over every part of the whole Empire.
The Crown, however, exercises no control over any public officer,
except the Governor. The direction of all internal affairs, the
management of departments, and the appointment to all public
offices, rest with the ministers forming the Executive Council.
The Ministry or Cabinet, who, together with the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor, form the Executive Council, is at present
composed of :*—
The Premier, who has no portfolio.
The Colonial Secretary, whose office supervises the Civil Service
throughout the various divisions of the Colony, and controls the
Post and Telegraph Departments, Deeds Registry, Defence,
Education, Hospitals and Asylums-f
The Attorney-General, who is the law adviser and public prose-
cutor, and controls the Department of the Administration of Justice,
the Convict Establishments and Police.
The Treasurer-General, who is the Receiver-General and Finance
officer, and principal Collector and Controller of Customs and
Excise, and is at present charged with the departments of Agri-
culture, Lands, Woods, Forests and Mines.
The Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works, charged
with the administration and supervision of Railways and other
Public Works, Lighthouses and Harbours.
The Secretary for Native Affairs, who is charged with the
management of all the relations with the Aboriginal tribes.
The salaries of Ministers are fixed at £1,500 per annum, and
with an additional £250 to the Prime Minister.
Frequent change of Ministries was a noticeable characteristic
* While these pages were in the press a change took place in the constitution of
the Cape Ministry. Mr. Rhodes continues Prime Minister, without portfolio; and
Mr. Faure became Colonial Secretary in place of Secretary for Native Affairs—the
new Ministers being Sir Gordon Sprigg, Treasurer-General; Mr. Schreiner, Attorney-
General; Mr. Laing, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works; and
Mr. Frost, Secretary for Native Affairs.
t The Government is represented in England at 112, Victoria Street, London, by
the Agent-General for the Colony, Sir Charles Mills, K.C.M.G., C.B., who has
discharged the duties of the office with distinction since 1882.


PARLIAMENT.
205
of the Australian Legislatures, after they first entered upon their
career of self-government, and it was prophesied that the same
liability to frequent political crises would be experienced at the
Cape. But, owing to the strong conservatism which dominates
the people as a whole, the prediction has not been fulfilled.
There have been only six Ministries in office since 1872. The
following is a list of them :—
Molteno Ministry.
From December, 1872, to February, 1878.
Premier and Colonial Secretary . . J. C. Molteno, M.L.A.
Treasurer of the Colony .. .. H. White, M.L.C.
f J. H. de Villiers, M.L.A.
Attorneys-General .. .. < S. Jacobs, M.L.A.
(A. Stockenstrom, M.L.A.
Commissioners of Crown Lands IC. A. Smith, M.L.A.
and Public Works .. (J. X. Merriman, M.L.A.
Secretary for Native Affairs .. C. Brownlee, M.L.A.
Sprigg Ministry.
From February, 1878, to May, 1881.
Premier and Colonial Secretary . . J. Gordon Sprigg, M.L.A.
* , , I J. Miller, M.L.C.
Treasurers of the Colony .. • • j H. W. Pearson, M.L.A.
.„ , Thos. Upington, M.L.A.
Attorneys-General .. .. {j. W. Leonard, M.L.A.
Commissioner of Crown Lands and
Public Works . . .. J. Laing, M.L.A.
Secretary for Native Affairs . . W. Ayliff, M.L.A.
Scanlen Ministry.
Fron; May, 1881, to May, 1884.
Premier, Attorney-General, and
Colonial Secretary .. T. C. Scanlen, M.L.A.
Colonial Secretary .. .. J. C. Molteno, M.L.A.
T ... n. JC. W. Hutton, M.L.C.
Treasurers of the Colony .. .. |c j Rhodos> M.L.A.
Attorney-General .. .. .. J. W. Leonard, M.L.A.
Commissioner of Crown Lands
and Public Works . . J. X. Merriman, M.L.A.
Secretary for Native Affairs .. J. W. Sauer, M.L.A.
Minister without portfolio .. J. H. Hofmeyr, M.L.A.
Upington Ministry.
From May, 1884, to November, 1886.
Premier and Attorney-General .. Thos. Upington, M.L.A.
r , . . a . (J. Ayliff, M.L.A. (dec.)
Colonial Secretaries .. .. jj. Tudhope, M.L.A.


206 THE cape: its government, institutions, eto.
Upington Ministry (continued).
Treasurer of the Colony .. .. J. Gordon Sprigg, M.L.A.
Commissioner of Crown Lands and
Public Works .. .. F. Schermbrucker, M.L.C.
Secretary for Native Affairs .. J. A. de Wet, M.L.A.
Sprigg Ministry (Second).
From November, 1886, to July, 1890.
Premier and Treasurer of the
Colony .. .. .. J. Gordon Sprigg, M.L.A.
I J. Tudhope, M.L.A.
Colonial Secretaries .. • • (H. W. Pearson, M.L.A.
Attorney-General .. .. . . Thos. Upington, M.L.A.
Commissioner of Crown Lands and
Public Works .. F. Schermbrucker, M.L.A.
Secretary for Native Affairs .. J. A. de Wet, M.L.A.
Rhodes Ministry.
Premier (without portfolio)
Colonial Secretaiy
Treasurer-General
Attorney-General
Secretary for Native Affairs
Commissioners of Crown Lands J Cecil J. Rhodes, M.L.A.
and Public Works .. \J. Sivewright, M.L.A.
Cecil J. Rhodes, M.L.A.
J. W. Sauer, M.L.A.
J. X. Merriman, M.L.A.
J. Rose Innes, M.L.A.
P. H. Faure, M.L.A.
The Cape Parliament Houses form a handsome architectural
pile in the centre of the city of Cape Town. They measure 264
feet in length, by 141 feet in breadth, with a height of 64 feet,
and were erected and completed at a cost of £220,000. The
approaches and basement, from the ground to the main floor, are
executed in fine-grained colonial granite, and the remainder in red
brick, relieved by groups of pilasters and window-dressings in
Portland cement; the elevations being designed in the Renais-
sance style freely treated. There are two handsome porticos,
one facing the Government Gardens, and another, Grave
Street. The latter, which is the principal entrance, is of massive
dimensions, supported by eight coupled columns, and approached
by a commanding flight of granite steps. Passing through to the
entrance hall, the visitor has to right and left of him the two
debating chambers, one for the Legislative Council, and the other
for the House of Assembly, each of which has a floor space of
sixty-seven feet in length, by thirty-six feet in width—only ten
feet less in length and width than the House of Commons at
Westminster. Leading from the entrance hall is the central


PARLIAMENT.
207
lobby or vestibule, which is used as a Throne-room on, the
occasion of the opening or prorogation of Parliament. This is a
lofty hall of stately appearance, its sides and ends being orna-
mented with marble columns and pilasters with foliated caps,
supporting a gallery, which gives access to the public galleries of
the two Chambers, where official, distinguished, and other visitors
are accommodated. Adjoining is the Library and Conference
Room—a very handsome apartment furnished in teak wood, with
galleries reaching to the full height of the building, and bays
tilled with works of reference on political science and economy,
and literature. Along the corridors which extend from each side

THE CAPE PARLIAMENT HOUSES.
of the central lobby are the offices of the several Parliamentary
officials, and the reading, refreshment, smoking, and billiard
rooms. On the second floor there are the different committee-
rooms, retiring-rooms for the gentlemen of the Press and shorthand
writers, and the Parliamentary kitchen and sculleries, with cuisine
appliances not inferior to the Amphitryon for the comfort of
members. The grounds surrounding the building on all sides are
laid out with ornamental shrubs and bright parterres of Cape
bulbs and flowers; and at the entrance facing Adderley Street, is
a marble statue of Her Majesty the Queen, by Mr. Brock, raised
by public subscriptions of the citizens of Cape Town during the
Jubilee year.


208 THE cape: its government, institutions, etc
The Parliament must meet once in every year, and oftener ii
necessary. Its sessions are usually held during the months from
April to August. The rules of procedure are substantially the
same as those adopted by the British Parliament, and the usages
of the House of Commons are observed in the House of Assembly,
so far as they are applicable. The journals, entries, and proceed-
ings are made and recorded in the English language; but since
1882, debates and discussions may be conducted either in English or
Dutch, but in no other language. Members are paid an allowance
for attendance upon their Parliamentary duties over a term not
exceeding ninety days in any year; members who reside within
ten miles of Cape Town receiving one guinea per day, and country
members receiving £1 16s. per day, for the time they are away
from their homes.
The Legislative Council consists of twenty-two members,
over thirty-one years of age, and elected by popular vote, the
same as members of the House of Assembly. A property qualifi-
cation is required of them—namely, the possession of immovable
property to the amount of £2,000, or of movable and immovable
property to the value of £4,000. For the election of members of
the Council, the Colony was formerly divided into two constitu-
encies or provinces (West and East); but, by Acts passed in 1874
and 1877, it has been divided into eight electoral circles or
provinces, seven of which return three members, and the other
(Griqualand West) one. The Chief Justice is ex-officio President
of the Council, and the members are designated " Honourable"
during their term of office.
The House of Assembly numbers seventy-six members, elected
to serve for five years, unless Parliament is sooner dissolved.
Any qualified voter may be elected for the Assembly, with the
exception of paid officials, other than Cabinet Ministers. The
Speaker of the House is chosen from among its members, and the
present occupant of the chair (Sir David Tennant, Kt., K.C.M.G.)
has held office for a longer period than any Speaker in the
Empire, having been successively elected since June, 1874.
The franchise which obtains in the Colony is a liberal one.
The qualification required of voters (irrespective of ra''e or colour)
is being a born or naturalized British subject, resident in the
Colony for twelve months prior to registration, and either an
occupier or joint occupier of property, whose share is of the value
of £75, or in receipt of salary ot not less than £50 per annum;
but no persons are entitled to be registered on account of sharing
in any native communal or tribal occupation of lands, nor unless
they are able to sign their names and write their occupations and
address. Previous to August, 1892, the property qualification for


LAW COURTS.
209
parliamentary voters was £25, and all who were on the roll of
voters in any fiscal division of the Colony at that time are still
qualified to be registered so long as they continue to reside in the
same division. Bribery and corrupt practices at elections are
forbidden under severe penalties; and petitions challenging the
election of members are brought for hearing before the Supreme
Court.
From and after the 1st July, 1894, the voting will be by
ballot at all elections for the Legislative Council and House of
Assembly.
The law of the Colony consists of the Eoman-Dutch Law,
modified by the customs and laws of Holland, by placaats and
proclamations up to 1824, and after that by the Ordinances of
Council and of the Legislative Council, and by the Acts of tho
Colonial Parliament. There is also a large body of statute law,
scattered throughout the Imperial statute book, which has force
within it. Where no provision is- made by the Roman-Dutch law,
or local statute, the law of England prevails.
The highest Court of Judicature is the "Supreme Court,"
which has its sittings in Cape Town. It is composed of the Chief
Justice and eight puisne judges. Three of the judges form the
Court of the Eastern Districts, sitting at Graham's Town; three
form the High Court of Griqualand, sitting at Kimberley; and
the Court in Cape Town has the Chief Justice and the two senior
puisne judges. Circuit Courts are periodically held in the country
towns. There is a Court of Appeal for hearing any appeals from
the High Courts or Circuit Courts, and there is a Vice-admiralty
Court, both of which have their sittings in Cape Town. Besides
these higher courts, there are Courts of Resident Magistrates
held in each town or division of the Colony; also Periodical
Courts, held in outlying villages; and Courts of special paid
Justices of the Peace, who have jurisdiction within certain limits.
Justices of the Peace are appointed by the Governor and subject
to pleasure; they keep the public peace, summon offenders and
witnesses, arrest criminals, and take examinations; they likewise
take recognizances of men to be on their good behaviour, and
attest declarations.
Field-cornets are also appointed by the Governor; and are
bound to apprehend without warrant and to commit to prison any
person who in their presence commits, or whom they have reason-
able grounds to suspect of having committed, any crime. They
conform to the special instructions of the Resident Magistrate
within whose jurisdiction their ward is situated. In cases of
wreck, when their wards adjoin the sea, they are bound to repair
to the spot where the wreck occurs, and to use every endeavour
p


210 the cape: its government, institutions, etc.
to save life and property. The Commissioners of Police and
members of the constabulary of a district are empowered to arrest
pei sons for any crime or offence, and they are required to suppress
all tumults and other breaches of the peace. The Colonial police
force numbers about 900 officers and men.
Among the institutions of the Colouy, there is one, connectea
with the transfer of land, which was established at a very early date
by the Dutch East India Company, and is deserving of particular
notice. It is the Government Department known as the u Deeds
Registry Office," which secures in a very simple yet perfect manner
the registration of all titles to landed property and mortgages upon
the same. The registry extends back to the period shortly after the
Cape was first occupied by Europeans; and at any moment the
purchaser of an estate may refer to and ascertain ail the by-gone
circumstances, servitudes, encumbrances, and other matters con-
nected with any old property, without the troublesome complexity
or expense which attends the same proceeding in England.
Titles to land are in the first instance issued by Government,
representing the Crown, and registry of such issue is preserved in
the Surveyor-General's Office. All subsequent conveyance,
transfer, or exchange of any property is required to be recorded
at the "Deeds Registry Office," where regular entry is made of
the description of the property, its extent, the name of the seller,
the purchaser, and the amount for which it is sold. A duty of
4 per cent, on the purchase amount is paid to the colonial revenue
on the sale of any property, and also a succession duty on pro-
perties bequeathed; and certificates of these having been paid
are required to be produced before transfer is given. The "Deeds
Office likewise provides for the registration of hypothecations
and mortgages. To have any legal right or title, or to be
effectual against creditors, all such bonds are entered in what is
termed the "debt registry," which is indexed, and daily open to
public inspection on payment of a small fee. No transfer of land
can be obtained until after a settlement of these bonds, either by
repayment, or by the mortgagee consenting to continue his loan
on the securities of the new purchaser, or by the mortgagee
consenting to transfer of the land. Under this system the most
perfect security is given to the capitalist, and the conveyance of
landed property is speedily, simply, and economically effected.
The Department also provides for a registry of joint stock com-
panies with limited liability, and of all rights secured under the
Copyright Act and the Trades Marks Act.
The "Master's Office" is another very important department,
charged with the performance of duties corresponding to those of
a Master of Chancery and a Commissioner of Insolvent Estates


DIVISIONAL COUNCILS.
211
combined. It rests with the Master to register wills, to control
the proceedings of trustees or executors in the administration
of estates, and properties of minors, lunatics, and absent persons.
He also regulates all proceedings in bankruptcy, and assists the
Supreme Court in matters which it refers to him for report or
opinion. The duties connected with the administration of minors'
and absent persons' estates are of a specially responsible character.
The inheritance of minors who have no tutors appointed by
their parents, and the moneys in the hands of tutors-dative and
curators-dative, after payment of the debts due by the estate and
the amount required for the immediate maintenance of the person
under their guardianship, must be paid into the hands of the
Master. The moneys thus paid into his office for account of
minors, lunatics, and unknown and foreign heirs having no legal
representatives in the Colony, forms what is denominated the
"Guardian's Fund." The capital of this Fund amounts at present
to about £665,000, and is invested partly in mortgage bonds under
security of landed property, and partly in Government stock and
debentures. The yearly interest at present allowed on minors'
inheritances is at the rate of four per cent. This ceases on their
attaining their majoritv. Foreign heirs not having legal repre-
sentatives in the Colony, are allowed one-half of the legal
rate current in the Colony, and for a period not exceeding five
years. Their names and residences, where known, and the
amounts due to them, are published twice a year, namely in July
and in October, in the Government Gazette, also in the London
Gazette, and other papers.
The Government is represented in each division or district by
a Civil Commissioner or a Magistrate; in some cases the two
offices being combined in one person. The civil commissioners
are charged with the collection of all revenues as well as the
administration of justice and other matters. In colonial terms, a
"division" means the territory over which the authority of a
civil commissioner extends; a " district," the territory in which a
resident magistrate has jurisdiction.
In all the divisions there are local bodies termed Divisional
Councils, elected by the ratepayers. To them is entrusted the
repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, the control of
outspans and pounds, the extirpation of noxious plants and
destruction of wild animals, and the settlement of questions
relating to land boundaries; and they have also to inspect and
report upon Crown waste lands proposed to be offered for sale.
In most of the towns there are Municipal Councils, elected by
the householders, for the management of local affairs. These
Divisional Councils and Municipalities are empowered to raise


212 THE oape: its government, institutions, etc.
revenues for their respective purposes, by the levy of rates upon
landed properties, by tolls, and by licences. There are also
Village Management Boards, Boards of Health, Licensing Boards,
and Harbour Boards. The receipts and payments of Divisional
Councils in 1892 amounted to £144,286 and £144,353 respectively;
and of Municipalities to £490,375 and £468,892. The value of
fixed property as assessed for rateable purposes in the various
divisions of the Colony (exclusive of the territories of Transkei,
Tembuland and Griqualand East) amounted in 1892 to
£36,813,622.
Education is supported by a system of state "grants-in-aid"
encouraging voluntary efforts on the part of local bodies and
school managers. The main objects to which grants are ap-
propriated are:—(1) In aid of the expenses of the Cape of Good
Hope University and bursaries; (2) In aid of the salaries of
professors and lecturers in colleges training for the University
course, and of teachers in the several undenominational public
schools, district boarding schools, mission schools, aborigines'
day-schools, native industrial schools, as well as schools of art and
elementary teachers; (3) Capitation allowances towards private
farm schools, circuit teachers' schools, boarding schools, and
indigent children in these schools in the country districts, as well
as to native boys and girls receiving training in industrial
institutions; (4) In aid of school buildings, the equipping of
schools, and good service allowance to teachers. The public
money is only appropriated for secular instruction; religions
instruction is left in the hands of the local managers, care being
taken that all religious convictions are duly respected. By these
means the education of all classes, without distinction of creed or
colour, is sought to be promoted. Attention is given to the
instruction of native lads in trades, such as carpentry, wagon-
making, printing and bookbinding, &c, and to the training of native
girls for domestic employments, and provision is also made for the
superior instruction of those who aspire to professional pursuits.
The public schools lead up to the colleges, in which the course ot
study is regulated by the requirements for degrees in the
University of the Cape of Good Hope, which is an examining
body forming the copestone of the system of Public Education.
The University was created in 1873, and by Koyal Charter issueJ
in 1877 the degrees conferred by it are entitled to the same rank
and precedence and consideration as if granted by any University
in the United Kingdom.
According to the returns published in January, 1893, the
number of state-aided schools, exclusive of colleges, is 1641, the
number of scholars on the books 83,347, and the ordinary daily


DEFENCE OP THE COLONY.
213
attendance 62,023. Besides these institutions, there are unaided
schools, such as Girls' High Schools, Convent Schools, Church
Grammar Schools, and many other private establishments, of
which no returns are rendered.
The Government expenditure in the Department of Public
Education for educational services during the year ended in June,
1892, amounted to £133,930, including administration. The
Department is directed by the Superintendent-General of Educa-
tion, who is responsible for the administration of the grants in
accordance with the School Eegulations which have been assented
to by both Houses of Parliament by resolution. A regular
inspection of all schools is maintained through a staff of Deputy
Inspectors.
The defence of the Colony is provided for by a permanent
force, the Cape Mounted Riflemen (with which is incorporated the
Field Artillery), numbering a total of 824 officers and men. The
volunteers and cadet corps—artillery, cavalry, engineers, and rifles
of burghers and levies, comprising every able-bodied man between
IS and 50 years of age (with certain exceptions), and in case of
a call for active service the first drafts are taken from those
between the ages of 18 and 30.
Recently, new works for the defence of Table Bay, Simon's
Bay, and the Cape Peninsula have been constructed, under the
supervision of the Imperial military authorities; the Colonial
Government supplying all the necessary materials and labour,
and the Imperial Government furnishing the designs and pro-
viding the technical fittings and armament of 2-inch 9 '2-ton
breech-loading guns, having a range of 10,000 yards.
From the time when the Colony became a British possession,
contributions towards the support of the clergy of various denomi-
nations were granted by the Government. In 1853 these amounted
to £16,060 per annum; and by a schedule to the Constitution
Ordinance that sum was set aside to be annually appropriated
for the service of "religious worship." But the unequal
distribution of this amount among the different churches, and
the growing claims of new congregations excluded from a share
in it, as well as the persistent agitation of Mr. Saul Solomon
and other advocates of the "Voluntary Principle," finally in-
duced the Legislature in 1875 to pass an Act providing for its
gradual withdrawal and abolition. This Act secured the con-
tinuance of stipends during the life-time of the existing incum-
bents, and to the successors of such of them as might die or
resign before the expiration of five years from the taking effect
of the Act. The annual vote now is reduced to £7,000, and
have over 5,400 men enrolled.


214 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
will gradually altogether disappear. There will then be no
State-supported churches.
Public Libraries, Museums, Botanic Gardens, and an Association
for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, have been established and
supported by the public, and partly by the State. One of the best
things the Colony has to boast of is the handsome building in
Cape Town containing at present
under one roof the South African
Library and Museum. The
Library Hall is a fine room
about eighty feet long by forty
feet broad, well lighted and
fitted with galleries and recesses,
which are lined with bookshelves
and books. It contains upwards
of 47,000 volumes in every de-
partment of literature and
science, besides the valuable
collection presented by Sir
George Grey, consisting of rare
manuscripts, original editions of
early printed works, and many
volumes illustrative of the native
languages of Africa, Australia,
and New Zealand. It is open
and available for study daily to
all classes of the community;
while subscribers of from £1 to
the pdblio library. £3 per annum may take out
one or more sets of books and
periodicals for perusal at their homes. The other wing of the
building, now occupied as the South African Museum, will goon
be available for the treasures of the library, and an amount of
£2,000 has been voluntarily subscribed by the Cape Town pubbc
for suitably fitting up the additional accommodation thus provided.
The country libraries are seventy in number, the most notice-
able being that of Port Elizabeth, which contains 20,166 volumes;
one at Graham's Town, containing 10,000 volumes; one at King
William's Town, with 13,000 volumes; one at Graaff-Reinet, with
5,820 volumes; one at Lovedale, with 6,438 volumes; and one at
East London, with 4,421 volumes.
The South African Museum is stored with an extensive and
valuable collection of specimens illustrative of the natural history
of the country, and of other parts of the world. The zoological
division includes some well-mounted examples secured for the


INSTITUTIONS.
215
institution by Mr. F. C. Selous. In the entomological portion
there is a very complete collection of the butterflies, largely con-
tributed to by Col. J. H. Bowker, of Natal. The geological series
embraces specimens of the fossil fauna and flora of the continent,
including a complete mounted cast of the great fossil reptile
recently exhumed by Professor Seely in the Karroo. There is
also a good collection of native implements and weapons, as well
as some unique specimens of the carved figures found amongst
the ruins of Zimbabwe, in Mashonaland. The limited space
within the present museum has prevented the display of numerous
interesting objects which are in the hands of the curator; but
provision has now been made for a new building, which will give
the necessary accommodation. A suitable site lias been selected
in the Government gardens, and designs for the building adopted,
so that the work will be at once proceeded with, the estimated
cost being £20,000. In the Albany Museum at Graham's Town,
and at Port Elizabeth, there are also very interesting collections
of the fauna, mineral, and other productions of iSouth Africa.
The Koyal Observatory, under charge of Her Majesty's
astronomer, Dr. David Gill, is near to Cape Town. In addition
to the daily astronomical observations carried on at this institu-
tion, a photographic survey has been made of the southern hemi-
sphere, for the purpose of forming a catalogue of the stars, in
connection with the work prosecuted by the committee of the
Paris Astro-photographic Congress of 1887.
Journalism has made great advances in the Colony and
throughout South Africa generally. The periodical publications
issued over the country, from the Cape to Mashonaland, number
about 130. In the leading cities and towns, the English papers
are published morning and evening, with daily cable information
from Europe. The literary ability displayed in their columns
would do no discredit to some of the best journals in the world.
The Dutch newspapers are usually in bi-lingual form, and have a
considerable circulation among the rural population. One news-
paper is published in the Kanr language, conducted by an edu-
cated native, who gives expression to the ideas of his fellow-
countrymen on matters more especially concerning them. An
excellent English Cape Illustrated Magazine and a Dutch 'Tyd-
schrift,' serve to bring into focus the best contributions of literary
and scientific workers in the country.
The public charities of the Cape are manifold. There are no
poor laws, and there is no regular pauper class, such as is found
in European countries. There is, however, as in every populous
country there must be, a good deal of sickness and distress, of
which intemperance is largely the cause. But benevolence is


216 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
widely exercised; the whole community, when appealed to, sub-
scribes readily and largely to all kinds of charities.
The Lunatic Asylums and Hospitals are wholly, or in part,
supported by grants from the revenue, and are under the inspec-
tion and control of Government officials. There are commodious
public hospitals at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Graham's Town,
Graaff-Reinet, King William's Town, East London, Queen's Town,
Kimberley, and Barkly West, as well as cottage hospitals at
Wynberg, Woodstock, Butterworth, and Umtata. There are
Lunatic Asylums at Graham's Town, Port Alfred, Valkenberg,
near Cape Town, and at Robben Island. At the latter place there
is also a General Infirmary for chronic sick, and a well-arranged
and comfortable institution for the segregation of lepers, gathered
from all parts of South Africa. In Cape Town there is a con-
venient and cheap abode for seamen at the Sailors' Home.
Orphanages, and other benevolent societies under the care of
local philanthropic bodies, are all voluntarily supported. Masonic
lodges and Good Templar Lodges are numerous all over the
Colony.
The thrift and providence of the people is indicated by the
operations of the Colonial Savings Banks. In 1884 the total
amount deposited in these banks was £473,032. On the 30th
June, 1892, the amount was £1,307,179, showing an increase of
£834,146. Of the total balance in 1892, the sum of £1,183,375
was held by the Post Office savings banks. Building Societies,
and Oddfellows and other Friendly Societies are also established
in the various towns.
Young South Africa is devoted to out-of-door amusements,
recreations, and sports. Cricket and football are as popular here
as in England; and contests with the Mother Country teams
attract thousands of eager spectators. The coloured, as well as the
white races have taken to both games, and the Malays occasion-
ally have their grand tournaments. Lawn tennis, golf and cycling
are also popular, and regattas are regularly held in Table Bay, at
Port Elizabeth, and at East London. Race meetings take place
at most of the centres; those at Kimberley, Port Elizabeth, Cape
Town and Johannesburg are generally the most attractive.
The progress of the Colony is nowhere more apparent than in
the improvements which have taken place in the means of
travelling from the sea-board to the inland districts. In a country
such as the Cape, with no rivers available for internal navigation,
its material advancement was heavily handicapped until roads
were made, moxintain barriers opened up, and rivers bridged.
Lord Charles Somerset was the first to commence the opening of
the mountain passes by constructing a road over the French


ROADS.
217
Hoek; and about ten years later Sir Lowry Cole authorised the
line of road across the Hottentots Holland Mountain, which still
bears his name. In 1844, however, a system of public road-
making was initiated by Mr. John Montagu, Colonial Secretary,
which conferred most extensive benefits upon the community,
He devised the construction of main lines of communication
throughout the Colony, together with the advantageous employ-
ment of colonial convict labour upon them; and, aided by a public
board of administration (the Central Road Board), and the pro-
fessional services of Colonel Michell and Mr. A. G. Bain, as
engineers, he was successful in
carrying out to completion
undertakings which Governor
Sir Harry Smith said "would
do honour to a great nation
instead of a mere dependency
of the British Crown." The
first of these works carried
through was that over Cra-
dock's Kloof, which was for-
merly a mere track over a
rugged rocky ledge, with a
steep precipice on one side of
the mountain between George
and Langekloof; and to cross
over it with wagons was an un-
dertaking of extreme peril. A
beautiful and easy ascent of the
mountain was substituted, now
known as Montagu Pass. Num-
bers of similar mountain passes
have since been constructed, the
most notable amongst them
being Bain's Pass, the Katberg,
the Zuurberg, and the Zwarteberg Pass. The constructed main
roads throughout the Colony extend over 4,200 miles, and the
divisional roads are more than double that length.
There has been a very large expenditure on bridges; and there
are now comparatively few of the rivers on the main highways of
traffic from tne Cape Peninsula to the borders of Natal which nave
not been spanned by strong and handsome structures. One of the
most recently completed works of this nature is the Gouritz River
Bridge, designed on the cantilever principle, like the Forth
Bridge, by Sir S. Baker. The Gouritz River, which drains the
Great Karroo, flows to the sea between Riversdale and Mossel

THE OLD CBADOCK'S KLOOF.


218' THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
Bay in a deep channel; and after thunderstorms in the back-
country it has been known to rise twenty or thirty feet in a few
hours, rushing along with great velocity, and sweeping off every
obstruction in its way. The new bridge across it has a length of
702 feet. Its particular feature is the large central span of 420
feet, with two side spans of 140 feet each, and the carriage way
elevated 210 feet above the bed of the river. It is built of steel,
and is a model of light construction, but designed to support enor-
mous weight, being adapted for railway as well as ordinary traffic
purposes. The cost of it was £60,000, and the builders were
Messrs. Hangside & Co., of London.
But among the undertakings which, more especially of late
years, have marked the enterprising spirit of the Colony, has been
the energetic expansion of its railway systems. The first railway
was projected during the governorship of Sir George Grey, who
turned the first sod of the Cape Town and Wellington line on the
31st March, 1859. This line, 58 miles in length, was constructed
by an English company under a guarantee of a rate of interest of
6 per cent, per annum on a sum of £500,000. In 1862 private
Colonial enterprise started a short branch line, from Salt Kiver to
Wynberg, without any guarantee or subsidy; and later on
auother line from Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage was commenced by
a private company. All these lines, however, afterwards passed
by purchase into the hands of the Government. In 1874, conse-
quent upon the general prosperity resulting from the discovery
and development of the diamond-mines in Griqualand West, legis-
lative authority was given for carrying on railway construction upon
a large scale from the three principal seaports of the Colony, Cape
Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London. Subsequently these
works were authorised to be extended inland, forming three main
systems, converging towards Kimberley and the Orange Free
State, and afterwards junction lines were formed connecting them
with one another.
With the advance of the railway to Kimberley, in 1885, atten-
tion began to be directed to the importance of the trade with the
interior. An open route to the north was secured to the Colony
by the establishment of a British Protectorate in Bechuanaland,
and a few years later the railway was carried on to Vryburg. In
1887 the development of the Witwatersrand gold-fields, and the
rapid increase of population there, presented a boundless prospect
to commercial enterprise. The seaports of the Cape and Natal
were keen competitors for the business and traffic thus created,
and rival customs tariffs and rebate regulations on the "beggar
my neighbour" system were for a time brought into active play.
To remedy this, it was proposed that there should be a Customs


RAILWAYS.
219
Union of the various colonies and states, agreeing to a uniform
tariff of duties to be levied at all the seaports, in the proceeds of
which the inland states and maritime colonies would each have an
equitable share, leaving trade free to flow through its natural
channels by the shortest and cheapest routes.
At the instance of the Cape Government, a Customs Conference
was convened in Cape Town in 1888, and representatives of the
Cape, Natal, and the Orange Free State, met to discuss and
consider the practicability of such a scheme. The result was the
adoption of a Customs Union on the basis of free trade in respect
of all South African products within the Union, and a uniform
tariff on all goods imported—the maritime states handing over to
the inland states three-fourths of the duties collected on the
goods consumed by the latter, and retaining one-fourth for
transit, harbour, and other charges ; and goods for consumption in
states or territories outside the Union to be passed through duty
free, or under rebatement, at such rates as the revenue interests of
the forwarding states demand. This Union was ratified by the
Legislatures of the Cape and Orange Free State, and fixed to
continue in force until June 1894. Bechuanaland and Basutoland
have since been admitted into it, and it is probable that ere long
Natal and the South African Republic will see their way to join it,
and give practical effect to the idea of unity of interests which is per-
vading the minds of the people of the several colonies and states.
The Orange Free State Government, having thus been placed
in receipt of a share of customs duties estimated to yield an
addition to its revenue of £100,000 per annum, at once resolved
upon railway extension within its own border, in junction with the
colonial lines; and, after negotiations, an arrangement was come
to, in terms of a convention, by which the Cape Government
undertook to construct and work a through line from the Orange
River to the Vaal River, connecting with the Witwatersrand gold-
fields, until such time as the State is prepared to acquire the line
by purchase. This Convention established the principle in South
Africa of the government of a maritime colony undertaking the
construction and working of a railway in territory beyond its
political jurisdiction. It was followed up by an agreement being
concluded between the Cape Government and the Netherlands
South African Railway Company, under sanction and guarantee
of the South African Republic, for the speedy completion of the
railway from the northern banks of the Vaal River to Johannes-
burg and Pretoria, running powers and through traffic arrange-
ments over these lines (89 miles in length) being granted to the
Cape administration until December, 1894, in return for an
advance of funds at a fair rate of interest.


220 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
To those who, like ourselves, remember South Africa when there
was not a single mile of railway in the country, the change which
has come over the scene in respect of the means of travelling long
distances is very remarkable. Places so widely separated from
the metropolis that it took weeks together to reach them are now
within a couple of days' journey. A daily service of trains conveys
one from Cape Town to the Kimberley diamond-fields in thirty-
five hours, and to the Johannesburg gold-fields in fifty-seven hours,
while from the coast ports of Port Elizabeth and East London the
journey to the latter place is accomplished in forty-five hours.
The weekly mail trains, pi-ovided with comfortable sleeping and
dining cars, lavatory, and electric light, speed along at an
accelerated rate, performing the journey in five or six hours less.
They leave Johannesburg on Mondays, and arrive in Cape Town
at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, in time to transfer passengers and
mails to the homeward-bound steamer on the same day. The
whole distance of 7,000 miles from the Rand to London, or
from London to the Rand, may now, by means of the fast mail
boats and the railway, be traversed in seventeen or eighteen and
a half days.
At the beginning of 1893 the total length of Government
railways open for traffic in the Cape Colony, Bechuanaland, and
the Orange Free State, was 2,253 miles. These were purchased,
constructed, and completed at a cost of £8,580 per mile. The
contribution from receipts or earnings towards the payment of
interest on capital during the year 1892, was £4 14s. 8d. per cent.
This is irrespective of all the advantages to the people from the
facilities of travel and interchange of commodities, as well as the
reduction in carriage as compared with former charges, which has
effected an immense saving to the country.
The following is an enumeration of the several main and
connecting lines:—
Western and Interior System.
Total
Miles. mileage.
Cape Town, via Kimberley to Border of Bechu-
analand ... ... 705f
Border of Bechuanaland to Vrybuig 68£
Stellenbosch Branch 26
Malniesbury „ ... 29£
Salt River to Simon's Town ... 20
Eerste River to Sir Lowry's Pass 14J


RAILWAYS.
221
Midland System. Total
Miles. Mileage
Port Elizabeth to Orange Kiver Bridge, Ner-
val's Pont 328
Colesberg Junction to Colesberg ... ... 2£
Naauwpoort „ „ De Aar ... 69
Zwartkops „ ,. Graaff-Reinet 178
Alicedale „ „ Grahamstovvn 34£
612
Eastern System.
East London to Aliwal North ... 280
Albert Junction to Orange River, Bethulie ... 39
Stormberg „ „ Middelburg Road 85
Blaney „ „ King William's Town ... 10
East London to Buffalo Harbour Wharf ... 11
Northern System.
Orange River Bridge, Norval's Pont to Bloem-
fontein ... ••■ 1221
n n „ Bethulie to Sprin^fontein 28
Bloemfontein to Vaal River, Viljoens Drift ... 211
4151
361J
Total 2253
These railways have been carried out on the 3 ft. 6 in. gauge,
and with the exception of the Cape Town and Wynberg line, and
the first seven miles of the Port Elizabeth and. Uitenhage line,
are all single lines. The general direction of the Western and
Northern systems is north-east, crossing the rivers forming the
main drainage of the country, and intervening ridges, and the
bridges are consequently both numerous and important. The
Midland system runs north, following chiefly the main drainge of
the country; while the principal characteristic of the Eastern
system is its severe gradients. Owing to the nature of the
country traversed, there is a large amount of water-way to be
provided for, and the bridges, culverts, and openings on the
several lines number 8,590. The bridges spanning the Orange
River at various points are magnificent and substantial specimens
of engineering work. The Good Hope Bridge, on the Kimberley
extension, has a length of 1,230 feet, in nine spans of 130 feet
each, plus the extra width of the piers. The Bethulie Bridge has


222 THE cape: its government, institutions, etc.
a length of 1,486 feet. But the largest is that at Normal's Pont,
which has thirteen spans of 130 feet, and cost £76,593. Over the

BRIDGE OVER ORANGE RIVER AT NORVAL's TOXT.

ENTRANCE TO BEX BIVER VALLEY.
Vaal Eiver at Fourteen Streams there is also a bridge of ten
spans of 133 feet each.


RAILWAYS.
223
The chief physical obstacle in carrying the iron-road into
the interior was presented by the barrier range of mountains
forming the edge of the Karroo Plateau. But engineering skill
soon surmounted the difficulty. An entrance was secured by the
Hex Kiver Valley, near to Worcester, and through its portals of
perpendicular rock the line gradually ascends to Hex Eiver East,
where it begins to climb the mountains by sweeping curves and
zigzags along their sides, piercing some of the edges and spurs
by tunnels, and crossing gaps and cullies spanned by light
viaducts, until within a distance of thirty-six miles from Wor-
cester it attains an altitude of 3,193 feet at the Triangle. As the
traveller in the railway is sped along towards the summit of the
range, he catches frequent glimpses of the beautiful valley which
opens out below, dotted with farms and vineyards and corn-lands,
and surrounded with ridge
after ridge of mountain peaks,
some 6,0U0 feet high, usually,
capped with snow in the winter
season. For upwards of twenty
miles ofthis picturesque ascent,
the gradients are 1 in 40
and 1 in 45, with curves of
five chains radius, and there
are some extensive rock cut-
tings and precipitous embank-
ments. The highest point on
the line, however, is at Pieter
Meintjes Fontein, 77 miles
from Worcester, where a
height of 3,588 feet is at-
tained—a little higher than
the summit of Table Mountain. There is no stopping-place
at this point, but soon afterwards the picturesquely bright and
well-equipped refreshment-station of Matjesfontein is reached
at an elevation of 2,970 feet. Matjesfontein furnishes an object-
lesson of what may be accomplished on the bare uninviting
plains of the Karroo. Before the advent of the railway, there
was not a vestige of life on the spot; now it is a centre of
production and trade, developed by the enterprise and industry
of one individual, and the villa residences built around the
station are the resort of many who enjoy a change from the
coast-lands to the invigorating air of the plateau. Thence, all
through the Karroo Plains to Kimberley and Vryburg, the line
runs on comparatively level ground. The highest point (5,185
feet) on the Midland system is at Carlton, near Naauwport,

SNOW-CAPPED PEAKS (6,000 FEET).


224 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
164 miles from Port Elizabeth, whence the country is gener-
ally flat to De Aar, the junction with the Western system, at
339 miles from Port Elizabeth, and 500 miles from Cape Town.
The Eastern system attains its summit (5,586 feet) on the top of
the Stormberg Range, 207 miles from the coast at East Loudon.
And on the Northern system the elevated plains of the Orange
Free State rise to 4,891 feet at Heilbron, and the highest altitude
5,600 feet, is attained at Johannesburg.
At Salt River, near Cape Town, at Uitenhage, near Port Eliza-
beth, and at East London, railway workshops have been esta-

MATJESFONTEIN.
blished, where repairs and transformations of locomotives, rolling
stock and coaching required for the different lines are executed
departmentally. The working rolling stock has lately been
largely increased, and now consists of 372 locomotives, 458
carriages, 4729 trucks, and 384 other vehicles.
South African coal is largely used as fuel on the Eastern and
Northern systems of railways. Three of the coal-mines on the
Stormberg Mountains are in close proximity to the eastern railway
line, and each furnish monthly supplies at the rate of 20s. per ton.
Their output in 1892 was as follows:—Cyphergat, 17,047 tons;
Fairview, 11,000 tons; Molteno, 6,000 tons. The Indwe mine


KAILWAYS.
225
which yields coal of superior quality, is some distance from the
main line, but the construction of a branch line to the mine has
been authorised. The northern line is supplied by the coal-mines
of the Free State. The acreage of the Bedworth Colliery, at
Viljoen's Drift, is estimated at 40 square miles, and coal seams
have been struck at depths of 400 feet. The property is well
developed and equipped, and has machinery capable of producing
1,000 tons per day. Adjacent to it is the Free State Colliery,
also in proximity to the railway. Contracts have been made with
these collieries to furnish extensive supplies monthly at lis. per
ton. During last year a trial of the various qualities of coal was
made, with the result that the average consumption per train
mile was as follows: Welsh coal (Ocean Merthyr), 30 lbs. per
train mile; Dundee (Natal), 38 lbs.; Viljoen's Drift, 44 lbs.;
Indwe, 48 lbs.; Cyphergat, 58 lbs.; Fairview, 58 lbs.; and Mol-
teno, 64 lbs.
On the 31st December, 1892, the length of the Cape Govern-
ment railway lines open was 2,253 miles. The earnings for the
year per mile of line open were £1,035 18s. 4(2. The train miles
run 6,972,360 miles, the earnings per train mile 6s. 5d., and
expenses 3s. lid. The expenses per cent, of carriage earnings
were 61-0 per cent.; the capital entitled to interest on open lines
£18,557,593; net receipts per cent, of capital, £4 14s. 8d.; the
cost of construction per mile, £8,580; the earnings, £2,248,980;
expenditure, £1,370,904; the number of passengers carried,
4,771,635; and the tonnage of goods, 713,521.
Besides the Government lines, there are four others in the
Colony constructed and owned by public companies. One is in
the mining district of Namaqualand, laid down by the Cape
Copper Mining Company, with a gauge of 2 feet 6 inches. It
runs from Port Nolloth to Ookiep—a distance of 92 miles—and it
is in contemplation to extend it towards the Orange River.
Another is a line from Graham's Town to Port Alfred, over 43
miles, towards the construction of which the Government con-
tributed a subsidy of £50,000. The principle of stimulating
private enterprise was also adopted with regard to the Worcester
and Montagu line, about 42 miles long, for which a subsidy of
£75,000 was granted. The fourth line is the Suburban and
Metropolitan Railway from Cape Town to Sea Point—a distance
of over three miles. These latter lines are of the same gauge as
the Government railways.
For the purpose of developing the coal-fields at the Indwe, in
the Wodehouse district, a subsidy has been authorised to a Com-
pany for the construction of a railway connecting the Indwe with
the Eastern railway. Authority has also been granted by Parlia-
Q


226 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
ment for the construction of a railway from the mouth of St.
John's River to Maclear, in Griqualand East, running in a con-
venient direction along the water-shed, and opening up a most
important part of South Africa.
A very efficient postal system exists in the Colony and through-
out South Africa. The main work of organisation has been
carried out by the Cape Postal Department, whose various offices
and agencies number 718, and extend as far northward as Salis-
bury in Mashonaland. All the sea-borne mails to and from the
inland States and Territories are also dealt with in the head-office
at Cape Town. The increasing requirements of the service have
led the Government to authorise the erection of a new General

NEW POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES.
Tost Office, in the metropolis, where the postal and telegraph
duties can be discharged more satisfactorily than with the present
limited accommodation. The building has already been com-
menced upon the site of the old Commercial Exchange, on the
Parade, and a contract concluded for carrying it on to the second
story for a sum of about £80,000.
The total number of letters posted in 1892 (exclusive of official
correspondence) was 13,456,160; of post-cards, 503,256; of news-
papers, 6,731,040; of book and sample packets, 1,219,800; and
of parcels, 335,062. The amount paid by Government for carriage
of inland mails per annum is about £67,000; and the subsidy for
the ocean and mail service is £88,000. The rate of letter postage


HARBOURS.
227
to all parts of the world, via the United Kingdom, is 2\d. per
half ounce; and in all parts of the Cape Colony and Orange
Free State, Id. per half ounce; to Natal, Bechuanaland, and the
South African Republic, 2d. per half ounce; and to Mashonaland
4<2. per half ounce.
There is a weekly mail service to and from England by the
magnificent steamers of the Castle and Union steamship com-
panies. Under the new mail contract, which takes effect from
October, 1893, and ends on the 30th September, 1900, the length
of the voyage is reduced from 20 days, with 12 hours' grace, to
19 days witli 6 hours' grace. The total subsidy paid by the
Colony is £88,000 for the first year, and £1,000 per annum addi-
tional afterwards. By the Union Company's steamer Scot, the
passage has been made in 14 days 6 hours, and by the Castle
steamer Dunottar in 15 days 2 hours.
The telegraph lines now open in South Africa extend over
9,922 miles. Of these, 5,482 miles, with 13,767 miles of wire,
and 310 offices, besides 307 miles of telephone and exchange
wires, are under the administration of the Cape Colony; 566 miles,
with 1,441 miles of wire, and 76 offices, under Natal; 159 miles,
with 275 miles of wire, and 6 offices, under British Bechuanaland;
2 miles and 1 office, under Basutoland; 1,144 miles and 1,322
miles of wire, with 32 offices, under the Orange Free State; 1,650
miles, with 3,560 miles of wire and 41 offices, under the South
African Republic; and 819 miles of line and wire, with 10 offices,
under the British South Africa Company. In the Cape Colony
the profit on working, including the value of Government tele-
grams, was £75,241 8s. 10cZ., or £17 18s. Id. per cent, on the
value of total capital invested (£419,659 7s. 0d.), or £34 10s. 2d.
percent, on the amount of borrowed capital expended (£218,030
17s. Id.). The present tariff is one shilling for ten words, and
sixpence for every additional five. In the British South Africa
Company's territory it is threepence a word, with a minimum
charge of half-a-crown.
Cable communication with England is maintained by the East-
ern and South African Telegraph Company, the Cape Colony
contributing an annual subsidy of £15,000, and Natal £5,000.
Along the seaboard of the Colony there are several ports and
harbours available to ocean commerce, and on some of them large
amounts of public money have been spent to secure the safety and
protection of shipping, and facilitate the discharging and loading
of vessels. On the west coast, Walwich Bay, in Damaraland, and
Port Nolloth, south of the Orange River, are the two ports fre-
quented for trade purposes. Saldanha Bay is a splendid land-
locked harbour, at present only used as a quarantine station.


228 THE cape: its government, institutions, etc.
The port of Cape Town, Table Bay, where the large mail-
steamers arrive and depart on their outward and homeward
voyages, has an anchorage sheltered by a breakwater 3,640 feet
long, and offers to shipping the advantages of docks, quayage,
storage, a graving-dock and patent slip, for overhauling or repair,
and a plentiful supply of Table Mountain water. The docks were
designed by the late Sir John Coode, and named after H.R.H. the
Duke of Edinburgh, who, as Prince Alfred, tipped the first wagon-
load of stone at the tail-end of the breakwater on the 17th July,
1860, and declared the inner basin open in 1870. The expanding

PRINCE ALFRED DOCKS, TABLE BAY.
trade of the port of late years has rendered necessary an increase
of the dock accommodation, and an outer harbour of an area of 62
acres, which will have a minimum depth of 27 feet at low water,
is now being carried out by the resident engineer, Mr. Thwaites,
C.E., under the direction of the Table Bay Harbour Board. As
portion of this plan, a south pier or mound has already been run
out about 1,600 feet, and will be carried 120 feet further, parallel
with the breakwater, so as to protect the basin from the south-east
winds, and within the arm, quay walls and iron jetties are being
constructed for vessels to lie alongside. The inner basin has a


HARBOURS.
229
depth of from 20 to 24 feet at low water, and is ten acres in
extent The graving-dock, which is built of Paarl granite, has
received the larger class of vessels, such as H.M.S. Raleigh and
the White Star Liners Coptic and Ionic. The docks are provided
with steam shear-legs, capable of lifting up to 50 tons; and they
are also in direct railway communication with the Colony gene-
rally.
Mossel Bay, situate midway between Table Bay and Algoa Bay,
is from its geographical position the natural port for the central
coast divisions of the Colony; there is a first-class lighthouse, an
excellent harbour, warehouses, jetties and steam-cranes.

LANDING JETTT, POBT ELIZABETH.
Algoa Bay, on the shores ot which the town of Port Elizabeth
is spread, is an open but safe anchorage, and noted for the
energetic and expeditious manner in which vessels are loaded
and discharged by lighters and steam-tugs plying between the
shipping and the landing-jetties. These jetties, two in number,
are well equipped with steam-cranes and with rails, and the
goods are discharged from the boats into railway trucks, for
transmission up country, or transferred to the transit warehouses
belonging to the Harbour Board, to be sorted and distributed
by the landing companies. To meet the increasing requirements
of trade, the existing accommodation and landing appliances are


230 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
being increased; the north jetty being lengthened by 240 feet,
and widened by 24, making its dimensions 1,150 feet long by
84 feet wide, supplied with eight 2-ton and one 7-ton hydraulic
cranes and capstans, to facilitate shunting. Plans for the con-
struction of sheltering works have been proposed from time to
time, one being the conversion of the Baaken's River valley
into a dock; but for the present they are in abeyance. This
is the chief port for the midland and eastern districts of the
Colony and the interior, and it has conspicuously shared in the
improvements and development which have of late marked the
advance of the country. New Customs buildings have been

MAIN STREET, TOUT ELIZABETH.
erected at the end of Jetty Street, and the railway station has
been enlarged and improved to meet the increasing requirements
of traffic. An admirably arranged theatre, with accommodation
for 800 persons, has lately been completed. The other public
buildings of the town, such as the Town Hall, the Produce
Market, the banks and warehouses, the churches, the Volunteer
Drill Hall, the Liedertafel, and the Club, are all among the
finest structures of the kind to be found in the Colony.
East London, at the Buffalo River mouth, is a river harbour,
where works have been in progress for some years, under the
direction of Sir John Coode's firm. Like most South African


HAKBODRS.
231
rivers, the Buffalo had a "bar" at its mouth; and to remove
this, training walls were constructed in order to narrow the chan-
nel and increase the scour, and a breakwater run out in the form
of an arm to prevent the sea checking the river's outflow and
driving the sand back upon the bar. During the past two years,
powerful Hopper barges and sand-pumps have been at work,
with the result that the river channel has been cleared; and
there is now a depth of 15 feet on the bar at low water tides,
enabling vessels of large draught to enter and utilise the spacious
water accommodation inside the river's mouth. During the year

BUFFALO ETVER, BAST LONDON.
the Clan and Bucknall steamers, and sailing-vessels visiting
the port, have come inside and discharged at the wharf; in fact,
all vessels except the deep-draughted steamers of the Union and
Castle lines.
With the increased landing facilities at the port, and its
connection by the Bethulie and Springfontein junction with the
northern system of railway, the trade of East London has of
late shown marked development, and the town itself is giving
unmistakable evidence of prosperity in the enlargement of busi-
ness, the building of new warehouses and private dwellings, and


232 THE CAPE: ITS GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.
a commodious hotel, on a beautiful site, near the sea-beach, to
attract the citizens of Johannesburg to seek recreation there.
At Port Alfred (the Kowie Biver mouth), which is also a bar
estuary, works have been designed to increase the depth of water
at the entrance, which is at present available for vessels of 10
to 11 feet draught. At St. John's Eiver, another natural estuary,
there is anchorage inside of great extent, and perfectly sheltered,
but no plans have been made for permanently improving the
entrance, by which it might become a useful channel of trade.
Lighthouses have been erected and are maintained by the
Colonial Government at the ports and on the principal headlands
along the coast. Dassen Island is the first leading light for
vessels making Table Bay from the north-west; and at the
entrance of the bay there are the lights of Eobben Island, Green
Point, Mouille Point, and the breakwater. At the entrance to
False Bay there is the Cape of Good Hope Point light; and
in Simon's Bay, the Boman Bock. At Cape L'Agulhas, the
southern extremity of Africa, there is a light; also on Cape St.
Blaize, Mossel Bay, and on Cape St. Francis. At the entrance
to Algoa Bay, there are lights at Cape Beceife, at Port Elizabeth
(harbour light), and at Bird Island. There are also lights at
Port Alfred and at East London. Along the coast of Natal two
lights, situated about 8,797 yards apart, give warning of the
sunken reef known as the Aliwal Shoal; and there is a light-
house on the bluff at the entrance to Natal Harbour.








( 233 )
CHAPTER IX.
POPULATION, THE METEOPOLIS, COMMEECE, .
FINANCES, BANKING, AND INDUSTRIES.
The area of the Cape Colony is estimated at 221,311 square
miles; and the total population, at the Census of 1891, num-
bered 1,527,224 persons.* This population is of a heterogeneous
character. The European or white inhabitants comprise descen-
dants of the early Dutch, French and German settlers, as well as
the British immigrants and their offspring, and Teutonic and
other people who more lately entered the Colony. The Malays
are of Asiatic origin, having been originally brought to the Cape
from the Dutch possessions in the East. The Hottentots are an
indigenous race, embracing Namaquas, Korannas, and the scanty
remnants of Bushmen. The Fingoes are members of dispersed
Zulu tribes belonging to the Bantu family, who were in servitude
to the Ama-Kosa Kafirs, and were received under the protection
of the Colonial Government in 1835, when they numbered only
16,800 souls. The Kafirs and Bechuanas include the tribes of the
Bantu family known as Ama-Kosa, Tembu, Bomvana, Bechuana,
Basuto, Damara, Pondo, Hlangweni, and Zulu. And the " mixed
and other races" are partly descendants of the former negro
slaves, partly sprung from the intercourse of these and of white
men with the aborigines, and partly are foreigners, including
Indian, Malagasy, Arabs, Chinese, Turks, Creoles and others.
The numbers of the several races are as follows :—
Malay
Hottentot
Fingo
Kafir and Bechuana
Mixed and Other
Race. Persons. Males. Fe
European or White ... 376,987 195,956 181,031
13,907 6,713 7,194
50,388 26,248 24,140
229,680 108,566 121,114
608,456 306,635 301,821
247,806 123,209 124,597
Total ... 1,527,224 767,327 759,897
• The substance of this chapter, relating to the Census returns, is taken from the
excellent Report by the Director of the Census, H. de Smidt, Esq., Under Colonial
Secretary; and the figures relating to Revenue, Expenditure, and Public Debt have
been supplied by the Hon. C. A. Smith, Controller and Auditor-General.


234 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
The number of inhabited dwellings in which this population was
domiciliated was 276,607; and of these 77,342 were of brick and
stone; 10,611 of wood, iron, lath and plaster; 181,730 wattle and
daub huts; 3,819 tents, wagons and erections with canvas roofs;
and 3,105 other temporary shelters. The average number of
persons to a family or household was: European, 5*72; Malay,
6-76; Hottentot, 7-78; Fingo, 8*68; Kafir and Bechuana, 8-89;
mixed and other, 7'14.
The average density of the population is 6*90 to the square
mile. The most thickly populated districts are the Cape, with
146'73 persons to the square mile, and Port Elizabeth, with 144-36
to the square mile; whilst the most sparsely populated is Calvinia,
with only 0*52 person to the square mile.
The European or white race represents one-fourth, and the
coloured races three-fourths, of the total population of the Colony.
In only nine districts do the Europeans outnumber the coloured
classes; in the remaining eighty-four the coloured races
predominate, and in the Transkeian territories forty-nine fiftieths
belong to the coloured races, nearly all aboriginal natives.
Unlike England, only one-fifth of the Cape population live in
towns or villages, and of these nearly half are European or white.
The remaining four-fifths dwell in rural areas, and of this number
only 18*35 per cent., or less than a fifth, are European.
The distinctive occupations of nearly one-half of the people are
agricultural and pastoral—672,458 persons fall under this class.
Next comes the class engaged in "domestic" offices—203,138.
After these the " industrial,' including mining, mechanical opera-
tions or labour, numbering 77,906. The "commercial" class,
comprising all, from the capitalist and financier down to the
pedlar and togt-ganger, 26,116; the "professional class," 17,787;
the "indefinite and unspecified," including persons of means, whose
pursuits are imperfectly defined or unknown, 19,070; and lastly,
the "dependants," embracing scholars, children, inmates of charit-
able institutions, paupers, vagrants, convicts, &c, 510,000
Looking at the birthplaces of the population, the large number
of 1,412,846 were born in the Cape Colony, 60,150 in other
British African possessions and African States; 27,689 in England
and Wales; 6,648 in Scotland; 4,186 in Ireland; 6,549 in Germany;
899 in Kussia; 866 in Holland; 698 in Sweden and Norway ; 354
in France ; 343 in Denmark; 229 in Portugal; and lesser numbers
from Poland, Switzerland, Spain, and other parts of Europe. There
were also 2,344 born in Asia, 988 in America, and 390 in Australia.
From countries outside Africa, the population has only been re-
inforced to the extent of 3J per cent. Comparing the returns of
1891 with those of 1875, when the previous census of the older


POPULATION.
235
districts of the colony was taken, the rate of increase of Cape-born
Europeans in the sixteen years' interval has been 42*94, and that
of coloured persons 35-20 per cent.
The mean age of the whole population was 22'79 years. For
the age periods—of under 15 years, there was a total of 659,087
{arsons; for the ages of 15 years and over, 868,137; and of the
atter, the males numbered 435,917, and females 432,220. Of
"old men and women" (from 50 years upwards) there were, of
both sexes and all races, 149,764. At the age of 90, there were
987 persons, of whom 18 were European?. At the age of 104,
there were 10 persons, including 1 European only.
The conjugal conditions of the people are interesting. Of the
entire European population, 31-13 per cent, were married, there
being 59,726 husbands, and 57,629 wives. This gives a surplus
of 2097 husbands, which is partly accounted for by there being
a large number of foreign-born males temporarily resident, and
whose wives are not in the colony. On the other hand, among
the coloured races there is a large preponderance of wives over
husbands. The Malay wives outnumber the husbands by 85.
The mixed races show an excess of 3,993 wives over husbands.
Amoug the Fingoes, however, there were 28,465 husbands and
36,202 wives; and among the Kafirs and Bechuanas there were
86,502 husbands and 103,200 wives. This gives a preponderance
of 7,737 Fingo and 16,o98 Kafir wives, and illustratesithe extent
to which polygamy prevails among the aboriginal races.
As regards the religious denominations, the Protestants are
returned as numbering 356,960 whites and 375,087 coloured;
the Catholics, 14,853 whites and 2,422 coloured; Jews, 3,007
whites; and Mahommedans, 31 whites and 15,068 coloured. The
white population belonging to Protestant denominations are dis-
tributed as follows:—228,627, or 60-65 per cent, belong to the
Dutch Eeformed Church and Z. A. Gereformeerde Kerk; 69,789,
or 18 • 51 per cent., to the Church of England; 21,707, or 5 • 75 per
cent., are Wesleyans; 12,684, or 3 • 37 per cent., are Presbyterians;
2,634, or 0*69 per cent., are Independents; 21,519, or 5-72 per
cent., other Protestants, of whom 10,398, or 2-76 per cent., are
Lutherans; 6,205, or 1-65 per cent., Baptists; 2,327, or 0*61 per
cent., Protestants and Christians undefined; 724, or 0-19 per
cent., Salvation Army; and 1,865, or 0-51 per cent., all other.
Of the mixed races, 82 • 53 per cent, are Protestants, and of the
Hottentots -54 • 42 per cent, are Protestant. But of the Fingoes
only 27 • 95 per cent, have been christianised; and the Kafirs are
still less advanced, 86*83 per cent, of their number being abso-
lutely without religion.
The places of worship in the colony, including churches,


236 POPULATION, THE metropolis, commerce, finance, etc.
chapels, schools and buildings temporarily used, numbered 1,882,
of which 1,783 were classed as Protestant, 80 as Catholic, 3 as
Jewish, while 16 were Malay mosques. These buildings accom-
modate 351,999 worshippers, of whom 197,051 were in average
attendance at the principal services of the various churches.
Communicants figure at 175,341, distributed as follows :—Euro-
peans—Males, 48,011; females, 56,419. All others—Males,
26,268; females, 44,643; or 74,279 males and 101,062 females in
all. Seven thousand and twenty-five persons (632 being of the
coloured classes) were communicants of the Roman Catholic
Church. All other communicants were Protestants. Of the
78,331 communicants connected with the Dutch Church, only
6,370 are other than European or white, while in the Gereformeerde
Church there are no coloured communicants. In the English
Church 11,160 out of 21,415 communicants were coloured; in the
Presbyterian, 7016 out of 8635; in the Independent, 10,928 out
of 11,985; in the Methodist, 22,570 out of 26,240; and in the
Lutheran, 10,722 out of 14,476.
Respecting the education of the people, we find that out of the
whole population, including all races and ages, the percentage
able to read and write is 22*26; able to read only, 3*04; and
neither able to read nor write, 74 • 59 per cent. Here there is a
wide divergence between the races. Of every hundred European
or white persons, 67-96 are able to read and write. Next to
tbem, but far lower in the scale, come the coloured persons of
mixed and other races, with 18'07 per cent. The Malay shows a
somewhat smaller percentage, the exact figure being 12 • 16 per
cent. The Hottentot is only 3*55 per cent., far less than the
Fingo, who figures at 8 ■ 28, but a little higher than the "Kafir
and Bechuana," who have the lowest percentage of all, viz., 2 "72
per cent.
The total number of children of all races, ages, and sexes
returned as attending Government aided schools was 71,103;
those at private schools, 26,501; and those receiving instruction
at home or Sunday-school only 30,276. At the same time,
the number of children from 5 to 14 years of age recorded as
engaged or assisting in various occupations was 172,167, and of
no occupation 133,462, showing a total of 305,629 not receiving
instruction.
Of the number suffering from infirmities, there were 2,331
afflicted with blindness, and 658 returned as deaf and dumb.
There were 1,921 insane persons, lunatics and idiots; and 625
lepers, of whom 51 were Europeans or whites, and 574 of the
coloured races.
The most populous district in the Colony is that of the Cape,


THE METROPOLIS.
237
which has a total population of about 100,000 persons, including
all races and colours; and of these one-half are European. The
city of Cape Town, the metropolis and seat of government, is in
this district. It has an admirable situation and picturesque
surroundings. Table Mountain—occasionally covered with its
"tablecloth" of fleecy vapour—towers behind it to a height of
3,580 feet, presenting striking features both of grandeur and
beauty. The city proper reposes in the open valley at its base.
Immediately in front are the waters of Table Bay, sweeping in a
graceful curve eastward to Salt Kiver, and northward to the
Blueberg Hills, with the fine range of the Drakenstein and
Tulbagh Mountains in the background. On one side the city
joins on to the marine suburbs of Green Point, Sea Point, and
Camp's Bay; and on the other unites with the suburban villages
of Woodstock, Mowbray, Kondebosch, Olaremont, Kenilworth,
and Wynberg, extending for a distance of eight or nine miles
along the attractive wooded slopes on the eastern side of Table
Mountain. These suburbs, although they have their separate
municipal administration, are a continuation of Cape Town,
peopled chiefly by persons who have their business in the city,
but who prefer to live outside it, amid the pleasant surroundings
of gardens and trees. Ample and convenient means of locomo-
tion from one point to another are provided by omnibuses, tram-
cars, and railway trains, which are well patronised by passengers
of all classes. The population of the city and its environs
together number 85,000 souls.
Cape Town, although now nearly two hundred and fifty years
old, does not show much that is antique, with the exception of
the Castle—a quaint specimen of the ancient citadel, of penta-
gonal form, with ravelins, glacis, ditches, sallyport, and all the
other paraphernalia of the old fortifications—now in a very
considerable state of decay. Some years ago it was contemplated
to pull down the whole structure, in order to erect roomy
accommodation for the troops on the site; but local conservative
feeling was aroused, the Castle was saved from destruction, and
Wynberg was fixed upon as a military camp. It is at present of
no use for defensive purposes, and the space it occupies could be
very profitably utilised for the convenience and improvement of
the municipal area.
In several of the streets, such as Strand, Loop, and Bree Streets,
the old-fashioned Dutch mansions of the colonists of the last
century may still be seen. These are spacious two-storied
buildings, invariably flat-roofed, with whitewashed or stuccoed
fronts, a stoep or terrace, rising from the street, running along
their entire length, and in the rear small gardens or courts orna-


238 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
mented with trellised vines. One of the ancient features has
long since disappeared—the canals, with sluices, which ran down
the central streets towards the Castle, carrying off the drainage from
the mountain to the sea. These streets, the Heerengracht and
Keizersgracht, were the residences of high functionaries and the
best Cape families, who found amusement and recreation in un-
ceremonial afternoon gatherings on the stoeps, and whose evening
parties always separated when the Castle gun was fired at nine
o'clock. Social life and customs have considerably altered since
then; even the nomenclature of the streets has undergone change

ADDEIiLEY STREET, CAPE TOWN.
—the old Heerengracht being named Adderley Street, in recog-
nition of the services rendered to the Colony by a member of the
House of Commons at the time of the Anti-Convict question;
and the Keizersgracht re-baptized Darling Street, in honour of
the Lieutenant-Governor who opened the first Parliament.
The central thoroughfares have been so transformed of late
years as to be almost unrecognisable by persons familiar with
their olden appearance. In Adderley Street especially, the work
of reconstruction has been most marked. The unpretentious
buildings of the former inhabitants have given place to modern


THE METROPOLIS.
239
edifices, and decorated exteriors, in imitation of the best style of
European street architecture. The African Banking Corporation,
the Colonial Mutual Buildings, with its clock-tower, drapers,
clothiers, jewellers, chemists, booksellers, shipping and assurance
offices, and other business establishments are well represented on
one side of the street, while on the other are ranged the Harbour
Board Offices, the Railway Terminus, the imposing Standard
Bank buildings, the Dutch Reformed Church, and the Public
Offices, with the Parliament Houses beyond. The old Commer-
cial Exchange has been razed to the ground, and will shortly be
replaced by an extensive block intended to accommodate the
Postal and Telegraph Department—a building of stately propor-
tions, designed by Mr. H. S. Greaves—which is to be faced with
colonial cut stone from the marine beds at Saldanha Bay. In

NEW THEATRE, DABLIXG STREET.
close proximity on the Parade, facing Darling Street, the new
theatre has been completed, from a design by Mr. Alexander,
providing a suitable home for the drama and opera in the metro-
polis, with accommodation for an audience of 1,500 persons.
Other structures are in progress, some, like Messrs. Garlick and
Co.'s, raising their summits to the sky, and one now being erected
by the Commercial Assurance Company, extending from Adderley
Street to St. George's Street, with a four-storied frontage to
Strand Street, intended for a grand hotel.
St. George's Street, running parallel to Adderley Street, is
another broad central thoroughfare, with modern buildings, which
it is intended further to improve by opening up and continuing
it through Strand Street to the margin of the Bay. The St.
George's Cathedral, with its classic Grecian front and memorial


240 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
cross to the memory of Bishop Gray, stands at its upper end, and
next to it, on the right, are the offices of the British South Africa
Chartered Company, the offices of the Cape Times—a close
imitation in style of its prototype of Printing-House Square—and
the verandah-shaded building which serves at present as the
General Post Office. Further along the street is the St. George's
Hotel, the offices of the Argus Publishing Company, the handsome
edifice recently erected as the colonial headquarters of the Bank
of Africa, and many large and substantial wholesale mercantile
warehouses. In both these main thoroughfares, as well as in

st. George's stbeet, cape town.
those of Darling, Plein, and Strand Streets, there is plenty of
bustle and activity, especially on the last day of the week, when
they are crowded and animated.
Churches of various denominations attest to the religious
characteristics of the people. None of the buildings, however,
can lay claim to great architectural merit. One of the best is
the St. Mary's Koman Catholic Cathedral, which, from its elevated
site near to Government House, is a conspicuous object. Another
is the Metropolitan Wesleyan Methodist Church, of Gothic style,
whose graceful spire is a prominent feature in the city. The
Dutch lieformed Church, in Adderley Street, with its vane-topped


THE METROPOLIS.
241
Flemish spire, is noticeable for its lack of any external embellish-
ment; but its interior is remarkable for its immense span of roof
(80 feet wide) unsupported by prop or pillar, and also for its
Moravian, Free Protestant, Seventh Day Adventists, and the
Jewish Synagogue, are among the other churches of the town.
The Cape General Mission and the Salvation Army have their
halls and offices. The Young Men's Christian Association has an
excellent Institution, providing both scientific and literary enter-
tainments, as well as recreation for the youth of the city. Two
handsome structures, the gift of wealthy lady members of the
Dutch Koformed Church, have been completed and opened for
mission and school work in the neighbourhood of the crowded
native quarters; and a fine range of buildings, for the St. George's
Home and Schools, is in course of erection on the slopes above
the city, near the Kloof Koad.
Government House, the official residence of Her Majesty's
representative in the Colony, is pleasantly embowered under the
shade of the trees of the Government Gardens, in the central
portion of the city. It is a very unpretentious building, and in
no respect can be regarded as a palatial dwelling. Some of the
rooms are spacious and comfortable, yet they are scarcely on a
fitting scale when vice-regal pageants have to be gone through.
The House has two entrauces—the ordinary public one at the top
of Grave Street, and the other from the oak avenue in the Govern-
ment Gardens.
These gardens form one of the most pleasant ornaments of
Cape Town. They are a legacy from the olden time, for which
the community may thank the Dutch East India Company.
Originally planted more for use than adornment—to shelter the
vegetables and fruits grown for the refreshment of passing fleets—
.they now afford a grateful shade and pleasant place of resort to
the inhabitants, and are especially appreciated by strangers and
v isitors. The central walk extends for nearly three-quarters of a
mile through an avenue of old oaks, with the grounds of Govern-
ment House on one side, and the Botanic Gardens on the other.
The latter, now under the care of the Town Council, are laid out
with grass plots, shrubberies, and conservatories, and contain a
variety of trees and plants, embracing rare exotic, as well as
indigenous productions. Here the oak, maple, lime, elm, and
pine grow contiguous to the graceful deodar of the Himalayas,
the camphor tree of Sumatra, the lofty blue-gums of Australia,
and the towering and stately araucaria of Norfolk Island.
English fruit-trees, laden with apple, pear or peach, stand side by

R


242 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
side with the orange, olive, and mulberry of the Mediterranean
coast, or the banana, mango, and alligator pear of the West Indies.
Azaleas, camellia japonicas, fuchsias, and rhododendrons bloom
under the open sky as freely as roses, carnations, and violets,
while around them are Cape wild flowers of great variety and
beauty.
A marble statue of Sir George Grey, executed by the late Mr.
Calder Marshall, stands in these gardens. It was erected by
public subscription of the people, whose affection and confidence
he gained during his rule over them. More than thirty years ago,
it was a day-dream of his, that in this part of Table Valley there
would bo raised up halls of legislature, a public library, a
museum, and university buildings; and as a proof of his faith in
its future, he presented to the Colony his own rare collection of
books—early printed English editions, valuable manuscripts of the
tenth century, and vocabularies of native languages—which are
treasured in the South African Public Library. The hopes and
plans he foreshadowed for the Cape have since taken form and
shape. The Parliament houses now ornament one side of the
gardens, the Public Library the other. Adjoining them is the
Fine Art Gallery in New Street. The South African Museum
will be erected at the upper end of the Avenue in the course of
the year; and in the adjacent South African College is the
nucleus of the Teaching University, where the youth of South
Africa may be equipped intellectually for the battle of life,
acquiring knowledge which, as Sir George Grey said, "may
enable them to bless and earn the blessings of nations yet to be
born in the interior of this vast Continent."
The city has its own municipal government; administered by a
Mayor and Town Council. Its yearly revenue is now approaching
£100,000, and its authorised municipal debt, chiefly in 5 and
4 per cent, debentures, is £222,275. Its Town Hall, in Green-
market Square, is a fiat, square, two-storeyed building, ornamented
with a portico, and was erected during the Dutch regime more
than a century ago. It will ere long be superseded by a suitable
modern structure, with public assembly rooms, worthy of the
metropolis. Of late the civic authorities have taken practical
steps to remove the reproach of Cape Town being an undrained,
unkempt, and uncleanly place, and are carrying out a number of
improvements, which, together with its many natural advantages,
its wealth of fine scenery, and its delightful climate, should make
it one of the most attractive places of residence in the world. A
comprehensive drainage, sewage, and irrigation scheme, devised
by Mr. C. Dunscombe, M.I.C.E., has been approved of, and a
public loan of £162,000 authorised to carry out the work. The


COMMERCE.
243
water supply, which is fairly abundant and constant, is at the
same time to be increased by the construction of storage reservoirs
on Table Mountain. The streets are at present lit by gas from
the works of the Cape Town District Gaslight Company; but
contracts have been entered into with Messrs. Siemens and
Halske, of Berlin, for the lighting of the city by electricity, with
water as the motive power. Meanwhile the Docks, and the Eail-
way Station, the Somerset Hospital, the Parliament Houses, the
Public Library, and several private establishments, have installa-
tions of the electric light. Fish, fruit, and vegetable markets are
provided in different quarters, and are well supplied at all
seasons; and there is also a market for the public sale of other
pioduce, such as ostrich feathers and wool. The population
within the municipal area is 52,000 persons, and the valuation of
house property for taxation purposes is £3,670,200.
After Capo Town the most populous town in the Colony is
Ivimberley, which numbers 28,713 persons, and with the adjacent
township of Beaconstield, a total of over 39,000. Port Elizabeth
comes next with a population of 23,206, and Grahamstown follows
with a population of 10,498. The other chief towns are Paarl,
with 7,668 persons; King William's Town, 7,226; East London,
6,924; Graaff-Keinet 5,946; Worcester, 5,404; Uitenhage, 5,331;
Cradock, 4,389; Oudtshoorn, 4,386; Queeustown, 4,094; Stellen-
bosch, 3,462; Beaufort West, 2,791; Malmesbury, 2,461; Aliwal
North, 2,057; and Swellendam, 1,727.
Commerce.
The commerce of the Colony for the last seven years has been
steadily expanding and progressing, and in the year just con-
cluded (1892) the volume of external trade readied a higher
point than it has ever done before. The total of all imports and
exports amounted to £21,465,308, nearly double what it was
in 1886.
Total Imports and Exports.
In
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
. £10,924,617
. 12,895,109
. 14,554,994
. 17,715,147
. 19,204,242
. 19,688,997
. 21,465,308
£116,448,414
r 2


244 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
By far the greater part of this trade is with the United
Kingdom and British Possessions, and of the minor proportion
carried on with foreign countries the most is with the United
States of America and Germany. The subjoined table shows the
distribution of the trade operations, which contribute so much to
the commerce of Great Britain:—
Distribution of External Trade.
Tkadk with
18«6.
1887.
1888.
1889.
1890.
1891.
1892.
£
£
£
£
£
£
British (/Imports from
United Kingdom.1 Exports to...
British (Imports from
Possessions. 1 Exports to ...
3,089,737
6,694,735
341,146
91,426
365,37ft
339,195
4,277,309
7,460,106
315,966
81,811
442,860
317,057
4,730,798
8,409,000
410,948
109,443
536,591
358,208
7,098,463
8,847,322
412,669
86,891
904,943
334,869
7.825.2G6
9,392,733
636,430
82,667
901,750
362,896
7,020,493
10,676.017
641,599
113,620
910,674
326,594
7,691,195
11,576,370
683,277
89.297
1,112,769
312,400
Foreign (Imports from
Countries. (Exports to ...
Total External (Imports
3,799,261
7,125,356
5,036,135
7,858,974
5,678,337
8,»76,657
8,446,065
9,269,062
9,366,446
9,837,796
8,572,766
11,116,231
9,487,241
11,978,067
Grand Total
10,924,617
12,895,109
14,654,994 17,715,147
19,204,242
19,638,997 21,465,308
The distribution of internal trade for 1892, as shown by the
leturns of goods entered for consumption and removed beyond
the borders of the Colony, was as follows.—
To Basutoland £35,644
To British Bechuanaland ... ... ... ... 85,947
To the Orange Free State 594,301
Under rebate to South African Republic ... 1,185,667
„ to Bechuanaland Protectorate and
other territories ... ... ... 26,041
Entered for consumption in Cape Colony ... 6,480,966
Besides Colonial Government articles valued at... 796,224
The articles of merchandise imported, with their values for
1891 and 1892, may be grouped as follows:—
1891. 1892.
Arms and Ammunition £165,933 ... £223,553
Textile Fabrics, Dress, &c 2,888,497 ... 3,171,370
Food, Luxuries, Drinks, Stimulants,4c... 1,818,483 ... 1,819,994
Animal and Vegetable Substances ... 401,762 ... 428,069
Minerals, Metals, Precious Stones, &c. ... 365,417 ... 413,154
Building Materials 769,726 ... 1,068,637 4
Live Animals 11,508 ... 15,432
Miscellaneous Items 1,097,111 ... 1,550,80S
Colonial Government Articles 1,054,329 ... 796,224
Specie 10,010 ... 84,429
Total £8,582,776 ... £9,571,670


COMMERCE. 245
The total value of Exports, the produce of South Africa, show
an increase in 1892 over that of 1891, mainly due to the progres-
sive output of gold, now amounting to over four millions, which,
with slight exception, is exclusively the produce of the South
African Republic:—
1891. 1892.
Produce of Mining, Copper, Crocidolite,
Salt, Diamonds, ami Gold £7,215,436 ... £8,258,044
Produce of Sheep, Cattle, Goat, and
Ostrich-farming 3,G20,402 ... 3,420,581
Produce of Grain-farming 14,094 ... 8,671
Wine-farming 24,562 ... 25,322
Gardens 2,697 ... 3,152
the Sea 27,731 ... 25,046
the Forest and Chase 16,565 ... 25,177
Sundry Industries 10,237 ... 3,906
Miscellaneous and Unenumerated ... 3,250 ... 4,657
£10,934,974 ... £11,774,556
The importance of the pastoral industry, which is indicated in
the above return, is more clearly shown by the statistics of live-
stock in the Colony in 1875 and 1891 respectively :—
In 1875.
In 1891.
Cattle
1,111,713 .
.. 2,210,834
Horses
205,985 .
.. 444,147
Mules and asses...
29,318 .
96,245
Woolled sheep ...
9,986,240 .
.. 13,631,011
Other sheep
990,423 .
.. 3,075,005
Angora goats ...
977,988 .
.. 3,184,018
Other goats
2,187,214 .
.. 3,444,019
Ostriches
21,731 .
154,880
Pigs
116,738 .
288,190
Hogs
140,948 .
302,804
Included in the foregoing for 1891 are the returns from the
Transkeian native territories, which comprise :—Cattle, 653,660;
horses, 90,014; woolled sheep, 1,423,833; other sheep, 85,605;
Angora goats, 91,379; other goats, 563,671 ; pigs, 79,891; and
hogs, 121,270.
Of the inland colonial trade, and the value of exports across the
borders to the neighbouring States, viz., wagons, cattle, sheep,
grain, spirits, wine, fruit and other productions, there is no official
record.
The comparative returns of shipping at the different ports of
the Colony show that the tonnage inwards rose from 4,002,095 in
1891 to 4,185,901 in 1892, and the tonnage outwards similarly
from 3,950,829 to 4,197,828 tons.


248 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
paid as interest on and redemption of the Public Debt—excluding
from the latter all loans converted or renewed.
While the above shows an aggregate excess of revenue over
expenditure during 15 years of only about £220,000, there was a
period of exceptional prosperity from 1870 to 1875, during which
a deficit of £1,054,914 (with which the ordinary Revenue and
Expenditure account opened on the 1st of January, 1870) was
converted into an almost identical surplus of £1,054,748 on the
30th June, 1876, so that on the whole period from the 1st of
January, 1870, to the 30th June, 1891, the excess of ordinary
revenue over ordinary expenditure amounted to £2,338,882. It
will be shown that the excess of these savings over the deficit
balance on the 1st of January, 1870 (amounting to £1,283,968),
may be said to have been invested in railways.
Expenditure chargeable to Loan Acts.
While expenditure on many public works of very considerable
importance has been charged as ordinary expenditure, and is
thus included in the amounts already mentioned as paid out of
ordinary revenue, the greater part of the expenditure on the
construction of railways, on a number of more important public
works, and on the suppression of native disturbances, etc., has
been charged in separate accounts to the proceeds of loans raised.
Previous to 1876 the accounts of the Colony did not exhibit
any such marked distinction as regards expenditure, but the
accounts from 1870 to 1875, inclusive, have been recast by the
present Controller and Auditor-General from that point of view,
and the results may be summarised in quinquennial periods as
follows:—
Total Expenditure
Riiilway Con-
struction.
Total Expenditure
Other Public
Works, &o.
Total Expenditure
Native
Rebellion.
Period.
£
£
£
1/1/70—30/6/76
1/7/76—30/6/81
1/7/81—30/6/86
1/7/86—30/6/91
2,070,354
6,710,675
5,361,103
2,920,890
256,781
820.612
701,710
163,654
3,098,135
1,696,600
Total to 30/6/91
17,063,028
1,942,757
4,794,735
Besides the above, £310,663 has been expended in payment of


FINANCE.
249
those liabilities of Griqualand West which existed at the time of
its annexation to the Colony, and £228,769, forming a portion of
moneys advanced since 1882, out of borrowed moneys, as loans for
Irrigation and Public Works carried out by local bodies or private
persons, is still outstanding.
Public Debt.
The oldest existing public loan of the Colony dates from
August, 1863. The issue of debentures represented £255,400,
and the existing balance of this loan (reduced by Conversion to
£122,300) is repayable on the 31st of December, 1900.
Nearly all the loans raised from 1852 to 1866 bore interest at
6 per cent., but the particular loan above referred to bears only
5 per cent, interest, and, as might therefore be expected, it was
raised at a large discount.
The existing 6 per cent, public loans, including those raised for
Harbour Boards, fall considerably short of £200,000. About
£750,000 has been raised on 5 per cent, perpetual annuities called
Colonial Stock. This stock is now very valuable, and though
less than ten years ago some of it was issued at par, it is now
saleable at £129 per cent., and in view of the present price of 3£
per cent, stock, is really worth much more than that. There also
exists at the present moment nearly £800,000 of 5 per cent,
debentures, issued in 1883, but these it is expected will be
repaid before the end of the present year, 1893.
Between 1872 and 1880 large loans were raised at 4£ per cent.,
subject to the operation of a cumulative 1 per cent, sinking fund.
These have been partly repaid on annual drawings, and have been
largely converted into 4 per cent, and 3J per cent. Consolidated
Stock, so that the existing debt bearing interest at 4£ per cent,
scarcely exceeds £2,000,000.
Large loans bearing interest at 4 per cent, have been raised
since 1883, and while they have been partly applied to cover
railway construction and the suppression of native rebellion, they
have chiefly been devoted to the redemption of other loans. Thus
nearly four millions of 4 per cent, stock were issued in exchange
for 5 per cent, debentures of the so-called 1883 or 10—40 loan,
while between nine and ten millions of 4 per cent, stock have
been issued under the authority of Act 16 of 1886, in exchange
for debentures which bore interest at from 4 per cent, to 6 per cent.
Since March, 1890, all loans, whether raised in the Colony or
in England, have been raised at 3£ per cent. All these 3£ per
cent, loans, amounting at this date (February, 1893) to nearly 5£
millions, bave hitherto been raised at a discount varying from


246 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
Eevenue and Expenditure.
While the progress of the Colony is more directly indicated by
its population, trade and productions, it is also shown, although
less directly, by its annual revenue and expenditure.
At present the chief sources of colonial revenue are customs
duty, transfer duty, stamps and licences, land revenue and
railways. Besides these may be mentioned telegraph revenue,
land sales, reimbursements, miscellaneous receipts, bank-notes
duty, hut tax and others, which bring in less than £100,000
each per annum. Some of these in recent years, such as reim-
bursements and miscellaneous receipts, yield much less than they
otherwise would do, in consequence of a growing practice to carry
such items to the credit of the proper votes for expenditure
instead of to revenue, thereby equally diminishing both the
apparent revenue and expenditure; on the other hand, the head
"railway revenue," which had no existence till 1873, yielded no
less a sum than £2,002,040 in the financial year 1891-2—that is
in the year from 1st of July, 1891, to the 30th of June, 1892.
In the calendar year 1866, the total revenue from all sources
amounted to only £536,347, and in the financial year 1891-2
it amounted to £4,495,344, or excluding railway revenue to
£2,493,304. The latter amount indicates an increase of about
344 per cent., or on an average nearly 17 per cent, per annum on
the revenue of 1866.
The actual rate of progress, however, has been far from constant,
even the comparatively short period of 26£ years having included
more than one cycle of general depression and shrinkage; but
without entering into details, variations in the rate of progress are
sufficiently shown by the following averages :—
Period.
No. of Years.
Average Annual
Revenue.
£
1/1/66—31/12/70
5
586,192
1/1/71—30/ 6/76
5i
1,274,969
1/7/76—30/ 6/81
5
2,100.369
1/7/81—30/ 6/86
5
3,241,792
1/7/86—30/ 6/91
5
3,799,476
The revenue may be classed under four heads :—(a) Taxation
(including Customs, Transfer Duty, Stamps and Licences, &c.);
(b) Income from the Colonial Estate (including Land Revenue,
Hut Tax, Land Sales, Mines, &c); (c) Payment for services ren-


COMMERCE.
247
dered (including Eailway, Telegraph, Postal Kevenue, &c.); and
(d) Sundry heads, which cannot well be classed under any one of
the preceding heads.
Such an apportionment of the revenue cannot conveniently be
given for any year previous to the financial year 1876-77, but the
three quinquennial averages from the 1st of July, 1876, already
given, may be shown, as follows:—
00
(6)
Average
Annual
Income from
the Colonial
State.
(o)
Average
Annual
Payment
for services
rendered.
(<*)
Average
Annual
other.
Period of 5 Years.
Average
Annual
Taxation.
£
£
£
£
37,569
89,236
37,449
1/7/76—30/6/81
1/7/81—30/6/86
1/7/86—30/6/91
1,238,558
1,611,078
1,576,153
628,502
1,280,805
1,887,769
201,741
Annual Average for
whole period
258,787
298,105
1,475,263
1,265,692
252,878
54,751
The ordinary expenditure of the Colony may be similarly
exhibited, as follows:—
Period.
No. of YcarB.
Average ordinary
Expenditure.
£
1/1/06—31/12/70
5
640,030
1/1/71—30/ 6/76
51
901,940
1/7/76—30/ 6/81
5
2,052,545
1/7/81—30/ 6/86
5
3,448,420
1/7/86—30/ 6/91
5
3,570,529
Such expenditure is charged to one or other of about 85 annual
votes, and is again classed according to the nature of the service
under 21 principal heads.
The last published report of the Controller and Auditor
General, that for 1890-91, shows that, during the fifteen years to
the 30th of June, 1891, the total revenue has amounted to
£45,728,762, while the ordinary expenditure for the same period
has amounted to £45,508,967. The latter includes £9,615,038
spent on the working and maintenance of railways, and £12,999,031


248 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
paid as interest on and redemption of the Public Debt—excluding
from the latter all loans converted or renewed.
While the above shows an aggregate excess of revenue over
expenditure during 15 years of only about £220,000, there was a
period of exceptional prosperity from 1870 to 1875, during which
a deficit of £1,054,914 (with which the ordinary Revenue and
Expenditure account opened on the 1st of January, 1870) was
converted into an almost identical surplus of £1,054,748 on the
30th June, 1876, so that on the whole period from the 1st of
January, 1870, to the 30th June, 1891, the excess of ordinary
revenue over ordinary expenditure amounted to £2,338,882. It
will be shown that the excess of these savings over the deficit
balance on the 1st of January, 1870 (amounting to £1,283.968),
may be said to have been invested in railways.
Expenditure chargeable to Loan Acts.
While expenditure on many public works of very considerable
importance has been charged as ordinary expenditure, and is
thus included in the amounts already mentioned as paid out of
ordinary revenue, the greater part of the expenditure on the
construction of railways, on a number of more important public
■works, and on the suppression of native disturbances, etc., has
been charged in separate accounts to the proceeds of loans raised.
Previous to 1876 the accounts of the Colony did not exhibit
any such marked distinction as regards expenditure, but the
accounts from 1870 to 1875, inclusive, have been recast by the
present Controller and Auditor-General from that point of view7,
and the results may be summarised in quinquennial periods as
follows:—
Total Expenditure
Railway Con-
struction.
Total Expenditure
Other Public
Works, &c.
Total Expenditure
Native
Rebellion.
Period.
£
£
£
1/1 /70—30/6/76
1/7/76-30/6/81
1/7/81—30/6/86
1/7/86—30/6/91
2,070,354
6,710,675
5,361,103
2,920,896
256,781
820,612
701,710
163,654
3,098,135
1,696,600
Total to 30/6/91
17,063,028
1,942,757
4,794,735
Besides the above, £310,663 has been expended in payment of


FINANCE.
249
those liabilities of Griqualand West which existed at the time of
its annexation to the Colony, and £228,769, forming a portion of
moneys advanced since 1882, out of borrowed moneys, as loans for
Irrigation and Public Works carried out by local bodies or private
persons, is still outstanding.
Public Debt.
The oldest existing public loan of the Colony dates from
August, 1863. The issue of debentures represented £255,400,
and the existing balance of this loan (reduced by Conversion to
£122,300) is repayable on the 31st of December, 1900.
Nearly all the loans raised from 1852 to 1866 bore interest at
6 per cent., but the particular loan above referred to bears only
5 per cent, interest, and, as might therefore be expected, it was
raised at a large discount.
The existing 6 per cent, public loans, including those raised for
Harbour Boards, fall considerably short of £200,000. About
£750,000 has been raised on 5 per cent, perpetual annuities called
Colonial Stock. This stock is now very valuable, and though
less than ten years ago some of it was issued at par, it is now
saleable at £129 per cent., and in view of the present price of 3£
per cent, stock, is really worth much more than that. There also
exists at the present moment nearly £800,000 of 5 per cent,
debentures, issued in 1883, but these it is expected will be
repaid before the end of the present year, 1893.
Between 1872 and 1880 large loans were raised at 4£ per cent.,
subject to the operation of a cumulative 1 per cent, sinking fund.
These have been partly repaid on annual drawings, and have been
largely converted into 4 per cent, and 3J per cent. Consolidated
Stock, so that the existing debt bearing interest at 4^ per cent,
scarcely exceeds £2,000,000.
Large loans bearing interest at 4 per cent, have been raised
since 1883, and while they have been partly applied to cover
railway construction and the suppression of native rebellion, they
have chiefly been devoted to the redemption of other loans. Thus
nearly four millions of 4 per cent, stock were issued in exchange
for 5 per cent, debentures of the so-called 1883 or 10—40 loan,
while between nine and ten millions of 4 per cent, stock have
been issued under the authority of Act 16 of 1886, in exchange
for debentures which bore interest at from 4 per cent, to 6 per cent.
Since March, 1890, all loans, whether raised in the Colony or
in England, have been raised at 3^ per cent. All these 3£ per
cent, loans, amounting at this date (February, 1893) to nearly 5£
millions, have hitherto been raised at a discount varying from


250 POPULATION, THE METBOPOLIS, COMMEECE, FINANCE, ETC.
13s. 3d. to £4 9s. 9d. per cent.; but according to the latest London
quotations this stock is already at a premium of about 2 per
cent., exclusive of accruing interest. To meet the convenience of
the public it has been arranged that the domicile of these loans
may on application be transferred from the Colony to London, or
vice versa.
Appropriation of the Pcblic Debt.
Omitting loans entirely paid off, the state of the Public Debt
at this date (February, 1893) may be summarised as follows:—
Debentures or Stock originally issued £28,282,865
Capital of Stock as affected by conversion ... 29 367,303
Present state of the Debt 27,284,578
Interest thereon for one year ... ... ... 1,094,622
Average interest per cent, about £4 0s. 3d.
As the Public Debt Statement for the calendar year 1892 has
not yet been published, the above figures have been obtained by
adding £2,514,611 to the capital, and £88,011 to the interest, as
shewn in an analysis of the Public Debt on the 31st of December,
18!)1; and by making allowance as regards the third and fourth
amounts for debentures expired or drawn for payment in 1892.
The amount of £2,514,011 here quoted represents the capital of
the 3£ per cent, loans issued since the Lst of January, 1892, to
the present date (February, 1893), £1,080,000 having been
raised chiefly for railway purposes early in 1892, and £1,434,611
solely for railway purposes during the present year.
It is scarcely practicable, in the absence of the Public Debt
Statement for 1892, to apportion the existing debt among the
several services for which it has been raised, lor in the course of
the year 1892 £63,500 of the debt, as it existed on the first of
January, 1892, has been paid off, or at least has become payable,
and at present it cannot readily be ascertained how much of this
sum represents loans raised for railways, how much loans for war
expenses, &c.
An apportionment, however, is easily given of the item
described as "Original Capital of Loans as affected by Conver-
sion," £29,367,303, by adding the loans raised since 1st January,
1892, to the apportionment given in the published Analysis of the
Public Debt of the Colony on the 31st of December, 1892.
From this it appears that, as affected by conversion, the
original loans for railway construction represent £19,408,839;
for harbours and other productive public works, £3,394,030; for
advances for local works, £340,690; and for non-productive services,


RAILWAYS.
251
£6,223,744. Tt also appears, by the figures already quoted, that
since 1870 £2,082,727 of the Public Debt has been paid off, of
which about £112,000 has been contributed by Harbour Boards.
The remainder has, along with the interest, figured as ordinary
expenditure of the Colony. About £1,170,000 of the above
represents railway loans repaid.
The above item of £6,223,744 described as having been raised
for non-productive services includes £4,152,433, which forms
the greater portion of the expenditure on the suppression of
native disturbances. It also includes £772,452, raised between
1863 and 1871 to cover deficiencies of ordinary revenue and other
services which cannot in any sense be called reproductive.
But it also includes loans raised for the construction of roads,
bridges, hospitals, the Houses of Parliament, to provide subsidies
to private companies to induce them to construct railways, and
such like, which, though technically "unproductive," seeing that
they do not bring in any direct revenue, must be considered as in
other ways beneficial to the community.
Railway Construction.
The capital of the existing debt for railway purposes by no
means represents the Railway Capital Account. Not only has
nearly £1,200,000 of the original loans for such purposes been
repaid in cash out of ordinary revenue, but on the 30th of June,
1891—the latest date for which published returns are as yet
available—upwards of a million and a half had then been spent
on railway construction out of surplus revenue.
Even this does not cover all the ground, for several services
which properly belong to railway construction have from time
to time been provided for in the ordinary votes for the working
and maintenance of railways, and their cost is thus included in the
ordinary expenditure of the Colony.
Railway Earnings.
It only remains to consider how far the Construction of Rail-
ways has proved a profitable investment; and as it is quite
impossible to reduce to figures the enormous indirect advantages
of cheap and speedy transport between different parts of the
Colony, attention is necessarily confined to its purely commercial
aspect as an investment.
From this point of view it must be admitted that for a number
of years the railways of the Colony did not pay full interest on
the capital invested, and indeed some lines do not even yet pay
their working expenses.


252 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
In June, 1891, the Controller and Auditor-General prepared
an account showing approximately the capital expenditure on
Government railways, the interest actually paid on such capital,
and the net profits on the working of such railways from the 1st
of January, 1873, to the 30th of June, 1890. According to this
account the net profits, or excess of revenue over working
expenses, from 1873 to 1890 amounted to £4,635,907, while the
interest actually paid on borrowed capital amounted to about
£5,967,795, showing in 16£ years an excess of interest paid over
the net profits of £1,331,888, or an average loss of about £80,750
per annum. The direct loss during the above period is really
considerably more than is here stated, for no interest has been
charged on the large contributions from surplus revenue, whether
duly authorised to be appropriated for railway purposes or
temporarily advanced. Nor has interest been charged on the
railway loans repaid out of current revenue.
The successive annual reports of the General Manager of Rail-
ways, however, show that in recent years the Colonial railways
have, as a whole, returned a very fair interest on the capital,
as follows:—
Calendar
Year.
Capital
Expended.
Capital
entitled to
Interest.
Net
Earnings.
Percentage of
Earnings on
Capital.
£
£
£
£ s. d.
188S
14,214.308
14,214,308
695,356
4 17 10
1889
14,526,929
14,282,766
822,129
5 15 1
1890
16,263,528
14,655,889
849,125
5 15 10
1891
18,175,310
16,686,731
778,727
4 13 4
While the above averages are very satisfactory, this condition
is due to the fact that, while several lines pay very well, one line
in particular, viz., the main line on the Midland System, yields a
splendid return, which more than covers the losses on certain
other lines. For example, this main line has yielded the
following percentages on its capital:—In 1888, £12 4s. lid. per
cent.; in 1889, £13 6s. 9d. per cent.; in 1890, £13 8s. lOd. per
cent., and in 1891, £11 9s. 9cZ. per cent. On the other hand,
several lines usually show a deficit—that is to say, the revenue
does not even cover the working expenses. Thus, in 1888, the line
to Graaff Reinet shewed a deficit of £14,524, or a loss of £1 Is. Id.
per cent, on the capital in excess of interest paid thereon. On
the King Williamstown branch the loss on a very much smaller


BANKING.
253
capital was £1 15s. lid. per cent. Besides these there wer9 two
other smaller losses. In 1889 live lines showed losses, of which
the largest—that on the Graaff-Reinet line—was £11,854, or
£0 17s. 2d. per cent., while the largest percentage loss was
£1 Is. 6d. per cent. In 1890, four lines showed losses, the
highest percentage being £0 16s. lOd. per cent. In 1891, four
lines again showed losses, the heaviest loss as well as the largest
percentage (£1 lis. Id. per cent.) being on the line from Wynberg
to Simon's Town.
Banking.
The banking business of the Colony is conducted by three
Imperial banks, viz., the Standard Bank of South Africa, which
has seventy-two branches throughout South Africa; the Bank of
Africa, with twenty-four branches; the African Banking Corpor-
ation, with eighteen branches; and one small local concern, the
Stellenbosch District Bank.
By the Colonial Bank Law (No. 6 of 1891) stringent provisions
are enacted to secure publicity from time to time in regard to the
position of the banks. It is also required that every bank or
banking firm issuing bank-notes within the Colony, shall deposit
with the Treasury, Government securities to the amount of the
issue. The bank-notes so issued—of the denominations of £20,
£10, £5, and £1—are legal tender everywhere, except at the
chief place of business, or other places specified on the note,
where they are redeemable in gold. By this provision, holders of
notes are protected against default; and for any deficiency in the
proceeds of the securities deposited with the Treasury, the
Government has a first lien upon the assets of the bank. The
Cape bank-notes are by far the safest and most popular notes now
circulating in South Africa, being covered by the unlimited
responsibility of the issuing banks, together with the State
guarantee.
In Natal, in addition to the institutions already mentioned, a
large business is conducted by the Natal Bank, who act as bankers
to the Government. In the Orange Free State, banking business
is fairly divided between the National Bank and the Bank of
Africa; the former being virtually a State bank, but without any
privileges. In the South African Republic there is also a
National Bank, in which the State is but slightly interested, the
bulk of the capital having been found in Holland and Germany.
The institution, in terms of its concession, has valuable privileges,
and its notes, though unsecured and without bearing the responsi-
bility of the State, are a legal tender in the Republic. The bank


254 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
by a separate concession has also the conduct of the new State
mint at Pretoria.
Turning to the outlying territories, there is no banking accom-
modation in Zululand, Swaziland, or Basutoland; but the Standard
Bank has established branches at Vryburg, Mafeking (Bechuana-
land), and at Salisbury, Mashonaland; whilel the Bank of Africa
has opened at Delagoa Bay. The Natal Bank has opened at
Ermelo and Pietersburg (South African Republic) but closed at
Smitsdorp. The National Bank has opened at Barberton, Leyden-
burg, Ermelo, Vryheid, and Middelburg, but has closed at
Boksburg.
The Imperial banks, by which the main business of the country
is carried on, have their colonial headquarters in Cape Town. The
following are the principal figures, showing their operations, as
summarised from the published statements in the Cape Gazette, as
at 31st December, 1892 :—
Within the
Colony.
Without the
Colony.
Standard Bank.
£
£

428,107
1,334,790
2,284,673
1,615,000
180,120
1,672,747
2,173,026

Coin and Bullion
1,098,580
747,189
2,254,541
850,542
759,277
773,648
1,585,258
1,142,935
Bank of Africa.
.2 j Capital and Reserve .
J Note Circulation
~2 | Deposits Fixed .
^ I Deposits Floating
360,000
92,348
599.498
578,526
46,701
552,355
509,907

Coin and Bullion
215,745
114,845
308,038
227,048
373,962
48,312
295,010
234,406


INDUSTRIES.
255
Within tho
Colony.
Without tho
Colony.
African Banking Corporation.
Liabilities.
Capital and Reserve .
Note Circulation
Deposits Fixed .
Deposits Floating
297,060
112,887
478,190
381,948
223,079
213,292
/ Coin and Bullion
Government Securities
Discounts.
192,964
144,000
580,425
169,125
91,083
Assets.
63,168
133,312
234,400
Advances ....
The position of the Natal Bank in respect to its more important
figures, was as follows on December 31st, 1892:—Circulation,
£22,179; deposits fixed, £298,427; deposits floating, £558,024;
coin, £310,532; advances, £489,939.
That of the National Bank of the Orange Free State on 31st
October, 1892 :—Circulation, £53,614: deposits iixed, £274.004;
deposits floating, £219,807; coin, £120,099; advances, £408,212.
That of the National Bank of the South African Republic, on
31st December, 1892:—Circulation, £83,539; deposits fixed,
£291,551; deposits floating, £961,947 ; coin, £079,947; advances,
£571,088.
Speaking generally, banking business is now conducted on
sound lines, and the more frequent publication of balance-sheets
tends to produce caution on the part of the banks, and enables
depositors to take an intelligent interest therein.
Colonial Industries.
The manufactures of South Africa are not as yet extensive, the
bulk of the population being devoted to the development of the
natural resources of the country. In the Cape Colony, according
to the census returns, the total number of industries and works
(exclusive of mining) carried on in 1891 was 2,195, and the
number of hands employed were 15,934 males, and 2,851 females.
Of these. 327 establishments used steam or gas engines, aggre-
gating 4,840 horse power. The value of machinery and plant was
£1,030,348, and of buildings and improvements, £1,178,803. The
materials used amounted to £3,353,070, and the value of articles
produced was £5,639,027. Of flour mills, there were no less than


256 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
262 in the Colony, producing in the year 80,360 tons of meal and
flour. The Soutli African Milling Company are noted for the
extent of their operations and their development of this particular
industry. Bread and biscuit works were represented by 106
establishments, with an output of £387,313. Confectionery,
preserves, and jam making receive a stimulus from the provision
made by the legislature, granting a rebate of duty on sugar used
wholesale in their manufacture. The preserves of the Cape and
Natal gooseberry, naartje, orange, lime guava, quince, fig, melon,
citron, peach, and apricot, surpass many of the English articles,

ohlsson's breweries, newlaxds.
and they are now being made for wholesale exportation. At
Anderson's Port Elizabeth Confectionery Works, chicory is also
manufactured, the firm encouraging the farmers to grow the roots
by guaranteeing to take all they produce of standard quality at a
fixed price.
Brewing is chiefly carried on in Cape Town and its neighbour-
hood; the principal establishments being those of the Ohlsson's
Cape Breweries Company, Limited, at Newlands. These breweries
have a ninety-five quarter plant, are worked by steam and
equipped with all the best appliances and materials. Their ales
and stouts are consumed all over the colony. A considerable


INDUSTRIES.
257
quantity of colonial agricultural produce is utilised in connection
with the breweries, the barley used for malting for the year being
36,000 bushels; but hops and a large quantity of malt are
imported.
The manufacture of Cape wagons and carts is a special colonial
industry, the chief localities where it is carried on being the
Paarl, Worcester, Oudtshoorn, Graham's Town, and King William's
Town. The number of hands at work in 1891 was 3,016, the
value of material used £336,276, and of completed articles
£635,276, the output being about 3,000 wagons, 4,000 carts and 450
other vehicles. Saw-mills turned out goods to the yearly value of
£184,515. The manufacture of furniture and cabinet-work from
the indigenous woods of the country has recently come into favour,
and some exquisite suites of drawing-room and bedroom requisites
have been produced by the leading firms in Cape Town. The
railway workshops and depots, including the engineering and
locomotive departments, afford occupation for about 2,500 per-
sons, chiefly Europeans. The wool-washing, fell-mongering, and
tanning industries yield an annual income of nearly one million
sterling, and employ over 1,260 hands. Cape leather, with the
exception of pig-skins for saddles, is equal in all respects to the
best that can be imported, and there are many establishments for
its manufacture into boots, and other articles. Tobacco, cigar,
and snuff manufactories give an output of £68,079 in the year.
Tin and plumbers' workshops and iron foundries number in all
65, employing 487 hands, with a production of £86,570.
Distilleries, brick and pottery works, and match factories, printing,
book-binding, and engraving, embrace the remainder of the
chief industries. The only woollen mill is a blanket factory at
Waverley, near Ceres Road Station. A mill for the manufacture
of tweeds was started in Graham's Town four or five years ago,
but it was lately relinquished, and the machinery transferred to
the neighbouring colony of Natal. The Cape exports all her
wools, and imports manufactured woollen and other textile
fabrics.
The fisheries of the Colony are of increasing value and capable
of great development. The official return of fish caught at the
fishing-stations on the coast gives the number at 14,185,370.
The boats or vessels employed, chiefly sailing-boats, are about 300,
and fishermen engaged in the industry number over 1,400. The
annual exports of salted or cured fish, principally to Mauritius and
Natal, are valued at £16,722; but the internal consumption is
more than double that amount. The edible fish comprise some
fifty varieties, and many of these are equally as good and well-
flavoured as the European ones. Among them are the sole,stock-
8


258 POPULATION, THE METROPOLIS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, ETC.
fisli, klipfish, elf, roman, seventy-four, galleon, Hangberger,
Hottentot, Jacob Everstein, silver-fish, red and white stumpnose,
gurnards, snoek, kabeljauw, geelback (Cape salmon), harder or
mullet, mackerel steenbrass, dagaraad, skate, albacore, sand-
creepers, sardines, and anchovies. Algoa Bay abounds with soles,
which are caught by steam trawlers. In False, Hout, and Table
Bays, and in fact in all the sandy bays along the coast, they are
also to be found. The Cape lobster (crayfish) abounds in Table Bay,
the haul being sometimes as much as 14,000 a day, and a canning
factory has recently been established, which has sent large ship-
ments to Europe with considerable success. Indigenous oysters
are found more or less all along the coast eastward of Cape Point.
At Mossel Bay and Knysna about 300,000 are collected yearly.
They are raked off the rocks at low tides, indiscriminately, without
regard to size. Artificial culture to any extent has not yet been
tried.
An experiment to introduce trout into the Cape Colony has
received encouragement from the Government, and been attended
with success. A hatchery was provided by Mr. Ohlsson at New-
lands, and under the direction of Mr. L. Maclean, of the Castle
Steamship Company, and Mr. E. Latour, the fry hatched out from
the ova imported have been distributed, at chosen spots, in the
upper waters of the Eerste Biver, Lourens Biver, Breede Biver,
and Berg Biver.


( 259 )
CHAPTER X.
LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS.
The Cape Colony is estimated to comprise an area of
141,648,169 acres of land. The quantity disposed of up to the
end of 1892 was over 98,000,000 acres, and the total area still
undisposed of is estimated at 43,640,963 acres, in which are
included missionary institutions, native locations, outspans, com-
monages, and leased lands.
Under the provisions of the present land law—Act No. 15 of
1887—the mode of disposal of all Crown lands (with the
exception of small agricultural areas) is by public auction.
Notice of intended sales are published in the official Gazette and
district newspapers. These describe the position and extent of
the land, state the minimum or upset price fixed by Government,
and the amount of the expenses of beacons, survey and title, which
are to be paid by the purchaser on the day of sale. The highest
bidder becomes the owner. He may pay the whole or part of the
money at once; but he must pay at least one-tenth by the end of
six months from date of sale; and in so far as not sooner paid,
one-fifth of the purchase price must be paid at the end of twelve
months. Interest on the amount or balance is payable at the rate
of 4 per cent.; and, if not paid, its payment must be secured as
regards the one-fifth by two sureties, and the remaining four-fifths
by a mortgage bond, cost of passing which must be defrayed by
the purchaser. The bond may at any time be paid off, or any part,
not less than £50 at a time. Lands thus sold are subject to
certain stipulations, set forth in the conditions of sale, one being
the reservation by Government of gold, silver, precious stones,
and the working of mines. The average price per acre obtained
for these waste Crown lands in the several divisions of the
Colony vary, according to quality and position.
During the year 1892, an extent of upwards of 2,000,000 acres
of land was disposed of at auction for a total purchase amount of
£128,025, the largest extent being in the divisions of Kenhardt,
Calvinia, Sutherland, and Ceres.
The Agricultural Lands Act 37 of 1892, amended by Act 40
of 1885, provides for the disposal of small holdings suitable for
s 2


260 , LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS.
agricultural purposes, and its advantages are being much
appreciated by immigrants and others. The areas must not be
less than eight, nor more than 500, acres in extent. Application
for these must be made to the Civil Commissioner of the division
in which the land is situated, and referred to a local Land Board
for report. An approved applicant receives a licence to occupy
the area for five years, for a yearly fee equal to one-twentieth of
the price fixed for the land. Within six months he must persou-
ally reside upon the ground, and within two years must either
enclose or bring under cultivation a twentieth part of the holding,
failure to act upon these conditions rendering him liable to
forfeiture. Upon the expiration of the period of licence and
completion of all conditions, quit-rent title may be issued, the
quit-rent being the same as the licence fee.
Freehold or quit-rent properties, which have been in occupation
of private persons, may generally be acquired by purchase.
Their value for agricultural and pastoral purposes depends much
upon the improvements made, the buildings erected, the dams
constructed, the permanency of the fountains, the nature of the
herbage, the extent of arable land, and proximity to a market.
First-class farms with buildings may be purchased for from about
30s. to 40s. per acre. In the midland districts they may be had
at from 15s. an acre, down to 7s. 6d.; and others in the back
districts range from that figure to as low as one or two shillings
per acre. In some localities, such as the fertile, irrigable area
of Oudtshoorn, land sells at the rate of £50 to £150 per acre.
Farming, in industrious aud intelligent hands, is a lucrative
occupation. But new-comers desirous of pushing their fortunes
in this direction will find it to their advantage to obtain an
initiation into the colonial peculiarities of seasons, soil, pasture,
management of stock, and, it may be added, native labour, as well
as some acquaintance with the vernacular Cape Dutch, the
spoken language of a large portion of the country population. A
short time spent in observing and getting accustomed to colonial
ways is amply repaid by the experience gained.
The importance of stimulating the development of the agricul-
tural and pastoral capabilities of the country has been lately
recognised by the Government, which has created a Department
of Agriculture, to keep in touch with the farming population, and
assist them in the improvement and expansion of their present
industries. Agricultural colleges, where young men may have a
scientific as well as a practical training and experience, have been
established at certain centres, such as Stellenbosch, Somerset East,
and Graham's Town. An experienced veterinary surgeon with
three assistants, and a bacteriologist, attend to the investigation


LAND and agricultural productions. 261
and curative treatment of stock diseases. Viticultural and tobacco
experts are engaged in the development of wine and tobacco
culture. There is also a colonial botanist, an analyst, and an
entomological adviser, ready to give information on matters
relating to pastures and soil, or insect plagues. And to assist the
community generally, the Department procures and distributes
new and valuable seeds of cereals and plants, directs attention to
useful labour-saving machinery, and diffuses much valuable infor-
mation to farmers, explaining the true principles of cultivation,
through the medium of an Agricultural Journal, published both
in English and Dutch.
The diversity of soil and climate at the Cape enables every
variety of product and fruit to be grown. In those parts which
are generally visited by copious rains, such as the south-western
and eastern coast regions, the agricultural capabilities are practi-
cally inexhaustible. In other portions, where the rainfall is light,
and has to be supplemented by means of irrigation, experience
has shown that the careful cultivation of a small acreage of the
rich Karroo soil can be made as profitable as extensive areas
elsewhere. And when systematic investigation is made of the
. position and volume of some of the rivers, the levels of the
country, and other details connected with the carrying out of
comprehensive irrigation schemes, even a great portion of the
driest parts of the inland districts may be profitably utilised, as
has been the case in America and Australia.
The census statistics of 1891 showed that the Colony produced
in the year 2,727,490 bushels of wheat, 1,810,129 bushels of oats,
1,876,936 hundred pounds of oat-hay, 923,064 bushels of barley,
2,894,482 bushels of mealies (maize), 1,387,610 bushels of Kafir
corn, 527,425 bushels of rye, 186,276 bushels of peas and beans,
760,047 bushels of potatoes, 491,922 bushels of sweet potatoes,
6,178,671 pumpkins, 106,991 bushels of onions, 282,926 hundred
pounds of mangold wurzel, 109,931 hundred pounds of tobacco,
besides orchard produce.
The wheat crop has hitherto, in the best of seasons, been barely
sufficient for the country's requirements, and it is only at rare
intervals that there has been any balance left for external export.
In the year 1871-72, about 90,000 bushels were sent from the
Colony to the London market, and the quality was pronounced
by brokers and millers to be of the finest description. Later in
1887-88 the exports of colonial grain, chiefly from the border,
were £24,000 and £26,000 respectively. But in 1890, owing to
severe drought, the harvest was deficient, and the Colony was
compelled to get food supplies from abroad to the amount of
£230,000. The season now completed (1892-93) is reported to


262 LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS.
be one of plenty, and likely to meet all the requirements of home
consumption.
The most important wheat-growing centres in the western
districts of the Cape are Malmesbury, Piquetberg, Caledon, and
Oudtshoorn. These four districts, in 1891, contributed over
800,000 bushels to the total yield of 2,727,490 for the whole
Colony, and their production during 1892-93 is estimated to have
increased by one-third more. The other western coast districts give
a yield of from 30,000 to 80,000 bushels each per annum. This is
irrespective of other grain crops, such as oats, barley and rye, &c.
In the eastern districts, Albert, Wodehouse, Barkly East, Graaff
Reinet, Middleburg and Herschel, stand foremost on the list of
wheat-producers, varying from 50,000 to 85,000 bushels each.
The defective character of our agricultural statistics prevents any
definite information as to the area cultivated and the actual yield
per acre. As a rule, the seed is sown very thin, only some 30 to
40 lbs. to the acre, as against 150 to 200 lbs. in England, and
although the return from the amount sown is as great, if not
greater in the Colony, the yield per acre compares very unfavour-
ably with the home and other countries. In portions of the
Malmesbury district the return of wheat is not more than ten or
twelve for one, which would be at the rate of five or six bushels
to the acre; but in other parts, where the soil is well cultivated,
it varies from fifteen to twenty-five fold, or at the rate of about
eight to twelve bushels to the acre; and in some of the eastern
and Karroo districts it ranges as high as twenty bushels to the
acre. In parts of the Calviuia division, the channels of some of
the rivers, such as the Fish or Zak Eiver, are so shallow that in
ordinary floods they overflow the banks, depositing rich fertilizing
matter, in the shape of silt, far and wide over the extensive flats.
There the crops reaped on one farm amount to 20,000 bushels,
and the yield is from fifty to seventy fold. The stalks grow to
a height of from 5 to 7 feet, and the ears measure from 6 to 9
inches, full and well developed. After the first crop is reaped, a
second one may be expected without sowing, and sometimes even
a third one comes up.
Seed-sowing in the west commences after the first rains, about
the middle of April; oats being sown usually if weather permits,
from the 20th of April to the 30th of May, and wheat from the 15th
of May to the 30th of June. In exceptional seasons, much later
ploughing is done, with good results. The seed is sown broad-
cast, and harrowed afterwards. The oats intended for hay are
sown thickly, aud cut down just as they begin to show signs of
ripening, and while the sap is still in the stalk. The hay or oat-
sheaves so made form a sweet and wholesome fodder for horses


LAND AND AQRICULTDBAL PRODUCTIONS. 263
and cattle, which fetches, if fair or good quality, from 3s. to 6s.
per 100 lbs. weight, according to season and demand. Barley is
very prolific, the Cape barley more so than English malting kinds.
The actual return on farms, which could be named, was 330
bushels from three. The average return is about 40 bushels per
acre, and it realises from 9s. to 15s. per bag of three bushels.
Rye is not so largely cultivated as other cereals. It is generally
used for horse feed, and the straw for thatching purposes. It
yields well, and requires the lightest and most sandy soil. Several
varieties of wheat are grown, but the principal are those known as
the Baard and Du Toits, which weigh at the rate of 67 to 70 lbs.
per bushel.
By the end of October the early crops begin to ripen, and the
harvest extends from then until the beginning of December,
according to the season. A drive through the cornlands of
Malmesbury, Riebeek's Kasteel, and Piquetberg at that time is a
most enjoyable treat; for fifty or sixty miles on a stretch the eye
rests everywhere on a fast-ripening harvest of all shades and
shape of growth, waving and glittering in the brilliant sunlight.
The crops are reaped by reaping-machines, scythes, and sickles.
In many places the state of the land is not adapted for machines,
the field being too rough and the roller seldom applied, causing
constant breakages. Mowers and reapers—native labourers of
the mixed races—receive during this time 2s. 6d. per day, with
food and wine. Six reapers, two binders, and two bundle-makers
generally form a team, and at times there may be seen as many
as seven or eight of them at work in a field, each 'team straining
every muscle to outdo the other. The self-delivery reaper is
now, however, replacing the sickle; about 1,500 of them have
been introduced into the Malmesbury and adjoining districts.
The Johnston's Harvester, Walter A. Wood, McGregor's Albion,
Hornsby's Indispensable, and McCormack's Daisy are all worked,
but the first two are mostly used. Thrashing is chiefly done in
December and January. A large proportion of the farmers who
own small holdings do not invest in machinery; but there are a
number of steam thrashers, principally Clayton and Shuttle-
worth's make, moving about the districts, competing with each
other for employment. An 8-horse thrasher (the size commonly
used), in fair working order, will clean in a day's work 900
bushels of wheat, or 1,350 to 1,650 bushels of oats. Barley or
rye is generally tramped, or, if thatching-straw is required, the
latter is beaten out in bunches by the hand. Tramping means
the primitive practice (described in Scripture) of driving the
mules or horses round a circular threshing-floor, their feet beating
out the grain, which is cleaned by throwing it up against the


264 LAND AND AGKIC0LTOBAL PRODUCTIONS.
wind, the heavy grain falling to the ground, the chaff being
carried away; but this tedious process is seldom practised now for
wheat and oats, or only by the small and poor farmers. The
riding season, or bringing of the grain to market, used to occupy
three months of the year, but the proximity of railways has
brought the farmer within easy access of the markets. Formerly
a poor harvest insured high prices, but in these days of quick
and cheap freight, aided by the telegraph, the price is regulated
by what grain can be imported for, and it has ranged for several
years from 22s. down to 16s. per 3 bushels (203 lbs. gross),
including 2s. duty and cost of bag. Cape wheat always com-
mands the top market value, if not a slight advance on even the
best Australian imports.
In the districts mentioned—known from olden time as "the
granary of the Colony "—the area of cultivation has wonderfully
increased in the last decade. Formerly the limited and unsatis-
factory supply of manual labour at the harvest time interfered
with operations, but since labour-saving appliances have come
into vogue, enabling the farmers, with only a few hands, to crop
their fields at nearly half the cost, the industry has received a
great impetus. Anything like the standard of " scientific farming"
has not yet been attained, but the character and capabilities of
the soils and their treatment are being better understood, as well
as the rotation of crops and the use of manure and fertilisers.
The extensive and valuable deposits of guano on the islands
along the west coast have lately been taken entirely into the
hands of the Government and sold direct to the agriculturists at
£7 12s. per ton, about half the price it would realise in England;
but no sale for export is permitted.
In the eastern coast districts, chiefly Alexandria, Lower Albany,
Peddie, and East London, owing to the prevalence of rust, the
area of land under wheat has decreased of late, and the production
of soft wheat is almost a thing of the past. The chief varieties
grown are blue corn, klein corn or Italian wheat, both bearded,
and German kaleop, also a bearded variety. From the former a
better class of meal is obtained, but, on the other hand, the latter
is a more certain crop.
In the valleys the lands are usually sown in April and May,
those at a higher altitude from June to August The time of
sowing, however, depends on when suitable rains fall; but from
experience it is found that when the low-lying lands are sown
early a much heavier crop is reaped than when the same class
of soil on the same level is sown at a later period, while on the
higher altitudes, where the land is poorer and climate colder, the
late sown crop gives, as a rule, the best results. Reaping takes


LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 265
place in November and December, by means of the stripper or
sickle. On the large farms the former is used. Of late years
the reaper and binder combined has been introduced, and is likely,
as time goes on, to oust the stripper altogether.
During the last three years a number of varieties of wheat have
been imported by the Agricultural Department and distributed in
small quantities to the farmers in these eastern coast districts.
Of the varieties only three have been found suitable for growth
in the Colony, viz., Dakota (beardless), Medeah, and Neapolitan
(bearded). The first-mentioned is a variety of wheat which has
been largely grown in America for some years past, on account of
its being more rust-resisting than the majority of the others
grown there. In East London it has also stood the rust; in the
Albany and Peddie districts, however, it has not done so well. Of
the two bearded wheats, viz., Medeah and Neapolitan, the latter
has, after the third season's growth, proved almost rust-proof. It
resembles the Italian wheats long grown in the Colony, and with
Mr. C. Cock, of Peddie, to whom the seed was given in the first
instance, it has done remarkably well. The 8£ lbs. of Neapolitan
wheat seed, which was sent to this gentleman by the Agricultural
Department, has in three years yielded over 200 bags, and this,
is now being sold over the country to farmers at a price which
far more than compensates Mr. Cock for the trouble he has taken
experimentalising. Facts such as these are waking up farmers to
give more attention to the selection of their seed, and to take
greater care and trouble in the cultivation of the soil for the
general crops.
Indian corn or maize, known under the name of "mealies,"
yields crops of good food, both for man and beast. Throughout
the border, and in the Kaflrarian districts especially, where it
enjoys the summer rainfall, it is largely cultivated. Kafir-corn
or millet is chiefly raised by the natives. Potatoes and all kinds
of European root crops, vegetables, and pot-herbs do well, and
can be grown all the year round.
The major part of the colony is well adapted for the cultivation
of fruits, and every description can be produced in abundance.
Grapes, oranges, lemons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, figs,
cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds,
guavas, loquats, grenadillas, quinces, bananas, and pineapples are
among the varieties now grown. It has only been recently, how-
ever, that attention has been directed to the importance of
utilising orchard products for other than local requirements.
Inland railway communication has opened up colonial markets,
and the rapid passages of the ocean mail steamers, with the
appliances of refrigerating and cool chambers, has given facilities


266 LAND AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS.
for shipment to the markets of the United Kingdom. The Cape
has the advantage of its seasons occurring conversely to those of
Europe, and of thus being able to make shipments of grapes and
other choice fruits at a time when the ordinary supply at home
has ceased and good prices are procurable. Up to the present
the shipments, amounting to 500 or 600 tons for the season, have
been mostly of an experimental character, but the initial diffi-
culties of properly handling, packing, and landing the fruit in
good condition have now been surmounted, and the establishment
of a fruit-growing and export industry gives promise of much
success.
Another outlet for orchard produce is the preserving and drying
of fruit. At present the quantity of dried fruits and raisins
produced is over 5,000,000 lbs. weight per annum. Fruit-growers
are beginning to learn that evaporators and other Californian
methods of drying and canning are worth while being adopted,
in order to work up their stock into a merchantable article.


( 267 )
^ CHAPTER XI.
CAPE VITICULTURE.
By Professor P. D. Hahn, Ph.D., M.A.
Shortly after the arrival of the first European settlers in Table
Bay, the first vine-sticks were brought into the Colony, in 1653,
from the borders of the Rhine. They appear to have flourished,
and many more were brought in 1656, principally from the
Rhenish provinces and France. The earliest account of a vintage
is from the muscadel grape in 1659. In 1681 the first brandy
was made; and in 1687 the total number of vines planted in the
vineyards of the settlers, and in the Dutch East India Company's
plantations, was more than half a million.
It has been thought that the Huguenots brought with them
the art of viticulture, and the principal varieties of vines which
are now cultivated in the Colony; but this is not so, as the
Huguenots only arrived at the Cape in 1688, and twenty-fivo
years earlier, cuttings were introduced from Germany and France.
The Huguenot settlers certainly gave an impetus to the cultiva-
tion of the vine, and did much to improve the character of the
wines produced. In 1710 the increase of cultivation was so great
that, according to a return furnished by the Governor of the
Colony, Lowe van Assenburg, to the Governor-General of
Netherlands, India, the vines planted amounted to 2,729,300,
and some small quantities of wine began to be shipped by the
company to Java and to Europe. Ever since those days viti-
culture has occupied a prominent position amongst the several
branches of agriculture in Cape Colony.
The total number of vine stocks in the vineyards of the Cape,
as reported at the last census in 1891, was 78,574,124. The yield
from them during the same year was returned at 4,964,616
gallons of white wine, 1,047,906 gallons of red wine, and 1,423,043
gallons of distilled brandy. This was exclusive of the grapes
converted into raisins, to the weight of 2,599,147 lbs., and a very
considerable quantity disposed of and consumed as fresh fruit.
Much attention has of late been given to the manipulation of
the grape and the preparation of the wines, with the result that


268
CAPE VITICULTURE.
in addition to the old description of vintages, such as dry and
sweet Constantia, Sherry, and Pontac, light dry red and white
wines have been produced which are now an article of general
consumption. According to official returns, the colonial output
of wines and spirits in 1890-91 was 3,857,430 gallons wine, and
1,460,000 gallons spirit, valued at £331,730. In the preceding
year, 1889-90, the output was 4,680,000 gallons wine, and
1,115,308 gallons spirits, valued owing to the higher prices pre-
vailing, at £529,932.
The cultivation of the vine is not met with in all parts of the

KXEIXE SCHTOR VINEYARD, RONDEBOSCH (WINTER).
Colony. Most of the wine districts are in the western province;
the production of wine and brandy in the Eastern Province being
comparatively small. This is not so much due to the fact that
the first wine-growers settled in the western part of the present
Cape Colony or that for a long time the western part of the
Colony formed the principal part of the European establishment,
but principally to climatic conditions. There is certainly no
portion of the world whicli possesses a climate more favourable
to the cultivation of the grape, than the Western Province of
the Colony. Here we have in spring a sufficient number of fine


CAPE VITICULTURE.
269
days with bright sunshine, and also as much rain as will cause a
very vigorous development of the buds, and a most luxuriant
growth of the young shoots. Towards summer, bright sunshine
reigns supreme, but the humidity of the air is still sufficient for
the further growth of the bunches, which in January and February
mature under an almost cloudless sky, and in a tropical tempera-
ture. Only certain parts of California, and of Southern France,
enjoy a climate which is similar—but not equal—to that of the
Cape. The enormous production of the vineyards, to which we
shall refer further on, is solely due to the climate; it is true the
soil is also fertile, but generally it is not superior to the soil in
other wine-producing countries.
The principal wine districts are the divisions of the Cape,
Stellenbosch, Paarl, Malmesbury, Worcester, Eobertson, Montagu,
Ladismith, Prince Albert and Oudtshoorn; the production of
wine and brandy in all these districts is by far the greater
portion of the total yield of the Colonial vineyards. They
may conveniently be distinguished as coast districts and inland
districts, inasmuch as the physical condition and chemical com-
position of the soil, and also the' climatic conditions in these
districts, are so different as to compel the wine-farmer to adopt
different ways of cultivating the vine. The divisions of the
Cape, Stellenbosch, Caledon, Malmesbury and Paarl exhibit a
great similarity in soil and climate, and form the group of the
coast districts, whereas all the other divisions may be called the
inland districts. The rocks which contribute towards the forma-
tion of soil in the coast districts are granite, clay-slate, and sand-
stone. The best vineyards situated on hills or slopes, such as
those of Constantia, Bottelary, Moddergat, Jonkers Hoet, Paarl,
Groeneberg, and Riebeeks Kasteel, are all on decomposed granitic
soil, and there is no doubt that the produce of these vineyards
is qualitatively superior to the wine produced in lower situations.
The alluvial soil in the coast districts is formed from the con-
stituents of granite, clay-slate, and sandstone, and is found along
the courses of the Kuils, Eerste, Laurentz, and Berg River.
The greatest difference in the physical properties, and in the
chemical composition, may be observed in these vineyards, but
in all the soil is distinguished by a very small amount of lime.
Numerous analyses of the soils have been made, and the results
show that the amount of lime seldom exceeds '1 per cent. Many
wine farmers have adopted a system of manuring by which they
supply the soil with this necessary ingredient, and their method
has always been rewarded with excellent results.
As a rule the vineyards in the coast districts are not irrigated,
and this must be attributed to another important constituent of


270
CAPE VITICULTURE.
the granite soils, the ferruginous clay, which possesses a most
peculiar power of retaining moisture, whereas the porous sandy
soils, or the loose calcareous soils of the inland districts, readily
part with the moisture they contain, and therefore soils require
irrigation. The rainfall in the coast is much greater than in the
inland districts, and the maximum rainfall is during the winter
months, a circumstance most favourable to viticulture, as the
crops ripening in summer, never suffer from rain.
The great difference in the rainfall between the coast and in-
land districts is not the only cause of the different methods of
cultivating the vine in these districts. The physical condition
and the chemical composition of the soil of the vineyards in the
inland districts are most peculiar, and are the cause of the enor-
mous production which the vines yield. A bed of ferruginous
marl, the so-called "kalkbank," stretches for; miles and miles
almost at the same level through the lowlands of the district of
Worcester, Eobertson, Montagu, Ladismith, and Oudtshoorn. It
commences on the Hex Kiver and extends along the Langeber-
gen as far as Cogman's Kloof. The whole belt of land between
the Langebergen and Zwartebergen, from the Koo to Meiring's
Poort, is also characterised by the occurrence of this "kalk-
bank." The ferruginous marl frequently changes into calca-
reous clay, which readily decomposes, forming a very rich, loose,
and deep soil. The value of this soil is, even in the Colony, not
sufficiently appreciated, although there cannot be any doubt
about the fact that no more fertile soil can be found throughout
the length and breadth of South Africa.
The production of the vineyards of the Cape surpasses as to
quantity and quality that of any other wine-producing country
in the world. This statement will be readily understood and
accepted by the reader who pays some attention to the following
figures. In the Cape, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Malmesbury dis-
tricts the average annual yield is 1J leaguers per 1,000 vines;
expressed in continental measures this yield is equal to 86J hecto-
litres per 10,000 vines, which are as a rule planted in Europe on
1 hectare of land, a square of which the side is 100 metres. If
1,000 vines yield 1£- leaguers at the Cape, 10,000 vines will yield
15 leaguers; as one leaguer of 127 Imperial gallons is equal to
a very little more than of hectolitres, 15 leaguers are equal to
86£ hectolitres, and this quantity is the average yield in the coast
districts in tho Colony. In the Worcester, Robertson, Montagu
and Oudtshoorn districts, the yield is generally 3 leaguers, and
even more, per 1,000 vines which corresponds with 173 hectolitres
per 10,000 vines. The writer of this knows many farmers in the
Worcester, Montagu and Ladismith districts, who year after year


CAPE VITICULTURE.
271
obtain as much as 5 leaguers from 1,000 vines, which amounts to
the fabulous quantity of 287 hectolitres per 10,000 vines. This
enormous, and for the European wine farmer, incredible produc-
tion of the Cape vineyards, is of course a source of wealth to the
Colony; but if it be remembered that only a small portion of the
area which is suitable for viticulture is under cultivation, it is
obvious that no country offers the same chances to intending
viticulturists as the Cape. If we compare the gigantic produc-
tion with the yield of the vineyards in other parts of the world
it will become still more evident that the Cape is the wine-pro-
ducing country par excellence.
The following table give3 a comparative statement of the pro-
duction of wine per 10,000 vines, or per 1 hectare, in the chief
wine-producing countries in the world. The figures are taken
from the standard work on viticulture, by Baron von Babo of
Klosterneuburg, near Vienna, who is the first authority in Europe
on matters referring to viticulture.
Hungary, 1861-1872 24 hectolitres per hectare.
Germany 24
Austria, 1874-1880 18£
Switzerland 42
France, 1873-1883 18J
Italy 14*
Spain 17
Greece 17£
Algeria, 1882 25£
United States 14£
Australia ... 14£
Cape Colony—Coast districts ... 86'J
Inland districts ... 173
As we have stated, the productive power of the vineyards of
the Cape greatly exceeds that of any other viticultural country
in the world; in no country can there be raised from the same
area an amount of wine equal to that raised at the Cape. It is
not necessary to say more regarding these figures, they speak for
themselves.
Early in 1886 the Phylloxera was discovered in some vineyards
of the Cape Peninsula and Stellenbosch district. Measures were
taken at once by the Government to retard the progress of this
plague, but with little success. The insect spread soon through
the vineyards in the vicinity of Stellenbosch, in Bottelary,
Jonkershoet, Bankock, Drakenstein, Puiel and Paarl, and there
can be no doubt that before long all t he vineyards in the Western
Province will be affected by the disease.
»
If
M
» M
» »


272
CAPE VITICULTURE.
Under the direction of the Agricultural Department nurseries
have now been established in all the wine districts of the Colony
for the purpose of raising such varieties of American vines as
have been proved to be phylloxera-resisting, namely, Eiparia,
Kupestris and Solonis. The varieties of the Cape grapes, grafted
on these American vines, grow most luxuriantly in the beautiful
climate of the Cape, and the quantity of grapes produced by
these grafted American vines is much larger than from vines
which were planted directly from the cuttings. This important
fact has been observed during the last two years, and it opens a
bright future for the viticulture of the Colony.

WINE CELLABS, QEOOT CONSTANTIA.


( 273 )
CHAPTER XII.
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDEY. *
By D. Hutcheon, M.R.C.V.S., Colonial Veterinary Surgeon.
The domestic animals, found in possession of the natives of
South Africa, at the date of the discovery of the Cape of Good
Hope, by the Portuguese, near the close of the fifteenth century,
were cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and common poultry. The ostrich,
although existing in great numbers, and roaming all over the
country, was not domesticated for profit until fully two centuries
after the European occupation of the Cape. There were no horses
in any part of the southern angle of the continent, which is very
remarkable, considering the early period of the world's history in
which they existed in Egypt and Northern Africa, and the fact
that South Africa is the native home of three species of zebra,
which belong to the equiue family.
The Cape Horse.
Horses were first introduced to the Cape by the Dutch East
India Company, in the early days of the settlement. They were
brought originally from Java, and are said to have been a mixture
of the Barb and Gulf Arab. Only a very few breeding animals
were originally imported, for we read that at the end of seven
years the stud numbered not more than twenty, including foals.
About that time sixteen more horses arrived from Java, which
evidently did well, as six years later (in 1665) the Company
had more horses than it required, and held a sale, when sixteen
were disposed of at from £4 to £5 apiece.
By 1688—that is, twenty years after the settlement was esta-
blished—the horses had increased in number to a satisfactory
extent, but had deteriorated very much in character and appear-
ance. This is hardly to be wondered at when we consider the
limited number of breeding animals originally at the disposal of
the Company. Under such circumstances proper selection, or
any selection at all, was out of the question, and close in-and-in
breeding became a necessity, and intensified the existing defects.
In order to improve the breed, the Company imported a number
T


274
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
of Persian Arabs, and subsequently passed an Act prohibiting any
one from using a horse under three years of age.
From this date the horses rapidly increased in number until
1719, when horse-sickness appeared for the first time, and carried
off a large percentage of them. In 1763 it reappeared in an
epizootic form, and carried off no less than 2,500 horses. Since
that date the visitations of this equine plague have been more
frequent as the industry of horse-breeding has extended north and
east from the Cape Peninsula. In some years—fortunately at
long intervals—it passes like a wave over the whole colony. For
instance, in 1854-55, it is reported that 70,000 horses and mules
died from this disease in the Cape Colony alone, and it is esti-
mated that about 20,000 died during the last season, 1891-92.
Such wholesale destruction of a species of animal by a par-
ticular enzootic disease, makes it probable that the absence of
horses from Southern Africa, until its occupation by Europeans,
was mainly due to the presence of this equine scourge, affecting as
it does nearly the greater part of its area. But, notwithstanding
these heavy losses, it is an interesting fact, and one which clearly
demonstrates the suitability of the Cape Colony, in every other
respect for profitable horse-breeding, that a shipment of horses
was sent to Madras in 1769, only six years after the small colonial
stud had been so terribly reduced by the loss of 2,500 horses;
and again during 1856-58 no less than 5,482 horses and 104 mules
were shipped to Calcutta and Bombay, almost immediately after
the horse-sickness of 1855 had carried off 70,000 head.
But to return to the formation of the foundation stock. Eight
stud horses were imported from England in 1792—the breed is
not stated, but it is most probable that they were of the early
English roadster, or half-breed stamp, at that time coming into
prominence. They were not thoroughbreds, nor heavy draught
horses, as no mention is made of either at that date. The same
year five stud horses arrived from Boston, and the following year
a number of horses and mares were brought from the New England
States. These are said to have been of Spanish, or Eastern
blood. Referring to the Cape horse of this period, an anonymous
writer to the Cape Monthly Magazine says, " Previous to the year
1800, the only breed of horses then found at the Cape were of
Eastern importation, chiefly Gulf and Arabs; but in March, 1807,
during the French war, two French vessels were captured here,
containing some Spanish horses en route to Buenos Ayres, for
breeding purposes. It is from these that we derive the blue and
red roans, so invaluable for their great powers of endurance," and
so highly prized by many Cape Colonists to the present day.
Such then is the origin of the Cape horse, and his character at


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
275
tlie date of the English occupation, and for some time after, is
represented as that of a strong hardy animal, deficient in size,
substance and symmetry, but possessed of great powers of
endurance, a quality which he has always maintained.
It was in 1813, however, that the dawn of a new era in horse-
breeding commenced at the Cape. In that year Lord Charles
Somerset was appointed Governor of the Colony, and soon after
his arrival he directed his attention to the improvement of the
Cape horse by means of the English thoroughbred. His first
importations were " Bustler" and " Bagatelle," a horse and mare,
followed soon after by "Tempest," "Bobtail," "Alexander-the-
Great," and "Euryalus." These were succeeded by " Cricketer,"
"Sorcerer," "Merry Andrew," "Lulweyche," "Pompey," "Van-
guard," and several mares. These formed the original blood stock
of the colony. During the three following decades first-class
English thoroughbreds continued to be imported by such
enthusiastic breeders and sportsmen as Messrs. Van der Byl,
Cloete, Van Breda, Melck, Kotze, T. B. Bayley, Charles Barry,
and others. Horse-racing became an established institution;
sires from these thoroughbred studs in the Western Province,
were purchased by horse-breeders all over the colony, and con-
siderable improvement began to be manifest in the character and
appearance of the Cape horse generally.
About 1840, the (South African Turf Club was founded, and
mainly through its influence the Cape horse is said to have reached
the highest stage of perfection which it has yet attained during
the period from 1840-1860.
It was during the latter part of that period that the large ship-
ment of horses to India, already mentioned, took place, and which
earned for the Cape horse such a high reputation with the Indian
authorities. One old Indian officer, in writing of these horses,
says: "For a good all-round horse, capable of standing hot and
cold weather in the open and keeping his condition through it,
recommend me to the stamp of horse that was imported from the
Cape during the Mutiny."
Previous to this, several small shipments of Capo horses were
sent to India, every one of which was condemned when first
presented before the committee which had to pass them. Yet
the horses always earned for themselves a high reputation in the
service, and well repaid their cost. Quoting from tho Cape
Monthly Magazine, Captain Gall, in his report, January 31st,
1856, says:—" Out of the forty-four Cape horses purchased by
the late Colonel Havelock in 1837 (which were disapproved of at
first sight), and distributed .... no fewer than thiity-seven were
actually present in the ranks after having done eleven years'


276
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
service, although exposed to all weathers throughout the year."
Lieut.-Colonel Bower also writes in the same strain. He says:—
"The Cape horses purchased by me in 1839 were condemned in
such terms as exposed me to the censure of the Court of Directors,
yet they earned a reputation for themselves in the service which
obliged the Madras Government to make an apology." The same
officer purchased 100 Cape horses in 1849, out of which thirteen
were rejected and sold privately for about 100 rupees each, yet
all did well."
It is very evident, therefore, from these reports that the average
Cape horse to be found about the year 1840 did not present the
Btyle and appearance of a gentleman of his class when judged by
the English standard, but when tested by the maxim that
"handsome is as handsome does," there were few that could show
a better record.
During the twenty years referred to, no less than ninety
thoroughbred horses were imported, for stud purposes, in the
Western Province alone. This large accession of English blood
must have materially improved the Cape horse in symmetry and
style, bringing him more into conformity to the English type;
but he still continued deficient in size and" substance.
Colonel Apperly, writing in 1859, remarks :—" I have a very
high opinion of the present Cape horses, particularly with refer-
ence to their fitness for the ranks of the Indian Army. The only
complaint is their want of size, caused principally by starving the
mares and foals."
There were other causes at work, however, besides this which
operated seriously against the proper development of the horse
industry. One was the prejudices of many of the breeders them-
selves. A friend of Mr. Bayley's writes to him thus:—" Never
were people so cursed with prejudices as the horse-breeders
of the Cape. So long as they confine their attention principally
to such trifles as colour, ears, and white marks, so long will
they find people ready to supply them with the sweepings of
Tattersalls, and thus insure the deterioration of our colonial
breed."
This is really what did occur. Speculators who gauged the
Colonial weakness entered the market and began importing light,
weedy animals with pretty iieads, line necks, and a showy appear-
ance. These, so long as they could be traced in the stud-book,
were sure to meet with a ready sale at exorbitant profits.
On the authority of Mr. Graham Clcete (vide Argus Annual,
1892), over 500 Euglish thoroughbreds have been imported into
South Africa. I do not think that it is an exaggeration to state
that not one-half of tlie=e importations were horses likely to


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
277
benefit the horse stock of the country, while the remainder had
exactly the opposite effect.
In order to counteract this tendency to produce weeds by means
of such thoroughbreds, some breeders imported a number of Dutch
stallions, animals with prominent crests, large quarters, and small
middles, but with showy prancing action. Many of the descen-
dants of these importations are still to be seen in the Western
Province, and when crossed back to the thoroughbred have a
certain showy appearance, and are much admired by some for
driving about town. Mr. T. B. Bayley described them as "mis-
shapen brutes, which had injured some of the oldest studs in the
Colony;" while another writer says, "The sole purpose which
his hammering—wagt een beetje — action can possibly serve,
would be to give some old dowager or valetudinarian an airing
on the parade.'
But in addition to the lack of judgment in the selection of the
horses imported, there was another cause which operated power-
fully against the proper development of the horse-breeding
industry after 1860, viz., the rapid development of other more
profitable pastoral pursuits. Merino-wooled sheep-farming was
at this time rapidly extending over the whole Colony, and con-
suming the food formerly reserved for horses, and Angora goat-
farming was fast becoming an established industry; while during
the same decade the taming and breeding of ostriches were com-
menced, which, when once successfully established, the industry
became an all-absorbing pursuit to thousands of Colonists.
For about two decades, therefore, horse-breeding was compara-
tively neglected, except by a few of the owners of the old established
studs, until about 1882, when the Jockey Club of South Africa
was founded. Since that time the interest in racing has greatly
increased and extended, while the many valuable stakes offered
at the race meetings held under its auspices have had a wholesome
effect in tending to improve the breed of horses.
Further, the development of the gold-fields of the Transvaal,
the increasing wealth of our commercial communities, and our
advanced ideas of comfort and elegance, have produced a growing
demand for first-class riding and driving horses at prices which
will well repay the breeder.
Kecently also a strong effort has been made, both by our own
and the Indian Governments, to revive the trade of shipping our
surplus horse stock as re-mounts to India. Captain Hamilton,
B.A., visited the Colony last year, and purchased 1,100 mules and
a sample of our horses for the Indian Government; and I under-
stand that Mr. H. B. Homan, who recently returned from India,
where he went in order to ascertain personally the stamp of animal


278
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
which is required there, has entered into an agreement to ship a
regular supply.
With such encouragement the question arises, What is the best
means of improving our horse stock in the direction desired, in
order to meet this growing demand?
A strong impression prevails amongst a great many of our
Members of Parliament and leading citizens, that the Arab is the
most suitable stallion for improving our Cape horses in the
direction desired. And as some justification for entertaining such
an opinion, it will be readily conceded that the strength, stamina,
and power of endurance, so characteristic of the Cape horse, is
mainly due to his Eastern origin. Further, it is to its Arab
foundation that the English thoroughbred owes its distinction as
the finest race of horses in the world. But the success of the
Arab in forming the English thoroughbred, has been due to the
climate, the feeding, selection, and care bestowed upon his progeny,
and the fact that at the time of the introduction of the Arab
blood, the English mares were already superior to any to be
found elsewhere; whereas here the conditions are entirely dif-
ferent. The success of the Arab in England is quite exceptional;
in no other European country or colony have the standard and
quality of the modern breeds of racers, hunters, hacks, and
carriage horses, been raised by the Arab. The present improve-
ment of these breeds of horses has been effected mainly by a
large infusion of English thoroughbred blood.
In support of my contention that the Arab is not the most
suitable sire for improving the Cape horse, I might quote the
opinions of such men as Colonel Apperly, Mr. T. B. Bayley, and
others, who had experience of the results of the Arab cross, both
in this Colony and elsewhere. The recommendations of these
gentlemen to the Cape horse breeders were: To increase the size
and substance of their existing horse stock by crossing their
mares with the best description of Hackney or Cleveland stallion,
and to maintain the size and character of the breed by importing
the best English thoroughbred blood and bone that money can
buy; or, as I have recommended elsewhere, first-class hunter
stallions almost thoroughbred, having only a dip into a stronger
breed to give the requisite substance and power.
It was with the object of carrying out these views that the Cape
Government imported twenty-seven Hackney stallions and odo
big-boned thoroughbred four years ago. Mr. W. H. Struben, about
the same time, imported twenty registered Hackney mares and one
Hackney stallion. Several Hackney stallions have also been im-
ported by Messrs. McKenzie and Mellish, of Cape Town; J. M.
Orpen, Barkley East; French, Queenstown; Fianck, Port Eliza-


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
279
beth; and I think by one or two others. The results of these im-
Eortdtions have been very satisfactory, especially where the mares
ad a large strain of thoroughbred blood, and due care was taken
of the progeny. But unless the mares are better attended to
than they generally are, and the foals fed when the natural
vegetation fails, it is impossible to raise the standard and quality
of our horses by importations of any breed.
The requirements of the Colony for heavy draught horses are
being liberally met by Messrs. McKenzie and Mellish, of Cape
Town, Mr. Bradfield, of Dordrecht, and others. Mr. McKenzie
has been breeding Clydesdales and Shire horses for a number of
years, and Mr. Mellish, who commenced some years ago with the
heavy Hackney, is now laying the foundation of a stud of the
fiure-bred Suffolk Punch, and another stud of the pure-bred Cleve-
ands; while, as already stated, superior thoroughbreds are being
imported, since the revival of horse-racing, under the auspices of
the South African Turf Club. Altogether, more attention has
been given to the improvement of our borse stock during the last
ten years than during the twenty years previous. There is every
expectation, therefore, that the horse-breeding industry will again
take its proper position as one of the principal pastoral pursuits
of the Colony.
The last Census returns show that there are 444,147 horses of
all classes and ages in the Cape Colony alone, a far greater
number than we actually require for our own use; yet good
horses are scarce, and the surplus stock is of such a character
that we cannot dispose of it. These remain, therefore, and
consume the food which would keep better and more profitable
animals. No wonder that many colonists look upon horse-sick-
ness as a blessing, instead of a scourge, as it carries off a largo
number of animals that are not worth preserving. But with an
increased demand for farms, necessitating a large reduction in
their size, indifferent farming, with stock that is not worth
taking care of, cannot any longer be profitably continued.
With the constantly increasing demand for good horses, at a
remunerative price, the profits from this industry, under proper
management, will compare favourably with those derived from
any other pastoral pursuit.
The Colony and adjoining States are peculiarly adapted for
horse-breeding, for, with the one exception of horse-sickness,
horses are freer from general disease than any other class of
stock. And in order to prevent losses from that plague, all that
is required is proper shedding during the prevalence of the
epidemic, and provision made for supplying them with a little
food, which good horses will always pay for, more especially


280
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
within the Cape Colony, where the disease only appears at
intervals of ten to fifteen years.
Roaring, and diseases of the respiratory organs, so common
to horses in Europe, are comparatively rare in this Colony; and
navicular disease, that most common cause of lameness in England,
is seldom met with. The main reasons for our exemption from
these maladies are that our climate is so perfect, that the horses
spend nearly the whole of their time in the open air, and are not
cooped up in damp, badly ventilated stables. As Fowler says:—
"All existing species of the family Equidae are dwellers in dry,
open, and generally elevated plains. None are inhabitants of
gloomy forests or reeking marsnes. Fresh air, dryness, and light
are essential to their well-being." And these requirements are
supplied to perfection in the Cape Colony.
Moles.
Mule breeding is carried on to a considerable extent in many
districts. According to the last Census returns, there are about
51,000 mules of all ages in the Colony. Comparatively the
largest proportion of these are used in the Western Province
districts, where almost the whole of the agricultural work is done
by them, and the greater portion of the transport service also.
They are also largely used in towns and villages by contractors,
builders and tradesmen, in Scotch carts, and similar vehicles, both
in single and double harness.
As transport animals, in the large and dry Karroo districts, they
are simply invaluable, being strong, hardy, comparatively free
from disease, and capable of living and thriving on the coarsest
and scantiest vegetation.
It is in the Karroo districts where the large majority of the
mules are bred, although many of the larger-sized mules are now
being raised in other districts. They are much less trouble to
rear, and more economical to use than horses. In fact, they
rarely receive artificial care or attention of any kind until they
are put to work, which is generally when they are about two
years of age.
They get very little training, the ordinary plan is simply to
inspan the young ones in the centre of a team containing four or
six others, and allow them to settle down to the work in their own
way. And although the majority of those which are treated in
this manner retain a certain semi-timid semi-wild stubborn mulish
disposition, there are very few that are really vicious amongst
them, while under proper care and management they become as
docile and tractable as horses.
The hardy character of the Cape mules and the absence of


LIVE-STOCK HDSBANDET.
281
i nherent vice amongst them, are doubtless due to the fact that
the Cape horse, their progenitor on the dam side, is distinguished
for the same characteristics. Captain Hamilton expressed him-
self as being highly pleased with the class of mules which he saw
here, and stated that they would compare favourably with any
that they had in India.
On trial, I have no doubt that the Cape mule will earn for him-
self as good a character in India as the Cape horse did, and now
that the trade of exporting mules to India has been taken in hand
by Messrs. Homan and Faure, their character will not suffer by
the selections made. A shipment of 250 has recently been
despatched by these gentlemen, which will bring credit to the
Colony, and, I hope, profit to the shippers. If a regular export
trade in these useful animals could be established, an almost
unlimited supply could be provided in this colony. I am glad 1o
notice that some splendid Spanish Jackasses have been imported
during the last few years, which should produce a superior class
of large-sized mules for heavy draught purposes.
Asses.
With respect to asses, the Census returns show that there are
45,38-i of these slow but patient slaves in the Colony. They are
bred and used principally in the Karroo districts to the north and
north-west, and are used mainly as transport animals by traders
and others whose object is not to get over the country rapidly but
economically. Spans of twenty or more of these in front of a
wagon are frequently met with, slowly winding their way along
the main roads in the dry Karroo districts. A few donkeys are
used in towns and villages by small tradesmen and costermongers,
and a few are elevated to a distinguished position in connection
with a fully equipped gentleman's establishment; but his princi-
pal lot is that of the poor man's slave—the most economical motor
force in the Colony.
Cattle.
Large herds of cattle were found in possession of the Hottentots
of the Cape at the time of its discovery by the Portuguese,
and, subsequently, when vessels of the principal maritime nations
began to call at Table Bay, they were able to obtain as many
cattle as they required, at prices ranging from a piece of hoop
iron to a couple of pocket knives.
It would appear from Theal's ' History of South Africa,' that the
cattle in possession of the natives living on the East Coast were
superior to those found in possession of the natives living on the
West Coast and the country to the north. We read that Corporal


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
283
But it is as a draught animal that the Cape ox appears to the
best advantage. In that capacity he has few equals and no
superiors. In shape and general character he is quite different
from any of the modern European breeds of cattle, and is specially
adapted for draught purposes. He has a strong, proportionately
heavy forequarter, with a large development of the muscles of
the upper part of the neck and withers for holding the yoke; a
close, compact body, light and drooping hindquarters, and splendid
legs and feet for travelling. When in good condition, he presents
a certain symmetry and beauty of form which is much admired.
One of the finest teams of draught oxen that I ever saw was a
team of pure bred Africanders, as they are called. They belonged
to Mr. Wm. Schoeman, of the Cradock district, and were awarded
the first prize at the Agricultural Show held there in 1891.
They were dark red in colour, similar to the Devon, with scarcely
a speck of white on one of them, and so uniform in size and shape
that it would have been difficult to distinguish the one from the
other separately.
As the ox-wagon was the principal mode of conveyance for
passengers, as well as for goods, for nearly two centuries after the
occupation of the Cape by the Dutch, the early stock-farmers
took a great pride in possessing spans, or teams, of oxen as nearly
alike in colour and appearance as possible. This naturally led
to selection by means of the colour test, and as the dark red would
appear to have been the favourite colour, the pure-bred Africander
cattle at present found in possession of many of the Dutch farmers
in the Cape Colony and adjoining States, are nearly all of varying
shades of red in colour.
The native cattle in Namaqualand and Damaraland, and those
in possession of the natives in some of the Colonial territories,
are red and white, the red colour largely predominating, and that
■would appear to have been the colour of the original cattle found at
the Cape; but by selection the white has been largely bred out.
Those pure-bred Africander cattle retain their wild character,
and become very dangerous when excited or disturbed in any way.
Under such circumstances they will charge human beings just as
a buffalo would. This is not due to any innate untameable
disposition, but simply because the cows, not being very large
milkers, are not milked by hand, but allowed to run with
their calves undisturbed; hence their wild character has been
intensified, rather than diminished, under European treatment.
When owned by natives, or handled and attended to properly by
Europeans, thev become tolerably quiet and tractable, although
it would, doubtless, take a few generations of attention to mako
them as docile as the modern European breeds.


284
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
The cows when milked by hand will only give up their milk to
the milker in the presence of their calf. The plan adopted is as
follows: the calves are kept separate from the cows and are driven
into a separate kraal, adjoining the kraal in which the cows are
placed. When the milker comes he calls to the boy in charge of
the calves to let a certain calf out, which as soon as it escapes
through the gate runs straight for its mother, and commences to
suck. The cow stands then and allows the milker to fasten her
hind legs together with a riem, after which he knocks the calf away
from the udder, and commences to milk, drawing off as much as
he considers sufficient, leaving the calf to drain the udder dry.
The same process is repeated with the others. If the calf of one
of these cows happens to die, the cow refuses to give up her milk
to the milker, and very soon becomes dry. A stratagem to
deceive such a cow is often tried, and frequently succeeds. It
consists in skinning the dead calf and stuffing the skin with
straw. The milker brings this stuffed calf and lays it alongside
of the mother, who smells it and is comforted, and commences to
let down her milk to him.
Another habit of these cows, when they calve out on the veld,
is to hide their calves in some bush or sheltered spot, so that
they may not be seen. And it is astonishing how strong the
wild instinct is in these calves, for they will lie for a week or
more in perfect concealment. Of course, if the calf is not found,
the cow cannot be milked—hence every effort is made to discover
its hiding-place. The usual plan is to keep the cow in the kraal
for twenty-four hours, and then to watch where she goes, being
careful not to let the cow see that you are following her.
As to the primary origin of the cattle found in South Africa,
it is most probable that they were brought south by the native
races—the Hottentots and Kafirs—who are believed to have
come at a remote period from some part of Northern Africa.
They bear a very strong resemblance to the cattle of Spain and
Portugal, but that may simply be because the cattle found in
these two countries are the remaining representatives of the
original cattle of most European countries, before the modern
breeds were formed.
Be that as it may, the Dutch Company made early efforts to
improve the native breed of cattle at the Cape by importations
from Holland, the New England States of America, and from
Great Britain. The character of the cattle, or a description of
the animals imported, is not given, but it is most probable, from
the close connection of the Company with Holland, that, with the
exception of those which were imported from Britain, the majority
of the others would be of the improved Dutch breed, now known


LIVI-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
285
as the Holstein or Friesland—more especially as that is one of
the oldest-established of modern breeds of cattle. Professor
Overman states that the modern Friesland breed of cattle has
been in existence for about 2,000 years, and that it has been
from it that the majority of the modern improved European
dairy cattle have been derived.
There is little doubt that the foundation stock of the improved
breed of cattle formed at the Cape were Frieslands. What is
known as the Cape cow—that is, a cow bred in the Cape Peninsula
—is dominantly Friesland still—that is to say, there are strongly
marked Friesland characteristics about the large majority of
them.
The Cape cow had evidently greatly improved in milking
qualities during the first century of the Dutch occupation, for
Theal informs us that an average of 22,322 pounds of butter
were exported to India for a period of eighteen years, com-
mencing in 1754.
The breed has, during the present century, been largely crossed
with the Kerry, the Alderney or Jersey, and the Ayrshire breeds,
and the characters of each of these breeds can be observed in the
Cape cow, the one or the other preponderating, depending upon
the impressiveness of the last sire or the repetition of the same
cross.
Although of a very mixed breed, the Cape cow has established
an excellent reputation us a good milker. In fact, that has been
the only selection test which has been carried out; and it is really
the best selection test for the establishment of dairy cattle that
can be adopted.
Since the formation of stud-books and pedigree stock there is
too great a tendency to stick to pure strains, and to breed from
all pedigree animals, whether they are worthy representatives of
the breed or not; hence many half-bred cows are superior to
many pure-bred cows in milking qualities. The Cape cow is a
good example of this fact, and it is really surprising to see the
quantity of milk which some of these big-little cows yield from
the small quantity of food which they require.
Four and a half to h've gallons of milk a day is quite a common
yield for these cows to keep up for months, when properly fed.
Large numbers of these Cape cows have been sent to all parts of
South Africa, at prices ranging from £15 to £25 apiece, and
picked ones at muoli higher figures.
Besides this composite breed, as it may be termed, there are a
number of pure-bred herds of Friesland cattle in the Cape
Peninsula, and a greater number that are dominantly Friesland
throughout the Western Province; that is, herds in which nothing


28fi
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
but pure-bred Friesland bulls have been used for a number of
years. This breed is undoubtedly the favourite with the Dutch
farmers. The prominent breeders of pure Friesland cattle in the
Cape Peninsula are Dr. Landsberg, Messrs. F. Mellish, G. Gie,
&c.; while to the Honourable Mr. J. H. Hofmeyr, late Member
of the Legislative Council, is due the credit of importing a large
number of the finest animals of this breed that have been intro-
duced into this Colony.
There are also a few very fine small herds of pure-bred Alderney
or Jersey cows near Cape Town, the principal amongst these
being the herds belonging to Messrs. Adrian Van der Byl, W.
Hertzog, Lind, Purcel, Dr. Meyer, &c. The late Dr. Hiddingh
had a very fine herd, which was dispersed at his death. A few
years ago, Mr. Rawbone of Sir Lowry's Pass laid the foundation
have been a number of pure-bred Kerry bulls imported, but I
do not know of any one who lias established a pure-bred herd of
these. They are used principally to cross with the larger breeds,
to give compactness and hardiness, and to iinprovo the quality of
the milk.
In the Eastern Province of the Colony, more particularly in
the sweet grass-veld districts, the Shorthorn is the most popular
breed of cattle, especially with the English farmers; and where
the conditions are favourable, and there is an abundance of food,
this breed thrives and grows out well, giving the best average
returns to the farmer where milk and beef are both considered.
The exhibit of short-horned cattle shown at the Port Elizabeth
Agricultural Sbow of 1891 was a credit to the Eastern Province,
and would not have disgraced some provincial shows in England.
The leading breeders of Shorthorns in the Eastern Province are
Messrs. G. King and Sons and W. H. Hockley, of Bedford,
D. Watson, of Victoria East, Quale Dickson, of Fort Beaufort,
G. Pirrie, of Richmond, C. Southey, H. W. Struben, and M. Hall,
of Middelburg, and G. Paton, of Barkly West; and there are
many others whose herds are dominantly Shorthorn, although
not perhaps pure-bred on both sides.
There are three herds of pure Hereford cattle also in the
Eastern Province, belonging to Messrs. Sutherland, Thomas
River, Pope, of Adelaide, and the Grewar Estate near Kimberley.
The latter has only been established a few years, but all are
doing well, and promise to be a success. The Hereford's aptitude
for putting on ilesh and of maintaining its condition, even when
the lood is not over abundant, makes it a very suitable breed for
many parts of the Colony.
Mr. William Southey, of Middelburg, has also established a
of a herd of pure-bred

There


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
287
very fine herd of pure-bred Devon cattle, and the Grewar Estate
has also laid the foundation of a small herd of the same breed.
This compact, hardy breed of cattle is peculiarly adapted for
our dry Karroo districts, where it is able to maintain its size and
condition, and makes an excellent cross with the Africander
cattle.
Mr. Leppan, of Upper Albany, is the only breeder of pure
Ayrshire cattle that I know of in the Eastern Province, and
Mr. Boysen, of Graaff Eoinet, the only breeder of pure Jerseys;
but there are many individual pure-bred animals of both breeds
scattered throughout the Province, and a greater number of herds
that have a large infusion of the blood of these dairy breeds.
The Friesland cattle are now largely represented in the
Eastern Province, and have been fast gaining in popularity
during the last ten years. Previous to that period, Messrs. H.
B. Christian, of Port Elizabeth, F. Wienand, and William Fuller,
of Bedford, and I. Vermaak, of Albert, were almost the only
breeders of pure-bred Friesland cattle in the Eastern Province,
while at the present time there are scores of farmers breeding
these cattle with very satisfactory results.
The exhibit of Friesland cattle at the Port Elizabeth Agri-
cultural Show in April of this year was the largest and best that
has ever been seen together before in the Colony; and some very
superior bulls of the breed have been imported into the Colony
since that date. The Friesland cattle are undoubtedly the most
widely popular dairy breed with Cape Colonists at the present
time.
But, notwithstanding the rapid dissemination of these improved
modern breeds, the large majority of the cattle, more particularly
those found in the dry Karroo districts to the North and North-
West of the Colony, are still mainly of the Africander breed.
On many of the old-established farms in these districts, however,
there are herds of these cattle to be met with, which in colour
and general appearance look very like pure-bred Africanders, but
a closer inspection reveals the fact that they have been greatly
improved, at some previous date, in milking and other qualities,
by a cross with some cattle of a good milking strain; most
probably with the Cape cattle from the Peninsula. The improve-
ment has then been perpetuated by selection, until they may
now be considered an improved Africander breed.
These cattle have all the hardy characteristics of the pure-bred
Africander, and are thoroughly acclimatised to the dry and scanty
vegetation of the Karroo; they are very docile, from being con-
stantly handled and milked, they rear their calves well, maintain
their condition, and supply the household with milk and butter,


288
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
where it is doubtful if any of the modern breeds of dairy cattle
eould exist without artificial feeding. In fact, the existence of
such an improved breed of cattle in these dry Karroo districts is
an object lesson in the art of breeding, clearly demonstrating that
in the formation and establishment of any particular breed of
farm animals, primary consideration must be given to the question,
whether the food supply and general surrounding conditions are
capable of maintaining the character and quality of such a breed
unimpaired and at a profit to the farmer.
The day will come, and the sooner it arrives the better, when
each distinctly different section of the Colony will have its own
particular types or breeds of farm animals, corresponding to the
capabilities of its soil, vegetation, and general climatic conditions.
The stock-farmers are beginning to realize this fact, and are study-
ing to form their respective breeds in accordance witli it.
The census of 1891 shows that there are 2,210,834 cattle of all
ages and classes in the Cape Colony, including its native
territories; these numbers could be very largely increased, and
the returns from them more than doubled, if shelter were provided
lor stock during the winter, and a supply of food preserved to
improved methods of farming naturally and necessarily lead to
improved character and quality of stock, with increased profit
and pleasure in conducting farming operations.
It is noticeable that a great improvement has been effected in
the different breeds of cattle during the last twenty years. This
has been mainly due to the discovery of the diamond fields and
the rapid extension of the railway system to that busy centre.
Previous to the construction and extension of our railways, the
transport of tho whole of the goods traffic of the Colony was
carried on by means of tho ox-wagon; consequently cattle were
bred principally for draught and slaughter purposes. Superior
milking qualities were of secondary importance, except in the
neighbourhood of towns arid villages, as there was no means of
disposing of the surplus dairy produce after the local demand was
supplied. During the summer months when food was abundant,
the local markets were glutted with butter, selling at a few pence
a pound, while at other times the supply would fall far short of
local requirements, and rise to as much as four and five shillings
a pound.
With the extension and connexion of the different systems of
railway all this has been changed. Butter can now be sent to the
principal business centres from all partB of the Colony approached
support them when the natural

Of course,
Dairy-farming.


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
289
by the railways, thereby equalizing the price, and greatly in-
creasing the local demand; while the amount of butter imported
during the last ten years has been reduced by more than one half.
There is also a constantly increasing number of our large dairy
farmers devoting their attention to cheese-making—some excellent
colonial-made cheese, Cheddar and Stilton, being now regularly
supplied to our local markets.
The extension of our railways has also had the effect of dis-
Eensing with the services of tens of thousands of draught oxen;
ence the farmer now wants to breed an ox which will come to
maturity at three or four years old, instead of having to keep him
six or eight years, as formerly, before he is fit for the butcher.
These are the main influences which have led to a more rapid
improvement in our breeds of cattle during the last twenty years,
than at any previous period of the century.
But much still remains to be done before our dairy industry
takes the position which it ought to occupy. Fortunately, we
have the example and the experience of the Australian Colonies
to guide us in this matter. It is only a few years since the dairy
industry of the Australian Colonies was in the same unsatisfactory
condition that the dairy industry of the Cape Colony is in at the
present time. This unsatisfactory state of matters has been
successfully overcome by the Australian colonists, by the intro-
duction of cream separators, the adoption of the most approved
methods of manufacturing dairy produce, giving greater attention
to the selection of dairy cows, and making provision for feeding
them when the natural vegetation fails. This has been done
mainly by means of ensilage, which is considered the best and
most economical plan of feeding dairy cows. But the greatest
stimulus to the development of the dairy industry, especially in
the Victorian Colony, has been the action of the Government in
offering large bonuses for the establishment of creameries and
butter factories, and for butter exported to England; at the same
time a travelling dairy was fitted up with all the appliances
necessary for making butter and cheese on the most approved
principles. This was placed under the management of a dairy
expert, who travelled round the Colony, visiting the towns, villages,
and dairy centres, where arrangements could be made for the
supply of a sufficient quantity of milk. At each of these places
he made butter and cheese and demonstrated the uses of the
various appliances, etc.
These measures were only commenced in 1888, and the rapid
development of the dairy industry since that date has been little
short of marvellous. In addition to doubling the local demand,
on account of the superior quality of the butter manufactured,
u


290
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
400 tons of butter were exported to England in 1889-90; 1,000
tons in 1890-91; and over 2,000 tons in 1891-92, and they expect
to export 3,000 tons during the present season; while the prices
realised are sufficient to satisfy the producer, pay the exporter,
and at the Fame time please the consumer.
The Cape Colony is much more favourably situated than the
Australian colonies for exporting butter to England, the distance
is much less, and it possesses greater shipping facilities. All that
is required is co-operation on the part of the dairy farmers for the
establishment of creameries and butter factories at suitable
situations along the railway routes. These schemes the present
Cape Government is prepared to foster on the same lines as they
have been so successfully carried out in Victoria. Courses of
dairy instruction have been given at the Agricultural School of
Stellenbosch by Professor Blersch for the last three years, and
more recently at the Somerset East Agricultural School by
Professor Overman; while during the same period Messrs.
Macdonald and Hellier have been travelling through the eastern
and midland districts, giving practical instruction on the same
and kindred subjects. Further, Government has fitted out
travelling dairies—one for the Eastern Province and one for
the Western Province—and Mr. MacDonald, the Agricultural
Assistant at Graham's Town, lately visited Europe with the view
of obtaining the most modern dairy appliances for that purpose,
and at the same time acquiring a thorough knowledge of the
most approved methods of manufacturing dairy produce. Cream
separators are now being largely used throughout the Colony, and
one successful butter factory has been established at Daggaboer's
Nek in the Bedford district.
It is impossible to develop the export trade unless butter
factories are established, because in no other way can first-class
butter of uniform quality be produced in sufficient quantity for
shipment, and without an export trade the dairying industry
cannot be successfully prosecuted. The surplus butter in times
of abundance must be got rid of, in order to maintain the local
price at a figure which will pay the producer. Further, experience
shows that these creameries and butter factories must be esta-
blished on the co-operative principle—the contributors of milk
must be shareholders. Proprietary factories have invariably
failed. As Mr. Wilson, the dairy expert for the Government
of Victoria, says, "It is from the superior produce of the
fold, and it is from the factory butter alone that we are
to create an unlimited trade In the British market." It is
sincerely to be hoped therefore that the action of the
factory that we are to increase


LIVE-STOOK HUSBANDRY.
291
Cape Government will find a ready response from the cattle
farmers of the Colony, and that within a very few years
they will have removed the blot from it of being a large
importer of butter, and have in addition established a large export
trade in the British market
The Cape Goat.
The common goat was found in possession of the natives of tho
Cape at the date of its first occupation by Europeans. It would
appear, however, that the Hottentot tribes living near to the
Cape Peninsula kept very few, if any, as no mention is made of
them until the census returns of 16W1, when 220 are stated to be
in possession of the Colonists. After that date, whether by
accession from the natives' flocks or by the process of natural
multiplication, the numbers of common goats increased very
rapidly, until checked somewhat by the introduction of Merino
sheep, and at a later period by the commencement of Angora
goat-farming. According to the last census returns there are at
present nearly 3£ millions of common goats in the Cape Colony
and its native territories. They are farmed with principally in
the dry Karroo districts to the north and north-west of the
Colony, in the native territories, in many of the coast districts,
and in the bush country where sheep do not thrive. In the
agricultural districts also they are largely raised as a source of
cheap food for the servants. They also form a considerable
portion of the stock of poor farmers, both European and native,
in all the districts of the Colony. They are also a necessary
adjunct to all sheep farms, where they perform the function, in
great part, of sheep dogs, only, instead of driving the flocks, they
lead them. When a flock of sheep require to be kraaled, or
penned, for any purpose, a couple of kapaters (castrated male
goats) are employed to lead the flock into these enclosures,
which they do very efficiently, walking in front with a stately,
dignified gait, as it' conscious of the important duty which they
are discharging; the sheep crowd in at the gate immediately
behind them. It is hardly possible to estimate the saving of
both time and temper which a few well-trained common goats
will effect on a large sheep farm at times of shearing, dipping,
dosing, or dressing, when portions of the flocks of sheep require to
be led in succession into a small and strange enclosure to be
caught, while their services in leading flocks of sheep which have
to travel long distances through the Colony, crossing rivers, &c,
are simply indispensable. I have seen two such leading kapaters,
or "voorloopers," as they are called, take a large flock of sheep
through a good-sized river in sections of one hundred or more at
u 2


292 LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
a time. The plan adopted was for one man to stand on each
side of the drift. The goats were launched into the river, with
as many of the sheep as could be got to follow them. As soon as
the goats reached the other side, the man standing there caught
them and held them until the sheep swimming after them had
reached terra firma; he then turned the goats' heads to the
river, which they immediately re-crossed, to be caught again and
re-launched with another consignment of the flock; and this was
repeated until the whole flock, numbering about 2,000 sheep,
were safely led across the river.
The common goats are very hardy animals, grow to a large size,
and multiply very rapidly; hence they are about the most
profitable stock which a farmer can raise in districts where there
is a demand for their mutton. For a poor farmer who has only
a small flock of sheep, the common goat is the most economical
slaughter animal for his household consumption. Their mutton
is a little stronger and coarser than that of the sheep, or even the
Angora goat; but when properly prepared, it is wholesome and
palatable. During a long drought in some of the dry Karroo
districts, they are often the only kind of stock in a condition
fit for the butcher.
The original goat found in possession of the natives was a very
inferior animal to the common goat of the country at the present
time. The improvement in size and appearance has been effected
by repeated importations of superior goats of the common varieties
from Europe.
The Akgoba Goat.
The introduction of the fine-haired varieties of goat into this
Colony was beset with more than ordinary difficulties and mis-
fortunes, as the following brief history will show.
In 1725, the Dutch Company made an effort to establish a
breed of the Cashmere variety of goats in the Colony. Twenty-
four Persian goats were obtained and sent to Ceylon, whence they
were conveyed to the Colony. Eight only of these arrived at the
Cape, the others died on the way. Of these eight only one was a
she-goat, and she unfortunately died soon after being landed.
The he-goats remaining were then crossed with the native she-
goats, and the female progeny of these cross-mated again with
the imported sires. Tolerably good hair was obtained from this
second cross; but the imported rams died, and no others being
introduced, the breed for want of careful selection began to
deteriorate, the hair became of little value, and the industry had
to be abandoned.
No further effort to introduce a fine-haired breed of goats into


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
293
the Colony appears to have been made until 1835. Some time
previous to this Mr. Biley of New South Wales, imported into
that Colony a few Cashmere goats from France, and in 1835 he
exported three of these to the Cape of Good Hope. They con-
sisted of one pure-bred ram and ewe and a half-bred ewe. They
were purchased by Mr. Korsten of Port Elizabeth, but they are
reported to have died of scurvy before any progeny was got from
them. Three years later—183S—Colonel Henderson of Bombay,
obtained twelve pure-bred Angora rams and one ewe, which he
brought by a very circuitous route, and at great expense, to the
Cape (they are supposed to have come by Bussorah and Bombay).
Six rams died on the journey, and it was discovered that the other
six had been rendered impotent by some operation before being
exported. At any rate, only one male, which was born on the
passage, proved perfect, and capable of propagating his species.
Mr. F. W. Beitz says," Colonel Henderson did not communicate
the particulars of his loss or expense to any one publicly;" and
this is hardly to be wondered at, considering what his disappoint-
ment must have been at the result, alter all his trouble and
expense.
Colonel Henderson introduced these goats into the Caledon
District. He there selected pure white native goat ewes and
crossed them with the pure-bred Angora ram, and the trial proved
a success. The female progeny from this cross were again mated
lived, which was fortunately to a good old age.
The stock thus formed by careful selection of the ewes, and
close in-breeding to the one ram, became wonderfully fine, and
were kept pure and distinct for a number of years in that district,
first by Colonel Henderson, then in succession by Mr. de Vos
of Caledon, and Messrs. Franz van Aardt and Hopley of
Swellendam.
Meantime young rams from this select flock were purchased as
stud rams for crossing with selected common goat-ewes, by
farmers in the Caledon and surrounding districts, so that in a
few years there were a large number of cross-bred Angora
flocks.
Mr. Mosenthal, writing in 1857, says, "The stock from this
flock found their way to Caledon, Swellendam, to Bokkeveld, and
Boggoveld, Beaufort West, the Swart Euggens, Camdebo, Ehenos-
terberg, and Winterveld. A Mr. Sinclair, who lived between
Eichmond and Hope Town, had a flock numbering over 600, but
their hair was very coarse."
Observing the manifest improvement which this cross effected,
the Agricultural Society of Swellendam resolved to make en-
with their sire, and thi

>eated as long as the ram


294
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
quiries with a view to the introduction of some fresh blood, and
£1,200 were subscribed by those interested for that purpose, but
alter a lengthened correspondence with every one likely to give
information on the subject, the difficulties appeared insurmount-
able; the project was abandoned, and the money returned to the
subscribers.
Messrs. Mosenthal Brothers then took the matter up. They
first communicated with Lord Derby, as he had some in his
menagerie, but the information obtained revealed such difficulties
that the idea was abandoned for a while. They then communi-
cated with the Indian authorities, but the information received
was, that the difficulties of getting them across the Himalaya
Mountains were very great. They then tried to procure the
goats from Persia or Asia Minor, but remained unsuccessful. A
London firm was then requested to write to Beyrout, but they
wrote to Bavaria. It was then decided to go in person and bring
the goats, and Mr. Adolph Mosenthal proceeded to the Orient for
that purpose, and after much trouble, great personal inconvenience,
and expense, he succeeded in landing thirty rams and ewes in the
Colony in 1856. These were taken to Graaff Keinet and sold at
an average price of £82 per head. Although the particulars are
not stated, it is reported that a considerable number of Messrs.
Mosenthal's importation died on the way. This importation of
Messrs. Mosenthal Brothers were, therefore, the foundation stock
of the pure-bred Angora goats of the Midland and Eastern
districts of the Colony.
The following year the Honble. Dr. White, now of Cape Town,
obtained a number of pure-bred Angora rams and ewes through
Sir Titus Salt. This shipment arrived at the Cape about
December, 1857, and were located in the Swellendam district, and
became the foundation stock of the pure-bred Angora goats of the
Western Province. A year or two after this Mr. Ziervogel, of
Graaff Beinet, purchased some rams from this pure-bred flock of
the Honble. Dr. White's, and took them up to the Graaff Beinet
district. It may be mentioned in this connection also that the
Honble. Dr. White, subsequent to his importation of the Angoras,
obtained a pair of Alpacas, a male and female; the latter gave
birth to a lamb, but the male parent, either in the exuberance
of his joy at becoming a father, or more probably being jealous
of the lamb for having usurped his place in the affection of its
mother, killed it. Some time after this the female died, she being
much older than the male, and the latter becoming distracted at
the loss of his partner, wandered away, and was found drowned
in an adjoining river. Thus ended that industry.
About 1867, Messrs. Stewart and Company, of Port Elizabeth,


LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDKY.
295
received a consignment of Angora goats, which were distributed
mainly about Mount Stewart and adjoining districts.
No further importations of Angora goats were made until 1879,
when the late Mr. J. B. Evans, of Rietfontein, visited the Angora
districts of Asia Minor, and obtained a large number of pure-bred
Angora goats which were landed at Port Elizabeth in December
of that year. The following year, other three lots were imported
by Messrs. Holland and Co., of Port Elizabeth, Messrs. David and
Co., of Somerset East, and Mr. Evans. There were some goats
in these latter importations, which were not considered to be
of very excellent quality, and grave doubts were expressed
respecting their purity of descent; but the large majority realized
high prices, ranging from £100 to £400 apiece. They were
Bold at Port Elizabeth, Somerset East, and Graaff Reinet,
respectively. A small number which were held over from Messrs.
Holland and Co.'s sale were sold at the late Mr. Frank Holland's
sale of stock at Adelaide in April, 1881, but did not average very
high prices. These three lots of Angoras were purchased,
principally, by the breeders of Graaff Reinet, Aberdeen, Jansen-
ville, Somerset East, Bedford, and Fort Beaufort. No further
importations of Angora goats have been made since that date.
During the thirty-five years that Angora goat farming has
been established, the extension of the industry has been very
satisfactory. According to the last census returns, there are now
3,184,018 Angora goats in the Colony. It must be understood,
however, that only a comparatively small number of these are
of pure descent; the great majority have been necessarily derived
from the common goat ewes of the Colony, repeatedly crossed
with more or less pure-bred Angora rams.
Further, it must be admitted, that there are many Angora goat
farmers who do not realize the importance of breeding from pure-
bred rams only; hence there has not been that uniform improve-
ment in the quality of Cape mohair which might have been
expected during a period of thirty-five years. There are,
fortunately for the credit of the Colony, a large number of
Angora farmers who are fully alive to the necessity of constantly
grading up their stock with pure-bred rams, and these of the best
which can be procured. The success which has attended the
enterprise and skill of such breeders, has abundantly shown that
mohair can be grown in many parts of the Cape Colony as perfect
in quality, and as beautiful in lustre, as any mohair produced in
Angora itself.
It must be noted, however, that the same superior quality of
mohair cannot be grown in every district of the Colony, any more
than it can be grown in every district of Asia Minor. It is a


296
LIVE-STOCK HUSBANDRY.
well-recognised fact that the very finest and brightest Turkey
mohair can only be produced in that part of Asia Minor situated
within a limited circle of Angora and Beibazar. Outside of that
circle the mohair deteriorates in fineness and lustre, although the
goats may increase in size and the fleeces in weight. The same
variation in quality is being recognised in this Colony. There
are three distinct types or varieties of the Angora goat here,
distinguished as (a) the fine, lustrous, silky-fleeced goat, produc-
ing the most valuable hair, but an animal of comparatively small
size, with only a moderate weight of fleece, as a rule; (I) the
long, heavy-haired goat, having a very heavy [fleece, but liair
rather strong; and (c) the so-called oily goat. This variety of
goat secretes a sort of sebaceous secretion from the skin which,
on the hair, presents a greasy appearance, but there is very little,
if any, fat in it. This goat produces a heavy, profitable fleece,
and is preferred by some breeders. The manner in which these
different types of Angora goats were originally formed, is generally
represented to have been by means of a cross between the black
Kurd goat common to the whole of Asia Minor and the pure bred
silky-fleeced goat of Angora and surrounding districts. The
distinct characters of these crosses have been perpetuated and
intensified by the dissimilarity of the climate, soil, and vegetation
of the different districts where the Angora goat is now raised,
both in Asia Minor and in Cape Colony. The same modifying
influences are now fully recognised in sheep breeding, and, in fact,
in stock breeding generally. Every breeder's main study should,
therefore, be to find out the particular class or type of animal
which is best adapted to the particular conditions of his own
locality, and which promises to give him the most profitable
return.
The main hindrance to the successful development of the
merino wool and mohair industries in the Cape Colony is the
fact that the foundation stock of both industries were respectively
the hairy, fat-tailed native sheep and the coarse, common-bred
native goat. It takes a number of generations of careful breeding
to eliminate the plebeian origin, and when that care is not
exercised it is never eliminated.


( 297 )

CHAPTER XIII.
OSTPJCH FARMING.
r By Arthur Douglass, M.L.A.
From the earliest period, whether amongst barbaric or civilised
nations, the downy plumes of the ostrich have been highly
prized as one of the most beautiful of feathers. Not only were
they valued by fair dames, but even " warrior knights, and men
of high degree," esteemed them as trappings for their horses,
their armour, and their persons,
"When white-plumed steeds and riders bold
Thronged in their rich and proud array."
By the English nation they have been specially prized from the
time that the Black Prince at the battle of Crecy, in 1346,
having slain the king of Bohemia, plucked the plume of ostrich
feathers from the deceased king's helmet, and placing it in his
own, assumed it as the crest of the Prince of Wales, which it has
ever since remained. In those days, the feather could be obtained
only from wild birds in Northern Africa; but after the coloniza-
tion of South Africa, the ostrich was fouud to inhabit nearly the
whole of the continent, and is found in no other part of the
world.
From the extreme shyness and great swiftness of foot of the
ostrich, the export of feathers from both North and South Africa


298
OSTRICH FARMING.
remained on a small scale; and the article being in such limited
supply, could not come into that general use as a ladies' head
ornament, or for dress trimming, which of late years it has
become, and for which purposes its intrinsic beauty must
always ensure it a pre-eminent position. It is only since the
domestication of the bird, and the consequently large increase of
the production of ostrich feathers, that we find it a staple article
of commerce.
The domestication and farming of the ostrich began in and
has hitherto been confined to the Colony of the Cape of Good
Hope. Up to 1860, it was commonly thought that the day was
not far distant when the ostrich would be numbered amongst the
extinct animals of the world. Eager, indiscriminating hunters,
both European and native, found the chase of the wild bird an
exciting and profitable sport. They killed them for their feathers
at all times of the year, without any regard to the breeding
seasons; an ordinary way of destroying them being to watch the
male birds with fine plumage at their nests and then to take
advantage of them while sitting on the eggs and steal up near
enough to shoot them. As this process of extermination went
on, the wild birds were scared away from their old haunts into
the desert interior, and the poet Pringle describes how
"The fleet-footed ostrich over the waste
Speeds like a horseman who travels in haste.
Hieing away to the home of her rest
Where she and her mate have scooped their nest,
Far hid from the pitiless plunderer's view,
In the pathless depths of the parched Karroo."
But all this was to be changed. Instead of the fair dames of
the Court and society being adorned with the snowy plumes at
the cost of the destruction of these noble birds, a new industry
was to be given to the world, another animal added to our
domesticated list, and new life and vigour thrown into our farming
population at the Cape; an industry that would cause large tracts
of country to be fenced in, that would give the more intelligent
and enterprising of our farmers an opportunity to rise to the
surface, and would bear fruit in a hundred ways, by inducing men
to look round and search in other directions for the latent wealth
that lies in South Africa, only wanting development.
Betsveen 1857 and 1864 a few farmers in different parts of the
Colony had succeeded in capturing some wild ostrich chicks, and
it was found there was no difficulty in getting them moderately
tame, sufficiently so to permit of their enclosure in a well-fenced
paddock, and to allow of their being caught twice a year and
their feathers removed. Old hunters and travellers from the


OSTRICH FARMING.
299
interior, all prognosticated that any attempts to breed them in a
tame state would prove abortive, it being commonly said that so
shy was the ostrich, that if the nest was once seen by man, the
bird would never return to it. But this and many other difficulties
in the successful domestication of the ostrich were to be solved
in a manner then never dreamt of, and a foundation laid to a
complete change in the nature of the bird, and from being the
shyest and most timid of all birds, to make it in a few years
as tame and as easily farmed as any of our domesticated
animals.
In 1865 we have 'the first record of the tamed but not yet
domesticated ostrich being farmed. In the census of the Cape
Colony taken in that year, we find in the return of live stock in
the Colony eighty ostriches. The total export of ostrich feathers in
that year was 17,522 lbs. weight, valued at £65,736, these being
feathers entirely from wild birds, with the exception of 120 lbs.
weight from the above noticed eighty tame birds. At about this
amount the export remained, little progress being made in the
domestication of the birds, till in 1869 Mr. A*. Douglass, of
Hatherton, in Albany, succeeded in perfecting an incubator and
hatching the eggs in large numbers, thus solving what had
hitherto been the great difficulty to successful ostrich farming.
Previous to this, the few birds that were hatched, generally got
wild and unmanageable, but the successful development of
artificial hatching at once gave an impetus to the industry, and
the export of feathers the following year rose to 28,786 lbs.,
valued at £91,229.
The industry was now fairly started, artificial hatching en-
tailing artificial rearing; this again caused a close study of the
wants of the birds, and the knowledge thus acquired enabled those
farmers who did not hatch artificially to remove the chicks from
the parent birds as soon as hatched, and rear them by hand.
Thus they became rapidly free from the innate wildness that had
hitherto been the great drawback to successfully farming thera,
each succeeding generation showing more and more signs of
f»erfect domestication. The result was that in 1875, five years
ater, the export had risen to 49,569 lbs. weight, valued at
£304,933. In this year (1875) a census was taken of the Cape
Colony, tbe return of live stock showing 21,751 domesticated
ostriches, as against eighty at the beginning of the decade.
The next five years saw the production of feathers rise rapidly,
tbe export in 1880 being 163,065 lbs. weight, valued at £883,632.
At this time the industry was most lucrative. Pairs of birds
that had already bred, or that were sold with a guarantee that
they would breed, realised readily £200 a pair and upwards, whilst


300
OSTRICH FARMIKG.
as high a9 £1000 was in more than one instance given for par-
ticularly well known birds of superior plumage, and £10 each
was the standing price for chicks a few days old. This state of
things induced a mania for ostrich farming; all who could scrape
money together plunged into it. Companies were formed in
every town and village; the incubation and rearing of birds
rapidly multiplied, and in a short time was far in excess of the
demand. Prices then suddenly fell, causing severe losses and, in
some cases, ruin to many of those who had embarked their
fortunes in the industry.
The highest value of the export of ostrich feathers from South
Africa was in 1882, the weight that year being 253,954 lbs., and
the declared value at the Cape Custom House being £1,093,989.
But in 1886 came a heavy drop in the value of leathers. That
year saw the greatest export in feathers ever made, viz., 288,568 lbs.;
but the declared value was only £546,230, being a fall in value of
over 50 per cent., as compared with 1882. This gave a great
check to the industry, and the weight of feathers exported has
decreased ever since, till in 1891 it was 198,046 lbs. From 1890
the value of feathers again rose, and has remained steady ever
since.
The following table of exports, from the South African Customs
Returns, will show more clearly the great fall and returning rise
in value:—
Weight in lbs. Declared value.
1882 . . 253,954 . . 1,093,989
1883 . . 247,179 . . 931,380
1884 . . 233,411 . . 966,479
;1885 . . 251,084 . . 585,279
1886 . . 288,568 . . 546,230
1887 . . 268,832 . . 365,587
1888 . . 259,967 . . 347,792
1889 . . 229,137 . . 365,882
1890 . . 212,276 . . 563,948
1891 . . 198,046 . . 468,221
1892 . . 257,027 . . 517,009
The following table, showing the value per lb. of ostrich
feathers exported from the Cape, given at quinquennial periods,
may prove of interest. It must be borne in mind that they are
average values of all kinds of ostrich feathers exported, including
"Dark Chicks" worth 2s. per lb., and "Prime Whites" worth
very many pounds per lb.


OSTEICH FARMING.
301
£ s. a.
1850, Average per lb 3 13 0
1855 „ „ . . . .600
1860 „ „ . . . .880
1865 „ , 3 14 0
1870 „ „ . . . .310
1875 „ „ . . . .630
1880 „ , 5 8 0
1885 „ „ . . . .268
1890 „ 2 13 1£
1891 „ „ . . . .273}
The last census, taken in the year 1891, showed the number of
domesticated ostriches in the Cape Colony to be 154,880; and
practically this is the number in South Africa, as there is com-
paratively little ostrich farming carried on outside the boundaries
of the Colony; the heavily-grassed flat country of the Republics,
Natal, and Bechuanaland, appearing to be ill suited to the
industry. Ondtshoom, with its great facilities for placing lands
under irrigation and growing lucerne and other crops, is first on
the list of ostrich-rearing districts, the total number of birds
there being 27,000; Albany comes next, with 9,772 birds, aud
then the following districts in their order: Somerset East, 9,211;
Uitenhage, 8,489; Willowmore, 8,262; Cradock, 5,934; Jansen-
ville, 5,281; Humansdorp, 4,518; Riversdale, 3,958; Bedford,
3,54l; Calvinia, 3,459; Murraysburg, 3,361; Aberdeen, 3,221;
Swellendam, 2,790; Uniondale, 2,474; Prince Albert, 2,457;
Bathurst, 2,412; Colesberg, 1,925; Worcester, 1,108; other
districts carry smaller numbers. The income from ostrich farm-
ing at present prices, for birds and feathers, is nearly double that
from sheep-farming, but the successful carrying on of the industry
requires knowledge and experience, close personal supervision,
and suitable pastures, such as the mixed edible bushes and grasses
of the Karroo.
We can imagine nothing more delightful and interesting to a
traveller than a visit to a large ostrich farm. Let us try and
describe what may be seen on one we know well. The size of the
farm is 13,000 acres, situated in the Eastern Province of the Capo
Colony. The herbage is a mixture of grass, and succulent Karroo
bushes. The rainfall in this part of the Eastern Province is too
uncertain to allow of cultivation without irrigation, so the
cultivation is confined to a few acres of lucerne irrigated by
Eumps, some soft green food being indispensable for rearing the
ttle ostrich chicks during droughts. On the farm are kept 600
ostriches and 400 breeding cattle. The whole property is enclosed


302
OSTRICH FARMING.
by strong wire fences five feet high, and subdivided into numerous
camps, with similar fences. Near the homestead the camps are of
about 100 acres each, being appropriated to the rearing of the
young birds. Beyond these again are camps of about 25 acres
each, these being given up to a single pair of superior old birds in
each camp for breeding, whilst beyond these again are large camps
of about 2,600 acres in extent, with 150 birds in each. But let
us take a stroll in these camps and see what is going on. Here in
the first «e find an old Hottentot with about thirty little ostriches
only a few days old around him. These have all been hatched in the
incubator, and he is acting as nurse to them, cutting up lucerne
for them to eat, supplying them with fine gravel to fill their
gizzards with to grind their food, breaking up bones to let them
get a supply of phosphates, and giving them wheat and water, and
at sundown he will bring them back to the incubator for warmth,
or should the weather change and rain come on he will be seen
hurrying home with his thirty little children following him to a
warm, well-lighted room with a clean sanded floor. In the next
camp we have a pair of birds and about fifteen chicks accompanied
by a Kaffir, who has been with them every day from the time
they hatched to get them tame and accustomed to man. These
have been hatched by the parent birds, who will brood them at
night in the camp. But great risks are run by this method of
rearing, from wild animals catching the chicks, as numbers of
carnivorous animals of nearly every known species abound in
South Africa, the most destructive to young ostriches being the
jackals, a single one of which will destroy a whole brood in a
night. Our host informs us that he is compelled to keep a man
constantly employed laying poison and setting traps. The poison
is laid by inserting strychnia in pieces of meat and placing the
pieces at short distances all round the camps. In consequence of
this wholesale destruction of the carnivora, game abounds on the
farm, and as we walk about, beautiful antelopes of different kinds
are constantly springing up and bounding away in front of us, and
in the afternoon our host lends us a rifle, and, taking us into some
unoccupied camps we bring down our first buck.
But here we come to another camp, in which we are told there
is a nest, and as we enter a heavy thorn-bush is given to us, and
we are told that if the male bird charges we are to hold it to his
eyes. But we do not see the cock bird, and have got some dis-
tance in, and can just see the hen bird upon the nest with
its neck stretched along the ground, making itself look as much
as possible like one of the monster ant-heaps that abound in the
country, when we are startled by three tremendous roars behind
us, and only just have time to put up our bush wheu the infuri-


OSTRICH FARMING.
303

ated cock charges down as fast as a horse can gallop, making
every nerve in our body quiver with fear as we remember having
heard of broken ribs and legs,
and men killed by savage
male birds; but we follow tho
example of our conductor, and
keep the bush at a level with
the bird's eyes, when, just as
he reaches the bush, he stops
suddenly, his instincts teach-
ing him not to risk his eye-
sight against the thorns.
Then we move on to the
nest, keeping the cock at bay
with our bushes; but we are
thankful when it is over, as
he dodges round us, first on
this side, then on that, always
trying to get his head past our bush; and should he succeed, he
would instantly knock us down with a kick from his foot, armed
as it is with the formidable horny nail. The kick is delivered
forward and downwards, and with immense force when at the
height of a man's breast, gradually losing its force as the foot
nears the ground, in consequence of which many men have saved
their lives, when attacked unprepared, by lying flat on the ground,
thereby escaping with a severe trampling, but no broken bones.
We, however, arrive at the nest without accident, when, to our
astonishment, our ^conductor
"^1 suddenly lays his bush down
and handles the eggs, when
we find that the hitherto in-
furiated cock's nature has
quite changed; he that a
moment ago was trying with
all his might to get at us and
kill us now stands a dejected,
beseeching creature, uttering
a plaintive noise, and beseech-
ing us in every possible way
not to break his eggs. Tho
nest we find to be merely
a scratched hollow in a sandy
place, with seventeen eggs in
it, weighing three pounds each, upon which the parent birds must
sit for six weeks, the cock sitting by night and tho hen by day,


30-1
OSTRICH FARMING.
the eggs being exposed to many risks of destruction by jackals,
baboons, and carrion crows, or by heavy rains filling the nest with,
water. The modus operandi of the carrion crows to get at the
contents of the eggs is very ingenious; their bills are not strong
enough to break the shell, so they take a good-sized etone in
their claws, and rising up to a considerable height, let it drop on
the eggs; but unless there are suitable stones near the nest
they cannot do this, seeming not to be able to carry the stones
horizontally.
But now we arrive at one of the large camps with a troop of
150 full grown birds in it, and here in the corner we have a
planked yard: this is where the birds are plucked, the one end
being movable, so that when the birds are in, the end can be
moved up and the birds packed in so closely that they have no
room to kick. Just as we enter, we observe the birds coming
over the hill, being driven on by ten men on horseback, each man
carrying his thorn-bush to turn a refractory bird, or to master a
savage cock. The birds being yarded, the plucking begins, the
tails and long black and drab leathers are pulled out, the white
feathers being cut off and the stumps left for two mouths, till the
quill is ripe, this being done to get the feather before it is
damaged, and the quill being left in so as not to injure the socket
by pulling it before it is ready to be shed. Some breeders, wo
are told, take only one crop a year, and draw the stumps in
summer, when the pasturage is good and the birds are in best
condition. Much care and attention is now being given to the
selection of birds for breeding, and great improvement in the
condition and quality of feathers produced is looked for. On
a few of the best ostrich farms, the birds are dipped immediately-
after being plucked, owing to their being much annoyed by a
large black fly, that .infests them in great numbers, and bites
them severely. The tank in which they are dipped is a sunken
one about seven feet deep and forty feet long, filled with water
heated up to 103°, and a preparation of sulphur or carbolic acid
added. Into this they are pushed bodily, and made to swim out;
the smell of the sulphur, remaining in the feathers many weeks
afterwards, keeps the flies away.
We now return to the homestead and visit the incubator room,
which is constructed to be as little affected by changes of tempera-
ture as possible. The machines used are the " Douglass" Patents.
Then we visit the feather room and see the feathers being sorted
into the different qualities, and done up in bunches, either for
sale in the Colony or for shipment to England. We then visit
the kraals, and find some seventy or eighty cows being milked, as
dairy farming can be most successfully carried on in conjunction


OSTRICH FARMING.
505
with ostrich farming; the cattle eating the coarser grasses, and
tending to keep the bush from getting too thick for the ostriches
to pass amongst it. We find all the labour on the farm is done
by natives, who make excellent servants for managing stock,
and as the natives are exceedingly fond of milk, the ostrich
farmer who has an unlimited amount of milk to give them
greatly reduces the cost of their food, and makes them contented
and happy.
Such are shortly some of the sights, with many variations, that
may be seen on an ostrich farm; whilst the visitor will probably
be regaled at dinner with a luscious omelette made from an
ostrich egg, or he may be asked to have a slice of roast ostrich,
the meat being very good eating, though as yet little used.
In concluding this short notice of ostrich farming, we must
remind our readers that the Cape Colony, as it was the first to
domesticate the ostrich, has hitherto had a practical monopoly
of the industry. But in 1883 several shipments of ostriches
took place to South Australia, the Argentine Kepublic, and to
California; and the Cape Parliament, taking the alarm that the
Colony was in danger of losing its lucrative monopoly, imposed
an export tax of £100 on every ostrich, and £5 on every ostrich
egg, exported.


( 306 )
CHAPTER XIV.
SHEEP-FAKMING AND WOOL-GKOWING.
By Wilhelm Spilhaus.
The production of fine wool, and the fashioning of textile
fabrics from it, may well serve as a measure of progress in
civilization. From the rough sheep-skin—the covering of the
savage—to the delicate and beautiful robe that adorns the
belle of the evening, is a long stride. With the advance
of refinement, the concern for appearance and care for pro-
tection against changes of temperature have naturally in-
creased, creating and stimulating an ever-enlarging demand for
the "Golden Fleece," which brings wealth alike to the grower
and to the nation.
As a fine-wool producer, the Merino sheep has always been
foremost in estimation. Its original home was the Spanish
Peninsula, but it appears to have easily adapted itself to
the peculiarities of all countries, except where the climate is
excessively damp. On the Continent of Europe, during the
first half of the century, the breeding of flocks and the pro-
duction of wool increased rapidly, until, through the growth
of population, the ground for pasturage became more and more
restricted, and with the advance of manufactures the conver-
sion of wool into fabrics became more advantageous for the
nation than the production of the raw article. The supply of
the latter was taken over by the newer and less densely
populated countries, and amongst them the British Colonies take
the first position.
According to Messrs. Helmuth, Schwartze & Co.'s report, we
find that in the year 1831 the total importation of wool from
the Colonies into the United Kingdom amounted to 11,859 bales,
while in 1891 it had grown to the enormous figure of 1,697,473
bales.
To appreciate the importance of this supply to the woollen
manufacturing industry of the mother country, it is only necessary


8HEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
307
to study the figures furnished by statistics. In 1891, we find
that the imports to the United Kingdom were as follows :—
£
Raw wool 27,856,556
Alpaca, goats'hair, wool rags .... 1,870,488
Manufactured articles (in all) .... 11,536,509
Total . . 41,263,553
Add to this: Productions of the United Kingdom . 7,400,000
Grand total of purchases 48,663,553
The exports were as follows:—
£
Raw wool, English 704,770
„ colonial and foreign .... 15,785,191
Manufactured articles ...... 45,984,198
62,474,159
Add to this: Estimated consumption in the United
Kingdom (37,888,153 inhabitants at 15». each
per annum) 28,416,114
Grand total of sales and consumption 90,890,273
And we have a balance of . . £42,226,720
Which, after deducting the cost of dyes and other minor
Bubstances used in the manufacture, would still leave an enormous
amount for wages and profits.
The estimate of 15s. per head of population is very moderate.
In the Cape Colony the value of woollen manufactures entered
for consumption during the year 1891 may be taken as
£1,050,350, and with the population at 1,527,244—amongst which
there are only 376,987 whites and 838,136 Fingoes and Kafirs—
this gives an average of about 14s. per head.
With such a source of wealth in the manufacturing industry it
is evident that the raw material ought to be furnished at as low
a price as possible; and it is not surprising that even the Pro-
tectionist Party in the United States appear to have come to the
conclusion that raw wool should be allowed to be imported free of
duty in order to enable American manufacturers to compete with
their products, on equal terms, in the markets of the world.
In the Cape Colony we have hardly passed the 6tage of the pro-
duction of raw material. The climate is well adapted for fine-woo lied
sheep, but it was not until 1812 that they were successfully
introduced. Nearly a century before this the Dutch East India
Company had imported sheep, and endeavoured to encourage the
production of wool as an industry, but the people thought the
carcase and fat of the native breed could not be compensated for
by the wool, some of which proved of such inferior quality as to
be unsaleable in Europe. In 1790 a number of woolled sheep
x 2


308
SHEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
were introduced into the Colony by Colonel Gordon, an officer
in the Dutch East India Company's service; these were of the
Escurial breed, and had been presented by the King of Spain to
the Government of Holland. A portion of these were distributed
amongst the farmers, and crossed with the native hairy sheep.
The remainder (twenty-nine) were disposed of by sale, taken
on to Australia by the English warships Beliance and Supply,
and became the original progenitors of the many millions of fine-
woolled sheep for which Australia is now renowned. In 1812
two colonists, Mr. J. F. Keitz and Mr. Michael van Breda,
imported some fine Electoral sheep from Saxony. These were
located on farms in the Bredasdorp—then part of Swellendam—
district, and kept up the pure breed for many years. Later on
Lord Charles Somerset imported Merinos bred by Sturgeon, and
kept them at the Government Farm at Groote Post, in the
Darling District, and at the Boschberg, now the town of Somerset
East. In 1820 a larger number of well-bred fine-woolled sheep
were brought to the country by the English settlers in Albany,
and the eastern and western districts of the colony began to rival
with each other in the promotion of the new industry. The
Afrikander Boers—the distinct race formed from the first white
population of various nationalities during nearly two hundred
years seclusion in the inland districts—with natural shrewdness
and intelligence soon perceived that in the new industry there
was a means of satisfying their increased wants, which were
?[uickened by intercourse with the numerous immigrants, fresh
rom the civilised world, that now poured into the country.
A Willem Burger, in Calvinia, some sixty years ago, procured
some sheep from the Swellendam district, and a little later
Peechal introduced sheep from Albany into Cradock. Petrus
Joubert and Jan Heefer took some to the Colesberg district.
Kinnear obtained some of Mr.i Keitz's flock for Beaufort West,
Dirk de Wet some for Victoria West, and P. J. J. Burger selected
sheep in Grahamstown for his farm at Murraysburg. All these
districts became in time centres for distribution elsewhere; and
by crossing with the native sheep, and again and again recrossing
with its progeny, very good results were obtained, and there are
now distributed over the Colony in all over thirteen and a half
millions of fine-woolled sheep.
Nearly the whole of the Colony is suitable for these sheep,
with the exception of some almost waterless parts of Namaqua-
land, the sandy coast lands, and the so-called Ghanna Karroo,
with the district of Ladismith and Oudtshoorn. In the other
parts, much as they vary in physical conditions, the Merino sheep
thrive well.


SHEEP-FAKMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
309
A glance at the accompanying table will show the distribution
of sheep throughout the Cape Colony, compiled from figures
taken from the Census of 1891, and arranged, not according to
political, but natural, divisions. The number of Cape (hairy
fat-tailed) sheep is inserted in italic figures:—
Distribution op Sheep in the Cape Colony.

Area in
square miles.
S
s *
Ch
No. of Merino sheep
to the square mile.
|!
£ -
a .
Yield of wool
per sheep.
Census Districts-
Density of woolled
sheep to square mile.
-I
II
5 8
U
I
° 3
*J
3*
f
1
H
WettOxul. Grain
and wine distrk-ts
(with C»pe Town,
(1,351 inhabit-
ants, and PaarL
7,648 Inhabit-
ants).
Cape
41-97
6-56
96-46
43-52
36-84
29-94
29-06
lbs.
1,338,504
lbs.
3-3J
-
Clanwilllam . .
Malniesbury. .
Paarl .
Piqnetberg .
Stellenbosch .
Tulbagh
12,072
183,563
396,878
(Cape
sheep,
32-88
2-16
3,830
Bredasdorp . .
Caledon
George .
Knysna .
llossel Bay .
Rlversdale .
Swellendam .
101-54
115-40
29-35
8-15
113-04
66 64
60-49
VS.IJU)
s uih-wat
Omt DUtrict,.
9,919
65,724
741,380
(Cape
sheep,
20,M)
74-74
11-28
2,151,485
(the greater
part ileece-
7,684
2-90
washed)
Maud Grow
bittriclt.
{
Unlondale .
Humansdorp.
Uiteuhage . .
19-25
47-59
13-62
0,613
41,208
165,833
(Cape
sheep,
17,302)
25-C7
4 02
617,681
(partlieei-e-
 ashed)
1,625
3-72
(With Grahams-
town, 10,49a In-
habitants).
Albany
Bedford.
Somerset East
62-21
1 5-21
84-3
6,962
54,066
535,401
(Cape
sheep,
31,007)
89-80
9-90
2,410,657
6,026
4-60
Country Utvxen
Karroo and
Grail Districlt
(grain and wine).
t
Ceres .
Robertson
Worcester .
26-01
8-20
25-88
8,020
29,936
181,086
(Cape
sheep,
22-58
6-05
706,412
1,811
3-90
72,035)
Ctonna Karroo.
Ladbmilth .
Gudtahoora .
0-47
2-39
2,909
30,574
4,641
(Cape
sheep,
22,033)
1-66
0-15
3,726
10
Slierp
moMljr
a«df.»
br.
XoriX-Wut Coo»(.
Namaqualand
0-21
19,462
16,945
4,632
(Cap-
*heep,
0-24
0-27
12,393
31
2-68
«<"!«rn Com! (with
Port Ellabeth,
j
Alexandria 7 •
Bathnret . .
East London .
Peddle .
Port Elizabeth
6-05
1-10
toi,eis)
23,266 inhabi-
tants).
i
3-31
21-63
12-U9
3,035
62,673
26,930
(Cape
sheep,
8-98
0-33
84.659
223
3-14

3,931")



Distribution op Sheep in the Cape Colony—continued.
) Districts,
Battern Districts
(grass; with .
H9.794 Fingoes'
and Kafirs).
Northern Districts
(grass; with
61,334 Fingoes"
and Kafirs).
Griqiialand West
(with Klmberley,
18,718 inhabi-
tants, and Bea-
consfleld, 10,178
Inhabitants).
Griqualand East
(with 143,851 .
Fingoes and'
Kafirs).
Tembtdand (wRh
. 173,416 Kafirs'
and FlDgoes).
Transkei (with ,
153,095 Fingoes
and Kafirs).
Census District* :—
Density of woolled
sheep to square mile.
Aberdeen
42
u
Beaofort West
65
21
Calvinla
10
N
Carnarvon .
35
04
Colesberg
128
97
Cradock
90
It
Fraserbnrg .
39
53
(iraaff Reinet
78
C7
Hanover
113
IS
Hopetown . .
73
13
Jansenvllle .
31
73
Middelburg .
104
-1
Murraysburg
70
71
Phillpstown .
Prieska
100
37
49
76
Prince Albert
35
53
Richmond .
90
83
Steynsbnrg .
171
14
Sutherland .
44
15
Tarka .
229
M
Victoria West
117
SI
Willowmore- •
28
11
Fort Beaufort
154
M
Stockeostroom
202
es
Victoria East
86
M
Cathcart
324
74
Kingwilliamstown.
116
ID
Komgha . .
195
05
t^ueeustown .
29
57
Stutterheim .
445
16
Herschell
162
87
Albert .
227
38
Aliwal North
302
SI
Barkly Kast .
389
68
Woodhouse .
270
22
Barkly West.
11
23
Hay . . .
12
52
Herbert
32
33
Kimberlcy .
37
32
Maclear
42
65
Matatiele
62
37
Mount Ayliff
14
54
Mount Cnrrie
91
12
Mount V letcher
36
SI
Mount Frere .
38
48
Qnmbu
86
83
Tsolo ,
86
03
Umzimkulu .
56
22
Elliottdalo .
1
tl
Kngcobo
133
50
Mqandulo
82
36
St. Marks
155
40
Umtata
119
M
Xalauga . .
93
77
fort St. Johns
Butterworth . .
204
10
Idutywa . .
307
M
Kentani
101
Si
Xqamakwe .
359
31
Tsomo .
214
49
WlUowvale .
76
68
107,899
15,197
7,594
4,122:
2,652
o 3
6
■
179,299| 5.827,4S9
(Cape
eheep,
|*,0Ji,W4)|
88.820
83,375
l,626,456i
1 1
11
i P
Si
9
3d
64-01 32-68 24,776,980
1,753,676242-34
(Cape
sheep,
n,nsi
2.283,863 275'63|
(Cape
sheep,
tv;tm
283,5771 18-65
(Cape
sheep,
W1,105)}
435,000
(Cape
sheep,
457,836
(Cape
eheep,
SS,70S)
633,019 208-86
(Cape
sheep,
13.631,011
(Cape
S.075
MP. I
61-72
9-60: 8,150,180
(partfieece
washed)
25-74 10,369,705
7S5.633
2-851 l,608,433i
(partfleece-
asbed)
1,556.745
(partfleece-
washed)
3-47
1,565.566
(partfieece
washed)
66,038,659!
EI
■3
23,a: i n
1,970
4,310
5,3*8
143,7441 4-11


SHEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
311
It will be found that nearer the great centres of consumption
less value is placed upon the wool, and the qualities for the
butcher (in which, as well as in hardiness, the Cape sheep surpass
the Merino) are studied more. Therefore in the West coast
grain and wine districts, the wool production is of secondary con-
sideration; the sheep are mostly shorn twice a year, and the
quality of the wool is a matter of accident rather than the result
of studied exertions.
The remainder of the Colony may be divided iDto grass
districts and Karroo districts. Amongst the former is the group
between the Hottentot Holland Mountains and the forests of
George and Knysna. Here most fertile farms stretch along the
mountains, which act as natural rain condensers for them. Again,
along the coast the lowlands (the " Duineveldt" in the patois of
the country) offer good pasturage and health to the animals kept
on them, owing to the invigorating sea breezes that prevail over
them. In between are lands characteristically called " Euggens,"
a series of round hills and valleys, here and there intersected by
a small stream or rivulet, except where the Breede river with the
waters of the Eiver Zonder End and the Buffeljagd's river take
their course towards the sea. These " Buggens" are less favoured
by rain, and not unfrequently suffer from droughts, but form
excellent sheep walks. The characteristic feature of the whole
of this country is the " Bhenoster bosch" (Elytropappus rhino-
cerotis), a bush that has become evenly distributed through the
agency of the Merino sheep, the seed being transported across
the country in its fleece. The bush is of no use except for fuel,
but beneath it the grass springs up readily, the bush probably
promoting its growth rather than checking it, affording with its
wiry leaves a protection against the direct rays of the sun. A
moderate farm in these districts holds about 1,200 sheep, but there
are well-managed estates with 5,000 to 7,000 sheep, the largest
flock master owning about 12,000 merinos. The country carries
about one sheep to each two acres of grazing-land. At night time
the sheep are generally kept in enclosures with a shed at one end,
open towards the rising sun. The shearing takes place once a year,
generally in October, after the wool is washed on the sheep's back,
and wool fairs are held in the more important inland towns.
Passing the great forest-lands that surround the Knysna, we
reach the grass districts of Uniondale, Humansdorp and Uitenhage,
and further on the eastern slopes of the Sneeuwberg mountains,
and that country whicli formed the cradle of the sheep-farming
industry for the East — Albany, Bedford and Somerset East.
Here there are famous stock breeders and large flock masters, the
better farms holding from 5,000 to 10,000 sheep.


S12
SHEEr-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
But further to the east and to the north the younger districts
haye left their older neighbours far behind. The group of
districts in the east average about 242 sheep to the square mile,
and the northern grass districts, with an average of about 275
sheep, have proved most valuable additions to the Colony. In
these districts the contrasts in possession and management are
very marked. Next to the flock master who ships his fifty or
sixty bales of well-bred well-sorted wool of twelve months'
growth to the London auction, is the small farmer who does not
trouble about progress or improvement, and the Kafir who takes
his wool to the neighbouring village in a few grain bags and
shears his sheep twice a year, generally washing them before
clipping.
The other native portions of the Transkei have of late been
successfully opened out for sheep runs. This country, like the
northern border districts, was covered with long hard grass when
first taken in occupation, but as the flocks increase the coarse
grass disappears and nutritious sweet grass takes its place. The
Census returns show of what importance to the Colony this tract
is fast becoming.
In Griqualand West, the country of the diamond industry, we
find again that Cape sheep predominate greatly over Merinos.
But even here the rearing of wool sheep has made much progress
of late years, and the wool forwarded already contributes over
£16,000 yearly towards the resources of the districts.
Following up the preceding remarks, on a map of the Colony,
it will be found that the grass districts we have gone over form a
belt all along the coast, extending further inland the more we
approach the east. Surrounding this belt and rising above it
is the great basin of the Karroo proper, stretching from the
Nieuwveld mountains to the Stormbergen. This country,
forming one vast high plateau, covering over 107,000 square
miles, may be all classed together as Karroo land, its principal
characteristics being extreme dryness and monotonous vegetation,
consisting of short bushes of even height, seldom above two feet
high, with Mimosa trees and Karree trees marking the courses of
the generally dry rivers. Owing to its high elevation and its
distance from the sea, all moisture is deposited before winds of
ordinary strength pass the mountain borders. Only strong and
continuous gales carry to it the much-desired rain. The inter-
vals of their occurrence are great and irregular, and at times
extend over more than a year. To a stranger the country
appears as uninhabitable, but all its vegetation is adapted to its
peculiar conditions. The bushes which rise but a few inches above
the ground send their roots down to a considerable depth, render-


SHEEr-FABMING AND WOOL-GROWINQ.
313
ing them almost indestructible. These are invaluable fodder
plants for sheep. The animals can sustain life even on the
stumps, long after every sign of leaf has gone, and the Karroo
farmer does not despair so long as there is water in his spring
(" fontein "). He spends large sums of money on dams, and on
the opening up of springs by the aid of dynamite, or steam
pumps and ordinary pumps for supplying his stock with water
(Norias, or bucket-pumps, are now greatly in favour). | During
severe droughts the losses in live stock are extremely heavy, but
when the rain falls in sufficient quantity there is a general
resurrection of the vegetation. The plants all sprout out again,
gTass springs up, and there is an abundance of food for the
flocks, which, after first suffering from the effects of the sudden
change, soon prosper and increase as nowhere else in the
world.
The most valuable fruticose food-plants for sheep are the
Pentzia virgata and the Pentzia globosa, seed of which has been
Bent to Australia; also the Adenachaena parvifolia and Diplopappus
filifolius. These are widely distributed over the Karroo. The
Atriplex Halimus and the A. Capensis (the" Vaal-boshji") likewise
furnish good sustenance for sheep. An excellent paper on these
and other stock-food plants has been published by Professor
MacOwan of the Agricultural Department. No doubt great
changes in the pasturage must be effected by the agency of the
sheep themselves. Their energy in feeding is chiefly directed to
those plants which form their best food. These naturally suffer
and lose ground to the advantage of others that are less suitable
for food. Thus, as pointed out by the late Dr. Shaw in an
interesting paper contributed by him and read many years ago
before the Linnean Society, the Gomphocarpus species have been
favoured particularly, especially the G. fruticosiis plant, in-
digenous to the midlands of the Colony, never eaten by any
sheep, has come to cover extensive tracts in this country. In the
same way the Chrysocoma tenuifolia, originally belonging to
the south-west of the Colony, has become the prevailing plant of
late years. It was first eschewed by sheep, but it is now in some
parts their only sustenance, so much so that the mutton becomes
impregnated with its rather pleasant aromatic flavour. It was
at one time feared that the Karroo sheep-walks would be
gradually destroyed as such, first from the above-mentioned
causes, and then from the system of over-stocking; but both evils
are kept in check and remedied by that greater evil the periodical
dronghts, which take away the surplus stock, weed out the
weaklings from the flocks, and keep alive only those plants which
are indigenous to the locality, have a remarkable spontaneous


314
SHEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GBOWINd.
reproductive power, and are at the same time the heat for stock.
Of the plants which depend upon the sheep's coat for the dis-
tribution of their seed, and in consequence decrease the value of
the fleece for the manufacturer, the worst have probably been
imported and distributed nearly all over the Colony through the
Merino sheep. They are the Xanthium spinosum, commonly called
bnrrweed, which is all but extirpated by special legislation; the
Caucalis Africana, Thunb., and the Echinospermum Lapula, Lehm.,
the carrot seed of the wool-buyers, and the Medicago ladniata,
whose seed does so much to deteriorate wool from La Plata.* As
these plants, however, require regular moisture, they cannot spread
much in the Karroo districts. A year or two ago the Colony was
troubled with a particularly obnoxious seed, that of the "steek-
grass" (Andropogon contortus, Ness, and Aristida congesta, R. and
T.), which springs up luxuriantly after heavy rains. The former
variety infested the wool, and penetrating the skins of the animals
with its sharp points, caused discomfort and even death in the
flocks. The same rains, however, brought to life numberless
swarms of locusts, and these it appears have in many districts
devoured this particular grass.
The farms in the Karroo districts are of large extent, from
three up to as much as twelve acres of ground being required for
a sheep. The average number of woolled sheep for ordinary farms
may be taken as about 1,500, although as many as 3,000 is no
uncommon number, and there are several which carry from 7,000
to 10,000 sheep. In the Beaufort West District one farmer now
disposes every year of over 300 bales of well-grown and well-packed
wool. The well-known Melton wold clip, Victoria West District,
amounts to about 110 bales. The Brinscombe Estate, Hanover,
disposes of about 130 bales of well-sorted wool. The Klip Kraal
clip of about eighty bales from Stormberg is much liked in Port
Elizabeth. The sheep are kept in the open air all through the
year, but during the night-time they are sheltered from the wind
in rough enclosures (kraals) constructed sometimes of stone, flat
slate slabs being abundant in most localities, or built up from the
dung of the sheep, which is cut out from the floor of the kraal.
This is a substance which rapidly accumulates, and soon becomes
like hard-baked peat, being extensively used as fuel.
In all divisions west of Victoria West, the universal custom is
to shear once a year, although each farmer has his own particular
time for performing this work, modified often through dry
weather and consequent poor condition of the animals. In the
midland districts the sheep are mostly shorn every seven or eight
• Botanical names kindly furnished by Mr. Harry Bolus and Professor MacOwan.


SHEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
315
months, but in some of the north-eastern districts the more
rapacious system of shearing twice a year prevails.
Spread out over a large country like this, it is obvious that
there must be much difference in the quality and breed of sheep.
When the Merino was first introduced into this colony broad-
cloth was universally worn in Europe by those who could afford
it, and the demand in consequence being for fine wool, sheep-
breeders rivalled with one another to produce the finest of fibre,
neglecting all other qualities. The sheep imported by Messrs.
Reitz and Van Breda were of the Saxon Electoral breed, small
in figure, covered with a fleece of dense, rather short, staple of
extremely fine fibre, and in some flocks in the Swellendam
district this type may to this day be recognised. Later on, when
the serious and sober broadcloth had to give way to tweeds in
everyday life, quantity became more desirable than extreme
fineness. Gradually, also, the demand for the butcher increased,
and colonists then found the Rambouillet breed of sheep
the most suitable for their requirements. During the last
decade, again, when the worsted industry forged ahead, and
there was an increased sale for fine yarns, wools suitable for
combing became more in demand, and sheep were imported from
all quarters of the globe—Sturgeons, Australians, Tasmanians, and
lately the wrinkled sheep bred in Vermont, United States. The
last census returns show a total of 945 imported rams and 1,575
imported ewes in the Colony. It speaks well for Griqualand
West that of this number 101 rams and 76 ewes are located in
that province. Beaufort West shows a return of 106 rams, taking
the lead; and next is Albert with 99 rams and 92 ewes; Hanover,
30 rams and 130 ewes; King Williamstown, 19 rams and 229
ewes; Middelburg, 20 rams and 307 ewes; Richmond, 16 rams
and 154 ewes; Victoria West, 11 rams and 150 ewes; Willow-
more, 37 rams and 124 ewes; and Wodehouse, 67 rams and 20
ewes. These figures do not include 6tock raised from imported
animals. With the exception of the old sheep country between
Caledon and Knysna (throughout which district there were only
15 imported rams and 4 imported ewes), the imported stock is
distributed all over the colony, and from the breeding centres
the progeny of this stock is drafted off again into the neighbour-
ing districts. Thus the breeders in Beaufort West, who go to
work with great intelligence and perseverance, hold annual ram
sales, and enable the smaller farmers to purchase animals at from
£3 to £6 per head, often as good as imported stock.
After so many years of sheep farming in the Colony, it should,
of course, not be necessary at all to import stock if breeders could
bring the requisite knowledge to bear upon the matter, and kept


316 SHEEr-FARMING AND WOOL-dHOWING.
a fixed purpose steadily in view. Before deciding upon the kind
of animal to produce, they should be clear upon what would be
best suited to the condition of their district, bearing in mind that
in a moist climate with more abundant pasturage a large sheep,
with good combing wool, long and strong in fibre, not too curly,
can be reared. In dry districts less weight should be placed
upon the size of the carcase, but fineness of wool, with closeness
of staple, should be aimed at. We have seen wool from the high
north-west (Achter Boggeveld), taken from the progeny of sheep
bred in Beaufort West, that reminded one much of such wool as
the Ercildown clip from Australia, combining extreme fineness
of fibre with good length and strength. It would be most bene-
ficial if our sheep-farmers were to form societies within their
districts, meeting from time to time to discuss matters concerning
their calling, and in these meetings to decide on the breed of
sheep they wish to produce in their district; in other words, to
agree upon the points which should be aimed at by them in
selecting animals for breeding. This would do more than any-
thing else towards a uniformity in the product of any one district,
the want of which is most severely felt by wool-buyers in the
Colony, as well as in England.
The Colony being, throughout almost, well adapted for sheep-
farming, not much need be said about the diseases of sheep.
Most of the troubles to which the animal is subject in the old
country have naturally found their way here with the sheep, but
are generally less serious, the animals being mostly in the open
air and on dry ground. This is with one exception, and this
exception, unfortunately, makes up for all the other advantages
added together. The scab is found throughout the Colony, and
causes annually enormous losses in the weight and quality of
both wool and sheep. It is a subject recurring in every session
of Parliament, and careful men, who have the welfare of the
country at heart, labour incessantly to bring about a general
compulsory Scab Act. Up to the present this object has not
been achieved, but a permissive Act, which can be declared in
force in any district if the majority of its inhabitants desire it,
has already effected a great deal of good.
In 1830 the Cape exported only 33,000 lbs. of wool. How
rapidly the industry increased, however, the following figures
will show. In 1850 the weight of the wool exported rose to
5,912,927 lbs., valued at £285,610; in 1860, to 23,219,689 lbs.,
valued at £1,448,629; in 1870, to 37,283,291 lbs., valued at
£1,669,519; in 1872, to 48,822,562 lbs., valued at £3,275,150.
This was an exceptionally good year, the abundance arising
probably from overstocking of farms in consequence of propitious


SHEEP-FABMINQ AND WOOL-GBOWING.
317
seasons. In 1880, the quantity exported was 42,467,962 lbs., worth
£2,429,360; in 1890 (the area covered by the industry had been
steadily and rapidly extending), it rose to 66,489,297 lbs., valued at
£2,196,040; and in 1891 we exported 75,520,701 lbs. weight of
wool, valued at £2,264,498. This was the actual weight of the
bales as shipped, fleece-washed, scoured and grease; but reduced
to grease wool only the exports would be as follows for the last
two years: in 1890, 89,448,698 lbs., with an average value per
pound of 5 *89(Z.; in 1891,98,441,212 lbs., with an average price of
5 • 52eZ. It is worth while to compare the average export value
with earlier periods. For instance, in 1881, it was 6 • God., and in
1886 it was 4*85<Z., this last having been the lowest wool year since
1860, the bale of wool being then valued in England at an average
of £13 10s., whereas in 1872 the bale was considered to be worth,
on an average, £26 10s.*
The low value of wool in Europe is the source of great vexation
amongst our farmers, and a serious diminution of our resources.
In comparison with other staple articles, the reduction, however,
* Vide Messrs. Hclmuth, Sohwartzo & Co.'a Table of Values and Quantities of
Colonial Wool Imported into Europe and America from 1860 to 1891:—
Year.
Australasian
Bales.
Cape Bales.
Total Colonial
Bales.
Average
Value per
Bale.
Total Value.
i.
1
I860
187,000
79,000
266,000
251
6,860,000
1861
212,000
84,000
396,000
23*
6,882,000
£7,000,000
leea
337,000
82,000
309,000
221
7,030,000
Period.
1863
343,000
94,000
336,000
22*
7,644,000
1864
303,000
113,000
415,000
241
10,271,000
1866
834,000
109,000
443,000
231
10,521,000
1866
351,000
138,000
479,000
24*
11,735,000
£11,000,000
1867
414,000
136,000
649,000
20t
11,391,000
Period.
1868
483,000
604,000
166,000
639,000
18*
11,822,000
186»
153,000
667,000
15t
10,348,000
1870
646,000
152,000
698,000
let
11,691,000
Year or transition
1871
673,000
186,000
769,000
20*
16,660,000
1873
654,000
189,000
743,000
26*
19,690,000
1873
671,000
176,000
747,000
24*
18,115,000
19,274,000
1874
659,000
170,000
839,000
23*
1875
720,000
197.000
917,000
22*
20,403,000
1876
769,000
167,000
936,000
18t
17,550,000
1877
836,000
186,000
1,021,000
18*
19,144,000
1878
801,000
169,000
970,000
18*
18,187,000
1879
826,000
189,000
1,016,000
16*
16,748,000
£20,000,000
1880
869,000
219,000
1,088,000
20*
22,032,000
Period.
1881
957,000
204,000
1,161,000
17*
20,027,000
1883
993,000
197,000
1,190,COO
17*
20,835,000
1883
1,054,000
199,000
1,253,000
let
20,988,000
1884
1,113,000
191,000
1,303,000
16
30,848,000
1885
1,094,000
1,196,000
188,000
1,382,000
14
17,948,000
1886
236,000
1,433,000
13*
19,332,000
1887
1,207,000
237,000
1,444,000
14
20,216,000
1888
1,316,000
389,000
1,604,000
13*
21,654,000
1889
1,386,000
310,000
1,695,000
15*
26,272,000
,£26,000,000
1890
1,411,COO
388,000
1,699,000
14*
26,060,000
27,067,000
Period.
1891
1,683,000
322,000
2,005,000
13*


318
SHEEP-FARMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
is not surprising. Cotton has receded in price even more (with
a greater increase of production); and of nearly everything else
it requires far less gold for purchasing than after the world had
been swamped with the enormous outputs of gold in Australia
and California. The progressing gold-fields of South Africa bid
fair, however, to be great factors in supplying the world with the
necessary precious metal, and in course of time this must tell
also upon the value of our staple product.
The following Table shows the Exports from the different parts
of the ColoDy, with the average prices in decimals:—
Export of Wool from the Colony, 1891.

Name of
Number of
bales.
Fleece-washed.
Average price
per lb.
o
Scoured.
8
's
Grease-
A verage price
per lb.
port.
lbs.
Value.
£ E
lbs.
Ml >.
Value.
P
lbs.
Vahx-
12
s g,
«l
d.
£
d.
f
<L
£
Cape Town . .
3,607
883,468
9-63
35,371
11,610
1,923,908
14-70
117,792
10,428
4,053,635
6-34
94,111
Mead Bay. .
1,060
364,333
9-12
10,018
677
143,776
13-69
8,183
1,071
410,553
6-08
..
..
13
3,773
463
m
AlgoaBay . .
165
40,813
8-80
1,497
43,285
7,860,085
13-90
422.468
91,179
33,562,383
5-75
HUM
East London .
11,216
3,243,573
7-86
106,426
30,606
4,086,090
12-01 204,523
1
62,150 19,041,613
5-73
4JJ.lt I
Totals. .
16,048
4,436,186
8-39
153,342
75,178jl4,012,859
12-91 753,965
154,841 57,071,666
6-71 1.34),Isl
The total quantity exported exceeds by a great deal the total
quantity returned by the Census. This is partly accounted for
by wool from the Orange Free State, a considerable quantity of
which, both grease and scoured, passes through our ports. A
further deficiency must be put down to incorrect returns in the
quantity of wool per annum given by many farmers who shear
twice a year, or three times in two years. No doubt in many
instances the quantity of the last clip only has been returned.
It will be seen that by far the largest quantity of wool is
exported from Port Elizabeth. This is the natural outlet for the
most densely populated part of the Karroo, and for the districts
towards the north. East London is next in importance; and now
that the railway is extended direct from King Williamstown into
the Free State, it may be expected that the eastern port will
absorb a good deal of the trade which has hitherto gone to Port
Elizabeth. Cape Town, being farthest away from the wool-


SHEEP-FABMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
319
growing centres, exports far less; but from here the superior
western wools are shipped, which enjoy a good reputation in the
wool trade.
It will be seen that of grease-wool half as much again is
shipped from the Colony as of fleece-washed and scoured. In
former years it was considered as absolutely necessary to wash the
wool on the sheep's back before it was shorn. Gradually farmers
came to see that this involved great expense, discomfort to the
flocks, and was often impossible owing to the want of water.
Buyers also preferred the unwashed wool to fleeces which might
have been spoiled in washing, and now the washing on the
animal's back is only done by some who are particularly con-
servative, and on farms where the unwashed wool is so light that
an adequate price would not be obtained in the grease. Buyers
of combing wool prefer, no doubt, the wool unwashed, and for the
United States it can only be shipped in this state, the Legislature
placing a premium (in the shape of prohibitive duties on washed
wools) upon importing dirt into the country. Wools not suitable
for either of these purposes are mostly scoured in the Colony, and
this scouring has become an important industry in itself.
The washeries near Port Elizabeth are all situated in Uitenhage,
where there is a sufficient supply of water. There are nine
establishments in all: The Springfield, Union Works, Despatch,
Upper Wool Washing, Lower Wool Washing, Kruis River,
Phoenix Works, Lange and Express. 'These works employ about
500 coloured and a good number of white labourers, and are
capable of treating nearly 50,000 bales per annum, a quantity,
however, that is not nearly reached. As the railway has extended
and cheapened transport, many of the washeries that used to
exist in the inland districts, where good water is less plentiful,
had naturally to discontinue work, and there are now only the
Standard at Middelburg, the Sylvin at Burghersdorp, Glenavon at
Somerset East, and the Baths at Cradock. These supply a good
deal of the scoured wool which is all sold in Port Elizabeth. In
the Orange Free State there are in all thirteen washeries.
Turning to the East, we find that in the Border districts there
are in all sixteen washeries, which employ about 480 to 500
bands during the busy season. Near Cape Town, proportionate
to the smaller supply of wool, only three establishments are
competing for the business, viz., the Zoete Inval Washery at the
Paarl, the Waverley Mills and the Breede Eiver Washery, the
two latter being at Ceres Boad. These washeries turn out
excellent work, their output together during 1891 being over
11,600 bales.
All the Washeries throughout the Colony are worked by steam


320
SHEEP-FARMING AKD WOOL-GROWING.
power, excepting the Waverley Mills, which has, besides, the
advantage of a turbine. The process is everywhere the same, the
wool being first soaked in hot water and then rushed through cold
water drums by a process invented in this Colony and called after
its originator "Niven's Patent." When clean, the wool is turned
out on large drying-grounds carefully paved with smooth pebbles,
and the African sun gives it that brilliant whiteness for which it
is famous.
The qualities of wool brought for sale are, of course, very
different, according to the localities from which it comes, and
according to the farmer that has raised it.
In Cape Town the principal season commences in August, and
lasts until January to March. Nearly all wools coming for sale
in this market are of twelve months' growth, excepting those
from the agricultural and wine districts to the north-west of Cape
Town. From these districts a rather common wool is brought
to market, the first clip in September and October, and the
second in March and April. About 5,000 bales from the grass
districts between Caledon and Riversdale are brought forward
during October and November, mostly fleece-washed, the re-
mainder being wool from the Karroo districts, generally heavy
in the grease and rather earthy, but free from faults, and well
adapted for scouring. The western snow-whites fetch the highest
prices in the London market, values at the last July (1892) sales
having gone up as far as Is. 7£<2. per lb. Many of these wools
are also well suited for combing. With the exception of those from
the coast districts, where the fleeces are carefully tied up, the
wool is generally packed loose in the bales, locks and pieces
being thrown in with the good wool. The better olass farmer
makes an exception to this, and it is to be hoped that others
will follow his example.
In Port Elizabeth, with a larger supply, there is a larger
variety offering, excepting in fleece-washed, the quantity of which
is insignificant. We find quotations in the price lists of scoured
wool in extra super snow-whites down to country scoured and
common scoured, much infested with burr and seed, of long and
short "grassveld" grease, of Karroo grease well sorted long, and
light, down to short and faulty, of coarse white wool and coarse
and coloured, the latter classes being the product of the progeny
of crosses between Merinos and fat-tailed sheep.
Of grease wool, the lighter grassveld wools, which are also
stronger in staple than the Karroo wools, fetch the highest prices.
They are fine enough to supply the demand for Bradford, which
is for a wool that will produce a 60s. top, and they are well
adapted otherwise also for the comb. For America, the yellowish


6HEEP-FABMING AND WOOL-GROWING.
321
Karroo wools are mostly preferred when of good length, fairly
uniform, and not too heavy. The high prices obtained for both
classes act, no doubt, as a strong incentive towards the more
rational system of shearing once a year only. The reason of so
much short wool still coming forward lies, no doubt, mostly in
the negligence, and often in the neediness, of the more ordinary
farmers. By shearing twice the scab is, to outward appearance,
kept under more, and twice shearing brings ready money twice a
year to the farmer. In many localities, however, as in a district
like from Cradock to Nauwpoort, of a high mountainous character,
farmers are compelled to study the seasons, and will shear six
months one year and wait, perhaps, twelve months until the next
clip, a cold winter season threatening serious losses in shorn
stock.
Most of the wool in Port Elizabeth is sold by private contract,
but there are weekly auction sales in a large well-constructed
market building, where a good deal of business is done.
In the East London exports the quality of the scoured wool,
although improving from year to year, does not come up to the
excellence of the more western ports, but in the quality of grease
wool it bids fair to outshine the remainder of the Colony. The
better class of farmers take a pride in their clips; they make it a
rule to sort their wool most carefully, and ship their productions
under their own names or brands. \Ve find these clips being sold
at the public sales in London (July, 1892) at from la. to 80. per
lb., excellent prices considering the low state of the market. With
regard to ordinary wools, this port is the market for the production
of the native sheep-owners, and it is calculated that of wool grown
by natives along the border and in the Transkei, about 20,000
bales pass through East London annually, 8,000 bales of which
are brought on the market as fleece washed. The Transkei
native wool is said to have considerably improved in quality and
condition during late years, particularly in those districts in which
the Scab Act has been enforced by Government. This wool from
natives is all of six months growth only, and a great many,
perhaps most, white farmers in the border districts shear also
twice a year; but from year to year the number of those who are
content to wait until the wool has attained its full twelve months
length has undoubtedly increased, and the good example of the
better farmers must certainly continue to act beneficially. A
large proportion of the white farmers also wash their sheep before
shearing them, the decision with regard to this depending mostly
upon the water supply.
From Mossel Bay the exports are the production mostly of its
own and the Kiversdale district, and many of the clips shipped
¥


322
SHEEP-FABMINQ AND WOOL-GROWING.
fetch the highest prices in London, owing to their fineness and
strength of staple, the intelligent breeders in these districts
having understood how to preserve these qualities in their sheep.
A great deal of the wool from the Cape is shipped to the
United States, and a considerable quantity goes to the Continent,
but most is sent to London and sold in those remarkable public
auctions where the buyers from all quarters of the world meet to
compete* and where shippers may depend upon getting the full
market value for their wares.
Although the Colony has made good strides in the production
of the raw material, it has done little towards turning its wool
into use for wearing apparel. There is scarcely a woman in the
country who understands spinning the wool grown on her sheep
into yarn for hose or jersey, and in the towns there are no hand
spinners or weavers. The Legislature, some years ago, made
provision for the promotion of Colonial industry by offering
amounts of money by way of bonuses when a certain quantity of
material had been produced. A factory for tweeds was started in
Grahamstown, but after struggling along until it earned the
bonus offered by Government it had to succumb for want of
means. At the present time the only factory in existence is one
connected with the Waverley Mills, which transforms the common
white and coarse and coloured wool into very serviceable and strong
blankets. We may regret having to send our wool to Europe and
having to receive it back in the shape of manufactured material
at a manifold increased cost, but it is the regret of the school-
boy who is not allowed yet to participate in the pleasures and
pursuits of his elders. Up to the present, life in the Colony
is easy and free from serious trouble, and we may be content at
finding our sustenance on the broad roadways of production of
raw material.
The writer of this article lias to thank Messrs. Malcomess & Co., King Williams-
town, and Messrs. Scholofield & Co., Port Elizabeth, for muoh yaluable information.






1


( 323 )
CHAPTER XV.
THE DIAMOND MINES.
By T. Reunert, M.I.M.E., A.M.I.C.E.
During the four centuries which have elapsed since the
Portuguese sailors, steering south in search of the sea route to
India, first sighted the Cape of Good Hope, it may safely be
asserted that no more important event has happened in South
Africa than the discovery of the first diamond by Mr. John
O'Reilly, in the month of March, 1867. The beneficial effects of
that discovery are apparent to-day in every comer of South
Africa. It has spread new life and energy through all the
States and Colonies, which five-and-twenty years ago were in a
languishing and impoverished condition; and has converted what
were the most despised possessions of Britain into sources of
revenue to the mother country, and fields of ever widening
enterprise for her sons. It may even be added that but for the
discovery of diamonds, the countries to the northwards would
probably still have remained in undisturbed possession of the
native, with a sprinkling of Boer farmers, traversed occasionally
by a stray trader or hunter, whose accounts of reputed mineral
wealth, and of rich pasture and agricultural lands woidd have
continued to be received with smiling incredulity. Even after
the Transvaal Gold Fields had been discovered, years passed
with only a feeble and unsuccessful attempt at exploration; and
it was reserved for the energy and capital of Kimberley men to
develop the wealth of the Rand Mines, and to penetrate the
Dark Continent north of the Limpopo.
The history of Mr. O'Reilly's discovery of the first South African
diamond is too well known to need a detailed repetition. In
March, 1867, he was returning from a hunting-trip across the Vaal
River'; and resting for the night at Schalk van Niekerk's farm,
"De Kalk," in the Hopetown district, he noticed a beautiful lot
of river pebbles on the table, out of which he picked the "first
diamond." Neither the hunter, nor the farmer, was aware of its
value. Arriving at Colesberg, Mr. O'Reilly showed it to the
Acting Civil Commissioner, Mr. Lorenzo Boyes, who, finding
y 2


324
THE DIAMOND MINES.
that it cut glass, asked Mr. O'Reilly to let him send it to Dr.
Atherstone, at Grahamstown. Several Jews at Hopetown and
Colesberg had pronounced it to be a topaz, and worth nothing.
Dr. Atherstone replied," I congratulate you on the stone you
have sent me. It is a veritable diamond, weighs 214, carats, and
is worth £500. It has spoiled all the jewellers' files in Grahams-
town; and where that came from there must be lots more."
Europeans and natives commenced to search the country near
the reported scene of the first discovery, but their success was so
small that for another two years the existence of diamond fields
in South Africa continued, to be disputed. However, in 1869,
Mr. Van Niekerk secured from a Griqua Hottentot a large stone
for which he gave the sum of £400, or live-stock to about that
value, and which he sold directly after to Messrs. Lilienfeld of
Hopetown for over £10,000. This was the famous "Star of
South Africa." It weighed 83£ carats in the rough, and was
estimated in June 1870, to be worth £25,000. It has been cut,
and now figures amongst the jewels of the Countess of Dudley,
its present weight being 46£ carats.
When it was clearly authenicated that a gem of such value had
been found, the first large "rush" of diggers made their way up
to the Orange River, but it is a curious fact that though the
earliest finds were in the Hopetown district no mine has been
discovered there. However, careful prospecting soon proved that
diamonds were to be found along the banks of the Vaal River.
The searching parties worked their way from the junction of the
Orange and Vaal up the latter stream as far as Hebron, leaving
detachments of diggers along the whole course. In 1870 a large
population numbering not less than 10,000, chiefly males, had
spread itself along the Vaal River, constant recruits arriving
from all parts of South Africa, with a goodly sprinkling of
Yankees and other keen-witted miners, who brought to bear on
the new industry their valuable experience gained in California
and Australia.
In the latter part of 1870 news came of the discovery of
diamonds some twenty miles further south, about midway between
the Vaal and Modder Rivers, near to where the town of Kimberley
now stands, and many of the River Diggings were soon abandoned
by the rush to the farms of Dutoitspan and Bultfontein. The
improvement was not very encouraging. Neither the river
diggings nor the newly opened mines were sufficiently rich to
prove remunerative to so large an influx of workers with the
primitive appliances at their disposal, whilst the change from the
green banks and shady trees of the limpid Vaal to the arid sand
of Dutoitspan, where water even for domestic purposes was almost


THE DIAMOND MINES.
325
a luxury and at times quite unobtainable, was not conducive to
cheer the spirits of men whose hopes of speedy fortune had been
rudely disappointed.
Hardly a more dreary existence can be imagined than that of
the early days on the Diamond Fields. Comforts there were
absolutely none. Not a single substantial dwelling afforded
shelter from the burning sun: men lived under canvas, and the
owner of an iron or wooden shanty was looked upon as a lord. If
you crossed the street you trod ankle deep in sand, and probably
before reaching the other side a small dust storm in embryo had
choked and blinded you. The dust and the flies, and worse,
pervaded everywhere; they sat down with you to meals and
escorted you to bed. The want of good food and pure water
brought on disease, and many a poor fellow who had expected to
find an Eldorado on the fields succumbed to the fever which
threatened to become endemic. Yet the men who had subjected
themselves to this sort of life were mostly fresh from the comforts
of civilization. There was an entire absence of the rowdy uncouth
class such as peopled the "Roaring Camps" of the far West.
The expense and difficulty of reaching the Diamond Fields, even
from the nearest towns of the Cape Colony, kept rogues and loafers
out of the place. Though distant only 650 miles from Cape
Town, and 500 from Port Elizabeth, the journey from the latter
rt occupied a month and six weeks from the former. It had to
performed in a springless transport-wagon, drawn by ten to
sixteen bullocks, over roads that no description could convey the
vileness of, and the cost per passenger was not less than fifty
pounds.
To-day all this has been changed. The railway has placed the
Diamond Fields within thirty hours journey of the coast ports;
and brings to them a daily supply of all the luxuries the Colony
can produce. The township has been drained, paved, and lighted
with electric light, as well as furnished with an ample water
supply, and the public health has so greatly improved that the
fatal " camp fever" is a thing of the past.
Early in the year 1871 a new digging was discovered two miles
distant from Dutoitspan, in a north-westerly direction, situated
on a farm named Vooruitzigt, the property of one De Beer, from
whom it was termed "Old De Beer's.' And on this same farm,
in July, 1871, the famous " Colesberg Kopje" or "De Beer's New
Hush," as it was variously called, was discovered by a Mr.
Bawstorne of Colesberg. By a Government proclamation issued
three years later, (see Statute Law of Griqualand West, No. 7 of
1874) these diggings were converted into "Mines" with the
respective titles of "Dutoitspan Mine," "De Beer's Mine," and


32G
THE DIAMOND MINES.
"Kimberley Mine." The "Bultfontein " diggings were not pro-
claimed a mine till 1882. The three farms containing these four
mines changed hands very shortly after the opening of the
diggings. Dorstfontein, the farm on which the Dntoitspan
Mine was situated, was owned by one Van Wyk, whilst the
neighbouring farm of Bultfontein belonged to another Dutchman
named Du Plooy. The owners had at first issued "briefjes," or
licences to dig, at a trifling charge, but the growing number of
diggers soon proved too great for their pastoral tastes, and both
owners disposed of their property to Mr. H. B. Webb, through
whom it eventually passed into the hands of the London and
South African Exploration Company. The Vooruitzigt estate
was similarly purchased from its owner, De Beer, by a Port
Elizabeth firm of merchants, for the sum of £6,000, and resold by
them to the Colonial Government in 1875 for £100,000.
The diamondiferous area at the present time is defined on the
north, west, and south by the wide fork formed by the junction
of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. Although the first diamonds
were found a few miles south of the Orange River, and alluvial
diggings are still being worked on the northern bank of the
Vaal, there is no evidence for believing deposits of diamonds to
exist north of the Vaal or south of the Orange River. All the
known diamond mines and diggings are contained within the
square formed by the 28th and 30th parallels, and the 24th and
26th degrees of longitude. The town of Kimberley is situated
in about the centre of this square, and the boundary line of
Griqualand West and the Orange Free State forms almost a
diagonal across the square from north-east to south-west. It will
thus be seen that the Kimberley Mines are practically in the
centre of the diamondiferous area, and from these four mines
more than ninety per cent, of all the diamonds exported from
South Africa have been raised.
The locality of the Diamond Fields would hardly be chosen
as a desirable residence by any one not in search of diamonds,
or unconnected with the industry. The region may almost be
described as a desert, destitute of trees or foliage, a wide expanse
of rolling plains, unrelieved by any eminence worthy of the name
of hill; without rivers, or water in any shape, always excepting
the Vaal, which is fourteen miles from Kimberley. Owing to the
altitude (4042 feet above the sea), and the absence of vegetation,
the climate is extremely dry, and though heavy rains fall in the
summer, six or eight months sometimes pass without a single
shower, so that dust storms are of frequent occurrence, and the
verdure of the veldt is painted an undistinguishable brown. From
September to March the heat is excessive, often 100° in the shade,


THE DIAMOND MINES.
327
though on account of the dryness of the air, this temperature is
much less trying than it would be at the coast, and the nights,
even in midsummer, are invariably cool and pleasant in spite
of the mosquitos, which have only visited the fields since the
advent of the railway. The winter climate is delicious, mild
bright days and frosty nights, with very rarely a fall of snow.
When every deduction is made, the wide open country and the
vast blue sky have a charm which grows upon one, and in spite
of the drawbacks mentioned the climate is far from unhealthy.
The town of Kimberley still bears marks of the old diggers'
encampment out ef which it has grown. The early diggers,
who still speak of it as "the Camp," lived in tents; and when
they migrated into nobler edifices of galvanized iron, the streets
were not laid out with much regard to regularity. Indeed, the
tin houses were frequently moved from one spot to another, and
it is still no unusual sight to see a house being carted down the
street, or carried, walls and roof intact, by a gang of natives.
During the last ten years, however, comfortable brick houses have
been built, furnished with every modern luxury; and since the
Vaal Biver water has been brought into the town by the
Kimberley Waterworks Company, gardens have been laid out,
trees and orchards have been planted; so that many portions
of the town and suburbs present a very bright and pleasing
appearance to travellers arriving from the monotonous journey
through the arid Karroo. There are no imposing public buildings
in Kimberley, but many visitors have carried away a pleasant
impression of the Kimberley Club and the Public Library, which
are quite equal to any similar institutions in South Africa. The
population in 1891 was 28,718 persons.
The township of Beaconsfield, whose population numbers
another 10,478 persons, is situated two miles to the south-west
of Kimberley, with which it is connected by tramway, and by the
main line of railway from Capetown.
The Diamond Mines are contained in the shale and sandstone
formation known geologically as the Lower Karroo Beds. They
may be described as large pipes or funnels of unknown depth,
and more or less oval shape, several acres in extent. They are
probably extinct craters which have been filled from below by
volcanic mud at a time when the surrounding country was under
water. In support of this theory it may be stated the diamond-
bearing rock filling the pipes contains fragments and boulders, or
large floating masses, of all the encasing rocks, as well as pieces of
older and lower-lying rocks, such'as granite or gneiss, which have
not yet been pierced by the deepest shafts outside the mines. The
softer rocks (shales) surrounding the pipes near the surface have


328
THE DIAMOND MINES.
their exposed edges turned upwards, as by a pressure from below,
and the funnel itself is much more conical at the surface than in
the harder rock beneath the shales. Though the mines occur in
groups confined within a few square miles of country, each mine
differs from its neighbour, both in the appearance and composition
and physical nature of the diamond-bearing rock, as well as in
the quality of the diamonds themselves; and similar strongly
marked differences exist even in different parts of one and the
same mine, from which it would appear that the breccia filling
the pipes has been deposited by a succession of upheavals. The
first mines were discovered by diamonds lying on the surface in
the red sand, and subsequent search disclosed numbers more in a
similar position; but no diamonds were found in the surrounding
country immediately outside the margin of the mines. The
evidence of the volcanic origin of the mines may therefore
be regarded as complete.
The question as to the manner in which the diamonds them-
selves were produced is much more difficult to solve. They have
evidently not been formed in the precise positions they now
occupy, since fragments of broken diamonds are frequently met
with; but, on the other hand, from the distinctive character of
the diamonds in different mines, we must infer that their origin
cannot have been very far distant from the spots where they are
actually found, though they have certainly come from a very
freat depth. The diamond is known to be pure carbon, and
efore it was ascertained that the mines extended far beneath
the level of the black shales, it was conjectured that in passing
through these carbonaceous shales the diamonds had been formed
by chemical action due to the steam generated in the volcanic
rock. It is evident now that the diamonds are of older date
than the rock in which they are found, but the mode of their
formation still remains a mystery.
The surface of the mines, in common with the surrounding
country, is covered by a few feet of red sand, followed generally
by a somewhat thicker deposit of lime. Underneath this the
true diamond rock is reached. The yellow ground extends to
a depth of 50 to 60 feet. The depth of the blue ground is
unknown. It has been tested in Kimberley Mine to a depth of
over 1200 feet beneath the surface, and may be regarded as
practically inexhaustible, since the encasing rocks are almost
vertical in the lower depths. The surface shales and basalt
surrounding the pipes are called "Keef." It is important to
remember that in diamond-mining this term is applied to the
casing only, and not to the rocks carrying the diamonds. In
the upper levels of the mines intrusive masses of shale and








THE DIAMOND MINES.
329
igneous rock are met with, called "Floating Eeef." They are
destitute of diamonds, and sometimes cover an area of several
thousand square feet, but they disappear in the lower depths.
Smaller dykes of igneous rock also occur. The ground is
generally richer in diamonds in the neighbourhood of these
dykes and intrusive sheets, or immediately beneath them.
The Kimberley mine was thrown open on the 21st of July,'1871,
a red-letter day in the annals of South Africa, since it practically
inaugurated the era of profitable mining, on which the country
mainly depends for its subsistence, and to which it owes its
growing importance amongst the rising states of the world.
In the face of a good deal of opposition from the diggers, the
Government (Orange Free State) Inspector of Mines wisely decided
to lay out the mine on a new plan. Instead of allotting the
whole area within the mine to be worked as the diggers thought
fit, he insisted on a reserve strip off one side of each "claim"
being left unmined to form roadways. The size of a claim in
Kimberley Mine is a square measuring 31 ft. by 31 ft., the mine
itself forming an irregular ellipse, of which the major axis points
approximately east and west. The roadways were made to run
parallel with the claim-lines across the narrower width of the
mine from north to south, and each roadway was 15 ft. wide, half
of this width being taken alternately from the east and west of
successive claims, leaving a space of 47 ft. between the several
roads, so that each claim-holder lost temporarily a strip of 7£ ft.
off one side of his claim, or one quarter of his holding. This loss
of ground was more than compensated for by the extra facilities
for working afforded by the roadway.
Though there were only about 500 claims in the mine the
precise limits of the claim-ground could naturally not be
determined before the mine was opened, so that a much larger
number of claims was originally allotted than the mine actually
contained, even on the surface, and the claims abutting on the
"reef" were soon cut out by the conical shape of the mine. But
the demand for claims was so great that they were subdivided,
first into halves and quarters, then down to eighths and six-
teenths, the latter holding comprising no more than five square
yards after deducting the reserve for roadway. By law no
individual could hold more than two claims, and the "block-
ing " of claims was also prohibited, so that an immense number
of independent claim-holders was the result, the mine being
split up into no less than 1600 separate holdings. Of course this
state of things could not last long, and a process of consolidation
soon began, accompanied by a rapid rise in the market-value of
the claims. Many diggers who had only paid the customary


330
THE DIAMOND MINES.
licence of 10s. per month for their claim disposed of it for
over £100, and the value went on increasing from month to
month, as the richness of the mine became more and more
evident, till ten years later claims changed hands at £10,000
to £15,000 each, and even at these prices have yielded huge
profits to the purchasers.
There were fourteen or fifteen roadways in all, numbered from
east to west, and the names of them still survive for convenience
of defining different sections of the mine, though every vestige
of them has long since disappeared. As early as the beginning
of 1872 the roadways began to be unsafe; whether from design
or accident, it frequently happened that masses of the high
ground subsided, leaving great chasms in the roads which had to
be bridged over by the owner to enable the traffic to go on; and
by the middle of the year the number of these slips had increased
so much that it became evident that some change in the system
of working was needed; but whilst men were wondering what it
was to be, the remaining solid portions of the roads collapsed
converting the whole works into ruins. Some of the diggers were
in despair, and sold out at once, thinking the mine could never
recover from such a disaster. But it was only the first of a series
of unanticipated mishaps that Kimberley Mine has experienced,
and that almost any less rich property would have succumbed
under.
It is to be regretted that no statistics have been preserved of
the number of workers employed in the mine at this period. It
can hardly have been less than 10,000 or 12,000, and is estimated
by many at double that number. The problem, now the roadways
had collapsed, was how to work the large number of separate
holdings, so as to preserve free access to each, and still let no
claim-holder encroach or trespass on his neighbour's ground. As
the claims deepened, a system of rope haulage had been adopted;
a couple of grooved wheels being fixed, one on the surface, the
other in the claim, whilst to the rope passing over these wheels
the bucket was attached, which was filled with ground in the
claim and hauled up and down by a handle on the xipper wheel.
The objection to this method was that the entire circumference
of the mine did not afford frontage enough for the erection of
a hauling-gear to each claim, and further that, even had the
frontage sufficed, the crossing of ropes would have been a serious
difficulty.
Both these difficulties were overcome by the following
ingenious arrangement. A succession of tall massive timber
stagings was erected round the margin of the mine. Each
staging carried two or three platforms one above the other, every








THE DIAMOND MINES.
331
platform serving as an independent level from which to com-
municate with the claims below. Stationary ropes were then
stretched from the different levels of the stagings to the claims,
the ropes being anchored to the ground at both ends; the upper
platforms communicated with the claims in the centre of the
mine, the lower platforms with those nearer the margin. The
hauling ropes were attached to windlasses worked by Kafirs on
the several platforms, on which grooved guide-wheels for the
ropes were also fixed, the buckets being swung from the stationary
ropes by little overhead runners and crooks. The buckets most
generally used were constructed of hide, as being more durable'
than the common iron buckets, and the ropes were often made
of twisted hide, till the introduction of iron and steel wire ropes
gradually superseded them. Arrived at the level of the platform,
the bucket was tipped into a narrow shoot, down which the
ground ran into a bag held ready to receive it, in which it was
conveyed away to be sorted. The din and rattle of these
thousands of wheels, and the twang of the buckets along the
ropes were something deafening, whilst the mine itself seemed
almost darkened by the thick cobweb of ropes, so numerous as
to appear almost touching one another. This mode of haulage,
of which the annexed illustration conveys an idea, continued in
vogue during the whole of 1873, and if the appearance of the
mine was less picturesque than whilst the roadways existed, it
was if anything, more unique. By moonkght, particularly, it
was a weird and beautiful sight.
The year 1874 witnessed the establishment of the first
Kimberley Mining Board, the internal affairs of the mine having
been previously managed by a Diggers' Committee. The ex-
cavations by that time were over 100 feet deep, and with the
increasing depth many unforeseen difficulties arose, which the
newly constituted Board had at once to grapple with. The
first of these difficulties was an accumulation of water in the
lowest workings, then the encasing rock of the mines (or the
"Reef," as the diggers called it) being exposed by the removal
of the diamondiferous ground, began to disintegrate and fall into
the mine. Claim-holders in the centre of the mine generally
suffered most from the water, those near the margin were most
troubled by the reef; but it soon became a recognised principle
that both reef and water should be treated as common enemies,
and accordingly a general rate was levied on the whole mine
to deal with them. The water difficulty would never have been
serious had anything like adequate pumping machinery been
provided, as no strong springs were met with in the workings,
and it was mainly surface drainage that had to be dealt with.


332
THE DIAMOND MINES.
Much more serious have been the reef troubles, forming a long
chapter of accidents in themselves, which more than once
threatened to involve the whole mine in ruin; and though all
this is now ancient history, no account of the diamond industry
would be complete that did not devote some space to the reef
question, which was once so all-engrossing in Kimberley.
Early in the year 1878 one quarter of the claims were covered
by reef; this was being hauled out at a cost to the Board of 4s.
per load of 16 cubic feet. In the years 1879 to 1880 the Board's
expenditure on the removal of reef, debris, and water exceeded
£300,000, although the reef tariff had been reduced from 4s. to
2s. Gd. per load. At the end of 1881 the Mining Board had 7
miles of tramway in use, whilst another 12 miles had been laid
down by claim-holders. During that year the Board expended
over £200,000 in reef removal, but the work had been commenced
too late to be effective, the slips became ever greater, so that in
1882 more than half a million sterling was needed to defray the
cost of the reef actually removed, and still claims were covered
and other slips impending. The bulk of this removal had been
done by the claim-holders themselves at the Board's expense.
Notwithstanding all these appliances, the reef removal did not
keep pace with the constantly recurring slips, and during the
following eighteen months the reef hauled .by claim-holders
alone cost the Board over £650,000. Unable to meet this
heavy expenditure by cash payments, the Board had recourse
to bills, with the result that by the end of March, 1883, its books
showed a deficit of over a quarter of a million sterling. The
local banks refusing then to discount its reef bills any further,
a financial crisis arose, causing a dead-lock in the operations
of the mine. Outsiders freely stated that Kimberley Mine was
ruined.
The dilemma was really a most grave one. The financial
position of the Mining Board rendered a continuance of heavy
reef-work in the absence of outside assistance impossible. Still
less could any individual claim-holders contemplate reaching
their submerged ground by means of tunnels connected with
shafts sunk outside the mine; the expense of boring through the
"hard rock," besides being too costly, was too lengthy an operation
to afford the speedy relief that was needed. At this juncture
Mr. Edward Jones, a mining engineer who had been conducting
large reef contracts for some time previously, propounded a
scheme which, though startling in its novelty, and poohpoohed
by most practical miners at the time, was shortly afterwards
carried into effect by the inventor at his own risk, and which
actually enabled the mine to tide over its gravest difficulties.








THE DIAMOND MINES.
333
The question was, how to get out diamondiferous ground at once
without the prosecution of further dead work.
Mr. Jones solved the problem in the following manner:—
A shaft was sunk inside the mine through the fallen reef on
the "cofferdam" principle of gradually lowering a square
timber box, without bottom, through the loose stuff, shovel-
ling out the reef from the inside, and fixing on box after box
to the first one, till it had sunk to the bottom of the fallen
reef, forming a strong timbered shaft within the latter, and
resting at last on the solid blue ground. In this mode more
than fifty feet of loose reef was successfully sunk through, after
which the shaft was easily extended to any desired depth into
the "blue," and tunnels were driven in all directions, so as to
continue the excavation of the mine under ground. The great
merit of the scheme was that it entailed little initial outlay,
whilst as soon as the "blue" was reached, the work of opening
up the galleries more than paid for itself in the value of the
diamondiferous ground removed, which was reached within a few
months after starting the shaft.
By the end of 1882 the deepest open workings in the blue
ground of Kimberley Mine were over 400 feet beneath the
surface; and they never much exceeded that depth, since it
gradually became evident that the task of keeping the claim
ground clear of reef was beyond the means of even the wealthiest
companies then owning the richest portions of the mine. Some
four million cubic yards of reef had been removed in all, at a
cost of something like two millions sterling, and yet the Inspector
of Mines had to report that out of the 300 or 400 claims in
the mine "only about fifty claims have been regularly worked
during 1884." Though profitable mining was being carried on
from the shafts sunk through the fallen reef, attempts were still
made to revert to open working, which ruined both systems, as
hauling reef from the foot of the slopes caused a further sub-
sidence, which carried away these shafts and destroyed many
thousand pounds' worth of machinery and plant used in con-
nection therewith. In each of the years 1883 to 1885, the
quantity of blue ground raised from Kimberley Mine was little
over 300,000 loads, as against a million loads raised in 1882,
which practically demonstrated that mining in the open could
not bo conducted below a depth of 400 feet, and that the only
alternative was some system of underground mining.
The experience gained at such great expense in Kimberley
Mine was naturally made use of to avoid similar mistakes in
De Beers Mine, in which the expenditure on reef-work has been
comparatively insignificant. For the first few years alter its


334
THE DIAMOND MINES.
discovery little attention was devoted to this mine, owing to the
greater richness of Kimherley Mine on the surface; hut when the
reef-trouhles in the latter mine became so serious as to render a
large amount of capital necessary for coping with them, mining
at De Beers was energetically resumed. The hard basaltic rock
overlying the shales stood remarkably well when exposed, so that
for several years very little trouble was caused by falls of
marginal or "main-reef," which was cut back in terraces as it
became dangerous, thus keeping the claims generally clear of
reef. In the years 1878 to 1882 inclusive, the De Beers Mining
Board had removed over 215,000 cubic yards of reef at a cost
of £76,000, being much less than the average cost of similar work
in Kimherley Mine, where the bulk of the reef had to be hauled
out after it had fallen into the claims. But as the mine grew
deeper year by year, the amount of dead-work to be done rapidly
increased. In each of the years 1883 and 1884, over 70,000
cubic yards of reef were removed, and yet in the early part of
1885 such considerable falls of reef took place that the Board
determined to cease reef-hauling altogether, as certain in the
long run to bring disaster on the mine. The deepest open
workings had by that time reached a depth of about 350 feet
below the surface, and the richness of the blue ground over
a great portion of the mine had been proved to be almost equal
to that of Kimherley, but still there was much hesitation and
timidity about resorting to underground mining.
In both mines, as already mentioned, there is a great difference
in the relative value of the ground in different parts of the
mines—the claims in the west end of both mines being not
payable, whilst those in the east, north, south, and centre are
exceedingly rich, though showing again minor variations to a
considerable degree. The west end of De Beers Mine had
remained a high bank of unworked yellow-ground, and a few
weeks after the reef-fall referred to above, some 300,000 loads of
this high yellow-ground fell in one day, filling up the whole of
the lower blue-ground workings, and actually overlapping the
foot of the reef, which had fallen from the east of the mine, so
that for the next six months profitable work in the open was
suspended till this rubbish could be cleared out.
Prior to the great falls of reef and yellow ground in the
beginning of 1885, a move had been made towards inaugurating
underground mining, on a more ambitious plan than that adopted
in Kimherley Mine, by means of a large circular shaft, sunk some
1000 feet to the north of the mine. This shaft was commenced
in 1884, and carried down 320 feet, and then abandoned in favour
of an inclined shaft, sunk about 150 feet west of the claim


TIIE DIAMOND MINES.
335
margin, at an angle of 56° with the horizon, so as just to cut
through the edge of the "hard rock," and thus avoid the great
expense of sinking and driving through the amygdaloid. At the
same time mining in the open was still proceeding, but by the
end of 1886 the reef-falls had become so serious as to render a
continuance of this system hopeless. By that time the greatest
depth in the open workings was 400 feet, and in underground
mining 650 feet, and in the course of the following year the
latter system was universally adopted, and all idea given up of
attempting to remove the marginal reef and high yellow ground,
which have since been allowed to slide into the mine where
they have long since covered every vestige of the old open
workings.
The formation of Dutoitspan Mine is similar to that of
Kimberley and De Beers, but owing to its much greater size
and the inferior richness of the ground, it has not reached the
same stage of development, nearly all the work having been
done in the open. The encasing rocks consist of yellow and
black shales, the latter of unknown depth. For the first five
or six years after its discovery this mine was only spasmodically
worked, and the results were so little encouraging that in 1874
most of the diggers left Dutoitspan, to work "debris" at
Kimberley, and in the following year the mine was almost
completely deserted. In 1876 the debris-washers returned, took
out fresh claims, and by degrees introduced improved hauling
and washing machinery, so that the mine rapidly grew deeper;
but as the ground was not rich enough to pay for much dead-
work, a buttress of unexcavated blue-ground was generally left
as a solid support against the reef, and served to stave off the
evil day for a number of years. A disastrous reef-fall, however,
took place on the 18th of March, 1886, by which eight white
men and ten Kafirs were killed. Surface-cracks had been noticed
in the northern margin of the mine for 18 months previously,
but not sufficient attention was given to the signs of impending
subsidence. On the day in question all the workers were
supposed to have left the mine at noon, and the blasting had
commenced, when a huge mass of reef and solid blue-ground
detached itself from the almost perpendicular side of the mine,
and curling bodily over, fell with a crash like an avalanche into
the workings below. Unhappily a party of miners had taken
shelter during the blasting in a pumping-engine house at the
bottom of the mine. The house was completely wrecked by the
falling rock, and the unfortunate eighteen men were either
crushed or scalded to death. The fallen mass was estimated at
100,000 cubic yards, of which about one-third was blue-ground.


336
THE DIAMOND MINES.
This was the first serious reef-fall in Dutoitspan Mine, and was
followed at intervals by others, till at the present time nearly all
the old open workings, which by the end of 1887 had attained a
depth of 400 feet, are covered with reef. In this mine, too, there
are considerable masses of floating reef and high poor ground,
which divide the mine into a number of gullies, in some of
which the accumulation of water has at times converted a large
area of claim-ground into temporary lakes.
The history of Bultfontein Mine is not unlike that of
Dutoitspan. For the first ten years it was worked by means
of inclined roadways and bullock-carts, but from 1880 onwards
the erection of powerful hauling machinery enabled increased
quantities of " blue" to be excavated, and by the end of 18S7
the deepest workings had reached a depth of 460 feet, probably
the greatest depth ever reached in open workings in any of the
mines. A plucky attempt was made by one of the companies
to avert the inevitable fall of the reef by cutting it back in
terraces, but the work was commenced too late, and confined
to only one corner of the mine; the forces of Nature slowly but
surely prevailed against the exertions of man, and by the middle
of 1889 nearly the whole of the deep claims were covered by
reef, and by the end of that year only four hauling gears were
still working out of more than thirty that had been at work in
1882. Bultfontein Mine has always been exempt from any
troubles with water in the claims, but a considerable area is
covered by large blocks of floating reef.
It has been shown how in each of the four mines the diffi-
culties of mining increased with increasing depth, requiring
constantly larger capital and more elaborate appliances for
winning the diamonds. As a natural consequence the individual
digger, who had held his one or two claims and been able to
work them at a profit whilst near the surface, was soon com-
pelled to sell out, or to amalgamate with his neighbours. With
a laudable desire to allow as large a population as possible to
acquire separate holdings in the newly discovered mines, it was
originally decreed that no individual should hold more than two
claims, and the " blocking " of claims was also prohibited. But
as early as 1874 it was found necessary to permit as many as ten
claims to be held by a single digger, and even this restriction had
soon after to be repealed, as it was found impossible in many
cases, particularly in the two poorer mines, to work so limited
an area at a profit. As a consequence the "original digger"
gradually gave place to a comparatively small number of capital-
ists, who by the end of the " seventies" had acquired tho richest
portions of all the mines, and much of the poorer ground also.


THE DIAMOND MINES.
337
Though many of these individual claimholders and private firms,
in Kimherley and De Beers at all events, were realizing hand-
some profits, the growing need of working on a more extensive
scale naturally suggested the formation of companies with in-
creased capital so as to deal with the large amount of dead-
work which had to be carried on simultaneously with the mining
in payable ground; and thus in the years 1880 and 1881 most of
the private holdings in the four mines were converted into
limited liability companies. In many cases the capital at which
these properties were floated was fully justified by the intrinsic
value of the claims. In too many others the claim capital was
much too high, whilst the working capital provided was ridicu-
lously small; insufficient, in not a few instances, to pay for the
necessary machinery and initial expenses, so that many companies
found themselves heavily in debt before they had fairly started
work.
But a speculative mania had taken possession of the public,
and mining scrip was regarded as a sure passport to wealth.
One has almost forgotten the names of all the companies whose
glowing prospectuses figured in the daily papers in those days of
sweet but short delusion. Within the space of a few months the
promise of certain fortune to investors was held out by more
than a hundred Diamond Mining Companies, and it rarely
happened that any of these failed to be floated, or their shares
to be rushed up to a big premium. The eagerness to be "in the
swim" silenced every prompting of prudence: clerks threw up
their situations, merchants left their stores, and professional men
their duties, to hang about street corners and dabble in stocks, of
the real value of which they were generally profoundly ignorant.
Three or four years of considerable commercial prosperity had
made money plentiful in the colony, but it was speedily all
gambled away. So great was the demand for fresh stocks that
claims which were known never to have paid for working wero
floated almost as easily as the richest proved properties. Nor
was this speculation by any means confined to the old established
mines. The number of " Kopjes," the number of " Fonteins," the
number of "Pans" and "Dams" that wero suddenly discovered
to be rich in diamonds, has almost faded from our memory.
But the swift retribution which followed has not been forgotten,
nor is it likely to be, by those who passed through the succeeding
years of depression. We had converted all our available cash
into paper, and suddenly the paper was found to be "not negoti-
able, ' and of course, when the bubble burst, the really genuino
concerns suffered with the rotten ones. For the next three or
four years, investors were as hard to convince of the value of our
z


338
THE DIAMOND MINES.
mines as they had previously been recklessly eager to buy into
them.
The immediate result of the formation of Companies was to
greatly increase the output, with the aim of paying dividends
on the enhanced capital of the mines. From having been little
over two million carats in 1879, the production of diamonds for
each of the years 1880 and 1881 rose suddenly to over three
million carats, so that the mines became rapidly deeper, and the
difficulties of working a single mine harmoniously by a number
of different proprietors grew more palpable every year. There
were constant disputes and costly law-suits between the several
claim holders, or between these and the Mining Boards, often
resulting in awards for enormous damages; and as early as the
beginning of 1883 the Inspector of Mines, in his .Report on
Kimberley Mine for the previous year, informed the Govern-
ment that "it is daily becoming more evident that this mine,
especially, can never be worked to the best advantage until all
the payable holdings have been amalgamated and the whole mine
worked as a single holding." Kimberley being the smallest and
deepest of the four mines, this state of things was reached there
soonest, but the conclusion forced upon an impartial and compe-
tent observer of Kimberley Mine was admitted to be applicable
to the other mines by those most interested in them. If this
was true in the days of open workings, it left no room for doubt
after the underground works had been started, which rendered
it more difficult than ever for neighbouring claimholders not to
hamper and hinder one another. In both Kimberley and De
Beers Mines six or eight different shafts had been sunk, some
inside, some outside, the mine, connected with tunnels, galleries,
and passes, worked on half-a-dozen systems. In 1885 there were
four different systems of underground mining in vogue in Kimber-
ley Mine, and, apart from the inconvenience of this, the waste of
money to the mine, regarded as a single property, was almost
incalculable. The far-seeing directors, therefore, in both mines,
began early to impress on their shareholders the importance and
advantages of amalgamating adjoining blocks, with the ultimate
view of converting the whole mine into a single company. The
process, however, was both long and tedious, necessitating end-
less discussion as to the relative value of the different properties
concerned, and it was only by slow degrees that first one bit of
ground, and then another, was welded on to that of a richer
neighbour, so that every year the number of separate holdings
grew less and less. What a Herculean task was involved in this
project will be realized when it is mentioned that by the end of
1885, after considerable progress had been made in amalgama-


THE DIAMOND MINES.
339
tion, there were still no fewer than 98 separate holdings in the
four mines. Of these 42 were Companies, and 56 private firms
or individuals. In Kimberley there were 11 Companies and 8
private holders; in De Beers, 7 Companies and 3 private holders;
in Dutoitspan, 16 Companies and 21 private holders; and in
Bultfontein, 8 Companies and 24 private holders. The total
claim area leased in the four mines was 3238 claims, equal to only
68£ statute acres: yet the assessed value for rating purposes was
over five millions sterling, equivalent to an average of £75,000
per acre, and the market value of course was considerably higher.
It will be seen from the above figures that the greatest progress
in amalgamation had been made in De Beers Mine, where the
number of separate holdings had been reduced to seven Companies
owning the whole mine, with the trifling exception of nine claims
held by three private diggers. The most important of these
Companies was the De Beers Mining Company. Founded on the
1st of April, 1880, with a capital of only £200,000, it had by
degrees absorbed most of its smaller neighbours, till by the
end of March, 1885, its capital stood at £841,550, on which
during the last financial year it had paid a dividend of 7^ per
cent., the largest dividend thus far earned by the shareholders.
In the three following years the policy of amalgamation was
not only steadily pursued, but expanded into a broader scheme
for uniting the principal holdings in all the mines into one
powerful corporation, which should control the whole of the
diamond industry. By the end of 1887 the amalgamation of
De Beers Mine was complete, and controlling interests had been
purchased in each of the other three mines. At the close of
the financial year ending 31st March, 1888, the capital of the
Company stood at £2,332,170, and the increased dividends that
had been paid during the last three years fullv justified the
directors in expecting the approval of their shareholders for
their bold exercise of the powers vested in them under the trust
deed. The dividends for 1886 were 12 per cent.; for 1887, 16
per cent.; and for 1888, 25 per cent., in each case for the year
ending 31st March. During the eight years of the Company's
existence, the total dividends paid had exceeded a million
sterling, being 71f per cent, on the figure at which the capital
had successively stood, and in addition to these dividends, 41
per cent, had been distributed in bonus shares. Two very
gratifying circumstances had contributed towards the improved
position of the Company: first, a very marked improvement in
the value of the "blue "; and secondly, a great reduction in the
cost of working. In 1881, the " blue " had only yielded ^ths of
a carat per load, and in 1882 only ^gths carat, whilst the working


340
THE DIAMOND MINES.
expenses had amounted to 13s. 2d. per load, so that in that year
it had cost 16s. (id. to produce a carat of diamonds. In 18S7, the
average yield was 1 • 15 carat per load, and the cost of produc-
tion 8s. 2d. per load, equivalent to 7s. 2d. per carat, so that in
those five years the yield had improved over 40 per cent., and
the cost of production been reduced nearly 40 per cent. In
the former year a dividend of only 3 per cent, had been paid;
in the latter year the dividend was 16 per cent. And yet in
the meantime there had been a most serious drop in the selling
price of diamonds, namely, from 27s. 3d. per carat in 1882 to
18s. 5&<2. in 1887.
No better proof could be afforded of the benefits resulting
from amalgamation than the foregoing figures. It is well
known that the mine had grown richer as it grew deeper, but
this greatly improved yield was partly due to better manage-
ment and to the stronger financial position of the Company,
which enabled a large reserve of "blue" to be kept on the
floors, thus ensuring the ground being thoroughly pulverized
before it was washed. At the end of 1882 the De Beers Com-
pany had only 3000 loads of blue on the floors; at the end of
1887 they ha"d nearly 300,000 loads on the floors. The im-
proved yield is also partly attributable to the better precau-
tions taken against theft of diamonds by the introduction of
the "Compound " system, which secured complete surveillance
over the native labourers. The great reduction in working
expenses was mainly due to the much larger scale on which
operations were conducted as the size of the property increased.
From having treated less than 100,000 loads in 1882, nearly
500,000 loads were washed in 1887; or, in other words, whilst
the capital of the Company had been barely doubled, the amount
of profitable work performed had increased five-fold.
But this satisfactory improvement in the cost of production
and in output was not without its attendant dangers. In the
days of open workings the mine had never been able to produce
more than half-a-million carats annually. In the years 1887 and
1888, consequent on the successful inauguration of underground
mining, the output of Do Beers Mine rose suddenly to a million
carats per annum, raised from only one shaft lifting 2500 loads
(of 16 cubic feet) of blue per day of 24 hours. In his report for
the year ending 31st March, 1888, the General Manager reported
that two other shafts were in course of construction, each capable
of hauling twice or three times as much "blue" as the above,
and that the quantity of unbroken blue-ground "in sight"
above the 800 feet level was over seven million loads. A similar
state of things was known to exist in Kimberley Mine, and


THE DIAMOND MINES.
341
though the works in the latter mine had not reached the same
stage of development, it was merely a question of time, and each
of the two mines would have been able to produce as much as
the total output of the whole of the Diamond Fields in previous
years. An entirely new problem had therefore to be faced:
How to prevent over-production?
It is unnecessary to describe the lengthy negotiations which
resulted in the formation of the powerful Corporation now known
as the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited. Readers may refer
for full details to the interesting speech made by the Chairman,
Mr. C. J. Rhodes, on the 31st March, 1888, at the special general
meeting of the shareholders of the De Beers Mining Company,
who by their unanimous votes confirmed and adopted the whole
programme for "the consolidation of the Diamond Mining Inter-
ests." On that day the De Beers Mining Company practically
ceased to exist, the shareholders receiving two fully paid £5
shares in the De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limited, for every
fully paid £10 share in the old Company. The Trust Deed of
the new Company is similar to that of the old one, with the
exception that it contains more varied and extensive powers,
and further that it provides for five Life Governors, who are
remunerated for their services by a portion of the profits after
30 per cent, per annum has been paid in dividends, in return
for which they have to keep in the Company jointly an amount
of shares equal to about £750,000 at present market value.
They are further bound to offer any diamond interests they may
acquire first to the Company at cost, and are not allowed to pro-
mote the formation of any diamond company without the con-
sent of their own Company. The first and present Life Governors
are the Hon. Cecil John Rhodes, M.L.A., and Messrs. F. S. P.
Stow, B. I. Barnato, M.L.A., and Alfred Beit.
Having thus acquired the whole of De Beers Mine from the
late De Beers Mining Company, together with their interests in
the other three mines, the Consolidated Mines devoted themselves
to completing the task of regulating the production, and were
so far successful that in their Second Annual Report, for the
year ending 31st March, 1890, the Directors were able to an-
nounce "that the object with which the Company was originally
started has at last been accomplished, and the four diamond-
Sreducing mines of De Beers, Kimberley, Dutoitspan, and
iultfontein are now practically under the control of the Com-
pany." The first and most important step towards consolidation
was to secure the whole of Kimberley Mine, as being the greatest
producing factor after De Beers. This was facilitated by the fact
that the Kimberley Central Diamond Mining Company had by


342
THE DIAMOND MINES.
successive amalgamations and purchases become possessed of the
whole mine. That mine had undergone considerable transforma-
tion since the date to which our retrospect brought it some
pages back (see page 333). The blue-ground hoisted through the
temporary shafts inside the mine had enabled the leading com-
panies to pay off their debts and commence paying substantial
dividends, and had placed them in a financial position strong
enough to bear the expense of sinking shafts outside the mine.
The Central Company in an incredibly short time rushed down
an inclined shaft at the west end, and the Standard Company a
similar shaft at the north-east corner of the mine, and every
facility was at hand for righting De Beers in the matter of pro-
duction, when Mr. Rhodes' policy luckily frustrated a ruinous
competition that could have benefited nobody. Having first
purchased the French Company and resold it to the Central
Company (which had meanwhile acquired the Standard and many
smaller companies), the De Beers Directors quietly commenced
buying up shares in the Central Company till by the end of
March, 1889, their interest in the Kimberley Mine was repre-
sented by 176,592 £10 shares in the Central Company, and
debentures of that Company to the amount of £500,000. They
were thus in a position to make advantageous terms for their
shareholders for the acquisition of the whole of Kimberley Mine,
which was shortly afterwards completed.
In dealing with Dutoitspan and Bultfontein a different principle
was adopted, since these mines had, with few exceptions, never
yielded any profit to their shareholders, but yet were serious
elements as producing factors. For several years they had each
produced over half a million carats annually, and though this
production was rapidly declining, owing to the reef troubles
described above, there was always the danger that these poorer
mines might fall into the hands of rival financiers. Amongst the
assets taken over from the old De Beers Company were a number
of shares in the Griqualand West Company of Dutoitspan and in
the Bultfontein Consolidated Company. With both these com-
panies permanent working agreements were entered into by the
De Beers Consolidated Mines, by which they obtained practical
possession of the companies against payment of an annual rental.
During their second financial year they purchased the following
properties in the Dutoitspan Mine:—
The Anglo-African Diamond Mining Company.
The Compagnie Generale (including their interest in the Coniviera*
Mines in the Brazils).
The Sultan Diamond Mining Company.
The United Diamond Mining Company.


THE DIAMOND MINES.
343
And during the same period they bought in the Bultfontein
Mine:—
The Bultfontein Mining Company.
The Spes Bona Diamond Mining Company.
The South African Diamond Mining Company.
£
The total purchase price of these Companies amounted
to about 2,564,000
Besides which, payments were made in cash for sundry
investments, conversion of Kimberley Central Shares,
transfer fees and stamps, cost of liquidation of
Kimberley Central Company.. .. .. about 211,210
For British South Africa Company Shares .. „ 91,000
For commission and charges raising Second Deben-
tures, &c. .. .. .. .. .. about 81,300
For cost of placing «blue' on the floors.. .. „ 298,890
Making in all a total of , £3,246,400
To meet this outlay:—
Second Debentures, £1,750,000, were created at issue
price about 1,G60,000
De Beers Bultfontein obligations (given in purchase of
the Bultfontein Mining Company) .. .. about 745,400
And 146,404 Shares in the Consolidated Company of
Bultfontein Mine held by the De Beers Consolidated
Company, which were given in exchange to some of
the purchased Companies at the rate of .. about 156,000
£2,561,400
Leaving a balance paid out of profits for the year
ending 31st March, 1890, of about .. .. 685,000
£3,246,400
The actual cost of the properties controlled by the Consoli-
dated Mines has been something like £14,500,000, but it was
decided not to increase the capital of the Company beyond
£3,950,000, the successive purchases being paid for by the issue
of debentures and the Bultfontein obligations mentioned above.
The balance sheet and profit and loss account of the Company
for the year ending 31st March, 1891, showed that the nett profit
for the year exceeded a million sterling, out of which two half-
yearly dividends were paid of ten per cent. each. The actual
cost of winning over two million carats of diamonds was little
over a million sterling, practically ten shillings per carat,
including all expenses at the mines, all office charges and ex-
penses of management. But out of the gross profits over


344
THE DIAMOND MINES.
£500,000 were written off for depreciation under various heads,
and nearly three-quarters of a million sterling expended in
interest on debentures and obligations, and in making provision
for their redemption. Omitting the amount of £292,000 odd
set aside for redemption, the total expenses of the year were
under two millions, or roughly, at the rate of eighteen shillings
per carat. The diamonds found, on the other band, were sold
at the average rate of nearly thirty shillings per carat, leaving
a nett profit of nearly twelve shillings per carat.
At the annual meeting of shareholders at Kimberley, in
November, 1892, owing to a change of date of the financial year
to 30th June, the balance sheet and profit and loss account
submitted, covered a period of fifteen instead of twelve months.
These showed that from March 31st, 1891 to June 30th, 1892,
3,338,553 loads of blue ground had been hoisted out of the
mines, and 3,239,134 loads of blue were washed (in addition
to 454,280 loads from Dutoitspan and Bultfontein), the whole
of which yielded 3,035,481 carats of diamonds, valued at
£3,931,542 lis. Id., which, with dividends on investments, &c,
brought up the revenue to £3,994,030. The total expenditure
for the same period, including working expenses, payment of
interest on the Company's debentures and obligations, and
making provision for their redemption, amounted to £2,794,234,
leaving a balance of profit of £1,199,796. The dividends paid
out were on 30th June, 1891, 10 per cent.; on 31st December,
1891, 12£ per cent.; and on 30th June, 1892, 12J per cent-
all on a capital of £3,948,955,—besides a bonus dividend of
£157,958 in British South Africa Company's shares, distributed
on 31st December, 1891.
To describe with any degree of fulness the gigantic operations
conducted by this Company, with its elaborate machinery and
mining appliances and its army of workpeople, would require
a much larger space than the prescribed limits of this article will
permit. A brief sketch only can be given of the modern methods
employed for winning the diamonds, and those desiring further
details must consult the Technical Keport issued by Mr. Gardner
F. Williams in 1890, and the Beports of the Inspectors of Mines
for the last three years, and also the Annual Beports of the De
Beers Directors.
The section of Kimberley Mine reproduced herewith will con-
vey an idea of the general formation of the diamond-bearing
pipe, with its encasing rocks, and of the main shafts and workings
which have been constructed therein. The New Bock Shaft on
the north side of the mine was started in March, 1889, and is
connected with two main tunnels, one at 1000 feet, the other at





/


THE DIAMOND MINES.
345
1200 feet from the surface, the distance from the shaft to the
mine being about 1134 feet. The shaft is 6 feet wide and 20
feet 6 inches long, divided into four compartments, one for
pumping, two for hoisting the blue, and one for a double-decked
cage to carry the white miners to and from their work. The
hoisting is performed by a pair of vertical tandem compound
condensing winding engines, with Corliss valve gear and reels
for flat ropes, capable of hoisting skips holding six loads of
blue ground from a depth of 1000 feet in forty-five seconds.
Arriving at the surface, the skips are tipped automatically into
ore-bins, from which the blue ground is filled into steel side-
tipping trucks of twenty cubic feet capacity, and conveyed to the
deposiitng floors by an endless chain naulage driven by an inde-
pendent steam-engine.
"For a time the blue ground remains on the floors without
much manipulation. The heat of the sun and moisture soon
have a wonderful effect upon it. Large pieces, which were as
hard as ordinary sandstone when taken from the mine, soon com-
mence to crumble. At this stage of the work the winning of the
diamonds assumes more the nature of farming than mining.
The ground is continually harrowed to assist pulverization, by
exposing the larger pieces to the action of the sun. Spans of
mules" were formerly "used for drawing the harrow to and fro,
but steam traction engines with gear for drawing the harrows,"
on Fowler's well-known steam-ploughing system, are now em-
ployed at both Kimberley and De Beers. "The length of time
necessary for the ground to be exposed before it becomes suffi-
ciently pulverized for washing depends on the season of the year
and the amount of rain. The blue ground of the four mines
differs as to the length of time necessary for pulverization.
The blue from Kimberley Mine becomes quite well pulverized
in three months during the summer" (the rainy season), " whilst
that from De Beers requires double that time. The longer the
ground remains exposed, the better it is for washing." * Some of
the De Beers ground is so hard that it has to be broken in a
Marsden crusher.
The washing gears for the treatment of the pulverized "blue"
are erected on high mounds of tailings accumulated from former
workings, and are very elaborate sets of machinery, the result of
fifteen or twenty years of experimenting to reduce the loss of
diamonds to a minimum. In the very early days of the Fields,
* The passages in inverted commas are taken by permission from Mr. Gardner
F. Williams' exhaustive Technical Report, attached to the General Manager's
Report for 1890.


346
THE DIAMOND MINES.
when water was scarce and costly, the diamonds were won by
"dry-sorting " the pulverized ground, and the resulting " debris,"
scattered over a large area of the townships, has since been nearly
all washed with more or less of profit to the workers. The
modern washing-machine consists of four essential parts, a hoist
for lifting the dry pulverized ground from the floors, a puddling
cylinder, in which it is mixed with water, an annular pan with
revolving arms and teeth, and an elevator for getting rid of the
tailings.
'.'."The diamond occurs in all shades of colour, from deep yellow
to pure white, from deep brown to light brown, and in a great
variety of colours—green, blue, pink, brown, yellow, orange, pure
white, and opaque. It is the hardest of known substances, and
has a specific gravity of 3*83. The stones vary in size from
that of a pin's head to the size of the cut given below. This
diamond weighed 428£ carats in the rough (a carat weighs
3*17 troy grains), and is the largest stone ever found in the four
mines. It measured inches through the longest axis, and
1J inches square. The following cut represents the size and
shape of the stone as found:—

4-fi Carats.
"It was found in the De Beers Mine by a native, whose
'brother' gave information which led to its recovery, while
being taken from the mine. It was cut and exhibited at the
Paris Exposition, 1889. Its weight after cutting was 228^ carats,
having lost 200 carats in the process of cutting.


THE DIAMOND MINES.
847
"After assorting at the pulsator, the diamonds are sent daily
to the general office under an armed escort, and delivered to the
valuators of the Diamond Department. The first operation is to
clean the diamonds of any extraneous matter by boiling them in
a mixture of nitrate and sulphuric acids. When cleaned, they
are carefully assorted with reference to size, colour, and purity.
Parcels are then made up, and when valued are sold to local
buyers, who represent the leading diamond merchants of
Europe. The size of a parcel varies from a few thousands to
tens of thousands of carats. In one instance, two or three
years ago, nearly a quarter' of a million of carats were sold in
one lot to one buyer.
"In order to prevent illicit traffic, the quantities of diamonds
found are reported to the Detective Department, both by the
producers and by the exporters. All diamonds, except those
which pass through illicit channels, are sent to England by
registered post. The weekly shipments average from 40,000 to
50,000 carats."
The "compounds" for the native labourers employed in the
mines are peculiar features of the Fields. Both at Kimberley
and De Beers these compounds, consisting of rows of buildings
of corrugated iron, forming four sides of a square enclosed with a
high fence, cover several acres of ground. Within these areas,
the natives are confined during their term of service which is
generally for three months, at the end of which time many of
them re-engage for further periods. Wood and water are
furnished free; a large swimming bath is provided; and the
sick are taken care of in a hospital where medical attendance,
nurses, and food are supplied by the Company. Wages are
paid to the men wholly in money, and within the compounds
there are several stores furnished with all the necessaries of life,
where they can purchase food, clothing and whatever they
require. No alcoholic liquors in any form are allowed to them,
and during the period of service they are strictly guarded against
having any communication with the world outside the compound.
The natives are thus provided with wholesome food and healthy
quarters, protected from indulging in poisonous liquors, and by a
system of close personal surveillance and systematic searching
whenever they come up from the mine shafts to the surface,
their opportunities or chances of stealing or concealing diamonds
are materially reduced. Among these natives are to be found
types of all the tribes of South Africa—Kaffirs, Basutos, Zulus,
Bechuanas, Matabele, Fingoes, Shangains, Makalakas, &c, and
in the open square of the compounds, the visitor who watches
the groups of ebony figures draped in blankets, chatting,



laughing, gambling,
feeding, or sleeping
in every imaginable
pose, may attain a
more realistic picture
of native life than
anywhere in the in-
terior of the Dark
Continent
The European em-
ployes of the Com-
pany are free to live
where and how they
please; but a model
village for the ac-
commodation of a
number of them, has
lately been designed
and erected at Kenil-
8J worth, near De Beers,
a Four or five years
I ago, Kenilworth was
3 nothing but an exten-
6 sive patch of barren
I land. Now it is
a covered with trees,
u thirty to forty feet
| high. Roads and
a streets have been laid
a out upon it, and com-
fortable red-brick cot-
tages built, each with
its shrub-clad porch,
verandah and rlower
garden. There were
fifty houses occupied
towards the end of
1892, and more were
in course of erection.
Portions of these were
for married men and
families, others were
quarters for single
men. The rent of a
four - roomed house,
with kitchen, ofiices,
and water laid on
is from £4 10s. to


THE DIAMOND MINES.
349
£5 monthly. Single men have their rooms from £1 a month and
25s. per week for board. At the entrance of the village are a
church, and a club house, the latter containing, besides a large
common dining-room, an excellent reading room, where books,
magazines, and newspapers are kept, and also a billiard room
with two good tables, the gift of some of the life-governors of
the Company. Adjoining the village an orchard has been
planted and about thirty acres of ground covered with 4,000
fruit trees—peach, apricot, apples, pears, plums, &c.—already
bearing fruit although only in their second season. This orchard
is intended to furnish the villagers with fresh fruit at reasonable
prices, and any surplus will supply the compounds.
A few words must be added about the mines and diggings
outside the control of the De Beers Consolidated Mines. This
Company owns the whole of Kimberley and De Beers Mines,
and the greater portion of Dutoitspan and Bultfontein, but is
at present doing no work in either of the latter mines. Mining
operations had to be suspended owing to reef falls, and the
results of the last year's washing were not very satisfactory.
The yield from Dutoitspan Mine was 14-^y carats per 100
loads, and from Bultfontein Mine 16^0no- carats, being the
average results obtained from over half a million loads washed
from each mine.
In Dutoitspan Mine there are only two companies outside De
Beers, viz., the New Gordon Diamond Company, Limited, and the
British United Diamond Mining Company, Limited. The former
Company has acquired a large number of new claims on the
eastern extension of the mine, in addition to the previous holding
on the north reef, and has sunk a large shaft outside the mine,
with which it is connected by a tunnel at a depth of 260 feet.
Some interesting light has recently been shed on the geological
formation of Dutoitspan Mine. At a depth of about 300 feet
below the Ted soil, the Gordon Company has struck quartzite in
a drive and pass from its No. 2 shaft, which would appear to
indicate that the melaphyre i3 absent in this mine, a fact (if veri-
fied) of considerable importance to the future profitable working
of the mine. The Gordon was one of the earliest companies
formed in this mine some twelve years ago, and was known to
possess some of the richest claims. The Company was recon-
structed under its present title in March, 1891, with a capital of
£410,250, and now owns 435 claims, about half of which are on
the "extension," and therefore still in yellow ground. It is well
equipped with machinery of modern type, including a new design
of washing gear, in which it is intended to treat the maiden "blue"
as it comes from the mine without previous depositing. The


350
THE DIAMOND MINES.
operations of the Company have been much hampered by a great
accumulation of water in the mine, estimated at some 60,000,000
gallons, consequent on the stoppage of work in the De Beers
claims, and the question as to who shall remove this water is still
under consideration by the law courts. The head offices of the
Company are in London.
The British United Company owns some 70 odd claims on the
south reef which are not being worked at present owing to reef
troubles. The stoppage of Dutoitspan Mine has caused consider-
able loss and distress to the tradespeople and population of
Beaconsfield, which was a flourishing township in the days when
its two mines were in full operation, but it could hardly be
expected that De Beers should work these poorer mines at little
or no profit, as long as it can win all the diamonds it requires from
the two richer mines.
In Bultfontein Mine, apart from the claims of King, Neumann,
and Wernher, there is only one independent company left, the
North Eastern Bultfontein, Limited. This company has done a
considerable amount of development, and has erected powerful
machinery to work a large block of new claims taken out on the
northern extension of the mine. Both these claims, and those of
the Dutoitspan extension, are maiden ground, and do not appear
on the old plans of the mines.
The North Eastern Company has sunk three shafts through
the maiden blue ground to depths of over 500 and 600 feet.
Two of these shafts are connected at the latter level, at which
some 3000 feet of tunnels and passes have been opened out.
A large block of claims is also being worked in the open, from
which at date of writing the chief supply of blue is being drawn.
The drives from the North Eastern Company's shafts at the
600 feet level have struck the quartzite, but the depth of the
shales is not known, nor has it been ascertained whether the
melaphyre exists in this mine. The North Eastern property
consists of 671 claims. The size of a claim in both Dutoitspan
and Bultfontein Mines is 30 feet by 30 feet, for which a
monthly rental of thirty shillings per claim is paid to the
landlords, the London and South African Exploration Company,
Limited. Each claim carries with it one acre of depositing
floor, so that the floors of the two mines cover five or six
square miles of country. The North Eastern Company derive
their water supply for washing purposes from the "Pan," a
natural basin which receives the surface drainage from the
surrounding country, and which of late years has grown into
a lake of imposing dimensions. A similar lake of smaller size,
known as Blanckenberg's Vley, exists about a mile to the north


THE DIAMOND MINES.
351
of Dutoitspan Mine, from which the New Gordon Company has
the right of pumping.
The Saint Augustine's Mine, so called from the church of that
name which stands on the property, was "rushed" some 12 years
ago in the days of the first "boom," and is now owned by a
London Company, which has erected powerful machinery and
done a considerable amount of development down to a depth of
800 feet from the surface, all the mining being underground, but
very little is known publicly as to the results obtained.
Otto's Kojyje is another mine that was rushed in the "boom " of
1880, and after standing idle for many years is now the property
of the Otto's Kopje Diamond Mines, Limited, a company recently
reconstructed in London with a capital of £500,000, which holds
some 500 acres under lease from the Cape Government, including
two mines lying a couple of miles to the west of Kimberley.
No. 1 Mine has been prospected by means of a shaft sunk to a
depth of 1200 feet into the " blue," but the new management is
devoting its energy to the exploitation of No. 2 Mine, which it is
proposed to work on a large scale as an open mine in the yellow
ground, for which purpose extensive machinery is shortly to be
erected.
There are several other mines in Griqualand West, most of
which were rushed twelve years ago and soon after abandoned,
but some of them are now being reopened in the hope that they
may prove payable under the cheaper conditions of working which
obtain to-day. But more important than any of the outside
mines mentioned above is the Premier Mine (Wesselton), which
was only discovered in the latter part of 1890, though it lies
within a mile eastward of Dutoitspan Mine, on the farm Be-
nauwdheidsfontein, part of the Wessels Estate, which has been
known for years to contain diamonds, and has been prospected
right and left any time these last twenty years. The mine had
been overlooked owing to the absence of the ordinary surface
indications. It lies in a slight depression, whilst most of the
other mines were originally " kopjes," or slight hillocks, and the
diamondiferous soil is covered by a thick deposit of 8 feet or
12 feet of tufaceous limestone. It had actually been used as a
depositing site for the dry rubbish of the township of Beaconsfield.
The coach road from Kimberley to Bloemfontein passes over the
estate, which comprises fifteen farms of a total of 52,000 acres,
and is cut in two by the boundary line of Griqualand West and
the Orange Free State, only 6000 acres lying within Colonial
territory; but the whole estate is held under a Free State title.
In spite of this the Premier Mine was "rushed" in the early
part of 1891, but the rushers were subsequently turned off as


352
THE DIAMOND MINES.
trespassers, and the mine reverted to Mr. H. A. Ward, who had
acquired the prospecting rights on the whole estate. He has
since entered into an arrangement with the De Beers Consoli-
dated Mines, Limited, whereby the latter company have purchased
the entire Wessels Estate of fifteen farms, including the Premier
Mine, for the sum of £303,000. Mr. Ward's part of the bargain
gives him the right to mine and wash for his own benefit 5,000,000
loads of yellow ground in the five years 1892 to 1896, out of
which he has to pay back to De Beers half the above purchase
price and interest on the whole at 9 per cent, per annum He is
also bound not to sell more than 20,000 carats of diamonds per
month.
There are 1125 claims in the Premier Mine, which after de-
ducting the area covered by " floating reef," will yield the pre-
scribed quantity of 5,000,000 loads by taking out the yellow
ground to a depth of about 70 feet. This will still leave a large
amount of "yellow" to be treated by De Beers, besides all the
blue ground, which Mr. Ward is not allowed to touch. Owing
to the great facilities of working top stuff, which is hauled from
the mine up inclined tramways, aDd tipped direct into the wash-
ing machines, the yellow ground can be treated at a cost not
exceeding Is. 6d. per load, which on a low estimate of its value
will leave a nett profit of 2s. 6d. per load, so that Mr. Ward
is likely to make about half a million sterling by his bargain.
On the other hand, the property acquired by De Beers is remark-
ably cheap, and a magnificent addition to the assets of the
Company. At present there is ample water in the mine for
washing purposes, but the greater part of the " Pan " falls within
the property, and is a most valuable water-right.
As already mentioned, there are several diamond mines within
the Orange Free State, most of which have been worked spas-
modically for many years past. The only mine of real import-
ance is Jagersfontein, which was discovered twenty years ago,
and after passing through numerous ups and downs is now the
sole property of the New Jagersfontein Mining and Exploration
Company, Limited. The capital of this Company is now
£1,000,000, and in addition to holding the entire mine the Com-
pany owns the total number of shares in the Jagersfontein Mining
and Estate Company, Limited, which pays 6 to 8 per cent, yearly
on its capital of £100,000, being the proprietor of the farm and
drawing licences from all the stands in the township, as well as
recovering one half of the claim licences collected by the Govern-
ment. Amongst the other assets of the Company are 10,000 £5
shares in the De Beers Consolidated Mines, and a remarkable
brilliant of 55 carats found originally in the claims of the Jagers-


THE DIAMOND MINES.
353
fontein United Company and taken over on amalgamation. It
was previously known as the " Pam " brilliant, but is now called
the " Jagersfontein." It weighed in the rough about 112 carats,
and is valued at £25,000, being at present on view and for sale
at Messrs. R. & S. Garrard & Co., tho Haymarkot. Some short time
since the Queen telegraphed for the brilliant to be sent to
Osborne with the intention of purchase, but the untimely death
of the Duke of Clarence put a stop to the transaction. During
the financial year ending 31st March, 1892, the New Jagersfon-
tein Company washed 1,156,095 loads of ground, producing
110,171 carats of diamonds, realised and valued at £195,271 4s. 9d.,
being an average yield of over 9£ carats per 100 loads of blue,
and an average value of over 35s. 6d. per carat. The average
price realised for Kimberley and De Beers diamonds during the
fifteen months ending 30th June, 1892, was 25s. Gd. per carat, so
that it will be seen the Jagersfontein diamonds are some 30 or
40 per cent, better in quality than those of De Beers. The
yield of diamonds from De Beers blue is, however, about ten-fold
that of Jagersfontein. Still the latter mine is being worked at a
good profit, and with increasing depth the ground is said to
increase in value, whilst the working expenses have been reduced
to about 2s. 3d. per load, which is a high testimony to the ability
and efficiency of the management. The mine has been entirely
worked on the open quarry system.
The only other Free State mine deserving mention is Koffy-
fontein, situated on the Riet River, about fifty miles south-east
of Kimberley, in a direct line between there and Fauresmith.
The Koffyfontein Farm is owned by the London and Orange
Free State Exploration Company, who bought it from Mr. Rorich
in 1880 for £80,000. A number of companies were formed at
that time to work the mine, but all came to grief. In November,
1889, after having remained unworked for several years, the
claims were sold by public auction in Kimberley, when 1187
claims realised £70,772, 300 claims being kept in reserve by the
proprietors of the farm. The mine was once more proclaimed a
public digging, and several new companies set to work. The
finds of diamonds registered from December, 1887, to April,
1891, amounted to 9912 carats, valued at £14,640, or an average
of nearly 30s. per carat. Elaborate waterworks have been con-
structed on the Riet River, for which hitherto there has not
been much use, as the mine was again abandoned soon after their
completion. Last year (1892) the Free State legislature passed
a law declaring the working of claims in Koffyfontein com-
pulsory, under penalty of forfeiture, whicli has partly induced a
return of activity at this mine, where several parties of diggers


35-4
THE DIAMOND MINES.
are once more at work. Besides this, a block of 1000 claims has
been taken up by an English syndicate, who intend to thoroughly
test the mine on a much larger scale than has ever been
attempted before.
The town of Barkly West, pleasantly situated on the right
bank of the Vaal River, twenty miles north-west of Kimberley, is
the centre of the River Diggings, which extend up and down
the river on both banks, a distance of some seventy miles from
above Hebron to its junction with the Harts. These diggings
are very unlike the Kimberley Mines, being all in alluvial soil,
a heavy deposit of ferruginous gravel mixed with red sand, lime,
and boulders, that has been washed into the crevices of the rocks
by the action of the river, which has cut its way through a hard
volcanic rock, probably diabase, which stretches for miles on
either bank and extends from near Potchefstroom almost to the
junction of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. There is little doubt
that this rock is identical with the " hard rock," or amygdaloidal
melaphyre, of Kimberley Mine. The Kimberley shales thin out
and vanish as the Vaal River is approached, and the great sheet
of melaphyre appears there on the surface. Whether the dia-
monds which the heavy deposit contains have been formed in
situ, or whether they were brought from a distance, is still a
vexed question, but the balance of evidence is in favour of the
former hypothesis. Most of the diggings are very shallow, but in
some cases they are nearly a hundred feet deep before the bed
rock is reached. Several companies have been formed at various
times for working the deep alluvial, but they have not been very
successful, and the fact appears to bo that the River Diggings are
poor men's diggings, which yield a fair return to hard-working
individuals, but which do not justify the outlay of much capital.
They are still being worked very much as they were twenty years
ago, and the original digger is still to be found there with all his
primitive appliances, living his free arduous life, often with but
scanty fare, and occasionally diversified by a trip to Kimberley.
The result of amalgamation has been to increase the activity at the
River Diggings, where there are now probably nearly a thousand
white men at work, in addition to their native labourers. In
1889 the Government revenue from claim licences, &c, amounted
to a little over £6000, being an increase of £1000 on the revenue
received in 1888, whilst in 1890 it rose to £9500. The approxi-
mate weight of diamonds found at all the River Diggings has
remained pretty constant for several years past, having seldom
much exceeded 30,000 carats per annum, that is, about one per
cent, of the production of the Kimberley Mines, but the quality
of the river stones is superior even to those of Jagersfontein,








THE DIAMOND MINES.
855
being generally about twice the value of the average price
realised for Kimberley stuff. During the year 1890 the approxi-
mate weight and value of diamonds imported into Kimberley
from the Barkly Division were 28,122| carats, valued at
£79,231 lis. 3d. (data supplied by the Detective Department),
equal to 56s. per carat. The value of the production of the
Kimberley Mines during the same period was only 31s. l£cZ. per
carat.
There are a number of Dry Diggings in the Barkly District,
similar in formation to the Kimberley Mines, but none of them
has proved payable.
It is only since the establishment of the Board for the Pro-
tection of Mining Interests in 1882 that accurate statistics have
been compiled of the value of the production from each mine, and
also of the imports of diamonds into and exports from Kimberley,
but from the Postal and Customs Keturns an approximate esti-
mate may be formed of the production prior to 1882. Comparing
all available sources of information, it may be confidently stated
that we have exported to date (1893) over 50 million carats of
diamonds, of a total value of seventy millions sterling. As about
five million carats go to a ton, the weight of diamonds exported
has amounted to over ten tons. If piled into a heap, they would
form a pyramid 6 feet high, with a base 9 feet X 9 feet; or they
would fill a box 5 feet x 5 feet X 6 feet.
The above estimate of the total value of diamonds exported
to date makes a small allowance for the diamonds known to
have been exported through private and illicit channels. The
Official Keturn of diamonds exported from the Cape Colony,
compiled by the Collector of Customs, gives the total value, for
the twenty years from 1872 to 1891 inclusive, at £58,110,923.
To this must be added at least a couple of millions for diamonds
exported prior to 1872, and a further four millions for the exports
of 1892, making a total of sixty-four millions sterling from the
discovery of the Fields, so that the above estimate of seventy
millions assumes only ten per cent, to have been illicitly exported,
which is probably far below the actual figure.
For the past five years the value of diamonds exported has
remained at between four and four-and-a-quarter millions per
annum, and this appears to be the maximum value the market
can take without unduly affecting the price.
It has been shown in the previous pages how the control of
the diamond industry has gradually passed into the hands of
a powerful Corporation, which for the first time in the history
of the Fields has enabled shareholders to depend on reasonable
and regular dividends.
2 A 2


356
THE DIAMOND MINES.
Meanwhile there is no doubt the trade and population of
Kimberley and Beaconsfield have declined from what they were
some years ago; but it must be borne in mind that many causes
have been at work, in addition to the amalgamation of the
mines, which largely account for this shrinkage. The northern
extension of the railway is one cause, the rise of Johannesburg
and the transfer to that place of the share market from
Kimberley is another.
The permanence of the leading industry of the Colony, how-
ever, is now assured, and, with a yearly expenditure of about
a million sterling at the mines, there will always be steady
employment for a large number of men at good woges, and a
considerable amount of trade.


( 357 )
CHAPTER XVI.
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
The territory forming the British Colony of Natal, on the east
coast of South Africa, was first discovered by Vasco de Gama
during the celebrated voyage in which he fouud his way round
the Cape to India. From the coincidence of its having been
sighted on Christmas Day, 1497, he called it "Terra Natalis,"
which name has grown into the one now in use. About two
centuries later, the Dutch, who were established at the Cape,
gained some knowledge of the place from mariners who had been
shipwrecked there; and, by a foimal purchase from a native
chief, they added the port of Natal to their South African
possessions, but no steps were taken to establish any permanent
settlement in the country. It was left unnoticed until nearly the
end of the first quarter of the present century, when some of the
English then settled on the Cape frontier were attracted to it by
the love of adventure. They engaged in elephant-hunting and
trading for ivory, and a few of them had friendly intercourse with
the Zulu chief, Chaka. Among the early pioneers were Mr. Henry
Fynn, Lieutenants Farewell and King, Messrs. Isaacs, Cane, Ogle,
and others, who secured from Chaka a concession of the coast
north and south of the port, with all the country extending a
hundred miles inland. They urged upon the Governor of the
Cape, Lord C. Somerset, the advantage of establishing a British
colony there; but the latter declined to authorise the enterprise.
The Europeans, however, held their own amidst the savage
population around them, although the lives of some of their
number, including that of Lieutenant Farewell, were sacrificed by
native treachery. In 1835, Captain Allen Gardner visited Chaka's
successor, the chief Dingaan, on a missionary tour to the Zulus,
and concluded a treaty with him on behalf of the English settlers.
The residents at the port then laid out the town of Durban, and
petitioned the Crown that their settlement might be recognised
as the colony of "Victoria." To their petition, the Government
replied that, with every disposition to appreciate the benefits of
an extension of commerce, the finances would not allow of any
additional expense for a new settlement. After this, the emigration
of Dutch farmers from the Cape Colony set in, with the stirring
incidents connected with the "Boer trek," as elsewhere related.


358
THE COLONY OP NATAL.
In 1843, after the formal submission of the Boers and the
assumption of sovereignty by Great Britain, the Colony of Natal
was, for a year or two, placed under the Cape Government. But
this arrangement did not answer; the officials at the Cape were
ignorant of the wants of the country, and could not satisfactorily
legislate for it. In 1848, letters patent were issued constituting
the territory a separate Government, under a Lieutenant-Governor
and Executive Council, Mr. Martin West being appointed as
head of the Government.
The European population was then almost reduced to the
original elements. There was little trade, and very little revenue.
About 100,000 natives were spread throughout the country, and
their numbers were being continually augmented by refugees
from Zululand. A Commission was appointed to consider plans
for bringing them under European management and control.
The course recommended by the Commission was, that the natives
should be placed on reserved lands, named "locations," in
different parts of the colony. But an essential feature of their
proposal was, to establish at once among these communities,
qualified European functionaries to control and guide them
through the serious ordeal incidental to their progress from
barbarism to civilisation. Upon this depended the success of
the scheme. The carrying out of it, however, required money,
and no money was to be nad. The natives were thus left to
themselves, with none of the restraints of civilisation, beyond what
the teaching of Christian missionaries inclined them to adopt.
The letters patent of 1848 directed that the organisation exist-
ing among them should not be disturbed,—that there was to be
neither interference with nor abrogation of any law, custom, or
usage prevailing amongst them previous to the assertion of autho-
rity over the district, except so far as the same might be repugnant
to the general principles of humanity recognised throughout the
whole world. In pursuance of this instruction, in 1849 an ordi-
nance was passed, conferring upon the Lieutenant-Governor all
the authority of a Supreme Chief over the natives, and empower-
ing him to administer native law among them, through officers he
saw fit to appoint, such as the Secretary for Native Affairs, the
magistrates, and petty chiefs. The old tribal polity was thus
maintained within the colony. The hereditary chiefsVere looked
to and held responsible for the good order and government of the
people, who were left to grow up as a pagan community.
The necessity for strengthening the European population be-
came apparent; and efforts were made to direct attention to the
suitability of the country as a field for British emigration. A
gentleman, named Byrne, who had visited it in 1843-44, organised


THE COLONY OF NATAL.
359
a scheme for the introduction of settlers, engaging to furnish
a steerage passage, with twenty acres of land after arrival, for
the sum of £10 per statute adult. He travelled about England,
delivering lectures on emigration, and especially on tho advantages
Natal presented to men of small capital. The result was that,
between 1848 and 1850, thirty-five vessels arrived, bringing 3,792
emigrants. Their expectations, in many instances, were disap-
pointed. The twenty-acre settlements were not in general suited
or sufficient for cultivation, and those who could earn a liveli-
hood otherwise than by agriculture, abandoned them and took
to trades and other occupations. After the first vicissitudes bad
passed, many successfully established themselves in the land of
their adoption, becoming in course of time thriving and wealthy
colonists. Crude and ill-managed as this emigration scheme was,
it contributed to set in motion towards this part of South Africa
some portion of the stream of European life which was flowing to
other lands. The capabilities of Natal were partially developed,
and it was proved that sugar, coffee, arrowroot, and other inter-
tropical products could be profitably cultivated over a consider-
On the death of the first Lieut.-Governor, Mr. West, in 1849,
the administration for a short time devolved upon Lieut.-Col.
Boyes, but in 1850 Sir B. C. C. Pine was appointed to the office.
The colony was then divided into six counties, each having local
councils for the management of district affairs; and in the two
chief towns, Pietermaritzburg and Durban, municipal corporations
were established.
In 1855, Sir G. Grey, as High Commissioner, visited the settle-
ment. He was directed by the Secretary of State to inquire
into and report upon two subjects,—one, the removal of a
portion of the native population; the other, the introduction of
representative government. Mr. T. Shepstone, the Secretary for
Native Affairs, had submitted a plan to relieve Natal of its native
difficulty, by drawing off half of its increasing Zulu population into
the unoccupied territory south-west of the colony, near the St.
John's Biver, where he proposed to establish rule over them, and
as their chief to govern them according to their own laws and
customs, so modified from time to time, as gradually to ameliorate
their condition. The scheme did not find favour with Sir George
Grey, who considered it most undesirable, under any circumstances,
to collect ordinary barbarians in such large masses, and he advised
that neither directly nor indirectly, should any encouragement be
given to the measure; and his policy in so doing was approved of
by the Secretary of State.
The proposition for granting representative institutions to


300
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
Natal originated with Sir B. C. C. Pine, who urged, that with a
singularly popular constitution at the Cape, and with free
republics on its borders, it was impossible to delay tho grant of
a representative legislature, and the sooner it was conceded, the
more moderate and 6afe might its character be made. Sir George
Grey, after acquainting himself with the wishes of the inhabitants,
whom he found peculiarly distinguished by "intelligence and
prudence," recommended that a Legislative Council should be
iiiven to them. The European population at this time was
estimated at 8,500.
In 1856, Mr. John Scott was appointed Lieutenant-Governor, in
succession to Sir 13. Pine, and to him was assigned the duty of
inaugurating the new constitution. His term of office extended
until 1864. During these years the colony enjoyed a consider-
able degree of prosperity, and made marked progress. Immigra-
tion was encouraged. Private enterprise engaged in the new
industries of sugar, coffee, and cotton-growing; and as the
irregular and unskilled native labour supply could not be relied
upon for the success of these undertakings, Coolies were introduced
from India. The prospects of Natal were considered good; and
through the formation of various joint-stock associations, foreign
capital and credit were introduced and liberally made use of. In
1866, however, the face of affairs changed. Many of these enter-
prises failed to realise the expectations with which they had been
set on foot, and were discontinued or carried on at a loss. A com-
mercial crisis had to be passed through, and trade and the public
reveDue showed a marked decline.
Colonel Maclean succeeded Mr. Scott in the government, but
he soon succumbed to ill-health, and his place was temporarily
filled by Colonel Bisset, as administrator, until in 1867, Mr.
Keate was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. Soon afterwards, the
Government and the Legislature came into collision upon the
equalisation of the revenue and expenditure. The representative
members in Natal, as in the Cape Colony, complained, that they
had no control over the administration. The aspirations of
many of them were for responsible government. But Earl
Kimberley informed them, that in the case of a colony like
Natal, where a handful of white settlers were surrounded by a
warlike population, the objections to that form of government
were of a serious character; and as the Crown was responsible for
the protection of the colony and the government of the native
population, it must have secured to it the means for carrying on
the business of tho administration.
In 1S73 the office of Lieutenant-Governor was again filled by
Sir Benjamin Pine, who had administered the affairs of the settle-


THE COLONY. OF NATAL.
361
ment eighteen years previously, and who was heartily welcomed
by the old colonists. Trouble then occurred with the Amahlubi
tribe, under the chief Langalibalele, whose people had obtained
guns at the Diamond Fields, and refused to bring them into the
magistrate's office for registration, as required by law. An ex-
pedition was despatched against them, whereupon, they sought to
escape into Basutoland by the Bushman Pass, and, in attempting
to stop their progress, three of the Natal Carbineers and two
natives were shot. The chief and his sons were subsequently
captured and tried for rebellion against the Supreme Chief, and
sentenced to banishment and imprisonment for various periods,
and the tribe was broken up. The Bishop of Natal (the late Dr.
Colenso) espoused the cause of the chief and his tribe, and the
attention of the home authorities was directed to the system of
native administration. Sir B. Pine retired, and Lord Wolseley was
sent out as temporary Governor, accompanied by Colonel Colley,
Major Brackenbury, Major Butler, and Lord Gifford. The
General and his brilliant staff inquired into the affairs of the
colony, and the relations existing between the Europeans and
natives, with the result that they deprecated in strong terms the
sensational stories which found credence in England respecting the
ill-treatment of the latter. The natives of Natal they described
as "well off in every sense, and as a people far in advance of
those not living under British rule." General Wolseley's special
mission, however, was to strengthen the power of the Executive in
the Legislature, and this was secured by an increase of the nominee
members. In August, 1875, he was succeeded by Sir Henry
Bulwer, who, in the following year, at the instance of Lord
Carnarvon, the Secretary of State, introduced modifications and
changes in native administration, with a view to bring the native
races more closely under the influence of civilised law and life,
and in addition, he initiated the construction of railway works
from the port to the uplands, which inaugurated a new era in the
history of the colony.
External events, however, seriously affected its progress for
some years afterwards. The annexation of the Transvaal, the
Zulu War, and the Transvaal War—elsewhere referred to—all
exercised a disturbing and baneful influence, although for a time
the war expenditure caused an inflation of local business, and
augmented the public revenue.
From the position of the port of Natal, as the nearest gateway
from the Bouth-east coast to various parts of the interior, along a
healthy line of communication, its chief towns have long been
emporiums for what has been termed the " Overberg," or inland
trade. Portions of the South African Eepublic and the Orange


362
THE COLONY OP NATAL.
Free State, as well as the Native Territories to its right and left
along the coast, opened up channels of commerce which contributed
to swell the imports and exports, and furnished employment in
transport, by rail or wagon, to the enrichment of the colony.
This has been an important factor in the growth and development
of Natal during the fifty years of its existence. The remarkable
progress it has made in this period will be best illustrated by
the following statement of its revenue and trade:—
Bevenue.
Imports.
Exports.
£
£
£
1850
32,112
111,015
32,112
1800
77,480
354,987
77,480
1870
126,293
429,527
126,293
1880
582,715
2,336,584
582,715
1881
600,177
1,331,115
960,029
1888
990,614
2,890,468
1,417,871
1890
1,507,788
5,164,772
1,582,228
1892
1,392,455
3,690,734
1,354,885
The present amount of the public debt of the Colony (the
greater part of which has been spent upon railways and
harbour), is £7,170,354 0s. 4cZ., bearing interest at the rate of
about 4 per cent. The principal sources of revenue are customs,
railways, hut tax, land sales, land revenue, mail and telegraph
service, excise duties and stamp duties. The approximate
valuation of properties for taxation purposes is £11,395,000.
The area of Natal is 20,460 square miles. Its population at
the census of 1891 numbered 555,576 persons. Of these the
Europeans or whites were 42,759; the Indians, 43,070, of whom
30,000 were free and about 10,000 indentured, and the aboriginal
tribes were returned as 469,747 souls. Out of a total European
male population of 24,795, there were 13,037 between the ages of
18 and 55, or more than half of the number available for military
service. Those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits
were returned as 3,325, while the industrial class, including
artisans and mechanics, counted 6,628. The birth-places of this
population showed 11,434 from England and Wales; 3,226 from
Scotland; 1,000 from Ireland; 2,269 from European countries,
the residue being chiefly Natal and South African born.
The Government, at present,* is administered by Sir Charles
* While these pages were in the press. Sir Charles Mitchell was appointed
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements, to be succeeded as
Governor of Natal by Sir W. F. Hely-Hutchinson, K.C.M.G., Governor of the
Windward Islands.


THE COLONY OF NATAL.
363

SIR CHARLES BULLEN MITCHELL, ]
K.C.M.G., GOVERNOR OP NATAL
AND ZULCLAND.
Bullen Mitchell, K.C.M.G., who is Governor, Commander-in-Chief,
Vice-Admiral, and Supreme Chief over the native population. He
has been assisted by an Executive
Council, together with a Legislative
Council, composed of thirty-one
members, twenty-four of whom were
elected, five officials, and two nomi-
nated by the Governor. But a
change in the constitution of the
Colony is now taking place. The
electors, by a slight majority, have
declared in favour of an advanced
form of government, which will
harmonise their position with that
of their fellow-colonists at the Cape
and in other parts of the Empire,
and the Imperial Government has
signified its consent. Measures for
the establishment of responsible
government are, therefore, in course
of progress.
The Legislature is, in the future, to consist of two Chambers—
a Legislative Council composed of eleven members, nominated by
the Governor-in-Council and a Legislative Assembly of thirty-seven
members, chosen by the electors. The qualification of members
for the Council is, being of the age of thirty years, resident in the
Colony for ten years, and registered proprietor of unencumbered
property of the value of £500. They hold their seats for ten
years, but at the end of five years five of them retire, by lot, or in
such other way as the Council may determine.
The members of the Assembly are elected for four years; and
the Governor has power to summon, prorogue, or dissolve the
Assembly as he may think fit. The Governor is also empowered
to designate certain offices, not being more than six in number,
to be political offices, held by ministers of the Crown. Provision
is also made for a reserve of the public revenue, towards defraying
the expenses of the Governor, and ministerial salaries, and for the
promotion of the welfare and education of the natives.
There are thirteen electoral districts in the colony, viz.:—
Pietermaritzburg and Durban Boroughs, Durban County, Lion's
River, Umgeni, Ixopo, Klipriver, Newcastle, Victoria, Umvoti,
Weenen, Alexandria and Alfred. The possession of property
to the value of £50, or the payment of an annual rental of
£10, entitles a man to vote. Inhabitants of three years' resi-
dence in the colony, whose income, including allowance, is equal


364
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
to £8 per month or £96 per annum, are also entitled to vote.
No person belonging to a class, which is placed by special legisla-
tion under the jurisdiction of special Courts, or is subject to
special laws and tribunals, is entitled to electoral privileges; but
Erevision is made that male natives, who for seven years have
een exempt from native laws, customs and usages, and who
obtain a certificate to that effect from the Governor, and possess
the property qualification, may be registered as electors and
vote.
The Administration of Justice is in the hands of the Judges of
the Supreme Court and Eesident Magistrates. Each county is
divided into certain districts, every one of which is supervised
by an officer termed a field-cornet. There are also Dog Tax
Inspectors, and, in districts where sheep-farming is carried on,
Sheep Inspectors, whose duty it is to see that the law against
keepmg diseased sheep is carried out. The organised forces of
the Colony, exclusive of the Imperial troops, consist of the Natal
Mounted Police, including one commandant, eight officers, and
280 men, maintained at a cost of £38,664; and the volunteer
force, including mounted rifles, artillery, infantry and coast corps,
number 1,835 men, on which the expenditure is £22,915. An
annual contribution of £4,000 is also made for the Imperial
troops.
The educational needs of the colony are provided for by the
maintenance by Government of high schools at Maritzbuxg and
Durban, primary schools in the chief towns, and a system of aid
to farmhouse centres and private schools, which are subject to
oflicial examination and general supervision. A Council of Educa-
tion controls the Administration, and the total actual expenditure
is over £37,200 per annum. In 1891-2 there were 60 schools and
.68 farmhouse centres under Government inspection, with an aggre-
gate regular attendance of 6,399 pupils. Government night schools
were opened in Maritzburg and Durban, but were relinquished
owing to lack of pupils. A capitation grant is paid to the teachers
as a bonus; it is a variable one, dependent on the progress and attend-
ance of pupils. In 1892, it amounted to lis. 3d. for every child;
but it is subject to alteration yearly by the Council of Education.
During the same period, Government aid was given to 73 native
schools (which are chiefly promoted by missionary bodies) to the
amount of £3,489 10s., giving a cost per child of £l 3s. 8d. The
number of children on the register of these schools was 3,896,
with an average daily attendance of 2,945. Industrial training is
provided for at some of the schools and defined as " the teaching
of trades or agriculture, or some productive labour that would
enable the student to earn a living." Provision is also made for


THE COLONT OF NATAL.
365
the promotion of education among the children of the Indian
immigrant population.
The Public Works Department, under the supervision of the
Colonial Engineer, is responsible for the maintenance of the main
roads in the Colony, of which there are about 3,000 miles; and
also for the construction and repair of the numerous public
bridges and buildings. Telegraph lines have been erected all
along the railways, and to various other points, covering 566| miles
of line, with 76 offices. The Eastern Submarine Cable, connecting
South Africa with Europe, has its terminal station at Durban.
Institutions and societies for the promotion of public objects are
to be found all over the Colony, and testify to the public spirit of
the inhabitants. The hospitals of Pietermaritzburg and Durban,
and the lunatic asylum near the former city, are well-appointed
institutions, and are maintained by Government funds and pay-
ments by inmates. Two botanic gardens, one in Pietermaritzburg
and one near Durban, on the Berea slope, are supported partly by
Government aid and partly by subscription. There is an interest-
ing museum at Durban. Public libraries are to be found at most
of the towns. Agricultural societies, planters' associations, and
rifle associations are organized in each county. In most centres
music, literary and debating and charitable societies,racing, cricket,
football, lawn-tennis, fishing, and other clubs, as well as building
and other benefit or friendly organizations, are generally to be
found, contributing to the social and progressive needs of the
inhabitants. The Colony is also particularly well ofl' in regard to
its newspapers, which are published both daily and weekly at
Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Durban, as the seaport of Natal, is a place of great commercial
importance. The harbour consists of a land-locked tidal lagoon,
or basin, formed between the promontory named the Bluff,
running north-east, and a sandy tongue of land known as the
Point, extending from the north, and nearly meeting it. The
entrance, called the Bluff Channel, has a shifting bar of sand
across it, and to remove this bar and maintain a sufficient
depth of water for the ingress and egress of large vessels, have
been the aim and object of the engineering works carried out by
the Natal Harbour Board for the last ten or twelve years. During
1854 to 1881 the channel depth averaged only 6 feet 5 inches.
From that time to the present there has been a gain of 7 feet
7 inches, and the value of the port has increased accordingly. The
maximum draught across the bar in 1892 was for steamers, 19 feet
9 inches, and for sailers, 18 feet 3 inches. Numbers of steamers and
vessels now enter the inside harbour, and only the large ocean
mail-boats at present remain at the outer anchorage. Last


366
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
year (1892) the total tonnage of the port was 612,815 in tons
net register, and of this 309,017 in steamers, sailers, men-of-war,
and small craft entered the harbonr. Inside, at the Point, there
are admirable landing and shipping facilities. There is about
2,500 feet of wharfage, along which steamers and ships are moored,
with spacious goods sheds and landing cranes. Railways com-
municating with the interior carry off the goods landed, and
trucks laden with Natal coal discharge their contents into
steamers alongside.
The town of Durban spreads over the flats around the bay, for a

WEST STREET, DUI1BAS.
distance of three or four miles, and then stretches up and over the
wooded height called the Berea, which rises three or four hundred
feet above sea-level. From this point a pleasing outlook is obtained
of the town below, the lake-like bay, the channel-entrance, the surf-
streaked bar, the dark bushy range of the Bluff, with the light-
house at its extremity, and the Indian Ocean beyond. The Berea
is the residential part of Durban,"and is dotted over with handsome
suburban villas and dwellings, environed with avenues and
gardens, and embowered in shrubs and trees of luxuriant tropical
growth. A tram-car service supplies easy communication from
the Point to the summit of this charming suburb. The town


THE COLONY OP NATAL.
867
itself is one of the brightest and pleasantest in South Africa. A
little more than thirty years ago it presented the appearance
of a scattered village, its houses spread over the bush-covered
surface of low sand dunes, with the open spaces between ankle-
deep in loose sand. Now, it has macadamised and well-paved
streets, lined with substantial spacious warehouses, shops,
churches, clubs, banks and offices. A number of handsome
buildings adorn its central thoroughfares, prominent amongst
them being the Town Hall, with its spacious assembly-room,
where the Chamber of Commerce, the Borough Council, the Post

TOWN HALL, DURBAN.
and Telegraph offices, and the Museum are accommodated; and
adjacent to it, are the public buildings and gardens. Churches of all
denominations abound. There are also several parks for athletic
and other sports, and an excellent theatre.
The rateable value of property within the borough is
£2,479,540, and the population numbers 27,492, including
Europeans, Asiatics, and native servants. The European industrial
class is very largely represented. The natives are merely
employed for the rougher sorts of labour, and as house servants
or porters. They are upon the whole very well conducted and
trustworthy; but their great drawback is their disinclination to


S68
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
stay in service for any continuous period. They come and leave
as it suits their own sweet will. It was this consideration that
led to the introduction of the Indian Coolie, indentured for a
certain number of years. The natives, as a class, are by law
precluded from the possession of firearms and ammunition, and
from the use or purchase of spirituous liquors.
The capital and seat of government is at Pietermaritzburg,
about 54 miles inland by rail from Durban. This city was
founded by the Dutch emigrant farmers in 1839, and named after
two of their leaders, Pieter Ketief and Gert Maritz, but it is now

OmjBCH STREET, ITETEIUIABITZBTOO.
generally called Maritzburg. Its site is healthily and beautifully
placed, forming part of an extended basin 2,218 feet above eea-
level, the Zwartkop and Town hills enclosing it to the north, and
the open valley of the Umsindusi river, extending to the south
and east, with the lofty flat-topped Table Mountain standing out
as a buttress in the distance. When first traced it was laid out
in the rectangular manner characteristic of most South African
townships. There are now within its boundaries twenty-seven miles
of streets, most of them, like the business thoroughfare of Church
Street, ornamented with trees shading the paths.


TOE COLONY OF NATAL.
369
On the south-west side of the city stands Fort Napier, the
military headquarters, where the troops and departmental corps
are stationed. Facing this, at the upper end, is the commodious
and central Railway station. Among other public buildings
of note are Government House, the Post Office and Supreme
Court, the Market House, the new Town Hall, and the Legis-
lative Council buildings, with the marble statue of the Queen in
front of it, which was erected by Natalians in honour of Her
Majesty's jubilee. In close proximity there is also a handsome

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BUILDINGS, MAMTZBURG.
memorial to the memory of the officers and men who fell in the
Zulu war. In the Market Square there is another memorial, com-
memorating the colonists and natives whose lives were sacrificed
during the Langalibalele disturbance. Maritzburg has of late
ears made marked progress as a residential city, and alonp: the
ills around it are many fine suburban residences, with slopes
covered with groves and clumps of trees. The valuation of pro-
perty within and around the city is £1,374,261, and the population
numbers 17,286, of whom about 10,000 are Europeans.
Besides the seaport and the seat of government, there are
centres of population at various townships and villages tlirougk-
2 b


THE COLONY OP NATAL.
371
62,667; cattle, 714,347; sheep, 959,246; Angora goats, 66,758;
other goats, 301,523; pigs, 45,736; mules and donkeys, 4,887.
In the return of crops raised by Europeans, the yield of wheat is
only 2,000 muids, or 6,000 bushels, principally raised in the
counties of Klip Eiver and Weenen; Indian corn, 258,790 muids;
and Kafir corn, 8,443 muids; oats, 7,073 muids; oat-hay, 12,000
tons; sweet potatoes, 68,889 muids; common potatoes, 41,689
muids; barley, 1,100 muids; beans, 8,705 muids; coffee, 69,286
lbs.; and sugar, 26,111 tons. The yearly produce of native crops
was estimated at 591,528 muids (a muid=3 bushels) Indian corn,
385,997 muids Kafir corn; 10,356 muids potatoes ; 218,184 muids
sweet potatoes; 19,969 tons of pumpkins; 1,200 lbs. coffee, and
46,777 lbs. tobacco.
Hailstorms are an unpleasant feature of the summer season,
affecting the midland and upland districts of Natal, as well as
the Transvaal and Free State. No law at present discovered
governs their approach or extent; they usually pass over a very
limited area, leaving a well-defined track of destruction behind,
wherever there are standing crops or fruit trees. Occasionally
many years pass in a district without such a visitation, then again
there may be three or four of these in a single summer. The
severest on record in Maritzburg occurred in April 1874, at
3.30 p.m., covering an area of forty square miles, and doing great
damage; some of the stones being four and a half inches in
diameter, and weighing fully a pound avoirdupois. Thunder-
storms are also of frequent occurrence during summer.
By far the greater portion of the lands of Natal (exclusive of the
reserved Native Locations) are now owned by private holders, and
institutions like the Natal Land Colonisation Company; but there
still remains a portion of the Crown lands, which are obtainable
on very easy terms. These lands are open for sale in freehold by
public auction, at an upset price of 10s. per acre, payable in ten
annual instalments, without interest. They are subject to certain
servitudes with regard to roads, railways and minerals, and also
to compulsory beneficial occupation by the purchaser, or his agent,
for nine months in every year. Special selections, not exceeding
certain limits, may also be purchased, but an auction sale must
take place. The upset price in such cases is 20s. per acre, and the
occupation clause is inoperative. Certain classes of land are also
open to lease or licence for grazing purposes, in lots of from 500
to 5,000 acres, for any period not exceeding ten years, and subject
to one year's notice to quit on either side. These leases have to be
applied for in a similar manner as for the lands for sale, and are
also put up to auction, the purchaser paying the first year's rent
in advance. The ordinary prices of lands at the present time are:
2 B 2


372
THE COLONY OF NATAL.
On the coast, from £1 to £5 per acre; in the midlands, from 15s.
to 30s.; and in the pastoral up-country districts, from 15s. to 25s.
per acre. The extent of Crown lands already disposed of is
about 8,650,000 acres; the amount set apart for native locations,
2,350,000 acres; and there is still available 2,500,000 acres.
The coal-fields of Natal are situated from 225 to 250 miles
from the seaport. There are about twelve collieries at work; but
the chief one is that owned by the Dundee Coal Company, which
was commenced in 1889, and opened for work in 1890, and is now
in junction with the main line of railways. The output during
1892 was 117,611 tons, being an average of nearly 10,000 tons a
month. The other collieries working during the year were the
Lennoxton, the Newcastle, the Inkuzi, St. George's Cross,
Southern Cross, Uithoek, and the Wallsend. At present no coal
is imported into Natal, the colonial mines supplying all local
requirements. Many of the vessels of the ocean liners, such as
Messrs. King & Co., Messrs. Kennie & Co., the Clan line, and
Borne of the mail boats and Her Majesty's warships visiting the
port make use of this coal, and the whole of the Government rail-
ways are worked by it. The price of the Dundee coal at the port,
alongside the ship, is 20s. per ton of 2,240 lbs. Shipping charges
vary from Is. Gd. to 2s. Gd. per ton, according to whether the coal
is trimmed or otherwise.
Natal had the distinction of being the first in South Africa to
introduce the iron-horse, a short line of railway having been made
by a private company prior to 1860, to connect the town of
Durban with the landing-place at the Point. But it was not until
1880 that railway communication from the Port to the Capital
was completed, and branches laid down along the coast north and
south of Durban. Surveys for further extensions were then made
to carry the line to Ladismith and the neighbourhood of the coal
formations. By the time the works were brought to that point,
the remarkable development of the gold-fields of the South
African Republic stimulated the enterprise and energy of the
Colony to prosecute the railway system to the northern extremity
of its border, at Charlestown, a distance of 304 miles, which was
completed in 1891. The broken and diversified character of the
country made the work a difficult engineering task. Only 47
miles of the main line are perfectly level; all the rest is a suc-
cession of dips and rises, and the gradients and curves are excep-
tionally severe—in some places the grade being 1 in 30; and
the curves as sharp as 40 feet radius. At a distance of 58 miles
from Durban, the line reaches a height of 3,054 feet above sea
level, then falls 1,000 feet to Maritzbur?, and rises again to 3,700
feet near Howick and the Umgeni Falls. Some idea of the


THE COLONY OF NATAL.
373
undulations which characterise the line may be formed from the
fact, that each train starting from Durban, has actually to be
pulled the equivalent to a lift of two and a half miles vertical,
before it reaches the terminus at Charlestown, 5,386 feet above
the level of the sea. At Laing's Nek, it passes through a tunnel
2,213 feet long. The scenery all along this main line of railway
is most charming and interesting, from the singularly beautiful
labyrinthine valley of the Inanda, outside of Durban, right up
to the mountain peak of the historic Amajuba, on the Drakens-
berg, where a glorious panorama of Nature is unfolded. Another
line has also been completed over a distance of 76 miles, from
Ladismith over Van Reenen's Pass, an elevation of 5,500 feet
above sea-level, to Harrismith, and a branch runs for a distance of
seven miles from Biggarsberg to the Dundee coal-fields. The
total mileage of railways at present opened and worked by the
Natal Government is 399 miles. The amount which has been
expended on railway works is £5,074,325, and the average cost
per mile (without rolling stock) has been £11,317.

ZUIV WAR MEMORIAL AT MARITZBUBO.


( 374 )
CHAPTER XVII.
* THE TEA INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
Br Me. W. R. Hindson, Nonoti Peak, Natal.
Tea. was first planted in Natal about the year 1850—almost
half a century ago. This was in a small and experimental way.
It would appear that the plants, then few in number, came from
Kew Gardens, and were of what is known as the Assam hybrid
variety. It was not, however, till about the year 1863 that any
serious attempt was made to grow tea for consumption. At that time,
some five or six planters took the matter up, and subsequently
succeeded, on a small scale, in producing an article which found
somewhat tardy sale in Natal and in the Free State; but tea
planting was still looked at with a dubious eye, and was not gone
into either vigorously or extensively. Early in the year 1877,
the Lower Tugela Planters' Association imported a quantity of
seed from India, and this was distributed amongst those members
of the Association who were willing to contribute towards the
cost of getting it.
Some 5,000 plants were obtained on the Kirkly Vale and
Kearsney Estates, and from the seeds produced by these plants,
originated the Tea Industry in its present magnitude.
At the present time there are about sixteen estates in the
Nonoti District, with an aggregate of over 1,600 acres of tea
planted, which estates depend almost entirely for revenue on
returns from this industry; the two largest holders being Messrs.
W. E. Hindson and Co., Limited, and Mr. J. L. Hulett and Co.,
Limited. There are about 500 acres more on different estates,
between the Nonoti and the southern boundary of the Colony,
including the Barrow-Green Estate near the Umzinkulu. Alto-
gether there are now about twenty-eight tea estates in Natal, and
the output of marketable tea from them will probably exceed
500,000 lbs.
The soil on which the Natal Tea grows best is a darkish sandy
loam, but it also grows well on chocolate and reddish loams of a
somewhat stiffer texture.
The fields are planted out when suitably wet weather occurs,


THE TEA INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
375
between the beginning of September and the end of March; the
plants being placed in lines, at a distance of four to five feet
apart each way.
The picking and manufacturing season is from the beginning
of September to the end of June. The whole of the work on
these estates—cultivating, picking, and factory work—is done by
coolies, who are brought from India, under contract of five years'
service. The average cost of a male Indian adult is about 32s.
per month; this includes rations, medicine, and medical
attendance. Women and boys cost proportionately less. A gang
of coolies, of which 33 per cent, consist of women and boys, will
work from 2£ to 3 acres of land per hand, including picking, and
will pick on an average 32 lbs. to 35 lbs. of green leaf per day ; it
takes 4 lbs. of green leaf to make one pound of manufactured
tea.
The tea-plant gives its maximum yield of 600 lbs. to 700 lbs.
made tea per acre, when at about seven years of age; but should,
under good management, pay expenses when it has been four
years in the ground.
The preparation of the leaf into the commercial article is a
somewhat slow and tedious process, requiring great skill, care, and
watchfulness. When the leaf is brought into the factory from
the plantations, it is spread out thinly on trays or shelves to
wither, and in a temperature of from 90° to 95°, this process
generally takes from 16 to 18 hours. The withered leaf is then
collected, and put into rolling machines, driven either by steam
or water-power. The object of the rolling is to break the juice
cells in the leaf, and to give the leaf that twisted appearance
which commends it to buyers. The rolling of the leaf generally
takes about half an hour to accomplish. The "mash" or rolled
leaf is then taken out of the roller, placed on tables, and there
allowed to ferment. This process requires to be very carefully
watched, as an error on the side of either under or over fermen-
tation, would take away from the value of the tea. Only an
experienced manager knows when the right point has been
reached. The time required for proper fermentation depends
upon the temperature of the factory. In a temperature of from
85° to 90°, the process takes about two hours. Fermentation
must be instantly stopped when the right point has been reached,
and this is done by the leaf being put into drying machines, and
subjected to a heat of about 400 degrees.
The tea after passing through the drying machines, is then
sorted—a machine for that purpose separating the different
qualities.
It is not generally known that the different grades of quality,


376
THE TEA INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
designated in commerce as Golden Pekoe, Pekoe, Pekoe
Souchong, and Souchong, are all grown on the same bush, and
are picked and manufactured at the same time. The sieving or
sorting machinery separates the different kinds, after the process
of firing or drying has taken place.
After manufacture, the tea is put into air-tight bins, where
it is allowed to remain for a period of four to six months, to
mature.
The only two large Factories in the Colony at present, belong
to Messrs. W. R. Hindson & Co., and Messrs. J. L. Hulett & Co.
At both places, extensive machinery of the most modern type is
used. The first named, however, having an immense advantage in
being able to utilize an almost unlimited water-power.
The acreage of tea now planted in Natal, when in full bearing,
should about supply the requirements of the whole of the tea-
drinking population of South Africa. Imports from China and
other parts will have to be displaced before the country will
absorb the entire production. Probably long before then
considerable quantities will have to be exported to the London
market, where the success of Natal teas in the next two or three
years will have to be proved.


( 377 )
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
By David Don.
The conversion of raw material into a something to supply a want
in a civilised community has generally its "day of small things."
It was assuredly so, in the case of the production of sugar from
the sugar-cane, in the Colony of Natal; and the primitive means
employed in the first attempt might almost have been conceived
by the rude aboriginal inhabitants of the country.
We owe to Mr. Holden, in his 'History of Natal' (London,
1855), an interesting account of this first attempt of the colonists
to produce sugar. Byrne's immigrants, introduced between 1848
and 1851, had brought up the population to about 8,000, and it
was then, with this new life infused into it, that the small settle-
ment really began its efforts in the work of colonisation.
Writing in 1850, Mr. Holden says:—" Sugar is now beginning
to attract attention, and it is thought it may be grown advan-
tageously. One gentleman has planted several acres. . . . Two
years ago (i.e., in 1848) I purchased a few plants, which were
brought to this place from the Isle of Bourbon. I planted them
in two different situations; one failed, the other brought forth
abundantly, producing canes six feet long and six inches in cir-
cumference, which, by proper care, might even have been much
larger." Mr. Holden was thus, himself, one of the first to take
personal interest in the culture of the plant; but the gentleman
who had planted the "several acres" above referred to was a Mr.
Morewood, and it was he who thus inaugurated the first Natal
Sugar Estate, on the Compensation Flats, on the Umhlali, about
thirty-five miles north of Durban.
Mr. Holden's dates are not very precise, but we gather that the
Compensation Plantation was begun in 1849, and that Mr. More-
wood's first crop was reaped in 1851; the implements employed
in the manufacture being a pair of wooden rollers, hewn from an
old mast, for crushing the canes, and an ordinary iron Kafir
cooking-pot, of about three gallons capacity, for boiling the juice.
Thus was obtained the first sample of indigenous sugar in Natal.


378
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
It is noteworthy that Mr. Morewood, in workman-like fashion,
began cultivating his land with the plough. In after years this
was, to a great extent, discarded by Natal planters, partly, no
doubt, because newly-cleared good bush land did not require it,
and could be holed and planted at once, and probably more than
once, with success. Five-and-twenty years later, when lands on
many estates were becoming exhausted, and more than ever
requiring treatment with the plough, the less experienced of
them were disposed, notwithstanding, to fall in easily with the
ideas of Mauritius brethren, then arriving in the Colony, and
who, unaccustomed to the implement, looked askance at its
utility. Now, however, ploughing is recognised by all as an
essential operation on every well-cultivated property, unless when
virgin bush land is being cropped.
As at many other localities much belauded at first, but selected
without judgment, and necessarily without experience, sugar
{ilanting at Compensation did not fulfil its promise. Some years
ater it was written of the district that its then diminished
cultivation was attributable to the poor character of the soil, though
partly also to absentee proprietorship.*
In these first years, after the experiment at Compensation, the
industry made very little headway. The slow growth of the cane-
plant, requiring, as it generally does, two years to mature in
Natal, would itself tend to limit the number of adventurers in
sugar; and colonists disposed to embark in the enterprise were
mostly, if not one and all, equally ignorant of the country they
had settled in as of the requirements of the enterprise itself.
Before capital, of which they had themselves but little, would
answer to their calls, therefore, proof had to be forthcoming of
some sort regarding many points beyond the mere fact that
certain lands produced, or were proved capable of producing such
and such a quantity of sugar per acre. Initial mistakes and mis-
directed energy were only what was to be expected. First ideas
had to be abandoned, or modified by experience. It was at first
thought, for example, that the cane would only grow on flats.
Experience taught that the soil on these was often poor, as at
Compensation, and exposed the cane-fields to the serious risk of
fire, owing to periodical grass burnings prevalent in the country.
When they betook themselves to alluvial flats, chiefly on the
banks of rivers, they found frost would sometimes blight their
cane-fields, and floods would wreck mills as well as crops. These
three F's—fire, frost, and flood—caused, and from time to time
have caused, much loss to inexperienced or heedless planters.
» 'Notes on Natal.' Robinson. P. 53.


THE 8UGAB INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
379
One of the pioneer estates, that at Springfield, on the banks of
the Umgeni, a few miles from Durban, was almost totally destroyed
by the great flood of 1856. The Umgeni rose twenty-eight feet,
and not only submerged the Springfield cane-fields, but rushed
through the factory to a depth of nine feet, and, among other
havoc, carried the heavy battery of boiling pans clean out of the
masonry. An amusing incident of this disaster occurred at the
height of the flood, when a large elephant was swept past the mill,
vainly struggling with the stream, and trumpeting furiously. On
the same occasion another sugar mill was similarly destroyed on
the banks of the Umhloti.*
The earlier mills were worked and continued to be worked
by animal power (oxen); but about 1856 the steam-engine was
introduced, and of course rapidly superseded primitive methods.
The late lamented Mr. Tom Mibaer, of Kedcliffe Estate, always
ambitious to maintain an honourable lead, was the first to import
steam-driven machinery, and in doing so, it appears, he had in
view the making his factory a central one, and getting a number
of small planters to supply cane.
According to Dr. Mann s work,' The Colony of Natal,' published
in 1859, there were then (or probably rather in 1858) twelve
sugar mills in Durban County, chiefly on Isipingo flats, or on the
Umgeni, close to Durban, and 1,490 acres under cane. In
Victoria County, there were four or five mills only, but a larger
proportionate acreage under cultivation. Other plantations, and
one or two mills, had also started in less accessible districts, near
the mouth of the Umkomas, and at Umzinto.
The following years were historically important in connection
with a difficulty which the early planters were not long in
experiencing, and which has from time to time recurred—viz.,
the supply of labour.
Thousands of capable and tractable enough aborigines existed
in and around the Colony, but they could only be got to work by
fits and starts, or as necessity moved them, on the plantation or
the farm. This simply meant that the new industry, particularly,
must needs languish and die if it had to depend on native labour.
Hence, having the general interest of the Colony to consider,
Government at length gave its sanction for the importation of
Indian labourers; regulations were settled under Law No. 14 of
1859, and coolies were first introduced into Natal in 1860. Up
to 1866, altogether 5,600 immigrants (including women) were
thus added to the labour supply of the Colony; but in that year
* These incidents are recorded in The Natal Journal, Vol. II., No. 8, October,
1858, pp. 172-3.


380
THE SUGAB INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
considerations—chiefly financial—compelled a stoppage of the
supply, and it was not again resumed till 1874, since which it has
continued.
This is not the place to discuss the pros and cons of the policy
of coolie immigration. Its expediency was demonstrated in
1859 and 1873, as it still is, by the absence of any practical
endeavour, on the part of the Government, to utilise native
labour. But it will be apropos of our subject to quote the follow-
ing terse remarks by the late Mr. J. R. Saunders, of Tongaat,
one of the most competent to speak on the subject, and recorded
in the Report of the Indian Immigrants Commission, 1885-1887,
of which he was a member—viz.:—
"The question resolves itself into this—can the Colony afford
to put a check on production, and what effect would this have on
the revenue, or progress, and the employment of Colonists? I
view it as affecting Colonial industries and their development in
the broadest sense, as a question affecting the progress of the
Colony, its revenues, public benefit, and comfort, and, above all,
as being the most practical way yet suggested in which white
Colonists may secure profitable occupation in a Colony situated
like ours. It' we look back to 1859, we shall find that the assured
promise of Indian labour resulted in an immediate rise of revenue,
which increased fourfold within a few years, mechanics found
their wages more than doubled, and progress gave encouragement
to every one from the Berg to the sea. A few years later, well-
founded alarm arose that it would be suspended. Simultaneously,
down went revenue and wages, immigration was checked, con-
fidence vanished, and retrenchment was the main thing thought
of. Some years later—in 1873—a fresh promise of renewed
Indian immigration created its effect, and up again went the
revenue, wages, and salaries, and retrenchment was soon spoken
of as a thing of the past." (Report, pp. 98, 99.)
When this labour question first came to the front, and was
settled as above stated, it occurred to some philanthropic minds
that, notwithstanding the aboriginal Kafirs were apparently
incapable, by inborn habits and proclivities, of utilisation as
reliable labourers on other people's sugar estates, experiment
should be made to ascertain how far they might be capable of
industrial labour on their own account, in that same industry, and
thereby possibly of fostering the love of labour, for its fruit's
sake, among their fellows. Accordingly two sugar mills, for
native use and purposes came to be successively erected.
The first was put up at Umvoti, about 1862-3, the idea being
attributed to Sir George Grey, who visited the Colony in 1855,
and again (with the then Prince Alfred) in 1860. Government








THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
381
met the cost out of Native Keserve Fnnds; but alleged original
bad planning of the mill, and other difficulties, incidental to
experiments, prevented even moderate success until after ten
years. It was under a European's control from 1865; and in
1872, the mill turned out 150 tons of sugar, and 300 acres
were under cultivation by forty-seven native planters, these
contributing cane equivalent to from one hundredweight
up to ten tons of sugar, and receiving half thereof as their
share, the mill getting the other half, besides the treacle.
Whatever else has to be said upon the matter, the object
of the undertaking has certainly not been achieved. Perhaps
it might have been otherwise, had native policy been under
the continuous direction of a statesman of Sir George Grey's
calibre. The factory still exists, however, making about 150 tons
a year, but is understood to be practically in the hands of two
or three natives, who pay Government the handsome rent of
one shilling per annum, and farm the concern as best they can,
getting cane from anij growers as grist to their mill.
The other experiment was of a different sort, and, if less
successful and shorter lived than the Government subsidized one,
deserved perhaps a better fate. It was a result of missionary
effort. A report, appearing in the Grahamstoum Journal of
July 21, 1865, on the American Mission at Amanzimtote, says,
"The station is remarkable as having now in full operation
within its precincts the first steam sugar mill owned by natives,
and entirely managed by native hands. This mill belongs to the
natives Nembala and Ncaijana; and has been purchased and
erected by them upon their own responsibility, at a cost of £700.
The mill will manufacture seven tons of sugar this season, and
has power adequate to the production of twelve cwt. per day.
Nembala had only three days' instruction from an engineer in
the management of his machinery, and now works the mill
entirely himself. All the knowledge he has otherwise, he has
gathered by visiting the largest mill in the neighbourhood." *
The early career of this Ainanzimtote establishment seems to
have been characterised by some ambition, for, at the Paris
Exhibition of 1867, its name appears, among several other Natal
sugar producers (Messrs. Wirsing and Reynolds, of Canonbie
Estate, and Mr. W. Campbell, of Muckle Neuk), as a competitor
for distinction. In 1872 it was still in existence (according to
Robinson's 'Notes on Natal,' pp. 97 and 139), but must very
soon afterwards have succumbed, for it has long since ceased to
be heard of.
* Vide Holdcn'a ' Past and Future of the Kafir Racee,* (1866), p. 495.


382
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
Inherent causes are undoubtedly at the root of these two
failures to train Kafirs, in numbers, and as examples to others, in
industrial pursuits, requiring continuity of effort. Philanthropic
work in that direction, per se, must ever be futile; and the sooner
it is recognised, as the plain teaching of experience, as well as the
intentions of Providence, that the typical Kafir has no natural
inclination or ambition beyond being a "hewer of wood and
drawer of water " for himself or others (with undoubtedly added
capacity to act as soldier or policeman to his protectors), the
better will it be for all concerned, and the easier will be the
solution of the native question. But the Government official, or
private politician, who will devise, and get put in operation, a
practical and practicable scheme, by which native labour can, and
will be, effectively and extensively utilised in the industries of
the Colony, has yet to come to the front.
The labour question, however, was not the only, nor perhaps
the most serious, embarrassment of the struggling sugar planters
in the earlier years of the period under notice. The Colony
generally then passed through a very severe financial crisis,
brought about by land speculation and bad seasons. Under it a
number of them succumbed; but the survivors gradually made
progress, as well as improvement, in their work. The output of
the mills in 18G4 was three or four times that of any previous
year. In 1867, under Law 1, the industry was protected by an
import duty of 3s. 6<Z. per cwt., which has since remained in
force. In 1868 rum became an item of export, Mr. Thomas
Reynolds being among the first, if not the first, to recognise the
distillery as a necessary complement of the sugar factory for
utilising waste products. The Census, taken at the end of 1869,
gave the following returns:—Land under cane, 15,892 acres;
cane reaped, 5,757 acres (besides 164 acres by natives, at Umvoti
and Amanzimtote); sugar produced, 7,823 tons; rum distilled,
34,778 gallons.
In 1870-71 a welcome impetus was given to the industry by
the great discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West; and the
determination of growers at this time to improve their product
may be judged by the fact that, whilst in 1870 only three factories
possessed a vacuum pan (a sine qua non in the production of good
sugar), the number was increased to twelve in 1873.
In the fifteen or sixteen years which have since passed, much
progress has been effected in the development of the industry;
and it would be surprising if it were.not so, considering the great
strides in material prosperity which have been going on simul-
taneously in South Africa generally.
Among the influences which have favoured its growth, railway


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
383
extension within the Colony deserves first mention. The line to
Maritzburg was begun in 1876, and to-day its extensions to
Charlestown, on the Transvaal frontier, and to Harrismith, within
the Orange Free State, are accomplished facts. Extension
beyond these points, and connection with the Cape, Free State,
and Transvaal railway systems must quickly follow.
The completion of the North Coast line to Verulam in 1879
effected much for the planters in Victoria County; and, as much
good land available for cultivation exists beyond that point, it is
to be hoped the line will, ere long, be extended to the banks of
the Tugela. The stoppage of the South Coast line at Isipingo,
twelve miles from Durban, has been long a reasonable cause of

MOl'XT EDGECOMBE 6UGAU FACTORY.
grievance to producer? in Alexandra and Alfred Counties, who
are handicapped by their north coast competitors in the matter
of transport; and no better land for sugar-growing is to be found
in Natal than in Borne of these south coast districts, such as
lllovo, Umzinto, &c.
The erection, in 1877-1878, of the well-known Natal Central
Sugar Company's factory at Mount Edgecombe, under the able
supervision of Mr. Alfred Dumat, from Mauritius, was a notable
event; and it cannot be doubted that this undertaking, as well as
the arrival, about that time, from Mauritius of a number of
planters and artisans trained to factory work, did much to foster
improved methods. The factory was furnished with appliances


081
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
entirely new in Natal, of the type in vogue in the hest establish-
ments in Mauritius; and its work soon proved that the product
could be made, marketably as good, in the one Colony as in the
other. It was first known as the "Usine Centrale," the original
idea being to make it a central factory, solely for a clientele of
growers. Circumstances, however, of a special nature frustrated
this; and although, from the first, a large number of planters
have annually contributed their quota of cane for manufacture at
the mill, as they still do, the Company have had to cultivate a
large area on their own account. The factory can turn out about
twenty tons of sugar per day (which is considerably more than
the capacity of any other single sugar-house in the Colony),
and its total output for last crop—1891-1892—exceeded 3,000
tons.
Among adverse influences affecting the industry of late years,
the most important was necessarily the great fall in the market
value of sugar, which took place all the world over, in 1883-4.
Some thought its continuance would mean a permanent blow to
Colonial sugar-growing; but, happily, although it caused one or
two estates to go out of cultivation in Natal, and although the
fall must bo considered established, producers have put their
shoulders to the wheels of economy and improvement, and a
buoyant feeling as to the future still prevails.
According to Mr. Giflen's Report to the Board of Trade, in
May, 1889, on the Progress of the Sugar Trade, the fall in the
value of sugar in 1887, compared with the standard of prices in
1861, was 54-89 per cent, on refined and 48-01 per cent, on raw
sugar. In that period all commodities fell enormously, e.g., tea
37*84 per cent., wheat 39-8G per cent., cotton 27*03 per cent., wool
35*96 per cent.; but the greater fall in sugar was doubtless
rightly attributed to the greater development of production,
more especially of European beet sugar.
The labour difficulty cropped up again in this period on several
occasions, notably when railway construction was being pushed,
and during the Zulu and Boer wars and subsequent disturbances
in Zululand. In 1888, also, a strong local feeling having pre-
vailed among a section of the community against Indian
immigration, the planters took the matter up, and in July of
that year, held a conference on the subject, proving to demonstra-
tion, by elaborate statistics and the recorded testimony of every
important producer, that the importation of Coolie labour has
been, and continued to be, the mainspring of the Colony's pro-
ductive power; that the bare prospect of its stoppage would at
once paralyse all enterprise, especially on the coast, and inflict
irremediable damage, both directly and indirectly, to general


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
385
interests. Since then there has been a disposition to regard the
question as settled, except in so far as modification of the system,
agTeeahle to all concerned, may hereafter be found practicable
and expedient. But year by year the difficulty of procuring
native labour seems to extend, and the increasing indents for
Coolies, by upcountry farmers and others, prove that the question
is of general concern.
Production to Date.
The statistics of export of sugar by sea, &c, from 1854 to
1891, inclusive, show what the sugar industry in Natal has alone
produced, in money value, and so contributed to the spending
power of the Colony.
The total export of sugar by sea during this period has been—
£
187,942 tons, of a declared value of . . 3,456,564
To this we add, after careful computa-
tion, as au estimate of the quantity
consumed within the Colony, and
exported overland to neighbouring
States, one third more, viz.*—
62,647 tons, at same average value . . 1,152,188
4,608,752
32,294 cwts. of molasses, exported value . 6,154
1,057,175 gallons of rum, „ „ . 51,397
1,495,125 „ „ sold within the Colony
at say Is. gallon .... 74,756
Plus Excise duty, at say 4s. 6d. per
. gallon paid on the rum sold within
the Colony 336,403
Grand total . . 5,077,462
The bulk of export by sea has, pf course, been to Cape ports.
Of late years a good few shipments have gone to Australia, and
a few to India. Exports to London have been chiefly of " con-
crete " and low qualities for refining purposes. Since the fall of
prices, "concrete " has ceased to be manufactured.
* No one who knows anything about the matter will dispute the extreme
moderateness of this estimate. If we take the annual output for the last ten years
at only 12,000 tons per annum= 120,000 tons, and deduct the quantity exported by
sea = 60,299 tons, we get alone 53,701 tons of the estimated 62,647 tons.
2 O


380
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
Present Position and Prospects.
There are no official statistics available, nor machinery for
recording them, unfortunately, but the following particulars about
the existing condition of things may be taken as at least approxi-
mately accurate:—■
The aggregate area under crop, in various stages, and pre-
pared or being prepared for crop, is about 26,000 acres. Of
these, about half are reaped annually, a fourth (or less) is re-
planted, and a fourth (or more) is allowed to ratoon for one, two,
or sometimes even more crops. The varieties of cane most in
vogue are "Green Natal," "Lousier," and " Port Mackay." On
one or two estates occasionally liable to frost a hardier sort,
known as "Uba," has recently been introduced satisfactorily.
The yield per acre varies much, according to soil, seasons, and
care bestowed, but may be taken, one year with another, to
average about 1£ tons. Two or three tons is not uncommon
on good land and in favourable seasons. Comparatively little
imported manure is employed, planters preferring the more
economical and, in their view, superior home-made production
from cattle kraals and stables, factory and distillery refuse, &c.
All estates having factories grow cane on their own account, with
one recent exception, the owners of which have just leased their
land, with the view of making their factory a purely " central"
one. But there are many growers of cane—perhaps forty or fifty
—who get their sugar manufactured on satisfactory terms at
conveniently situated factories. One planter, who has no mill of
his own, reaped canes last year which gave about 400 tons of sugar.
There are thirty-six factories now in working order, most of
them with an output of from 200 to 500 tons per annum, about
half-a-dozen having larger capacity. The aggregate output for
crop 1891-1892 was about 18,000 tons, about a fifth being white
crystals, and the remainder yellows and syrup sugars. That for
1892-1893 will probably be about the same, if the season continues
favourable. Most of the larger factories have " double crushing"
—i.e., by a pair of mills, and nearly all have vacuum pans for
juice and syrup boiling, but some only use "Wetzels" and "open
batteries." Much of the machinery employed is admittedly out
of date, but improvements are being gradually introduced.
Electric lighting is being installed, or is about to be, at the more
important establishments. The crushing season runs usually
from June or July to January, the planting one from August to
December. Though the number of factories has much diminished
during the last fifteen or twenty years, cultivation has consider-
ably increased.


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
387
There are now eleven licensed distilleries only. A few years
ago there were more, but rum manufacture probably remains
about the same—say 2,200 hogsheads per season, half of which
finds its way to the London market, and half is sold or consumed
in the Colony.
Labour.—As already indicated, the mainstay in the shape of
labour are the Indian Coolies. According to the Protector of
Immigrants, there are now 8,583 adult male Indians indentured
in the Colony. Of these the sugar estate owners employ 4.632*;
besides women and boys, say, 500; and free Coolies and Kafirs,
estimated at 1,500; total, 6,632.
In 1888, by the returns got for the Planters' Conference, the
proportion of indentured labour was much less, and that of free
coolies and Kafirs greater. The latter classes, of late years,
since the development of the gold fields and railway extensions,
have become more migratory, and get higher wages at other
employments. The coolie is indentured for five years, during
which employers, in addition to the regulated scale of wages and
rations given, contribute a variable amount (now £17 10s. per
male adult) for expenses of introduction and return passage
money. The cost of the coolie labourer, all included, averages
about one shilling per day.
The capital employed in the industry was estimated by sugar
growers themselves, in 1888, at £830,500. The successful flota-
tion in England, last year, of the Umzinto and Esperanza Estates
into a joiut stock concern (Keynolds Brothers, Limited), with a
capital of £100,000, was a noteworthy instance of outside con-
fidence in the stability of the industry.
Successful sugar growing anywhere, of course, depends much on
climate and rainfall. The climate of Natal, has upon the whole,
proved favourable to the cultivation; but it is undeniable that the
seasons fluctuate considerably; aud that, during the last decade,
several severe droughts have been experienced. Some attribute
the diminished precipitation, proved by statistics for that period,
and the irregularity oi rainfall generally, to solar energy, indicated
by sunspots, and producing "cyclical periods." (Vide "Cycles of
Drought and Good Seasons in South Africa," by D. E. Hutchins,
Wynberg, 1889.) In Mr. H. G-. Fourcade's "Report on the Natal
Forests," 1889, the subject of diminished rainfall in Victoria
County (the chief field of sugar production) is discussed in an
interesting manner, and illustrated by a diagram, which combines
Mr. Hutchins' Cyclical periods, with " waves of rainfall," observed
* The remaining 3,951 are indentured to up-country farmers, the Natal Govern-
ment Railways, tea and coffee growers, &o.
2 o 2


388
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
by Mr. Wilkinson, of Ottawa Estate, from 1870 to 1890. The
diagram clearly shows a steadily diminishing quantity in these
'■ waves," closely corresponding with the years of Mr. Hutchins'
"Sunspot Minima." Mr. Wilkinson's statistics show that in the
period 1871-8, the mean rainfall at Ottawa was 39 inches, whilst
that for 1882-9, was only 30*8 inches, and a consequent excess of
26-6 per cent, in the former over the latter period. This being a
greater variation than found at other points of observation in
South Africa, Mr. Fourcade concludes that a local cause operated
in Mr. Wilkinson's locality, viz., " the clearing, since 1860, of some
35,000 acres of forest for coffee and sugar planting." We are
disposed to think there is a measure of truth in the deduction;
and trust that in default of the Government doing its duty by
encouraging tree planting on the coast, planters will do all they
can themselves to cover again with trees a large portion of
the lands they have cleared in bygone years for planting and
fuel.
As is well known, it is only a coast belt, ranging from perhaps
six to twelve miles inland, that contains the soil, and that is
otherwise suitable for cane-growing in Natal. Admittedly a
large portion of this is not suitable; but besides what is now
successfully cultivated, there are various large tracts of superior
land to be found. Indeed from the Tugela to the Umzimkulu,
land is, or could be made, available to grow all the sugar South
Africa is likely to consume for many years to come. Unfortu-
nately some of the best for the purpose has been long under a
sort of Chancery bondage, as native or mission reserves, and it is
high time steps were taken by the Government to bring about
the utilisation of such lauds for the increase of production of the
Colony. Anions other promising localities mention may be made
of the Lower Umzimkulu, where, in addition to excellent field
for cultivation, water-way facilities would be invaluable.
The Prospects op the Sugar Industry.
These may be considered very satisfactory and hopeful. All
those now engaged in the enterprise have had many years'
experience of its ups and downs. They know what to expect in
the way of seasons, and better than most of their predecessors the
prime necessity of more careful culture of the raw material, proper
selection of land and plants, ploughing, manuring and labour-
saving appliances, tramway transport, &c. Factory work is also
much better understood than formerly, and there is less of guess-
work all round than there used to be, and more practical study of
the elements of success. The fall of prices, which at one time


THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
389
threatened ruin, has in Natal, as elsewhere, given an impetus to
exertion and improved methods.
One of the greatest advantages which the Natal planter now
possesses over almost every other cane-growing country, but
which he has hardly yet learned to appreciate, is the realised
possibility of a cheap fuel-supply in Colonial coal. For the
present, doubtless, its use will be limited by the railway facilities
planters may have. But it should be possible, on many estates,
now to burn coal in their boiler furnaces in place of the timber
ruthlessly cut down in past years, and of the cane straw, or trash,
and the megass from the crushing rollers, which may now, as
ought to be, returned to the soil as manure constituents.
A cheap coal supply, moreover, is of special benefit, and a first
necessity to such growers as may contemplate embarking in what
many believe to be the true and only scientific method of cane-
juice extraction, viz., by the diffusion process; this being simply
the dissolving out, of juice from the cane, by means of hot water,
it entails a subsequent evaporation of a large quantity of water,
and consequent expenditure of fuel; and it is inapplicable where
fuel is dear. Eoughly, there is theoretically 90 per cent, of
juice in the sugar cane. Of this, few mills extract more thau
70 per cent.; and in Natal the extraction may range from 50
to nearly 70, what is not extracted being simply so much
waste. To use another formula: there is 12 to 13 lbs. of sugar
in 100 lbs. of well-grown canes; of this, crushing mills express
only 5 to 8 lbs. of sugar, according to the condition of the canes,
and the power of the mills. It stands to reason, that, if the
canes are dry, as they are sometimes liable to be in Natal,
though not necessarily wanting in saccharine matter, the extrac-
tion of juice by rollers is minimised, and probably half the
sugar they contain is left in the megass. By diffusion, on the
other hand, nothing, or practically nothing is lost; and the drier
the season and the canes may be, the better will the juice
extraction be as compared with the existing mode of extraction.
It has been by the adoption of scientific methods, in both the
departments of agriculture and of manufacture, that the beet
sugar industry in Europe has made such enormous strides of late
years, and threatened the existence of cane-growing in the
Colonies and elsewhere; and it is by the adoption of similar
methods, wherever practicable, that the cane-grower will be able
in the future to succeed.
'With the moderate protection the industry has in Natal, 3s. 6d.
per cwt., and the increasing consumption of sugar in South
Africa, there seems no reason why the production of to-day should
not be doubled or trebled in the course of the next ten years;


390
THE SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NATAL.
but it is to the South African market chiefly, if not alone, that
growers should look if the Colony is to increase its production.
The competition in the manufacture of both beet and cane sugar
outside our little sphere is so great, that it would be unwise
to advocate extension of cultivation for the purpose of export to
other countries.
No greater stimulus could be given to the development of the
sugar, tea, and other like industries in Natal, than the attainment
of a Customs' Union, and free exchange of indigenous products
between the several colonies and states of South Africa. To all
appearances, this desirable object is not very far off. Politicians
and the press are unanimous that it ought to be attained; and,
doubtless, present difficulties will vanish when each colony and
state looks a little less intently to its own particular interests
being secured in this important matter.
Note.—Those desirous of further information as to the present conditions and
prospects of sugar culture in Natal, may with advantage peruse articles on the
subject in ' The Sugar Cane Magazine' for January, February, and June, 1892.


( 391 )
CHAPTER XIX.
NATIVE RACES AND NATIVE TERRITORIES.
The earliest knowledge of South Africa disclosed two races
occupying the territories adjoining the Cape of Good Hope.
The one was a yellowish-skinned people with crisp, tufty hair,
projecting cheekbones, flat noses, and a tendency to fatty and
other integumentary out-growths. They led a nomadic life of
pastoral ease, seemingly comparatively rich and happy upon the
abundant produce of their nocks and herds. These were the
Hottentots who impressed the Portuguese navigators as being "a
pleasure-loving race, given to music and dancing, which seemed
good after its fashion;" and Camoens, in his national epic, the
"Lusiad," thus pictured their rural joys:—■
The tenants of the coast, a festive band,
With dances meet us on the yellow sand;
Their brides on slow-pac'd oxen rodo behind;
The spreading horns with flow'ry garlands twin'd,
Bespoke the dew-lapp'd beeves their proudest boast,
Of all their bestiiil store they valued most.
By turns the husbands, and the brides prolong
The various measures of the rural song.
Now to tho dance the rustic reeds resound;
The dancer's heels, light quivering, beat tho ground;
And now, tho lambs around them bleating stray,
Feed from their hands, or round them frisking play.
Methought I saw the sylvan reign of Pan,
And heard the music of the Mantuau swan:
With smiles wo hail them, and with joy behold
The blissful manners of the age of gold.
The other race appeared to be of a lower order, although the
leading features of the Hottentot physical conformation might be
traced in them. They were of more diminutive stature, and
spare, emaciated figure. They lived in small families in tho
rocky mountain glens and desert wastes, hunting or trapping wild
game, but never cultivated the ground, nor bred any animal.
When the chase failed them, they satisfied the cravings of their
appetites with the bulbs and roots of the earth, the larva? of ants,
honey, gum, locusts, and various other insects and reptiles. The
bow and arrow were their only weapons—the latter made of reed,
tipped with a piece of bone or stone flake, and steeped in a deadly


392
NATIVE RACES AND TERRITORIES.
poison. The Hottentots looked upon them as the type of all that
was savage and treacherous, and feared them, whilst the early-
Europeans deemed them a wild species of humanity, and termed
them the Bushmen.
The investigations of ethnographers and philologists go to show
that these two races were the primeval inhabitants of a great
portion of the continent of Africa; that they sprang from one
source, and were "children of the same mother," but at some
remote period formed into two branches, and were separated from
each other for thousands of years before the white man came in
contact with them.
In their outward aspects, in many of their customs, and in
their mythologies, there is prima facie evidence of a common
origin. Even their language is somewhat akin. The structure
of the Hottentot, or "Khoi-Khim," of which there are several
dialects, has been found to be beautiful and regular, and trans-
lations of the Gospels, as well as a large amount of missionary
literature, have been published in it. The late Dr. Bleek,
described it as monosyllabic, of the suffix-pronominal order, and
exhibiting, in the most primitive form known, the features of
those highly cultivated languages distinguished by sex-denoting
qualities common to Northern Africa, Europe, and part of Asia.
It is interspersed, however, with uncouth "clicks"—sounds
produced by applying the tongue to the teeth, or to various parts
of the gums or roof of the mouth, and suddenly jerking it back.
Three-fourths of the syllabic elements of the language begin with
these clicks, and combined with them, are several hard and deep
gutturals and nasal accompaniments. The difficulty for a Euro-
pean acquiring an accurate pronunciation is not so much in
producing the clicking sound singly, as in following it imme-
diately with another letter or syllable. The Bushmen, as well as
the Hottentots, have these "clicks," but in the number of their
varieties, and in the range of organs employed in their pro-
nunciation, they far exceed those of the Hottentot language.
Other points of dissimilarity have been met with, but, as fir.
Bleek has observed, these do not exclude the possibility that, like
English and Latin, the Hottentot and Bushmen languages may
originally have been derived from a common primeval stock.
Both of these primitive peoples appear now to be rapidly
decreasing in numbers, and probably in the next century will
gradually die out. Dr. Eritsch, in his admirable work on the
Ethnology of the natives of South Africa, estimated the number
of the Hottentots in the days of Van Biebeek at 150,000. At the
census of lb75, in the Cape Colony, as many as 68,717 persons
were recorded as members of families living together, belonging


NATIVE RACES AND TERRITORIES.
393
to the Hottentot race, but a large number of those so returned
were admitted to be of mixed origin. To guard against a similar
error at the census of 1891, instructions were given to the
enumerators to note that, as comparatively few pure-bred
individuals of the race were extant, no persons should be classed
as Hottentots where the distinctive characteristics of the race did
not predominate. The result was that in 1891 the total in the
whole Colony was returned as 50,388, and of these 5,296 were
classified as Bushmen. North of the Orange River, in Great
Namaqualand, where the pure-bred Hottentot tribes are still to
be found, the total population in 1877, was estimated by Dr. T.
Hahn, at 16,850; and, according to the same authority, at the
present time (1893) they do not number at the utmost more than
12,000. At the commencement of the century they were probably
us many as 50,000; but the frequent Damara wars, as well as
their own inter-tribal fighting, together with contagious diseases
and brandy, have reduced, and threaten finally to exterminate
them completely.
Remnants of the hunting Bushmen are also to be met with.
These are the aboriginal
type of the Abatwa
pigmy race of Central
Africa. At one time
widely spread over the
continent, they have
been displaced by their
own kinsmen, the Hot-
tentots, and the superior
Bantu invaders; but
throughout the country
from, the Cape to the
Zambesi, they have left
their crudely - artistic
drawings and their pre-
historic stone imple-
ments on rocky hills
and in sheltering caves
to mark their former
habitats. These draw-
ings consist of repre-
sentations of a mytho-
logical character, relat-
ing to their customs and
superstitions, or of animals and the human figure, coloured in clay
and ochre. In some parts, as in Bechuanaland, the drawings are

TITUS, A. OAPE BUSHMAN.


394
NATIVE RACES AND TERRITOlilES.
cut into flat surface of rocks, with rough stippling of birds and
animals, and ornamental figures in oval-shaped and concentric
patterns. Half a century ago, a number of the Bushmen tribe
occupied the rugged portions of the Drakensberg and Maluti
mountains, hunting game and occasionally making raids on their
European neighbours. They were also pretty numerous along the
banks of the Orange River, skirting the northern districts of the
Cape Colonv known as Bushmanland. Now they have entirely
disappeared from the Drakensberg and Maluti, and there are very
few left on the Northern Border. These few are scattered over
the country in small bodies. They go about almost naked, spend
their time in hunting
game, searching for
roots, and in sleeping.
They do not build even
the rudest hut, and are
content with putting a
few bushes together as
a shelter from the wind.
In spite of the hard-
ships they undergo,
they are a merry, light-
hearted people. Some
members ot a family
will work for a time,
and on the goats thus
earned tho rest will
live, using the milk as
long as game can be
got, but slaughtering
the milk-giver if game
fails. They do not sys-
the bcshuan abmed. tetnatically prey on
the farmer's flocks and
herds, as Kafirs do; but when hunger drives them they do not
scruple to take a horse, mule, a goat, or sheep to satisfy their
wants. They think no more of killing a human being than of
killing a buck. One of the farmers in the locality, a few years
ago, came upon two Bushmen unexpectedly in the veldt, and
before he could take his rifle out of the sling, or get under cover,
he was shot with an arrow, which pierced through a thick jacket
and trousers, with fatal effect. Outrages of this nature led in past
years to armed parties being formed to clear the country of them,
and when collisions occurred, numbers were ruthlessly shot down
with as little consideration as if they were wild animals.


NATIVE RACES AND TERRITORIES.
395
In Great Namaqualand and the Kalihari, the Bushman popula-
tion number two or three thousand, and in the north-east of
Damaraland there are small wandering tribes of them, including
the Ai-San, the Kun-San, the Au-ai-san, the An-San, the Matsana-
Khoi-San, and the Bushmen of Otave, who are remnants of the
old paramount tribe of Great Namaqualand, the Gei-nams, broken
up by wars at the beginning of the century, and now leading
a Bushman life.
Besides these primitive races, inhabiting South Africa, there
were the dark-skinned negroids of the Bantu stock, speaking a
euphonious polysyllabic, prefix-pronominal language; living
under hereditary chiefs; pastoral and agricultural in their pur-
suits, dwellers in villages, and workers in metals. They are now
known as the tribal groups, classed as Kafirs, Zulus, Makalakas,
Bechuanas, and Damaras, ail having ancient traditions of inva-
sions, wars and forays, during their migrations southward and
eastward from their long-forgotten home in the north and east.
The term " Kafir " signifying infidel, was applied by the Mahom-
medan Arabs to all the dark races of Africa, and it was adopted
by the first Europeans who came in contact with the tribes on the
eastern border of the Cape Colony. The national designation of
these tribes was the "Ama-Khosa," or sons of "Xosa," the great
chief from whom they claim unbroken descent through twelve or
thirteen generations. They again are subdivided into Ama-
Gcalekas or Gcalekas; the Ama-Gqaika or Gaikas; the Ama-
Dhlambi or T'Slambies; the Aba-Tembu or Tambookie Kafirs,
and other minor tribes. They first crossed the Kei River and
invaded the country of the Hottentots about 1650, almost contem-
poraneous with the appearance of the early European settlers in
Table Bay.
The Kafirs are physically superior to the Hottentot race.
They are generally fine, powerful, able-bodied men, reserved and
self-possessed in manner, but courteous and polite, and sensible of
kindness and consideration. Their form of government was a well
organised although simple one. They had a regular gradation of
authority from the head of the family, who was responsible for its
conduct, or the head of the kraal or village, who was responsible
for the collective families therein, up to the chief, who, with his
councillors, adjudicated in all matters relating to the affairs of
individuals, or of the tribe. They had a system of law which took
cognisance of crimes and offences, enforced civil rights and
obligations, provided for the validity of polygamic marriages, and
secured succession to property according to well-defined rules.
Superstition entered into all the affairs of their life, and formed
part of their laws, customs and religion. They believed in


396
NATIVE RACES AND TERRITORIES.
benevolent and evil spirits producing prosperity or adversity in
health or sickness, and witchcraft was recognised as one of the
evil arts practised with the view of causing death or injury to
property. The alleged offender, charged with being umtdkati
(wizard or witch) was stripped of his possessions, and after being
subjected to various kinds of torture, was frequently put to death.
The procedure supplied a convenient method of getting rid of any
obnoxious person, or one whose property was coveted.
They had many good traits in their character. Their bravery
and devotion to their hereditary chiefs was well illustrated by an

LIXDINXOWA, ONE OF THE AMA-KHOSA.
incident which occurred during the year 1818, when a great inter-
tribal battle was fought on the Debe Nek, in the district of King
William's Town, between the chief Gaika and his uncle T'Slambie,
who had acted as regent during his nephew's minority. The
quarrel was provoked by Gaika's own doings. He had carried off
one of his uncle's young wives, and another dusky lady, who was
the wife of one of the chief councillors. These sages spoke and
remonstrated with their young chief; but to no avail. Gaika
turned a deaf ear to all their counsel, calling them traitors to
their lawful chief. Preparations were then made on both sides
for a conflict; and a bloody, and in many cases hand-to-hand


NATIVE BACES AND TERRITORIES.
397
combat ensued, which ended in the defeat of Gaika: bnt not
before almost all his men of note had fallen. On the day
preceding the battle, many of the councillors who had been called
traitors set their affairs in order, and took a final farewell of their
friends and families, telling them they did not intend to return,
but would show on the morrow that, though they had opposed
their chief in his evil ways, they were not afraid to die in his
cause. And they were faithful to their resolution. Occupying
the foremost ranks in the fight, where their position as councillors
did not require them to be, they were siDgled out by their
opponents, and were the first to fall. Not one of them returned.
In all wars with the Colony, it was noticeable that they scrupu-
lously respected women and children, and that their missionaries
were protected, or assisted to a place of safety, and rarely injured
by those amongst whom they laboured. It is said that in their
language they have no phrase or word equivalent to gratitude,
yet in many instances they have shown that they possess the
quality. Kafir servants have warned their masters of impending
danger when they might have taken their lives and stock; and
in numbers of cases individual members of the tribes, who
experienced kindness from officials and traders, have assisted in
rescuing and saving them on the outbreak of hostilities.
Christian missionaries first -settled in what was then known as
Kafirland only seventy-five years ago. These were the Kev.
Messrs. Williams, Brownlee, Thomson, and Bennie. Soon after-
wards their numbers were strengthened by Messrs. Koss, Shaw,
Shepstone, Weir, Chalmers, and McDiarmid. They had to
acquire the language, and adapt the alphabet to the Kafir tongue,
before they could influence the people by their teaching. In
those days no article of European manufacture was seen other
than beads, brass wire, or buttons, which were the medium of
currency. The chiefs wore robes of leopard-skin, and the women
cloaks of ox-hide. The tribesmen were adorned with red clay,
and never went any distance from their homes without being
armed with assegais. Numbers of them, both men and women
all in full barbaric dress, their bodies and karosses painted with
red clay, would sometimes attend the church. When asked where
they were going, they indicated that they were "going to the
dance," and in church they showed that they had but a vague
idea of the nature of the service. They soon slipped off the forms
on which they were seated, and squatted on the floor, took out
their pipes, and commenced smoking. Notwithstanding many
discouragements and difficulties, the missionary influence gradu-
ally brought about a change. Natives abandoned the old
superstitions, and broke through the national customs, adopting


398
NATIVE KACES AND TEBRITOBIES.
the teachings of Christianity and the forms of civilised life. The
wooden spade, which was their only agricultural implement, gave
way to the ploughshare, and the red clay to European clothing;
and in proportion to the extension of educating and industrial
agencies, there was evidenced a greater readiness to work and
labour, in order to supply and satisfy their increasing wants.
Neither Christianity nor civilisation has as yet, however,
taken entire hold of the population. The large majority of them
have no religion whatever, and are wedded to the barbaric
customs and superstitions of their forefathers. But, considering
the comparatively short period in which enlightening and
educating agencies have had time to operate upon them, consider-
able advances in the process of raising and elevating them have
been made. Many thousands have renounced heathenism, with
all its superstitions, and enrolled themselves as members of religious
bodies; and they can proudly point to churches and chapels
which have arisen chiefly from their own efforts, where large
native congregations, neatly dressed and well behaved, regularly
assemble at the sound of the Sabbath-bell. Some of them, thanks
to the training tliey have received at mission stations, have
become fairly skilful artisans and tradesmen. A number have
qualified themselves to be preachers and teachers among their
tellow-countrymen. Others have become purchasers of property,
or are in possession of leased lauds. They are owners of cattle,
horses and woolled sheep, and producers of grain and other
products; while a very considerable portion periodically engage
in manual labour in the diamond, the gold, and the coal mines, in
the railway and other public works, on the farms, and sometimes
in the households, and together with the Mixed Races furnish the
rough labour power of the Colony.
The Mixed Races are descendants of various peoples trans-
planted to the Cape within the last two hundred years from Java,
Ceylon, Madagascar, and Mozambique, and who, intermingling
with each other, and with the indigenous stock, have produced a
heterogeneous and motley population of every gradatiou of colour,
feature, and physique. These are a numerous, and, upon the
whole, a well-behaved class, very serviceable, not only in all
agricultural operations, but in various domestic and industrial
employments.
The Kafir tribes within the boundaries of the Cape Colony,
number about 600,000 persons. They occupy locations or allot-
ments in different parts of the eastern border districts, such as
Uitenhage, Alexandria, Albany, Fort Beaufort, East London and
King William's Town; but the bulk of them are in the territories
between the Great Kei River and the borders of Natal, forming


400
NATIVE RACES AND TERRITORIES.
witchcraft being made a punishable offence. To the adminis-
trative ability, personal influence and good guidance of these
magistrates, in the management of the communities under their
charge, may be greatly ascribed the present prosperity of the
natives, and their contentment with our protecting rule. Their
work of gradually revolutionising the conditions of native society,
is supplemented by the many mission and industrial schools
established in the country by the Christian churches, and which
are aided by grants from the public revenue.

LOVEDALE MISSIONARY INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTION.


( 401 )
CHAPTER XX.
PONDOLAND.
The Ama-Pondos, who occupy the beautiful coast country from
the Uintata Kiver to the Umtamvuna River, between the Cape
Colony and Natal, are still an independent tribe. During the
reign of the Zulu king Chaka, they were conquered and dis-
possessed of their cattle, and with some other lesser tribes found
shelter in the broken wooded country about the St. John's River.
On the emigration of the emigrant Boers to Natal, the Cape
Government recognised the Pondo chief Faku as paramount over
the territory, and entered into a friendly alliance with him. By
this intervention they had the prestige of British protection, and
consequent upon it their population and wealth soon increased.
After Faku's death, he was succeeded by his son Umquikela,
during whose lifetime there were continual disturbances with the
different smaller tribes of the Pondomise, Bacas, and Xesibes;
and, owing to these hostilities, the Colonial Government con-
sidered it advisable to extend its jurisdiction over Pondoland, but
the Imperial authorities objected. It was considered advisable,
however, to secure the port of St. John's River, and in 1878
Sir Bartle Prere concluded an agreement with Nqwiliso, the
chief of Pondoland, who was recognised as entirely independent
of Umquikela, for its purchase. Afterwards, as it was found that
attempts were made to open ports on the coast of Eastern
Pondoland, free of the control of the Colonial Government,
through which guns and ammunition were being supplied to the
natives, a proclamation was issued in 1885, declaring Her
Majesty's protectorate over the whole coast. Subsequently
complications arose from wars between the Pondos and Xesibes,
and other minor tribes, as well as the claims of Umquikela for
the revenue from the ports of St. John's River. These differences
were settled by an agreement concluded in 1887 by Mr. W. E.
Stanford, on behalf of the Secretary for Native Affairs, Sir J. A.
de Wet, giving Umquikela and his heirs a subsidy of £200 per
annum, and a sum of £1,600 in consideration of the cession of
Xesibeland and the renunciation of all claims against the Colonial
Government. Umquikela then undertook, on behalf of the


402
PONDOLAND.
Pondos, to control the border of his territory, to suppress stock
thefts, and maintain good order and friendly relations with the
Government. After his death he was succeeded by bis son
Sigcau, who is now the ruler of Pondoland, which has an area of
3,869 square miles, and a population of 200,000 souls.
Within the territory the worst features of barbarism bave yet
their sway. Murder, rapine, cruelty, and injustice reign.
"Smelling out," and sacrifice of life on charges of witchcraft are
of continual occurrence. In Western Pondoland the remonstrances
of the High Commissioner against the spilling of human blood
has had some influence on Nqwiliso, who was given to understand
that a continuance of it would imperil his independence. He has
recently issued the order—" From to-day let there be [neither
man, woman, nor child put to death for witchcraft "—and sounded
the death-knell of this heathenish custom in his territory.
In Eastern Pondoland the belief in witchcraft and the utility of
the witch-doctor to smell out those who practise it is unbounded,
and receives countenance from the chief himself. An incident of
by no means infrequent occurrence which was witnessed at his
kraal, the "Umzi wa Kwomkulu," or Great Place, will illustrate
this, and the cruel system which from time immemorial has
exerted a peculiar fascination among these people.
The Great Place of Sigcau, the " Spider," is situated on a com-
manding ridge overlooking the Xura Biver towards the west,
and tho Umsikaba Valley to the east; while on the coast side,
the country Etretehes away in easy undulations, a land of beauty
and repose, suited to the lotus-eating Pondos. Groups of natives
are lying idly about, chatting and smoking; while women and
children are nearer the huts, enjoying themselves in the bright
sunshine.
A weighty matter is evidently under discussion among the
older councillors. Yesterday, the chiefs stable was burnt down.
It stood near the office, and some of the goods in the office were
hurriedly removed lest tho fire should extend to it. Among
these goods was a horn, which contained the choicest of the
charms and medicines necessary to the well-being of Sigcau and
tho Pondo nation. After the safety of the office was assured, the
articles removed were replaced. But the precious horn could not
be found. Careful search was made all over the kraal, without
avail. In the morning, men were sent to the witch-doctor to
inquire who was the incendiary and thief. With the party was
Bateji. The doctor, after due preparation, went through his incan-
tations and his wild witch-finder's dance. The women stood around
clapping their hands in time with the dancing and chanting with
weird impressive effect, whilst the doctor rapidly related the occur-


PONDOLAND.
403
rences of the day and traced the malice, which desired ill to the
chief and the Pondo people. The men from the Great Place sat
together before him listening. Only the lurid light in their eyes
expressed how their savage superstitious feelings were aroused.
"A snake had been sent by its owner to take the horn," the
doctor said—" a big snake. The owner called it from the Um-
sikabn."
"Who is the owner of that snake?" one of the men asked.
"Bateji," was the reply; "the snake belonged to him."
In vain was Bateji's denial. Significantly his fellows moved
away from his side. They would not sit by the polluted man.
He might perhaps have made good an escape at this time; but,
conscious of innocence, he did not attempt it. So they all
returned to the Great Place, and a report was fully made to the
chief. Bateji was secured, declaring the witch-doctor's accusa-
tions false.
Next morning he sits alone, and apparently unwatched. But
scores of eyes are upon him, nevertheless. He has been examined
and cross-examined again and again, to induce him to confess the
misdeeds, and produce the fatal horn. At last he determines to
make a run for life, dear life. He is off and away. A shout, and
the hell-hounds are after him in full cry. A powerful man and
a fast runner, it seems at first that he will reach the cover of a
forest about two miles away; but the pack proves too strong for
him, and struggling and panting he is captured and brought back
to his doom. Then the questioners are at him once more. "Why
do you run away, if you are innocent?" "Has not the doctor
said you are the ' gqwira' (wizard)?"
They have him alone, as some horsemen are seen approaching
at a rapid pace. Foremost is a fine-looking young man, riding
a fiery black horse. It is Sigcau. He gallops up; then reining
his horse suddenly in, he sits for a few minutes motionless in tho
saddle. All the men throw up the right hand and shout "Longi-
langa!" Bateji shouts too. The women make no sign of recog-
nition. Then Sigcau dismount, and his horse is led away. A few
words with the leading councillors, and he repairs with them to
the office to deal with Bateji's case. The councillors said he was
obdurate; of his guilt none expressed a doubt.
Things are not done in a hurry at the Great Place. After a
proper interval, a message was sent from the chief to Bateji, that
unless he confessed and produced the horn, he should be put on
the yoke. Bateji's reply was "I am innocent." Then he was
tied to a yoke by his arms, with reims pulled as tight as could
be. As the thongs cut into the flesh and prevented circulation,,
the pain was terrible, and Bateji writhed and yelled. Then hi.i


404
rONDOLAND.
tormentors urged him to confess. But he could not say where
the horn was.
An hour and a half of this torture, and the inquiry had got no
further. Sigcau sent another message. "Go and tell Bateji that
unless he confess and produce the horn, I will hand him over to
the young men." Bateji said, "Let the young men take me."
Sigcau altered his mind. He asked the owner of a cart to drive
him over to another kraal. They went, and Bateji had two more
hours of his agony.
On Sigcau's return, he learnt that Bateji had not confessed.
But the torture had done its work. He was hardly recognisable.
Then Mapenduka was sent to a hut to fetch Bateji's own rifle
and two cartridges. When these were brought, IS'obulongwe was
called. To Nobulongwe, Sigcau said, "Take that man down
below the kraal and shoot him, then let his body be dragged to
the other side of the river. Don't take him over the river first.
Kill him here. I want to be sure that he is dead."
So Bateji was led about two hundred yards from the kraal,
with the yoke still across his shoulders. Then they took the
yoke off him, and tied his hands behind his back. He made no
resistance.
"Shut your eyes. I am going to shoot you," Nobulongwe said.
"You shut yours," was the defiant reply; and as he lay on the
against the man's head and fired. The dust rose; there was s
quiver, and a human life had fled. A reim was tied round the
neck, and two young men dragged the body across the pretty
Umsikaba river, and left it on the other side for the vultures and
the crows.
As the shot was fired, a woman's voice rose piercinely at the
kraul, in sorrowful lament for the death of Bateji. They tried
to force her to be quiet, but she paid them no attention, and
wailed pitifully. Then they drove her into one of the huts.
That night she left the Great Place, and returned to her people
in Xesibiland. So Bateji had one friend whose love stood true
and faithful, even in that most dreaded disgrace to a Kafir,—the
ticcusation of witchcraft.

Nobulongwe put the rifle almost


( 405 )
CHAPTER XXI.
ZTJLULAND, AMATONGALAND AND SWAZILAND.
Zululand, formerly the home of the Zulu kings, was declared
British territory in May, 1887. After the conflicts between the
adherents of Cetywayo and Usibepu, which resulted in the cession
of over 4,200 square miles of the country to the Boers, and the
formation of the New Republic (subsequently merged in the
South African Republic), the British Government intervened, and
rescued as much of the remaining territory as they could for the
unfortunate Zulus. The people being unable themselves to form
an orderly administration, it was found necessary to extend the
Queen's authority over them, which was done by proclamation
issued by Sir Henry Havelock, who was then Governor of Natal.
The area of Zululand is 8,900 square miles, and its population
numbers a total of 145,884, of whom 548 are whites. Its revenue
in 1891 was £51,313, and the expenditure £41,200. The Governor
of Natal is the governor of the territory, and he is represented
by a Resident Commissioner, Mr. Osborne, C.M.G., residing at
Eshowe, which is in telegraph communication with Maritzburg.
The country is divided into districts—Eshowe, Nkandhla, Enton-
janeni, Ndwandwe, Nqutu, TJbombo, and Lower Umfolosi. Each
district is ruled by magistrates, and order is maintained by a small
body of Imperial troops and a force of mounted native police,
under European officers. The natives of the Usutu and other
tribes are settled within demarcated locations, and a hut-tax of
14s. per annum is levied from them, yielding over £31,000.
Their pursuits are mainly cattle-raising and agriculture. Con-
siderable crops of maize are grown, and each year the use of the
plough in cultivation is becoming more extended. Many of the
young men go out and seek employment, and return with good
wages, earned on the railway and other works in Natal, Kimberley,
and the gold-mines of the South African Republic.
The physical features of the country are attractive. Ranges of
hills, with an elevation of 2,000 feet, and affording excellent
grazing, alternate with slopes and valleys plentifully watered.
There are some considerable areas covered with dense thorn-bush
and forest; and in the latter, clearings have been made by the


40G ZULULAND, AMATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND.
natives, ruthlessly cutting down trees for the purpose of cultivating
the richer and more fertile soil to be found below them, than in
the open country. Along the valley of the Black Umfolosi, and
the stretch of low-lying country towards St. Lucia Lake, on the
coast, malarial fever prevails, which fact accounts for its being so
sparsely inhabited; but large game abounds there, including
rhinoceros, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, koodo, water-buck, and other
kinds of buck. The coast has no harbour, but Sordwana Point
and Bay, as well as Lake St. Lucia, are included in the territory.
The occupation of lands by Europeans is not usually allowed,
except for missionary, trading, or mining purposes. Mission
stations in connection with various denominations have been
established, and schools for the natives opened; the number of
scholars on the roll being 719. In Eshowe district, a settlement
has been established by the Salvation Army.
Gold, in quartz, has been found in different parts of Zululand;
and gold-mining gives promise of being a payable industry.
In the districts of Nqutu, Nkandhla, and Entonjaneni, some small
batteries have already been erected, and gold extracted from the
ore. There is a royalty of Is. 6d. per ounce, and the revenue from
this source in 1891 was £232. The development of the mining area
is delayed on account of the want of capital; but efforts are being
made to overcome this difficulty, by the formation of companies
in Natal and elsewhere. Becent accounts report the occurrence,
near the White Umfolosi Biver, bordering Zululand, of auriferous
"banket" deposits from 18 inches to 4 feet thick, averaging over
12 dwt. per ton. Coal, silver, lead, copper, tin, iron, and asbestos
are also among the minerals found in Zululand, but none of them,
with the exception of gold, have yet been worked.
Adjoining Zululand, and lying between it and the southern
boundary of the Portuguese possessions of Lorenzo Marques on
the East coast, is the territory of Amatongaland, over which
British suzerainty was established by treaty, made with the
Queen Begent, Zambilli, in 1837. Its area is estimated at 5,300
square miles, and its population at 38,000 persons. The people,
who are better known by the native name of " Mapootas," resemble
the Zulus in certain respects, but are not of such splendid physique.
They are remarkably industrious, and cultivate very much larger
extents of ground than do the Zulu or the Natal natives. The
country is an undulating plain, rising from 50 to 300 feet above
sea-level, and in the summer season, from October to May or
June, is a bad fever district. The Pongolo Biver, with its tribu-
taries, runs along its north-easterly boundary, and joining the
Usutu, forms the Maputa, which enters the lower part of Dela-
goa Bay, as a large river, navigable for small-draught vessels


ZULULAND, AMATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND. 407
for a distance of nearly fifty miles. The mouth of the Kosi
River, on the coast of Amatongaland, is regarded as having the
possibilities of a future harbour, in connection with a line of
railway from there to the frontier of Swaziland, and the territory
of the South African Republic, but those best acquainted with it
consider that the Kosi mouth, which is an inlet for the sea to the
lagoons and marshes in the lower part of the country, can never
ba of any use for the purpose.
Adjacent to the low-lying grounds of Amatongaland, on the
inner side of the Lebombo Mountains, is the territory of Swazi-
land, at an average height of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea-
level. It is bouuded on the east by the Portuguese territory and
Tongaland, and on all other sides, for a distance ot about 220 miles,
by the South African Republic. Its area is 8,000 square miles,
and its population is roughly estimated at 6U,0U0.
The Swazies are of the Bantu family, like the Zulus and
Ama-Khosa Kafirs, and their habits and customs to-day are much
the same as they have been for many generations past. In the
middle of the present century a dispute arose on the question of
succession to the chieftainship, and the emigrant farmers of the
South African Republic assisted Umsvvazi, father of the late chief
Umbandine, on which account they have claimed a suzerainty
over the nation. In recent years, however, the Swazies were
conscious of the services rendered them by the Government of
Natal, and especially by Sir T. Shepstone (Somstsu), who pre-
vented Cetywayo from washing his spears amongst them. During
the Zulu war they were in readiness to be called out, and sent
about 8,000 men with the British troops, under Lord Wolseley,
against Secocoeni. After the Transvaal war their independence
was recognised by the Convention of Pretoria.
The people being pastoral, cattle are their chief property, the
number in their possession being estimated at from 35,000 to
40,000 head. There is but little cultivation carried on, only
sufficient to supply their immediate wants. The products are
maize, millet, Bweet potatoes, pumpkins, and gourds. The soil
appears fertile, and the natural grasses abundant and of good
quality. The western side of the country is well watered by
numerous streams, having their rise among the broken foot-hills
of the mountain ranges. It is there the chief mineral wealth of
Swaziland is deposited.
During the summer, or rainy season, the climate is considered
unhealthy towards the eastern side, and horses, mules and cattle
are then kept as much as possible on the higher uplands of the
western slopes. Here the grazing-lands are rich and luxuriant at
the period of the year when those in the adjoining South African


408 ZULULAND, AMATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND.
Republic are at tbeir worst; and the Boers neighbouring on
Swaziland have been for years in the habit of trekking with their
cattle in large numbers into the country, under grazing leases.
After the discovery of gold and its development in 1885 and
1886, a number of Europeans, principally British, spread over
Swaziland. The late chief, Umbandine, fond of good living, good
wine, and hunting, granted, for comparatively small considera-
tions, various concessions for mining, trading, and agriculture.
The white population, finding it absolutely necessary to protect
themselves, obtained a " charter " from him, by which a committee
was appointed, having judicial, taxing, and administrative powers.
But the luxurious habits of the chief encouraged the crowd of
concession-seekers about him, and the rivalry between them to
gain an influence over him to promote their own purposes, resulted
in jealousy and internal dissensions even among the committee.
The chief afterwards fell ill, and affairs became worse, owing to
the necessity of having to deal with his native councillors, some
of whom were in power one week, and " smelled-out" or executed
the next. When the chief died, in 1889, the position became
still more chaotic, and neither life nor property seemed safe.
A joint commission was then appointed by the British Govern-
ment and the President of the South African Republic, whose
members proceeded to Swaziland to confer with the representatives
of the tribe and the Queen-Regent. The main question brought
before them was the validity of the concessions granted by the
late chief. They numbered many hundreds, and were for every-
thing that the ingenuity of man could conceive. They included
customs, the sole right of laying out townships, the sole right to
levy taxes of any nature or any amount, the sole right to practise
as doctors, as lawyers, as surveyors, the sole right of banking, of
advertising, of assurance, of posts, telegraphs, railways, of lotteries,
photography, pounds, markets, mint, and "the sole right of
obtaining concessions for others!" There were also concessions,
the validity of which was disputed by the natives, especially the
one which gave the right to collect the revenue of the chief.
The result of the Commission was a Convention, by which the
administration of the affairs of the whites was entrusted to three
Commissioners, one, Col. ilartin, C.M.G., appointed by Her
Majesty's Government, one, Mr. Esselen, by the South African
Republic, and one, Mr. T. Shepstone, C.M.G, by the Swazies:
and a court, originally consisting of three members, was established
in Swaziland, whose principal duty was to inquire into and decide
upon the validity of every concession. Some 400 of these were
confirmed, and as to those above-mentioned, which were originally
strenuously disputed by the Swazies, all opposition to them was


ZDLULAND, AMATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND. 409
withdrawn, and they were subsequently nearly all approved of.
The most important concessions, relating to lands, customs, rail-
ways, &c, passed into the hands of the South African Republic.
Sir Francis de Winton had been sent out as Her Majesty's
Commissioner, and, after the establishment of a joint provisional
government, suggested broad lines of agreement as to the future
of the country, which have since been the basis of negotiations.
Among these were the withdrawal by the South African Republic
of all claims or interference with the territory to the north and
north-west of the Eepublic, where the British Chartered Company
was carrying on operations; the expansion of the South African
Eepublic to the eastward, and the entry of the Republic into a
South African Customs Union, with the withdrawal of objections
on the part of its Government to the construction of railways to
their border, and readiness to consider further extension within
the Republic. A conference followed between the High Com-
missioner, Sir H. Lock, and President Kxuger, which was held at
Blignaut's Poort, on the Vaal River, in 1890, when these matters
were discussed, and a draft Convention, embodying the result of
the negotiation, was submitted to the South African Republic.
In the meantime, the legal life of the provisional government
in Swaziland was drawing to a close, and it was intimated to
President Kruger that if no settled form of government was
established, the alternative would be to appoint a British Com-
missioner in Swaziland, supported by such force as might be
necessary to maintain law and order, in accordance with the
provisions of the London Convention of 1884.
As the Executive of the South African Republic raised objec-
tions to the draft Convention, the High Commissioner, in view of
the gravity of the situation, pressed the Hon. Mr. Hofmeyr, the
leader of the Afrikander Bond party in the Cape Parliament, to
undertake the task of explaining the situation to the Government
at Pretoria. Mr. Hofmeyr patriotically consented to do so, and
was successful in smoothing away the difficulties in the way of a
settlement. In August, 1890, the Convention was ratified by the
Volksraad at Pretoria. It affirmed the independence of the
Swazies, as set forth in the London Convention. It established
for an indefinite period a joint government of the territory by the
British, the Republic, and the Swazi representatives; a chief court
having jurisdiction over all persons of European extraction, and
the affairs of the natives being regulated by native law and
custom. It recorded the agreement of the Republic to withdraw
all claims to territories northwards, and to support the authority
of the British South Africa Company. It grauted the assent of
the Queen to the acquisition by the Republic of land in Swazi-


410 ZULTJLAND, AMATONGALAND, AND SWAZILAND.
land, and the adjoining territories of Umbegesa and Zambilli, for
the construction of a railway to Kosi Bay; but it stipulated that
if, before the 8th of August, 1893, the Republic should not have
entered the South African Customs Union, the Convention might
be terminated upon notice given by either of the parties to it.
The required notice of the termination of the Convention on
the 8th August next has been given by the President of the Re-
public; and further negotiations were concluded in June this
year between the High Commissioner, on behalf of the British
Government, and the President of the South African Kepublie,
with respect to the future government of the country. The result
has not been announced, but it is anticipated that Swaziland will
be ceded to the Republic, due provision being made for securing
to the Swazies an equitable apportionment of their lands, and to
British and other residents who have invested capital in mining
or other commercial enterprises, a protection of their personal
interests and political rights.


( 411 )
CHAPTER XXII.
BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF
SOUTH AFRICA.
Basutoland, often called the Switzerland of South Africa, is a
narrow strip of country lying between the river Caledon (which
separates it, for the northern half of its length, from the Free
State) and the Maluti and Drakensberg mountains. Its
estimated area is 10,263 square miles, and it lies about 6,000
feet above the level of the sea. The physical aspect is very
mountainous; the whole country is undulating and dotted over
with hills, some flat-topped and some peaked, generally of
aqueous origin and composed of sandstone. In places, iron-stone
or volcanic outcrops, are seen. The country is a succession of hills
and valleys, covered with grass, and watered by innumerable
streams and fountains. The soil is fertile, and yields in abund-
ance grain of all sort*, in the valleys and plains that lie between
the spurs of the Maluti and the Caledon river, which comprise the
inhabited part of the country. The Maluti mountains are chiefly
used as cattle grazing stations, and only inhabited to any extent
within the first spurs; further on, the villages grow fewer and
fewer, till nothing is found but a few cattle stations. The
mountains are supposed to be rich in mineral wealth, but have
never been properly explored; and the jealousy of the chiefs and
people, as well as the disinclination of the Government, have so far
prevented their resources being ascertained. Coal is abundant,
and mines have been opened and worked, but here again the
conservative tendencies of both people and Government have not
encouraged scientific and practical exploration. The country is
believed to be one of great possibilities as regards the develop-
ment of mineral wealth, but at present it is a sealed book to the
prospector and explorer. Except in the ravines of the Maluti,
it is quite devoid of wood; and the traveller may go a day's
journey without seeing a single tree or bush. The rivers formerly
were fringed with willow-trees, but these have all disappeared.
Generally it is a sorry spot for the enthusiastic sportsman, who
will find game about as plentiful as on Clapham Common. Birds
may be excepted from this statement; partridges are found on the


412 BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA.
mountains, ducks on the pans, and quail and pigeon in the fields
in abundance. In the recesses of the Maluti and the Drakensberg,
some of the antelopes, including the eland, are still extant. The
rivers contain yellow fish and barbel in considerable numbers.
On the sides of many of the mountains large caves are found, in
which ferns of various kinds grow, and in places the rocks are
ornamented with Bushmen drawings. Within a few miles of the
village of Tlakenels, in the Maluti, is the cave of Schonghong,
formerly the home of the lust Bushman chief, Soai, who ruled in
the country. The remnant of the tribe was destroyed by the
grandsons of Moshesh in 1871, in retaliation for repeated cattle
thefts. Sir Marshall Clarke, who recently visited the cave, says:—
"Itis a simple overhanging rock, the wall in rear being covered
with pictures of hunting scenes, war dances, predatory ex-
peditions, and various wild animals. Eland, hippopotami, and
the smaller buck are all recognisable, while occasionally is
depicted the uncouth form of the rain-god. In all the fighting
pictures, the Bushman is 6hown victorious. He is drawing the
bow with tiny hands, or balancing himself on shapely feet throw-
ing the assegai. His foes on the other hand are exhibited with
disproportionately big hands, fleeing on calfless legs stuck like
broom-handles into the middle of their feet, and in the rear
appear Bushwomen and boys driving herds of horses and cattle,
the spoils of victory."
Horses and cattle flourish in the country, and goats are met
with in large flocks, but sheep to a less extent. The Basuto
ponies are hardy animals, with great powers of endurance and
wonderfully agile, skipping like goats over the boulders and loose
stones that strew the mountain paths, and rarely missing their
hold. They are small in size and carelessly bred, as well as
badly fed and cared for. The Government have recently intro-
duced two Arab stallions, and placed them at the service of the
Basutos, with a view to improve the breed of horses. No pains
whatever are taken in the breeding of cattle; hence they are
of a most inferior class, merely serviceable for ploughing and
draught purposes. Many of them are small, and the cows give
but little milk during summer and practically none in the
winter.
The principal occupation of the people is agriculture; vast fields
of mealies and Kafir corn extend from one end of the country to
the other. Corn and forage is also grown, but of an inferior sort,
owing to late sowing and indifference as to quality of seed; but
not due to any fault of the soil or climate, which are both ad-
mirably adapted to the raising of grain of the best quality. The
methods of agriculture are rude and imperfect; no machinery of


BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA. 413
any sort is in use, and the common one-furrow plough, the hoe,
and the sickle are the only implements at present in the country.
There is no doubt that, when corn is properly cultivated and
machinery brought into use, the capabilities of Basutoland as a
wheat-producing area will not be surpassed by any part of the
world.
The Basutos are generally industrious and thriving. They
make good servants, as far as a savage race can be such, but very
soon tire of work, and then want to go home to rest. They are
keen traders, possessing an excellent idea of looking after their
own interests in any commercial transaction. Stores and shops
are established at various places, where they exchange grain and
other produce for goods, or sell it for money. The import value
of the merchandise which passed into the territory, during the
eighteen months ending on 31st December, 1892, was £35,644
from the Cape Colony, and £42,000 from the Free State. The
produce of the country, in the same year, was valued at
£250,000.
The census, taken in April, 1891, showed the population of
Basutoland to be 218,324 natives, and 578 whites. In 1875, the
return was 127,707 natives and 469 whites. The local revenues in
1892 amounted to £23,784, of which hut-tax contributed £19,611,
and licences £1,382. The total number of schools was 115, and of
these 101 belong to the Paris Evangelical Mission, 7 to the
Roman Catholic, and 5 to the Church of South Africa. The
number of pupils on the Romish attendance roll was 6,932, and
t he mean average attendance 4,560. Government grants to the
amount of £3,414 are given in aid of schools in proportion to
the number of pupils and the education afforded. The training
school at Morija offers a sound English and Sesuto education, and
provides native teachers for the country. At Poma there is an
industrial school, in which instruction is given in building, car-
pentry, tailoring and other trades, and a school for girls, where,
in addition to the usual elementary course, they are taught spin-
ning, weaving, and other domestic arts. A number of boys are
placed by the Government to learn trades at the Lovedale
Institution, Cape Colony, and at the Trappist Monastery in Natal.
European clothing is now in general use in the country. Poly-
gamy is still practised to a large extent, and doubtless stands in
the way of the bulk of the people becoming members of some
Christian church. Witchcraft and the atrocities of "smelling
out" are abolished; for as early as 1855 Moshesh issued his word
forbidding them, declaring that he, his brothers, and all the men
of the tribe " spit on the lie of witchcraft, and cover its face with
their spittle."


414 BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA.
The Basutos were organised as a nation by their chief Moshesh,
who flourished from 1815 to 1870, the date of his death. He was
the son of a minor chief of little note, and began by collecting
and consolidating a following of the Bechuana tribe, and by war
and diplomacy gradually increased his power and widened his
borders. His memory is held in the greatest reverence to this
day, and his sayings and doings are constantly quoted to the
people by the chiefs and counsellors as miracles of wisdom, and
regarded as precedents to guide their proceedings. Moshesh, or
Moshue?hue, as he was named in the native dialect, was the
most astute and sagacious of
the barbarian chiefs South
Africa has produced. At the
outset of his career, when the
principal men of the country
were carried away by the
invading armies of Chaka, he
alone breasted the stream. He
took refuge on the top of
Thaba - Bossigo, an isolated
mountain 400 feet high, with
a tableland of two or three
miles on the top, accessible
only by five wide clefts, easily
barricaded. There he was
known as "the Chief of the
Mountain," and rallied round
him the wretched remnants of
the broken tribes. The horrors
of war and famine had pro-
duced in his neighbourhood
associations of cannibals living
in caves, who laid hold on
men, women and children
wherever they could; but his
clemency towards thorn induced them to abandon their abhorrent
habits and return to their former position.
One of these cannibals, who was known to have killed and
eaten the chief's grandfather, Pete, was brought before him.
Moshesh was urged to kill him; but he replied, "No; men-
eaters are living sepulchres. Why should I disturb my grand-
father's grave?" By this and other acts of clemency he secured
the attachment of representatives of families who had formerly
governed. One or two successful predatory expeditions largely
increased his herds of cattle; and with these he purchased wives

THE BASOTO CHIEF MOSHESH.


BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA. 415
for the poor amoDg his people, bestowing partners upon them on
condition that the cattle received as ukulabola, in native fashion,
for the female children when they married, should revert to him.
Thus he gained the goodwill of his followers, and a source of ever-
increasing personal wealth. Even among the invaders of his
territory he procured himself allies by his peculiar diplomacy,
knowing how to resist and how to yield at the right moment.
Moselekatse's regiments on one occasion had attacked his strong-
hold: they rushed up its sides in great numbers, but an avalanche
of stones, accompanied by a shower of assegais, sent them back
with more rapidity than they had advanced. Their repulse was
decisive, and the Zulus had to march away. At the moment of
their departure a messenger came towards them, driving some fat
oxen, with the word of the chief: "Moshesh salutes you.
Supposing that hunger has brought you into his country, he sends
you these cattle, that you may eat them on the way home." The
Zulus were amazed. "This man," said they, " after having rolled
down rocks on our heads, sends us oxen for food. We will never
attack him again." And they kept their word.
Moshesh welcomed the representatives of the Paris Evangelical
Society, who visited him for the first time in 1833. He did not
accept their doctrines himself, but he thought their teaching good
for his people. From this time a new era unfolded itself for his
tribe; thousands of Basutos, dispersed by the misfortunes of past
times, recovered confidence, grouped themselves about the mission
stations, and augmented his power and influence. His country,
where none had been daring enough to venture, for fear of falling
into the hands of the devourers of human flesh, began to attract
attention. Many refugees belonging to broken tribes sought an
asylum under his government, which was famed and respected tor
its wisdom and moderation. Traders also followed in the wake
of the missionaries, and began to dispose of their commodities.
Some of the emigrant farmers moving out of the colony were
encouraged to sojourn for a while and occupy tlio depopulated
lands around him. The chief said, "He admired the white
people; they might remain for years if they liked." In a short
period the Basuto population increased in an astonishing degree;
mountains and valleys became covered with numerous villages, and
the people pressed lor ward aniong.-t the adjacent native tribes and
European hettlers. Then arose questions of territorial rights.
Moroko, who with some Baralongs had taken up a position at
Thabanchu, maintained that he had paid Moshesh a quantity of
cattle for his territory. Sikonyella claimed the country occupied
by the Mantatees as his by right of conquest. The Boers, who
had cultivated and improved their lands, asserted that they had


41G BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA.
been assured peaceful possession of them, some in consideration of
being a wall of defence between Mosbesh and the Griquas, and
others because they had purchased from the son of a Basuto chief,
whose family had formerly governed the country. Moshesh, how-
ever, refused to acknowledge any of these claims. He asserted that
the whole country was the property of the Basutos; that no
instances of selling or in any way alienating land were known
amongst them: and that he had only granted his hospitality and
protection to Moroko and the Boers, during their occupancy of the
land. "He had lent them the cow to milk; they could use ber,
but he could not sell the cow." He therefore claimed the
position of chief paramount over the country, wherever any of his
people had ever lived, and this gave rise to disputes and disturb-
ances, ending in internecine strife.
For the maintenance of peace and order, the Governor of the
Cape Colony in 1845 found it needful to interpose his authority
north of the Orange River, and in 1848 the Queen's sovereignty was
proclaimed over the territory from the Orange to the Vaal River.
A small body of British troops assisted a British Resident in
maintaining his authority. But the quarrels between the several
native occupants led to a state of chronic warfare, in which some
of the Basuto clans were the chief aggressors; and on one occasion,
in 1851, the British force, which had gone out to protect the
Baralong chief, Moroko, had to retire before them at Yiervoet,
near Platbergr. To restore British prestige, an army of over 2,000
men, under General Sir George Cathcart, moved into Basutoland.
in the direction of Moshesh's residence. A demand was made
upon the chief for 10,000 head of cattle and 1000 horses, to
be delivered to the British Resident within three days' time, in
order to be restored to the various native tribes from whom they
had been taken during the disturbances. The demand was
disregarded. '1 hereupon Sir G. Cathcart moved forward to
chastise the Basutos, with a force consisting of a regiment of
Lancers, a battery of artillery, and two regiments of light
infantry. Between the camp and Thaba Bossigo there lay the
Berea mountain—an extensive tableland with irregular precipi-
tous edges—upon which armed bodies of Basutos and droves of
cattle were seen. General Cathcart ordered his men to march in
three columns. One, under his own personal observation, was to
move along the western base of the mountain. Another, under
Colonel Eyre, was sent to sweep its summit; whilst a third, under
Colonel Napier, with the cavalry, was to reconnoitre round the
east side, and afterwards meet and join the other two on the
plains of Thaba Bossigo, in sight of the chiefs residence.
The Basutos were evidently prepared for defence; the full


BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA. 417
strength of the fighting men of the tribe—10,000 in number—
under their captains, was assembled. They were chiefly centred
about Thaba Bossigo, but groups of them, well mounted, were
visible closely watching the movements of the troops, as the first
column rounded the southern angle of the Berea. Noon was the
time appointed for the junction of the forces before Thaba Bossigo,
but it was evening before Colonel Eyre's column appeared. Colonel
Napier's party became broken and separated. Attracted.by a drove
of cattle on the mountain, they went in pursuit, capturing a number;
but on returning, took a wrong path ana were attacked by theenemy.
Twenty-seven of the Lancers were killed, and their horses, uni-
forms, and trappings appropriated and donned by the Basutos.
Colonel Eyre's column on the mountain saw great troops of cattle,
estimated at 30,000 head, but 1,500 was as many as they could
manage to drive, and the rest were abandoned. Suddenly they
were confronted by a number of mounted men, some with white
caps on their heads and bearing lances, causing them to be mis-
taken for the General's escort. Several soldiers fell into their
hands before it was discovered that these were Basutos who had
dressed themselves in the uniform of the 12th Lancers. Colonel
Eyre had hard work in fighting his way through, descending from
the heights and driving the cattle before him to the plains below.
He arrived just in time to join the General, who was being
attacked by the main body of the Basutos, all mounted men,
who advanced with remarkable boldness, essaying to surround
the troops on all sides; but the admirable discipline of the
British infantry, and rounds of canister from the artillery, repulsed
and overcame them. It was long after dark before the firing
ceased. That night the army bivouacked upon the field, and when
morning broke, as no enemy was to be seen, they marched back
with their guns and captured cattle to the camp, a distance of
fourteen miles, intending to resume operations on the chief's
residence in the course of a day or two, for the troops were eager
to avenge their losses on the Berea.
But Moshesh, on the previous midnight, had held a council at
Thaba Bossigo, and dictated a letter to the General, in which he
said, "You have fought against my people and taken much cattle;
I entreat peace from you. You have shown your power; you
have chastised; let it be enough, I pray you, and let me no longer
be considered an enemy to the Queen." Sir G. Cathcart thought
it expedient, under the political condition of the country, to
accept the chief 's submission in this form, without further prose-
cution of the war. He issued a proclamation declaring peace with
the Basutos, repudiating for the future any interference on the
part of Government in native quarrels, and giving the European


418 I3ASUT0LAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA.
population full licence to protect, secure and recover their pro-
perty according to the old colonial "commando" system. Meanwhile
Moshesh was blazoning forth his triumph, sending messengers far
and near to Kafirs, Zulus, and Beehuanas, that he had victoriously
driven the English forces from his country.
Soon after this, the Queen's sovereignty over the Orange Kiver
Territory was withdrawn, and the natives, as well as European
inhabitants, were thrown upon their own resources, and lett to
maintain their independence as best they could. No definite
limits had been appointed between the Basutos and the newly
established Free State, ami the question of boundary became the
foundation of an endless series of disputes. War broke out, and
was carried on with varying fortune between 1858 and 1868. The
Basutos, who were poorly provided with guns and ammunition,
soon ceased to attempt meeting the Free State burghers in the
open, and acted on the defensive, ensconcing themselves in forti-
fied mountains and caves. Moshesh saw his people lo.-ing ground,
and a good part of his country in possession of his enemies. With
characteristic foresight, seeing the destruction of his tribe was
inevitable, he made overtures to the High Commissioner for their
acceptance as British subjects. He entreated "that he and his
people might rest and live under the large folds of the flag of
England before he was no more." To this entreaty the High
Commissioner, Sir Philip Wodehouse, yielded on the 12th March,
1868.
At the time the British Government thus stepped in and saved
the Basutos from utter annihilation, the territory occupied by
them was reduced to one half of its original extent, 2,000 persons
had been killed in the war, and many of the tribe (to the number of
15,000) had left the country. The remnant was crushed and
humbled. They were in an impoverished state, and their outward
aspect most miserable; clothed in ragged skins, many of them
nearly naked, sick and emaciated, they seemed the lowest of
human beings. The power and prestige of Moshesh's sons, the
principal chiefs, were broken and their authority gone; and a
favourable opportunity presented itself of abolishing many of the
nntive customs obstructing the path of civilisation and progress.
But the deluy which occurred in the ratification of their formal
recognition as British subjects, and the time which elapsed before
the judicial functions of the new Administration were set in motion,
enabled the chiefs to recover their power with rapid strides, and
thus diminish the influence of the Government.
In 1871, tho country was annexed to the Cape Colony. The
people, as in the Transkeian territories, were placed under special
laws and regulations, and governed by European magistrates, at


BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA. 419
the head of whom was Colonel Griffiths, C.M.G., as the represen-
tative in the country of the High Commissioner. Under this
regime the country prospered for several years; the revenue
exceeded the expenditure, and Basutoland had a comfortable
surplus, which was only used for improving the country. Trading
stations sprang up, and hundreds of wagons were engaged in col-
lecting and exporting the grain grown by the people to the Free
State and the Diamond Fields. Money came into general use, and
commerce was developed. The exports were estimated at about
2,000 bales of wool and' 100,000 muids of grain, besides a con-
siderable number of cattle and horses.
During these years, the unrestricted sale of arms and ammunition
at the Diamond Fields enabled the natives easily to acquire guns;
and numbers of the Basutos, at the instigation of their chiefs, went
there to work, mainly to obtain these weapons. In 1880 the
Cape Government, in pursuance of the policy of the disarmament
of the natives, required of them to surrender all their arms, com-
pensation being given for the same. This measure was most
distasteful to the Basutos, although it was endeavoured to be
impressed upon them at their "pitsos," or public gatherings, that
it was a step taken to secure peace and prosperity throughout the
country. The chiefs seized the opportunity for influencing the
tribe to oppose the law, and the ignorant and credulous were
told that, when disarmament was accomplished and the nation
left defenceless, polygamy would be abolished by force, their
women taken from them, their cattle branded so as to mark them
as Government property, and finally the people enslaved.
On the issue of the disarming proclamation, some loyal chiefs
and natives obeyed the order, and surrendered their arms; but
the fact of their doing so drew upon them the enmity of the other
chiefs, who according to native custom " ate them up,' threatening
their lives and carrying off their cattle. A troop of the Cape
Mounted Kiflemen then moved up to Basutoland, for the pro-
tection of the loyalists. They were met on the border by armed
forces of the Basutos, who resisted their entry, and afterwards in
great numbers attacked their camps and the magistrates' stations.
In September, 1880, nearly the whole tribe was in revolt; and
within a week or two afterwards there was a rising of the
Basutos in East Griqualand, followed by that of the Bondomise,
Amaquate, and Tembus, and other tribes on the eastern side of
the Drakensberg.
The burgher forces of the Cape Colony, together with Volun-
teers and .auxiliary corps iroin all the principal towns, were at
once sent to the front, and in a comparatively short time the
outbreak in Griqualand East and Tembuland was suppressed.
2 e 2


420 BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OP SOUTH AFBICA-
Afterwards, strenuous efforts were made to reduce the Basutos to
submission by force of arms, but without success.
The newly-arrived High Commissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson,
offered his services as mediator and arbitrator, and these being
accepted by the Colonial Government, as well as by the Basutos, he
gave an award, the terms of which were a surrender of guns by
the Basutos, and liberal issue of licences to carry arms on payment
of a licence fee; restoration of property taken from the loyals;
compensation to traders for loss of property; and payment of a
fine of cattle by the tribe. These conditions, although accepted
by the Basutos, were not complied with; and all efforts to re-
establish government in Basutoland were unsuccessful. Public
opinion in the Colony was in favour of the abandonment of the
territory. The Imperial Government, believing this step would
have a disastrous effect, undertook to administer it on certain
conditions—one being that the Colony paid towards the cost of
its government an equivalent to the amount of customs duties
received on goods sent into the territory; the other being that, if
the Basutos did not give proof of their appreciation of British
intervention by assisting tlie administration in every way, the
Imperial Government would not hold themselves bound to con-
tinue it.
This agreement was accepted. In 1884 the Imperial Govern-
ment resumed control of the country, appointing as Administrator
Sir Marshall Clarke, who still governs it under the High Commis-
sioner. The Basutos since then have been increasing fast, and
land is getting scarcer every year. They enjoy a sort of Home
Rule, subject to the control of the authorities, and the chiefs
exercise considerable power over their people. Urink is most
strictly prohibited from entering the country under any pretence
whatever, unless a permit has been granted for its introduction;
and so strictly is this excellent law carried out that a gentleman
visiting Basutoland not long ago was brought up before one of the
magistrates for having a pocket-flask in his pocket containing
some whiskey, and fined £1 for contravention of the Liquor Law.
There is no doubt that the stringent regulations in force against
the introduction of alcohol have been of the highest benefit to
the Basutos, and it is earnestly to be hoped that the authorities
will never abrogate the rules that now exist. When the High
Commissioner, ISir Henry Loch, visited Maseru in 1890, about
15,000 men from all parts of Basutoland were camped there for
three days, and during that time there was not a drunken man to
be seen anywhere, and no quarrels or unpleasant incidents of any
sort occurred. The Ba«utos when journeying or campaigning
carry with them a supply of maize, ground very fine, roasted, and


BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA. 421
mixed with sugar and salt; this is often their main maintenance
for weeks at a time. At this gathering 12,000 mounted and
armed warriors received the Queen's representative, and, as he
passed between their ranks, it was noticeable that chiefs and
clans, which but a few years ago were hostile to one another, were
riding side by side, contending only in the energy with which
they gave utterance to the chant of welcome and in the cordiality
of their greetings.
The land in the Territory is held on the Communal principle.
No person, black or white, can actually own land in Basutoland,
but can only have permission to occupy it, and build upon it at
his own risk, though no difficulty is made in the transfer by sale
or otherwise of such properties from one white person to another, it
being always understood that there is no ownership of the ground.
White persons are not allowed to settle in Basutoland unless they
can show that they have some good reason for being there, such
as for the purpose of trading, or following some legitimate pursuit.
Beyond the charge for licences to trade, no taxes are demanded
from the whites by the Government, but the Basutos pay a hut-
tax of 10s. per annum, which is the main Fource of the revenue.
This is sometimes paid in money, and sometimes in grain or other
produce.
The Basutos live in villages scattered about the country; some
of the huts are round, and others square houses, made of sod and
thatched. They are very fond of conviviality, and "beer drinkings"
are constant events. Internecine war on a small scale occurs
every now and then. A dispute arises between two neighbouring
chiefs, the country side is aroused, the men all turn out armed,
firing soon begins, and a few get killed or wounded; then the
nearest Government official goes to the scene of events, and by
persuasion or threats the matter is quieted down; then a " mixed
Commission" of Government officials and native chiefs sits on the
case, hears evidence, punishes the provokers of the strife, and
things quiet down till the next cause of dispute arises, and then
the programme is gone through again.
The border between Basutoland and the Free State is patrolled
by the police of both Governments, and peace and quietness have
now reigned for some time, with only occasional complaints,
generally arising from some petty thefts or disputes. iSerious
criminal cases are tried by the magistrates; civil cases can be
brought before the magistrate or the chief, at the option of the
disputants. There is no doubt that the chiefs possess great pownr
in Basutoland, and often exercise it. As a rule, in important
matters they refer to the Government, being to a great extent
guided by its decision; but it is apparent at times, when some


422 BASUTOLAND—THE SWITZERLAND OF SOUTH AFRICA.
important matter crops up, that it requires considerable tact and
savoir-faire on the part of the officials to make matters go
smoothly.
What will be the ultimate status of Basutoland it is somewhat
difficult to prognosticate. The Government, as now constituted,
has accomplished much in preserving a fair amount of law and
order; the taxes are paid well and willingly; life and property
are safe; there is peace on the border, and the nation is prosper-
ing and progressing. The moral influence of the officials is an
ever increasing power in the country, which was in a state of chaos
in 1883 before the Imperial Government took it over, and its con-
dition now is infinitely better than it was then. Patience and tact
have achieved, and are achieving, much; and all that could be
done, with the means at disposal, has been done to bring the
Basuto to be a sober, peaceful, industrious and law-abiding tribe.
Still, it must be remembered that they are savages, headed by
chiefs who are tenacious of their power, and apt at times to be
restless and intolerant of control; and that in Basutoland, as else-
where, history may repeat itself, and "moral force" be swept
away by some torrent of national feeling too strong to be stemmed
by the best-directed efforts of suasion, argument, and entreaty.


( 423 )
CHAPTER XXIII.
BRITISH BECHUANALAND AND THE BECHUANA
PROTECTORATE.
Bechuanaland is the name given to the central part of South
Africa situate north of the Cape Colony, and west of the South
African Eepublic, to the 20th meridian of east longitude.
Ever since this territory was first visited by Europeans, about
1801, it has been known to be inhabited by the mild, tractable,
and peaceful Bechuana people, bearing the tribal designations
of Batlapin, Baralong, Bakwena, Batlaros, Bangwaketse, and
Bamangwato. Among a portion of them, the Christian missionary,
Robert Moffat, laboured lor nearly half a century, reducing their
language to writing, translating and giving them the Bible in their
own tongue, and teaching them by the opening up of springs and
fountains, together with a knowledge of irrigation, how to turn to
good use the agricultural resources of the country. Among some
of the others, Dr. Livingstone was a worker, before he resolved to
become the pioneer of those explorations which have since opened
up the Continent to the civilised world. And to their successors
in the mission-field, is due the credit of having educated and
trained the wisest and most enlightened of African chiefs—
Khama, to whose splendid character, traders, hunters, travellers,
and the highest officials unite in bearing testimony.
The Bechuanas were always rich in cattle, native sheep, and
goats. Near the villages, where they congregated under their
chiefs, they had their gardens and cornfields. Outside of them,
were their cattle-posts with wide ranges of pasture. Beyond
these, skirting the borders of the Kalahari desert, and sometimes
in the heart of it, were hunting stations, where their vassals or
slaves, the Bakalahari and the Bushmen (known as the Barwa
and Marawas) gave personal service or paid tribute in the form of
skins, feathers and other produce of the chase. Large trading
transactions with these people were carried on for many years by
Cape colonists from the eastern and border towns, who visited
them and traversed the country in every direction. In course
of time, this commerce was extended still further northward to
the Zambesi, and the missionaries' and hunters' roads through


424
BRITISH BECHUANALAND
Bechuanaland became the main route by which nearly all the
merchandise passed northward and the native produce came
southward from the interior.
The Bechuanas had no war-like system, like the Kafir or the
Zulu, and although there were occasionally tribal dissensions and
revolutions among themselves, they never disturbed the general
peace of South Africa. Along their eastern border, after the
establishment of the South African Republic, the emigrant
farmers laid claim to the control of the country on the ground of
their conquest of the Zulu usurper Moselekatse; and on the
strength of this claim, and the latitude given by the Sand River
Convention, President Prctorious in 1868, issued a proclamation
declaring the western boundary of the Republic to extend in a
line from the Langsberg to Lake Ngami. But Her Majesty's
Government protesting against this act, and refusing to recognise
its validity, the proclamation was recalled.
The Bloemhoff arbitration and the Keate award, in 1871, which
were both repudiated by the South African Republic, contained
the first germs of those troubles, which afterwards agitated the
country. The award cut off from the South African Republic
some of the chiefs, who had formerly been included in it, and
gave a status to chiefs outside of it, whose claims were disputed by
others. In the Pretoria Convention, signed after the retrocession
of the Transvaal State, a new intermediate boundary was laid
down, in the hope that it would satisfy all parties; but this line,
equally with the other, was held to be in conflict with the claims
of the Republic and its native allies. After the close of the
Transvaal war of 1881, hostilities broke out between the rival
parties, and the territory being regarded as an independent one,
many white volunteers, or freebooters, joined as mercenary parti-
sans of the contending chiefs, sharing in the cattle which was
captured as booty, and attempting to set up minor republics in the
lands they had helped to conquer.
In the negotiations between Her Majesty's Government and
the delegates of the South African Republic, which took place in
London in 1884, it was agreed that an end should be put to the
miserable state of anarchy which prevailed. A boundary line was
agreed upon between the two governments, which placed within
the Republic the native chiefs who were claimed as its allies, and
the free-booters associated with them. At the same time, on the
recommendation of the High-Commissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson,
and with the concurrence of the Capo Premier, Sir T. Scanlen, the
British Government decided to form a Protectorate over the
whole of Bechuanaland lying outside of this amended western
boundary of the Republic, in order to retain for the Cape Colony


AND THE BECHUANA PBOTECTOKATE.
425
the trade route to the interior, as the only opening through which
colonisation under British influence could find expansion north-
wards.
In pursuance of this policy, the Rev. John Mackenzie, who had
long been engaged as a missionary in promoting the interests of
the Bechuana people, was sent as a Deputy-Commissioner, and he
concluded treaties with the native chiefs, who had repeatedly
applied for British protection, and who readily made cession of all
their rights of government to the Queen. Some of the freebooters,
however, still continued to occupy the country, and made attacks
upon one of the chiefs under British protection, which was pro-
tested against by Mr. Rhodes, who had succeeded Mr. Mackenzie
as Commissioner. Her Majesty's Government then determined
upon collecting and despatching a military force of about 4,000
men of all arms, to clear the territory of the freebooters, and
establish peace and order. The command of this expedition was
entrusted to Sir C. Warren, R.E., who successfully accomplished
the work, and held the country until its further destination was
finally decided upon.
In 1885, the Imperial Government resolved to proclaim the
Queen's sovereignty as far north as the Molopo River, which
territory was named British Bechuanaland; and soon afterwards
an Order in Council was issued declaring a British Protectorate
over the country to the 22nd parallel of south latitude, and ex-
tending the sphere of British influence to the Zambesi. By a
further proclamation, issued in 1891, the western boundary was
extended to the 20th meridian of east longitude, coterminous,
with that of the German Protectorate, and embracing the districts
of Gordonia and Mier.
The area of the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland is now
approximately 60,777 square miles. At the census of 1891 the
white population numbered 5,211; the coloured mixed races,
7,472; and the Bechuanas in the several districts, according to
the return of the collector of hut-tax, is at Taungs, 19,800; at
Mafeking, 10,015; at Vryburg, 6,068; at Kuruman, 11,770;
making 47,650 persons, giving a total population of 60,333.
The Governor of Cape Colony is also governor of Bechuanaland,
with power to legislate by proclamation, but the duties of admi-
nistration are carried on by Sir Sidney Shippard, the deputy
commissioner and chief magistrate. The laws in force are assimi-
lated to those of the Cape colony. The divisions of the country
are Vryburg, Mafeking, Taungs, Kuruman, Gordonia, and Mier.
Vryburg is the principal town, and the seat of government. At
present, it is the teruiinus of the Cape railway system; but the
construction of the line to Mafeking is now in progress, and on


420
BRITISH BECHUANALAND
completion it will probably be further extended northward to
Palachwe or the Tati gold-fields.
Since the establishment of the government, the revenue of the
colony has steadily increased. In 1886-87 it was only £11,757;
in 1889-90, it was £19,548; and in 1891-92 it amounted to
upwards of £52,000. The expenditure exceeds this sum, reaching
£151,000; but this includes the cost of the Bechuanaland Border
Police, a force of 402 officers and men, under Col. Frederick
Carrington, maintained chiefly for the Protectorate north of the
Grown colony, and costing about £100,000, for which a grant in
aid is made by the Imperial Government, as well as a contribution
from the British South Africa Company, for Protectorate expenses.
Among the ordinary sources of revenue are hut-tax, licences,
stHmps, and trausfer and auction duties, quit-rents, land sales, post
office and telegraph receipts, and customs duties, collected under
the South African Customs Union, of which British Bechuanaland
is a member.
The eastern portion of the territory is on a plateau ranging
from 3,200 to 4,200 feet above sea-level. It forms an undulating
prairie of fine grass-lands in most parts devoid of bush or scrub,
and in others dotted over with trees, giving the locality the
character of being well wooded and occasionally sufficiently thick
to form patches of forest. The variety and quality of the various
grasses make the pasturage in good seasons, one of the best for
cattle. The country is therefore well suited for cattle-ranching.
The Cape sheep and the common goat also thrive. The majority
of farms, however, are as yet unsuited to the merino sbeep,
although it is probable that alter a few years of close grazing, the
conditions may be more favourable for them. The superior pas-
tures and the fertile soils are generally met with in strips along
the valleys and dry river-beds. In other parts, there are stretches
of limestone flats, nearly bare of soil, but covered by scrub and an
undergrowth of sweet grass; but on certain places stock do not
thrive, being afflicted by a peculiar bone disease, which is only-
cured by artificial feeding and care.
Large areas in the best part of the country have been set apart
for the natives as reserves or locations, and many of them are well
suited for agricultural productions. Maize and millet are the
principal grain crops grown. They yield remarkably well,
considering that the ground is simply scratched, never manured,
and without irrigation. At Taungs, along the line of railway
passed by the traveller to Vryburg, there are about 27,000 acres
cultivated, and upwards of 132,000 bushels have been sold for
exportation, while probably an equal amount is reserved for their
own use. At Molopo, Mosiba, and Setlagoli native reserves,


AND THE BECHUANA PROTECTORATE. 427
about 31,136 acres under cultivation produce on an average twelve
bushels per acre, or 373,632 bushels. In Lower Kuruman native
reserve, about 300 acres are dry lands and 340 acres irrigated;
and the annual crops from them are estimated at 6,000 bushels of
maize, and 6,900 bushels of Kafir corn. Wheat is grown at
Kuruman, and near Vryburg. Fruits and vegetables do well at
both these places, and with irrigation all kinds of cereals and
orchard produce should succeed in any part of the country.
In the districts of Vryburg and Mafeking the annual rainfall is
considerable, averaging 25 inches, and at Mafeking in 1890-91,
which was an excessively wet season, it was as much as 44*37
inches. At Upington it is not more than 12 inches. Owing to
the porous nature of the greater part of the ground, the water is
rapidly absorbed ; but, by a fortunate provision of nature, it is not
lost, as the country, which consists of rocks of the primary
formation is generally reticulated with intrusive dykes, which
impound the water in subterranean cavities. There are many
natural permanent springs, and some "pans" or depressions which
hold water. Well-sinking has been resorted to with success in a
number of instances; but in some cases with disappointing
results, owing to the sites being unfortunately chosen. The
Government, however, is now prosecuting the work of water-
boring under professional guidance, and there is little doubt that
in course of time the lower water-levels of the country will be
tapped and utilised for the larger development of its natural
resources.
Of the total area of British Bechuanaland (exclusive of the
15,000 square miles of newly-annexed territories on its western
border) about 27,500 square miles have been allotted by grant or
sale, and over 12,200 square miles are available for disposal. Of
the lands allotted, 12,003 square miles, chiefly in the divisions of
Kuruman, Vryburg, and Mafeking, are held by the Cape Govern-
ment and the South Africa Chartered Company as a subsidy for
the construction of the railway from the border to Mafeking.
About 992 square miles, situate in the Mafeking division, have
been purchased by the Bechuanaland Estate Syndicate, and 1,014
square miles in the Vryburg division, by the Southern Land
Company. Of the lands sold, the maximum sum paid per acre was
4s. Id., and the minimum Is. It is difficult to state the present
average price of farms, their value depending altogether upon their
soil, pastures, and water capabilities. They vary from £200 to
£2,000. Within the last two years there has been a considerable
settlement of farmers, who have flocked in from Cape Colony, the
Orange Free State, and the South African Kepublic.
The area of the Bechuana Protectorate is about 386,200 square


428
BRITISH BECHUANALAND
miles. The jurisdiction of the British Commissioner and his
assistants extends from the border of the Crown Colony over the
country between the Shashi and Macloutsie Rivers, including the
district of the Tati and its gold-fields, and northwards of the 22nd
parallel of south latitude over the territories belonging to the
chief Khama, and those lying north and west of Lobengula's
territory. The principal tribes living in the Protectorate are the
Bamangwato, under Khaina; the Bakhatla, under Lenchwe; the
Bakwena, under £ebele; the Bangwaketse, under Bathoen; and
the Bamalete, under Ikaneng; all of whom are independent of
each other. The most important is that of the Bamangwato, under
the chief Khama, whose principal town is Palachwe, with a popu-
lation of 25,000 inhabitants, spread over a wide expanse of ground
in the well-watered and fertile region below the Choping Hills.
One of the remarkable achievements of Khama was the removal
of his capital from Shoshong to this place. In two months the
entire urban population migrated from the one locality to the
other, where every family was well and comfortably housed, streets
laid out, and gardens ready for cultivation. It is worthy of note
that this chief does not allow of the introduction of a drop of
intoxicating liquor throughout his " sphere of influence."
The western portion of Bechuanaland embraces the so-called
Kalahari desert, and the territory on its southern edge known as
Gordonia and Vilander's country. Within the district of Gor-
donia, of which the village of Upington, on the north bank of the
Orange River is the commercial centre, there are tracts of good
grazing lands, although some parts are worthless, owing to lack of
water. North of this, and to the west of the supposed course of
the Hygaab or Molopo River, is Vilander's country, of which
Naas, or Mier, with the Rhenish mission station of Reitfontein, is
the centre. Most of the farms here have a fair proportion of hard
ground, consisting chiefly of limestone, covered with the small
Karroo bushes, on which cattle, sheep,>nd goats thrive well. The
best and finest of them are between Narongas and Mier. These
are first-class cattle and sheep-runs ; but it is doubtful if they will
ever be much more, the rainfall being too uncertain, and the
water supply too small for agricultural purposes. Since 1866 the
country has been inhabited mostly by a community of Bastards,
who crossed over from the Colony, and established themselves
there, adopting certain regulations for their own government,
which answered the purpose intended very well. Many colonists
of European descent have recently settled down amongst them.
The farms are generally 30,000 acres in extent, and some are as
much as 60,000 to 70,000 acres.
One of the features of the country is the numbe r of "pans," or


AND THE BECHUANA PROTECTORATE.
429
shallow lakes, which occur everywhere, the largest being the
Hakscheen or Eirdop Pan (named on some maps Hog's-skin
Vley). An extraordinary strong fall of rain is required to raise the
water in the pan for a few inches, and, as a rule, the large
surface exposed to sun and wind causes it to evaporate in a few
days. In some of the smaller ones the water is sufficiently fresh
to be used for drinking purposes; but the greater number are
full of saline matter, and some are poisonous both for man and
beast.
Seven miles north of Mier or Eeitfontein the hard ground
ceases, and the high sand dunes of the desert extend for fully one
hundred miles. They are from 100 to 300 feet high, and at
distances of from 200 to 300 yards apart. There is an absence of
any gullies or ditches, showing that water seldom or never runs
there, the sand being so porous as to absorb every drop as it
touches the ground. These dunes are thickly covered with grass,
and occasionally a shady tree invites the traveller to rest. The
region northwards gradually loses its undulating appearance, and
becomes a level, sandy plain, covered with clamps of camel-thorn
and other trees. It is destitute of water, but after good seasons
the tsoma, or wild melon, abounds, and serves the purpose of food
and drink. Hunting parties are then organised, and for months
the natives live on these melons and the game they kill.
Formerly game was plentiful; but it is gradually getting exter-
minated, and hunting is no longer the remunerative occupation it
once was. It is, moreover, dangerous, for in dry seasons, or in
localities where the tsoma does not grow, persons engaged in such
expeditions are liable to endure fearful sutfering and privation.
In the adjoining German Protectorate, the difiiculties of
transport over the sandy wastes and stony tracts of Great
Namaqualand have been overcome by the use of dromedaries.
They are stated to be equally efficient in the driest, as well as the
moistest climate ; they are unaffected by the diseases of cattle and
horse-sickness; and in resistance of hunger and thirst they even
excel the Damara ox—in one instance going for six days without
water, and, on arrival at their destination on the seventh day,
showing no particular greed for it. Their speed with a load of
250 lbs. is about that of an ox-wagon, and this they continuously
maintain, for traversing and exploring the Kalahari they are
likely to prove most serviceable.


MASHONALAND, ETC.
431
rifles and ammunition, and the placing of a steamboat with guns
suitable for defensive purposes on the Zambesi River. This con-
cession, with regard to metals and minerals, was subsequently
added to by the acquirement of rights as to the disposal of vacant
lands, with due regard to native rights.
In 1889, the Hon. Mr. Cecil Rhodes and other founders of the
British South Africa Company, who held the concession granted
by Lobengula, applied to Her Majesty's Government for the
incorporation of the Company under Royal Charter, for work-
ing the mineral and other concessions, extending railways and
telegraphs in the direction of the Zambesi, encouraging emigra-
tion and colonisation, and promoting trade and commerce. The
Imperial Government received the proposal with favour, as the
new Company would to some considerable extent relieve them
from the diplomatic difficulties and heavy expenditure incidental
to the creation of administrative operations in the country, while
at the same time, it would be under the control of the Secretary
of State. The charter was accordingly granted, giving the Com-
pany powers of government in the country lying to the north of
British Bechuanaland, to the west and north of the South African
Republic, and to the west of the Portuguese dominions, and it
provided for a deed of settlement approved by the Lords of the
Privy Council, defining the objects of the Company and era-
bodying regulations for the conduct of its affairs.
!No time was lost in occupying and opening up the country.
Lobengula had advised that the eastern portion of his dominions,
known as Mashonaland, which had been explored for gold by
Mauch, Barnes, and other travellers, should be first developed.
It was determined this should be done, and a route was planned
through a roadless country from Bechuanaland across the Shashie,
Nuanetzi, and Lundi Rivers, to the eastern plateau, thus avoiding
contact with the kraals of the Matabele, and the possibility of
exciting their hostility. A contract was entered into with Major
Frank Johnson, with whom were associated Mr. F. C. Selous,
Mr. Heaney and Mr. Borrow, to organise a pioneer expedition of
about 200 Europeans and 150 native labourers to reach the objec-
tive point, a high eminence on the plateau, which Mr. Selous had
named Mount Hampden. This force, composed of English, and
Afrikander volunteers, was accompanied by several prospecting
parties and 500 mounted police, equipped with arms, mountain
guns, electric light, and other appliances of modern civilisation,
the whole being commanded by Col. Pennefather, of the Innis-
killing Dragoons. After a march of 1,000 miles, fording rivers
and cutting their path through bush and forest, on the 12th
September, 1890, they reached their destination, where now is the


432
MASHONALAND AND THE
town of Salisbury, without a single shot being fired or the loss of a
single life. On examination of the country, it was found that the
greater portion of it was well adapted for colonisation. A large
section of it lay at an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea-
level. It was well watered and well timbered, and in the summer
months the rainfall was plentiful. For two-thirds of the year,
the atmosphere was dry and invigorating, and though within the
tropics, the temperature was found to be a temperate one, ranging
from 3t5 to 86 degrees. The native inhabitants, chiefly belonging
to the tribes named the Makalakas and Bunyai, but generally
known as Mashonas, proved a peaceful, tractable people. Most
of them occupied the fastnesses of the hills and mountains, in
constant apprehension of raids from the Matabele, which the
occupation of the country has now put a stop to.
The machinery for the administration of this new possession
was soon organised, and Mr. A. R. Colquhoun assumed the office
of administrator on behalf of the Company. In terms of their
contract the pioneers were disbanded, and they dispersed in every
direction to seek for gold. The summer rains set in after
January and February, 1891, and were exceptionally severe and
protracted. The prospectors at work in the low valleys and
woodlands (the least healthy part of the country in summer)
contracted malarial fever. The hut accommodation they had
was of a poor and temporary description, and suitable food,
clothing, and medical comforts were not too plentiful. The
expeditionary force had taken with it but limited supplier,
trusting to more being pushed forward later on; but theneavy
rains and unfordable rivers caused an interruption of communi-
cations. Much privation and hardship were endured, and many
deaths from sickness occurred. As soon as possible after the
cessation of the rains communications were opened up, and large
quantities of supplies sent into the country; and in the ensuing
summer season the medical officer reported "good food, good
clothing, shelter from inclement weather and the sun, an abundant
supply of medicines and invalid necessaries, and a milder season
have wrought an enormous improvement in the general health of
the people, and Mashonaland of 1892 is not recognisable as the
Mashonaiand of 1891."
In the winter of 1891 Mr. Colquhoun, who had suffered from the
climate in 1890, resigned his position, and was succeeded by Dr.
L. S. Jameson, who has since continued successfully to discharge
the duties of administrator and chief magistrate of the territory.
His headquarters are at Salisbury, which also has been selected
as the future capital. It has a population of about 500 persons.
Public buildings have already been completed and occupied,


BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY'S TERRITORIES. 433
including the administrator's offices, court house, survey, mines,
post, and telegraph offices, and the Standard Bank. Hotels and
stores have also been erected; a newspaper, the Rhodesia Herald,
is published weekly; and by the telegraph wire communication
is open to all parts of the world. Townships have also been laid
out at Umtali and Victoria. The first sale of stands at these
three towns took place in July, 1892, when 264 were disposed of,
realising close upon £10,000, the highest price paid being £285
at Victoria. Good buildings are in course of construction at
these townships, evidencing the confidence of the people in the
future of Mashonaland. For administrative purposes the territory
is divided into districts, presided over by magistrates, viz., the
Tuli district, Victoria district, Umtali district, and Salisbury
and Hartley district. Mining commissioners and medical officers
are stationed in the mining districts, and justices of the peace
and field cornets in the sub-districts. Missionaries of various
denominations, including representatives of the Church of
England, Roman Catholic Church, the Wesleyans, Dutch Re-
formed Church, and the Salvation Army, have established them-
selves at Salisbury and other places.
From the first the energies of the white inhabitants have been
directed to the search for gold and other precious metals. Alluvial
•was found in several places, but not in remarkably payable
quantities. Attention was largely given by the prospectors to
the old reef workings found throughout the country, the origin of
which is attributed to the ancient gold-seekers of the Monomotapa
kingdom, existing centuries ago; but, in addition, new reefs,
hitherto unworked, on entirely fresh ground, were found and
located. The extent of gold-bearing formation so far discovered,
and upon which active development is now taking place, is
estimated as follows:—
Victoria District, covering an area of 70 miles long by 20 broad.
Manica District „ „ 50 „ „ 14 „
•Hartley Hill District „ 40 „ „ 30 „
Mazoe District „ „ 40 „ „ 30 „
Lo Moghunda's District „ 30 „ „ 25 „
And recently discoveries have been made within fifteen miles of
the township of Salisbury. This shows that Mashonaland is a
* Hartley Hill is named after an English elephant-hunter, Mr. Hartley, who, in
1867, while hunting in the district, discovered gold in a singular manner. Having
shot an elephant, he was proceeding to take out its tusks, when he found that the
huge beast in falling had ploughed up the surface of a quartz reef with its ivory,
and gold was glittering in the fragments of the rock strewn around.


434
MASHONALAND AND THE
country with reefs in all directions, bearing gold of more or less
richness. Silver, tin, copper, iron, and other minerals have been
met with.
The total number of gold-bearing claims registered in 1892 was
over 15,000. This indicates that an extent of ground equivalent
to a continuous stretch of 400 miles has been discovered, and that
the reefs are considered sufficiently promising to warrant registra-
tion of claims. On 2,000 of these claims, representing a length of
about sixty miles, the shafts required by the Mining Regulations
have been sunk—another proof of the confidence of prospectors in
the value of their properties. Eeefs have been tested at depths of
between 200 feet and 300 feet below the surface, proving their
permanence, and, as a rule, the reefs at the lower depths maintain
the yield obtained on the surface, and in some cases give even
higher results. In other cases, where it was at one time feared
that the " ancient workings" had exhausted the gold, it is proved
that the richness of the reefs continues far below the depths which
had been attained by the previous workings. Some small
batteries have been erected on a few of the properties, and the
gold won by them up to the end of October, 1892, amounted to
1,905 ounces. Most of the crushings which took place ranged
from 13 dwts. up to three or four ounces, and one or two were as .
high as ten and seventeen ounces.
For the rapid development of the gold industry, means of
transport for mining machinery by the east coast route has been
found necessary, and to accelerate this a section of the Beira rail-
way (two feet gaupe) over a distance of seventy-five miles, from
Nevis Fereira to Chimoya's, has been constructed, and is now
completed. This will suffice for the present to carry the traffic
through the tract of "fly-country" to a point where a good
transport road has lately been finished to Salisbury. Not only
will it accelerate communication, but it will reduce the cost of
transport of machinery and supplies to a figure corresponding to
that at which the mining centre of Witwatersrand is served.
A complete telegraph system has been established between the
Cape Colony and the principal stations up to Salisbury; and it is
now being extended by the Trans-Continental Tele graph Company
from Salisbury as far as Zomba, Nyassaland, whence it will be
carried on to Uganda, and ultimately form a connection between
Cape Town and Cairo.
Although the search for gold has occupied the chief attention,
the pastoral and agricultural prospects have been carefully
examined, and favourable reports submitted of them. A Commis-
sion of South African farmers, who visited the country in order
to judge of its capabilities, expressed a good opinion of it. A


436
MASHONALAND AND THE
Angola over about 225,000 square miles. He also sent a mission
under the leadership of the African traveller, Mr. Joseph
Thomson, to the chiefs north of the Zambesi, between the Barotse
and the settlers in Nyassaland; and another, under Dr. Jameson,
to the Gaza chief Gunghuyana. As the results of these missions,
friendly relations were established with the different tribes, and
several valuable concessions, securing trading and mineral rights,
as well as considerable tracts of land, have been obtained.
The total extent of territory within the sphere of the British
South Africa Company, south and north of the Zambesi, is
estimated at about 750,000 square miles, an area exceeding that
of France, Germany, Austria, and Italy combined. It has the
right to all minerals over nearly the whole of this extent, and it
has obtained surface rights as well over the most valuable parts.
Its policy has been to secure as fields for future enterprise the high
table-lands extending not only through Matabeleland and Mashona-
land, but northwards beyond the Zambesi up to the confines of the
Congo Free State. These plateau lands, at an elevation of nearly
4,000 feet, are reported to be suited for habitation by Europeans,
and in regard to elevation, climate, soil, and water well adapted for
pastoral and agricultural purposes. The geology of the regions
north of the Zambesi is described as closely identical with that of
Mashonaland—giving striking indications of mineral wealth.
A matter of world-wide archseologic interest was opened to
research by the occupation of Mashonaland. Throughout a con-
siderable tract of country, westward of the Sabi River, extensive
ruins of well-built stone erections were found, the largest and most
perfect being those of Zimbabwe,* in S. lat. 20° 16' 30", and E.
long. 31° 10' 10", about twelve miles from Fort Victoria. They
consist of a combined fortress and temple on a granite hill, and
other buildings of elliptic shape on the adjacent plains, with walls
from sixteen to thirty-five feet high, enclosing large and small
stone towers, and a mass of crumbled ruins spread out in their
vicinity. The earliest record of the existence of these remains
dates back to the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Arabs,
whom the Portuguese discoverers found at Sofala in 1505,
reported that there were in the interior remarkable buildings,
and a high tower, constructed of masonry without mortar, but by
whom they had been erected was unknown to the natives or
themselves. The Portuguese occupation of the country being
confined to the coast and the lands along the course of the
* The natives now living at the ruins pronounce it Zimbabge (the " g " having a
deep guttural sound), and in the Tshikaranga language, spoken by them, the word
means the " houses of stone."


BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY'S TERRITORIES. 437
Zambesi River, no attempt was made to verify the truth of the
Arab report, and the ruins remained unvisited and unnoticed for
over three centuries. Mr. Carl Mauch, the German explorer, was
the first white man to discover them, while on his journey of
exploration, in 1871, between the Limpopo and Zambesi Rivers.
No European followed upon his footsteps until 1889, when two
young colonists, W. and H. Poselt, reached them, and in the
following year the Rev. Mr. Helm, of the Dutch Reformed
Church, commenced a mission work among the natives, under the
chief Mokabi, living on the rocky eminences where the ruins are.
Several of the members of the Chartered Company's pioneers
then explored them, and in 1891, under the auspices of the
Company, as well as of the Royal Geographical, and the British
Society for the Advancement of Science, Mr. Theodore Bent,
accompanied by Mrs. Bent and Mr. R. Swan, visited them for the
purposes of scientific investigation, the results of which have been
published in Mr. Bent's volume on 'The Ruins of Mashonaland.'
These show that the Zimbabwe ruins have an antiquity of
origin far beyond the possible operation of any native civilisation,
or of European enterprise in Africa. The circular building was
found to be a unique specimen of an ancient phallic temple, and
the round stone towers and numerous finds of emblems of similar
symbolic character clearly indicate its religious purport. The
hill fortress, approached, by a narrow, steep ascent, was adorned
with monoliths, small round towers, and pedestals of steatitic
rock, some of the latter decorated with carved figures of birds, of
the raven, hawk, or vulture form, sacred to the gods they
symbolised. Here were found fragments of steatite bowls, with
different animals, the human figure, and other ornamentations
carved upon them, and a quern-shaped stone, studded on one side
with knobs common in phallic decorations. Besides these there
were several pieces of pottery, native implements, bits of Persian
and Celadon ware and glass, an ingot mould, and small crucibles,
which had been used for the smelting of gold by the gold-workers
of ancient times. Measurements taken by Mr. Swan further dis-
closed that the builders of the temple constructed it on a carefully-
designed geometric plan, and that it was oriented for the observa-
tion of the stars of the northern hemisphere. The encircling wall
when first looked at seemed to be built on an irregular ellipse,Tout it
was found to be formed of a series of curves with radii of different
lengths; and it was discovered that the proportion of the towers
—which are the principal religious symbols—embodied the pro-
portions of the whole structure. The common cubit (representing
the length of the fore-arm) was found to be the unit of measure,
and the circumference of the little tower was exactly equal to the


438
MASHONALAND AND THE
cubit diameter of the great one. This diameter, multiplied by
the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, or by its
square or cube, gave either the radius or the diameter, or halves
thereof, of the curves of every wall of these ancient buildings.
Similar curves with radii also determined the contour of both the
towers, and enabled them to be restored, when their heights
measured 13£ and 42^ feet respectively. Further examination
and excavation of the ruins were carried on in 1892 by Sir John
AVilloughby, resulting in discoveries which point to the occupation
of Zimbabwe by successive peoples following after its original
builders. The interesting relics recovered from the ruins both
by the Messrs. Poselt and Mr. Bent have been presented by the
Hon. Mr. Cecil Rhodes to the South African Museum, where they
form an interesting and valuable collection.
All the knowledge gathered up to date respecting the builders
of Zimbabwe point to their being of Sabaean or Phoenician origin
in the unchronicled centuries long before the Christian era. The
Sabaeans, inhabiting South Arabia, were the earliest maritime
people who carried on the interchange of the commodities of East
and West. Their kinsmen, the Phoenicians, joined with them in
their operations, and Sheba of Yemen was the emporium of their
trade. Biblical testimony, in the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and Ezekiel, shows the wide range of their commerce at the period
of the reign of King Solomon (1000 B.C.); and Assyrian inscrip-
tions record that it extended as far north as Nineveh, while
southward it spread to Egypt, Abyssinia, and the east coast
of Africa.
Among those Semitic races there was a community of religious
ceremonies and ideas, which took the form of a gross pantheistical
deification of the forces of nature; and Solomon, the wisest of
men, it is mentioned, was so far beguiled by his wives in his old
age as to worship at their altars. The archaic monuments left by
them in parts of Arabia have the same style of construction as
Zimbabwe, their chief temples being of elliptic form, fortress and
temple being often combined, while associated with them are
stone towers and objects of rude art symbolic of the primitive
cult. And it is noticeable that, as in the case of the Zimbabwe
ruins, the native inhabitants living around these erections in the
present day can tell nothing of their origin or history beyond that
they were built by the " ancient people."
The wealth of gold among the Sabaeans was shown by the
incident of the overland journey of their Queen to King Solomon's
court, when she took with her, besides spices and precious stones,
no less than 120 talents of gold, nearly equal to one-third of the
whole quantity (420 talents) brought home by the Tyro-Israelitish


440
MASHONALAND, ETC.
By the Anglo-Portuguese Convention of June, 1891, the navi-
gation of the Zambesi, its branches and its outlets, hare been
declared open for the ships of all nations; and there is absolute
freedom of communication between Pungwe Bay and the British
sphere of influence in Mashonaland.
Mr. H. H. Johnston, C.B., is the Imperial Commissioner for
Nyassaland, and has taken up his residence at Zomba, a central
place on the Shire highlands, where he is supported by an Indian
police force; he is also permitted by the Government to act as
administrator of the British South Africa Company's operations
north of the Zambesi, the Company contributing £10,000 a year
towards the expenses of the administration. British gunboats
have now been placed on the Shire River and Lake Nyassa, and
much is being done by the Imperial Commissioner and those
associated with him, towards the suppression of the slave and
guns and powder trade, and the peaceful government of the
natives in that region. The African Lakes Company, and the
missionaries at Blantvre, Bandawa, Ngenenge, and Likoma are
assisting in the development of the country, and on the Shire
Highlands, where some Europeans have settled, coffee plantations
have been remarkably successful.








( 441 )
CHAPTER XXV.
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
This State, which forms one of the two independent republics of
South Africa, is bounded on the south by the Orange River,
dividing it from the Cape Colony; on the north by the Vaal
River, separating it from the South African Republic; on the
east by Basutoland and the Drakensbergen, dividing it from the
Colony of Natal, and on the west by that portion of the Cape
Colony known as Griqualand West, or the Diamond Fields.
At the commencement of the century, this part of South Africa
was inhabited chiefly by Bushmen, Korannas and Bechuanas.
With the former of these aboriginal tribes the right of occupation
was only co-extensive with the power of the occupiers to retain
it. Land abandoned by one tribe or people was taken possession
of by another, and the latter occupied it until they moved off
elsewhere, or were dispossessed by a more powerful neighbour.
A horde of mixed or half-bred Hottentots, named Griquas, who
wandered forth from the north-west portion of the Cape Colony
in search of new pastures, found lands unoccupied north of the
Orange River and settled there. They nominally acknowledged
as their chiefs or captains, certain Bastard hunters, named
Barends and Adam and Cornelius Kok, and subsequently another
named Waterboer. Missionaries who had originally found the
people a set of naked, painted, thievish savages, remained with
them, and gradually induced many of them to abandon their
savage raiding life and adopt habits of industry. They settled
down in villages and began to make some advance in civilization:
trading with the colonists, and exchanging their native produce
for clothing, household necessaries, gunpowder, firearms and
brandy. Some of them, however, reverted to their old plundering
violent life, and joined by Korannas and other natives, formed
lawless marauding bands, who were designated the Bergenaars.
Armed with guns, the neighbouring Bushmen and Bechuanas
alike became their victims. Against the Bushmen, they carried
on a war of extermination, and the Bechuanas were incessantly
plundered of their stock, many of them murdered, and others
reduced to want and misery. Pripgle's pathetic poem of the


442
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
"Bechuana boy " gives a recital of the heartrending sufferings
inflicted by them.
"I sat at noontide in my tent,
And looked across the desert dun,
Beneath the cloudless firmament
Far gleaming in tho sun,
When from the bosom of the waste
A swarthy stripling came in haste,
With foot unshod and naked limb,
And a tame springbok following him.
"With open aspect, frank yet bland,
And with a modest mien he stood
Caressing with a gentle hand
That l>east of gentle brood;
Then meekly gazing in my face,
Said, in tho language of his race,
With smiling look yet pensive tone,
'Stranger—I'm in the world alone!'
"' Poor boy!' I said, 'thy native home
Lies far beyond the Stormberg blue:
Why hast thou left it, boy, to roam
This desolate Karoo?'
His face grew sadder while I spoke;
Tho smile forsook it; and he broke
Short silence with a sob-like sigh,
And told his hapless history.
"' I have no home!' replied the boy:
'The Bergenaars—by night they came,
And raised their wolvish howl of joy,
While o'er our huts the flamo
Resistless rushed; and, aye, their yell
Pealed louder as our warriors fell
In helpless heaps beneath their shot:
Ono living man they left us not.'"
About 1820, many farmers from the Cape Colony, seeking
better pastures for their flocks to the north of the Orange liiver,
appeared in the country for a few months each year. Their
numbers increased annually; but it was not until 1828 that any
permanently remained. They found the central portion of the
territory uninhabited and settled there, coming gradually into
contact with the Basutos on tho east and Griquas on the west,
and had no difficulty afterwards in purchasing tracts of land at
nominal prices. These pioneers were followed in 1835-6 by
large bodies of the Boer emigrants, who loft the Colony in order
to put themselves beyond British control. Some of them settled
in the country, and organised a crude form of government under
the name of the " Maatschappy" (or company), and established
their headquarters at Winburg.


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
443
It was not long before they came into collision with the Griquas,
who appealed to and claimed protection from the Government of
the Colony, with whom they were allied by treaty. The British
Governor, Sir P. Maitland, intervened in 1845, assisting the
Griquas with troops, who dispersed the Boers at Zwart Koppies;
and to prevent further disturbances, a British Kesident was
appointed to adjudicate in all causes of dispute between the
native communities and the Europeans, who then numbered
about 2,000. In 1848, Governor Sir H. Smith visited the terri-
tory, and came to the conclusion that peace could not be main-
tained among the mixed elements forming the population without
the establishment of a regular government. He therefore issued
a proclamation, afterwards confirmed by the Crown, annexing the
territory to the Empire under the name of the Orange River
British Sovereignty. He intimated that he was moved to take
the step by a desire to establish an amicable relationship with
the native chiefs, to uphold them in their hereditary rights and
protect them from aggression, and simultaneously to provide for
the peace and good government of those emigrant subjects who
had located themselves amongst them.
Seats of magistracy were established at Bloemfontein, and
other places, and steps were taken for organising a permanent
government in the country. This created an agitation amongst
a number of the emigrants who were averse to British rule.
They assembled in arms, chose as their leader Mr. Andries
Fretorius, who had then left Natal to cross the Vaal River,
and made a demonstration to compel the British officials to
withdraw. They appeared before Bloemfontein and demanded
that the Resident with the troops and inhabitants there should
evacuate the place. The civil functionaries at Winburg and
Caledon River were required to do the same. In the presence
of overpowering numbers they deemed it prudent to comply,
and were accompanied by those of the inhabitants who refused
to take part in the rebellion. The Governor, Sir H. Smith, on
receiving the news immediately collected a strong military force,
with which he crossed the Orange River, in August, 1848, and
met the Boer Commando at a spot near Boomplaats. Here the
Commando were defeated and dispersed, and British authority
was re-established and afterwards maintained in the country
until towards the close of 1853. The Imperial Government,
however, at this period realised that it was hopeless to per-
manently settle the incessant broils in the territory without a
large armed force and a considerable expenditure of money, and
determined to get rid of what appeared to be a troublesome and
costly possession. Sir George Clerk was sent out as a Special


44-1
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
Commissioner with instructions to carry out the abandonment of
the country north of the Orange River; and notwithstanding the
protests of the inhabitants, many of whom had taken up their
abode there under the assurance of the maintenance of British
Sovereignty, he made over the government to a body of delegates
representing the various rural districts. This was effected by a
convention signed at Bloemfontein, on the 23rd February, 1854,
by which the Orange River Territory became a free and indepen-
dent state.
The principal clauses of this agreement, known as the "Con-
vention of Bloemfontein," stipulated that the inhabitants were
thenceforth absolved from their allegiance to the English Crown;
that the British Government would have no further alliances with
native chiefs living to the north of the Orange River (excepting
with the Griqua chief, Adam Kok); and that the new govern-
ment would guarantee the rights of property and the legal and
personal liberties of all British subjects then resident in the
country. It also provided for the mutual extradition of criminals,
the establishment of courts of law; that slavery (as heretofore)
should not be permitted; and that the government of the terri-
tory should have at all times the right of purchasing ammunition
in any Colony in South Africa.
On the 10th of April, 1854, a Constitution was adopted by the
Volksraad of the new State. It was based upon that of the
United States of North America in so far as that instrument was
applicable to the condition and circumstances of the people. The
principal provisions were: that any white man who had lived in
the country six months previous to the 10th of April, 1854, should
be deemed a citizen, with the right of voting for a State President
or a member of the "Volksraad." This Volksraad, or Legis-
lature, consisting of one House or Chamber, vested with the highest
legislative powers, was to be made up of one member for each
ward, and one member for each district town, to be elected by
the burghers entitled to vote. A President elected for five years
by all enfranchised burghers was to be the responsible head
of the executive, and he was to be assisted and advised in
the fulfilment of his duties by an Executive Council, consisting
of the Landdrost (or magistrate) of Bloemfontein (the capital),
the Government Secretary, and two unofficial members, to be
elected by the Volksraad. The Roman-Dutch law was to be
the common-law, and, in the absence of special legislation, the
courts of law were to decide all cases according to its prescripts.
The law was to be equally administered without respect of per-
sons, and the rights of property, personal freedom, and the liberty
of the Press were guaranteed by the Constitution. This funds-


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
445
mental law could only be amended or repealed by the consent
of three-fourths of the Legislature in two consecutive annual
sessions of that body.
On the 9th of March, 1866, and on the 8th of May, 1879, the
Constitution of 1854 was revised, and re-enacted; but the main
features of the original Constitution as above described have
remained unaltered.
From the year 1854 up to the present time—a period of thirty-
nine years—the Orange Free State has maintained its republican
form of government, and has during that time had five Presidents,
viz., Josias Philippus Hoffman, from the 15th September, 1854, to
the 10th of February, 1855; Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff, from the
27th August, 1855, to the 6th September, 1859; Marthinus
Weasel Pretorius, from the 19th February, 1860, to the 17th
February, 1863; Johannes Hendrikus Brand, who was re-elected
five times consecutively, from the 2nd February, 1864, to the 14th
July, 1888; and Francis William Keitz,
who took the oaths on the 10th January,
1889.
For some time after its creation into a
separate State, the Government of the
Republic was engaged in meeting the
difficulties arising out of territorial
troubles. They had been left to settle
between themselves and their native
neighbours all the matters of dispute
which had originated during the period
of British sovereignty, and which should
have been adjusted before it was with-
drawn. The position of the Griquas was
one of these. According to the Bloem-
fontein Convention, the treaty between
Adam Kok and the British Government was still in force, and the
Griqua chief claimed independence within his territory. The
Orange River Government, on the other hand, contended that the
sovereignty was ceded to them. Many of the Griquas disposed of
their lands to Europeans, and this gave rise to complications, for
the lands thus sold came under the control of the State. As a
solution of the troubles which threatened to disturb the peace, it
was suggested that those Griquas who still held farms should sell
them, and move to some other parts. Sir George Grey, the High
Commissioner of South Africa, who was appealed to by the
Griquas, favoured the proposal, and promised a suitable tract of
country for them on the eastern side of the Drakensberg. To
this territory, then known as Nomansland, but now termed


446
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
Griqualand East, Adam Kok and the Griquas ultimately moTed
in 1860.
The State, however, had a more formidable difficulty to
encounter in settling the boundary line with the Basutos. Under
the proclamation of Sir H. Smith, the chief Moshesh had agreed to
a boundary laid down by the British Resident, Major Warden, in
1849, in accordance with the plan of "leaving the white man
where he was found, and the black man where he was found ; " but
when the sovereignty was abandoned, the Basutos considered that
things had reverted to their original state, as before Sir H. Smith's
proclamation. Bands of tliem scoured the country hunting game,
declaring they were the rightful owners of the soil, and utterly
disregarding the "Vagrancy Law" of the State, which required
natives to be provided with "passes" or certificates from a magis-
trate, missionary, or justice of the peace. This led to collisions,
which culminated in war between the burghers of the Republic
and the Basutos. The State, soon exhausted with the strife, applied
in 1851 to Sir George Grey to mediate. Willing to promote peace,
he accepted the position,
and visited the disputed
territory. He then gave
his award in favour of
the boundary-line
claimed by the Free
State, which he person-
ally pointed out to both
parties, and which they
agreed to respect. This
condition, however, was
not fulfilled by the
Basutos, who raided the
border, and committed
depredations on the Free
State farmers.
In 1863, a new Presi-
dent was elected. Mr.
J. H. Brand, one of
the leading barristers
of the Supreme Court of
the Cape Colony, and
l*Bmt^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BJ eldest son of Sir C. J.
president brans. Brand, Speaker of the
House of Assembly, was
appealed to by the burghers of the State to come and help them
ia their difficulties; and, at considerable sacrifice, in a patriotic


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
447
spirit he complied with their call. His first endeavours, after
entering upon office in 1864, were directed to the settlement of
the Basuto boundary matter. He succeeded in getting the High
Commissioner, Sir Philip Wodehouse, to arbitrate and define the
boundary line; and the result of this arbitration, like that of
Sir George Grey's, was in favour of the Kepublic. Notwithstand-
ing this peaceful arrangement of the dispute, the Basutos re-com-
menced thieving and pillaging, so that in 1865 the State was
forced to take up arms, and after eleven months' warfare, Moshesh
had to sue for pence, and signed a treaty ceding a large tract of
country to the conquerors. The following year, however, the
murder of a trader and a farmer by Basutos in the annexed terri-
tory led to a renewal of hostilities, which were continued until
towards the end of 1868. The country was nearly prostrated from
this struggle. The inhabitants were both soldiers and tax-payers,
and had, moreover, to supply whatever was required for the trans-
port of the commandoes. The interests of trade and agricultural
and pastoral pursuits could not receive the necessary attention,
and the powers of production were proportionately lessened.
Martial law was proclaimed. The procedure of the civil courts
was suspended. The revenue was exhausted, and a paper
currency of £130,000 had to be forced into circulation to provide
the sinews of war. The Basutos, on the other hand, were pressed
at every point and threatened with annihilation. Just as the
Free State had thoroughly subdued them, Sir Philip Wodehouse,
as High Commissioner, proclaimed them British subjects, and
extended the Queen's Sovereignty over Basutoland, thus putting
un end to the war.
The Kepublic protested against the act of the High Commis-
sioner as a violation of the Convention of 1854, but the protest
was ineffectual; and ultimately terms of peace and a definite
boundary line along the Basuto Border were agreed to between
the President and the High Commissioner in terms of a Conven-
tion signed at Aliwal North, on 12th March, 1869.
At this period, another question of disputed boundary arose, on
the western border of the Free State. The existence of diamonds
there was suddenly discovered, and the trackless plains, which
appeared to Sir G. Clerk no little better than a "howling
wilderness," proved to be a glittering Golconda, attracting
thousands of diggers from all parts of the world. The lands
where the diamond mines were situate, had for years formed a part
of the State, and some of the farms were owned by burghers, on
certificates issued by the British Resident during the time of the
Sovereignty. The Republic sent its officers to exercise magisterial
functions within the territory over which it had jurisdiction; but


448
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
the Griqua Chief Waterboer laid claim to that portion ot the
country, and appealed for protection to the British Government;
at the same time offering cession of his land and people to the
Crown. The cession was accepted, and in 1871 the country wa*
proclaimed British territory under the title of the Province of
Griqualand West. The Free State again protested, but, as the
weaker power, it had to submit and withdraw its officers. The
President, however, continued unweariedly to press its just claims,
and ultimately he proceeded to England authorized by the
Volksraad to advocate its cause there. Through the co-operation
of Sir Donald Currie, a settlement was effected with the Secretary
of State for the Colonies, Earl Carnarvon. The British Govern-
ment agreed to pay a sum of £90,000, as compensation, and as an
additional proof of good feeling and desire for the national pros-
perity of the Free State, offered a further sum of £15,000 to
encourage the construction of railways within this State. The
respective governments then engaged "to seek, by friendly co-
operation hereafter, all that can advance the common interest of
both countries."
The progress of the Free State since that time has been Tery
marked. Up to 1870, its annual revenue did not average much
above £64,000. Five years later it increased to over £100,000,
and the paper currency issued during the Basuto war (which at
one time was not valued at more than half its nominal amount) was
redeemed at par and destroyed. In 1880 the revenue rose to
£165,000; and in 1886 to £196,493.
In 1889, the claim of the Republic to a share of the Customs
duties on goods consumed within the territory was conceded by
the Cape Colony, under the Customs Union Convention. In the
same year a railway convention was concluded with the govern-
ment of the Cape Colony, whicli bound itself to build, at its own
cost and risk, a line of railway from Nerval's Pont on the Orauge
River to Viljoensdrift, on the Vaal River, a distance of 333 miles,
over which passengers and goods were to be carried at a tariff
agreed upon, the State to have the option of taking over the line
at any time after its completion, on paying the sum fixed upon per
mile; and that during such time as the Cape Government might
continue working the line, the profits accruing therefrom should
be equally divided between the two countries at intervals of
seven years. It has been estimated that this line since its
opening, which took place in July, 1892, is bringing in a clear
profit of about £160,000 per annum, the half of which must be
carried to the credit of the State; this favourable condition of
affairs being chiefly due to the rapid development of the
Witwatersrand goldfields.


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
449
In addition to this trunk line, which connects the harbours of
the Cape Colony as well as the centre of the Free State with
Johannesburg and Pretoria, there are two other short lines of
railway within the State, the one running from the Orange Eiver,
at Bethulie, to a junction with the main line at Springfontein,
being an extension of the Cape Colonial line, which connects the
port of East London with the central line, and the other connecting
the Natal line from Durban, over Ladysmith, with the town of
Harrismitb. These two lines have been built by the governments
of the Cape Colony and of Natal upon conditions similar to that
entered into with regard to the central line, and are each twenty-
two miles in length.
The Orange Free State territory is an extensive tableland,
about 400 miles in length, from nortli to south, and about 200
miles in breadth from east to west, extending over an area of
nearly 70,000 square miles, and lying at an altitude of 4,000 to
5,000 feet above the level of the sea. ^ ■>
Its capital, Bloemfontein, is situated at a distance northward of
Table Bay of 750 miles, of Port Elizabeth 450, and of East
London 400 miles, whilst the town of Harrismith, which lies
twenty-two miles from the north-eastern boundary of the State,
is 150 miles distant from Port Natal.
The country slopes gradually from the Drakensbergen, on the
east, to the valley of the Vaal Kiver, on the north and north-west.
It is only in the eastern portion of the State that mountain ranges
occur, whilst the south, west, and north-west consist of undulating
wide-stretching plains, with here and there a detached hill or
solitary peak, but generally extending in unbroken monotony to
the horizon:—
"In airy undulations,
As if the ocean in his gentlest swell
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed
And motionless for ever."
These prairies were formerly covered with coarse grasses, over
which roamed vast herds of wild game. Now sweeter varieties
have generally supplanted the coarser grasses, and towards the
south especially they are gradually being superseded by a scrubby
bush, well suited for sheep. On the wide plains, which at one
time sustained thousands of the various varieties of the antelope
and other ruminants, there are now only to be found the wilde-
beest or gnu, the blesbok, and the springbok, for most of the
country is occupied with cattle and sheep runs.
According to the Census of 1890, which is, however, not very
accurate, the population amounts to 207,503 persons, of whom
77,710 are whites, of European descent, and 129,782 are
2 G


450
THE OBANGE FREE STATE.
blacks (Basutos and Baralongs). The number of burghers
between the ages of eighteen and sixty years, liable according to
law to be called out for service in time of war, is 17,3S1.
The revenue of the State is now £310,000 per annum, and
the expenditure about the same. This revenue is derived chiefly
from the following sources, viz.:—Quit rent on farms at the rate
of two shillings per one hundred morgen (or two hundred acres);
transfer dues on immovable or "fixed" property at the rate
of 4 per cent., and on movables at the rate of 4s. per cent, on
all goods sold by public auction; capitation or "hut" tax on

WILD GAME OX THE rRAIMES.
natives, at the rate of 10s. per head or hut. To these must be
added the sum of over £100,000 derived from import dues levied
on all goods imported over sea, this tax being collected by the
Cape Government at all Cape Colonial ports by virtue of the
Customs-Convention existing between the Colony and State, and
on the Natal border by Customs officers appointed by the
State. The Cape Colony pays over to the Free fetate all import
duos collected by it on goods imported through its harbours for
consumption in the State, after deducting 3 per cent, to recoup
itself for the cost of collection, &c.
The public expenditure is used to defray the costs connected


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
451
with the Civil, Legislative, Judicial, and Educational Depart-
ments, and for the construction of public works, such as roads,
bridges, and public buildings. These public works, together with
the sums devoted to education, have, during the last few years,
absorbed fully one-third of the total annual income of the State.
The Government of the Republic is delegated by the people to
the Legislature, the Executive and the Judicial Bench. The
Volksraad consists of fifty-eight members, representing the district
towns and wards, who receive an allowance of £2 per day during
their absence from home. They are elected for four years, but half
retire by rotation every two years, new elections occurring to fill
the vacancies. The Eaad elects at its yearly session a chairman
from among its members, and he has a casting vote. Mr. J. G.
Fraser, member for Bloemfontein, has had the honour of dis-
charging the duties for the last twelve years.
The qualification of voters for the election of members of the
Volksraad and of the President are: all burghers of full age (a)
who are born in the State; (b) who have registered in their name
unburthened fixed property to the value of at least £150; (c) who
are lessees of fixed property which has an annual rental value of
at least £36; (d) who have a fixed annual income of at least
£200; (e) who are owners of movable property to the value of at
least £300, and have resided in the State at least three years.
The President, who is the responsible head of the Executive
Government, is assisted and advised by an Executive Council;
and the bench of judges consists of a chief justice and two puisne
judges.
The whole State is divided into nineteen districts, each pre-
sided over by a "landdrost" or magistrate, whilst each district is
again sub-divided into one or more wards.
There is—since every citizen is liable to be called out as a
soldier in time of war—no standing army, excepting a cadet-corps
of fifty artillerymen, costing about £4,000 a year, and the State has
no Public Debt, excepting a small sum of some £40,000 or £50,000,
which the Government would willingly pay off, were it not that
the creditors holding these debentures are unwilling to consent to
their redemption, as they are by law entitled to retain them
unpaid for a period of twenty years, drawing, in the meanwhile,
interest at 6 per cent.
The education of the children of the State has always formed
one of the chief objects the Legislature has held in view. A per-
manent fund, amounting to £200,000, has been set aside for this
purpose. At the head of the Educational Department stands the
Superintendent of Education, who is assisted by inspectors and
sub-inspectors. During the school-year, 1890-91, there were in thr»
2 a 2


452
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
State (exclusive of private schools) seventy-one Government schools,
with 110 teachers, and seven pupil teachers. The pupils of these
schools numbered 3,000, whilst the expenditure exceeded £15,000.
The Government schools are divided into town, ward, and circuit
schools, and the teachers into first, second, and third class,
according to certificates obtained by them from the Board of
Examiners. This Board consists of nine members, appointed by
the State President, and also grants certificates of proficiency in
Law, Land Surveying, and in Science and Literature generally.
The "Grey College" and " Dames Institute" (or Ladies' Seminary"),
at Bloeinfontein, are as yet the only schools devoted to higher
education supported by the Government. The students are only
educated up to the matriculation examination of the Cape Uni-
versity; so that those youths who desire to carry their studies
further are obliged to proceed to one of the colleges near Cape
Town.
The large majority of the population are members of the Dutch
Reformed Church, which community has a congregation in almost
every little village of the State. This sect is supported by the
State to the extent of £6,000 per annum, which amount is paid
over to the Synod of the Church to dispose of as it may deem tit.
The Synod meets at Bloemfontein every second year (in the month
of May), and consists of the clergyman and one elder of each
congregation. Also the Anglicans, Wesleyans, Lutherans, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Separatist Dutch Church and Roman Catholics
have churches and schools in different towns and villages. The
Anglicans, under the Episcopate of the Bishop of Bloemfontein,
possess many churches, and have erected, especially in the Capital,
several school buildings, of which St. Andrew's College (for boys),
and St. Michael's Home (for girls), are the most important.
Most of the above-named denominations also receive small
grants in aid from the Government. At Witzieshoek the Dutch
Reformed Church has established a Mission; at Bethany and. at
Mabolela (in the district of Lailybrand) and at several other
stations the Berlin Mission Society has erected churches and
schools, whilst the Wesleyan and Anglican churches have similar
institutions in the district of Maroka and in other parts of the
country.
The Statute Law has been codified by a Commission under the
presidency of the Chief Justice (M. De Villiers) in a volume of
87G pages, and was in 1891 declared to be the law of the land by
the Volksraad. The principal enactments contained therein are
the following:—
1. For the establishment of Higher and Lower Courts of Law
and for regulating their procedure. These Courts consist of:


THE ORANGE PEEE STATE.
453
(a) The High Court with a Chief Justice, and two puisne judges,
which hears civil cases for the district of Bloemfontein as also (by
consent) for other districts, and decides civil appeals and criminal
revisions from the decisions of the Circuit Courts, (b) Circuit
Courts for the hearing of civil and criminal cases, presided over
trials, (c) The Courts of "Landdrost-and-Heemraden," con-
sisting of the magistrate of each district, assisted by two assessors
(elected biennially by the Volksraad) and having a limited juris-
diction in both criminal and civil cases, (d) The Landdrost-
Court, over which the magistrate of the district presides with a
limited jurisdiction in criminal and civil cases inferior to that of
the Court of "Landdrost-and-Heemraden;" and (e) the courts of
the Resident Justice of the Peace, who has limited jurisdiction
inferior to that of the landdrost, in towns not being district towns,
and of the Special Justices of the Peace who have power to decide
cases under the Pass Law and the Masters and Servants Law,
with the right to inflict small fines or corporal punishment to a
limited extent. The sentences of both these subordinate courts
are subject to revision by the landdrost.
2. By an enactment of 1854, the Dutch language was declared
to be the official language of the State, and is used in the
Volksraad and other official proceedings; but in Bloemfontein
and most of the district towns English is spoken by the community
generally.
3. The Commando Law regulates the calling out of the
burghers in time of war, every male inhabitant between the ages
of 16 and GO being made liable to such service, In addition to
this law, there are several regulating the holding of "wapen-
shaws," or burgher reviews, in every district once in four years,
and in every ward annually, every man between the ages of 18
and 40 being bound under a penalty to attend armed and
mounted. By another law the Government provides each burgher
with a rifle at cost price. And, by a law of 1889, a body of
mounted police has been established consisting of about 100 men,
who, under the direction of a commandant, are doing good service
in the suppression of cattle-thefts, and in maintaining the proper
execution of the Pass-laws.
4. The laws providing for the establishment of an Educational
Department and regulating all matters concerning government
schools and private schools receiving grants in aid from the public
revenue.
5. The laws bearing upon Insolvency and the Orphan Chamber;
the Registration of Deeds and of Trade Marks and Patents; and
concerning Municipalities and Marriage, have been copied from
by one judge, who is assisted b

of nine men in criminal


454
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
those of the Cape Colony and Natal, with a few unimportant altera-
tions and additions.
6. The Liquor Law of this State, which was adopted in 1883.
This has now been ten years in operation. It is peculiar as being to
a certain extent a " Maine Liquor Law," for it prohibits entirely
the sale of strong drink to blacks, and, moreover, permits the sale
of spirituous liquors in towns only, no licenses being allowed for
the sale thereof outside the limits of any town or village. These
restrictions have undoubtedly tended to diminish drunkenness
amongst the native and rural population, and although it cannot
be denied that contraband trade in liquor has thereby been
fostered, and that some inconvenience has resulted to travellers,
who complain that they are unable to procure accommodation
along the highways, yet on the whole it is certain that this law
has had a most beneficial effect upon the character and habits of
the people of the State.
The natural resources of the State are pastoral, agricultural,
and mineral. Most of the country is adapted for stock and sheep
runs, and the breeding of cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and
ostriches form the principal occupation of the people. The returns
of stock, according to the census of 1890, showed the following
numbers: horses, 248,878; mules and asses, 19,782; transport
oxen, 276,073; other oxen, 619,026; Cape sheep, 703,381;
merino sheep, 5,916,611; Angora goats, 627,617; other goats
230,538; pigs, 34,787; ostriches, 1,461. The production of wool
was 59,555 bales; and that of grain (including wheat and maize),
436,069 muids, equal to 1,308,207 bushels.
Agriculture, and notably wheat-growing, is rapidly being
extended in the south-eastern portion of the State, where the
alluvial soil is remarkably fertile. This part is known as the
"Conquered Territory," a strip of country about 100 miles long
and 30 miles broad. It comprises the districts of Ladybrand,
Wepener, Ficksburg, and part of the district of Bethlehem. The
country is formed of a series of valleys and basins, lying at the
base of the hilly spurs given off by the Maluti Mountains. It has
a good rainfall, as a rule beginning in October and occurring at
intervals up to the commencement of the year, when the heavy
rains set iu during January, February, and March. At the end
of April they generally cease, and occasional frosts are experienced
until the close of May, when winter commences in earnest.
The adjacent hills are sandstones and limestones, the debris of
which is constantly washed down into the valleys and enriches
them. The soils generally are black, red, or sandy, with under-
lying potclay and sandstone. The black soil is a rich dark loam,
extremely productive when the rainfall is plentiful, but it re-


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
455
quires ample moisture. The red soil when well worked is also
very good. On these wheat, oats, maize, barley, millet and other
cereals grow abundantly. Fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches,
apricots, plums, cherries, strawberries and grapes do very well,
and if properly cultivated would rival the fruit seen in the London
market. Trees, including the oak, pine, and fir, flourish, and all
kinds of hardy flowers attain perfection, some being specially
fine as regards size, beauty, and quality of bloom.
The average return for wheat is about 30 muids (1 muid =

HILLANDALE, NEAB BLOEMFONTEIN.
3 bushels) for each one sown; but in some places it is as higli as
eighty-fold. Although the present method of cultivation is very
rough and unscientific, corn being sown year after year on the
same ground, without any change of crop, or period of rest, the
yield has so far in no way deteriorated. No manure is ever given
to the soil, and the crops are seldom irrigated, the rainfall being
as a rule ample. Machinery is coming every year more and more
into use; all the wheat is threshed by steam-threshers, of which
there are many in the territory, lteapers and binders are also


THE OBANGE FKEE STATE.
457
amount in the mines of Jagersfontein and Koffyfontein, both
situated in the district of Fauresmith.
The output of Jagersfontein iu 1890-91 was] 96,338 carats,
worth £191,255, and in 1819-92, 112,512 carats, valued at
£222,011. During the month of January, 1893, it amounted to
15,189 carats, valued at £29,451 18s. 3d., and besides this average
monthlv yield, a stone was unearthed weighing 427 carats, and
valued "at £10,000.
Koffyfontein is as vet in its infancy. Up to the month of
February, 1893, only about 300 claims (of 30 feet by 30), of the

JAGERSFONTEIN MINE.
1473 claims forming the mine, have been worked upon a small
scale, producing, during the month of January, 1893, only 1484
carats, valued at £2,117 10s. At the beginning of February,
however, the mine inspector reported that all the claims in the
mine had just been taken up, and it is understood that this mine
will now be also fairly tested, and possibly, in time, give as good
results as Jagersfontein.
Besides Jagersfontein and Koffyfontein, there are two mines
where diamonds have been found, now in course of development.
One is the "Monastery mine," on the border of the districts of
Winburg and Ladybrand, which is interesting as bearing indica-


458
TIIE ORANGE FREE STATE.
tions of having been worked for minerals in bygone days; and the
other the" Driekopjes mine," about eight miles north of Kronstad.
Bloemfontein, the seat of government, is an agreeable inland
town occupying a central position, with roads converging to it
from all parts of the State. The total population, in 1S92,
numbered 5,817 persons, of whom 3,115 were Europeans or
whites. From the railway station at the eastern end of the
town, one of the main thoroughfares, Maitland Street, has a
very attractive appearance. It possesses several fine substantial
buildings and places of business. Among these are the Town
Hall, the Bloemfontein Club, and the New Post and Telegraph
Offices. In front of the latter is the spacious Market Square,
f

POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES.
and to its left the comfortable hostelry known as the Free State
Hotel. On the southern side of the town is the cathedral of
SS. Andrew and Michael, with the episcopal residence, Bishop's
Lodge, adjoining. The Roman Catholic Church and Convent, the
Wesleyan Church, and the Dutch Reformed Church, with its
twin spires, are also conspicuous objects. The nucleus of a
National Museum is provided for in a small building of historic
interest, it being the place where the Bloemfontein Convention
was signed by Sir (r. Clerk in 1853. There is a public library,
and daily, bi-weekly, and weekly publications of the local press.
There are two banks, one the National Bank, and the other
the Bank of Africa, both of which have branches in the
district towns. There is also the Grey College, a lunatic


THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
459
asylum, and hospital, the Presidency—a handsome residence
occupied hy President Reitz—and the Eaadzaal, or Council
Chamber of the Legislature. The latter edifice, costing £40,000,
is designed in the Grecian style, and will be completed for
the accommodation of the Volksraad this year. The dimen-
sions of the debating chamber are 100 feet by 50 feet. This
handsome structure is built of a beautiful freestone, occurring in
beds in the neighbourhood.
A monument to the memory of the brave Commandant Wepener
and other burghers who fell in the Basuto war, from 1865 to 1868,
is erected on the road leading up to the fort,overlooking the town;

DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, BLOEMFONTEIN.
and this year a bronze statue of Sir John Brand, G.C.M.G., who
was President of the State for a quarter of a century, will be
placed in front of the Government offices at the head of Mait-
iand Street. This will worthily perpetuate the memory of him
who, through all its troublous times, was truly the Father of the
State, and whose household motto, Alles zal recht horn, has been
amply justified by the advancement and prosperity of the country,
and its friendly relations with all South Africa.
Bloemfontein is a healthy town, and has long been famous as a
resort for invalids. Here, as elsewhere in the inland districts
the summer is the wet and the winter the dry season of the


460
THE ORANGE FREE STATE.
year, but owing to its geographical conditions the rainfall is
variable, and droughts are apt to occur at uncertain intervals.
The average rainfall for the last ten years was 23 inches, the
highest in 1891 being 33 inches, and the lowest in 1883 being
16 inches. Thunder and hail storms come in summer, and snow
sometimes falls during winter. In July, 1891, Bloemfontein
presented a picturesque wintry appearance; the roofs of the houses
and the trees were white with snow, which also lay fully a couple
of inches deep in the streets.
The other towns and villages in the State are Fauresmith,
Edenburg, Philipolis, Hoopstad, Jacobsdal, Boshoff, Winburg,
Kronstad, Heilbron, Harrismith, Frankfort, Ladybrand, Fieksburg,
Bethlehem, Vrede, Bethulie, Smithfield, Rouxville, Wepener,
Thabanchu, Senekal, Lindley, Biddersburg, and Reitzburg.
In the centre of the State, around the town of Thabauchu, is
the district of Maroka, which up till ten years ago was recognised
as independent Baralong territory. Its chief was the Moroko,
who with his tribe had assisted the emigrant farmers against
Moselekatse. After his death, he was succeeded by his son,
Sepinare; but in 1874 another son, Samuel, who aspired to the
chieftainship, with some of his followers, made an attack on the
town of Thabanchu, and tragically murdered Sepinare. President
Brand, in order to suppress the outbreak and prevent any trouble
with the Basutos on the adjacent border, incorporated the Bara-
long territory in the Free State; making provision that all natives
and whites who had acquired property in farms from the late
chief Sepinare and his Council, should retain them, subject to the
condition that natives resident on such farms should be permitted
to remain thereon during their lifetime. Large locations were
also set apart for those of the Baralongs who had no such squatting
rights. The remainder of the territory became the property of
the State, and the farms on it are now leased by public auction
for periods of from three to five years. Some of the Baralong
landholders, with the sanction of the Government, who have to
ratify such sales, have disposed of their farms to whites at fair
prices, and joined their fellow-tribesmen at Mafeking in British
Bechuanaland.








( 461 )
CHAPTER XXVI.
SOUTH AFEICAN KEPUBLIC.
This territory, formerly known as the Transvaal, but now
recognised by the Convention of London as the South African
Republic, was first permanently occupied by Europeans in 1838.
In that year, a party of the Dutch emigrant farmers, under the
leadership of Mr. Hendrik Potgieter, leaving their compatriots in
Natal, recrossed the Drakensberg and proceeding over the Vaal
River, established themselves where the town of Potchefstrom is
situated. They found no difficulty in possessing themselves of
the country, as the greater part of it had been depopulated during
its occupation by the Zulus, under the chief Moselekatse, who,
after their encounters witli the emigrants had fled north into the
region which afterwards received the name of Matabeleland. The
new settlers thought that in the then remote wilds beyond the
Vaal Eiver, they would be exempt from all interference or control
from without; but a proclamation, issued by Sir George Napier,
Governor of the Cape Colony, reached them, stating that they
were not released from their allegiance to the Crown, and that all
offences committed by British subjects up to the 2o° of south
latitude, were punishable in the courts of the Colony. Thereupon,
they resolved to move further northwards, forming new settlements
at Ohrigstad, Zoutpansberg, and finally at Leydenberg. They
thus became scattered in small communities without any cohesion,
except that dictated by unity of interests in protecting themselves
they found their strength increased by accessions from the Cape
Colony and Natal, and in 1844, a Volksraad, or People's Council,
assembled at Potchefstrom, and adopted a simple form of govern-
ment, according to a code of regulations which were agreed to,
termed the "Thirty-three Articles." Afterwards, in 1849, Mr.
Andriee Pretorious, the leader of the emigrants in Natal, joined
them and was at once appointed Commandant-General. He was
instrumental in bringing about a reconciliation between the
emigrants and the British Government, which resulted in the
Sand River Convention of 1852. By this Convention their
independent national status was recognised. They were allowed
the right to manage their own affairs, and govern themselves
against their native

In course of time, however,


4G2
SOOTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
according to their own laws without any interference or encroach-
ment of the British Government, north of the Vaal River.
In 1853, these leaders, Hendrik Potgieter and Andries Pretorious,
died; and for some time afterwards discord and dissension pre-
vailed among the different communities both in regard to political
and ecclesiastical matters. At length a movement was made to
unite the country under a central government; and representatives
from the central districts met at Potchefstrom at the close of
1856, and adopted a constitution termed the Grond Wet, which
vested the legislative authority in a Volksraad, composed of
members representing the several districts, and the executive
authority in a President, to be chosen by the people. The
Constitution further declared that they would admit of no equality
of persons of colour with white inhabitants, neither iu Church nor
State.
Mr. M. W. Pretorious, son of Mr. Andries Pretorious, was
chosen and installed as first President; but the communities of
Zoutpansberg and Leydenberg repudiated the doings of the
Assembly at Potchefstrom, and formed themselves into an
independent state. Eventually a reconciliation and union was
effected; but from time to time partisan spirit repeatedly dis-
played itself, frequently occasioning civil disturbances.
In addition to these internal strifes, the community were
engaged at intervals in petty wars with the surrounding native
tribes. In 1853, an expedition was sent against the Bakwena
chief Secheli, when the residence of the Rev. Dr. Livingstone
(then absent) was plundered, which circumstance led to the
missionary turning explorer, and opening up Central Africa to
the geographical and colonising enterprises, which had signalised
the latter part of this century.
In 1854 the tribe of a chief named Makapan were attacked
and almost annihilated. They had put to death a party of
Europeans with great barbarity, one of them, Hermanus Potgieter,
being pinned to the ground and flayed alive, whilst others were
subjected to shocking mutilations. The farmers assembled in
strong force against the murderers of their countrymen, but
found that Makapan and his tribe—men, women, and children—
had fled to one of the vast caverns common in that part of the
country. There they were besieged, and all the entrances to
the caves blocked up, so that the entire multitude perished of
thirst and famine.
In 1866 there was a general revolt of the natives of Zoutpans-
berg, and commandoes were repeatedly called out; but the
summons to arms was only tardily and partially responded to,
and the Commandant, Mr. Paul Kruger, failing to enforce


INTERNAL TBOUBLES.
463
authority, had to abandon the village of Schoemansdal and a
large part of the district. A formal peace was subsequently
agreed to, but the supremacy of the Government was not
established for some time afterwards.
These troubles exhausted the meagre exchequer of the
Government, and to provide for its exigencies and meet the
liabilities incurred for the purchase of ammunition a paper
currency was created and declared a legal tender. By the end
of 1870 the amount issued was over £70,000, and the notes were
depreciated to a fourth of their nominal value. At this time
boundary disputes arose respecting the south-western portion
of the Republic in connection with the assumption of British
authority over the Diamond Fields. Arbitration was proposed,
and President Pretorious acquiesced in it. But when the award
of the umpire, Governor Keate, of Natal, was declared, and found
to be against the Republic, the Volksraad, which assembled at
the close of 1871, disapproved of the President's action, and
repudiated all the proceedings connected with the arbitration
and award on the ground, amongst others, that he had no
authority to sign alone the act of submission, and that the
signature of the State Secretary was required to make it valid.
Mr. Pretorious, being virtually dethroned, at once resigned.
In the meantime, there were rumours of the discovery of gold
in the country, and this, together with other developments which
were occurring in South Africa, led many of the inhabitants to
look for a new leader outside of their own community. The
constitution was amended to allow of persons, other than burghers
of the Eepublic, being chosen for the office of President; and at
the election in 1872 the choice of the
people fell upon the Rev. T. ¥. Burgers,
a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed
Church in the Cape Colony. He ini-
tiated a progressive policy which tem-
porarily infused new life and spirit into
the country; and the discovery of gold
in the valleys of the Drakensberg, east
of Leydenberg, stimulated the bright-
ened prospect. With the approval of
the Volksraad he succeeded in negotiat-
ing a loan with a Cape bank for the
redemption of the Government paper
currency at par. He submitted measures
for the survey of all public waste lands,
for the appointment of a judge, and for
the promotion of education. He also obtained authority to raise

PRESIDENT BURGERS.


464
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
a loan of half a million sterling to construct a railway from
Delagoa Bay to the Drakensberg, and thus obtain access to a
port free from what he termed " the trammels of British influence."
He then visited Europe, where he was only partially successful
in negotiating his railway loan, and failed altogether in his
anticipations that the gold discoveries in the Republic would
attract to it a European population. On his return he found
the country drifting into war and insolvency. A chief named
Secocoeni refused to pay taxes and molested the farmers in his
neighbourhood. The Volksraad resolved to declare war against
hiro, and the President entered upon hostilities, which soon
passed beyond his strength. An attempt to storm Secocoeni's
stronghold was repulsed, and the failure resulted in the dis-
organization and dispersion of the combined burgher forces.
Mr. Burgers found that in his absence from the State the spirit
of discord and faction had again spread amongst the people. His
railway scheme was disliked by the Conservative Boers, and to
a large party of them, who had fervent and deep-rooted religious
convictions, he became obnoxious on account of what were
supposed to be his heterodox views. The majority of the
burghers refused to pay their land and other taxes. The
President and Executive, in order to carry on the Government,
borrowed money on their own personal security to the amount
of £20,000; but this was soon spent. The State exchequer was
empty, the Government was powerless to enforce its authority,
and the British Commissioner, Sir T. Shepstone, who was then
at Pretoria, thought that circumstances had arisen to justify the
annexation of the Republic, which he, in April, 1877, proclaimed
as British territory.
The events which followed—the ineffectual appeals to England
to rescind the annexation, the non-fulfilment of the promises with
regard to the assembling of the Volksraad, the war of independ-
ence and the retrocession of the State—have already been else-
where told.
For three or four years following the restoration of the
Republic, its prospects were by no means bright. The public
revenue and the credit of the State were declining, and the
Government was apprehensive of having to face difficulties
similar to those which occurred during the Burgers' regime. The
discovery of the De Kaap goldfields, followed by the opening of
the mines at Witvvatersrund, quickly changed this condition of
affairs. A stream of population set in from all parts of South
Africa, as well as from abroad. Money poured into the exchequer;
and the country was quickened into a new life and prosperity,
which it has siuce enjoyed in a continuously-increasing degree.


PHYSICAL CONDITIONS.
465
The South African Eepublic, like the Orange Free State, lies
entirely inland, and nowhere touches the sea; but in other
respects it has natural advantages superior to any portion of
colonized South Africa. Throughout its wide area, estimated at
113,642 square miles, the greater part of its surface consists of
rich, grassy pasturage, and well-watered and fertile soils; while
embedded in its rock formations is an almost illimitable supply
of mineral wealth.
The southern and eastern parts of the Eepublic are at an
elevation of 4000 to 7000 feet above sea-level; and known by
the name of the Hoogeveld or high country. On the edges of
this plateau, the land breaks off into lower hills and valleys,
which is termed the Bankenveld or terrace country. North and
north-east of this, at a lower level, and enjoying a warmer
temperature, is the Bushveld or bush country, in some spots
broken by a series of hills and covered with high grass, bushes
and trees. Under these varying physical conditions, one part
is found to specially favour the breeding of cattle and sheep,
another the cultivation of cereals, while a third admits of the
growth of tropical and sub-tropical productions. The southern
and south-eastern parts, such as Lichtenberg and Potchefstrom,
Heidelberg, Wakkerstrom, Utrecht, Ermelo, and New Scotland
are particularly suited to sheep-breeding as well as to agriculture;
the central part, as Marico, Zwart Kuggens, Rustenberg, Pretoria,
and Leydenberg, are the best for cattle and corn; whilst the most
northern portion, including Waterberg, Zoutpansberg, and a part
of Kustenberg, are especially fitted for coffee and sugar planta-
tions and tropical fruit culture. Tobacco of good quality is
largely produced, and exported to the Free State, Natal, and the
Cape Colony. Maize is generally sown in summer, when the
abundant rains render artificial irrigation unnecessary.
The plateau of the Highveld is healthy for cattle and sheep,
but during the inclemency of the winter season, when the grass
is dry and hard, it is necessary to move stock to the lower
country, either on the eastern side of the Drakensberg in Natal
and along the borders of Swaziland, or to the warm shelter and
sweet grasses of the Bushveld, north of the Magaliesbeig
Mountains. The whole country is well supplied with water and
rich in springs, and in the district of New Scotland there is a
large sheet of water, named Lake Chrissie, about five miles long
by one broad, with lesser ones in the neighbourhood, abounding
with wild-fowl and duck.
A census of the population of the Republic was taken in 1890,
but it is generally considered to have been very imperfect, and
incomplete. It gave the total white population as 119,128; and
2 H


466
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
of these the Transvaal-born numbered 59,394, or 49 • 85 per cent
of the whole; the Cape-born 29,285, or 24 • 58 per cent.; the
Free State-born 11,527, or 9*68 per cent.; and aliens of all
nations 14,334, or 12 • 03 per cent.: of the latter, 8,980 were
British, 1,943 Germans, and 1,420 Hollanders. The officials in
the Civil Service numbered 705 Afrikanders, 225 Hollanders,
28 Englishmen, and 15 Germans. The number of persona
entitled to vote was given as 12,439 or 10*44 per cent, only, and
the number of men from sixteen to sixty years of age liable to
be called out for military or commando service was given
as 37,378.
At the present time the white population is about 160,000
persons, and the coloured native population, according to the
census of the native department, numbers 649,560, of whom
over 271,000 are returned as in the district of Zoutpansberg.
The total white and coloured population of the Republic may,
therefore, be stated at 809,560 souls.
In former years every burgher born in the Republic, on attain-
ing his majority, had a right to a freehold farm out of the lands
of the State; but the law conferring this privilege has been
repealed, and the State is itself now possessed of all the waste
lands of the country. These are estimated to amount to over
9,000,000 acres, and portions of them lie in good districts.
Public companies and syndicates have during the last three or
four years acquired extensive tracts of land by purchase. The
total area held by one of these, the Consolidated Land Company,
is about 2,341,560 acres, and the extent held by other companies
and individual capitalists may be stated at another two and a
quarter million acres. Most of them have in contemplation the
division and sale of these properties as farms, with a view to their
occupation and settlement.
The value of agricultural and pastoral land in the Republic
varies according to its known capabilities, and its neighbourhood
to the railway or to payable markets. In Pretoria, the central
district, containing the seat of Government and with Johannes-
burg on its southern border, the average price of farming lands is
£1 per morgen. The same price maintains in the Heidelberg
district. At Potchefstrom (agricultural, but distant from a
market), and at Lichtenburg (sheep and goat country), the
average value is 10s. per morgen. At Rustenberg the great
fruit-growing division of the Republic, tho cultivated puts
towards the south-east are of tho same value as Pretoria land;
but the Bushveld part averages only 15s. per morgen. In the
northern districts of Waterberg and Zoutpansberg, which are in a
great measure waterless, and at present worthless for agriculture,


CAPABILITIES OF THE SOIL.
467
especially towards the Limpopo, the average value is about 2s.
per morgen, but on their southern limits it is considerably
more. Farms here, other than those on which minerals have
been found, are principally of value as adjuncts to those in the
Highveld.
The district of Wakkerstrom, on the south-eastern side, contains
the most valuable lands in the Bepublic, as they are as suitable
for cattle-grazing as for agriculture, and their average value is £2
per morgen. Standerton, on the Highveld, is a cattle district,
averaging from £1 to £1 10s. per morgen. In Ermelo, suited
for agricultural and pastoral purposes, and where sheep-farming is
greatly on the increase, the value is £1 per morgen. At Leyden-
berg, the chief grain district, possessing a fertile soil and
abundance of water easily utilised, it is also £1 per morgen. In
Utrecht and Vryheid, agricultural and cattle districts on the
extreme south-east, the average price is 10s. per morgen. There
are numerous instances, however, throughout all these districts
where much higher prices are paid for farms favourably situated
and exceptionally good.
The actual occupation of the lands of the Republic is chiefly in
the hands of the Transvaal-bom or Boer population, and a sprink-
ling of Afrikanders and others. Most of these farmers lead a
quiet pastoral life, devoted to the breeding and rearing of cattle
and sheep, and to a very small extent to the cultivation of
European crops. What may be accomplished, however, in the
way of development of agriculture has been forcibly shown by the
Times correspondent, in " Letters from South Africa," describing
the estate Irene, on the railway line within a few miles of
Pretoria. At this place scientific modem farming has been
adopted for two years, with a result demonstrating that the
capabilities of the soil are no less amazing than the mineral
resources of the country. "Sowing and reaping," says the writer,
"go on all the year side by side, and there is no fallow time for
the ground. There were pea-nuts ready for reaping, and green
oats, barley in the ear and barley in the shoot, Swedish turnips
fit for storing and Swedish turnips just shooting, mangold-wurzel
also in both stages, rye in the ear, carrots quite young and carrots
ready for storing, potatoes in both stages; and in one immense
field the sowers and the reapers had literally met. At the far
end maize was standing, reapers were busy cutting and carrying
the sheaves of corn; upon their heels sowers followed, putting
wheat into the ground; and at the near end, where, my host told
me, maize had been standing ten days before, thin green blades
of wheat were already shooting. So vigorous is the growth of
everything that forest trees planted only two years ago were
'2 h 2 •


468
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
already high enough to give shade; apples grown from seed of
March and grafted in October will bear fruit this year. With
the exception of cherries, gooseberries, and currants, all European
fruits nourish well. Throughout the estate the water-courses,
which divided the field, were bordered by hedges of quince, pear,
apple, plum, and peach. The gardens contained a profusion of
European vegetables and fruit trees. Acres of roses, violets, and
ornamental plants surrounded the house, but nothing seemed to
impress upon me more vividly the rapidity with which the place
had sprung into being than the simple fact that, after hours of
driving through vineyards, woods, and cornfields, we were met at
the door of the house by a baby child of two and a half, who was
older than everything that we had seen. The estate had been
named after her. When she was born the spot on which it stands
was nothing but bare veldt."
The great and prominent industry of the Eepublic, however, is
gold-mining. The total output of gold from all parts of the
country, in 1892, was 1,325,394 ozs. 5 dwts., which fact places
this portion of South Africa third on the list of the gold-producing
countries of the world; and as the industry is still in course of
steady progressive development the State promises within a year
or two to surpass the yield of Australasia, and even to take the
premier position, as a gold-producer, now held by the United
States.*
The history and progress of the gold discovery may be briefly
told. In the early days, when the emigrant farmers trekked
across the Vaal River, their sole idea was the acquisition of land
and the stocking of it, and no thought was given to the exploitation
of minerals. When in later years, about 1854, a discovery of
gold was reported, the Government, apprehensive of an influx of
foreigners, and of the newly acquired independence of their
country being endangered, prohibited prospecting under a heavy
penalty. In 18G7, however, the existence of auriferous formations
in the northern parts of the country was made known by the
German explorer, Mauch, and soon afterwards all restrictions on
prospectors were withdrawn and every encouragement given by
the Volksraad to those engaged in advancing the discovery of this
noble metal. In 1869, Mr. E. Button explored the country from
Leydenberg north to Lataba, finding indications of gold in every
direction, and what he regarded as permanent reefs at Eersteling
and Marabastad. In 1872, the first gold laws were published,
declaring mineral rights to belong to the State, and offering
* The Rold production of the United States in 1891, was 1,604,840 ozs.; and that
of Australasia, for 1890, was 1,591,894 ozs.


GOLD DISCOVERT.
469
rewards for payable gold-fields. The discovery of the Leyden-
berg alluvial fields, was shortly afterwards claimed by Messrs.
McLachlan, Sutherland, and Button, and digging operations
were successfully carried on at Pilgrim's Kest, MacMac, and
other camps in 1873 and succeeding years. At this period, there
was little reef-mining attempted, the alluvial being mostly worked,
and a considerable number of nuggets were found, including some
weighing 119, 123, and 215 ounces. The ground, however, was
considered "patchy," and although some of the diggers met with
a fair measure of success, the population gradually dwindled down
in 1877 to a very small community. During the period of the
Annexation, little progress was made in gold mining. Sir T.
Shepstone, the Administrator, engaged an Australian expert,
named Armfield, to make an examination of the most likely
places within the territory for the occurrence of gold, and he, for
some time actually worked near the Witwatersrand, within sight
of the "banket" conglomerate beds, but finding only comparatively
barren quartz, abandoned the locality. On the retrocession of the
country, the Kepublic, represented by the Triumvirate, inaugurated
the "concession" policy; and under this system, in consideration
of a payment made to the Government, concessions were granted
to owners or lessees of lands, giving them free and undisturbed
right to all minerals formerly claimed by the State.
In 1882, attention was directed to the neighbourhood of the
Kaap Plateau and valley, where Mr. G. P. Moodie threw open to
prospectors a large block of farms belonging to him. Gold-
bearing reefs were then found on what is known as Pioneer's Hill,
and subsequently on adjacent ground north and eastwards. This
tract was proclaimed a gold-field in November, 1884, and its area
was considerably extended in the following year. Keports of the
auriferous nature of the country being now favourable, capital
was forthcoming chiefly from Natal to work the reefs, and the
gold very soon figured among the exports. The discovery, in
1886, of the Sheba mine and its phenomenal yield, created a
lever of excitement. Its proprietors enjoyed extraordinary luck.
They were a small body of storekeepers and prospectors, numbering
fifteen men, viz.: Messrs. W. Hayes, F. C. Liddle, W. K. Brown,
H. W. Taylor, George Tilney, D. B. Scott, jun., Clement Scott,
J. Carlyle, E. Wilson, A. Gall, W. Wallace, E. A. Preston, E. Bray,
C. Dacombe, W. Griffiths. Four of these were chosen to do the
work of prospectors, and the remaining eleven undertook to
support them. Six months passed without any success, and
they were about at their wits' ends to find means to carry on
further, when one of them knocked off a piece of surface rock at a
spot a few yards off the footpath which had been trodden by them


470
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
for months before on their way to and fro from their prospecting
area to their huts. A panning of this rock (a blue compact
quartzite) gave a marvellous result; and further tests by a hand
battery confirmed its richness. The ground was carefully pegged
out and secured, in accordance with the conditions of the gold
laws. A limited liability company, named the Sheba Reef Gold
Mining Company, was formed by the fifteen members, with a
capital of £15,000 in £1 shares, and a working capital was
obtained by the crushing of 200 tons of the ore at the Central
and Rimer s Mills. The result of the crushing of the ore gave
about 8 ozs. to the ton, and further crushings of 1,225 tons in
188G, yielded 8,892 ozs. The original shares of the Company
rose to £20, then to £30, on to £50, and finally actually reached
£90 in some instances. After this a "gold-fever" extended all
over South Africa. From Kimberley and the Cape, men found
their way to De Kaap by post-cart, wagon, horseback or foot
By the beginning of 1887 it was estimated there were 10,000
persons in the district. Barberton became the centre of operations
and suddenly expanded into a town of considerable size, with
hotels, stores, residential houses, and public buildings. Innumer-
able companies were floated and wild speculation ensued; but a
collapse soon followed from the discovery that some of the
properties palmed off upon the public were little better than
bogus concerns, and that in others the work of the development
of the mines was crippled by too large an issue of vendors' shares
and too small an amount of working capital. At the same time,
the counter attractions of the Witwatersrand Fields, which were
more accessible, and where the gold could be more easily and
cheaply won, led to an exodus in that direction. Barberton and
its mining neighbourhood, experiencing the chequered fortune
incidental to gold-mining life, has now only a population of one
to two thousand persons.
The present production of the De Kaap Fields is about
70,000 ounces per annum; and the total production for the six
years from 1886 to the end of 1892 has been 287,792 ounces, of
the value of nearly £1,100,000. Out of the ninety-six companies
floated on the De Kaap claims, with a nominal capital of
£6,459,500 and a working capital of less than one million
sterling, there are not more than one-third the number now
extant, and only about twenty-one of these show any signs of
life and industry. Although as yet nothing of the nature of true
fissure veins has been met with, auriferous deposits of consider-
al>'e value undoubtedly exist throughout the rocks in the
district. The mountainous character of the country in which
they occur, involving expensive transport, and entailing difficulty


THE DE KAAP FIELDS.
471
in handling the ore, has been the drawback to working. Now,
however, with a branch railway from the Delagoa Bay line to
Barberton, with the successful application of water for the trans-
mission of electric power, with improved machinery, and
appliances for the treatment of tailings, there is no reason why
the De Kaap Fields should not largely increase its present output.
The Sheba Mine still maintains the leading position. The vein
of auriferous quartz running through the hill on which the
property is situate is of exceptional width and richness.
Operations for some time were carried on, in what was simply an
open-faced quarry on the hill-side, and a chamber 50 to 60 feet
wide, 210 feet long, and varying from i)Q to 160 feet in height,
was excavated, and the ore extracted without leaving a single
pillar, or putting in any timber. The reef itself, in some places,
has a width of 156 feet, and its peculiarity is the occurrence in
the stratified quartzite of rich zones or ore shoots, carrying many
ounces to the ton. The crushings now uniformly include rich
and poor ore together. The supply is practically unlimited; and
is only dependent upon the transport appliances from the mine
to the mill, a distance of three miles. This is now accomplished
by an Otto's aerial tramway; and lately, electrical hoisting gear
—the first of its kind applied in South Africa—has been utilised
for hauling and other purposes. In 1887, the property passed
from the hands of the original claimholders into the possession
of a new company, whose headquarters are in London. The
capital of this company was increased to £650,000, and the
original shareholders received in all for their interest 528,000
£1 shares, being on the basis value of £33 per share—the selling
price at the time. Before then the claimholders had won
13,447 ounces of smelted gold, or an average of 5 ounces of gold
to the ton of ore smeltud. Since the present company assumed
control, 110,000 ounces of smelted gold have been extracted from
the mine, making the output, to the close of 1892,123,447 ounces,
or within a fraction of 1 oz. 14 dwts. of gold per ton of ore milled.
In that division of the Kaap Fields known as Moodie's, where
the mines lie mostly among the hills, some properties turn out
two or three hundred ounces of gold regularly per month; and
their prospects are likely to be greatly improved when the
arrangements for an efficient system of electrical transmission of
power are completed.
The discovery of the auriferous "banket" or conglomerate
beds at Witwatersrand, which completely threw the Kaap Fields
into the shade, occurred in 1885. For some time previously a
search for gold had been made in the surrounding tract of country,
and among the parties working there were Messrs. Green, Bantjes,


472
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
Sonnenberg, Hammerslag, and Martiensen, who found some
traces in the quartz in reefs on the northern slope of the
range and in the valley of the Crocodile, as well as in the
alluvial at Blaauwbank Creek. In 1884 Mr. H. W. Struben
purchased properties iu the district and obtained a concession of
the mineral rights on the farm, Wilge Spruit, where he erected a
small battery and milled some rich ore from a reef which he
named the "Confidence." At this time he was joined by his
brother Mr. F. P. J. Struben, who, while prospecting the neighbour-
hood, made the acquaintance of the conglomerate beds at the

ON THE HIGH VELD BEFORE THE GOLD DISCOVERY.
western end of the Eand, and found some of them carrying gold.
They were then pointed out to several individuals and parties.aud
amongst others to a well-known experienced mining authority,
who, at a cursory glance at them, discouraged the idea of their
ever being payable or worth while giving any attention to. Test
crushings, however, were subsequently made at Mr. Struben's
mill, the most important of which was of ore from the present
Bantje's Reef Gold Mining Company's property, which yielded
1 07.. 8 dwts. Following upon this proof of the payable character
of the banket formation, the Government was communicated with,


VALUE OP PROPERTIES.
473
and on the 20th September, 1886, the Witwatersrand was declared
a public goldfield. A mining camp, known as "Ferreira's,"
formed of waggons, tents, and liuts, quickly sprang into exist-
ence on the southern slope of the Rand, practically on the
upturned edges of the main reef series of "banket beds," the
proved wealth of which has since transformed this district from
a bleak pastoral region into the most brilliant El Dorado the
world has yet seen.
Prior to this the properties on the Eand were of comparatively
little value. The farms were bare pasture lands, ranging in price
from £350 to £750, and a sum of £10,000 would have sufficed to
purchase them all. Mining leases over portions of them were
obtained on very favourable terms by the pioneer prospectors;
but as capitalists and representatives of syndicates appeared upon
the scene, the value of land traversed by the "banket beds"
rapidly advanced in price, and many of the Boer owners disposed
of them for sums varying from £7,000 to £70,000. One of the
farms, being Government ground and having a central position,
was selected as a site for a town—which was named Johannesburg
—and laid out in streets, squares, and building lots. These
building lots or stands were oflered for sale, on ninety years' leases,
by public auction, in 1886 and 1887; they numbered in all about
1,800, of the size of fifty feet square, and realised over £50,000.
Prices at the outset ranged from a few shillings up to £200 per
stand, and some of the latter, situate in the principal thorough-
fares, have within the present year changed hands at the enor-
mously increased values of from £4,000 to £7,000.
The first stimulus to the mining industry on the Rand came
from Ivimberley. Mr. J. B. Robinson purchased the estate of
Langlaagte, and Mr. W. Knight that of Driefonteiu; Mr. Goch
and others secured the Wemmer block of claims; and soon after-
wards a London firm of capitalists, represented by the late Mr.
Herman Eckstein and Mr. J. B. Taylor, acquired the valuable
property now known as the Robinson Mine. Natal syndicates
sent their representatives, and the Cape Colony followed in the
wake; while local residents, such as the Messrs. Struben, White-
head, Meyer, and others, began work at once on the properties
they had secured. Many of the newcomers, especially those from
Kimberley, brought, in addition to capital, a practical experience
in mining business to bear upon the development of the ventures
in which they were engaged; and their enterprise and energy did
much towards establishing confidence in the extent and permanency
of the "banket beds." In those pioneering days the formation
was considered of so unique a kind that many had doubts as to its
continuance at any great depth. Some held theories of its being


474
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
a mere superficial deposit which would soon give out; others
feared that at a comparatively short distance from the surface it
would be found to be so metamorphosed as to lose its auriferous
character; and afterwards, when the hard blue pyritic rock was
reached, there was the apprehension that the cost of the extrac-
tion of the gold would be an insuperable obstacle to profitable
gold-mining. But, as development went on, shafts and bore-holes
were carried down many hundred feet, the best of machinery was
introduced, and mine management passed from the hands of the
inexperienced to really competent men, applying improved and
economic methods of mining, and the newest processes for the
treatment of ores.
The payable character and continuity of the auriferous deposits
were then demonstrated in the most practical manner. The pro-
duction of gold, which began in a small way in the latter half of
the year 1887, steadily progressed during 1888, from 7,000 to
26,000 ounces per month; during 1889, to 39,000 ounces; during
1890, to 50,000 ounces; and during 1891, to 80,312 ounces per
month. At the end of June, 1892, the monthly output advanced
to 103,000 ounces. Johannesburg was greatly excited when it
became known that the "centenary" record was reached, and
crowds assembled at the " Corner" (Eckstein's Buildings), where
the President of the Chamber of Mines, Mr. Lionel Philips, made
the announcement that the then completed five years of the
industry showed a total output of 2,429,694 ounces of gold, worth.
have given name and fame to the Band, has been the Bobinson
Mine. The total working capital contributed by its shareholders
was only £55,000. Since then upwards of a quarter of a million
sterling has been earned and re-invested in permanent works,
machinery, and development; whilst a total of £570,936 has
been distributed in the form of dividends, besides leaving to credit
of profit and loss account a sum of over £188,000. During the
five years from 1888 to the end of December, 1892, a total of
210,551 tons of rock were manipulated, resulting in a yield of
411,502 ozs. lOdwts. of gold, the average being at the rate of
1 oz. 14 dwts. 5 grs. per ton.
During these five years of mining development and progress
the camp which formed the embryo township of Johannesburg
emerged and expanded into a remarkably large, handsomely-
built, and well-ordered city, its growth being as rapid and
marvellous as any of those centres of population which have
risen like a dream on the American contiuent. In its first stage
the buildings were generally of a temporary character; but no








JOHANNESBURG.
475
sooner was the permanency of the "banket beds" and the
potentiality of their wealth established than the place was alive
with brickmakers and builders, and comfortable dwellings, blocks
of business offices, theatres, hotels, clubs, churches, and other
public edifices were speedily erected. Nearly all the materials
required for these structures, as well as the plant, machinery,
ana stores for the mines, had at this time to be brought from the
seaboard, and for 300 miles of the distance were carried by the
slow, cumbersome, and expensive agency of the ox-waggon.
The railway only made its advent towards the close of 1892,
and since then the city has continued making further strides
in progress and expansion, still absorbing a steady increase of
new inhabitants.
The approach to Johannesburg by rail for some distance skirts
the line of Main Keef proper, and evidences of the industry which
enriches it are continually exhibited as one passes in succession
the works of the various companies. Over the whole line, from
east to west, there are some sixty of them, whose shares actually
issued represent at par value a capital of about ten and a half
millions. The chimney-stacks of the engine-houses, the head-
gear of the mining shafts, the huge battery-houses, automatically
fed with their 20, 60, or even 160 stamps, unceasingly crushing
day and night, the immense furnace-houses, the chlorination and
cyanide works, with the adjacent reservoirs of tailings and of
slimes following one after another over the grassy dips and rises
of the country for miles upon miles, present a scene unparalleled
in any part of the world.
Johannesburg of to-day, including the city and its suburbs,
has a population of about 40,000 souls, exclusive of natives,
and the taxable valuation of its immovable property is over
£3,160,000. The streets, which have a length of about eighty-
five miles, are broad and regularly laid out, stretching to the
cardinal points of the compass, and intersecting each other at
right angles. The city has been well designed, with open
central squares, and ample reservation of spaces for public parks,
while on every side it is surrounded by pleasant suburban
localities, which are dotted over with villa residences and
verandahed cottages, nestling among flower-gardens and shrub-
beries. Tree-planting has been wonderfully successful; stretches
of bare ground, formerly destitute of any foliage or timber, are
now covered with plantations, the growth of two or three years,
flourishing in great luxuriance. In the principal thoroughfares
there is a continuous throng of nervously-active, busy, pushing
people, and in the neighbourhood of the "Chains," in Commis-
sioner Street, crowded groups assemble morning and evening to


476
SOUTH AFRICAN EEPDBLIC.
learn of the rumoured movements within the Stock Exchange,
where speculative operations are carried on with all the roaring
noises and frenzied excitement peculiar lo a booming share
market. A large portiou of the central area is occupied by
blocks of business offices, consisting of substantial two and three-
storied buildings, such as Eckstein's Chambers, Bettelbeim's
Buildings, Braithwaites, Barnatos, the Standard, the Natal,
Commercial, Union, Barberton, and Ginsburg Chambers. The
Banking corporations are settled in handsome, commodious
structures bespeaking wealth, and attached to them are assay

KISSIK STREET, JOHANNESBURG.
works, where the gold is smelted and converted into ingots for
shipment to England, averaging a monthly amount of 110,000
ounces of the standard value of 77s. per ounce. The public
buildings include the Government and Post and Telegraph
offices, the new Law Courts, and the fine Hospital erected on
the hill to the north of the city at a cost of £52,000. In the
centre of the Market square are the Market buildings, which
are admirably arranged for the purpose, and the most distinctive
specimen of architecture in the city. In the main streets, such
as Pritchard, Kissik, and President Streets, the array of shop-


478
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
viously unknown reefs or beds in the formation cut through, show
that the mineral area is capable of expansion. But a new prospect
has been opened up by the prospecting and development of what
are termed "deep level" properties. The gold law of the
Republic does not permit the owner of a claim to follow the reef
in all its " dips, spurs, and angles "; it gives him the right to no
more than his plumb within the four boundaries of his claim or
claims. The general dip of the " banket"—which has a southerly
inclination of about thirty-five degrees from the horizontal—led
keen-minded men to see that outside of the outcropping claims of
the Main Reef series, at a considerable depth from the surface,
the formation would be equally continuous, and could be profitably
worked even at two or three thousand feet; and within the last
couple of years many hundreds of claims have been pegged out to
a distance of upwards of a mile south of or below the present
producing mines. The ground immediately south of the outcrop
property is termed the "first dip," next to that is another parallel
strip called the "second dip,' and so on, the sequence being
unbroken even to the twelfth dip.
On the best part of the Rand—that is to say the richest and
least disturbed—thirty-six companies hold an average of three
rows of claims, representing a strip along the Main Reef 1,200 feet
wide, for a distance of about eleven miles. In this section there
are, outside of the present working companies, about 3,000 claims
pegged out as "deep level," on the greater proportion of which
the "banket beds" are believed to lie at not unreasonable or
unworkable depths. Bore-holes put down show as a mean result
that the formation, at from 500 feet to 1,000 feet, has a dip of
between 30 or 35 degrees, and does not deteriorate in size or value.
The " Deep Levels " have so far passed their first stage that the
work of shaft-sinking has commenced, and at the present time
there are seven shafts in progress which are designed to be
carried at once to depths ranging from 600 to 1,000 feet. The
deepest of these is now down 300 feet; and as the rate of sinking
has heretofore been not more than 60 feet per month at most,
a considerable time must elapse before the mines enter on the
productive stage. Combinations of capitalists, including some of
the wealthiest firms in the mining world, have been formed to
carry out these works; and it is said that in one venture funds
running well into seven figures have been guaranteed for the
subsidiary companies formed to acquire portions of the parent
company s enormous claim-holdings.
Mr. Hamilton Smith, a well-known American mining engineer,
recently made a very favourable report on the subject of these
"deep levels" to the Messrs. Rothschild, the text of which


MINERAL WEALTH OP THE COUNTRY.
479
appeared in The Times. Mr. Smith visited the Rand in the latter
half of 1892, and there studied the Main Reef series for a distance
of about eleven miles along the outcrop, from which about two-
thirds of the Rand's total output has come. He pronounced the
opinion that for such a continuous length the record of production
is unequalled in the history of gold-mining; observing that
"there have often been mines of short length far richer than
these of the Rand, but nothing approaching them has ever been,
so far as regularity and extent are concerned." The conclusions,
he arrived at, with respect to the future of the industry, are thus
stated:—
"The question of profit is foreign to the purpose of this article; but as it is of
importanco to the question of product, it may bo stated that twenty-ono of tho
thirty-six surfaco mines especially examined by me are now being operated at a
profit, and of tho remaining fifteen several bid fair to soon become profitable. This
ratio of paying mines is sufficient to insure the working of all, and they will all
assuredly be followed down in depth until the working costs exceed tho yield.
"Coming to the total quantity of gold whicli the Rand may lm expected to yield,
wo have for tho stretch of 11 miles particularly discussed a paying length of
50,000 feet, a probable thickness of fully 5 feet, and an inclined depth of 5,200 feet.
This aggregates 100 million tons, of which 3 million tons have ljeen mined; the
remaining 97 million tons, at an average of 12J dwts. per ton, would yield 60, million
ounces, having a gold value of £215,000,000. I do not think it at all unreasonable
to estimate that the many miles of 'banket' outside of this district of 11 linear
miles will yield at least one-half of this amount, or, say, £325,000,000 in all. This
seems a huge figure, but it is by no means a wild conjecture, and the final results
■will probably exceed even this sum. The large Stato of California, with gold
almost from one end to the other, produced only £230,000,000 in gold from 1849 to
1892. This fact gives one an idea of the richness of these few square miles embraced
in the Rand.
"With the active and energetic set of men who now bavo this industry in hand,
and always supposing that tho foregoing theories prove to bo exact, in three or four
years from now the producing power of the mines and their reduction works will, I
think, be increased to an output of five or six million tons of ore per annum, with a
gross yield of over £10,000,000. At this rate the available supply of ore, as con-
jectured above, will last for more than thirty years, and the world's yearly product
will have increased from £19,000,000 in 1883, to perhaps £30,000,000 in 1897."
The mineral wealth of the country is not confined to the
"Witwatersrand basin. Along its northern edge, there is some
extent of auriferous country, and eastward throughout the
Highveld there are metalliferous belts, containing silver, copper,
and lead, and an extensive area of coal-beds. In the Zoutpansberg
district, along the Sutherland and Murchison ranges, there is a
gold-bearing zone averaging G miles in width and 30 miles in
length. In this district are the Klein Lataba, Marabastad,
Woodbush and Silati Fields, which will soon be largely benefited
by the Silati railway from Komati Poort to Leydsdorp, now in
course of construction. The existence of valuable properties in
that portion of the country has been established, although
mining development and production have not yet attained to
any great dimensions. In the district of Vryheid, on the border


480
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
of Zululand, "banket" deposits have been discovered, giving
promise of good results upon development. The yield of gold
from all the outlying fields of the Republic, including De Kaap,
Leydenberg, Klerksdorp, Potchefstrom, Malmani, Marabastad,
Woodbush, Klein Lataba, and Silati, amounted to 114,525 ozs.
19 dwts. for the year 1892.
Although Johannesburg is now the active commercial centre of
the Republic, the constitutional law of the country recognises
Potchefstrom, situate on the Mooi River, as the capital, and
Pretoria as the seat of Government. The latter is situated about
37 miles from Johannesburg, in an upland valley, surrounded by
the Witwatersberg hills, about 4,500 feet above sea-level. It is a
characteristic South African town, nestling among hedges of roses
and lines of willow and blue-gum trees, with broad streets inter-
secting each other at right angles, and a stream of water coursing
along their sides. But its picturesque features are rapidly being
changed. Palatial buildings have been erected within the last
few years; chief amongst them being the Government Buildings,
or "Raadzaal," which are Pretoria's architectural glory. They
have a frontage 175 feet wide, a depth of 220 feet, and a height
of 125 feet from ground to the top of the figure of Liberty
which surmounts the entrance. They contain in all 136 rooms,
accommodating the President's office, the State Secretary's, the
Executive Council, the Treasurer General's, the Auditor General,
the Registrar of Deeds, the Orphan Chamber, the Surveyor
General, the Education, Mining, and other departments of the
Government, besides two chambers for the Volksraads. The first
Volksraad, in which portraits of President Kruger, Commandant
General Joubert, and General Smit are placed, is a spacious hall,
04 feet long by 44 feet wide and 42 feet high; and the second
chamber is 14 by 44 feet. On the ground floors, there are fire-
proof rooms, where the State archives and laud registers are
deposited. The building was erected from designs by Mr. Wierda,
the Government architect, at a total cost of £138,000. It occupies
one side of the Church Square, in the centre of which is the large
Dutch Reformed Church. Other handsome structures have also
been lately erected on the other sides of the square, including the
Transvaal Loan and Mortgage Buildings, the Lewis and Mark's
Buildings, the Lys Buildings and National Bank Buildings,
to which is attached the State Mint, equipped with a complete
plant and appliances for the coinage of gold, silver, and copper
coins. All the banks have their establishments in this central
part of the town; and new Supreme Court Buildings are intended
to be built in the same vicinity. In the streets diverging from
the square, and forming the principal business parts, several
v.








SANITABY CONDITIONS.
481
attractive shops and warehouses have taken the place of the
primitive stores, which for years past served the purposes of the
Boer trade. Many of the new inhabitants are showing a partiality
for suburban residences, and in the neighbourhood of Heys Park,
Arcadia, and Sunnyside, several handsome and finished private
dwellings have been erected. The sanitary conditions of Pretoria
have been greatly improved by an abundant and pure water
supply; and in regard to its lighting, it is in advance of all the
other towns of South Africa, upwards of one hundred arc-lamps
illuminating its streets at night, and private houses being

BUILDINGS IN CHURCH SQUARE, PRETORIA.
furnished with installations of the incandescent lamp. The
population is now estimated at about 11,000 persons, of whom
about one-half are coloured; and the latter, comprising natives
and coolies, have their allotted locations on the outskirts of the
town. Being the place of residence of the President of the
Republic, and the head-quarters of official life, as well as the
locality where the Supreme Court holds its sittings, Pretoria will
always be an important metropolitan centre; and there is the
prospect, that when the Netherlands Railway works are com-
pleted, and the coal, iron, and other mineral resources in the sur-
rounding neighbourhood are developed, important local industries


4S2
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
will be established. The principal one now in existence, is the
Hatherley Distillery, within a short distance of the town, where
the manufacture of spirituous liquors is successfully carried on
upon on extensive scale, combined with all the most modern
appliances. Cement works, and dynamite and powder factories,
have also been started, but the latter is the only one doing active
work.
At present Pretoria enjoys the benefit of direct railway com-
munication with Cape Town, and in the course of next year
the eastern line, covering a distance of 350 miles, to Delagoa
Bay, will be opened for traffic. On its completion, it is promised
that every encouragement will be given to the advent of the
Natal line from Charlestown, for which surveys are in progress.
The seat of Government will then be served from all the chief
ports of South Africa—from the ocean on the east to the ocean
on the south.
The exclusive right of railway construction and working within
the Kepublic (except the Government itself undertakes construc-
tion and working) baa been granted by a concession to the
Netherlands South African Railway Company. The total amount
estimated for the completion of the trunk line from Vaal River
to Komati Poort, at the Portuguese boundary (a distance of
295 miles), was £4,314,817. For all the capital raised by the
Company for the prosecution of the line, and the interest on
and redemption of its debentures, the Government are guarantors.
The eastern portion of the work was one of considerable magni-
tude, and its execution reflects much credit on Mr. Verwey, the
engineer-in-chief. It had to be carried over a difficult country,
and through the low valleys infested with malarial fever, horse-
Komati and Crocodile Valleys the mortality among Europeans
was twelve per cent., and great difficulty was experienced during
the summer months in getting the farmers to ride material or
supplies to parts where fever and the tsetse prevailed, while in
winter there was a scarcity of grass for stock. The heaviest
portion of the line (about ten miles) is stated to have cost
£24,000 per mile, and the average of the whole will be about
£11,600. The gauge is, as elsewhere in South Africa, 3 feet
6 inches. The ruling gradient is 1 in 50, but on a small section
of three miles, near the station Bergendal, it is 1 in 20, where a
locomotive with central cog-wheel will be used. Near this point,
where the line ascends from the lower valleys to the plateau of
the Highveld, a tunnel of 720 feet long is being made. There
is some very grand scenery throughout the portion of the line
approaching and passing the Eland Spruit Valley, and also bold

During the construction in the


THE LEGISLATURE.
485
admit of any equality between the coloured and white inhabit
ants, and no coloured person is admitted to the enjoyment of
political privileges nor can hold land in his own name.
The President is the highest official in the State. He is elected
by a majority of the votes of the burghers, and receives a salary
of £8,000 a year, with house allowance of £300. He is entrusted
with the Executive power,
and is responsible to the
Volksraad. He has also the
duty of proposing laws which
he may think necessary or
may be suggested to him by
the people. Once a year, he
is required to visit all the
towns of the Eepublic. Dur-
ing his term of office he may
not undertake any other ser-
vice nor engage in trade, and
may not leave the country
without consent of the Volks-
raad. Mr. S. J. P. Kruger
has been President of tho president kbcger.
Eepublic since 1882, having
been thrice elected to the office. He was born in the Cape
Colony on the 10th October, 1825, and as a stripling of thirteen
years of age accompanied his father, one of the emigrant farmers,
who -crossed the Vaal Eiver, and settled in the Eepublic
in 1839.
The President exercises his power in conjunction with the
Executive Council, which consists of the Commandant-General
Mr. P. J. Joubert (who is elected by the people for ten years),
two non-official members, Messrs. Smit and Wolmarans, elected
by the Volksraad for two years, and the State Secretary, Dr.
Leyds, elected by the Volksraad for four years. The Super-
intendent of Native Affairs and the Keeper of the Minutes are
ex officio members of the Council; and the President may invite
any of the official heads of departments to be present and have a
vote in the Executive on matters relating to their departments.
The State President and members of the Executive Council
have a seat in each Chamber of the Legislature, but have no
vote.
Until the year 1890, the Legislature consisted of one Chamber,
the Volksraad, but as a concession to the cry of the new mining
population for political privileges of some sort, a second Eaad or
Chamber was then created, with powers to regulate, either by


486
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
way of law or by way of resolution, any matters relating to
mining; the making of waggon and post roads; posts and
telegraphs; the protection of inventions, patents, trade-marks,
and copyrights; the conditions, rights, and duties of companies;
insolvency; civil and criminal proceedings, and such other
matters as the First Volksraad shall refer to it. All resolutions
or enactments passed by the Raad must be notified to the
President and the First Raad within forty-eight hours after
passing the same; and the First Raad upon its own motion, or
upon the advice of the President, may reconsider each resolution
or enactment and confirm or disallow the same.
The First Volksraad, constituted of twenty-fonr members, born
in the country, or who have been duly enfranchised burghers for
fifteen years, is by law declared to be the highest power in the
State. The qualifications required of members are that they
belong to a Protestant Church, are thirty years of age, owners of
landed property, and have acquired the burgher right before 1890
or after that by birth. These members are elected by burghers
qualified to vote, who acquired burgher rights before 1890, or
those born after that date, who attain the age of sixteen years.
But the privilege of voting may be extended, by resolution of
the First Volksraad, to those who for ten years have possessed
the right of being elected to a seat in the Second Volksraad.
The qualifications of the twenty-four members who constitute
the Second Volksraad are that they shall be of the Protestant
faith, residents in the Republic, possessed of landed property, and
duly enfranchised burghers for a period of two years. They are
chosen by the same constituency that elects the First Volksraad.
Members of both Chambers have an allowance of £3 per day
during their attendance on legislative duties, and the Chairmen
of both Houses, who are chosen among the members, receive
£3 10s. per diem. The debates and all the proceedings are in the
Dutch language—which is the official language prescribed to be
used in all the Courts and public offices throughout the State.
Under the Naturalisation Law, a two years' residence, together
with a payment of a sum of £5, is required of aliens before letters
of naturalisation can be obtained, and in ordinary course they can
only become full-fledged burghers, qualified to sit in the First
Volksraad, after the lapse of twelve years. The process is as
tollows:—
An alien wishing to naturalise must register his name in the book of the Field
Cornet in -whoso ward he fixes his residence. After residing in that ward for two
years, and being on tho book of the Field Comet, he may apply to the latter, or to
the Landdrost of the district, for a certificate that he has complied with the require-
ments of the laws, and bears a good character. On obtaining such a certificate, be
may apply to the LanddroBt to be naturalised, who, after examining the papers and


THE JUDICfAL SYSTEM.
487
finding them in order, refers tho application to the Executive Council, which
approves or disapproves: if admitted, the applicant pays £5, and upon his taking the
oath of allegiance to the Republic, letters of naturalisation (deed of hurghership)
are granted to him. His name may then be placed on the list of voters for the
district where he resides, by the Field Comet in whose ward he lives. After being
registered, he may vote for a Field Cornet of his ward, for a member of the Second
Volksraad of his district, and for every other election confined to that district, but
not for members of the First Volksraad. After registration as a voter the
naturalised alien may be appointed to any Government office, except to those to
which the occupant is elected by the whole country. After having been on the
voters' list for two years, he may be elected as a member of the Second Volksraad.
After being a member of the Second Bund for ten years, or on the list of registered
voters for twelve years (that is, ten years after the naturalised alien has become
qualified to be elected a member of the Second Baad, whether elected as such or
not), ho is qualified to vote for a member of the First Baad, and to be elected
as such, and to enjoy all the privileges of a burgher; but it is in the power of
the First Baad, by resolution, to shorten the period qualifying the alien for tho
First Baad.
The judicial system of the Republic is to a great extent similar
to that of the Cape Colony, and is almost identical with that of
the Orange Free State. The ordinary judicial tribunes are—(a)
the Court of Landdrost, analogous to that of Resident Magistrate
in the Cape Colony and Natal; (b) the Circuit Court, presided
over by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court; and (c) the
Supreme Court, under the presidency of Chief Justice Kotze.
Each district has a Court of Landdrost, with both civil and criminal
jurisdiction. In civil matters the Landdrost has jurisdiction in
liquid cases up to £500, and in illiquid cases to £100. In criminal
matters, the Landdrost decides upon minor offences and can inflict
the following punishments:—Six months' imprisonment, with or
without hard labour; twenty-five lashes; fine, not exceeding £75.
A circuit court is held, for one or more districts, twice in each
year, except for the Witwatersrand Gold Fields, where the circuit
court sits more often, as occasion may require. The circuit courts
are held by a judge of the Supreme Court, who, in criminal
matters, is assisted by a jury of nine citizens. The law requires
a unanimous verdict of tne jury in all instances. From the Court
of Landdrost there is an appeal to the Circuit Court, or direct to
the Supreme Court, at the option of the appellant In like
manner an appeal lies to the Supreme Court from every final
decision of the Circuit Court.
The Supreme Court has an original as well as an appellate
jurisdiction over the whole country. Its decisions are in all cases
final; there is no appeal. The judges must by law be graduates
of some recognised university, or otherwise properly qualified in
law. The Chief Justice and the fourth puisne judge are both
graduates of an English University and barristers-at-law; the
first puisne judge is a barrister-at-law, while the second and third
puisne judges are graduates of a Dutch University.


488
SOUTII AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
There are special tribunals called "Land Commissions" for
each district, with jurisdiction to investigate all questions of
disputed boundaries and beacons. These land commissions, com-
posed of three prominent citizens of the district, are supposed to
be useful and expedient, inasmuch as they hold a local inspection
in each case. Written minutes are kept of their proceedings, and
an appeal lies from the decision of a Court of Land Commission
to the Circuit or Supreme Court.
The Field Cornets of each ward (a subordinate division of a
district) have also jurisdiction in questions involving disputes
between master and servant, and other petty matters. In every
instance an appeal lies to the Circuit Court, or the Supreme
Court, which is the highest court of review in the State. In
districts in which the natives are numerous there are officials,
known as Native Commissioners, with jurisdiction both civil and
criminal in all matters between natives and natives. Serious
criminal cases, however, are brought by the Attorney-General
before the Circuit or Supreme Court.
The common law of the Transvaal, like that of the whole of
civilised South Africa, is the Bom an Dutch law, except where
altered by local legislation or the custom of South Africa.
Public education is subsidised by the State, under certain con-
ditions; the quarterly contribution by Government, not exceeding
25s. for each pupil in the lower, and 35s. in the higher education
schools. There are 552 village and district schools, with 8,170
pupils. All instruction must be in the Dutch language in the
subsidised schools; only in learning foreign languages is exception
made. Although Dutch is the official language, English is the
language chiefly spoken in the towns, and in all the business
places, as well as in many families.
A Board of Examiners in literature and science is established
by law, and consists of nine members, with the Chief Justice as
President. It conducts examinations in survey, chemistry, law,
literature and science, and also grants teachers' certificates after
examination for the purpose. A similar board, consisting of three
Sualified practitioners, acts in conjunction with the Board of
Examiners in so far as applications for admission by medical men,
chemists and dentists are concerned. By a law of 1891, all
holders of a Government appointment, whether professional or
otherwise, must be naturalised or registered as burghers.
The Kepublic has no armed force, with (he exception of a
small corps of mounted artillery and police; but the President,
with the concurrence of the Executive, can, in case of disturbance
or war, call up a commando of the burghers of each district.
The landdiosts, field-cornets and commandants of burghers are


CONCESSIONS.
489
elected by the burghers of each district; but the nomination of
the landdrost is made by the State.
There is an excellent postal and telegraph system throughout
the country; and large sums are being spent in public works and
improvements, creditable to the Government.
A number of concessions has been from time to time granted
by the Government, with a view to encouraging the development
of industries in the State. Some of these, such as the right of
manufacturing spirituous liquors, conferred a monopoly upon the
concessionaires, others were subject to certain conditions which
the Government may impose or relax at its discretion, or cancel
altogether, as it has recently done in regard to the concession for
the manufacture of dynamite and other explosives. Many of
those concessions have lapsed by reason of the failure of the con-
cessionaires to make the payments to the public revenue which
they contracted to do. The number still in existence is com-
paratively few. These include the concessions for the manufacture
of spirituous liquors, of powder, of woollen factories, of sugar
mills, of cement works, of a machine bakery, of oil factories,
lucifer match, and porcelain, and tile-making, the manufacture of
oils in Middelberg and Leydenberg districts, aerial tramways,
the manufacture of gas at Johannesburg; the supplying of gas,
electricity, and water to different places; and the establishment
of the National Bank. Besides these, there are a number of con-
cessions giving mineral rights on various private properties.
Latterly, however, the policy of concession-granting has met with
public disapproval, and the Government has to a great extent
discontinued it.
Under the provisions of the concession granted in 1890, to a
syndicate formed by Dutch, German, and English bankers for the
formation of the National Bank of the Kepublic, arrangements
were made for the establishment of a State mint at Pretoria; and
in 1891 a mint law was passed, determining the coinage. The
English monetary system was adopted, with the exception that
the gold coins are a trifle finer, but not sufficiently so as to allow
of their being exported to Europe for smelting, the standard
weight of the one pound gold piece being fixed at 7 • 98805 grams,
and the one shilling silver piece at 5 ■ 65518 grams, and other coins
in proportion. The erection of the mint has been completed by
the Bank, which ha3 the use and working of it for twenty-five
years, under the supervision and control ot the Government. The
coinage now being minted is legal tender within the Kepublic,
and a movement has been made to secure its free circulation
in the other Colonies, States, and Territories. At the invitation
of the Government of the Bepublic, a conference of delegates


490
SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.
from the Cape, Natal, and the Orange Free State, assembled at
Pretoria to discuss the question. All the delegates, with the
exception of the representative of the Republic, agreed to a
proposal submitted by Mr. L. L. Michel, the Cape representative,
that the Pretoria Mint should be reconstructed as an Inter-State
Mint, clue regard being paid to the rights of the present con-
cessionaires; that such mint should be carried on in the name of
the four States, at their expense, and under their joint supervision
and control; and that a representative South African coinage,
having the arms of the several States quartered on it should be
proclaimed legal tender, and have free circulation throughout the
country. The matter is meanwhile referred for further con-
sideration to the respective governments. If a scheme for the
unification of the coinage in South Africa, as thus suggested, is
• carried out, it will, as Dr. Leyds, the chairman of the Conference
remarked, form a new bond, binding and strengthening the
friendly relations between all the States and Colonies of South
Africa.


( 491 )
CHAPTER XXVII.
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
By Francis Spencer, M.P.I.M.E., A.I.M.E.
The Witwatersrand Goldfield is situate thirty-five miles south
of Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. It forms
the watershed of the two great river systems, the Limpopo on
the north, and the Vaal River on the south, and runs nearly
due east and west. On its north, or Pretoria side, the country
is broken, stretching away in alternations of plains, hills, and
ranges of lesser mountains to the great Magaliesberg range—
forty miles distant—under which a generous climate with the
utmost luxuriance prevails. On the south the country is rolling
grass land, dipping into the valley of the Klip River and the line
of the "Black Reef," 700 feet below the Rand, and extending into
the further valley of the Vaal River, the common boundary of
the South African Republic and of the Orange Free State.
The geological formation consists of sandstones, quartzites,
shales, schists, and cherts, with beds of conglomerate interstratified
in the sandstone and quartzite, and gold accompanying them.
These have been tilted from the north, and dip south towards the
centre of the basin. They appear to have been upheaved from
their natural position by intrusive masses of diorite, dykes of
which penetrate the country, causing faulting and disturbances;
and to the solfataric action incidental to the eruption of the diorite
is attributed the occurrence of the gold deposits. The conglo-
merates are well described by Mr. J. S. Curtis in the Engineering
and Mining Journal of February 15th, 1890, as follows:—
"They consist of a mass of water-worn quartz pebbles cemented together by quartz
sand, argillaceous matter, and hydrated oxide of iron. Magnetite is often present,
and the matrix is frequently porous, sometimes containing breccia as well as
pebbles, and is more or less friable. This iB the general character of the deposits
within the sphere of the oxiding influences of the atmosphere. At the water-level,
and sometimes above it, the nature of the banket changes, tho colour becomes a
bluish or a greenish grey, tho limonite and the magnetite are replaced by pyrite,
and the texhire of the mass grows more compact and uniform, so that when broken
the pebbles are fractured, and the faces presented to view are more even. The
pebbles in tho different series of reefs vary in size and composition, and the material


492
GOLD-MINING AT W1TWATERSEAKD.
of the matrix is not always the game, bo that it is often possible, by careful
examination, to determine from which reef or series a particular hand-specimen was
derived. For instance, the main reef series can be easily recognised from the nature
of its pebbles and matrix. The pebbles of any of the bankets rarely exceed the
size of a goose egg, and are usually much smaller. They are of various colours,
white, grey, brown, and black being the most common. The same banket often
contains as many as six different kinds. Sandstone pebbles are occasionally found,
but the conglomerates containing them seem to bo of later origin than those
containing qunrtz pebbles alone.
"The gold is more or less crystallised and not water-worn, as can be seen when it
is examined under the microscope. The presence of pyrite in the diorite and the
banket indicates a strong solfatario action contemporaneous with or subsequent to
the eruption of that rock. It is not likely that the pyrite in the diorite came from
one source and that in the banket from another, or that this mineral was deposited
at the same time as the pebbles. If it had been there would have been pebbles of
pyrite. Crystallised quartz and other crystallised minerals are found in the con-
glomerate, and they are unquestionably of subsequent origin. All the banket reefs
do not carry gold, but most of the ferruginous banket reefs do carry gold, and there
is no banket reef bearing any gold which does not carry a considerable quantity of
iron in one form or another. There is evidently even in these reefs a close connection
between the iron and tho gold. The occurrence of magnetite with the auriferous
material is another characteristic which increases the resemblance of these deposits
to tho ordinary quartz veins. The fact that the gold is found in the banket and
not in the sandstone can, I think, bo accounted for in this manner: tho conglomerate
beds were naturally more porous and open than the sandstone, and after tho
upheaval gave easy access to the solution and va[>ours generated by the diorite
eruption."
The Rand Basin
is about 130 miles long by 30 wide, and within it there is a
series of these conglomerate beds, occurring opposite and near
Johannesburg, in the following order:—On the north fringe, the
Main Reef series and New Rietfontein Reefs; south, Bird Reefs,
Kimberley Reefs and Elsburg Reefs; and extreme south, and
nearest to the basin centre, the Black Reef. All course in
parallelism, east and west, and dip south at angles flattening
between the north fringe and the basin centre from 80 to 10
degrees.
Of these, the Elsburg and Black Reef series are found cropping
out on the opposite shores of the basin, and dipping towards its
centre. Whether they occupy the whole intervening basin area
is an interesting point, but one which will hardly trouble the
present race of miners.
The position on the south shore in which the Main Reef should
be found is occupied by a belt of diorite, which has baffled
prospectors, and retarded exploration in that direction. Attention
is, therefore, at present more readily paid to the east and west
extensions of the Main Reef, and its accompanying series on the
north side of the basin.
Johannesburg, the chief town and mining centre, is healthily
situated 5,600 feet above sea-level, half way along and on








GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSBAND. •
493
the southern slope of the Rand, surrounded by the suburban
townships of Doornfontein, Fordsburg, Jeppe's Town, &c.
At the eastern extremity of the Rand, twelve miles distant, lies
Boksburg, a coal and gold-mining town. The site of this town
was originally a bare, uninviting slope, but through the efforts of
its former magistrate, Mr. Montagu White, the place has been
greatly beautified by liberal tree-planting, and the formation of a
lake many acres in extent. Further east are the large collieries
of Brakpan and Springs, whence the bulk of the Rand coal
supplies are drawn.
Still further, at the eastern extremity of the Field, thirty
miles from Johannesburg, is Heidelberg, the centre of the Nigel
Reef district of the Rand Basin.
Westward, fifteen miles from Johannesburg, is Krugersdorp,
the centre of the Botha's Reef, Luipaard's Vlei, and Randfontein
mining areas.
A line of railway from the Springs Colliery to Krugersdorp
skirts the Rand for fifty miles, and transports coal to the gold
mines from the collieries of Boksburg, Brakpan, and Springs.
This line is connected to the Main Trunk Cape Railway at the
junction of Elandsfontein, six miles east of Johannesburg, whence
the railway extends to Pretoria, the seat of government.
Under the provisions of the South African Republic's laws, all
minerals belong to the State. Mining areas are granted under
the title of '•Claims" and "Mynpachts," or mining leases.
Claims measure 150 feet on the strike of the reef, and 400 feet
covering its dip, and are held under prospector's and digger's
licences. Blocks of claims, in any number, are pegged off under
power of attorney (a poll-tax of 18s. 6d. per annum being required
tor each signature) and are held under " prospector's licences " at
5s. per claim per month, until pay-reef is proved, when " digger's
licences" at 15s. per month are compulsory. Blocks of ten to
twenty feet long, by three or four deep, are usually held by
mining companies. "Special registration " is effected, rendering
title absolutely secure and unassailable. "Mynpachts," or mining
leases, are granted to farm-owners, and comprise 10 per cent, of
the farm area, measured twice as long on the reef strike as on its
dip. These are hired or bought of farm-owners, the government
dues thereon being 5s. per morgen (about two acres) per annum.
A water right is granted on a digger's claim, held at 15s. per
month.
Main Reef Series.
The Main Reef series proper is traced and worked for twenty-
six miles between the extremities—Boksburg on the east, and


494
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
Roodepoort on the west. At each extremity, the country turns
to the nortb, and on both extensions reefs are found and worked
for many miles.
At the east, or Boksburg end, the main Rand formation strikes
first in a north-easterly direction for about ten miles; then
wheeling round in a half-circle, with a radius of about fifteen
miles, forms the eastern end of the basin and part of its southern
shore, which thereafter follows a south-westerly course to and
across the Vaal River. In this sweep are included the Klein-
fontein, the Modderfontein, and the Chimes series—the former
found for about six miles, and both lost sight of in marshy
ground about ten miles north-east of Boksburg. Both series
contribute to the output at the rate of 8 and 12 dwts. per ton
respectively, the richer being as usual the upper and southern
beds.
Twenty miles south-east of this, and at the east end of the basin,
is found the Nigel Reef. It is traced for about three miles and
produces on the Nigel Company's property nearly 3, ozs. per ton,
and is by far the richest occurrence in the Rand basin. Its ex-
tension has not yet been proved either along the south shore, or
in the twenty miles of country between it and the "Chimes," nor
has its identity with the latter been established. Its discovery
and that of the Main Reef series through this country offers a fair
field for moderate capital, and fortune to the successful man.
That systematic search will probably be rewarded is indicated by
the discovery at intervals of the various series known to lie south
of the Main Reef. From these data, its line is approximately
obvious, and the present obstruction to its discovery in the shape
of deep over-lying loose soil will probably be overcome by the
enterprising diamond driller. For the present it is satisfactory
to note that all eastern developments demonstrate the continuity
and wealth of the beds, and promise ample scope for labour and
capital.
Beyond the western extreme of the Main Reef series, at Roode-
poort, a deep bay, known as Luipaard's Vlei, intrudes from the
valley of the Black Reef, directly obstructs the true strike of the
Main Reef, and diverts the reef formations between two and three
miles northwards. Coursing around its shores, the whole Rand
series are found included between the Black and Botha's Reefs,
and finally striking in a southernly direction through the extent
of the Randfontein estates, are eventually lost sight of in a new
break of the formation northward.
The working of the various series in this section was prosecuted
with considerable vigour in the earlier history of the Rand, but
proved generally unprofitable. Within the last year, however,


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
495
good results attained by the Champs d'Or on the Botha's Reef,
and by the Randfontein estates, restored confidence in the region.
Fresh capital is invested and general activity prevails. Results
from this length of reef line now under development may be
expected to figure appreciatively in the Rand output during the
next twelve months.
West of Randfontein, and of the north break mentioned, the
Black Reef is worked at intervals, and is traced with other
"banket beds" corresponding with those found on Randfontein,
for ninety miles past rotchefstrom and Klerksdorp to the Vaal
River. But little work has been done in this section, which is
still open for prospectors and capitalists' enterprise.
At Klerksdorp, the Black Reef series has been worked under
the name of the Nooitgedacht series, and various other reefs have
been opened up in the district, and are now being handled with
vigour. Their identification with the Rand series, and their con-
tribution to its output, are only questions of time and development.
The Inner Series of Reefs
are the Bird, the Kimberley, the Elsburg, and the Black. They
lie respectively 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10,000 yards south of the
Main Reef, and are traceable at intervals throughout the length
of the north shore of the basin. The two latter are also found on
the south shore.
The Bird, Kimberley, and Elsburg series—large bodies of low
grade ore, amongst the first bankets discovered—were subsequently
abandoned in favour of the Main Reef series, but are again
attracting attention and are expected, under the cheaper working
conditions prevailing, to yield profit on a value ranging between
3 and 10 dwts. per ton.
The Black Reef, so called from its characteristic foot-wall layer
of black oxide of iron, is the innermost of the six series described,
and is traceable for over 150 miles. It lies between quartzite
and diorite, the latter forming its foot-wall, and is more highly
mineralised than the northern beds not in contact with diorite.
Its width ranges between one and six feet of banket, together
with a foot-wall layer of one to three inches of oxide of iron.
The banket is usually low grade, whilst the foot layer sometimes
runs up to 20 ozs. per ton. Both are mined together, and
produce a free milling result of 5 to 8 dwts. per ton.
In earlier times this reef was eagerly prospected, and found
exceptionally rich in patches. When the patches were worked
out, operations were in many cases suspended, and little has been
done on the line for the past two years. Recently, profitable


496
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
returns have been forthcoming, and capitalists are taking up the
line, and equipping properties for solid work.
It will be seen that (whilst the bulk of the Rand output is now
from about 26 miles of the Main Reef series) a line of auriferous
banket is traced for about 135 miles between Klerksdorp and
Heidelberg, and that a series of six reefs or beds are more or less
exploited. Further, the deep levels—already proved by numerous
bore holes and now in course of comprehensive development—are
untouched. It may therefore be gathered that the resources of
this enormous field are but very partially developed, and that, in
the expansion of the operations of the present producers, the
prospective production of deep levels, and of new ventures on the

THE FEBBEIBA AND BOBINSON MINES.
extensions of the Main Reef and Inner series, the added results
will, before the close of the century, attain a maximum which
will probably amount to three times the present yearly rate of
production.
The Early Workings,
dating from about the end of the year 1886, were characterised
by considerable energy on the part of the pioneers. The " beds"
were opened along the surface, inclined shafts sunk on their dips,
and ore got, out under the usual difficulties of pioneer-mining,
viz., excessive water, want of material, and bad labour. Light
five-stamp batteries were imported from Cape Town and Natal,
and in work demonstrated the extraordinary richness of the " ore
beds."


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
197
In May, 1887, the Wemmer Company produced 887 ozs. of
gold, and stood alone as a producer until the following July. By
the end of the year over twenty companies were milling, and had
produced more than 23,000 ozs.
The year 1888 closed with forty-four companies on the pro-
ducing list, and an output of nearly 208,000 ozs. It also saw the
commencement of a "boom," which lasted into 1889. During
1889, the nominal capital of companies producing 370,000 ozs. of
gold was £6,800,000, and was inflated to £13,255,000. The
"fall" caused by this over-speculation ensued in 1889, and its
disastrous effects on the credit of the fields were intensified by the
difficulties which now beset the industry, and for a while finan-
cially crippled some of the producing companies.
As the mines grew deeper, excessive water and harder rock
had to be contended with, and new and more powerful machinery
became necessary. In the endeavour to supply themselves, and
carry on the development of their mines in advance of their mills,
many companies exhausted their working capital. Ke-construc-
tion was resorted to, but during its incident delays, and those
attendant on machinery equipment, some companies retired from
the producing list. Despite these conditions, the year closed
with an increase of 161,000 ozs. over the previous one, and a total
of 369,557 ozs., but unaccompanied with any sign of recovery in
the share market.
In 1890, strengthened by working capital, vigorous mine
development—designed to put the mines on a sound work-
ing and dividend-paying basis—ensued, and was associated
with a steady increase in the year's output, which closed at
494,817 ozs.
In 1891 entirely satisfactory progress was made. The number
of contributors to the output increased, many dividends were
paid, and the year closed with a total output of 729,238 ozs., and
nearly 50 per cent, increase on the previous year.
At this time the market value of the companies producing
729,000 ozs. was £9,312,400, whilst in the boom in 1889, the
value of the companies producing only 370,000 ozs. (or about
half) was £13,255,000.
Deep-sinking, and extensive mine development, introduction of
improved mining and milling machinery, and the expansion of
metallurgical operations, have been amongst the efforts of the
year 1892, and have been associated with an increased output of
481,530 ozs., an increase of 59^ per cent, over last year; the
payment of £794,828 in dividends, and a general restoration of
confidence amongst investors, accompanied by a steady rise in the
market value of stocks.
2 K


498
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATEKSRAND.
The output of gold at Witwatersrand from 1887 to the close ot
Estimated production
of which no record kept.
ozs.
dwts.
1887 ...
23,125
8
1888 ...
... 208,121
14
1889 ...
... 369,557
5
42,000
0
1890 ...
j> ...
... 494,817
0
1891 ...
... 729,238
6
1892 ...
... 1,210,868
16
Total
... 3,077,728
9
Active Workings.
Those portions of the Fields actively worked between Heidelberg
East and Klerksdorp West are divided into several groups:—
East—At Heidelberg, the Nigel Reef; Intermediate, the
Chimes Line; at Johannesburg (Central), the Main Reef Series
and New Rietfonteiu Reefs; and South-central, the Black Reef.
West—At Krugersdorp, the Botha's Reef, and the Randfontein,
and Luipaard's Vlei Series.
Extreme West—At Potcbefstrom and Klerksdorp, the Bosch
Rand and Elandsheuvel Series.
The country is much broken and faulted between the groups,
throwing them out of continuous line, and rendering it very
difficult to establish identity with one another, and with the prin-
cipal Main Reef series. It is an accepted principle, however, that
all the discoveries between the points indicated belong either to
one or other of the parallel beds, which course along the north
and east shores of the basin.
The Main Reef series is worked laterally for about thirteen
miles on either side of Johannesburg, the ground being held by
some sixty mining companies in various sized holdings of claims
and " mynpachts."
The depth of the holdings of outcrop companies to their dip is
variable, ranging between 250 and 6000 feet. Those properties
having less dip are usually in possession of proportionately greater
lateral extent. Properties are almost invariably extensive, and
thus ensured a term of mining life sufficiently long to satisfy
investors.
The majority of mines are producing and milling ore from two
levels, and developing in three—two in free milling, and one in
pyritic ore. On sinking the latter in hard rock at the water
level (about 150 feet), rock-drilling plants, ranging in capacity
from three to twenty drills—dictated by the means at the disposal


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
499
of companies—were imported, resulting in more rapid sinking and
development of successive levels and the capacity of the mines to
furnish greater quantities of milling rock. Additional stamping
power is, in consequence, being constantly ordered. The "Eobin-
son " stands at the head of the deeper mines, with 700 feet on the
incline.
Eeef Occurrence.
The Main Eeef series comprises four known beds, viz: The
North Keef, one to ten feet wide; Main Eeef, one to twenty feet

BOTTOM OP A SHAFT.
wide; Main Eeef Leader, three inches to three feet wide; and
South Reef, three inches to six feet wide.
The distance apart at which the reefs occur varies, but may be
taken generally as follows: Main Eeef, one hundred feet south of
North Eeef; the Main Eeef Leader, on the back of the Main
Reef; and the South Eeef, sixty to eighty feet south of the Main
Reef. Each reef consists of one or more beds or veins of
banket, frequently differing in size of pebble, and often horsed
with sandstone. Those carrying the largest pebbles are invariably
the richest.
The Main Eeef has five veins (at its widest) of which the
2 k 2


500
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
narrowest on its foot-wall carries the best gold. The grade of the
whole body is between 3 and 11 dwts. per ton. In a few pro-
perties the Main Reef is untouched, awaiting cheaper working
conditions. In others it is rained to advantage, together with the
Main Eeef Leader, which lies on its back, but occasionally with
a separation of a few inches of sandstone. Under these conditions
six feet width of low grade ore is profitably mined.
The Main Reef Leader, as stated, lies on the back of the Main
Reef. Occasionally the dividing sandstone bed widens up to ten
feet, in which case the Leader is mined alone with a high grade
yield. The majority of its pebbles are as large as a hen's egg,
and split. Sometimes pebbles as large as a man's head are found.
The South Reef ranges in width between three inches and six
feet, averaging one foot six inches, and has two veins of different
sized banket—that on the foot-wall, with largo pebbles, being, as
usual, the richer. The high grade yield of this vein and the Main
Reef Leader were the making of the Rand, and its mainstay,
through its earlier vicissitudes and extraordinary expenditure in-
volved in the establishment of a new industry in a remote region.
During this time the veins with a high grade yield were almost
exclusively mined. Gradually, however, as working facilities
allowed, the Main Reef has been more generally attacked, with
the result that whilst the grade of ore is being gradually lowered,
the tonnage and profits are steadily increasing. The results under
these heads for the three years, 1890, 1891, 1892, show-
Tons milled. Ounces won. Grade.
1890 711,877 494,817 13 36
1891 1,154,144 729,238 11 23
1892 1,979,354 973,291 9 77
Deep Levels.
To the south of the "outcrop" properties, and on the dip of
their reefs, are the Deep Levels. Between 2,000 and 3,000 claims
are pegged along the entire length of the Rand at distances
ranging from 250 to 6,000 feet from "outcrop." These have
been partially exploited by diamond drill bore holes up to 1,(XK)
feet vertical depth. The reefs are found in many cases richer and
wider than at their outcrop, and their " flattening" invariable.
Deep levels are held by various syndicates and powerful corpo-
rations, such as the Rand Mines, Limited, the Rand Deep
Levels, Limited, and the Rand Consolidated Deep Levels,
Limited, which own some 2,000 claims along the pick of the
Rand. They have found it worth their while to buy ground up
to 2,000 yards away from the "outcrop," and are now


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
501
commencing pioneer operations by sinking large shafts (3 and 4
compartments) to cut the reefs at a first depth of 1,000 feet
vertical. These ventures command the greatest confidence in the
most influential financial and mining circles, both here and at
home, and it is intended to thoroughly develop these mines in
preparation for large milling power. They will probably con-
tribute their quota to the output within the next three years.
Development and Mine Equipment.
The mines have been readily developed in soft sandstone, down
to the water-line at 150 feet depth, by Katir hand labour. At the
water-line a check was sustained by a temporary excess of water,
and by the change of the country to hard blue rock. Adequate
pumping machinery having been erected, and machine drills
introduced, development has proceeded at about three times its
earlier pace.
Mines employing drills are thus gaining on their mills, and
preparing for and ordering more stamps.
The well ordered mine is equipped with one or two main
hoisting and pumping shafts, as demanded by the extent of the
property; one shaft to 1,500 feet on the reef line being about
the average. Hitherto vertical shafts, sunk 200 to 300 feet on
the dip side of the beds, have been in vogue, but in consequence
of flattening of the beds, incline shafts, following their dip, have
been more recently adopted. The finest models of those shafts
are 20 feet by 5£ feet in section, and divided into four compart-
ments, viz., two main hoisting ways, sinking way and pump and
ladder way; and are timbered with 9 by 9 pitch pine sets, and
lagged with 2-inch plank through soft rock down to the water
line, after which in hard blue rock, lagging is rarely necessary.
Incline shafts are sunk by hand at about 40 feet, and by rock
drill at 60 feet per month.
Water is caught up and turned into cisterns immediately
below the water-line, and pumped up by Cornish pumps of
12 inches diameter, whicli are chiefly in use, and amply powerful
for the wettest mines. These are generally driven by independent
engines of compound type. Below this, shafts are practically dry,
and consequently there is a tendency in all new work, notably in
the inclines, to employ steam pumps in sinking.
Besides the pumps, a complete incline shaft equipment now
includes, a high-class winding engine up to 100 horse-power, with
three independent drums, fitted with clutch gearing, and hoisting
self-dumping skips. A pitcli pine 80-foot head gear, equipped
with grisslies, sorting floor, rock breakers, ore and waste bins, and
the necessary tracks.


502
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSBAND.
Ore ia hoisted, dumped, screened, washed, picked for waste, and
rough broken at the main shaft, and delivered clean to the mill,
which is located as near the main shaft as possible.
Mine Levels
are usually laid out one hundred feet apart on the incline of the
beds. At these intervals a shaft station is cut, a main cross cut
driven to intersect the banket beds, and levels driven on them to
both property boundaries. Water and tramways are graded down
to the main shaft.
In wide veins, on low grade ore, levels are driven 7 by 5, and a
stope drift is run overhead in pay rock. As these drives go
forward simultaneously, they are connected at every 50 feet or so
by a raise as close as possible to the "face." Those raises in rear
are stopped and a free circulation of air is thus created up to the
face, and both drift and overhead stope are effectively ventilated.
The six-foot rib of ground left overhead roofs the level in place of
timber, and forms a floor for the commencement of stoping opera-
tions overhead.
In richer veins of one to two feet wide, levels are driven in
country rock under the vein, which is subsequently stripped down
clean and sent to the mill. Levels are then timbered with three-
foot stullsand lagged over with three-inch diameter rough poles to
form a floor lor the stope overhead. Shoots are now put in every
50 feet to draw out broken ore, and all is ready for stoping. In
all cases winze connections between levels are occasionally sunk
on the veins to assist ventilation, and to cut up the stoping area
into a convenient number of working faces.
The mining of ore for the mill is accomplished by the various
methods comprehended under the term "stoping." A stope is a
working place on an ore vein. The vein is blasted and delivered
through rough timber shoots into cars in the level below. On
veins approaching the vertical in sound country rock,
"underhand" stoping is employed. All broken rock is sent out,
and the ore space vacated by the vein is for the security of the
workmen, either kept open on timber props or filled in with
rubbish. On flatter veins "overhand" stoping is done, and the
same methods of securing safety employed. Veins under 18
inches are "resued" i.e., barren rock is first broken out to make
working room, and thrown under foot to fill up the stope and
form its floor. The banket is then broken down, and in the case
of rich rock on to canvas, whence it is delivered clean into the
mill cars. Wide veins dipping under 30 degrees wall fall are
taken out by " long wall" or pillar and stall work, and the country
finally allowed to fall and fill up old workings.


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATEBSBAND. 1
503
In the employment of these various methods, necessitated by
the manner of vein occurrence and their irregular widths, con-
siderable differences in mining cost are found, and range between
5s. and 15s. per ton. Instancing this, may be taken the operations
of two of our leading mines—typical representatives of opposite
cases, the one working on high grade narrow veins, the other on
low grade broad veins. The high grade mine takes out two veins,
aggregating two feet wide, at a cost of 14s. per ton. The low
grade mine takes out ten feet, at a cost of 6s. per ton; yet,
notwithstanding this comparatively high mining cost, the high
grade mine makes four times as much profit per ton as the
low.
In dealing exclusively with small veins, the ore output of high
grade mines is, however, somewhat cramped, and the general
tendency, therefore, is now in favour of expansion by attacking
with largely increased milling power the lower grade main reef,
which shows improved results as depth is attained, and is now at
the lower current rate of working expense more generally payable.
Milling.
An analysis of pyritic banket ore reveals its constituents thus:
Sulphur, 3 • 38 per cent.; iron, 2 • 95 per cent. ; alumina, 0 ■ 55 per
cent.; arsenic traces, lime traces, insoluble residue (chiefly silica),
92-75 per cent.; moisture, 0*05 per cent.; gold, 0*0064 per
cent.; silver, 0 ■ 006 per cent. This analysis demonstrates the
exceedingly simple mineralogy of the ore, and the fact of the
gold being merely mechanically combined renders it susceptible
of the very highest percentage of extraction, as will be shown to
be in practice.
The oxidised ore above the water-line is known as " free mill-
ing." It is brown, soft, and slimy, whilst that below the water-
line is pyritic blue, hard, and slimy. The proportion of free gold
in oxidised and pyritic ores is about 80 and 50 per cent, respec-
tively. The balance of gold is carried in "mechanical combina-
tion " with oxides and sulphides of iron.
The method of treatment of both free milling and pyritic ores
is consequently comparatively simple, and in both cases identical,
thus:—
(a) Milling and amalgamation of free gold on copper plates.
(b) Concentration of auriferous oxides and sulphides, and their
treatment by chlorination.
(c) Treatment of tailings by the cyanide process.
By the employment of these methods in combination a nett
average return of about 93 per cent, of the ore value is readily
obtained.


504
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
Various types of mills have been in use here, from the " 3-stamp
prospector" to the 120-stamp mill, of 950 lbs. per stamp. The
most recently ordered mills are 1,000 lbs. per stamp, designed to
deal with increasing hardness of milling ore. "High mills " are
chiefly built, and in the absence of surface fall, ore is hoisted by
vertical and incline lifts from ground level to the topmost
"breaker" floor. In other cases, low mills are built, and breakers,
grisslies, and ore bins, attached to the main shaft head gear. The
most recent designs in this connection provide for "Gates crushers."
Whatever design the local conditions may require, substantial
construction and autonomy of working are always amongst its
chief essentials, and ore tipped from the mine cars finds its way
automatically through grisslies, breakers, ore bins, and feeders,
into the battery mortar box. This is fitted with back and front
copper amalgamating plates, and a front screen, usually of 30-
mesh or 900 holes to the square inch. Here the ore is crushed
wet, about half of the free gold is amalgamated on the inside
plates, by amalgamation with quicksilver, and the balance on
outside plates, lour feet wide, ten feet long, and graded down-
wards at 1 in 12. Thence the pulp, now minus, say, 60 per cent,
of its value, passes on to concentrating machines, such as Vrue
vanners or Scoular tables, which concentrate from about 15 per
cent, of the original ore value, leaving 25 per cent, to run into
the tailings.
The "concentrates" form about 2 • 3 per cent, of the ore bulk,
and range in value between four and eight ounces per ton, and
are treated by chlorination, with an extraction of 95 per cent
The tailings are run into dams holding 50,000 tons or so, slimes
settled and water drawn off. When fairly dry they are hauled
out and treated by the " cyanide process" with an extraction of
about 75 per cent.
The duty of a well-ordered mill running on 7J-inch drop, at 96
drops per minute, is 5 tons per stamp per diem, with a water con-
sumption, including concentrator and boiler, of about 240 gallons
per stamp per hour.
Mills and concentrators are principally driven by long stroke
engines, both simple and compound, and usually non-condensing,
on account of pumping expense. Most mills are lit by electricity.
Mill water supply is obtained from natural springs and mine
water, and after use is partially settled, and pumped over and over
again. Both steam and electrical-driven pumps are used for this
purpose as being the more economical.
The cost of milling, including maintenance and pumping,
ranges from 3s. Gd. per ton upwards, according to number of
'tamps employed, and their duty accomplished.








506
GOLD-MINING AT WTTWATERSRAND.
The Eobinson Gold Mining Company—the pioneer in the
introduction of the best methods of the industry—decided upon
its course of action, viz., to mill as usual, and to concentrate and
chlorinate the pyrites. They secured the services of an experi-
enced chlorinator from California, who designed, erected, and ran
the first works with entire success. These works formed the
nucleus of the extensive plant now owned by this powerful
company, which consists of four reverberatory furnaces, seven
leaching vats of twenty-five tons each, eight precipitation vats,
and seven waste liquor precipitation vats. The duty of this plant
is about 2,400 tons of oxidised concentrates, or 900 tons of pyritic
concentrates, per month.
The process of chlorination is ably described by Mr. E. P.
Rathbone, mining engineer, in an address to the Kimberley
Exhibition Conference "On the Occurrence and Treatment of
Pyritic Auriferous Ore " as follows:—
"Tho first, and probably the most important, step in the treatment of gold ores by
chlorine is tho necessary preliminary operation of roasting, which, it is essential
should be of the most perfect character. Many forms of furnaces have been designed,
both of the stationary and mechanical revolving type; but, upon the Witwatersrand,
only the former has proved successful. The object of roasting is to eliminate, as far
as possible, the contained sulphur from the sulphides of different metals, since the
sulphides of different metals such as those of iron, copper, lead and zinc will absorb
an almost unlimited quantity of chlorine, and it is therefore necessary to eliminate
the sulphur and satisfy the affinities of the metals with oxygen. The concen-
trates are charged into a large bed furnace of a capacity of about nine tons, and
are roasted by the heat evolved from burning coal placed at ono end in a specially
constructed firegrate. The process lasts about twenty-four hours. The sulphur,
antimony, and arsenic are driven off and escape through the smoke stack, but the
escaping gases are first compelled to pass through a series of dust chambers in
which the greater portion of the sublimated metals arc deposited, the dust collected

THE ROBINSON CHLORINATION WORKS.


GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSRAND.
507
being usually found to contain sufficient gold to render its extraction profitable.
Towards the end of the twenty-four hours' roast, about one per cent, of salt is added
to the charge, the contained chlorine of which is quickly absorbed by the ore. This
is then discharged through the bottom of the furnace into small iron trucks which
are run and tipped on to the cooling floors, where it is usually allowed to lie for
about twelve hours, sufficient water being added to keep it moist. It is then charged
into leaching vats, each of which has a capacity of about 25 tons. These vats are
closed with covers in such a manner as to prevent any escape of chlorine gas, which is
manufactured in a separate receptacle called a 'chlorinator,' that in use at the Robin-
eon Company having been specially designed and patented by Mr. Charles Butters.
The chlorine is transmitted into vats during a period of about twelve hours, and is
then allowed to remain in contact with the ore for a further period of forty-eight
hours, the total time being varied to suit the character and richness of the particular
ore. As soon as sufficient time has been allowed for the chlorine to combine with
the whole of the gold, water is turned on, and the gold is dissolved out, passing into
solution in the form of chloride of gold. The solutions are then drawn off into the
precipitation vats, and as soon as the whole solutions containing the gold have been
separated from the mass of sand and iron oxide, these are discharged ns waste pro-
ducts. Precipitation is effected by the addition of ferrous sulphate (Fe So 4.) The
liquor is constantly tested to ascertain tho time required to complete the process,
and as soon as this is practically complete, the resulting waste liquors are drawn off
into the waste liquor vats, where the precipitation of any small balance of gold still
remaining is effected by the use of scrap iron. About every six months the pio-
ducts in these vats are collected, remixed with the concentrates and treated in tho
furnaces. The gold precipitates are collected and smelted down in furnaces into
gold bars in the usual manner."
The pyrites bogey has thus entirely disappeared, and higher
gold extraction is now obtained in the pyritic than was formerly
got in the oxidised ore. Of the constituents used in making
chlorine gas, salt and manganese are obtained in the country, and
sulphuric acid is imported; but sulphuric acid works are now
in course of erection, with a view to the supply of this chemical.
Metallurgical works, which include tchlorination and cyanide
plants, have recently been erected by the Eand Central Ore
Beduction Company, under the management of Mr. Butters, and are
in successful operation. These Custom-works buy concentrates at
about !)0 per cent, of their fire assay, and make a charge of 80 pet-
cent, per ton for treatment.
The output of the Eobinson works for December, 1892, was
4,810 ozs. 8 dwts.
Tailings and Treatments.
After milling and (in some instances) concentration, the tailings
carry from 25 to 30 per cent, of the original ore value, in the
shape of lost free gold, lost concentrates, float gold, gold in slimes,
and coarser gold in insufficiently crushed gangue. By the cyanide
process, about 70 per cent, of this loss is recovered in free milling
tailings.
The cyanide process under the MacArthur patents is the
property of the Gold Eecovery Company, Ltd. Its application
at the Eobinson Gold Mining Company works has been described
by Mr. E. P. Eathbone in his address on the treatment of auriferous


508
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATEESUAND.
ores delivered before the Kimberley Exhibition Conference (see
South African Mining Journal, No. 19, '92). The tailings are
charged into large circular vats (each of seventy-five tons capacity
with a bottom discharge), which are then filled with a solution of
cyanide of potassium, the strength of which varies according to
the richness of the ore under treatment. After the first solution
has been run off, the tailings are washed with the weaker solution
of cyanide of potassium, which process is continued until the
dissolved gold is practically washed out. These auriferous cyanide
solutions are drawn off through a filter bed at the bottom of the
vats, and conducted through iron pipes to the extracting or
precipitating boxes, charged with zinc shavings, which act as
the precipitating medium. These boxes are fitted with a tray,
forming a false bottom, and when a clean-up is required, the
trays are lifted out, the coarse zinc shavings are washed, and
the gold slimes passed through a fine mesh sieve, to separate
any particles of zinc, which are returned to the boxes. The
slimes are then dried, sometimes first roasted, and fused with
ordinary fluxes. The bullion thus produced contains a quantity
of zinc, lead, and other impurities. The value may be taken
at £3 per ounce. The cost of working depends largely on the
scale of operations, arrangement of plant, and above all a know-
ledge of the process chemically. The extraction by this method
under favourable conditions may be said to be between 70 and
80 per cent.
In December 1892, cyanide returns from tailings amounted to
nearly 15,000 ozs., or over one-eighth of the total output produced
from only eighteen out of the fifty-seven active producing
companies, and its further more liberal employment on low-
grade tailings, with a corresponding increase in the Rand output,
seems imminent. For instance, at Langlaagte Estate, where the
largest plant is treating 12,000 tons per month, the cost is
5s. 9-787(Z. per ton. Taking then on 3 dwts. tailings worth 12s.—
a net yield of 75 per cent., or 9s.—and deducting 5s. lOd. for
expenses, a profit of 3s. 2d. per ton is realised. Under these con-
ditions every ton of tailings lying on the Rand is within reach
of profitable treatment by this process.
The Mollot Pkocess.
It will have been observed that under the MacArthur-Forrest
patents, the precipitation of gold out of solution is effected through
the agency of zinc shavings. It is claimed by the projector of
the Molloy process that this method is faulty, and has been in las
process improved upon. The difference is in the method of
precipitation of the gold from the cyanide solution, which its


510
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSKAND.
made in the vats, so as to secure easy filtration, higher extraction
could readily be got. This condition is contingent upon propor-
tional delivery in the first instance into the tailing dams, which
hitherto has not been successful. Partial failure in this respect
has led to experiments in the direction of primary separation of
slimes and tailings by hydraulic methods, and their subsequent
treatment independently; and experimental runs on slimes with
cyanide through a filter press, conducted by Dr. Simon and Mr.
Bettel, chief chemist of the Eobinson Company, have proved
successful, and it is understood that the method will be brought
into practice. Upon the successful treatment of slimes now
depends any increase in the percentage of extraction by the
cyanide process, and its addition to the present total of extraction
by the combined processes of amalgamation, chlorination, and
cyanide, which now stands at about 90 per cent.
Cost of Mining and Milling.
The cost of mining and milling ranges between 40s. and 12s. 6i.
per ton, and is usually governed by the size of the veins mined,
and consequent scale of milling. The prominent companies of
Eobinson and Lauglaagte are representatives of the opposite cases
of mining in narrow and wide veins respectively, with a wide
difference in cost, as shown by their last three months' return
to December, 1892 :—
Eobinson. Langlangte.
"Width of veins mined ... 2 feet. 10 feet.
Stamps employed ... ... 60 120
Tons milled 23,980 53,994
Expenses per ton—
Mining 14s. 3-4d. 8s. 6-179i.
Mine development 8s. 0s. 3-939(2.
Tramming ... Os. 2*474<f.
Milling 4s. l'A5d. 2s. ll-Qlld.
General maintenance ... 0s. 6 ■ 89(2.
General charges ... ... 2s. 7-55(7. 0s. 9-00U
£1 9s. 7-29tf. £0 12s. 8-6194
Revenue—
Total Eeceipts £82,886 9 3 £57,007 3 9
„ Outlay 35,500 8 7 34,337 4 11
Total Profit £47,386 0 8 £22,669 18 10


512
GOLD-MINING AT WITWATERSKAND.
represented by Mr. J. Hubert Davis, agent for Crompton & Co.,
London; (2) The Electrical and General Engineering Syndicate,
agent for Scott & Co., Newcastle, England; and (3) Woodkonse
& Rawson United, Limited, of London, represented by Mr. R.
Lewis Co u sens. An idea of the amount of electrical lighting may
be formed from the fact that one of the above firms has alone
provided plants totalling a capacity of about 8,000-candle power
lamps. Besides lighting, some companies have electrical trans-
mission in constant use, both above and below ground, and it is
only a matter of time before electricity will take the prominent
part that it should in mining operations.
Johannesburg town has also a central lighting station on the
alternating current system, with a present capacity of 2,500
8-eandle power lamps, and plant on the way for a very consider-
able extension.
In regard to labour, white miners are paid £4 10s. to £6 per
week, and smiths, tool-sharpeners, fitters, and carpenters from £5
to £6 per week. The supply of both miners and mechanics is, in
skilled men, barely equal to the demand. Tool-sharpeners able to
sharpen rock-drill bits are scarce, and readily command £1 a shift.
The Native population working at the mines is estimated at
35,000, and still the number is complained of as inadequate. The
Kafirs are employed at an average cost for wages of 15s. per
week, and for maintenance, 3s. per week. Efforts are being made,
however, to reduce Native wages to an average of 40s. per four
weeks, which would represent a saving to the industry of £150,000
per annum.
Excellent local coal is delivered in sufficient quantities at 17s.
to 20s. per ton. Under fair conditions it is consumed with a yield
of 6-horse power per hour. Local mining timber costs about 2s.
to 2s. Gd. per foot all round, and is in fair supply, but it is as little
used as possible beyond stulling and lagging for levels.
The country abounds in natural springs, and copious rains fall
in the summer half-year. On mines where reservoirs are built to
conserve the rain, scarcity of water is unknown.
Imported supplies are landed here by railways at an inclusive
importing cost of 40 per cent, on invoice, and delivery got within
eight weeks' despatch from London.
Imported and Colonial goods necessary to the industry and
living are most unduly taxed by the Government, and costs ou
both heads are in consequence still excessive. Bare necessaries
cost the working man 30s. per week.
The general conditions and facilities, however, now surrounding
the industry are favourable to cheap working and the readier
development of our enormous resources.


( 513 )
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE COAL FIELDS.
By Ebnest Williams, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E.
The coal measures of the South African Eepuhlic (Transvaal)
comprise the uppermost series of stratified rocks occupying the
greater portion of that part of the country known as the High
Veldt, extending from the Vaal Biver on the south to Middelburg
on the north, and from the eastern end of the Witwatersrand on
the west to Ermelo on the east. The general altitude of the
country is about six thousand feet above the sea-level.
The coal formation consists of a series of beds of coarse sand-
stones, shales, and clays, with local beds or deposits of coal of
varying extent, thickness, and character. The maximum thick-
ness of the measures so far as proved is about two hundred feet.
The rocks of this series are for the most part in a fairly horizontal
position, and are generally found to rest unconformably on the
quartzites and conglomerates which form the gold-bearing rocks
of the Witwatersrand. The predominant and most persistent
rock of the series is the sandstone, which is generally of a very
coarse and massive character, and usually overlies the coal seams,
or deposits of coal, and is easily traceable over nearly the whole
of the area above mentioned. Owing to the absence of fossil
remains the geological age of these rocks is a matter of doubt.
In some districts the deposits of coal are so numerous as
practically to form a continuous bed over a large area of country.
In most cases the main seam of coal is of considerable thickness;
in many places being over twenty feet thick, ten feet thickness
of clean coal being very common.
The coals are of very fair quality, and well suited to the
general requirements of the country. Portions of certain seams
would make a very serviceable metallurgical coke if properly
prepared and treated, but so far the coke produced is not good
enough to compete with English coke for smelting purposes.
The general conditions under which the deposits exist indicate
that the coal is of subaqueous origin, or drift coal. The coals
are generally of the dry semi-bituminous class, intermixed,
2 L


514
THE COAL FIELDS.
in most cases, with coal anthracitic in character. The coals
vary very much in different localities, and in many cases in
different portions of the same bed or seam. The coal from
some districts is free burning, from other districts it is quite
the reverse. Usually two or more seams are found separated
by bands of shale, varying in thickness from a few inches to
several feet. As a general rule the thicker seams are in the
lower portion of the measures.
The most extensive deposits are those of the Oliphants River
and Wilge River district, in which the coal is found outcropping
in the river bed, and in no case is coal known to exist at any
considerable depth. The existence of these deposits has been
known for a very long period, and it is probable that they were
the earliest discovered coal beds of any extent in South Africa.
Until recent years no systematic working of the coal was
attempted, as the small quantity of coal required for local use
was easily obtained from the bed of the river or stream during
the winter or dry season. In this district there are a great
number of collieries open and working at the present time, though
on a small scale. The coal is the best produced in the Transvaal,
if not in South Africa, and is much sought after for household
and smiths' use, and a small quantity is used for making illumin-
ating gas in Johannesburg. The principal market for the coal is
the Witwatersrand. This coal cannot successfully compete for
the Rand steam coal trade, owing to the cost of transporting it by
waggon for a distance of seventy to ninety miles. The total
annual production of coal from this district at present is about
fifteen thousand tons.
The Delagoa Bay Pretoria Railway will pass through this part
of the country, and it is very probable that with the opening of
the line the coal trade of the district in the immediate vicinity
of the railway will increase to an enormous extent. The coal will
be transported to Barberton, and will materially affect the work-
ing of the mines in that district, and doubtless very large quanti-
ties will be used for steam-raising in the various mines which
cannot be profitably worked at present owing to the difficulty of
obtaining cheap motive power.
Coal will also be transported to Delagoa Bay to be used as
bunker coal for steamers, and it is probable that a large export
trade will arise, the Middelburg coal being equal or superior to
any other South African coal. The Oliphant's River and Wilge
River district is destined to become the premier coal-producing
area in South Africa.
The next important discovery of coal was made on the Vaal
River near its junction with the Klip River, about thirty miles


516
THE COAL FIELDS.
The Boksburg seam is the only known deposit in proclaimed
Government ground in the Transvaal.
In searching for the Main Reef series to the east of Boksburg
further discoveries of coal were made; first, on the farm Brak-
pan, and afterwards on adjoining farms. Immediately on the
finding of coal at Brakpan active coal-mining operations were
commenced, so that now Brakpan holds the position of the
premier coal-producing pit in South Africa, with an annual out-
put of 198,000 tons.
For several years the whole of the coal raised at Brakpan was

BRAKFAN COAL MINE.
despatched to the Band by ox and mule-wagons, a method of
transport, at once cumbersome and expensive. In 1890 the
Rand tram was carried through Brakpan Farm, and in 1891 a
branch railway was built to the Brakpan Pits, thus placing the
colliery in direct communication with the gold mines. The
result of this connection has been that the property in the hands
of the Transvaal Coal Trust has become one of the most extensive
and profitable concerns in South Africa. The Company owns
the freehold of the farm extending over an area of over four
thousand acres, the greater part of which is coal-bearing. The
present capacity of the Brakpan Colliery is 1,000 tons per day.


THE COAL FIELDS.
517
The main seam of coal is from 15 feet to 20 feet in thickness and
yields an excellent steam coal.
The following is a section of the strata at this colliery:—
Feet. ins.
Surface soil
... 16
0
Clay
... 23
0
Sandstone
... 41
0
Shale ...
... 5
0
Coal
... 2
8
Shale ...
... 9
0
Coal
... 21
0
Shale
... 3
6
Sandstone
... 2
0
Brecciated quartzite
and
pebbles
... 3
6
Quartzite
... 3
4
Total
130 0
About six miles east of Brakpan is the Springs Colliery
exploited by the Band Tram Company (Nederlandsche Zuid
Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatschappy). This colliery has been
laid out in the most approved German manner, and is capable
of raising 100,000 tons of coal per annum. The seams of coal
being worked have an aggregate thickness of five to six metres;
the coal produced is a good locomotive fuel, and is extensively
used on the railway locomotives. This deposit is of very great
extent, and is being worked upon the adjoining farms by several
small companies, having an out-put of several hundred tons of
coal per month.
The Band Gold and Coal Industries are largely dependent one
upon the other, and were it not for the singular disposition ot
fuel close to the gold fields many of the gold mines would not be
worth working. The large demand for fuel for the Band enables
coal owners to mine large quantities and supply coal at low rates.
The average selling price of coal at pit-mouth at Boksburg is
eight shillings; and at Brakpan, twelve shillings per ton of ten
bags, each containing two hundred pounds. The cost of trans-
port by rail is twopence per ton per kilometre, making the
average cost of coal to gold companies about twenty shillings and
sixpence per ton, taking Brakpan as the standard.
The method, of mining generally followed is either Bord and
Pillar, or Pillar and Stall; the former being the more common.
The whole of the mining work is done by Kafirs, with white men
as overseers; the natives make very fair miners when properly


518
THE COAL FIELDS.
instructed. All the larger collieries are worked by means of
vertical hauling shafts with double cage-ways. Trucks of 10,12,
16 and 20 cubic feet capacity are used. Nearly all the mines
have adopted the 18-inch gauge tramway so common in all South
African mining districts. Owing to the high cost of timber very
little is used in the coal mines, it being cheaper to leave pillars
of coal to support the roof. The mines are not heavily watered
notwithstanding their shallow depth. Fire-damp is practically
unknown in any of the mines, consequently naked lights are used.
From an industrial and commercial point of view the Trans-
vaal coal deposits are of great value, situated as they are, close to
important and increasing markets, with a yearly production of
over four hundred thousand tons. The industry is only in its
infancy. The coal measures contain about fifteen thousand
million tons of coal, besides immense quantities of fireclay and
building stone of great value and importance. With cheaper
transport rates, communication with East Coast ports, and modifi-
cation of carrying arrangements, so that coal can be carried in
bulk instead of in sacks, the cost to consumer will be greatly
reduced, and further uses found for the coal as new markets are
opened up.


( 519 )
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SILVER MINES.
Besides gold and coal, deposits of silver, copper, lead, and iron
have been found to exist in the South African Republic, and there
is a fair prospect of an important smelting industry being estab-
lished in the not far distant future. The great drawback at
present is the lack of a supply of local coke. From time to time,
highly successful experiments have been made in the manufacture
of coke from Transvaal and Natal coal, but one cannot so far
regard them as more than experiments, and the silver-mining
companies have in the meantime to recognise that, pending the
achievement of practical results on a much larger scale than
heretofore, they must make shift by concentration to reduce
the bulk of ores, whether for shipping or smelting on the spot.
As far back as 1867, Mr. E. Button, already mentioned as one
of the pioneers of gold-mining in the country, discovered silver
ores on the property now known as the Transvaal Silver Mines,
and about 1875, Mr. E. Bray (afterwards discoverer of the Sheba
Quarry) worked argentiferous galena deposits in the Marico dis-
trict for some years. At irregular intervals, other deposits were
reported, and in 1885 the Albert Mine was discovered, where some
prospecting work was done by the owners, and later on a private
company or syndicate was formed to develop the property, which
may be considered the first serious effort at silver-mining in South
Africa.
The Albert Mine, Limited—which has a capital of £100,000—is
situated about 50 miles north-east of Pretoria, on the freehold farm
Roodepoortje, 8,913 acres in extent, the whole of which is the
property of the company. In the early history of this mine the
mistakes, seemingly inseparable from first mining ventures in new
countries, were made; the working capital was inadequate, and the
management inexperienced. The original shareholders, however,
were convinced of the value of their property and held on until it
was possible to reconstruct upon favourable terms, with the result
that during the last two years a considerable amount of work has
been done, and the Company has now entered on actual production.
The reports of geologists upon the property state that the


520
THE SILVER MINES.
country rock is " a compact reddish granite, traversed by veins of
quartz and pierced repeatedly by inruptions of intrusive green-
stone rocks. South of the Company's property the granites are
overlaid by a series of quartzites and quartzose mud stones, pass-
ing upwards into silicious sandstones containing local beds of coal.
These coal beds occur at a distance of five miles from the Albert
mine, but have not yet been opened up; however, about twelve
miles south lie the extensive workings of the Holfontein and
Klipfontein collieries. The metalliferous deposit on which the
present workings are being carried out has every appearance
of being a true fissure vein, striking east and west, over
100 feet in width, and having a lateral extent of 1,500 feet as
traceable on the surface. It is easily distinguishable by its
Parallel with this, and about 600 feet to the north, there is a
second lode, similar in appearance to the above. Comparatively
little work has been done on it as yet, but it is known to be of
very great width; and in this, as in the first-mentioned lode, the
iron ore, which constitutes the outcrop, carries silver and copper
in all cases.
From the workings in the first lode a large quantity of very
rich ore has been extracted, mostly bornite, or purple copper ore,
with grey copper, and a little copper pyrites; also hematite and
specular iron ore, carrying silver in very large quantities. Picked
samples of this class of ore run extremely high—at times over
1,000 ounces to tho ton.
The vein structure is not well denned, owing to the great
crushing and dislocation of the rock, resulting from the faulting
of the granite; but the south wall, at least, is definitely marked
by an edge of white granitic clay. The general mass of the huge
mineralized body is composed of quartzose hematite iron ore; and
although no part of either the copper or hematite iron ore is
entirely barren of silver, the yield is very variable across the
100 feet width, to which the lode has been proved so far.
Throughout this huge body there occur bunches of argentiferous
copper ore, but the developments at the 50 feet and 150 feet and
230 feet levels show that within this mass there are two well-
defined seams of rich ore, and the work has for some time been
confined exclusively to these portions.
The first seam or vein, as it might for convenience be called,
lies adjacent to the south wall of the lode, and varies from 3 feet
to 5 feet in width, having a value by assay of 45 ounces silver and
10 per cent copper per ton. Next to it there is a considerable
but varying width of lower grade, but still payable, concentrating
ore. No. 2 seam lies 25 feet north of No. 1, and is of a similar
massive capping of hematite


THE SILVER MINES.
521
description. It is 2 feet thick, and has a silver contents of 40
ounces per ton.
The above seams have been cross-cut at the 50 feet and 150 feet
levels, and are now being opened up by extensive drifting. At
the latter level the ore is of high quality—a 3 ton average sample
of No. 2 seam ore giving a result of 60 ounces silver and 14 per
cent, copper per ton. The main shaft is down 230 feet, at which
depth the third level is now being opened up, and it is anticipated
that the main shaft will attain a depth of 400 feet during the
current year. The mine is deemed capable of a monthly out-
put of 1000 tons of ore from the two rich seams as exposed in the
two levels opened up at date.
At the beginning of 1893, reduction work was commenced. A
twenty-stamp battery, of 850 lb. stampers, was used, the ore pass-
ing through 550 mesh screens and ordinary copper plates, where,
it is claimed, a fair proportion of metallic silver is caught. The
pulp is passed over three different styles of concentrators—the
first being the Scoular's tables, the second Vrue vanners, and the
third jiggs. Fifteen hundred tons of ore are now being treated,
and yield about 300 tons of concentrates. These concentrates are
reputed to contain 70 oz. and 12 per cent, of copper per ton, and
are at present shipped to England for treatment. Two bars of
smelted silver from the mine have been presented to the Govern-
ment of the Bepublic; and experiments are being made at the
Pretoria Mint with a view of extracting mintable silver out of the
concentrates.
The next silver locality is that in which the Willows,
Willows Estate, the Oaks, Mundt, and others are situated, but
the limits of this article will not permit of a detailed reference
to each of them. The property of the Willows (Argentiferous
Syndicate, capital £120,000) is situated some nine miles east of
Pretoria, and may be taken as representative of the district, being
equidistant from the Albert on the one side and the Transvaal Silver
Mines on the other. The geological characteristics differ widely
from those of the last-named mines. The country in which the
argentiferous lodes here occur consists chiefly of diorite and clay-
slate?, with dolomite and limestone in small quantities, and the
lodes are described as contact veins, occurring between a hanging
wall of diorite and a footwall of slate.
During two years an amount of over £80,000 was spent on the
property chiefly in development, machinery and experimental
works, but the methods thus adopted proved unsuitable for ore of
that class and quality, the presence of large quantities of antimony
and other refractory ingredients making the successful treatment
of it a very diflicult matter with such facilities as were then


522
THE SILVER MINES.
available. The funds of the Company were not equal to another
series of experiments, or a protracted period of unproductive work,
and the reduction works were shut down.
At various times tests on a fairly extensive scale were applied
to ascertain the value of the ore, and very satisfactory results
were obtained, but the processes differed from those adopted on
the mine. Ninety tons of ore from No. 2 reef were shipped to
Swansea for treatment, and a gross value of £22 per ton was
obtained, or a net profit of £13 per ton after payment of all
expenses. From No. 4 reef shipments of 150 tons were made,
the gross value received for which ore was £24 per ton. The ore
is described as consisting of carbonate of copper interspersed
with pyrites in No. 1 reef, and in No. 2 in the upper levels it is
green and blue carbonate of copper changing at greater depths
into sulphides.
Lodes Nos. 1,2 and 3 are opened up at two levels, giving backs
of 70 feet each. On No. 1 lode there is 300 feet of drifting, and
an average thickness of three feet of ore body is exposed. On No. 2
lode 700 feet length of vein has been opened up in the two levels
and a body of ore five feet in thickness exposed. From this lode
a profit of £13 per ton on shipped ore was realized as above
stated. Reef No. 4 has been opened up by 1500 feet of drifting
on the two levels, and the ore body has an average thickness of
three feet. The shipment of 150 tons as mentioned realized £24 per
ton, and there appeared to be every prospect of great success
before the Company when the want of capital prevented them
from profiting by their experience. The mine is now let on
tribute for a period of two and a half years, with the option of
renewal for the same term.
The country for very many miles round is reputedly argentiferous,
but it is not until " The Transvaal Silver Mines, Limited" are
reached, some forty miles to the eastward, that one again finds work
proceeding on anything like a large scale. This property is con-
siderably over 8,000 acres in extent, besides which the Company
holds a long option of purchase over another large area, through
which the silver lodes are believed to run. The mine is situated
in the district of Pretoria, fifty miles east of Johannesburg and
six miles from the coalfields. Although prospecting work has
exposed a number of lodes, more or less highly mineralised, only
two of these have heretofore been worked to any considerable
extent. These two lodes are about a mile apart, and the other
veins occur between these two, running parallel with them, and
having continuous outcrops of promising appearance.
The two main lodes, known severally as the "East" and
"West," are composed of massive seams of argentiferous galena


THE SILVER MINES.
523
mingled with small quantities of lead, copper, iron, and antimony
ores, with quartz and carbonate of iron as gangue. All the ores
in this neighbourhood maintain this character without appreci-
able variation, and are easy of treatment.
It is now two years since, upon the report of Mr. Hennen
Jennings, mining operations were commenced in earnest; and a
vast change has been wrought in the condition of the Company's
property. The place, once bleak and deserted, presents now an
appearance of life and business eloquent of the faith and energy
of the management. The mine is worked from one main hauling-

TBANSVAAL 8ILVEB MINES' WORKS.
shaft, which has now reached a depth of 330 feet vertical, opening
up levels at 130, 230, and 330 feet.
On the West lode there have been a number of incline shafts
sunk upon the course of the vein, proving a productive continuity
laterally of over 2,000 feet. Various depths have been attained
in these winzes, and the sampling of the lode, as exposed in them
and in the first level, gives a result of thirty-four ounces silver
and twenty-six per cent, lead per ton from a body of ore averaging
3J feet in thickness. On the second level (230 feet) the lode
shows an average thickness of six feet. Throughout the mine,
owing to the cost of mining timbers, the drift stop principle has
been adopted; solid strips of lode, five feet in thickness, are left


524
THE SILVER MINES,
as pillars, roofing the main galleries, pierced at intervals of fifty
feet by passes.
At the 130 feet level, where the greatest extent of lode is
opened up, the main drifts are now 850 feet in length, and as
the results obtained are in every way satisfactory, it is antici-
pated that the pay shute of the lode will correspond at this and
other level, with its surface extent of 2,000 feet, as proved by
the shafts already referred to,—in which case the productive
capacity of the mine would be enormously increased. The load
varies in the first level from 3£ feet to eleven feet in thickness,
but in the second level is more uniform, and varies little from
six feet.
Assay results throughout the mine are fairly regular, and it
is a noticeable feature that although the proportion of galena in
the lode matter may vary at times, the relative proportions of
silver and galena do not alter. The results of local tests, together
with those obtained in Europe from shipped ore, indicate the
great specific gravity of the ore, six cubic feet of lode matter
in the solid representing one ton weight of ore, of a metal value of
ten pounds sterling.
On the East lode another mine is being opened up; but as the
development of the West lode was for some while as much as the
Company could at one time cope with, the East lode remained
untouched, and the work is necessarily much less advanced. A
working shaft has however now been sunk to 100 feet depth, at
which point a level is being opened up, and drifts are in north
and south about 100 feet. Steam hauling and pumping machinery
has been erected, and development will be prosecuted on lines
similar to those laid down in the West lode. The vein at this
100-feet level is 2£ feet in thickness, and contains an 8-inch seam
of solid galena, with irregular distributions of galena throughout
the rest of the lode.
It has been the policy of the Company to ship as much first-
class assorted ore as the facilities for transport admitted of. This
assorted ore is practically base bullion, and up to March 31st,
1892, 940 tons had been shipped of an average value of 71 • 5 per
cent, lead, and ninety-one ounces silver per ton, yielding a profit
of £17 5s. 9d. per ton.
Recently, reduction works were erected, and smelting opera-
tions carried on at the mine, imported coke being used, and con-
siderable profits being the result. But the ore was found to con-
tain a larger proportion of sulphur than was at first supposed,
necessitating the erection of furnaces for de-sxilphuring; and it
was found that greater profits could be made by concentrating the
ore, and shipping the concentrates, than by smelting. A com-


THE SILVER MINES.
525
plele concentrating plant is now in course of erection, and will be
at work before the close of the year, when it is probable that, the
scale of operations will be more in keeping with the capabilities
of the mine.
In the earliest days of the silver industry, when the extent of
the "belt" was unknown, it was urged in support of adverse
opinions that mineral deposits of any value seldom exist in
isolated spots. If the converse of this—extent of mineralized
area, and continuity of lodes—be accepted as evidence of probable
value, there is now much to be said in favour of the silver deposits
of the Transvaal. The lodes on the property of the Transvaal
Silver Mines are traceable for miles on either side, and a great
deal of prospecting work has been done in the neighbourhood.
The country appears seamed with parallel lodes, some of which
carry a valuable proportion of galena, while others are barren of
all but the merest trace of mineral. Of the properties which
have not yet passed the prospecting and developing stage and
become regular ore producers, those of the Witpoortze Syndicate
offer an example. The Syndicate owns property, in extent
10,000 acres, embracing the farms Boschpoort !Nos. 1 and 2,
and portions of Brakfontein and Witpoort. On Boschpoort
No. 1, which is situated four or five miles south of the
Transvaal Silver Mines Company's property, there have been
discovered seven clearly defined parallel lodes, two of which
carry a payable proportion of galena. On these two, shafts have
been sunk to a depth of 150 feet, and a lateral extent of over
300 feet of lode opened up. The two lodes exposed in these
workings are 14 feet apart, and average samples taken at the
150-feet level from the entire lode, as far as exposed, have yielded
from No. 1 reef 202 ounces silver and 78 per cent, of lead, and
from No. 2 reef 80 ounces of silver and 70 per cent, of lead per
ton. A small shipment of galena from these two lodes was made
for purposes of testing; it was assayed to yield 177 ounces silver
and 70 per cent, lead, and realised in London £38 per ton. The
prospects of this lode were considered sufficiently good to warrant
work on a large scale, and a main working shaft in three com-
partments, timbered with 6 in. by 6 in. pitch-pine and lagged, has
been sunk to the 150-feet level, and equipped with the best
steam hauling and pumping machinery.
On Boschpoort No. 2 and Brakfontein work of a similar nature
is being done. On the latter farm the lodes are traceable by
outcrops for a mile and a half continuously. The ore bodies here,
although not as rich on the surface as the above, are very much
larger, varying from six to eight feet in thickness. Lately, some
very promising ore has been struck, but until the first level is


526
THE SILVER MINES.
reached and opened up no extensive tests of value can be made.
The work, which has been for some considerable time retarded by
influx of water, is now being rapidly pushed on.
On the neighbouring property—Groenfontein—rich strikes,
similar in many respects to the above, have been made, and a
large amount of capital is being expended in the opening up of
the lodes. On these and other properties in this neighbourhood
fresh discoveries are being constantly made, but, much as has
already been done in the way of development, it is insignificant
compared with what should, and no doubt will, be done. When
the more advanced of the mines succeed in attracting the public
attention, there is every reason to expect that an immense
industry will develop in the district.
It is, perhaps, too early to speak of silver-mining in the South
African Republic as a rival of the great sister industry at Wit-
watersrand, which has in six years outstripped all other enter-
prises in South Africa, and placed the Republic in the very fore-
most rank of mineral producing countries; but it is worth while
to examine the data given. Over a belt of country some
thousands of square miles in extent, indications of the presence
of silver have been met with. In some localities development has
been prosecuted with great success, when favourable conditions,
such as the command of capital and skilled direction, obtained.
In other places the discoveries are of a very recent date, and the
work is of too meagre a character to warrant the expression of
opinions or the framing of estimates, but prospects so far are as
good as, and often better than, those which marked the earlier
stages of work in the best of mines. In other parts, again, there
have been difficulties to contend with, other than those of actual
work, which have hindered the development of properties having
in them all the elements of success. In nearly every case, how-
ever, the actual mining work has warranted the confidence which
is now felt and shown in the silver mines as legitimate and
highly promising undertakings.


( 527 )
CHAPTER XXX.
THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS.
The Portuguese colony of Mozambique (constituting the Estado
d'Africa Oriental) is divided into two Provinces, viz., that of
Mozambique, north of the river Zambesi, and that of Lorenco
Marques, embracing all south of the Zambesi. The total area of
the East African possessions is estimated at 271,600 square miles,
and the population at 1,500,000, of whom about 400 are European
British subjects. The value of the yearly imports are about
£750,000, and the exports do not exceed £300,000. Both the
resources and the commerce of the country, however, are suscept-
ible of great development.
Quilhmane, a pleasant oasis in a wilderness of mangrove
swamp, has hitherto been the principal port for the Zambesi
district; but the Chinde Kiver mouth of the Zambesi—where a
township is springing up—is now largely made use of for convey-
ance to and from the British Central Africa and Nyassa territory.
Goods imported or exported at Quillimane in transit to or from
British territory are liable to a 3 per cent, ad valorem duty, while
those imported by the Zambesi are free of duty. British
steamers have on several occasions called at Chinde and landed
goods and passengers there; and small cargo steamers of the
African Lakes Company run between Chinde and Chilomo on the
Shire. They carry up cargo and passengers and bring down
coffee and ivory from the Shire Highlands and Lake Nyassa, and
oil seeds from the Zambesi. At Quillimane, the value of
imports in 1891 was £156,832, and of exports £112,000. In
the same year about £15,000 worth of goods was sent to the
interior from Chinde, and about 30,000 lbs. of ivory exported
without paying Portuguese duties. Transport by the Zambesi to
Senna and Tete is by means of lighter boats and canoes, all of
which run the risk of being capsized by wind and hippopotami.
From Tete to Salisbury in Mnshonaland is nearly ten days' march,
and steamers can run from Chinde to Tete in eight days.
Coal beds are found along the banks of the Zambesi river,
about twenty miles above Tete, and some of the Portuguese
river steamers use it
Agriculture is carried on, but on a limited scale. Each native


528
THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS.
hoes and cultivates his own little patch of ground. The crops
grown are rice, different kinds of beans, maize, millet, peas,
sesame seed, ground nuts, and in the cold weather most European
vegetables. The fruits produced are mangoes, oranges, limes,
lemons, guavas, grapes, pine-apples, pomegranates, and custard
apples. Vigorous efforts are being made to grow sugar-cane,
and coffee as well as pepper, vanilla, and sea island cotton.
Domestic animals are represented by a few horses, donkeys,
cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and poultry. Horses do not thrive, but
donkeys and mules do well. There are not enough cattle, sheep,
and goats to maintain a supply of butcher meat, and poultry
forms the staple article of diet. Fish of an excellent quality are
caught near the sea, but only in small quantities.
Some important portions of the country have been granted to
companies under concession. That granted to the Mosambique
Company, which has its headquarters at Port Beira, extends from
the Zambesi on the north to the river Sabi on the south, covering
an area of about 60,000 square miles. This company is established
under royal charter from the King of Portugal, giving sovereign
and administrative rights over the territory of the concession,
including mining, agricultural, industrial, and commercial under-
takings, or whatever may develop the wealth of the country. It
is under the obligation to provide for the settlement of 1,000
Portuguese colonists in the area of the concession within a period
of five years, and to construct the railway from Pungwe to the
frontier of Manica, passing through Massi-Kesse. Another com-
pany has bound itself to construct a railway from the Indian
Ocean to the shore of Lake Nyassa in seven years; and another
company, which has a concession from the Sabi River to the
Limpopo, engages to construct a railway from the Limpopo to
the frontier of the South African Republic in five years.
The first section of the Beira Railway, From Fontesville to
near Chimoyo's, a distance of about seventy-five miles, is just
completed, affording facilities for the transport of mining
machinery and supplies to the gold-fields of Mashonaland. This
will give an impetus to the shipping trade at Beira, where there
is a good safe harbour, which can be entered by vessels of large
tonnage. The starting-point of the railway, at Fontesville, is
about forty miles up the Pungwe River from Beira, and passengers
and goods are conveyed this distance by steam-tugs and lighters,
under the management of an English shipping company. The
country in the neighbourhood of Beira is full of game; buffalo,
wildebeeste, hartebeest, and quagga are found in vast herds, and
sometimes lions and elephants are met with; but the climate in
the summer season is malarial in parts, and infested with the


530
THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS.
taking any legitimate exercise. British currency is the ordinary
medium of trade, but taxes and import duties are paid in Portu-
guese money, which in the open market is at a discount of
12 to 15 per cent.
The imports at Lorenco Marques amounted in 1890 to
£613,850; in 1891, they fell to £497,583; and in 1892, to
£345,852. The principal business is importing for inland com-
merce, and the fact that other routes, through Natal and the Cap;
Colony, have lately been found more serviceable, accounts for the
decrease in its trade, which it is expected will revive again on the
completion of the railway now in progress, and the further
development of the eastern and northern mining districts of the
adjoining Kepublic.
Steamship communication as far as Delagoa Bay, Beim.
Chinde, Quillimaine, and Mozambique, is periodically performed
by the Union and Castle lines; and by the German East African
line, who touch at all the ports from Natal northwards, monthly.


( 531 )
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE GERMAN PKOTECTOKATE IN NAMAQUA-
DAMARALAND.
When the Cape Colony was first occupied by Great Britain, the
territory on the West Coast, including Angra Pequina, Walwich
Bay, and Alexander's Bay in latitude 15° 22' south, was taken
possession of in the king's name; and during the greater part of
the present century no attempt was made to interfere with the
claims of the British Government to be the paramount power
there. Trading relations were maintained with it by the
colonists, and by Swedish and Norwegian mercantile houses
having their headquarters in Cape Town. Missions were also
established by the London, Wesleyan, Rhenish, Finnish, and
other Missionary Societies. No government administration,
however, was set up in the country, although repeated applica-
tions were made for it, both by the missionaries and traders.
The Imperial Colonial Department resisted all the pressure
brought to bear upon them for annexation, on the ground that
"it might incur the possibility of responsibilities which could
not at the time be foreseen."
After the introduction of responsible government in the
Colony, the question was again mooted. In 1874, the chiefs
of the Herero tribe of Damaraland sent in petitions to the
Government of the Cape, asking for British protection; and
shortly afterwards the ministry of the day (Sir J. C. Molteno's)
moved and carried a resolution in Parliament to extend the
limits of the Colony to Walwich Bay, and such tract of country
inland as might be necessary, with due regard to the rights of
the natives. A Commissioner, Mr. W. C. Palgrave, who had an
intimate acquaintance with the country, was then appointed to
visit and confer with the Damara chiefs and people, and he
reported that a universal desire existed amongst the tribes for
British interference on behalf of peace and order; and they
agreed to set aside a valuable tract of land for the use of the
Government, from which to derive revenue for the establishment
of magistrates and the administration of the law, promising
payment of taxes should the amount accruing from that source
prove inadequate for the purpose.
2 m 2


532 THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE IN NAMAQUA-DAMARALAND.
Sir Bartle Frere, who was then Governor, brought Mr. Palgrave's
report under the notice of Earl Carnarvon, in a long and able
despatch, urging the extension of sovereignty over the territory,
which would ensure peace and order up to the Portuguese
boundary, Lake Ngatni, and the Transvaal, and prevent the
intrusion of any foreign power. His recommendations were that,
as a first step, an Order in Council should be passed empowering
the Cape Parliament to legislate for the purpose of annexing the
coast, and that in the meanwhile no time should be lost in hoist-
ing the British flag at Walwieh Bay. To this latter step Lord
Carnarvon assented, and it was shortly afterwards carried into
effect; but he did not sanction Sir Bartle Frere's larger proposals,
and within a few days he quitted office. Sir Bartle Frere subse-
quently renewed his representations on the subject, but Her
Majesty's Government continued of opinion that no action
should be taken; and in 1881, when Sir Hercules Robinson was
appointed to the government of the Cape Colony, specific instruc-
tions were issued to him to maintain the Orange River as the
north-western limit of the Colony, and to give no countenance
to the scheme for the extension of British jurisdiction over
Namaqua-Datnaraland.
In 1883, a Bremen merchant, Herr Luderitz, purchased from
one of the Namaqua Hottentot chiefs rights of property at Angra
PequinaBay.and his Government, through the German ambassador
in London, inquired of the Secretary ot State whether protection
would be extended to Herr Luderitz, intimating that if England
exercised no jurisdiction north of the Orange River, with the
exception of Walwieh Bay, Germany would itself do so. The
Secretary of State, Lord Derby, communicated with the Colony,
enquiring whether there was any prospect of the Cape under-
taking the control of Angra Pequina, and received a reply asking
that the matter might be kept open as the Premier was away.
Some time passed without any decision; and in the interval
Prince Bismarck, acceding to the pressure of German feeling for
the acquisition of new territory in Africa, adopted the old motto,
"Civis Romanus sum," and proclaimed Herr Luderitz and his
establishment under the protection of the Empire. The feeling
in the Colony was strongly against the creation of a rival interest
in a country which had always been considered as a commercial
dependency of the Cape, and when Parliament met, resolutions
were at once passed in favour of the annexation of the whole
coast up to the Portuguese boundary. The Imperial Government,
however, decided that these resolutions could not be acted upon.
The formal annexation by a civilised power of territory vacant in
the eye of International Law had been accomplished," and there


THE GEBMAN PBOTECTOBATE IN NAMAQUA-DAMABALAND. 533
was nothing to be done, but to acquiesce and to welcome Germany
as a neighbour.
The boundaries of the German Protectorate as agreed to between
the two Governments, in 1884 and 1890, are as follows: On the
south, the Orange River; on the west, the Atlantic; on the north,
the Cunene Eiver; and east, the 20th meridian of longitude up
to the 22nd parallel of latitude, then a line from longitude 21°
north to latitude 18°, and a strip in an easterly direction to tho
Chobe, and along its banks to the Zambesi Eiver, as shown on
the map.
Its area is estimated at 322,450 square miles, and its population
at 117,000. Of these the tribes of Hottentots in Great Namaqua-
land are about 10,000. They form two divisions, the Ava-Khoin
or Red Men, who claim to be tho aboriginal tribes, and the
Oorlams or Khoi-Khoin, who emigrated from the Cape Colony
about the beginning of the century. Besides these, there are
the Bastard Hottentots, originally from the Colony, forming the
community of Rehoboth, to the number of 1000 persons, while
scattered about the country are some 300 more. There are also
the bii8hmen—San, or hunting Hottentots—the aboriginal type
of the Abatwa of Central Africa, numbering about 1900. The
Damara population are 26,000; they are divided into two
branches, the Herero proper, and the Bandyeru, or Eastern
Damaras. There is also a tribe known as the Berg or Hill-
Damaras, occupying the mountain strongholds, who are distinctly
of the Bantu type, but who speak a pure Namaqua tongue, and
exhibit the primitive Hottentot customs and manners, as described
by Kolbein. They are supposed to have been an aboriginal
tribe, enslaved by the Gei-nams or Namaquas, whose language
they have adopted. They are estimated to number about 16,000
souls. The tribes of Ovamboland, including the Andonga,
Ongandjera, Unkuambi, and several others, are about 30,000.
Besides these there are the Bushmen, and the scattered tribes
of Ovamboland, Kaoko, and the north-eastern unexplored corner.
The white population, including the German police force,
missionaries, traders, and colonial Dutch farmers who have
recently crossed the Orange River into Great Namaqualand,
number over 1000.
A considerable part of the Namaqua-Damaraland territory is
uninhabited, especially the coast desert tract, covered by sand
dunes and drift sands. In Great Namaqualand, the drainage is
all southward to the Orange River, ana those who would reach
the interior from Angra Pequina, have from seventy to a hundred
miles to travel without pasture, and for water have to depend on
one or two salt springs, until the first plateau is reached.


534 THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE IN NAMAQUA-DAMARALAND.
Further east are the deep beds of the Oub and Nosob, periodical
rivers, which afterwards spread over the flats on the borders of
the Kalihari, in Bechuanaland. In north Namaqualand and
Damaraland, the Kuisib and Tsoaghoub (the Swakop of Galton's
Travels) run westward to the sea; and the Omuramba on Matoka,
another periodical river, runs north-east. Of the various salt-
pans, the largest is that of Etosha, between Damaraland and
Ovamboland.
Western and north-western Damaraland is essentially a cattle-
breeding country, and the people have vast herds at their various
cattle posts. Suitable pasture for oxen is everywhere abundant,
and although the northern part is too richly grassed for sheep
and goats, there are considerable tracts where the Cape sheep
thrive admirably. Portions of the country have an elevation of
5,000 feet, and the average is about 3,500 feet above sea-level.
Ovamboland is a comparatively low country.
Namaqua-Damaraland is tropical. During the summer months,
the daily temperature ranges from 86° to 90° Fahrenheit, while
on very hot days 108° has been observed. The nights again
compensate for the heat of the day, the thermometer showing
60° and 50° Fahrenheit. The rainy season is from October to
March and April. In South Namaqualand, especially in the
Hinterland, winter rains, with occasional snow-falls, occur; and
the pasturage is in many parts covered with the rich bushnian
grass, and abundant saline bushes like those on the southern
Karroo. The climate altogether is healthy, except in the north
and north-western parts of the territory, where malarial fever
prevails in summer.
The rock formation of the country is somewhat similar to that
of Namaqualand and the Cape Colony, viz., granite, gneiss, slates,
and schists, and crystalline limestone, with the mountain elevations
generally constituted of the old red sandstone. These formations
are occasionally intersected by quartz reefs and a ferruginous
felspathic rock known as "the copper bearer." This last
formation is found from the Orange Kiver iu the Bondelzwarts
territory, as far as latitude 27° towards the Kharas mountains;
also in the north of Great Namaqualand, the western part of
Damaraland, and the Kaoko-veld. Indications of copper abound
all through the country. The Matchless mine is situate about
76 miles south-east of Otjimbingue. There the rock is chiefly
micaceous schist, penetrated by a quartzose mineralised vein,
carrying carbonates, silicates, and oxides of copper. This
property was worked thirty years ago, until the breaking out of
lung-sickness made it impossible to procure transport to Walwich
Bay, and subsequent wars between the Hottentots and Damaras


536 THE GERMAN PROTECTORATE IN NAMAQUA-DAMARALAND.
khoma Exploring Syndicate, who have received mining con-
cessions over about 30,000 square miles in South. Namaqualand,
and freehold grazing lands over an extent of 16,000 square
miles; and the South-West African Company, an Anglo-German
association, who have received a concession of 21,000 square
miles of land, including the Otavi mine, and are now engaged in
developing that property, and surveying routes for railway
purposes from various central points to the coast.
The Cape Colony is still the possessor of Walwich Bay, and is
represented there by a resident magistrate. This is the inlet and
outlet for the external trade of Namaqua-Damaraland. There is
a good landing-place with secure anchorage in shore. The silting
up of the adjacent Sandwich Harbour, coupled with the ever-
existing and well-nigh insuperable difficulties in the way of traffic
between that port and the interior, enhances the importance of
Walwich Bay as the only practicable port (save Angra Pequina
far to the southward) on the long coast line of the territory.


538 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS.
The prevailing idea of South Africa being a hot country, in the
sense of Indian or even Australian heat, is a mistake. The
greatest heat of calm summer days is not more than in the
hottest parts of Europe, and lasts but for a short time. Nowhere
is it excessively warm or humid, except along the coast-line from
Natal eastwards; and even in the tropical zone the greater the
altitude reached in going towards the high tablelands of the
interior, the cooler and more bracing does it become.
The mean annual temperature for the Cape is 61*26° F., a near
approach to the mean summer temperature of England, 62° F.
The seasons are not so well marked as in Europe. Along
the coast-lino it is possible to trace the difference between
spring and summer, winter and autumn; but further inland it is
not so easy, as the seasons run one into the other without any
marked distinction; spring becomes summer, and auttmm
insensibly merges into winter before the difference is perceived.
The seasons also come in the reverse order to those in Europe.
Christmastide with us is nearly mid-summer, with grapes and
peaches and strawberries growing in rich profusion on all sides;
our rich corn lands then yield their abundant harvest; and no
picture can be imagined more different to the snow-covered
European landscapes of this time of the year.
The following table will show more clearly the difference in
seasons here, which the invalid should bear in mind in arranging
his journey to this country:—
Europe.
March.
April.
May.
June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
December.
January.
February.
South Africa.
Spring.
Summer.
Autumn.
Winter.
f September.
-! October.
(November.
(December.
-J January.
[ February.
[ March.
April.
May.
June.
July.
August.
The seasons are somewhat earlier in the western parts of the
Cape Colony, where they are generally better marked, because


SOUTH AFEICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 539
the winter coincides with the rainy and coldest parts of the year;
while in the eastern parts of South Africa, as well as in the high
tablelands of the Karroo districts, the Orange Free State and the
Transvaal, the winter is cold and dry, no rain falling at this
season. This is a very great advantage to the invalid who is
required to escape the damp and moisture, for by travelling from
one part of the country to the other he can quickly and safely
escape the wet months.
To what a great extent this occurs will be made clear from the
following table, taken from Dr. A. Puller's book, • South Africa
as a Health Eesort,' showing the greater rainfall in summer as
compared with the winter in the eastern parts of the Cape
Colony.
Name op Town.
Summer
Rainfall.
Winter
Rainfall.
Total Inches.
Graaff Keinet
10
ins.
ins.
Colesberg
83
13i
Queenstown
16
)>
20i-
Aliwal North
19
J3
5
24"
Grahamstown
18
11
29
Cradock
6
»
3
9
9t
Mean of six towns
129
5-4
18-3
»
This increased summer rainfall, though in one respect a disad-
vantage, bringing as it does much moisture, is a very great boon:
it cools the atmosphere, purifies the air, and makes the summer
climate of the uplands more pleasant than it would be otherwise.
Spring is a most delightful season. The clear buoyant atmos-
Ehere, the blue sky, the green fields, carpeted on all sides with
eautiful flowers in richest profusion, exhilarate and cheer beyond
all description; the long day, with its abundant sunlight, the cool
night, and the lovely cloudless sky, with its bright stars shining in
myriads, all help to make a powerful impression on the mind
which no time or distance can efface. This season, coinciding as
it does with the European autumn, is the time of the year which
is to be recommended for invalids arriving here to escape the
European winter.
The summer season varies somewhat in character in different
parts of South Africa. In the western portion of the Cape Colony,
as has been observed, it is the dry season of the year; but in the
eastern divisions and along the uplands of the Free State, Trans-


540 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AKD HEALTH EESOBTS.
vaal, and Natal, it is the rainy season. In the highlands of the
interior the prevailing winds are of local origin, and blow from the
north-west for a short time, with much dust, followed by thunder-
storms, with a heavy downpour of rain—sometimes a perfect
deluge—which rapidly runs off or is soaked into the dry and
thirsty soil; then the clouds disperse, and, as if by magic, all is
changed. The atmosphere is clear and dry, the grass sprouts
out, and as far as the eye can see is a vast green prairie, with
low undulating hills bordering the distant horizon, the grass
close-cropped and green as if in an English park. At this season,
in the direct rays of the sun at Kimberley or in the Karroo, the
heat may be very great, but, owing to the peculiar dryness and
rarefaction of the atmosphere, it is easily bearable. Oases of sun-
stroke are rare; and Europeans work out in the open in all kinds
of weather without any special protection, either at the mines or
in the fields.
The warm day is succeeded by a cool night, the radiation of
heat being rapid on the higher levels in the Free State; and in
the higher altitudes of the Cape Colony the day is cool and the
air exhilarating, even in the warmest weather.
The winter everywhere is mild, no great extremes being met
with, even at the higher altitudes. Snow rarely falls, nnd ice is
met with only after a severely cold night, in thin sheets, rapidly
melted by the first rays of the sun. On the coast the winter is
temperate, but moist. In the Karroo and in the Free State it is
simply cold and dry.
Too much attention cannot be directed to this division of
Southern African climates, because it must be apparent at once
that while the coast climate may be very suitable for one invalid,
the climate of the interior, at an altitude of four or even six
thousand feet above the sea-level, may be very harmful, and vice
versa. Upon a proper understanding of this depends much of the
happiness and comfort of many invalids, who are now sent abroad
without inquiry, to the South African health resorts.
The following classification, framed on the basis of the physical
contour of the country, will, I think, be useful:—
I. The climate of the Coast: (a) of the Cape Colony; (6) of
Natal.
II. The climate of the Karroo: (a) the Great Karroo; (b) the
Northern Karroo.
III. The climate of the Interior Plateau: (a) Kalihari Desert
and British Bechuanaland; (6) Free State; (c) Transvaal.
IV. The climate of the Mountain Eegions: (a) Mountain dis-
tricts of the Cape, Cape Colony; (b) Mountain districts
of Basutoland; (c) Uplands of Natal.


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 541
I.—The Coast Climate.
(a) Cape Colony.
The climate of the coast-line of the Cape varies along the
western side from that on the eastern, but in general terms it can
be best described as a dry marine climate. The climate of the
north-western coast is very dry, especially in Namaqualand, where
rain rarely falls, the only moisture being due to fogs coming from
the sea. The coast, however, is dull and uninteresting, with a long,
low, sandy shore extending almost the whole way from the Orange
River to Cape Town. For the invalid this presents no attraction,
and the few sparsely inhabited spots would offer no accommodation.
On the south-eastern and eastern side, however, the character
of the coast and of the climate alter. The coast is indented by
bays and inlets, and great buttresses of the eastern mountain
ranges break off to dip into the sea, giving it a wild and rocky
outline. The climate of this area differs very materially from
that of the interior. It is very healthy, and is suitable to a large
class of invalids. There is no dangerous fever-belt such as is
described by travellers in tropical Africa. Indeed, fever of that
type (malarial) is almost unknown, and occurs only at Kimberley
in a mild form, and in certain parts of the South African Kepublic.
But, as far as the Cape Colony is concerned, I should say that the
occurrence of malarial fever is less frequent than in the Thames
Valley in England.
At the south-western extremity is Cape Town, the capital of
the Cape Colony, a considerable city, lying snugly at the base of
Table Mountain. The town is situated on a lovely bay, which
has been compared by travellers to the Bay of Naples, anil
said by competent observers to be more beautiful, lying closed
in on three sides by striking and picturesque mountains, with
suburbs of great beauty in its neighbourhood. "In all the
world," says Mr. Froude, the historian, in his Oceana, "there is
perhaps no city so beautifully situated as Cape Town; the grey
cliffs seem to overhang it like Poseidon's precipice, which
threatened the city of Alcinous; from the base a forest of pines
slopes upwards wherever trees can fasten their roots, and fills the
entire valley to the margin of the houses." Here the invalid who
is suffering from overwork, nervous depression, or bladder or
renal affections, or who is troubled with some of the milder pul-
monary diseases, or, broadly, who is likely to be benefited by a
stay in a dry marine climate, can find rest and comparative health
either on the pine-covered slopes of Table Mountain, in Cape
Town, or at Wynberg and Diep River, or Sea Point.
The mean annual temperature is 64*5° F., while the mean


542 SOUTH AFEICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS.
summer temperature is 71*5° F.; that of spring and autumn
64 5° F.; and that of winter 57-2° F.
The winter mean of the Riviera ranges from 47° F. to 51° F.,
with a rainfall of 25 inches falling upon 45 to 80 days.
The rainfall for the Cape Peninsula, taking a mean of fifty
years, at the Royal Observatory, was 25*46 inches.
During 1891, the absolute maximum temperature in a Steven-
son's screen at the Royal Observatory, at 8 a.m., was 96-l° F. in
January, with a relative humidity of 69; the absolute minimum
36 • 6° F. in July at noon, with a relative humidity of 67. For the
year 1891, the mean relative humidity was 65'2 taken at noon,
and the rainfall 30*62 inches, distributed over 79 days. At
Sea Point, one of the suburbs of Cape Town, the rainfall was 19 • Ul
inches, falling on 59 days.
This year (1891) cannot be regarded as an average one, the
rainfall having been considerably larger than is usual.
Cape Town is very rapidly being improved under a progressive
municipal administration. New drainage, electric lighting and
wood paving will soon transform it into a model city; ami
modern, well-equipped, and spacious hotels for invalids and
others, are now about being erected. To the traveller it is
always an attractive spot. The long balmy day with abundant
sunshine in summer; the winter without any very great ex-
tremes; the comparative rarity when the sun, even in winter,
is obscured by clouds for more than a short time—all combine to
render the climate a most enjoyable and delightful one. Invalids
from warm climates, especially those suffering from malarial fevers
and its attendant troubles, enlarged livers and spleens, and the
poverty of the blood so often caused by it, are especially benefited
by it. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, the Cape was
the sanatorium of India, and it was here that the Anglo-Indian
recovered his health and vigour to return to battle with the
heat and plagues of the East. Dr. Stovell, writing in the Bombay
Medical Journal, says :—"No climate in the world could be more
agreeable to the feelings, and very few more beneficial for the
usual class of Indian invalids, than a Cape winter. There is an
invigorating freshness about this season equally delightful and
beneficial; the moment the rain ceases, the clouds rapidly clear
away, and the sky remains bright for several days."
For those who are convalescing from acute diseases, the plentiful
sunshine and the long balmy days of our summer help soon to make
rosy the anaemic tissues, and restore the broken down health.
In anaemia consequent on certain blood diseases, or as a result
of scrofula or the various diseases of the lymphatic glands, I
have observed most marked improvement from a residence here.


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESORTS. 543
By changing the abode from Cape Town to Wynberg or Kalk
Bay" on the one side, or Sea Point on the other, a more bracing
and tonic, or a more sedative climate can be obtained within a
very small radius. During the three summer months the
prevailing south-east wind, which blows sometimes with great
vigour, is not beneficial to those who suffer from lung complaints;
but this is not felt under the shelter of Lion's Head at Sea Point,
three miles from Cape Town, or among the pine groves of
Wynberg, some seven miles off, both beautiful and fashionable
suburbs.
The "south-easter" is a bracing, ozone-laden wind blowing
across thousands of miles of the South Atlantic, and rejoices in
the title of the "Cape Doctor." Dr. Harry Leech, writing in his
'Notes on South Africa for Invalids,' says, very properly, "I
can safely say that even the air of Wynberg on the one side, and
of Green and Sea Point on the other side of Cape Town are very
good atmospheres for invalids, and, indeed, far better than can be
found at most times of the year at any so-called Sanitaria in the
United Kingdom or the Continent of Europe. And there is this
very great advantage in choosing South Africa as a climatic pre-
scription. Even for the invalid who does not care, or is not able to
go beyond the precincts of Cape Town, a residence in the Wynberg
district during the summer months (Cape summer), and at Sea
Point during the winter months, will avoid the disagreeable
circumstances that obtain on both sides of the capital at certain
seasons of the year."
Further along the coast are situated Mossel Bay, Knysna,
Port Elizabeth, East London, and in Natal, Durban—ports all
visited by large ocean steamers starting from Cape Town on the
way to Natal. They all present much the same climates, and
are not to be highly recommended for the sufferer from chest
complaints; but to the voyager for rest or change they are suit-
able for a visit.
(V) The Coast of Natal
The climate of the coast lands of Natal is warm and enervat-
ing and, except during the winter months, should be avoided by
the invalid. During the winter months, however, a most
enjoyable journey may be made in this very beautiful country.
Durban, the port, is beautifully situated, with a tropical richness
of foliage, and surrounded by hills covered with the greenest
verdure. The hotels have the reputation of being the best in
South Africa.
The highest temperature during 1875 was 99° F., the lowest
45° F. The mean daily range was 17'05; the approximate mean


544 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS.
daily temperatures were, highest 82° F., lowest 56° F. The total
rainfall was 54*78 inches, falling in 131 days.
The coast voyage from Cape Town to Natal is made use of
yearly by a large number of invalids, both from England and the
Cape. The summer climate, however, as already mentioned, is
unsuited for patients suffering from phthisis. Invalids are
recommended at that season to make their way as soon as
possible to the Natal uplands, where several exceedingly good
health resorts are to be found.
II.—The Climate op the Karroo.
This region, so very justly famous in the treatment of
pulmonary affections, is now well known by its Hottentot name of
"Karroo,' signifying "dry," a fitting description at once of the
great dryness of its climate as well as of its parched and arid soil.
It consists of (a) the Great Karroo and (b) the Northern Karroo.
(a) Tlie Q-reat Karroo.
This is a vast plateau of considerable elevation, averaging about
3000 feet above the sea level, while the average height of the
mountain ranges is about 5000 feet, some places rising to
7000 feet.
The special character of the Karroo climate is its excessive
dryness. Rain falls at rare intervals only, in small local shower?,
at very irregular periods. Many months elapse without a drop of
rain; then suddenly, in a brassy molten sky, a small cloud appears,
"the size of a man's hand"; it thickens and grows rapidly,
and woe betide the luckless traveller who has no shelter. The
lightning begins to play, the thunder to roll, and the much-
needed, and always longed for, rain falls in torrents to break the
drought that not infrequently curses this region.
The summer temperature is considerable, but is easily bearable
on account of the dryness and rarefaction of the atmosphere; the
warm day is succeeded by a cool refreshing night, except where
the motionless air is closed in in the vicinity of mountains.
Rapidly after the rain the clouds clear off; the water sinks into
the parched ground, or runs in torrents along the water-courses,
whose dry beds intersect the country on all sides. The atmo-
sphere is pure and fresh and wonderfully exhilarating, and so
dry that it is said a clean polished steel razor can be left out
all night in the open without fear of its acquiring one single
speck of rust.
The winter in the Karroo is very cold, but bright and bracing,
with abundant sunlight. The variation between the temperature


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESOBTS. 545
by day and night is considerable. Snow falls generally on the
mountains and sometimes on the higher plains; bat excepting on
the mountains it rarely lies for more than a short time.
The climate of the plains (Eichmond, Beaufort West, Frazer-
burg) is said to be enervating and depressing in summer, but
berg, JSieuweveld, Zwarteberg) on the other hand the summer
is cool and stimulating, while in winter the cold is great. In
general, therefore, it is best for those who cannot stand the cold
well to spend the winter at a lower level.
Dr. W. H. Saunders, a well-known practitioner of deserved
repute, and specially fitted to speak from personal experience of a
residence in the Karroo, sums up some very interesting remarks
upon this: "The winter of the Karroo is, in the writer's opinion,
the best season for pulmonary invalids; but unfortunately it is
just the time at which none such arrive, coinciding as it does with
the European summer. . . . Taken as a whole, the air of the
Karroo may be considered to present some, at least, of the fea-
tures of mountain air, of which, according to Dr. Weber, the
main physical features should be:—(1) Purity, comparative
absence of floating matter; (2) Dryness of air and soil; (3) Cool-
ness or coldness of air temperature, and great warmth of sun
temperature; (4) Karefaction; (5) Intensity of light; (6) Stillness
of air in winter; (7) A large amount of ozone. In winter all these
features are present in greater or less perfection, but in summer
the great heat, the prevalence of winds, often dust-bearing and
very hot, and other drawbacks often lead to lassitude and loss of
appetite. There is further the impossibility, except in the robust,
of taking the amount of exercise and out-door life demanded by
this disease; further, the inadequate ventilation found in most of
the houses renders indoor life unhealthy. The most feasible
escape from these drawbacks is in my opinion to get to the
mountain heights in the summer; up to the present, this has not
been practicable from the want of any accommodation for invalids,
bat steps are being taken to supply this want."
The Karroo is easily accessible to the invalid, the main line ot
the Cape Government railways to the interior runs across its
whole breadth towards Kimberley, and via Bloemfontein to the
Transvaal (Johannesberg and Pretoria). Leaving by train from
Cape Town, the line passes through the fertile and prosperous
western districts of Stellenbosch, Paarl, Wellington, etc., to reach
Ceres Koad Station, 84£ miles from Cape Town, and 10 miles
from the noted health resort of Ceres, a charming village situated
at 1493 feet above sea-level, in the Bokkeveld mountains at
the entrance to the Karroo.

2 N


SOUTH AFBICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH EESORTS. 547
good accommodation, first-class table at the hotel, &c. The
invalid who is journeying north is advised to break his journey
here for a time, to recover strength and to accustom himself to
the higher altitude and increased rarefaction of the atmosphere.
The total annual rainfall (1891) was 5-41 inches, falling on 22
days—a wet year too! Matjestontein is resorted to now by a large
number of invalids, and the results obtained in many instances
are uniformly good. Cases of consolidation of the lung after
pneumonia or pleurisy, asthma, chronic bronchitis, inveterate cough
are all benefited, and many sufferers from phthisis derive much
benefit from a stay here. It is cool in summer, and invalids find
no difficulty in taking long walks even in the middle of the day.
The climate is bracing, and the effect of the bright atmosphere is
most exhilarating. The coming and going of the through trains
to Kimberley and Johannesberg and to Cape Town supply a
constant source of interest, not easily obtained elsewhere in the
Karroo.
From Matjesfontein the line passes through the village of
Beaufort West, which enjoys a considerable repute as a very good
health resort, with fairly good accommodation in the hotels and
boarding-houses of the village. It is 339 miles from Cape Town,
and lies at an altitude of 2792 feet above the sea level. The
village is well laid out, with broad streets planted with rows of
trees, and is visited by a considerable number of invalids. Ia the
neighbourhood, at the base of the Nieuweveld Mountains, some
20 minutes by cart from the village, a sanatorium has recently
been opened, called "Lemoenfontein." It lies 400 feet higher
than Beaufort itself, and has a charming site. Here every
arrangement has been made to suit the comfort and convenience
of visitors. This will supply a very great want in the Karroo,
as, up to this, no large enough establishment has been started
to give residents those comforts and conveniences which can only
be obtained when a large number of persons live together. At
Beaufort West the average rainfall during 1891 was 9*44 inches,
which fell on 41 days. On some of the farms in the neigh-
bourhood, in the Nieuweveld Mountains, invalids are received
as boarders.
At Wagenaar's Kraal, which is four hours' drive by post-cart
from Nelspoort Station, a couple of English families receive
resident invalids. The results I have observed in patients of my
own lead me strongly to recommend this locality. The altitude
has not been determined, but is assumed to be about 3500 feet
above sea level. The annual rainfall (1891) was 14'35 inches,
falling on 38 days; the mean annual humidity 64*0. The fol-
lowing observations, taken at 8 a.m. during 1891, show the mean
2 h 2


548 SODTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESOBTS.
maximum temperature for the three warmest summer months
was 82°F. The mean minimum temperature for the three coldest
months was 35'4° F., while the greatest actual cold was registered
in August and September at 25° F. At this place, moreover, there
is a resident physician, specially qualified to deal with all condi-
tions to which this climate is most suited.
Graaff Beinet, with an altitude of 2500 feet above sea-level,
is the terminus of a line of railway from Port Elizabeth, at a
distance of 185 miles. It enjoys a considerable repute as a health
resort, but it is hot in summer. In winter, however, it is well
suited to cases of phthisis. Under any circumstances, a residence
in the neighbouring hills is to be preferred to the town.
Cradock, lying near Graaff Beinet on a line of railway from
Port Elizabeth about 181 miles, at an altitude of 2850 feet, has a
good climate well suited to pulmonary complaints. It has an
annual rainfall of 26 • 81 inches falling in 69 days.
Tarlcastad, five hours by cart from Cradock, with an elevation
of 4280 feet, has an exceedingly good climate which is much to
be commended. It is not shut in by hills, and is cooler than some
of the other Karroo resorts. There is, moreover, good accommo-
dation here, with capable physicians of good repute at hand.
(b) The Nortlter-n Karroo.
The Northern Karroo lies at a considerably higher elevation
than the Great Karroo, from which it is separated by the
Nieuweveld and Sneuwberg Mountains. It includes the whole
of the northern divisions of the Cape Colony, and extends from
Namaqualand on the west to the Stormbergen in the east. It
varies in height from about 2700 to 6000 feet above the sea-
level, while the mountain ranges run to a considerably higher
altitude, Compass Berg being 7800 feet high.
The marked feature of this area is its very considerable altitude,
which may be said to average about 4000 feet above the sea level.
At an altitude so considerable as this, with an exceedingly dry
climate, it is to be expected that pulmonary complaints should be
rare, and an almost unanimous opinion has been expressed by those
practitioners who live in this locality that phthisis among the
inhabitants born and bred here is almost unknown. At what
altitude an immunity to phthisis occurs has yet to be established;
but it is certain, so far as experience goes, that here in South
Africa we have conditions which are widely different from
those occurring elsewhere. The peculiar dryness and rarefac-
tion of the atmosphere in the Karroo, with the more constant
sunlight, rich in actinic properties, and the absence of great


550 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 1
under a cloudless sky. Our principal rainfall is in summer—
sharp and short thunderstorms.
North of the Orange Eiver are Kimberley and Barkly West.
Kimberley, 647 miles by rail from Cape Town, possesses a
climate which, while well suited to invalids suffering from
pulmonary affections, has yet disadvantages which make it
impossible to recommend it generally. The occurrence of a form
of malarial fever of a mild type, and the general prevalence of
dust, together with the heat of summer, make it by no means a
suitable climate for invalids. Certain cases of slight pulmonary
disease, in otherwise robust individuals, who wish to obtain work,
may be permitted to reside there. The altitude is 4042 feet,
and the annual rainfall (1891) 34-23 inches, with a relative
humidity of 63 "2.
A short distance from Kimberley is Barkly West, on the Orange
River, where a hospital and sanatorium has been erected for
invalids, with an altitude of 3800 feet. This has been strongly
recommended by the late District Surgeon, Dr. Harrhy, who has
reported very remarkable results obtained here in the treatment
of pulmonary complaints.
Ill—Climate of the Interior Plateau.
The interior tableland of Central South Africa extends from the
Orange Eiver northwards. The whole of this area is practically
one vast undulating plain, with here and there low hills or moun-
tains. In Bechuanaland, in the Kalahari Desert, and in the
so-called Bush Veld of the Transvaal there are extensive forests
of trees, but they are the exceptions; and one may travel for days
through the Free State and the Transvaal without seeing any
trees or bushes except along the river banks, where a few stunted
mimosas are to be met with.
(a) Bechuanaland.
Dr. Livingstone, the great African traveller, who spent many
years in this district, considered Bechuanaland as admirably
suited for all patients having pulmonary complaints. "It is the
complete antipodes of our cold, damp English winter. The winter
is perfectly dry, and as not a drop of rain even falls from the end
of May to the beginning of August, damp and cold are never
combined. However hot the day may have been at Kolobeng
(and the thermometer, previous to rain, sometimes rose to 96° F.
in the shade), yet the atmosphere never had that straining and
debilitating effect so well known in India, and in parts of the
coast region of South Africa itself. You may sleep out of doors


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH EESOETS. 551
with the most perfect impunity, as for many months not a drop of
dew falls."
Vryburg, the capital of British Bechuanaland, at an elevation
of 4,300 feet, and 744 miles from Cape Town, has been in existence
too short a time to offer good accommodation for any but the
robust invalids who are willing to rough it.
The country on the border of the Kalahari is teeming with game,
and for men with weak lungs who can go upon short or even long
hunting expeditions, making Vryburg their centre, this district
has much to recommend it. I have seen remarkably good results
in the case of at least one patient who spent a year travelling and
shooting in this district; and I think his example may be imitated
by others with benefit.
(fc) The Free State.
The Orange Free State forms a portion of the great central
plateau of South Africa, stretching from the Maluti and Drakens-
berg range of mountains on its eastern side, to the Vaal and
Orange rivers, through vast plains from 4000 feet to a general
level of about 5000 feet.
This plateau has a considerably higher elevation than that of
the Karroo, as shewn by the altitudes of some of its principal
towns.
Bloemfontein . . 4518 feet above sea level.
Kroonstad
Ladybrand
Phillipolis
Harrismith
Smithfield
4500
5000
4700
5000
4400
When it is remembered that the elevation of Wiesen in the
Alps is 4757 feet, and of Davos Platz in the same valley 5124
feet, it will be seen that here we have an elevation which approxi-
mates very closely, and in places exceeds that of the most famous
of the Alpine health resorts in Europe.
The climate of the whole of this area is most delightful, being
cool and bracing, with a bright superabundant almost dazzling sun-
light. The days in summer during the morning and evening are
cool, but in the middle of the day the heat is considerable, while
the nights are cool and refreshing. During the winter the air is
balmy and warm in the sun, but the nights are intensely cold, the
temperature rapidly falling to some degrees below freezing-point.
This climate, in other words, is much akin to that of the Karroo,
though the average amount of rainfall is greater and is more
evenly distributed; the greatest rainfall takes place in summer,


552 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESORT9.
while the winter is the dry season. The short stunted Karroo
bushes which occur in the lower terraces have disappeared here,
and the whole country is covered with abundant grass, but with-
out any bush or trees. The soil rapidly absorbs the water, and
a few minutes after rain the ground is dry.
The winds are of local origiD, and blow, as in the Karroo, from
the north and north-west; they rise suddenly and pass away
rapidly. They are, however, disagreeable, as they stir up a good
deal of dust; but in other ways they are not injurious, and are not
frequent.
Ur. A. Fuller, of Kimberley, writing about the climate of this
portion 'of South Africa, says: "We find that during the six
hottest months of the year the average maximum temperature is
82° F., the average minimum for the same period 55° F., and the
highest for one month being 60°; the humidity during these
months registered 55 per cent, on an average. The heat of
summer, therefore, is considerable, but perfectly tolerable with
the dry atmosphere; the nights are deliciously balmy, and enable
the invalid to sleep with doors and windows open during the
night, or even to sleep altogether in the open air. This
is of the greatest advantage to the invalid, who, above all things,
requires as much pure air as he can get. The dryness of the
atmosphere—humidity 55 per cent.—contributes largely to this
procedure."
This State, under wise and judicious government, has made
great strides, and offers many inducements to those who, though
crippled in health, have yet energy or money to develop fresh
undertakings. For a limited number of professional men there is
always some opening, and in this beautiful and healthy climate
many not able to live elsewhere will find ample room and scope.
I know several instances of such men who have made this State
their home, with the most beneficial results. To invalids who
are not strong enough, who require careful nursing and treatment,
and whose cases are otherwise suitable, the various towns offer
accommodation and skilful 'attendants well suited to all such
cases. For example, Bloemfontein, the capital, a town of some
5000 inhabitants, has risen into very great reputation in the
treatment of pulmonary complaints, and presents many advantages.
Good accommodation and several good practical practitioners, who
huve devoted great attention to pulmonary complaints, and who
have carefully studied the effect of the climate of this Free State
upon such cases.
It is still much to be deplored that no first-class sanatorium
exists in this plateau, with an attempt to treat phthisis in the
regular and systematic manner that has been attempted in the


SOUTH AFBICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESOHTS. 553
Alpine resorts in Europe. The main trunk line to Johannesburg
and Pretoria running now through the Free State, every part of
it is easily accessible from the coast.
Taking the Meteorological Commissioners' Eeport published by
the Cape Government for the year 1891 as a sample—though this
is by no means an average year, as much more rain fell than is
usual—the following observations taken at Bloemfontein show the
mean barometric pressure for the year was 25 ■ 545; the lowest
mean occurring in December, 25*433; the highest mean in July,
25 • 709. The total annual rainfall for the year was 34 ■ 57 inches,
falling on 70 days, and the mean annual amount of cloud 3 ■ 9.
The rainfall for 1886 was 17*47 inches, which would be nearer
the usual average. At 9 a.m. the mean relative humidity for the
year was 63*4, being highest in April, 77*0, and lowest in
September, 49 * 0. At the same hour the mean annual maximum
temperature was 77*5, the mean minimum 46*8. Comparing
these figures with Davos-Platz, the most noted of the Alpine
resorts for consumption, we find: "The amount of rain was in 1867,
according to Spengler, 37 *43 inches; in 1876, according to Steffen,
41 *41 inches. Rain or snow fell in 1876 on 159 days, the number
of clear days being 112." Again: "The mean relative humidity
was in 1876 75*2, ranging from 80*4 at 7 a.m. to 5*76 at 1 p.m.
. . . and being on the average somewhat higher in winter
than summer."*
The climate of Bloemfontein, therefore, with nearly the same
altitude as Davos-Platz has many advantages in a certain class of
cases, especially where great and continuous cold is contra-
indicated. The climate is shortly that of a warm, dry Alpine
climate, with an excess of sunlight and a minimum of cloud.
During a year which was particularly rainy (1891) the total
rainfall took place on 70 days, as compared with 159 at Davos-
Platz, and on very few of these days would it be impossible for
the invalid to get out and take his usual exercise. What has
been said of the Bloemfontein climate applies broadly to the
whole of this plateau.
Dr. Clarke, of Bloemfontein, in an interesting paper on " Bloem-
fontein as a Health Besort in Cases of Diseases of the Lungs,"
read during the last year to the Cape of Good Hope Branch of
the British Medical Association, says: "It has long appeared to me
that the cases which do best at Davos, at an elevation of 5,124 feet,
are the cases which are most suitable for Bloemfontein, at an
elevation of 4,500 feet." While Dr. Stollreither, a well-known
practitioner of Bloemfontein, writes: "In spite of the insufficient
* Hermann Weber, 'Treatment of Disease by Climate.'


554 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH EESOBTS.
accommodation, however, the results of the climatic cure are not
only good, but often surprising. Suffice it to say that I have seen
many a perfect cure of asthma, laryngeal and bronchial catarrh;
consumption of the lungs I have seen greatly improved and even
cured. The climate is invigorating and strengthening . . ."
Further, writing with reference to the suitability of the climate
of Bloemfontein to consumptives, Dr. Clarke, in his interesting
paper before alluded to, says: "I have been accustomed to
consider the summer months as most stimulating, and the winter
months as most bracing. The irritability and restlessness in
those of excitable temperament, which further in my paper I have
alluded to, almost always occurs in the summer months. Another
point which a patient coming here should be warned of is that for
the first few days of his stay he will find many of his symptoms
alarmingly increased. The nights are often restless, the appetite
bad, and the breathing very much shorter. These increased
symptoms seldom remain after the first week, but I find it a
source of great relief to new arrivals to learn that they are of
common occurrence." Dr. Clarke particularly recommends the
climate of Bloemfontein in cases where the disease is not far
advanced, and where there are no complications, combined with a
cheerful but not excitable temperament; cases of ill-formed
chest, with feeble action of lungs, in persons descended from
phthisical or scrofulous parents; in flattening or consolidation
after pleurisy or pneumonia. On the other hand, cases of chronic
phthisis with a cavity, and where a considerable haemorrhage has
already taken place, are unsuitable, as well as acute phthisis with
lung tissue rapidly breaking down, and attendant high evening
temperatures and indigestion.
When writing of a district, the whole of which is exceptionally
good for a certain class of pulmonary diseases, it is difficult to
select one more especially than another. For example, Boshof,
a pleasant little village 30 miles or five hours by road from
Kimberley, is very highly commended by Dr. Arnold Watkins,
a practitioner of well known standing, at one time resident
there, who says: "I have from time to time seen patients
sufferiug from phthisis which had developed in Europe or some of
the coast towns, and many of them have marvellously improved in
health during a residence in the Free State." And again,
Harrismitb, with its great altitude, must rise into repute as a
resort for invalids suffering from phthisis. It does not possess,
however, the other advantages and social life which Bloemfon-
tein does. It has, however, a climate which can be warmly
recommended.
In the neighbourhood of Bloemfontein and in other parts the
■


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 555
farms are sometimes provided with accommodation for one or two
invalids; information on this point can generally be obtained at
Bloemfontein.
(c) The Transvaal.
Beyond the Vaal Kiver, to the North of the Orange River Free
State, and extending to the Limpopo River, lies this considerable
state, the South African Bepublie, which has attracted such great
attention on account of the discovery of its vast and rich gold
deposits.
The elevation of this plateau is very considerable, as will be
seen from the following table:—
Potchefstroom
Heidelberg .
Wakkerstroom
Utrecht
Standerton .
Pretoria
Johannesburg
It must be said that probably these elevations are below the
mark, the general elevation of this plateau being from about
5000 to 7000 feet.
Although lying in the semi-tropical zone, the climate of the
Transvaal is cool and bracing. When it is remembered that it is
estimated for every 300 feet of altitude the thermometer falls one
degree, it can be readily seen that the greater altitude of the
Transvaal ensures for it a cooler climate than the coast districts.
"The winter season, from April to September, is cold and dry,
particularly during the nights; the days are often as warm as in
summer. The rains commence in September, but as a rule the
heavy rains do not set in before December and end in March.
Thunderstorms are very frequent and violent
during the summer months; hailstorms are also frequent and
often destroy vegetation and crops within a few minutes; while
during the winter months cutting, sharp, cold winds blow from the
south, and the High Veldt and Drakenberg Mountains are
frequently covered with snow " (F. Jeppe).
The mean annual temperature is (J8-64, being an average of
three years.
Owing to the absence of published official statistics of the
meteorology of the Transvaal, it is impossible to give very
reliable information as to the climatology of this interesting
country. It will not be long, however, before this gap will be
3900 feet above sea level.
5000
6000
11
99
3528
»>
I)
5200
»
•«
4450
19
••
5600
M
>1
19
• J


556 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS.
filled up, as accurate observations are being taken in different
localities.
Through the courtesy of Mr. W. H. Miles, C.E., I have been
permitted to make use of his exceedingly valuable observations
on the meteorology of Johannesburg.
The total rainfall for 1889 was 19-85 inches, falling on
59 days; 1890 was 25-94 inches, falling on 69 days; 1891
was 40-85 inches, falling on 99 days; 1892 was 27*54 inches,
falling on 94 days. During 1889 absolutely no rain fell for five
months, from May to September, which is the usual rainless
season, 075 inches only having fallen during this period in 1890.
The rainy season generally sets in in November and continues to
April; severe thunderstorms followed by a heavy fall of rain.
During 1892 the highest barometric pressure was 25-56 for July,
the lowest 25*02 occurring in December. The mean temperature
for the three summer months of December, January and February
was 72-91° F., while for the winter months, June, July and
August, 52-74° F. In 1892 the averages are slightly higher.
During the winter months great and sudden changes are ex-
perienced—for example, in May, 1892, on two days the tempera-
ture in the sun fell from 111° F. to 30° F.; in June on 19 days
from over 100° F. to under 40° F., and on 14 days from over
100° F. to freezing point; in July on 18 days from over 100° F.
to freezing point. In August on 12 days from over 100° to under
40, and in 5 days from over 100° to freezing.
Johannesburg, the centre of the Witwatersrand gold fields, hag
grown with phenomenal rapidity in a couple of years into a large
and fine city. Lying at such a great altitude, with a cool dry
bracing atmosphere, it has a most beneficial effect in certain cases
of pulmonary diseases. But the town is dust-laden, and the
sanitary arrangements as yet are very imperfect. In the winter
the great and sudden changes should be guarded against In
summer the climate is most exhilarating and stimulating (without
having the effect of prejudicially affecting the nervous tempera-
ment, so often noticed in the Karroo at a lower altitude), due
doubtless to the cool and bracing atmosphere. In several patients
who suffered from asthma on the coast this disappeared rapidly at
Johannesburg.
Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic, is some 35
miles north of Johannesburg, with which it is connected by rail.
It is not to be highly recommended for invalids, who do badly
here as a rule. The town is shut in by hills, and is exposed to
sudden changes, which are very trying to weak persons. Taking:
the figures published by Mr. J. E. Lys, of Pretoria, as the only
accessible ones, we find that the total rainfall was for the following


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 557
years:—1877, 21-45 inches; 1878, 2663 inches; 1879, 30-74
inches.
The mean annual temperature (3 years) was 68 64° F., while
the mean monthly maximum temperature for the three summer
months was, in 1877:—December, 89° F.; January, 92° F.;
February, 86° F. The mean monthly minimum temperatures
being recorded in June, 43° F.; July, 42° F.; August, 40° F.
during the same year.
Heidelberg is a charming village, very pleasantly situated, well
laid out, with good accommodation, and easily reached from Johan-
nesburg by coach. It has a considerable elevation, and is likely
to become a favoured resort for invalids.
Standerton, too, has a very favourable climate, though the
accommodation there is not to be commended.
At Wakkerstroom, near the Natal border, the altitude (6000
feet) is a most suitable one, but no good accommodation has yet
been provided for the invalids. The establishment of a sanatorium
here is much to be desired. The climate is exhilarating and
bracing, and most beneficial in pulmonary cases.
Potchefstroom has a most beautiful site on the "Mooi Eivier,"
and has a climate which has many advantages.
While the southern grass-covered plains of the Transvaal are
particularly healthy, in the north, along the Zoutpansberg, and in
the valleys of what is known as the "low country," a malarial
fever occurs, especially during the rainy season, which is severe,
and will prevent this part of the country from being attractive to
the invalid. As far as the southern parts of the Transvaal are
concerned, however, they are much to be commended for phthisis
and other pulmonary diseases.
IV.—Climate of the Mountain Kegions.
The great tablelands of South Africa are separated from each
other by two parallel ranges of mountains, which start in the west
and continue through the eastern divisions of the Cape Colony to
join in the Stormbergen and run on to become the Drakensberg
range, which divides Natal from the Transvaal. There is not,
anywhere in the whole of South Africa a single peak which rises
above the limit of perpetual snow. In this region, however,
there are many localities with very desirable climates for invalids,
and, when employed as an adjunct to the Karroo resorts, of the
greatest benefit in cases of consumption especially.
While the altitude of the Karroo is such as to enable it to be
classified as a mountain climate, the dryness and absence of cloud
give to it those peculiar features which are not so much the
characteristics of a mountain climate, in which, together with


558 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS.
altitude, we have a greater amount of moisture, more frequent
variation in temperature, together with more intense cold in
winter and the occurrence of cloud. This marked difference is no
less important from a climatic than from a therapeutic point
of view, for while the climate of the plain may be relaxing or
even enervating, especially during the summer months, that of
the mountains near by is tonic and stimulating.
(«) The Mountain Districts of the Cape Colony.
In the neighbourhood of the village of Ceres, for example, the
Cold Bokkeveld has an Alpine climate with hardly enough warmth
in summer to ripen cherries, and so cold in winter as to force the
farmers to descend with their flocks to the lower and warmer levels
of the Karroo to escape the snow which lies on the ground here
for weeks at a time. The climate of this locality is most bracing
and stimulating. No accommodation, however, exists, except
that which the farmers are able to provide.
Not far from Beaufort West is a flat-topped range of mountains
called the Nieuweveld Mountains, where several farmers provide
accommodation for invalids; while in the Zuurberg (3192 feet),
not far from Port Elizabeth, hotels have been built and
accommodation provided for invalids, who find the air stimulating
and exhilarating. The Zuurberg mountains are covered by dense
bush, with grand mountain scenery well worthy of a visit. The
railway to Grahamstown passes near this range.
Grahamstown, lying 42 miles from the coast, is easily reached
by rail from Port Elizabeth or Port Alfred. It has an elevation
of 1854 feet above the sea level, is sheltered by hills, charmingly
situated in a romantic neighbourhood, and is a pleasant English-
like town with beautiful gaidens and walks.
The Hon. Dr. G. W. Atherstone writes very warmly of the
advantages of this climate: "During my professional life of 45
years in Grahamstown I have known cases of consumption far
advanced completely recover, and even phthisical cavities have
cicatrised and the progress of the disease has been entirely
checked when confined to one lung."
The town has many advantages for a large class of invalids,
and especially for those anxious to reside there; there are good
schools, English society and pleasant surroundings.
Near to Graaff Reinet, in the Oudeberg Mountain, is situated
a mountain health resort which is well spoken of. An hotel has
been built here, and suitable accommodation has been provided
for invalids. It is reached by cart from Graaff Reinet in two
hours. Lying at an altitude of about 3930 feet above the sea, it
is nearly 1500 feet higher than Graaff Reinet itself. It has a


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 559
cool and invigorating climate, very refreshing after the warmth of
the plains. The highest point at the summit of the mountain is
5680 feet above sea level.
Not far from Grahamstown is King Williamstown, at an altitude
of 1314 feet, and with a climate similar to that of Grahamstown.
At the foot of the Stormberg Mountains, Queenstown is situated
at an elevation of 3500 feet above the level of the sea; it is 154
miles from East London, which is reached in about nine hours by
rail. The mean temperature of the four hottest months is 69° F.,
and of the four coldest 52° F. The annual rainfall (mean for 20
years) is 22*71 inches, the rainfall during 1891 being 43*16 inches.
The mean humidity during the same period was 70*9. The
climate of Queenstown is well adapted to the treatment of cases
of consumption which require, together with altitude, a dry,
equable climate. The summers are cool, but the winter is cold,
snow being not infrequent, and lying on the ground for days
sometimes before it is melted away.
Lying between Grahamstown and Queenstown is the far-famed
Katberg Pass, in the Katberg Mountains. The elevation of the
Lower Katberg is 3380 feet, while that of the higher is 4990
above the sea level. The whole of this is a most wild and
beautiful neighbourhood; ridge after ridge of mountains tumbled
about in wild confusion, tree-clad from base to summit, present-
ing a variety of scenery not commonly met with. The tourist
will find much to enjoy in a visit to this beautiful locality.
Good accommodation is obtainable, and it is best reached by cart
from Fort Beaufort. The climate is cool and bracing, even in
summer, while in winter it is cold.
Not far from Queenstown, and lying at the opposite side of the
same range of mountains—the Stormbergen—are the villages of
Sterkstroom, 4405 feet, and Dordrecht, with 5500 feet above
the sea level. The climate of these places is dry and cool in
summer and intensely cold in winter. The whole of these districts
are inhabited by English farmers of the best class, and on several
farms very suitable accommodation is obtainable for invalids.
Further to the north-east, not far from the Basuto border, is
Barkly East, 5831 feet above the sea level, with a mountain
climate, cool throughout even the warmest summer.
(b) Mountain Districts of Basutoland.
Beyond the border, in the native territories of Basutoland
and East Griqualand, there is a most delightful mountain
climate, exhilarating in summer and intensely cold in winter.
Dr. H. S. Taylor, of Ficksburg, a practitioner of repute and


560 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESOBTS.
experience, writing of the climate of Basutoland, says:
"The climate of Basutoland is one of the finest. The air is dry
and bracing, the nights even in the height of summer always cool.
The days in summer are warm, though the heat can seldom be
called excessive. The winter months, June, July and August, are
cold (intensely so at night) and dry, rain very seldom falling
from May to October; the air bright, sunny and bracing.
Frequent showers fall during October, November and December.
The mouths of January and February are the rainy ones, and
the rainfall is then abundant. Frost is generally met with
towards the end of April; May is a delightful month, and June
is the commencement of winter. As a sanatorium, especially for
phthisical complaints, Basutoland would be unrivalled, particu-
larly in selected portions; but the time has hardly come for its
being used as such, except in isolated cases. The difficulty of
access, the half settled state of the country, the scarcity of luxuries
and sometimes the necessaries of life, the want of accommodation
for invalids, and the uncertainty of the future fate of Basutoland,
are all stumbling blocks that must be removed before organised
sanatoria can flourish in the country."
(c) The Natal Uplands.
The climate of the Natal Highlands may be most accurately
included under the heading of mountain climates, for not only is
the elevation considerable, but the country is very irregular and
mountainous. Starting from the coast, we find that the land rises
rapidly by a series of terraces.
"The first terrace, 1730 feet high, rises above the village of
Pinetown, 12 miles inland; the second, 2,432 feet high, is at
Botha's Hill; the third, 3700 feet high, begins on the Town Hill
above Maritzburg, 45 miles from the sea; and the fourth, 5000
feet high, forms the highlands between the villages of Weston
and Estcourt. From this point the surface rises and falls with
little variation till the Pass is reached, which crosses the Berg at
an elevation of 5600 feet, and at a distance of 225 miles from
Durban by rail. The Berg itself is the rugged cliff-edge of the
crowning terrace, the vast central plateau of South Africa,"—
Mussel's 'Natal.'
The climate in the lower of these terraces is dry and cool, while
at the higher elevations it is cold and bracing. There can be
said to be only two seasons: the winter begins in the month of
April and continues until the end of September, the summer
starts in the month of October to end in March.
During the winter months, the temperature at night falls to 45°


.062 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH EESOBTS.
very good reputation as a resort for invalids and further
along the line are Estcourt (3900 feet) and Colenso (3435
feet), both small villages, with climates highly spoken of by
invalids.
Further along the same line of rail, which runs from the port of
Durban to the extreme limit of the Natal border, where it touches
the Transvaal, are the towns of Ladysmith (3284 feet high),
Newcastle (3893 feet high), and on a branch line Dundee (4104
feet high). Of these towns Newcastle has been especially well
spoken of as a health resort, but one can say that they are all
good.
Lying on the Natal border is a new township, Charlestown,
which owes its existence to the fact of its being the terminus of
the Natal Une of railways. It lies at an altitude of 5386 feet, in
a mountainous district, overtopped by the historic Majuba moun-
tain, aud near the no less famous mountain pass of Laing's Nek.
The surrounding scenery is grand, and this place well deserves a
visit. No data exist as yet, unfortunately, with reference to the
climate of this place. The air is pure and bright, and the atmo-
sphere is cool and bracing, being exhilarating. To invalids who
require a dry warm mountain air, Chariest-own can offer many
advantages.
The great elevation ensures for it a cool climate during
the warmest summer months, while at the same time the
proximity of the mountains, rising to 7000 feet at Majuba,
shelters it from the winds and gives the landscape a charm and
variety.
The climate of Natal is the boast of the Natal colonist. It may
be said to be semi-tropical in the lower terraces and temperate in
the higher. While along the lower terraces the vegetation is
tropical, in the higher terraces the country is mostly covered with
grass. The climate of these upland districts is of great benefit
in almost all pulmonary diseases. In incipient phthisis and in
consumption, when the disease is localised to a small area without
attendant constitutional symptoms, I have observed the greatest
benefit from a winter spent in this district. In bronchial asthma,
either with or without emphysema if not of too high a degree,
in chronic bronchitis, in persistent winter cough, in the con-
solidation of pneumonia or pleurisy, the effect of this climate has
been said to be good.
Care should be exercised, however, that patients with organic
disease of the heart or of the kidneys are not induced to try the
more elevated resorts. And those with a tendency to diarrhoea or
who suffer much from the fever so often an accompaniment of
phthisis, should not venture to try this climate.


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 563
General Remarks.
The climatic treatment of disease is probably one of the oldest
and, perhaps, the least understood of the methods of the healing
art, though unquestionably one of the most important.
That disease is able to be modified by a change of climate as well
as by a change of residence, was well known long ago, and has
been abundantly proved; it is, moreover, true that certain diseases
occur only in certain localities, while data exist to show that (in
Europe) consumption occurs less frequently at the higher alti-
tudes. The effect of climate on the general health is well
illustrated by what occurs at the change of the seasons—e.g., in
winter a large increase of bronchial and pulmonary affections
is observed, while in the northern countries of Europe the onset
of the cold of winter is marked at once by an increase in the
death-rate among the old and feeble.
It follows, therefore, that, given a climate which is beneficial
to the health, which is free from any great extreme, which
increases tissue change while it acts as a tonic to the jaded
system, and which is free from any deleterious influences, such
is the climate which will render man less likely to fall a prey to
the disease influences which may surround him, and which will
help him to shake it off soonest should it have attacked him.
In this respect South Africa is specially favoured, the mortality
tables showing a low death-rate for all diseases, but particularly
from pulmonary complaints. "It is on record that while 480
soldiers die yearly out of every 1000 kept in service at (Sierra
Leone; 121 in the 1000 in Jamaica; 78 in the 1000 in the
West Indies generally; 48 in the 1000 in the Madras Presidency;
28 in the 1000 in Bermuda; 27 in the 1000 in the Mauritius;
25 in the 1000 at St. Helena; 21 in the 1000 at Gibraltar;
16 in the 1000 in Malta and Canada; 14 in the 1000 in Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick; only 13 in the 1000 die yearly in
the Western districts of the Cape Colony, and only 9 in the 1000
in the Eastern district. In the Campaign in Kafirland in 1835
not a single officer or man was invalided during five months of
active service." Such a statement, culled from the official
records, speaks volumes for the salubrity of the South African
climate. It is not to be inferred, however, that no diseases occur
here; the prevalent diseases are those of Europe, though of a
milder type. There is, however, no ague, or yellow fever, or any
of the tropical diseases, nor has cholera or hydrophobia* ever
visited our shores.
* Sporadic cases of hydrophobia have been reported, but upon what authority in
not clear; it has never, however, been officially notified.


664 SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH BESOBTS.
Diseases of the respiratory system are not bo frequent and
are not attended by so much danger as in Europe. Even infants
a few weeks old recover from attacks of acute bronchitis and
broncho-pneumonia which would have been invariably fatal in
Europe.
Consumption, which in England is said on the authority of
the Registrar-General to cause yearly one-eighth of the total
deaths, is practically unknown in many of the up-country
districts, and generally occurs, only rarely, among the colonists
themselves.
An investigation of certain statistics, supplied to me by the
Maitland Cemetery Board (Cape Town), would make it appear
that the proportion of deaths here from consumption is about the
same as that in England, but a large number of these deaths are
of invalids who have come here from England with active or latent
disease ; it is impossible, therefore, to draw any inference with
reference to this point except that, relying upon an experience of
some ten years in practice, I can recall only about one dozen
cases of pulmonary consumption (tubercular) in South African
born subjects (European).
Among the half-breeds and coloured men consumption is said to
be more frequent, but yet so infrequent that it may be said to
be rare.
While all pulmonary diseases are benefited by a residence
here, it cannot be too earnestly recommended that cases sent here
should be carefully picked, invalids are sent frequently—alas!
too frequently; often no doubt they will come, buoyed up by a
vain hope—only to die. Cases unsuitable to this climate—printers
or clerks, with extensive disease of both lungs, who have to work
under the worst conditions to eke out a scanty existence, without
means of obtaining either the luxuries or necessities their com-
plaints require.
I say advisedly that a considerable proportion of the cases that
arrive here is doomed to disappointment, and that it is wise in
every instance to be guided only by the most competent advice
before undertaking the journey to South Africa.
Properly to derive any benefit from our climate, an invalid
should be fairly robust, with an equable disposition, blessed with
abundant resources, and not worried by business or financial
cares, and he should make his whole object that of regaining
health. 1 feel assured that, if the same class of invalids who go
to the European health resorts were to be sent to South Africa,
we would be able to chronicle results far more favourable than
those of the most popular resorts.
During what may be called the acute stage of phthisis, when


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 565
there is high fever and night sweats, I think the invalid should
be best in his own house under proper medical treatment; or, if
his condition is not too severe, a residence in the Cape Peninsula
preparatory to going up-country may be advised; but when the
disease is considerable, affecting the greater part of one lung
with breaking down and high fever, indigestion, etc., it would, I
think, be unadvisable, until, at all events, the disease is stationary.
Cases of advanced and still active phthisis, in which mostly both
lungs are affected, should not be sent.
Cases of consumption which are suited to the South African
climate are those which Dr. Hermann Weber states are best
treated by mountain climates: —
1. Disposition to phthisis, whether hereditary or acquired.
2. Catarrh or pneumonic infiltration of the apices.
3. Pneumonic exudation.
4. Chronic bronchial catarrh.
5. Pleuritic exudation.
6. Mucous deposits.
7. Small cavities.
8. Simple laryngeal catarrh.
9. Moderate night sweats and diarrhoea, or slight asthma
complicating phthisis, are also frequently benefited.
The contra-indications which the same author mentions are so
applicable to the South African climate that I make no apology
to take them over:—
1. The erethic constitution, persons who show feverisli symptoms
on the slightest cause, with irritable heart, constaut and
frequent pulse, and inability to bear cold or slight changes
in temperature.
2. Cases of advanced and still active phthisis.
3. Phthisis complicated by emphysema, or albuminuria or heart
disease.
4. Phthisis complicated by ulceration of the larynx.
5. Phthisis with rapid progress and constant fever> and rapidly-
increasing loss iu weight.
6. Phthisis complicated with empyema.
Haemoptysis per se is not a contra-indication, but frequently
recurring hajmorrhage which comes from a large cavity in process
of breaking down would need great care.
The invalid who is proceeding up-country should do so by easy
stages; the ascent is so gradual that it is likely to be overlooked
that the altitude of such a place as Bloemfontein equals that of
the Alpine resorts. The greater amount of tissue change and
2 p


SOUTH AFRICA—ITS CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. 567
moreover, the main trunk line proceeds up-country to branch off
to all parts of South Africa.
The cost of living fluctuates very much, and while in general it
may be said to be slightly higher than in England, it is low in
the country districts, and rather higher in the towns; luxuries are
dear, and servants bad, but the ordinary necessaries of life are
cheap and plentiful.
With reference to clothing, the same clothing that is worn in
Europe will be required here: good, warm, substantial woollen
clothes for winter, with a good thick great-coat; while in summer
the ordinary light tweeds worn in England, with a waterproof
overcoat in case of rain, will be all that is required. There is
no need, however, for any cumbersome outfit, as all these
things are easily obtainable in all parts of South Africa at
slightly over English prices.
2f2


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iii
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MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST.
ACTUAL AFRICA; or, The Coming Continent:
A TOUR OF EXPLORATION.
By FRANK VINCENT,
Author of "The Land of the White Elephant," &c. With Map and over 100 New Illustration.*,
Demy 8vo. 24s.
Mr. II. At. Stanley writes:—"It is really a wonderful book. It is not only a book or reference
upon almost any subject connected with Africa, but moat admirably illustrated. The pictures
are a credit to your skill."
Ibememann's Scientific Ifoanbboofcs.
MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. By A. B. Griffiths, Ph.D., F.E.S.
(Edin.), F.C.S. Crown 8vo., cloth,JI]lustrated. 7«. Gd.
MANUAL OF ASSAYING GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, AND
LEAD ORES. By Walter Lee Brows, B.Sc. Revised, Corrected, and considerably
Enlarged, with a Chapter on the Assaying of Fuel, *e. By A. B. Griffiths, Ph.D.,
F.R.S. (Edin.), F.C.S. Crown 8vo., cloth, Illustrated. Price 7«. (irf.
GEODESY. By J. Howard Gore. Crown 8vo., cloth, Illustrated. 5s.
THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GASES. By Authur L.
Kimball, of the Johns Hopkins University. Crown 8vo., cloth, Illustrated. 5».
HEAT AS A FORM OF ENERGY. By Professor E. H. Tiiursto>v
of Cornell University. Crown 8vo., cloth, Illustrated. 5».
Zbe pioneer Seriee.
Ix Cloth, Pbici Sr. 6rf. sit, each, onlFArER Covers, Price 3«. set.
JOANNA TRAILL, SPINSTER. By Annie E. Holdbworth.
GEORGE MANDEVILLE'S HUSBAND. By C. E. Raimond.
THE WINGS OF ICARUS. By Laurence Alma Tadema.
THE GREEN CARNATION. By Roiiert S. Hichens.
AN ALTAR OE EARTH. By Thymol Monk.
A STREET IN SUBURBIA. By E. W. Pugh.
THE NEW MOON. By C. E. Raimond.
MELLY'S STORY (THE NEW MOON). Bv Mrs. Montague Chackantiiorfic
MRS. MU8GRAVE—AND HER HUSBAND. By R. Marsh.
THE DEMAGOGUE AND LADY PHAYRE. By W. J. Locke.
THE RED BADGE OP COURAGE. By Stephen Crane.
HER OWN DEVICES. By C. G. Compton.
PAPIER MACHE. By Charles Allen.
THE NEW VIRTUE. By Mrs. Oscar Beringeb.
ACROSS AN ULSTER BOG. By M.IHamilton.
Other Volumes In Preparation,
London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21, Bedford Steeet, W.C.


4
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Ibeinemann's Colonial Xtbrar^
of popular dftctton.
PUBLISHED for SALE in the BRITISH COLONIE3 and INDIA ONLY
IX CLOTH, 3*. 6rf.; OR PAPER COVERS, 2s. 6d.
*.* The First 26 Volumes in this list are being reissued in Paper Coven, in the order named, one vole
on each W ednesday, commencing Jan 1. ]«!)(>. The remaining volumes, already published
cloth, will follow during the year. Wine Volume* will be published both in cloth a
1. A SUPERFLUOUS WOMAN.
2. IDEALA.
By SARAH GRAND.
3. THE EBB TIDE.
By R L. STEVENSON A L. OSBOURNE.
4. ORIOLE'S DAUGHTER.
By JESSIE FOTUERGILL.
5. THE TOWER OF TADDEO.
By OUIDA.
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By MBS. HUNGERFORD.
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By FLORA ANNIE STEEL.
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By HALL CAINE.
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Bv SARAH GRAND.
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By FRANK BARRETT.
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By MRS. RIDDELL.
13. THE JUSTIFICATION OF AN-
DREW LEBRUN.
By FRANK BARRETT.
H. AN IMAGINATIVE MAN.
By R. S. HICHENS.
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By Mrs. LYNN LINTON.
16. OUT OF DUE SEASON.
By ADELINE SERGEANT.
17. THE WOOD BEYOND THE
WORLD. By WILLIAM MORRIS
18. TRANSITION.
By the Author of "A Suporflous Womsr.
19. THE PREMIER AND THE
PAINTER.
By I. ZANGWILL and LOUIS COWEX.
20. THE BONDMAN.
By HALL CAINE.
21. A VICTIM OF GOOD LUCK
By W. E. NORRia
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By E. DOWSON and A MOORE.
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By MART E. WILKINS.
24. FROM THE FIVE RIVEBS.
Bv FLORA ANNIE STEEL.
25. THE HEAVENLY TWINS.
By SARAH GRAND. [ftwifc Tehae.
26. THE SCAPEGOAT.
By HALL CAINE.
The following volume* are published in clotit, and u-ill be toned in paper later in the year:-
THE O'CONNORS OF BALLINA-
HINCH. By MRS. HUNGERFORD.
THE ODD WOMEN.
By GEORGE GISSING.
CHILDREN OF THE GHETTO.
By L ZANGWILL.
AVENGED ON SOCIETY.
By II. F. WOOD.
THE COUNTESS RADNA.
By W. E. NORRIS.
THE LAST SENTENCE.
By MAXWELL GRAY.
THE STORY of a MODERN WOMAN.
By ELLA HEPWORTH DIXON.
A DAUGHTER OF THIS WORLD.
Bv FLETCHER BATTERSHALL
A PASTORAL PLAYED OUT.
By MARY L. TENDERED.
A DRAMA. IN DUTCH.
By Z. Z.
THE MASTER.
By I. ZANGWILL.
BENEFITS FORGOT.
By WOLCOTT BALESTIER
TERMINATIONS.
By HENRY JAMES.
CORRUPTION.
By PERCY WHITE.
A COMEDY OF SENTIMENT.
By MAX NORDAU.
LONDON: WM.
HEINEMANN, 21, Bedford Stbeet, W.C.
And all BOOKSELLERS.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
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Ibeinemann's Colonial Xibrar^
of popular fiction-™**™*
Volumes Jot 189G
A SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE.
Bv M. HAMILTON.
THE MALADY OF THE CENTURY.
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MISS" GRACE OF ALL SOULS'.
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HERBERT VANLENNERT.
By C. F. KEAKY.
THE "YEARS THAT THE LOCUST
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By ANNIE E. HOLDSWORTH.
AT THE GATE OF SAMARIA.
trill include:—
STORIES FOR NINON.
By fiMILE ZOLA.
THE DANCER IN YELLOW.
By W. E. NOIilUS.
THE KING OF SCHNORRERS.
By L ZANGWILL.
MR. BAILEY-MARTIN.
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ILLUMINATION.
By HAROLD FREDERIC.
THE THINGS THAT MATTER.
By W. J. LOCKE. By FRANCIS GRIBBLE.
Alio Setr Xoreh by Stirah Grand, Henry Jame.r, 1. ZangWill. Hall Cailtf, and olhert.
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PUBLISHED for BALE in the BRITISH COLONIES and INDIA ONLY
UNIFORMLY BOUND IN CLOTH.
DEGENERATION. By Max Soed.b
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By H. C Thomson. With Map and Illustrations.
[Keatiy.
THE GREAT WAR OP 189-.
By Re&r-Adniiral Colomb and others.
A FRIEND OP THE QUEEN.
By Paul Uaulot.
NAPOLEON AND THE FAIR SEX.
By Frederic Masjox.
THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPRESS
(Catheiine II. if Kuala.) By K. Waliszewski.
THE STORY OF A THRONE.
(Catherine II. or Russia.) By K. Waliszewski.
CONVENTIONAL LIES OP OUR
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PARADOXES. By Max Nordau.
THE LIFE OF PHILIP H. GOSSE.
By Edmund Gosse.
UNDERCURRENTS of the SECOND
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popular 3s.
ELI'S DATJGHTEB. By J. H. Peauoe.
^CONSEQUENT LIVES. By J. H. Peakce.
CAPT'N DAVY'8 HONEYMOON. By Hall
Caise.
A QUESTION OF TASTE. By Maartes Maar-
TENS.
COME LIVE WITH ME AND BE MY LOVE.
Bv Bpbekt Buc hanan.
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THE THREE MISS KINGS. By Ada Cam-
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SOT ALL IN VAIN. By Ada Cambridge.
UNCXE PIPES OF PIPEE'S HILL. By
Task a.
THE PENANCE OF PORTIA JAMES. By
Tasma.
THE COPPERHEAD. By Harold Frederic.
THE RETURN OF THE OMAHONY. By
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15 THE VALLEY. By Harold Frederic. With
illustrations.
A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE. By G. Colman.
6fc. IRovels.
A DAUGHTER OF MUSIC. By G. Colmore.
THE STORY OF A PENITENT SOUL. By
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THE SURRENDER OF MARGARET BEL-
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NOR WIFE, NOR MAID. By Mrs. Huxger-
rORD.
MAMMON. By Mrs. Alexander.
DAUGHTERS OF MEN. By Haxxah Lynch.
A ROMANCE OF THE CAPE FRONTIER.
By Bertram Mitfokd.
IWEEN SNOW AND FIRE. By Bertram
MlTFORD.
ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. By Amelib Rives.
THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS. By K.
8. Phelps and H. D. Ward.
DONALD MARCY. By Elizabeth Stuart Pheies.
PERCHANCE TO DREAM. By Margaret s.
Briscoe.
IN THE DWELLINGS OF SILENCE. By W.
Kennedt.
London: WM. HE1NEMANN, 21, Bedford Street, W.C.


«1
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FREDERICK WARNE & CO.'S
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UNION JOTTINGS.
By W. W. LLOYD.
This beautiful work contains 24 Plates of facsimile Water-Colour Drawings, executed in
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Large Paper Edition (ft limited number only). In oblong 4to, size 14} inches by 11 inches,
•attractive cloth binding, gilt, gilt edges, £1 1*. net.
The Artist had exceptional facilities given him by the Union Steamship Company, and by
the Railway Authorities of South Africa. The result is a real work of art, a brilliant
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MAX O'RELL'S NEW BOOK.
Twentieth Thousand. In crown 8vo, 352 pp., cloth gilt, price 3«. 6Vf.
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THE GREAT COLONIAL BRANCHES OF THE FIRM: CANADA,
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"Max O'Rell'a new pages abound in lively passages, but we find him as a rule more serloci
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sketches of life in Canada, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, and Australasia. . . . Alw»J>
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London: FREDERICK WARNE & CO., Bedford Stheet, Strahb.


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8
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THE ROYAL NATURAL HISTORY. Edited by
Richard Lydekker, B.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c, with Preface by P. L. Sclatee, 3LA.,
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AW being published in the following styles:—
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MINOR WORKS by MR. ARMATAGE.
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]0
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12
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ESTABLISHED 18B8.
GEO. M. HAMMER & CO.,
370, STRAND, LONDON, W.C.,
MANUFACTURERS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF
SCHOOL FURNITURE
Messrs. GEO. M. HAMMER & CO. beg to draw attention to their
CABINETS OF OBJECTS.
Series of
This Series of Cabinets has been entirely revised to bring them up to date, and is now belieTwl
to bo the most comprehensive collection of specimens of mineral, vegetable, and animal
substances offered for educational purposes.
No. 1, Polished Mahogany Cabinet, »3
illustration, containing 320 speci-
mens in <> drawers, enclosed with
doors and lock and key, complete.
No. 2, Stained and Varnished Box.
with 4 trays, containing a large
selection of the above, lock and key.
complete.
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with 4 trays, containing a useful
selection of specimens, 1 and
key, complete.
Handbook fur either Cabinet, inter-
leaved for notet.
CASES OF MINERAL SPECIMENS TO ORDER.


ILLUsTKATIOS OF LKClL'ilc. XASLe. lh>U C.lfcMiC*!. LAKMIAf .Ml.
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ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE ON APPLICATION.


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ADVERTISEMENTS,
pnuToaoTnu^ to thc upcut-pfnfrai fur rgpF nninNY.
w
CP
2
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o
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CO
VI
&a
CQ
o
SUNDAY SCHOOL FITTINGS
i
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ost Puee
STLTER MEDAI- o
(3
*■

MOSS ^ATfcUT

COLD MEDAL

MISSION *» HALL - FURNITURE -


ADVERTISEMENTS.
15
MESSRS. COLLINS' NEW BOOKS.
Infant Mistresses who wish to provide their children with lessons at
once varied and attractive should use
The "GRAPHIC" INFANT SERIES.
Bold Type. Coloured Illustrations.
GRAPHIC PRIMER No. 1. 32 pages, paper cover, 2d.; cloth, 3d.
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Book I., 8d.; II., lOd.; III., Is.; IV., Is. 3d.; V., Is. 4d.; VI., Is. 6d.
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1(5
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ADVERTISEMENTS.
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Standard Editions.
W. M. THACKERAY'S WORKS.
THE POPULAR EDITION. In Thirteen Volumes, crown 8vo., with
Frontispiece t» each vol, price 6*, each. Sets, handsomely bound lu scirlet cloth, gilt top, price £3 5j.; or in
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THE LIBRARY EDITION. 24 vols., large crown 8vo., handsomely
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MODERN WOMEN: Six Psychoiogical Sketches. By
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ADVERTISEMENTS.
21
JOHN LANE'S LIST— continued.
RECENT YOLUMES OF THE KEYNOTES SERIES.
Crown Svo., 3s. 6d. net each.
THE WOMAN WHO DIDN'T. By Victoria Crosse.
** Readers will find within its pages a strong and subtle study of feminine nature, biting Irony, restrained passion,
and a style that is boih forcible and poiished."—-Speaker.
"* The Woman who Didn't' Is essentially a problem story; it is a studied and direct connterblist to Mr. Grant
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strong In interest, there Is s<>me finality in its teaching, and it is immeasurably more rational. There la style and
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YELLOW AND WHITE. By W. Carlton Dawe.
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THE MOUNTAIN LOVERS. By Fiona Macleod.
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GREY ROSES. By Henry Harland.
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AT THE FIRST CORNER. By H. B. Marriott
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ADVERTISEMENTS.
23
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
GOSSE'S EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE. A New Edition-
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24
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THE ROMANCE OF SCIENCE.
THE SPLASH OP A DROP. By Prof. Worthington. With numerous
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11 It ts a book which every clergyman, every magistrate, every guardian of the poor, every governor of a achocl
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MANUALS OF ELEMENTARY SCIENCE.
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PHYSIOLOGY. By Prof. Maoalisteb. (New Volume.)
GEOLOGY. By the Rev. T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.G.S.
CHEMISTRY. By Albert J. Bernays, Ph.D., F.C.S.
ASTRONOMY. By W. H. Christie, M.A., the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
BOTANY. By the late Prof. Robert Bentley.
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CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. By Henry Paun Gurnet, M.A., Clare College, Cambridge.
ELECTRICITY. By the late Prof. Fleemino Jenkin.
London: Northumberland Avenue, W.C.; 43, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.
BRIGHTON: 129, NORTH STREET.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
25
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
ANCIENT HISTORY FROM THE MONUMENTS.
This Series of Books Is chiefly intended to lilust-ate the Sirred Scriptures by the results of Recent Monument*!
R<-searcbes In the East.
Fb Itcap 8tx>.. clotk boards, 2s. each.
BABYLONIA (THE HISTORY OP). By the lato Geobge Smith. Edited by the
Rev. Prof. Satci. New Edison, Revised.
ASSYKIA, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE FALL OF
NINEVEH. By the late Geokok Smith, of toe British Musenm.
SINAI. FROM THE FOURTH EGYPTIAN DYNA8TY TO THE
PRESET DAY. By the lati Hk.v S. Pauses. A Ne« rdltiou, Rtvised throughout by the Rev. Prof.
Saich. Wih Map.
EGYPT, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO B.C. 300. By the late
S. Birch, I.L.D.
PERSIA, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE ARAB CONQUEST.
By the hue W. S. W. Vacx. M.A.
THE DAWN OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE.
THE GREEK EPIC. By Prof. G C. W. Ware, M A. With Map. Fcap. 8vo., cloth
boards. 3*. Library Edition, for School Prists, &c. Crown 8vo., on Hand-made Paper, top edges gl.t, buckram
boards, 5s.; calf, 7s. 6d. (New Voluoie.)
FRENCH LITERATURE. By the late Gcstave Masson, B.A., Assistant, Master and
Librar an of Harrow School. Fcap. 8vo., cloth board.-, 2s. tid.
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE. By the Rev. Prof. Eahle. Fcap. 8ro., cloth
boards, 2s. 6J.
SLAVONIC LITERATURE. By W. R. Mobfill, M.A. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 2s. 6d.
"His book »■ ill supply an admirable Introduction to a systematic study of Slavonic literature."—Scotsman.
*m* Others In preparation.
CHIEF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHIES: PLATONISM By Rev. T. B. Strom.
Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 3s.
CHIEF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHIES: NEOPLATONISM By Rev. C.
Bico. D.D. Fcap. 8vo.t cloth boards, 3s.
THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION (EGYPT AND CHALD.EA). By Prof.
Maspf.ro. Edited by the Rev. I rot Sayck. Translated by M. L. McCidtos. With Map and over 470 Illus-
trations. Demy sto (approximately), cloib bevelled boa da, 24s.
"Not only does every page bristle wltn facts, but a tremendous array of footnotes ana references bear witness
t'> the extrao dinary wide kuowledge of the author, and the patience and skill of the translator, to say nothing of the
editor's sh >r* in the work. The map* and views, which are scattered with profuse prodigality throughout the text,
are well chosen and beautifully drawo."—Reliquary.
THE "HIGHER CRITICISM" AND THE VERDICT OF THE MONU-
MENTS. Py the Rev. Prof. Satce, Queen's College, Oxford. Fifth Edition. Demy 8vo., buckram, bevelled
boards, 7s. Gd.
"A re illy valuable and important work; perhaps the best which Professor Sayoe has yet written."—Academy.
VERSES. By Christina G. Rossetti. Reprinted from "Called to be Saints," "Time
Flies," and '- The Face of the Deep." Small po»t 8vo., printed In red and block on hand-made paper, cloth
boards, 3s. 6d.; limp roan, 5s.; Levantine, es. 6d.; limp German calf, 7s.Ump mor.cco, 7s. 6d.
THE FACE OF THE DEEP. A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse. By
Christina Q. Ro*sitti, Author of " Time Flies," &c. Demy 8vo., cloth boards, 7s. 6<i.
A MEMOIR OF CHRI8TINA G. ROSSETTL By Ellen A Proctor. With
Portrait. 18mo, limp cloth, 6d.
London: Northumberland Avenue, W.C.; 43, Queen Victoria Street, E.C.
BRIGHTON i 129-NORTH STREET.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
27
PHILIPS' NEW SCHOOL ATLASES.
AX UXRIVALLED ATLAS FOR TEACHERS.
Edited by J. Scott Keltie, H. J. Mackimder, M.A., and E. G. Eatessteix, F.R.G.S.
PHILIPS' SYSTEMATIC ATLAS, Physical and Political.
specially Designed for the use of Higher Schools and Private Students. Containing over 250
3Iaps and Diagrams, in 52 Pl&'es, with an Kxplanatorv Introduction, and a Complete Index of
12,000 Names. By E. G. Raven-stein*, F.R.G.S.
Handsomely bound in cloth, imperial 4to., Maps flat, or the Maps folded in 8vo., price 15#.
CLASSIFIED SUMMARY OF CONTENTS.
No. of M*pH
ami Diagrams.
I. Mathematical Geography and Astro-
nomy 13
II. Physical Geography-
General M»i»s *
Contoured Maps 16
Sections 1°
KiverBas'ns 2
Geological M ps *»
Volcanoes *
Ocean Currents 5
Co-Ttd&l Line 2
Temperature of the Ocean ... 3
Salinity of tbe Sea 1
Climaoiogy 10
No. of M«p»
and Diagram*.
II. Physical Geography (continued.)
Mtsnet'c Phenomena 3
The Geographical Distribution of Plants ... 12
Tbf Geographical distribution of Animals ... 17
III. Political Geography—
General Map* 3
Lanpnag and Ttelluions H
Density of Population 13
Parts uf Europe 61
Part* of Asia ♦ 13
Parts of Africa Hi
Part* or Australasia and the Tac fie f*
Parts of America 27
SCHOOL EDITIOX OF
PHILIPS' SYSTEMATIC ATLAS, Political and Physical.
Specially Designed for Training Colleges and Private Students. Containing 170 Maps and
Diagrams in 41 Plates, and a Complete Index of over 12,000 Names. By E. G. Ravensteix,
F.R.G.S. Imperial 8vo, handsomely bound, cloth, price 10*. Gd.
This Edition is designed for the use of Students In Higher Schools and Training Colleges, who, desiring a book
adequately treating of Geography Iti it* physical and political aspects, will And nil that tbey require in one at once,
more moderate in price and less exhaustive than, the ordinary e-iitiun of the SYSTEMATIC ATLiAS.
With this view the present edition, although an abridgment of the original wo»k, contains all the (central Map^
so that it may be naed hi conjunction with th ■ more ?xpM sivc book; nnd care has l>*ett taken to 1 Delude, in addition
to others, those phves which deal with the >sp cts of Physical Geography of moie sp cial education* I interest, such as
contoured Maps of ihs continents and the British Mej, aud charts ul the Ocean Currents ami the Atlantic Ocean.
PHILIPS' NEW ATLAS FOR BEGINNERS.
A Series of Sixty Physical and Political Maps and Diugrams. With a New and Completo
Index. Crown 4to., strongly bound in cloth, 2*. Gd.
This 1« a New and Greatly Enlarged Edition of the Bcglnne's' Atlas. The exi*t"-g roans have all been carefully
revised and brought up t« date, and 'twelve a nitlooal Pl-ites bavo been adilel. tonether with a new and exhaustive
Index contain! g ov--r 11,000 names. A f cries <>t (Tight Physical Map-*, show ing ihe»urface features rif the Continents,
lias bwn in rodu * d, and amonf: the othfr new Mut-s may be named a Plate of Astr-nonrr il Diagrams. Chart*of the
Atlantic and Pacifl • "ceans aud new Political Map" of England (in two sh*'et§\ th«» Indiau t-mtire. Central Afr cn,
North-Easrern Unite! Sute*. and Mexico. 1 \>- Pn'-Hshers specia ly invite Teachers to inspTt this book before
deciding upen an A this for Junior Classes, and fust that tbe greatly-increased value if th) book in its present form
will lead to an extendeJ rale.
GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LONDON.
J. C. JUTA & CO., CAPE TOWN, PORT ELIZABETH, and JOHANNESBURG.


28
ADVERTISEMENTS.
PHILIPS' MAPS FOR SCHOOL AND LIBRARY.
PHILIPS' SCHOOLROOM MAPS.
Adopted by the London, Liverpool, and other School Board*, and ueed in the Chief
Educational Etlabluhment» throughout the World.
Geography is undoubtedly most successfully taught by means of Collective Lessons, amply
illustrated by frequent reference to large and accurate Wall Maps. Philips' Schoolroom Maps
ure admirably adapted for this purpose, as the Physical Features are boldly and distinctly
drawn. The Political Boundaries are clearly marked. No unnecessary detail—Physical
it Political. Names introduced with great judgment. Colouring attractive and artistic.
Every Map is carefully revised before printing, so that the Series is always kept up to the
latest possible date. Each Map (except that of Canada) measures 5 feet 8 inches by 4 fed
0' inches. Strongly mounted on cloth, rollers and varnished, 14*. each.
LIST OF SERIES.
1. The World in Hemispheres.
2. The World on Mercator's Projection.
■'<■ British Empire throughout the World.
«. Europe.
s. British Isles,
e. England.
~. Scotland,
x. Ireland.
». Asia.
to. Palestine and Syria,
11. India.
12. Africa.
13. North America.
14. Dominion of Canada,
is. United States.
16. South America.
17. Australia and New Zealand,
is. New South Wales.
19. New Zealand.
20. Oceania and the Pacific Ocean.
Philips' Commercial Chart of the World, on Mercator's Projection, with
Supplementary Maps and Insets. Size, 72 inches by 60 Inched. On four sheets, coloured, 25*.; mounted on
calico, rollers and varnished, 31*. 6d.
Philips' New Library Map of Africa, showing all the latest Discoveries and
Boundaries. Scale, 120 miles to an Inch. Size, 50 inches by 45 inches. On two sheets, coloured. 10*. 64-;
mounted on calico, to fold lu case, or on rollers and varnished, 2U.
PHILIPS' GEOGRAPHICAL SERIES.
The Advanced Class-Bookof Modern Geography- Physical, Political, and Commer-
cial. By William Hcoaa, F.K.O.S .and J Fbahcux Williams, F.R.G.S. Wit i Notes and Index. 85pages.
Crown Svo., cloth, 6«.
The Class-Book Of Modern GeogTaphy. Physical. Political, and Commercial, with
Kxaminatlun Question*, Motes and Index. By William Hcoaas, F.R.G.S., and J. Fiasco* Wlujamj. F.R.G.S.
Cruwn 8vo.t strungly bound in cloth, 3#. 6d.
PHILIPS' GEOGRAPHICAL MANUALS.
A New Series specially adapted for Students preparing for Examinations. By William
Hughes, F.R.G.S., and J. Francon Williams, F.R.G.S. Uniformly printed in crown Svo.
d.
I.—Introduction to the Study of Geo-
graphy 1 0
II —British Isles 1 6
III. —The British Colonies and Depen-
dencies 2 6
IV. —Europe 2 0
«. at.
V.-Asia ™ ... .-16
Vl.-Afrlea ... 1 0
V U-America — 16
VIII.—Australasia and Polynesia ... 1 6
IX —The British Empire -80
Hughes' Class-Bookof Physical Geography. With Examination Questions, Notes and
Index. By William Hughes, F.R.U.S. Revised and enlarged by J. Feascok Williams, F.R Q.S. 31 pages
Crown 8vo., cloth, 3l. 6d. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
MANUALS OF COMMERCE,
Technical, Industrial, and Commercial. Illustrated with Maps, Statistical Charts, and
Tables. By John Yeats, LL.D, F.G.S., F.S.S., etc.
The Natural History of the Raw Materials of Commerce, 6«.
The Technical History of Commerce, 6«.
The Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce in all Ages, c«.
Recent and Existing Commerce, 6*.
GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LONDON.
J. C. JUTA & CO., CAPE TOWN, PORT ELIZABETH, and JOHANNESBURG.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
29


Raphael Tuck & Sons,
Fine J^rt and Bool^ pnMighePg,
{By Special Appointment to HER MAJESTY THE QUEEH),
72, 73, 24, 14, and 15,
Coleman Street, City, London.
368, BROADWAY, NEW YORK.
19, RUE DE FARADIS, PARIS.
List of Departments:
C0NGItfIMIi71>Fei?¥ CARDS F0R CJWFJtfAft NEW
YEAR, BIRTHDAY, WEDDIN6, AP EASIER.
SCRIPTURE TEXT CARDS AND SILVER BLOCKED WALL TEXTS.
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS & BOOKLETS. CALENDARS. TOY BOOKS.
STUDIES FOR COPYING AND FRAMING.
Floral, Bird, Landscape, Figure, Head and Animal Studies.
Over 4000 Copyright Designs by leading Artiste.
DOOR PANEL DECORATIONS.
For inserting direct into the Door Panel or for Copying.
BRITISH AND AMERICAN SCENERY.
Chromos, Photochromes, Etchings, Photogravures,
RELIEFS (Coloured Scraps). ARTISTIC NOVELTIES.
Decorative Stand Beliefs, Circular and Shell Plaques, Wall Pockets, Table
Mats, Blotters, Cabinet Photo Frames, Royal Art Novelties, Artistic
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GENERAL ARTISTIC COLOUR PRINTING.
Special Department for Artistic Show Cardt, Circular/, and Cigar Labete.
ESTIMATES GIVEN.
The General Illustrated Catalogne, containing 5000 Illustrations, Post Tree on application.
WHOLESALE AND EXPORT ONLY.


30
ADVERTISEMENTS.
WALKERS
'Back-Loop'Note*Pocket Boots,

ALL IN THE
WELL - KNOWN
STYLE.

In NEW
GRAINED
LEATHER,
From 6d. to Is.
In NEW In NEW
LONG-GRAIN MOCK
FRENCH MOROCCO, RUSSIA,
From Is. to,2s. 6d. From Is. 6d. to 4s.
Also Elegantly Finished in American, Russia, Pigskin, Solid Calf, Morocco, Real
Russia, Real Seal,nd Polished Crocodile, from I/6 to 30/- each.
"The Handiest of the Handy."—runch.
"A great advance upon the old style."—Iron.
"Neat, convenient, comprehensive."—Vanity Fair.
NOW HEADY.
GOOD PAPER. 1896.
GOOD BINDING.
"Elegantly finished."—Times.
"They are of the finest paper, tho clearest
printing, the bust leather, and the most skilled
workmanship."—Court Journal.
JUST ADDED: Presentation Series uT
REAL SEAL, CRUSHED MOROCCO, POLISHED CROCODILE,
With and without Silver Corners or Mono.'s.
SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS & STATIONERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
Wioleiale only—JOHN WALKER & Co., Ltd., Farringdon He rue.'Warwick Law, Lon 'on, E C.


ADVERTISEMENTS. 31
L. & C. HARDTMUTH'S
(Established 1790)
CELEBRATED
Draouing Peneils.
Highest Awards at all Exhibitions. 50 Prize Medals awarded.

SCHOOL DRAWING PENCILS.
RED OR BLACK POLISHED. SILVER STAMPED.
IN 5 DECREES. H, V, HB, 1$. BB.

SUPERIOR POLYGRADE DRAWING PENCIL.
NATURAL POLISHED. SILVER STAMPED.
nf 12 decides. 6H, 411, HH, 2H, H, F, HB, B. 2B, 3B, 4B. Git.

NEW HEXAGON DRAWING PENCIL, "KOH-I-NOOR."
MADE IN 14 DEOREKS.
6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB. F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 611,
IS BOXES OP ONE DOZEN.
This Pencil, of a perfection litheito unapprouched, is remarkable for its extreme durability,
and combines all the improvements in pencil making up to date.
SUPPLIED BY ALL LEADING STATIONERS AND ARTISTS' COLOURMEN.


ADVEBTISEMENTS
ALEX. PIRIE & SONS, Lm

Stoneywood Mills,
Auctimill,
Aberdeenshire.
Union Works,
Aberdeen.
Woodside Works,
Aberdeen.
London:
96*97 Famngdon St
E.C.
Dnblin:
56 Middle Abbey St.
Glasgow:
71 Virginia Street.
Newcastle-on-Tyne:
118 Pilgrim Street.
Paris1
7 Rne de la FidflM
New York:
33 Rose Street.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
JAMES SPICER & SONS,
Paper Merchants.
Head Office and Warehouse: 50, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, EKGLUD.
AND AT BIRMINGHAM, MANCHESTER, CLASCOW, MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, & WELUNCTON.
SOUTH AFRICA: Longmarket Street, Maritzburg, Natal
WRITING PAPERS-
Hand and Machine-made, in Cream, Blue, and Azure,
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BLOTTINGS.
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Copyings, Cartridges, Account Book Papers.
BROWNS.
Wrapping and Packing Papers, Waterproof, Nature, Manilla
and Cap Papers, Strawboards, Millboards, Marble Papers,
and every material used by Bookbinders.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
35
JAMES SPICER & SONS,
Manufacturing Stationers.
Head Office and Warehouse: 50, UPPER THAMES STREET, LONDON, ENGLAND.
AND AT BIRMINGHAM, MANCHESTER, CLASCOW, MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, & WELLINCTON.
SOUTH AFRICA: Longmarket Street, Maritzburg, Natal.
ACCOUNT BOOK FACTORY. Castle Street, Southwark,
London.
Every class of Memo Books, Pocket Books, Letter Books, Exercise
Books, and Account Books for every kind of business.
ENVELOPES.
For Business and Private use. Cloth lined, Bank, Loan, Hand-
made, etc.
CARD FACTORY. Southwark Street, London.
Plain and Fancy Cards for every purpose. Note Papers, Boxed
Stationery, Ruled Paper, Bill-heads, etc.
In addition to our own productions we ship every class of allied goods,
SOLE AGENTS FOR—
Mander's Printing Ink.
Miller & Richard's Type.
Hattersley Typesetting Machines.
W. Dawson & Sons, Wharfedale Printing Machines, etc.
STATIONERS' SUNDRIES.
Writing Inks, Pencils, "Author" series of Steel Pens, Inkstands,
and all kinds of Stationers' Hardware.
8«


ADVERTISEMENTS.

ELEY'S
"Pegamoid" Patent.
Military and Revolver Cartridges
OF DESCRIPTION.

OR 230
PERCUSSION CAPS, GUN WADS, Ac.
WHOLESALE ONLY.
ELEY BROS. Ltd., 254, Gray's Inn Road, L0HD01


ADVERTISEMENTS.
37
CHARLES LANCASTER,
LATEST AND BEST
HAMMER & HAMMERLESS EJECTOR GUNS,
ALSO RELIABLE AND SIMPLE
Double-Barrel Guns, s$ One Trigger.
The FIELD, April 27, 1895: "The lock mechanism ia very compact and simple." Also the
FIELD, June 1, 1S95: "... A weapon which we must say does great credit to the
ingenuity of the maker."
ADVANTAGES CLAIMED:—
Hapidity of firing. No bruised fingers. Grip of stock never need be relaxed.
Same length of stock for each barrel, therefore easier alignment. Also gloves
may be worn with greater comfort, &c.
"THE COLINDIAN,"
A Non-fouling, Smooth, Oval-bored, Rifled Com-
bination Ball and Shot Gun.
XON-FOULING, SMOOTH, OVAL-BORE
EXPRESS RIFLES',
ALSO
SPECIAL LONG RANGE
•4SO and -500's
SHOOTING LIGHT AND HEAVY BULLETS,
As shot before the late Mr. Walsh
( Vide'The Modern Sportsmen's Guide it Rifle; f'ol. II.)
AND
■577 Magnums.
NON-FOULING, SMOOTH, OVAL-BORE
ROOK & RABBIT RIFLES.
SHOT OAETKIDGES can be used from
all Non-fouling, Smooth, Oval-bored Eifles,
thereby being specially useful on hunting
and exploring expeditions,
DOUBLE -303 RIFLES,
With CHARLES LANCASTER'S
CELEBRATED
Non-fouling. Smooth, Oval-bore Rilling
(S.B.—The ONLY Rifling specinlUj adapted for these
Small-bore Rifles, becaitxc no easilij cleaned);
Shooting Hifleite Powder; and either Solid,
Hollow-fronted, or Lead-tipped, Nickel-covered
Bullets, with highest velocity, flattest trajec-
tory, little recoil and report.
2 and 4 Barrel Pistols, Revolvers, &e.
Manufactory Rebuilt 1890, at 2, Little Bruton Street, at the back of, and communicating with,
151, NEW BOND STREET, LONDON, W.
CARTRIDGES
tiOadmd with €. L.*s Special Size of Shot.
"MEDIUM GAME"
(Loaded on the Premises)
A. IK, IB T H XI BES T_
Sole agent fob the
CELEBRATED LIGOWSKY TRAPS
AND CLAY PIGEONS.
and
(X.B.—Special Terms to Clubs, Shippers,
Gunmakers.)
GUNS
GTJN FITTING WITH TRY
AND TARGETS, &c.
LESSONS IN THE ART OF SHOOTING
At Private Grounds at Stonebridge, near Wlllcsdeu
Junction. Terms on application.
Consultation* re tit of gun, and its correct handling
taught, at 151, New Bond Street, W.
The Editor or tbe FIELD says, June 1, 1895:
"Here is to be found every convenience for testing
gun* aud rifles, including tiirgets both moving and
stationary—iron d**»r, clay pigeons, with single and
double rises, aud last but not least, a tower some
40 ft. or 60 ft. In height, from the top of which
cluy or live birds can be projected at a height sufficient
to satisfy the k- enest appetite for ' rocketers.'"
Now Ready, 5th Edition of
"THE ART OF SHOOTING,"
By CHARLES LANCASTER.
The FIF.I.I): "Supplies what his long been a desidera-
tum." The TIMES: Really one of the most practical
books on th" subject we remember to have met."
l*rice tr. ti'i., iiostage 6*1. extra. Published by
CHAS. LANCASTER, at 151, New Bond St., W.
60-Page Price List Free.


38
ADVERTISEMENTS.


WILLIAMSON & SONS
Providence Works, international inventions
EXHIBITION, 1885.
WORCESTER,
ENGLAND.
MANUFACTURERS OF EVERY
RECISTEREO TRADE MARK. DESCRIPTION OF "*U
Baths, Travelling Trunks5 Air-tight Military Cases
DEED BOXES, CASH BOXES, and JAPANNED GOODS,
TIN WARE & BRIGHT TINNED STAMPED GOODS.
PATENTEES OF THE WOOD-BOUND STEEL TRAVELLING
AND CABIN TRUNKS.
(see illustration.)
"' I
'1* ft
1
Received the Only Medal awarded at the Inventions Exhibition,
1885, for Improvements in Trunks.
LARGE ILLUSTRATED PRICE LIST ON APPLICATION.
aOODS FOR EXPORT SUPPLIED ONLY THROUGH MERCHANTS
IN ENGLAND.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
39


KRAUSSE & AUERBACH,
45, BASINGHALL STREET,
LONDON,
Manufacturers' Agents
FOR
FITTED BAGS,
DRESS SUIT CASES,
AND
ALL SORTS OF
BEST LEATHER GOODS.
Through London Merchants only.


40
ADVERTISEMENTS.


RRADSSE & ADERBACH,
45, BASINGHALL STREET,
Manufacturers' Agents
FOR
CHINA
IN ALL BRANCHES
GLASS WARE
IN ALL BRANCHES.
Through London Merchants only.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
41
THE "KALLISTON"
ORGANETTE.

PATENTED IN ALL COUNTRIES.
Sole Agent for England and Colonies;
& Mm,
45, BASINGHALL STREET,
LONDON.
To whom apply through London Merchants.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OF ITS KIND.
HAVING METAL MUSIC, STANDS ALL CLIMATES.
Suitable for the Cottage.
Cam p.
Ball Iloom.
Has n splendid full tone, melodious find powerful
like an Orchestrion, but can be subdued to
suit smaller rooms by a simple sliding board
arrangement.
The "Kalliston" is also made with Bells or Drum.
It is made in 10 varieties.
Size of Packing Case, 14 x l«x
EXCEEDINGLY LOW IN PRICE.
COMES WITHIN THE REACH OF EVERYBODY.

Fob Prices ArrLY through London Merchants to—
KRAUSSE & AUERBACH.
Large Selection of Music, including Dances, Songs, Operatic Airs, Marches,
&c, &c, up to date.


42
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ROVER CYCLES.
"The Rover has set the fashion to the world."—THE CYCLIST.
FOR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

MACHINES FOR ALL PURPOSES.
Prices from £15 to £2710s.
The ROVER has established many New Records this
year, and at present holds more important World's
Records than any other machine.
R. L. JEFFERSON rode a ROVER from LONDON
to MOSCOW and BACK, 5,000 Miles, in 49 DAYS,
without adjustment.
correspondence: invited.
J. K. STARLEY & CO., Ltd., Meteor Cycle Works, West Orchard, COMTE
LONDON: 5, Holborn Viaduct, E.C.; 157, New Bond Street, W.
FARTS: 47, Avenue Farmentier.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
43
Clarke's Patent Lights,
FAR AND FAR AWAY THE BEST.
NO PARAFFIN OR OTHER DANGEROUS MATERIAL
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE.


"PYRAMID" LIGHT.
Per Dozen Boxes. In Fireproof Plaster Casing.
Single Wicks, bum 9 hours each, in Boxes con-
taining 8 Lights.
To bum 6 hours, 12 In a Box.
By this invention any
liquid food can be poured
out or drunk without scum
or grease passing through
the spout, and prevents
spilling •when poured into
a Feeding Bottle, so ob-
jectionable with all other
Pannikins.
These Pannikins will fit
all the old "Pyramid"
Nursery Lamps, and can
be purchased separately.

"FAIRY" LIGHT.
Per Dozen Boxes.
With Double Wicks, in lio>ei containing 6 Lights
and Glass. Bum 10 hours each.
To burn 6 hours, 10 in a box.
N.B.—Ask for Clarke's
Pannikin, and see that his
name and the registered
number (Registered 91,241)
is on the Pannikin, and
Trade Mark "Pyramid."
CLABKE'S PATENT
"PYRAMID" NIGHT-
LIGHTS are the only
Lights suitable for these
Lamps.
CLARKE'S PYRAMID NURSERY LAMPS, Complete with Hew Registered Pannikin,
2/6, 3/6, 5/-, 6/-, and 7/6 each.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
CADBURY'S
COCOA

GoodReasons why CADBURY'S COCOA Enjoys such
Popularity. ^
VI vvv
It is guaranteed to be
Absolutely Pure.
Can be made at once with
boiling Milk or water.
It is not reduced in value by
the addition of Starch,
Sugar, (fec-
it is especially rich in flesh-
forming and strenjrth-
sustaining principles.
It contains all the delicious
aroma of the natural
article, without the ex-
cessive proportions of fat.
It is a delicious, digestible,
comforting, and refined
beverage, suitable for all
seasons of the year.
It is a gentle stimulant, and
sustains against hunger
and bodily fatigue.
In the whole process of man-
ufacturing Cadbury's Pure
Cocoa, the automatic
machinery employed
obviates the necessity for
its being once touched by
the human hand.
CADBURY'S cocoa
ABSOLUTELY PUREJherefore BEST.
The late editor of the Sanitary Review, writing on "The
Consumption of Cocoa," warns the public against the use of
foreign cocoas containing alkali, and makes the following
allusion to the linn of Cadbury Brothers. "It is the aim and
practice of this famous firm, to send out cocoa absolutely pure,
of the highest quality which art will permit."


46
BUTTERWORTH & GO.'S LAW WORKS.
Commercial Cases (Reports of) in the Commercial Court,
London. Part I., March-August, 1895, just published, 5«., postage extra.
*,* About six parts will be published throughout the year. Annual Subscription (payable in
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Stone's Justices' Manual; Or Guide to the Ordinary Duties of a Justice
of the Peace, with Table of Cases, Appendix of Forms, and Table of Punishments. Twextt
eighth Edition, edited bv George B. Kenxett, Esq., Solicitor and Town Clerk, late Clerk to
the Justices of Norwich. Price 26>.
Nasmith's History of Roman Law. Outline of Roman History, from
Romulus to Justinian (including translation of the Twelve Tables—the Institutes of Gains and
the Institutes of Justinian), with special reference to the Growth, Development and Decay of
Roman Jurisprudence. With Map and Chart By David Nasmith, Q.C, LL.B. In 1 vol.,
demy 8vo. Price 25».
Seaborne's Law of Vendors and Purchasers. A Concise Manual
of the Law of Vendors and Purchasers of Real Property. By Hrsrv Seaborne, Esq.,
Solicitor. Third Editiox. 1884. Post 8vo. Price 12<. 6i
Underbill's Law of Trusts and Trustees. A Concise Manual of
the Law relating to Private Trusts and Trustees. Fourth Editiox. By A. Uxderhill, Esq..
M.A., LL.D., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. 1 vol., post 8vo. Price 21*.
Underhill's Law of Torts. A Summary of the Law of Torts, or Wrongs
Independent of Contract Sixth Edition. By A. Uxderhill, Esq., M.A., LL.D., of Lincoln's
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Underhill's Guide to Equity. A Concise Guide to Modern Equity.
Being a Course of Nine Lectures delivered at the Incorporated Law Society during the Tear 1885.
Revised and Enlarged. By A. Uxderhill, Esq., M.A., LL.D., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-
Law. 1886. Post 8vo. Price St.
Powell on Evidence. Powell's Principles and Practice of the Law of
Evidence. Sixth Editiox. By J. Cutler, B.A., Professor of English Law and Jurisprudence
at King's College, London, and C. F. Cagxey, B.A., Barristers-at-Law. In 1 vol., post 8vo-
Price 21i.
Abbott's Law of Merchant Ships and Seamen. By Charles,
Lord Texterden, late Chief Justice of England. Thirteenth Edition. By Thomas T.
Bucknill, Esq., of the Inner Temple, one of Her Majesty's Counsel; and J. Laxolet, Esq., of
the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. Royal 8vo. 1892. Price 52s. 6d.
Mozley and Whiteley's Concise Law Dictionary. A Concise
Law Dictionary, containing Short and Simple Definitions of the Terms used in the Law. By
Herbert Newman Mozlky, Esq., M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and of Lincoln's
Inn, and George Crispe Whiteley, Esq., M.A., Cantab., of the Middle Temple, Barristers-
at-Law. 1876. 1 vol., demy 8vo. Price 20*.; calf, 5«. extra.
Nasmith's Institutes of English Law. The Institutes of English Law.
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Barrister-at-Law, Author of the " Chronological Chart of the History of England," 4c 4 vols-,
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%• The above maybe had separately to complete sets at the following prices:—Part I..
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Cutler's Law of Naturalisation. The Law of Naturalisation; as
Amended by the Acts of 1870. By Johx Cutler, Esq., B.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Banister-at-
Law, Editor of "Powell's Law of Evidence," &c. 1871. Demy 12mo. Price 3i. 6a.
London: BUTTERWORTH & CO., 7, Fleet Street, E.C.
garo ^ooftsclters Jo ^.^t.^. J6e prince of plates.
(Continued on page 48.)


ADVERTISEMENTS.
SHAW & SO

LAW PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS,
Manufacturing Stationers, Engravers, Lithographers,
Bookbinders & Account Book Manufacturers,
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PUBLISHERS.
, 8,9 & 9$, Fetter Lane, & 2 & 10, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.
Telegraphic Address—" SHAW SONS, LONDON."
STATIONERY DEPARTMENT.
SOTE PAPERS. PebReam.
(large note, 8 by 5) t. d.
Unglazed, thick Cream Laid . . 8 6
Glazed „ „,.... 5 0
Unglazed, Extra Thick Cream Laid 6 6
„ „ „ Cream Wove 6 6
Treble „ 7 6
Feb Folio Ream.
DRAFT PAPERS. t. d.
Plain Azure or Blue Laid, Fine . 12
„ „ Superfine 16
Plain Blue Wove 12
Ruled, one side only, Azure or Blue
Laid, Fine 16
Ruled, both sides, Azure or Blue
Laid, Fine 16
Ruled, one side only, Azure or Blue
Laid, Superfine 21 0
Ruled, both sides, Azure or Blue
Laid, Superfine 21 0
fOOL-SCAPS.
S. A S. beg to draw attention to their
•pecial Extra Thick Imitation Hand-Made
■'oolscap, very strong agreeable surface, free
rom Hairs. Pek Ream.
«. d.
Plain 16 6
Ruled for Costs (4 pages) ... 19 0
„ „ (3 pages) ... 21 0
Affidavit 20 6
Brief, Abstract 19 0
(Clieaper qualiliet from 10a. Gil. per ream.)
HAND-MADE Sl'l'EEFINE EXTRA THICK.
Plain 24 6
Brief and Abstracts 26 0
Costs, Affidavits 28 0
JUDICATIVE F0OLSCA1'.
Plain, Second Quality
Ruled, „
Plain, Best Quality .
Ruled, ,,
15 0
19 0
18 0
22 0
ENVELOPES. Per 1000
(COMMERCIAL SIZE). t. d.
Special Glazed Cream Laid. . . 4 6
Olde Style, Unglazed do. ...50
Glazed, Extra Thick Cream Laid . 6 6
Commercial, Unglazed Cream Wove 7 0
Fibrous, Extra Thick Unglazed
Cream Laid 8 6
THICK AND STRONG MANILLA
CARTRIDGE.
Sizes . No. 7. Foolscap. Draft. Brief. Deed.
Per 1000 It. 6d. 14s. 6d. 24«. 6<f. 30s. 48«.
LETTER COPYING BOOKS.
Foolscap, 500 leaves, Half Calf
Half Basil
Foolscap, 250 leaves, Half Calf
„ „ Half Basil
Quarto, 500 leaves, Half Calf,
Hulf Basil 5«. &3
Quarto, 250 leaves, Half Calf
d.
«
0
t>
G
0
t;
6
Half Basil 3». & 2 6
PARCHMENTS. Per Doz.
BEST QUALITY—SELECTED. $. d.
Indentures . . 26 by 29 . . 83 ir
„ . . 25 „ 28 . . 32 0
„ Bookwise 11 „ 17 . . 11 6
15 „ 20 . . 18 0
„ . 16 „ 21 . . 20 O
„ . 19 „ 24 . . 24 0
(Alto/ollowcrt to match.')
SITUATION OP PREMI8ER
Within three minutes' walk of the Royal
Courts of Justice.
LAW STATIONERY AND
LITHOGRAPHY.
Engrossing, Fair Copying. Lithographing of Draft Mort-
gages, &c.; a Staff of Clerlu at command.
ACCOUNT BOOKS, &c.
S. k S. manufacture on their own Premises their well-
known Letter Books, Ledgers, Day Books, Fee Books,
&c. 4to. Letter Books, &00 from 35. 6d.; Ledger,
3 qrs., from B*.; Day Books, 3 qis^ from as.
GENERAL OFFICE REQUISITES.
SHAW & SONS, LAW STATIONERS, &C, FETTER LANE, LONDON E.C.


ADVEBTISEM EXT.?.
THE STHNDHRD BANK OF SOOTH m
LONDON OFFICE: 10, Clement's Lane, E.C.
HEAD COLONIAL OFFICE: CAPE TOWN.
SUBSCRIBED CAPITAL - £4,000,000.
PAID-UP CAPITAL - - £1,000,000.
RESERVE FUND - - - £720,000.
CAPE
ABERDEEN.
ADELAIDE.
ALICE.
ALIWAL NORTH.
BARKLY EAST.
BEACONSFIELD.
BEAUFORT WEST.
BEDFORD.
BRITSTOWN.
BURGHERSDORP.
CALA.
CALEDON.
CAPE TOWN.
CARNARVON.
CATHCART.
CERES.
COLESBERG.
CRADOCK.
DORDRECHT.
EAST LONDON.
FORT BEAUFORT.
GEORGE.
GRAAFF-REINET.
GRAHAM'S TOWN.
HANOVER.
HUMANSDORP.
KIMBERLEY.
KING WILLIAM'S
TOWN
KNYSNA.
LIST OF BRANCHES—
COLONY.
KOKSTAD.
LADY GREY.
MAFEKING.
MALMESBURY.
MATATIELE.
MIDDELBURG.
MOLTENO.
MOSSEL BAY.
MURRAYSBURG.
OUDTSHOORN.
PAARL.
PORT ELIZABETH.
QUEEN'S TOWN.
RICHMOND.
RIVERSDALE.
ROBERTSON.
SOMERSET EAST.
STELLENBOSCH.
STERKSTROOM
STEYNSBURG.
SWrELLENDAM.
TARKASTAD.
UITENHAGE.
UMTATA.
VENTERSTAD.
VICTORIA WEST.
VRYBURG.
WELLINGTON.
WILLOWMORE.
WORCESTER.
RHODESIA.
BDLAWAYO.
SALISBURY.
UMTALI.
NATAL.
DUNDEE.
DURBAN.
ESTCOURT.
GREYTOWN.
LADYSMITH.
NEWCASTLE.
PIETERMARITZBURG.
SOUTH AFRICAN
REPUBLIC.
BARBERTON.
BOKSBURG.
HEIDELBERG.
JOHANNESBURG.
KLERKS DORP.
KRUGERSDORP.
LYDENBURG.
MIDDELBURG.
PILGRIM'S REST.
POTCHEFSTROOM.
PRETORIA.
PORTUGUESE
TERRITORY.
LOURENgO MARQUES.
JL. L. MICHELL, \
EDMUND THOMAS, J Joint General Managers,


ADVERTISEMENTS.
51
E. BURMESTER,
EWELLER, WATCHMAKER, AND OPTICIAN.
IMPORTER OF
ENGLISH, FRENCH, AMERICAN
AND GERMAN GOODS,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL,
78, Adderley Street,
CAPE TOWN.
SOLE AGENT FOR THE CELEBRATED
Berlin Reading, Table and Hanging Lamps,
AND
L F. Weule's Church-Tower and Steeple Clocks.
WATCHES, CLOCKS, AND JEWELLERY REPAIRED
ON THE PREMISES.


r,2
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Codes in use:
Telegram Address: "'A.B.C" 4 Edition, "A 7," -WATKIHS,"
"SPILHAUS," "SCOTT'S" and "ZEBRA."
WM. SPILHAUS & CO.
(Jeqejal produce and ({oipi^ion IVJe^chan^
42, STRAND STREET, CAPE TOWN.
AGENTS FOR
THE GERMANIC LLOYD, Berlin, for the Classification of Ships.
ASSOCIATION OF HAMBURG UNDERWRITERS.
ASSOCIATION OF BREMEN MARINE INSURANCE COMPANIES.
THE MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY (Limited), 20, Old Broad St., Losdos.
THE GERMAN INSURANCE ASSOCIATION, 77, Cornhill, London.
NORTH GERMAN INSURANCE COMPANY, Hamburg.
DEUTSCHER LLOYD TRANSPORT INSURANCE COMPANY, Berlin.
INTERNATIONALER LLOYD INSURANCE COMPANY, Berlin.
MUNCHENER RUCKVERSICHERUNGS GESELSCHAFT, Munich.
"ALLIANZ" INSURANCE COMPANY, Berlin and Mcnich.
"FORTUNA '* INSURANCE COMPANY, Berlin.
RHEINISCH-WESTFALLISCHER LLOYD INSURANCE CO.—M. Gladbach.
AGENTS GERMAN EAST AFRICAN LINE OF MAIL STEAMERS.
Consignments of Wool, Skins, Ostrich Feathers,
AND OTHER PRODUCE
RECEIVED AND REALISED AT HIGHEST MARKET VALUES.
Importers of Groceries and Oilman's Stores, Boots and Shoes,
Ales, Brandies, Whiskies and Spirits, Grain and Wool Bags,
Rice, Sugar, Tea, Coffee, Cigars, China, Indian and American
Produce, Sheep Dip, Ogden's Cigarettes and Tobacco, Alsen's
Cement, Frisler and Rossmann's Sewing Machines, Scandinavian
Condensed Milk, "Light of the Age" Oil 150°, &c, &c.
LOWEST MARKET QUOTATIONS.


54
ADVERTISEMENTS.

CASTLE 13[ LINE.
SOUTH & EAST AFRICAN, MAURITIUS & MADAGASCAR
ROYAL MAIL SERVICES
DONALD CURRIE & CO.'S
COLONIAL MAIL LINE.
The Steamer* of The Castle Mail Packets Company (Ltd.)
arc despatched as follows :—
From London, via Southampton and Madeira every alternate
Friday.
From London, via Southampton and Las Palmas, every alternate
Friday.
From Cape Town, via Madeira and Plymouth, to London eTery
alternate Wednesday.
From Cape Town via Las Palmas to London about every alternate
Wednesday.
The Ocean Steamers call at St. Helena and Ascension, at stated
intervals.
From Cape Town to Mossel Bay, Algoa Bay, East London, Natal,
and Delagoa Bay about every week.
From Cape Town to Madagascar and Mauritius every four week-.
For Freight or Passage apply to the Agencies of
THE CASTLE MAIL PACKETS COMPANY, Limited.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
55
UNION

LINE.
THE UNION STEAMSHIP COMPY.
(Limited.)
ROYAL MAIL SERVICE
To »nd from ENGLAND and all SOUTH AFRICAN PORTS every Fortnight, touching at MADEIRA
Outwards and Homewards.
EXTRA BOATS are despatched between the Mail Boats, calling at LISBON and TE.V1SRIFFE, and :A
ST. HELENA and ASCENSION at stited intervals.
For Coast Ports, NATAL, DELAGOA BAY, every Fortnight. Connecting with the Deutsche 0. A.
Line at Durban every four weeks, Tor BEIKA and East Coast Ports.
The Company's splendid Steamers are vellknown for their excellent accommodation and unrivalled arrange-
ments for the conifort of Passengers.
RETURN TICKETS for ENGLAND, available for Six Months, are Issued at a reduction of 10 per cent, on
the Double Fare.
RETURN TICKETS for COAST PORTS are issued, available for return within Three months, by either Union
or Castle Co.'s Steamers.
FLEET:
Tlie following Royal Mail Steamers are employed in the Service—
Name.
NORMAN-
SCOT
GUELPH ..
GREEK ..
GAUL
GOTH
MEXICAN
MOOR
Tonnage.
7392
6850
4916
4747
4744
4718
4661
4464
Name.
TARTAR...
ATHENIAN
TROJAN ...
SPARTAN
PRETOltIA
ARAB
NATAL ...
Tonnage.
4425
3882
3471
3403
3198
3192
III
Full particulars with regard to Freight or Passage may be obtained on application at the COMPANY'S
AGENCIES in every Port in South and East Africa, and all the principal Inland Towns.
HEAD OFFICES:
94, 96, Bishopsgate Street, London; Canute Road, Southampton;
Adderley Street, Cape Town.
COLONIAL AGENCIES:
CAPE TOWN
JOHANNESBURG
MOSSEL BAY
KNYSNA
ALGOA BAY
PORT ALFRED ...
GRAHAM'S TOWN
E. W. Steele.
L. Clarence,
U.S.S. Co., Ltd.
John Mcdie.
G. W. B. Steytler.
R. Junks,
_ U.S.S. Co., Ltd.
C. . Bezant.
E. P. l.i• w and
ISVE87MRNT Co.
QRAAFF-REINET ... B. F. Roberts.
KIMBERLBY U. Cornwall.
EAST LONDON Dyer & Dier, Ltd.
KING WILLIAM'S TOWN DrER At Dyer, Ltd.
DURBAN, NATAL
PIEfERMARITZBURG...
BLOCMKONTE1.N, O.F.S.
PRETORIA
BARBERTON
Titos. Alston,
U.S.S. Co.. Ltd.
C. E. TAt-STOX.
Barlow Baos. & Co.
D. M. Kisch.
Diamond & Co.
THOS. E. FULLER,
B Chief .iff cut for South Africa.


ADVERTISEMENTS-
CASTLE STREET, CAPE TOWN.
> /
Lithographers, Die Sinkers, Engravers
AND
* 7ICCeiI]CT B00K JI^UF^CTa^E^. *
XlTiTivalled in tAe Qolony
for ^rtistic ]3rintin£,
AND
ALL KINDS OF COMMERCIAL STATIONERY
In the BEST QUALITIES at the IiOLUEST PRICES.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
57
RYAN ROOD & CO.,
WHOLESALE
jrain and General Merchants,
MALMESBURY.
LARGE STOCK OF CHEMICAL GUANO.

WHOLESALE AGENTS FOE
H. F. ECKERT'S (Limited) Celebrated Ploughs and
Agricultural Implements.
RYAN ROOD & CO.,


(HI
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ASSURANCE AND TRUST COMPANY
OF PORT ELIZABETH (limited.)
Capital ..... £125,000
Reserve Fund ... £60,000
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
A. HIRSCH, Chairman.
D. VREEDE.
J. SHEARD.
T. W. CRABTREE.
W. E. VARDY.
T. G. GRIFFITHS.
AUDITORS:
W. WILSON ami JOHN WATSON.
SOLICITORS:
Messrs. DYASON, IIAZELL & WILSON.
THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY COMPRISES:
The Administration of Estates.
The Agency and Management of the Affairs of persons leaving the
Colony.
The Investment of Capital.
The Raising of Loans, and the Sale and Purchase of Landed and other
Securities.
Agency Business in nil its Branches, and the Administration of Estates
of all kinds, and that of tlie affairs of persons leaving the Colony are daily
undertaken at the Company's Olfiut.'.
This Company has been appointed GENERAL MANAGERS for
South Africa for the following Comrtnies:
ATLAS ASSURANCE CO.
92, CHBAPSIDE, LONDON, E.C.
FIRE BRANCH (Established 1808):
Subscribed Capital ... .* £1,120,000
In addition the Company has Assets exceeding-... £1,190,000


ADVERTISEMENTS.
61
ASSURANCE AND TRUST COMPANY
OF PORT ELIZABETH (limited).
LAW UNION & CROWN
jf ire anb %	c Jnsurance Company
126, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, W.C.
LIFEBRANCH (Established 1825):
Subscribed Capital .. . .. £1,431,200
Funds in hand exceed £3,500,000
The last Reversionary Bonus declared was equal to 2 per cent.
THE. OCEAN
Hccibent & (Buarantee Corporation, %tb.
40 to 44, MOORGATE ST., LONDON, E.C.
Authorised Capital .. £400,000
Gross Assets, including Uncalled Capital • £335,926
BRITISH & FOREIGN MARINE
INSURANCE CO., Limited.
LIVERPOOL & LONDOM,
Capital £1,340,000
Paid-Up £268,000
Reserve Fund £650,000
Proposals for Fire, Marine, Life, Accident and Guarantee Assurance are daily
attended to at the Company's Office, and are accepted at Lowest Possible Rates.
Marine risks are accepted, and Policies granted, payable in aDy part of the world.
R. S. SMITH, Secretary,
JEgiB Assurance & Trust Company of Port Elizabeth, Limited.


G4 ADVERTISEMENTS.
Estab. IMPERIAL 1820.
The Imperial Life has had a h*ng and successful
career.—Mktuopolitax Jouhkal.
LIFE OFFICE.
The bonuses declared were at a higher rate
than previously obtained.—Capitalist.
One of the oldest, soundest, and most repuubi*-
of British Life Offices.—Ixsi-raxcr Post.
SOUTH AFRICAN Life Policy-Holders are kept in a separate Section, thus
practically making the Imperial Life Office a South African Company, with the
additional security of British Capital.
All moneys collected in South Africa are invested in the country, and in addition
the Company are large holders of Colonial Securities.
The Imperial Lite Office has a larger premium income in hand, in proportion to
its liabilities, than any Company doing business in South Africa.
This Company has had more than three-quarter of a century's experience, and
no other Company in South Africa can show the same successful record.
This Company pays the amount of the policy should the insured lose his eyesight
by accident No other Company covers this risk.
Intending Insurers should ascertain the Cash Value of their Policy should they at
any time find it necessary to surrender the same. No Company pays a higher Cash
Surrender Value than the Imperial, and this is a sure proof of financial strength.
Insurers in the Imperial have special advantages should they not be able to p»y
their premium within the days of grace. Compare these with those of other Companies.
Low Premiums. Large Bonuses. Free Travelling all Over tbe World.
Liberal Conditions. Non - Forfeiture Policies.
Immediate Payment of Claims. Guaranteed Surrender Values.
Absolute Security.
SOUTH AFRICAN DIRECTORS:
SIR FREDERICK BLAISE, J.P., President Port Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce; Chairman GoardMi
Assurance and Trust Company.
H. B. CHRISTIAN, Esq., J.P., lately President Tort Elizabeth Agricultural Society; Chairman Port EttalWb
Assurance and Trust Company.
HON. H. W. PEARSON, M.L.A. (ex-Colonial Secretary).
JAMES BRISTOW, Esq. (ex-Mayor).
W. MACDONALD, Medical Director.
D. M. BROWN (Secretary of tbe Port Elizabeth Agricultural Society),
Manager for South Africa.
ACCIDENT SECTION.
Persons insuring in the Imperial against Accident have the advantages of sn
Office of over 75 years'standing, combined with LOW PREMIUMS, LIBERAL
CONDITIONS, and PERFECT SECURITY.
The Company has Branch Offices at Capetown, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloem-
fontein, Durban, and Pietermaritzburg, and representatives in the most imporUct
towns in South Africa.
Head Office for South Africa:
INSURANCE CHAMBERS, PORT ELIZABETH-


06
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Commercial Union Assurance. Company, limited.
Mead Office: 19 & 20 CORNHILL, LONDON.
FIRE. .LIFE. MARINE.
Capital Fully Subscribed £2,500,000.
Life Fund (in Special Trust for.LifelPoliey Holders) .. £1,646,512.
Total Invested Funds exceed B J32,500,000.
Total Annual Income JBX,600,000.
Head Office in South Africa.—MAIN STREET, PORT ELIZABETH.
LOCAL BOARD.
P. W. Court, Eaq. A. Gloag, Esq.
Charles Hannah, Esq. (Hannara & Co.) P. Eaton, Eaq. (Eaton & Klendger.)
George Gordon, Esq. (J. & G. Gordon.) J. Head, Esq. (Beniers Ton Laer & Co.)
A. S. Tolson, Esq. (A. S. Tolson & Co.) John F. Keith, Esq.
Resident Manager.—Thomas Stevenson.
Cape Town, Branch Office.—HOUT STREET.
LOCALIBOARD.
T. E. Fuller, Esq., M.L.A. (Union Steam I C. H. Knight. Eaq. (Messrs. Tliomscu.
Ship Company.) I Watson & Co.)
Bankers: African Banking Corporation (Limited.)
life assurance:.
Persons to whom COMPLETE SECURITY, combined with PROFITABLENESS, is an object, mi/
avoid the trouble of enquiring elsewhere, by applying to the above Company, whose Conditions
are Liberal, Management Expensesconomical, and rates of Premium Moderate, while the Security
obtained by Policy-holders is EXCEPTIONALLY COMPLETE.
No Company doing Life bnsinesB in this Country offers better inducements to the public iD
point of Security, Liberality of Terms and Magnitude of Bonus. But few Companies cm
honestly promise anything like the same all round advantages to Policy Holders. No other
Company in South Africa can claim the possession of all the following points in its
favour:—
L An increasing Business. II. An increasing1 Bonus.
III. The lowtst expense ratio of any Company represented in this Country.
SPECIAL ADVANTAGES .OFFERED BY THE "COMMERCIAL UNION."
Minimum Rates. Undoubted Security. The lowest expense ratio of any Company doing butiuest
in South Africa. Good Increasing and Compound Bonuses. Interim Bonuses. Claims tttiieit
in Port Elisabeth or Cape Town without reference to England. Liberal Surrender Valuer,
guaranteed by endorsement upon the Policies tltemselves. First-Class lines accepted finally
reference to England.
SPECIMENS OF BONUSES ON APPLICATION.
Fire.—Moderate quotations given for all classes of risk Each risk will be sated os its
merits. Transfers can be effected without cost.
Marine.—Favourable rates for choice Freights.
Agencies exist throughout South Africa.—Applications invited from Gentlemen in »
position to introduce good business in either or all of the brunches. No Travelling
Agents or Travelling Doctors employed.
Claims.—Prompt and liberalisettlements.
Enquiries will be answered by return of post. Prospectuses and all general information on
Insurance questions sent on application to—THOS. STEVENSON, Resident MaMin


OS ADVERTISEMENTS.
JOHN LYSAGHT,
IMITE
GALVANIZED CORRUGATED IRON,
All Lengths, Orb Brand.
CALYANIZED FLAT IRON
FOR WORKING UP,
QUEEN'S HEAD AND TENAX STEEL,
Q UALITY G VARANTEED.
LARGE STOCKS ALWAYS ON HAND AND TO ARRIVE.
Depots. Telegraph Addretttt. T.O. Box .YnoAr*
CAPE TOWN "DANVERS" 238
MOSSEL BAY, CO.
1'ORT ELIZABETH, C.C. ... "LYSAGHT" 272
EAST LONDON, C.C "MILLAR" 56
DURBAN, NATAL "FOWLIE" 220
JOHANNESBURG, S.A.R. ... "HABITAS" 1352
R. VALENTINE KING, Manager for South Africa.
WHOLESALE ONLY.
South African Head Office: PORT ELIZABETH.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
TRADE

MARK.
BISSEKER, GEORGE & CO.,
3mporters of tbe famous
ELEPHANT
BECTIVE
THREE STAR
RELIANCE
BOOTS
AND
SHOES.
THE FAVOURITE COLONIAL BRANDS.
GOODS SENT BY PARCEL POST TO ALL PARTS OF SOUTH AFRICA.
BISSEKER, GEORGE & CO.,
Elephant Boot and Shoe Warehouse,
101 MAIN STREET, PORT ELIZABETH.


70
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Watchmaker, Jeweller, Engraver,
AND
Importer of Ittusieal Iustraments,
108, MAIN STREET, PORT ELIZABETH,
Invites Inspection of his Varied and
WELL - SELECTED STOCK,
Consisting of
WATCHES. . Gold> silver> and Metal-
^tj /^i^T^Q Varied Designs in Wood
Brooches, Ear-rings, Chains,
JEWELLERY Bracelets, Pins, Studs,
Rings in Diamond, Wedding-
Keeper, and Fancy Gems.
Electro Plate and Fancy Goods in great variety.
OPTICAL GOODS. TELESCOPES, FIELD AND OPERA CLASSES.
JSpeetaeles and Eyeglasses in Gold and Steel to sait all sights.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
73
PHCENIX HOTEL,
MARKET SQUARE,
PORT ELIZABETH.
Close proximity to Jetty, Railway Station,
Produce and Morning Markets, Customs,
Court House, and Theatre. ■
PRINCIPAL RESORT FOR ALL COMMERCIAL GENTLEMEN.
SHOW ROOMS ON THE PREMISES.
FINEST BILLIARD ROOM IN SOUTH AFRICA.
GOOD SEA BATHING
(WITHIN FIVE MINUTES' WALK).
FOR FURTHER PARTICULARS, ADDRESS—
THE PROPRIETOR.
I».0. Box, No. X5T.


74
ADVERTISEMENTS.
J. C. "JUTA & CO.,
Adderley Street, CAPE TOWN.
Branch - JOHANNESBURG.
IP u bM8 b e rs, Booksellers, 5tatio iters.
Regular Weekly Importation of English, Dutch, French, and German
MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.
SOLE AGENTS BY APPOINTMENT FOR THE SALE OF ADMIRALTY CHARTS.
Depot of the S.P.C.K. Publications.
PUBLISHERS TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE UNIVERSITY.
PUBLISHERS EDUCATIONAL NEWS OF SOUTH AFRICA. (Subscription
5s. per Annum.)
PUBLISHERS SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL JOURNAL. (Subscription 21s.
per Annum.)
PUBLISHERS SUPREME COURT, HIGH COURT, and EASTERN DISTRICT
COURT LAW REPORTS.
Medical, Law, Educational Works,
Books of Travel, Biography, &.C., &c
THE LARGEST STOCK IN SOUTH AFRICA.
CATALOGUES FREE.
J. C. JUTA & CO.


ADVEKTISEMENTS.
75
THE
COLONIAL MOTOAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY
(LIMITED].
J
Offices throughout South Africa, the United Kingdom and the
Australian Colonies.
Directors—CAPE COLONY.
L. Wiener, M.L.A., Chairman, C. C. de Villiers,
J. A. Bam, H. Wilman.
FUNDS. PROGRESS OF THE SOCIETY. NEW BUSINESS.
Dite. Amount. Period. Sum Assured.
31st March, 1881 ... £157,773 7 years ended 31st March, 1881 £4,043,615
31st December, 1887 740,155 6? years ended 31st December, 1887 ... 7,437,395
31st December, 1894 1,793,628 7 years ended 31st December, 1894 ... 10,112,441
Total Item Business since commencement of the Society exceeds
TWENTY-ONE MILLIONS STERLING (£21,000,000).
Being an average of a MILLION for each year of its existence.
Premiums moderate.
Claims paid immediately on proof of death and title.
Policies kept in force out of Surrender Value as long as there
is sufficient to pay one quarterly premium.
The Society is established throughout on the Federal
principle, and thus secures for its members the widest scope for
sound and remunerative investment.
The Insurance Newspaper, London, June, 1895, says of this
Society:—" It is popular, progressive, under able and prudent
control, and certainly no office in or out of England can offer
more satisfactory credentials to the public confidence."
OFFICES IN SOUTH AFRICA. 1
Cape Town—Adderley and Longmarket Sts. Durban—West St.
Johannesburg—Harrison St.
CHARLES WORKOLL, Manager.


76
ADVERTISEMENTS.
"CAPE TIMES" PUBLICATIONS.
"THE CAPE TIMES." ' (Daily Edition.) One Penny.
Its circulation, 57,000 copies weekly, is imapproached by any other
South African Newspaper.
SUBSCRIPTION:—Cape Colony. Transvaal. Natal, and O.F.S., 10/- per quarter; RB. Pro-
tectorate, Rhodesia, Great Britain, and the Postal Union, 12/- per quarter, inclusive of postafe.
SCALE OF CHARGES FOR ADVERTISEMENTS.
Births, Marriages, and Deaths.—2/6 for each Advertisement of not more than Twenty word*:
for every additional line of Eight words, or portion thereof, 1/-.
Wanted, To Let, Lost, Found, and Miscellaneous Small Advertisements.—1/- per line of
Eight words This rate will enable those in search of employment and others to have their Adver-
tisements inserted cheaply, whilst those who elaborate their Advertisements will have to puy
}>ro rata for the space they require.
Casual Advertisements.—Single Column, 4/- per inch, each insertion: Double Column. 8/- per
inch, each insertion: Repeats, half-price. Standing Advertisements.—Special Terms on application.
Paragraph Advertisements.—6d. a line, each insertion. Theatrical Announcements.—2,- i-r
inch, single column, each, nett rate.
"THE CAPE TIMES." (Weekly Edition.) Threepence,
(ILLUSTRATED.)
This Edition is published in time to catch the fast mail train, and serves the whole of
the back divisions of South Africa. Its circulation, already as large as that of any
other weekly newspaper published in South Africa, increases weekly. As an
advertising medium it is unequalled.
"THE CAPE TIMES." (Mail Edition.) Threepence.
Is published in time for transmission to England by each mail steamer.
SUBSCRIPTION, to both editions :—Cape Colony. Natal, Transvaal, and O.F.S.. 4/- per quarter:
B.B. Protectorate, Rhodesia, Great Britain, and the Postal Union, 6/- per quarter, including postage
"THE CAPE TIMES' LAW REPORTS."
SUBSCRIPTION:—£2 2s. Od. per annum.
Vols. L, IL, HL, IV., and V., in stock. Price, half-bound in law calf, £2 10s. Od. each.
"THE CAPE HANSARD."
The only official record of the proceedings of the Cape of Good Hope Legislature.
Price £2 2s. Od. Back Volumes in stock.
"THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL DIRECTORY."
SUBSCRIPTION:—10/6.
For further particular) concerning any of the above, apply to
"CAPE TIMES" PRINTING WORKS,
56, ST. GEORGE'S STREET,
(F. J. S. MEGKIl, Proprietor),
parliamentary printer ano BcoftbmcnnG Contractor
TO THE GOVERNMENT.
GENERAL PRINTER, LITHOGRAPHER, ENGRAVER,
DIE SINKER, PAPER DEALER, AND STATIONED
Send for Quotations before placing Orders elsewhere.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
77
THE EQUITABLE
LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY
OF THE UNITED STATES.
HEAD OFFICE: 120, BROADWAY, NEW YORK.
LONDON OFFICE: 81, CHEAPSIDE, E.C.
FINANCIAL POSITION.
Assets £38,550,898.
Surplus £77787,459.
IMPROVEMENT DURING LAST FINANCIAL YEAR.
Increase in Assets £3,330,815.
Increase in Surplus .. £1,065,220.
A LARGE SURPLUS
IS THE
BEST TEST OF STRENGTH and
GUARANTEE OF FUTURE BONUSES.
SOUTH AFRICAN BRANCH OFFICE:
Grand Parade Building, Darling St, 'Cape Town.
NORTHERN DISTRICT OFFICE:
Equitable Chambers, Rissik St., Johannesburg.
SEND FOR RESULTS OF EQUITABLE TONTINE INVESTMENTS NOW MATURINC.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
79
H- BEVEftfl.
(Established 1855.)
THE OLDEST HOUSE IN THE TRADE IN CAPE TOWN.


FURNITURE
of all kinds, Imported as well as of
Colonial Manufacture.
UPHOLSTERY and FURNITURE MANUFACTORY.
All Details Executed on the Premises by
Experienced Workmen.
27, LOKTa STREET,
CAPE TOWN.
NO CONNECTION WITH ANY OTHER FIRM.


SO
ADVERTISEMENTS.
HARDWARE MERCHANTS.
WHOLESALE AND RET AIL'STORES, 16, 18, 20, GRAVE STREET.
BEDSTEADS AND LAMPS,
CUTLERY AND ELECTROPLATE,
TOOLS OF BEST QUALITY,
PUMPS A SPECIALITY.
Special Terms to Large Buyers.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS
Showroom—21, ADDERLEY STREET.
ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS UNDERTAKEN.
Electric Fans and
Motors to Drive
Machinery
from |th-horse
and upwards.


Electric Bells.
Stoves.
„ Radiators.
Cooking
Utensils.
LARGE ASSORTMENT
OF
ELECTRICAL FITTINGS.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
81
Purchased August, 1895, for £1005, by Mr. A. H. Megson.

/'
MB. A. H. MEGSON'S CHAMPION "SOTJTHPORT PERFECTION."
Mr. W. E. MASON'S OPINION of
SPRATT'S PATENT
DOG CAKES.
The condition of my dogs, and Collie'
CHAMPION "SOUTHPORT PERFECTION"
in particular, is the subject of general remark. The whole credit is due to-
constant attention, abundant exercise, and your very excellent Biscuits
as a staple food.
"Southport Perfection" has won 130 Firsts and Specials, and Six
Championships in two years. -g j^^gQjj
Briars Hall, Latham, nr. Ormskirk.
"THE DOG FROM PUPPYHOOD TO AGE,"
By Dr. GORDON STABLES. Post Free to any Part of the World.
SPRATTS PATENT, LIMITED,
BERMONDSEY, LONDON, S.E.
AGENCIES IN ALL IMPORTANT SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES.
Paris Depot: 14, Rue des Mathurins.


82
ADVERTISEMENTS.
J. G. JUTA & GO.,
CAPE TOWN, PORT ELIZABETH,
• AND
JOHANNESBURG,
Undertake the supply from any of their Branches of
Newspapers and Magazines at the Lowest Possible Prices,
postage included. Subscriptions in all cases must be
Prepaid.
BOOKS in all Branches are regularly Imported by each
Mail Steamer, which include all the latest Scientific Books
and Novels.
STATIONERY from all the principal London Makers
kept in Stock, which thus gives intended Customers a very
large assortment to select from.
MESSRS. J. C. JUTA & 00. would specially draw
the attention of Residents in the Midland and Eastern
Districts to the advantages of sending Orders for Books or
Stationery to their Branch at Port Elizabeth, where the same
will receive prompt attention.
Large Stocks kept from which ready selections can be made.
Catalogues of both Books and Periodicals are sent free
on application to any part of South Africa.


INDEX TO ADVERTISERS.
-Eais Assurance and Trust Company,
Ltd 60,61
African Banking Corporation, Ltd. 137
Alliance Marine and General As-
surance Company, Ltd. . . . 109
Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company 45
Bacon, G. W., & Co., Publishers . . 18
Bagnall, Gibaud & Co., Tanners, Boot
and Shoe Manufacturers ... 59
Ball, Arthur J., Boot and Shoe Manu-
facturer 141
Bank or Africa, The, Ltd. ... 49
Beach Hotel. Humewood .... 72
Begley, G., Glass Merchant ... 187
Bevern, H., Upholsterer 79
Biddlb, H. C, Jeweller 70
Bisseksr, George, & Co., Boot and Shoe
Importers 69
Broadwood's Pianos . . . 105,106,107
Bunton's Grand Hotel, Port Elizabeth 98
Burmesteb, E., Jeweller 51
Blttebwobth & Co, Law Booksellers .46,48
Cadbury's Cocoa 44
Cagill's Hotel, Wynberg .... 103
Camden Hotel, Maritzburg . . . 100
Cameron, Alex., & Co., Sail Makers . 121
Cane, K., & Sons, Monumental Masons 127
Caps Government Railways ... 90
Castle Mail Packets Company, Ltd.
Front of cover; 54
"Clan" Line Steamers, Ltd.. . . 113
Clarke's Patent Lights .... 43
Collins, Sons, & Co., Ltd., Publishers
15,16, 17
Collison, Henry C, Wine and Spirit
Merchant 130
Colonial Mutual Life Assurance
Society, Ltd 75
Colosial Orphan Chamber and Trust
Company 112
Commercial Union Assurance Com-
pany, Ltd CO
PAGE
Cornwell & Co., Merchant Tailors . 122
Criterion and Sauib Bridge Hotels 104
Cbosby, Lookwood & .Son, Publishers 115
Ccthbebt,W. M., & Co., Boot Merchants 138
Davis, Burrow, & Sons, Brush Manu-
facturers 134
De Waal & Co., Ironmongers . . . 135
Edqington, Benjamin, Tent Maker . iii
Educational News, Tlio 142
Eissler, M., on "The Metallurgy of
Gold" 116,117
Elev Brothers, Ammunition Manu-
facturers 36
Equitable Life Assurance Society
of the United States ... 77
Findlay, G., & Co., Hardware Mer-
chants 80
Furnival 4 Co, Printers' Engineers . vii
Gold Mines of the Band . . . 118, 119
Goodall, Charles, & Sons, Stationers 145
Grand Hotel, Cape Town .... 92
Guardian, Fire and Life Assurance
Company, Ltd 109
Hammer, Geo. M., & Co., School Fur-
nishers 12, 13, 14
Habdtmuth, L., & Co., Drawing Pencil
Manufacturers 31
Harris & Co., Jewellers .... 124
Heinemann, Mr. William, Publisher 3, 4, 5
Hotel Metropole, Cape Town . . 93
Hughes, Geo. W., Pen Maker . . . -88
Imperial Life Office 64
International Hotel, Cape Town . 94
Ireland & Co., Tailors ix, 95
Isaacs, Dm & Co., Upholsterers Back of cover
Jones, J. D. & Co., Boot and Shoe
Manufacturers 123
Juta, J. C, & Co , Publishers 74,82,143,144
6*


Si
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS.
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubxer, & Co.,
Ltd., Publishers 9, 10, 11
Koch & Dixie, Cutlers, &c 139
Krausse & Auerbach, Manufacturers'
Agents for all sorts of Best Leather
Goods, China and Glass Ware, and
the " Kalliston" Organette 89, 40, 41
Laxe, John, Publisher ... 20, 21, 22
Lancasteb, Charles, Gun Maker . . 37
Liberman & Buirski, Colonial Produce
and Brandy Merchants .... 131
Lloyds & Co., Importers of Agricultural
Machinery and Implements ... 53
Lyons' Ink Front of coter
Lysaght, John, Ltd., Corrugated Iron
Merchant 68
Manchester Fire Assurance Company 108
Maritime Insurance Company, Ltd. . 108
McKenzie, A. R., & Co., Shipping Agents 104
Mercer Sl Skaugen, Sail Makers . . 140
Megkb, F. J. S., the Cape Timet . . 76
Mossop & Gabland, Tanners and
Curriers 78
National Life Assurance Society . 108
North-Western Hotel, Johannesburg 99
Palmerston Hotel, Port Elizabeth . 72
Pascall's Confectionary .... iv
Perrins, G. R., Gunsmith .... 65
Philip, George, & Son, Publishers .26,27,28
Phcsnii Hotel, Port Elizabeth. . . 73
Pirie, Alex., & Sons, LTD.,Puper Makers 32
Pibie, James, Sail and Tent Maker .62, 63
Poole's Hotel, Cape Town .... 97
Pyott, John, Confectioner .... 71
Queen's Hotel, Seapoint, Cape Town 58
Redd aw ay & Co., Ltd., Manufacturers
of Indiarubber Goods .... 147
Richards, W. A., & Sons, Stationers and
Printers 56
Rigg, William & Sons, Estate and
General Agents ix, 67
Rippon, Reginald H., Family Grocer . xi
Royal Hotel, Beaufort West ... 102
Royal Hotel, Cape Town .... 91
Ryan Rood, & Co., Wholesale Grain
and General Merchants .... 57
rm
Salisbury Hotei,, Newcastle, Natal . 101
Salvation Army Matches .... Ti
Sanfobd, Percival, & Son, Metal ami
General Export Merchants . . . rni
Sedgwick & Co., Wine and Spirit Mer-
chant 136
Shaw & Soss, Law Stationers ... 47
Smith Elder & Co., Publishers . . 19
Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge 23, 24,25
South African Association for the
Administration of Estates . . Ill
South African Medical Journal . . . 125
South African Mutual Life Assur-
ance Society. < 110
Spicer, James, & Sons, Stationers 33,34,35
Spilhacs, Wm., & Co., General Prodoco
and Commission Merchants ... 52
Spratt's Patent Dog Cakes ... 81
St. George's Hotel, Cape Town . . 96
Standard Bank of South Africa, Ltd. 50
Starley, J. K., Ltd., Meteor Cvcle
Works .' . ii
Stein and Hunteb, Gunsmiths and
Ironmongers 128
Stewart, Geo., & Co., Stationers . . 89
Table Bay Harbour, Capo Town . . 120
Taylor Brothers, Colour Printers . vi
Thurston 4 Co., Sports' Depot . . . 132
Tuck, Raphael & Sons, Fine Art Pub-
lishers ii. 29
Union Steamship Company, The, Ltd.
Sack of cover; 55
Van Ryn, The, Wine and Spirit Com-
pany, Ltd 133
Walker, John, & Co., Ltd., Stationers. 30
Warne, Frederick & Co., Publishers 6,7,8
Watson, Frank, Funeral Furnisher . 126
Wickin & Co., Mufic Sellers . 85. 86, ST
Wiggins, Teape * Co., Paper Makers . 2
Williamson & Sons, Manufacturers of
Japanned Goods S!
Winsob & Newton, Artists' Colourmen 116
"Yost" Type Writer, The . . . I»
Young & Marten, Manufacturers and
Shippers of every Article required
in Building and Plumbing Trades . ••


86 ADVEBTISEMENTS.
WICKINS'
GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC BOOKS.
An Edition of Classical and Modern Pianoforte Music, Newly Edited and Fingered.
rrice OXE 8BILLINO <£ SIXPEXCE each, net. (Copyright.)
BOOK 1. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
MENDELSSOH N.
The Rivulet Andante. Op. 16, No. 3.
Andante and Uondo Capriccioso in E. Op. 14.
Spring Soar. Lleder ohne Wort*. No. 30, Op. 62.
Andante and Allegro in A. Op. 16, No. 1.
Allegro non troppo. Op. 72, No. 1.
Andante con moto. Op. 72, No. 4.
The Bees' Wedding. Lieder ohne Wort*. No. 34,
Op. 67.
The Wedding March from the "Midsummer Night's
Dream.'*
BOOK 2. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
SCHUBERT.
Impromptu in A flat. Op. 142, No. 2.
Rosamunde. Entr'acte No. ].
Rosamunde. Entr'acte No. 2.
Menuetto in B minor. Op. 78.
Scherzo In B flat.
BOOK 3. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
CHOPIN.
Valse in D flit. Op. 64, No. 1.
Polonaise In Cf minor. Op. 26, No. ].
Berceuse in D flat. Op. 57.
Etude in E. Op. 10, No. 3.
Polonaise in A. Op. 40, No. 1.
Nocturne in F minor. Op. 55, No. 1.
BOOK 4. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
BEETHOVEN.
Tema.wltbSix Var.. in G. I Rondo in C. Op. 61, No. 1.
Sonatina, No. 1, in G. I L'Adieu.
Sonatina, No. 2, in F. I Sonatina in G. Op. 49, No. 2.
BOOK 5. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
BACH.
Easy Prelude in F.
Aria from Partita IV.
Pa-*epied from Partita in B minor.
Inventions in Two Parts, No. 1, in C.
Inventions in Two Parts, No. 3, in F.
Rondo In E major.
Prelude in F from Suites Anglai.es IV.
(iigue from Partita I.
Praeambulam from Tartita V.
Cromatlque Fantasia.
BOOK 6. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
SCHUMANN.
Carneval, Op. 8. Tau'e; Aveu.
Schlommeilled. Op. 124.
Scenes from Childhood. Op. 15. Quite Happy; Entreat-
ing Child.
Nachtstlick in D flat. Op. 23, No. 3.
Album for the Young. Op. 68. First Loss; The Soldier's
March.
Novelette in F. Op. 21, No. 1.
BlumenstUck in 1) flat. Op. 19.
BOOK 7. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSK.
HANDEL.
Largn.
Harmonious Blacksmith.
March from the Occasional Oratorio.
Allegro in A major.
I>ead March in Saul.
Dead March in Samson.
Giguc in F major.
M-rch In Scipio.
Minuet from Samson.
BOOK 8. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC-
MOZART.
Romance in A flat.
Life let us Cherish.
Minuet and Andante (Don Giovanni).
Fantasia in D minor.
Rondo in D.
Le Nozze de Figaro.
BOOK 9. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
WEBER.
La Gaite (Rondo Brillante). Op. 62.
Huntsmen's Chorus.
L'lnvUatl.iu a la Valse.
Last Waltz.
L'HIlarite (Pclscca). Op. 72 in E.
BOOK 10. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC
WILSON.
The Chapel in the Mountains (a tone picture}.
Moonlight on V e Hudson imorcean de SalonX
The Wayside Chapel (Reverie).
The Shepherd Boy (Idyll).
Christmas Bells (Descr'ptive Piece).
Tripping through the Meado« s (Polka Caprice).
The Little Shepherdess (Idyll).
BOOK 11. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC,
CLEMENTI.—OP. 36.
Sonatina. No. 1. in C. I Sonatina, No 4, in F.
Sonatina, No. 2, in G. Sonatina, No. t, in (i.
Sonatina, No. 3, in C. | Sonatina, No. 6, in D.
BOOK 12. GROSVENOR COLLEGE OF MUSIC
CLEMENTI.
Sonatina, op. 37 No. 1, In Et.
Sonatina, op. 37 No. 2, In D.
Sonatina, op, 37 No. 3, in C.
Sonatina, op. 38 No. 1, in G.
Sonatina, op. 38 No. 2, in Vf).
Sonatina, op. 38 No. 3, in F.
WICKINS & CO., 41, New Bond Street, London, W.
Wholesale Agents:
J. C. JUTA & CO., Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Johannesburg.


88
ADVEKTISEMEXTS.

St. Raul's
PEN WORKS,
BIRMINGHAM,
GEO.W.HUGHESPENS

CEOWHUCHESPENS

sw/rr& smoNcWt,
HAS AFFOIXTED
MESSRS.
J. C. JUTA & CO.
His Sole Agents for
CAPE COLONY.
DEPOTS:
CAPE TOWN,
JOHANNESBURG,
PORT ELIZABETH.
A Large Stock at Each Depot,
SAMPLES ON APPLICATION.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
93
HOTEL METROPOLE
Deutscher Hotel, 1st Range,
LONG STREET, Corner of CASTLE STREET,
CAPE TOWN.

HIS Establishment has been specially erected as a first-
class Hotel by the Proprietor regardless of cost; it is
illuminated throughout by electric light, and it is replete with
every convenience.
Visitors will find every comfort; an excellent table^ is kept;
there are Hot and Cold Baths on each floor, and the Hotel is
provided with all the latest sanitary improvements.
CHARGES MODERATE.

A. HARTUNG, Proprietor.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
95
INTERNATIONAL HOTEL
THE GARDENS.
The most Beautifully Situated Hotel in
Cape Town.

HE TRELLIS PROMENADE, OTALLAGHAN'S INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, i"BON ACCORD."


A D VKRTISEMEXTS.
FORCE'S ,
\ ♦ Opposite f
^ General Post Office, \S
CAPE TOWN.
THIS ESTABLISHMENT is known throughout the length
and breadth of SOUTH AFRICA as a Family and Com-
mercial Hotel of the highest class. It is most centrally
located, being exactly opposite the GENERAL POST OFFICE,
and, owing to the superiority of its situation and other
advantages, it has enjoyed the patronage of commercial
gentlemen to a greater extent than any other house in town
as their comfort and convenience are made a special study.
THE ST. GEORGE'S HOTEL
has long been renowned for the excellence of its Cuisine, and
it has always been a favourite resort for visitors.
The Tariff is most moderate, viz.: 10s. per day.
N.B.-SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS BY THE WEEK OR MONTH.
Under the same proprietary is the "CAFE ROYAL"
(next door to the General Post Office), one of the most noted
Bars in town, where only the best brands of Liquor, Cigars,
&c, are kept, and attached to which is a
FIRST-CLASS BILLIARD SALOON.
A. CZABK, Proprietor.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
97

> Favourite Hotel %
is located in the most Central portion of tn e Town,
CLOSE TO THE CATHEDRAL,
which ensures quiet to visitors, and being also near
the Post Office, Banks, Parliament, and other Public
Buildings, its situation may be considered unique. As
a proof of its popularity it may be mentioned that
visitors who have once patronised it never fail to
return, and it is admitted to be the most Comfortable
AN EXCELLENT CUISINE.
GOOD SANITARY ARRANGEMENTS.
Moderate Charges, combined with Comfort, Civility and
Attention, are always to be relied on.
Family Hotel in Cape Town.
E. BRISCOE,
Proprietor,
7


08
ADVERTISEMENTS.
BUNTON'S
GRAND HOTEL,
PORT ELIZABETH.
This First-Class Hotel is situated at the top of White's Road,
and from its Balcony has a magnificent view of the Bay and
Shipping.

For up-country visitors cannot be surpassed. Passengers from Europe
acknowledge it to be by far and away the best managed Hotel in South Africa.
Fitted up throughout with the Incandescent Light. Electric Bells in every
Room." Hot and Cold Baths. The Grounds are a perfect picture. Patronised
by the most distinguished visitors to the Cape Colony.
i
Special arrangements for Banquets, Balls, Picnics, Private
Suppers, Sec.
TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION WITH ALL MERCANTILE HOUSES.
ONLY THE VERY BEST OF WINES, SPIRITS AND CIGARS ARE KEPI
Private Omnibus meets all Trains and Steamers.
THE WHOLE UNDER THE SOLE MANAGEMENT OF THE PROPRIETOR.
W. BUNTON.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
101
THE GREAT HEALTH RESORT.
Salisbury Hotel,
NEWCASTLE, NATAL.
INVALIDS and others in need of rest and change should take a trip to New-
+ castle, the Border Town on the Natal uplands, and spend a few days at the
above Hotel.
Newcastle lies 3,892 feet above sea level; is a clean and well-laid-out town,
and, in addition to having an abundant and excellent water supply, is ad-
mittedly the healthiest place in Natal—if not in South Africa. It is
easily reached by train, and travellers from up country to the coast and vice
versa are specially recommended to break the journey for a day or two here.
THE SALISBURY HOTEL and HYDROPATHIC gives every
accommodation, consisting as it does of about 40 large, lofty, and well-
ventilated rooms, including Billiard, Reading, Smoking, and Ladies' Rooms,
is surrounded by Beautifully Laid-out Grounds, and is invariably stated to be
THE PRETTIEST HOTEL IN SOUTH AFRICA
by every one who has resided there.
There is a very comfortable Cottage adjoining the Hotel for Visitors who
desire to be away from the Hotel, and is let upon reasonable terms.
The Proprietor during the last 24 years has made a special study of the
treatment of Rheumatic and Malarial Complaints, and has fitted up, at great
expense, apparatus for the application of Vapour, Galvanic and Shower Baths,
for the use of Visitors. His success in this treatment has been very marked.
There are Good Brick Stables and the Best of Forage.
A WAGONETTE MEETS ALL TRAINS.
Intending Visitors should write or wire to the Proprietor—
J. W. DAVIDSON,
BaUabuvy Hotel, Newcastle, NATAL.
Telegraphic Address:—"DAVIDSON, NEWCASTLE:


102 ADVERTISEMENTS.

THE
ROYAL HOTEL,
BEAUFORT WEST.
Proprietor - A. DRIFFIELD.
Conveniently situated in the upper and most
healthy part of the town.
C0MF0ET AND CONVENIENCE OF VISITOES MADE
A PARTICULAR STUDY OF.
English Cuisine of the Highest Class.
LARGE AIRY BILLIARD ROOM, SMOKE ROOM, &C-
CART MEETS ALL TRAINS.
CHARGES MODERATE, and SPECIAL CHARGES for a PERIOD or for a PARTI
PATRONISED BY
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR OF CAPE COLONY,
GENERAL CAMERON,
COMMANDER OF HER MAJESTY8 FORCES IN SOUTH AFRICA,
AND BY MOST OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY.


106
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Established 1732.
John Broadwood & Sons,
pianoforte Jffallers
TO
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN,
H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES,
H.R.H. THE PRINCESS OF WALES,
And the rest of the Royal Family.

HORIZONTAL and UPRIGHT
Grand Pianofortes.
BROADWOODS,


108
ADVERTISEMENTS.
THE
Manchester Fire Assurance Co.
ESTABLISHED 1824.
Capital .... £32,000,000.
TRANSACTS FIRE BUSINESS ONLY.
Manager for South Africa — F. A. LEARMONTH,
AGENTS WANTED. 20, St. George's St., CAPE TOWN.
The Maritime Insurance Co., Ltd.
OF LIVERPOOL. established 1864.
Capital .... £500,000.
TRANSACTS MARINE BUSINESS ONLY.
Chief Agent for South Africa—
F. A. LEARMONTH, 20, St. George's Street
National Life Assurance Society.
ESTABLISHED 1830.
FOR MUTUAL ASSURANCE' WITHOUT PERSONAL LIABILITY.
Manager for South Africa—
F. A. LEARMONTH, 20, St George's Street


110
ADVERTISEMENTS.
THE
SOUTH AFRICAN MUTUAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
INSTITUTED IN 1845. INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT, 1888.
Head Office—
DARLINC STREET, CAPE TOWN.
Branches in
Durban, Bloemfontein & Johannesburg.
DIRECTORS:
H. M. ARDERNE, Chairman.
HON. ALFRED EBDEN,
HENRY SOLOMAN, Sen.
Hok. J. X. MERRIMAN, M.L.A.
PAUL DE VILLIERS.
GODFREY SICHEL.
J. G. STEYTLER.
HARRY BOLUS.
F. J. CENTLIVRES.
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER:
G. E. C. ANDERSOX, M.D., M.C., London; M.R.C.S., England.
ANNUU 1 Premiums £175,558
INCOME J Interest £85,965
ACCUMULATED FUNDS .... £1,662,845
(All invested in South African Securities).
Absolute Security. Large Compound Bonuses and Intermediate Bonus on Claims
Freedom from Restrictions. Improved Non-forfeiture Regulations. Free Residence and
Travel. Expenses Moderate. Early Payment of Claims. All Profits belong to Memben
•No Personal Liability. Loans on Policies of Five Years' Duration. Liberal Surrender
Values. Triennial Investigations—last in June, 1895; next in June, 1898.
Thirty days' grace allowed for payment of Premiums during which Policy is held in force.
Policies are hold in force as long as there is sufficient Surrender Value to cover om
Quarterly Premium.
Last Distribution 1895.
Policies of different durations were payable in event of death of Assured at the following
rates for each £1,000 of original Assurance :—
Duration in 18(9. Sams Payable.
50 years .... £3,093
45 years
30 years
20 years
15 years
Duratioa in 18»J. Sums Pa.vato.
12 years .... £1,230
9 years .... £1,160
6 years .... £1,105
3 years .... £1,052
£2,781
£1,846
£1,477
£1 328
WILLIAM MARSHALL, Secretary.


114
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ESTABLISHED 1863.
A. R. MCKENZIE & GO.
LANDING,
Shipping and Forwarding Agents,
ALFRED DOCK, CAPE TOWN.
Head Office: 1, ADDERLEY STREET.
All kinds of Dock Contract Work undertaken, including Stevedoring in all
its Branches; Hoisting Engines supplied for Hire, per Day or per
Ton; Wagon-hire supplied from Docks to Town and the Suburbs, and
vice versa. Goods Entered and Cleared through Cnstoms, and Forwarded
to all parts of the Colony or England.
Agents for Messrs. Geo. Wheatley & Co. 's "Globe" Parcels
Express of 80, Queen Street, Cheapside, London, E.C*
and 10, North John Street, Liverpool.
DOCK CONTRACTORS FOR THE FOLLOWING LINES OF STEAMERS
DONALD CURRIE & CO.'S CASTLE LLNE;
UNION s.s. CO.'S LINE;
CLAN LINE;
ORIENT STEAM NAVIGATION CO.'S LINE;
CAPE SHIPPING CO.'S LINE;
SOUTH AFRICAN CO.'S LINE;
SHAW, SAVILLE & CO.'S LINE;
BUCKNALL BROS., Ac.
Agents for the "Alert" and "Enterprise" Steam Tugs and Water Tendtrt
SPECIAL TOWAGES UNDERTAKEN, AND WATER SUPPLIED TO SHIPPING IN BAT.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
115
CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND SON'S
NEW LIST OF STANDARD WORKS ON
MINING, METALLURGY, k
The Metallurgy of Gold: a Practical
Treatise on the Metallurgical Treatment
of Gold-bearing Ores. Including the
Processes of Concentration, Chlorination,
and Extraction by Cyanide, and the
Assaying, Melting, and Refining of Gold.
By M. Eissler, M.E. Fourth Edition,
enlarged to 700 pages. With 203 Text
Illustrations and 25 Folding Plates and
Working Drawings. Large crown 8to.,
16s, cloth. (Jutt published.)
The Cyanide Process of Gold Extrac-
tion and its Practical Application on the
WitwatersrandGoldfielda In South Africa.
By M. Eissleb, M.E. Crown 8vo., 7s. Gd.,
cloth.
The Prospector's Handbook. By J. W.
Abdebson, M.A. With 70 illustrations,
crown 8vo., 3s. 6d., cloth, or in leather for
the pocket, 4s. Gd.
A Pocket-book for Miners & Metallur-
gists. By F. Danvebs Poweb, F.G.S.
Fcap. 8vo., 9«., leather.
Machinery for Metalliferous Mines.
By E. H. Davies, M.E. Crown 8vo.,
12s. 6U, cloth.
The Miner's Handbook. By Professor
John Milne, F.B.S. Fcap. 8vo., 7». 6d.,
leather.
The Metallurgy of Silver. By M.
Eissleb, M.E. 2nd edition, enlarged, 376
pages, with 150 illustrations, crown 8vo.,
10s. Gd., cloth.
The Metallurgy of Argentiferous Lead,
a practical treatise on Smelting Silver,
Lead Ores and Refining Lend Bullion.
By M. Eissleb, M.E. Crown 8vo., 12s. Gd.
.A Handbook on Modern Explosives:
the manufacture of Dynamite, Gun-
Cotton, Nitro-Glycerine, Ac By M.
Eissleb, M.E. Crown 8vo, 10s. Gd., cloth.
Metalliferous Minerals & Mining. By
D. C. Davies, M.E. 5th edition, revised
and enlarged by E. H. Davies, M.E.
Crown 8vo., 12s. Gd., cloth.
Earthy tc other Minerals Sc Mining.
By D. C. Davies, M.E. 3rd edition,
revised and enlarged by E. H. Davies,
M.E. Crown 8vo., 12s. Gd., oloth.
Slate and Slate Quarrying, Scientific
Practical, and Commercial. By D. C.
Davies, F.G.8. Fcap. 8vo., 3s. 6U, cloth.
British Mining, a treatise on the Metalli-
ferous Mines of the United Kingdom.
By Robert Hunt, F.B.S. Royal 8vo.,
£2 2s., cloth.
Notes and Formula) for Mining
Students. By J. H. Mebivale, M.A.
Crown 8vo., 2s. Gd., cloth.
The Colliery Manager's Handbook:
a comprehensive treatise on the Laying
out and Working of Collieries. By Cale-
Pamlet, M.E. Medium 8vo., 900 pages
with nearly 700 illustrations, 25s., cloth.
The Iron Ores of Great Britain and
Ireland. By J. D. Kendall, F.G.S.
Crown 8vo., 16s., cloth.
Coal and Coal Mining. By the lute Sir
W. W. Smyth, F.R.8. 7th edition, revised
and enlarged, fcap. 8vo., 4«., cloth.
The Mineral Surveyor and Valuer's
Guide. By Wm. Lintebn. 250 pages,
with four folding plates, fcap. 8vo.,3>. Gd.,
cloth.
Mine Drainage, a treatise on Underground
Steam - Pumping Machinery. By S.
Micbell. 296 pages, with 137. illustra-
tions, demy 8ve., 15s., cloth.
New Catalogue of Works on Mining, Engineering, &c, on Application.
10ND0N: CROSBY LOCKWOOD & SON, 7 Stationers' Hall Court, E.C.
J. C. JUTA & CO., Cape Town, Johannesburg & Port Elizabeth.
8»


ADVERTISEMENTS.
121
fttiEX. CMNEROH & CO.
SAIL MAKERS,
AND
GENERAL SHIP CHANDLERS,
St. George's & Waterkant Streets,
CAPE TOWN.
AKERS of Tents of every description. Wagon Sheets,
coated and uncoated. Trek-touws, Horse Cribs, Loin
Cloths, and Flags of all Nations. Dealers in Steel and Iron Wire
Rope. Boltrope, Lanyard, and ordinary Three-strand Rope.
Manilla, Coir, and Hemp Rope. Buntings, Paints, Oils and
Colours, Ironware, Brushware, &c. In short, everything, from
the proverbial "Needle to a Sheet Anchor."
NOTE THE ADDRESS:
Corner of Waterkant & St. George's Streets,
CAPE TOWN.


122
ADVERTISEMENTS.
Established 1869.

CORNWELL & COMPANY,
fllefehant Tailors,
ST, GEORGE'S STREET,
CAPE TOWN,
Beg to announce to their patrons and customers and the
public in general that they are constantly receiving New
and Fashionable Goods of the Best Quality only.
Superfines, Diagonals,
Vicunas, Corkscrews,
Worsted, Tweeds,
Serg-es, Cheviots,
Bedford Cords, Whipcords,
Khaki, See., &c, &c.
C. &. Co. direct attention to a special feature of their
business. The cutting is done by the members of the firm
only, and thus customers can ensure their orders being carried
out with the utmost care by responsible persons.
SAMPLES AND SELF-MEASUREMENT FORMS
FREE ON APPLICATION.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
123
THE NEWEST AND MOST STYLISH
BOOTS ™d
SHOES

AND BEST VALUE
IN CAPE TOWN
GO TO
J. D. JONES & Co.
PLEIN STREET,
OR
Branch Store: 5, SHORTMARKET STREET.
BOOTS AND SHOES SENT BY POST TO ALL PARTS OF SOUTH AFRICA.


ADVERTISEMENTS.
125
THE
South African Medical Journal.
A MONTHLY JOURNAL
Devoted to the Interests of the Medical
Profession of South Africa.
EDITED BY
G. G. EYRE, M.B., CM.
■ •' INCLUDING / '•
Leading Articles on subjects interesting to the
Profession, and Annotations from the leading
English, American, and Foreign Journals.
Subscription, 21s. per annum, including postage.
Published by J. C. JUTA & CO., Cape Town.


12G
ADVERTISEMENTS.
FRANK WATSON,
r Undertaker, ,
AND
COMPLETE
FUNERAL FURNISHER
PRITCHARD STREET,
Von Brandis Square,
P. O. BOX 762.


128
ADVERTISEMENTS.
STEIN & HUNTER,
Wholesale and Retail Ironmongers.
P.O. BOX 240. Telegraphic Address, "STEIN."
Sole Haents for
"GUEDES" RIFLE,
Falling Block, point blank 500 yards.
Sighted up to 2000 yards.
ALSO
ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF RIFLES AND GUNS.
CARTRIDGES: Shot, or Rifle.
BLACK OR SMOKELESS POIVDER.
"COOPALL" GUNPOWDER,
Perfectly Smokeless, and with less recoil and fouling
than any other Powder.
HARDWARE in all its branches.
STEIN & HUNTER,
Gunsmiths and General Hardware Merchants,
PORT ELIZABETH,


ADVERTISEMENTS.
133
THE VAN RYN
WINE & SPIRIT COMPANY
(LIMITED),
Top of STRAND STREET,
And ST. ANDREW'S SQUARE,
CAPE TOWN.
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN
EVERY VARIETY OF THE
Fiqe$ Colonial Wineg & jSpirfe
THE VAN RYN WINE AND SPIRIT GO.'S LIQUORS
May be obtained at their Head Office or any of their Branch
Stores in Cape Town and Suburbs; also from the Principal
Wholesale Merchants throughout the Cape Colony, Natal,
Free State, and Transvaal.
Visitors to the Cape Colony on passing through Cape Town
can view the Depot during business hours on obtaining permis-
sion at—
Head Office: ST. ANDREW'S SQUARE.
10


ADVERTISEMENTS.
139
IF YOU EEQUIRE
COOKING - STOVES
FOE WOOD, COAL, OR OIL,
ENAMELLED KITCHEN UTENSILS,
Bedsteads & Stretchers, Spring & Coir Mattresses
YOU WILL FIND A LARGE STOCK AT
KOCH & DIXIE'S,
BURG STREET,
AT VEKY REASONABLE PRICES.
Also PATENT FOLDING COUCHES, which can at once be
converted into a double bed.
TABLE AND POCKET CUTLERY, PLATED WARE, BRUSH WARE,
In Great Variety.
Butchers' Blocks and Knives, Meat Mincers, Meat Safes,
Sausage Fillers, Coffee Mills, Water Filters, Water Bags,
Travelling Trunks, Bird and Parrot Cages, Perambulators,
Wheelbarrows, Garden Tools, Pumps, Fencing Wire and Wire
Netting, Window Glass, Oils, Paint and Varnishes, Ceiling
Ornaments, Register Grates, Fenders and Fire Irons.
Sole Agents for
STRAWSON'S PATENT SPRAYING PUMPS, AND COOPER'S
PATENT VENTILATORS.
KOCH & DIXIE, Burg Street, CAPE TOWN-


144
ADVERTISEMENTS.
J. C. JUTA & CO.—Educational Publications.—continued.
LEITH (GEO.): A METRICAL OUTLINE OF CAPE HISTORY AND
CHRONOLOGY. Fifth Edition. 9d.
MAC CRONE (R.): GENERAL ARITHEMETICAL EXAMPLES FOR
THE ELEMENTARY EXAMINATION AND STANDARD V. 6cf. Answer..
6U
MAN8VELT (N.): TAALKUNDIGE TAFELS. 1 to 6. 1«. each.
BEKNOPTE HANDLEIDING BIJ DE TAALKUNDIGE
TAFELS. 2».
PROEVE VAN EEN KAAPSCH-HOLLANDSCH IDIOTICON.
2». Gd.
ROSSOUW (ELIZ. H7): LEESBOEKJE VOOR ONZE ZU1D-AFRI-
KAANSCHE KINDEREN. Nagezien door ven Weled. Heer M. J. Stccki. U.
SHEA (JOHN M.): ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS IN THE
CAPE COLONY, 1874-1892. 10». Gd,
SIDWELL (Kev. H. B.): THE STORY OF SOUTH AFRICA. An Outline
of South African History. Seventh Edition. 1». Cel.
STUCKI (M. J.): HOLLANDS^HE SPRAAKKUNST VOOR ZTJID-
AFIÜKA. Sevcnde Druk. 1». Gd. OEFENINGEN TER VERTALING UIT HET ENGEL8CH
IN HET HOLLANDSCH VOOR ZÜID-AFRIKA. 2». 6d.
THEAL (G. M.) PRIMER OF SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY. From Original
Research. Third Edition. 1». 3d.
GESCHIEDENI8 VAN ZUID-AFRIKA VOOR KINDEREN. :>«.
KORTE GESCHIEDENIS VAN . ZUID-AFRIKA VAN 148
tot 1835. 3«.
SOUTH AFRICA. (Story of Nations.) 5».
THOMSON (Prof. W.): ALGEBRA, for the Use of Schools and Colleges. With
Answers, 5».; without AiiBwere, is. Gd. Answers separately, 1*.
TUUK (J. van der): NEDERLANDSCHE SPRAAKKUNST voor Zuid-Afrika,
met Oefeningen. 3».
A MANUAL OF DUTCH COMPOSITION for the use of Candidate
preparing for Elementary, School Higher, 2ud Matric Examinations. With
Vocabularies, Questions, Now, etc. 2». Gd.
VAN OORDT (J. F): KORT BEGRIP DER KERK-GESCHLEDENIS,
TEN DIENSTE VAN SCHOLEN AND CATECHISATIE». 1». Gd.
VOLKSLEESBOEK VOOR SCHOOL EN HUISGEZINNEN. 3*.
WEALE (Mr.): MATABELE AND MAHALAKA VOCABULARY. 3*. Gd.
WHITESIDE (Rev. J.): A NEW GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AFRICA
Fourth Edition. Illustrated. Is. A NEW HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA With Brief Biographic
and Questions. Is. 3d.
WILLEMSEN (G. J.): DE SCHOOLVRIEND, Leesboek voor Scholen en Huis
gezinnen. Cloth, Is. Gd.
WILMOT (A): OUTLINES OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH
AFRICA, for the Use of Schools. Twelfth Edition. 9d. N.B.—A Dutch Transla-
tion of the above Geography. Second Edition. 1».
ELEMENTS OF THE HI8TORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF
SOUTH AFRICA. Third Edition. 9d.
GEOGRAPHY OF 80UTH AFRICA, for the Use of Higher Classes in
Schools. Sixth and Revised Edition. 1». Gd.
HISTORY OF THE CAPE COLONY, for the Use of Schools. Sevenib
Edition. 2». 3d.
SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORICAL READER. Is.
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE UN1VER8ITY CALENDAR FOR THE
YEAR 1895-96. Cloth 3». The Story of the Expansion of South Africa. 5».
ZUID AFRIKAANSCHE SPEL EN LEESBOEK. Negende Uitgave. U Gd.
J. C. JUTA & CO.,
CAPE TOWN I PORT ELIZABETH | JOHANNESBURG-


ADVERTISEMENTS.
145
Charles Goodall & Son s
PRIZE MEDAL
PLAYING CARDS
FOB WHIST, BEZIQ UE, POKER, E UCHBE, ECABTE,
PIQUET, NAPOLEON, CBIBBAGE, KHANHOO, &c.
The New
"SHAKESPEARE HISTORIC"
Playing Cards.
The Court Cards representing "Plays from Shakespeare," artistically printed
in colours.
THE "FOSTER" WHIST MARKER
(PATENTED),
For long or short Whist, in Eosewood, Ehony, and Ivory.
THE "CAMDEN" and "PALL MALL" WHIST MARKERS.
HANDBOOKS AND POCKET GUIDES FOR ALL PLAYING CARD GAMES.
Printing Cards, Card & Pasteboards.
MESSAGE CARDS,
Mounting and Drawing Boards.
IVORY CARDS AND BOARDS.
BALL PROGRAMME & MENU CARDS, GILT BEVELLED EDGE CARDS, MEMORIAL CARDS.
STATIONERY CABINETS AND BOXES.
LONDON:
MANUFACTORY: CITY WAREHOUSE:
Camden Works, rT.lHT. IT, St. Bride Street, E.C
WEST END WAREHOUSE:
60, Charing Cross Road, W.G.
Birmingham Branch - - - - 4 & 5, Uvery Street.