Official handbook John Noble, Cape of Good Hope (South Africa). Committee for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886 ^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^^B " O'CALLAGHAN'S INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, THE GARDENS (" THE MOST SELECT HOTEL IN CAPE TOWN.»-F«fo Press.) Thi "■ *«r T* % SAl'L SOLOMON AND CO., PUBLISHERS, CAVE TOWN. V '* I THE Nt V YORK PUBLIC' .1 BRA IV ASrOR, C r.NVK AKO TILDEN fj mbatiom!. j ILLUSTKATI0N3 I'BINTED, BOUND AND PUBLISHED UNDER CONTRACT FOR THE \CAPE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, COLONIAL A- INDIAN EXHIBITION, BY SAUL SOLOMON & CO., CAPE TOWN. OFFICIAL HANDBOOK. irs«. HISTORY, PRODUCTIONS, AND RESOURCES OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. EDITED BV JOHN NOBLE, CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY; Author of "South Africa, Post and Present, &c." CAPE TOWN: PRINTED FOR THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION COMMITTEE, BY W. A. RICHABDS & SONS, GOVERNMENT PROfTERS. 1880. (S THE NEW YORKj PUBLIC LIBRARY 4 1 i ;.A> ASTOR, LENOX ANB TILOEN FOir.DATIONi. Entered and registered under the Copyright Act. All rig/its reserved. CONTENTS. PAGE.. DISCOVERT AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE CAPE 1 TEMPORARY OCCUPATION BY GREAT BRITAIN 26 THE CAPE UNDER BRITISH DOMINION 3T PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE COLONY 77 CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COLONY 95 POLITICAL AND CIVIL INSTITUTIONS OF THE COLONY . 107 EOADS, TELEGRAPHS, RAILWAYS, HARBOURS, AND IRRI- GATION WORKS 121 CAPE WOODS AND FORESTS. By A. W. Heywood 139- THE CAPE AS A HEALTH RESORT- CAPE PENINSULA. By Dr. Herman 15* GRAHAM'S TOWN AND THE EASTERN DISTRICTS. By Hon. Dr. Atherstone, M.L.C 158 CENTRAL KARROO DISTRICTS. By Dr. Saunders . 161 UPPER KARROO DISTRICTS. By Dr. Baird 169 DIAMOND MINING AT THE CAPE. By Theodore Reunert, M.I.M.E 177 LAND AND AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL OCCUPATIONS 220' WOOL. By W. Spilhaus 244 OSTRICH FARMING. By A. Douglass, M.L.A 256 VITICULTURE OF THE COLONY. By Professor Hahn, Ph.D., M.A 263 MANUFACTORIES, MINES, MINERALS, &c 279 • SKETCH OF THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA. By H. Bolus, F.L.S 286 STATISTICS—POPULATION, REVENUE, COMMERCE, AND CUSTOMS TARIFF 31^ LIST OF MAPS AND ILLTJSTKATIONS. PACK, City of Cape Town and Table Bay in 1886 Frontispiece General Map of Colony, shewing Railways, Telegraphs and extent of Viticulture and Plantations .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 Landing of Governor Van Riebeek in 1652 .. to face page 5- Arrival of the British Settlers in 1820 .. .. ,, 53 Wild Game on the Plains (From painting by T. Baines) ,, 77 Beach on the St. John's Biver .. .. ,, 84 Tsitza Waterfall „ S!> The Gates of St. John's River „ 91 Queen's Town, with Snow on the Hills .. .. .. ,, 9-' Oak Avenue, Government Gardens, Cape Town .. .. ,, 9<> Standard Bank Buildings „ 99 Port Elizabeth in 1886 (Prom photo by R. Harris) .. ,, 10O Parliament Houses, Cape Town (From photo by E. H. Allis) ,, 107 Bridge over the Great Kei River .. .. .. ,, 121 Plan of Table Bay Docks ,, 127 East London Harbour Works, Mouth of Buffalo River .. ,, 131 Map of Rainfall in South Africa .. .. .. .. ,, lot* Kimberley Diamond Mine (From sketch by Mr. Dennis Edwards) 177 Underground Working of Kimberley Mine .. ,, 19f> Section of De Beer's Mine ,, 204 Plan of Fencing on Tafelberg Hall Estate .. „ 242 Farm on the Karroo Plains, Nieuweld (From photo by Mr. Fripp),, 252' Ostriches near Graaff-Reinet (From photo by Mr. Roe).. ,, 25i> Great Constantia Wine Farm (From photo by E. H. Allis) ,, 26:> Botanical Outline Map ,, 280 INDEX TO CHAPTERS. I. Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese—Occupation by theDutch East India Company—First Settlement in 1652—The Land- ing of Van Riebeek—Reception by the Natives—The First Colonial War—Cause of Hostilities—Purchase of Native Territory—The Firet Colonists—Treatment of their Petition of Right—Enlargement of the settlement—Arrival of the Huguenot Refugees—Suppression of the French Language— Struggle between the Burghers and the Company —Dispersion of the Colonists Inland—Boundaries fixed—Eucuunter with Bushmen and Kafirs— Clamour against the Officials—Disaffection in Graaff-Riinct—Change of Sovereignty .. .. .. .. Ito2o' II. Temporary Occupation by Great Britain—Monopolies and Restrictions on Trade Abolished—Sir George Yonge's Administration—His Corrupt Surroundings—Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet again—The Van Jaars- veld Rebellion—Hottentot and Kafir Confederacy—How Peace was Made—Attack on Graaff-Reinet Drostdy—Release of Boer Prisoners —Restoration of Colony to Batavian Government—Relations with the Kafirs 26 to 36' III. Surrender of the Cape to British Forces in 1806—Population—Commis- sions of Circuit—Slave Insurrection—Expulsion of Kafirs from the Zuurveldt—Col. Graham's Expedition—Improvement of the Laud Tenure—The Bezuidenhout Rebellion—Slaughters Nek—Lord Charles Somerset's Kafir Policy—Col. Brereton's Expedition—Attack on Graham's Town—New Kafir Boundary—Lord Somerset's account of the Vacant Lands—The Immigration of 1820—Naming of Port Eliza- beth—Landing of the British Settlors—Beginning of the Albany Settlement—Liberty of Public Meeting Denied—Freedom of the Press—Commission of Inquiry—Kafirs saved from the Fetcani—Magna Charm of the Aborigines—Kafir Invasion of 1834-Reversal of Governor Durban's Policy—Stockenstroni Treaties—Kafir Wars of 1846 and 1850-53—The Anti-Convict Agitation—First Parliament- Sir George Grey—Kafir Cattle-Killing Delusion—Annexation of British Kaffraria—Responsible Government—War of 1877-78— Basuto Rebellion—German Protectorate—Area and Population .. 37 to 7C• IV. Physical Aspects—Mountain Ranges—"Wild Game—Geology—The Cango Caves— Carboniferous Formation—Mesozoic, Jurassic, and Tertiary -Cape Scenery—Bain's Pass—Michell's Pass—Zuurberg Pass— Katberg—Kafirland—Tsitza Falls—St. John's River—The Climate— Rainfall—Temperature—Hail and Thunder Storms 77 to 91' V. Cape To-wn—Government Gardens—Parliament Houses—Standard Bank —The Suburbs—Port Elizabeth—Graham's Town—King William s Town—Graaff-Reinet—Kimberley—Towns and Villages .. ..9o to 100- VI. Political and Civil Institutions—The Cabinet—Change of Ministries-Th« Leirislature—Law Courts—Transfer of Land and Debt Registry—Tho Master's Office—Local Boards—Defence—Religion and Missions- System of Public Education—Public Libraries and Museums—Savings Bank—Postal and Ocean Mail Service IOi to l'-O INDEX TO CHAPTERS. VII. Roads—Bridges—Telegraphs—Railways—Cost and Earnings—Colonial Coal—Harbours—Table Bay Breakwater and Docks—Graving Dock —Simon's Bay—Mosael Bay—Algoa Bay—Port Alfred—East London —Irrigation Department—Irrigation Works—Waterworks .. 121 to 13S> VIII. Woods and Forests—Management—Knysna and Tzitzikamma—Yellow - wood—Creosoting Apparatus—Stinkwood—Olivewood and Ironwood —Wood for Engraving Purposes—Eastern Forests—Sneezewood— Boxwood—Western Forests—Drift Sands—Plantations .. 139 to 153 IX. The Cape as a Health Resort—The Cape Peninsula—Graham's Town and the Eastern Districts—The Central Karroo—The Upper Karroo 154 to 17& X. Diamond Mining—Indian, Brazilian, and other Mines—First discovery in South Africa—Rush to the Vaal in 1869-70—Du Toit's Pan and Colesberg Kopje—History of Griqualand West—Annexed to Cape Colony—Share Mania—Opening of the Kimbkeley Mine -The Road- ways—Primitive Hauling—Dry-sorting—Reef Difficulty—Geological Features—Area and Shape—Main Shafts, 1855—Underground Working—Profit and Loss Accounts- Dk Beku's Mine—Bult- fontein Mine—Do Ton's Pan Mine—Largest Diamond Found— Gross Production—Capital, Labour, and Machinery—The Riveb Diggings —Diamond Sorting—Largo Finds .. .. .. 177 to 219 XI. Lund und Land Laws—Agriculture in the West—Wheat-growing in the Eastern Districts—Tobacco Cultivation—Water Finding—Grain- growing in tho Karroo—Sundays River Irrigation—Pastoral Re- sources—Horses and Cattle—Angora Goats and Merino Sheep—Old and New Ways of Fanning—Fencing—Tafelberg Hall Estate 220 to 243 XII. Wool—Gold—The Markets—Exports from 1850 to 1886—Wool-Washeries —The History of the Merino Sheep at the Cape—The Wool-pro- ducing Districts, and Character of the Wool ., .. .. 244 to 255 xni. Ostrich-Farming—First Domestication of the Ostrich—Artificial Hatching —Visit to an Ostrich Farm—The Camps—Value of Feathers.. 250 to 262 XIV. Viticulture—First Vine Sticks brought into the Colony—Principal Wine Districts—Nature of Soils—Method of Cultivation—Digging and Pruning—Sulphuring—Manuring—Production—Large Yield of Cape Vineyards—Quality of the Vintages of 1883-84—Tho Great Constantia Wine Farm—Wine Manufacture—Raisins and Grapes 263 to 278 XV. Industries and Manufactories—Breweries, and Hop-growing—Milling Establishments—Furniture—Carriage and Wagonmaking—Woollen Blanket Factory—Leather and Boots and Shoes—Soap-making—Cape Jams and Preserves—Mineral Waters—Medicinal Plants—Fishing— Salt Pans—Guano Islands—Copper Mines of Namaqualand—Coal Deposits of the Stormberg—Ornamental Stones and Minerals— 279 to 285 XVI. Tho Flora of South Africa 28Cto?17 XVH. Statistics—Population, Revenue, Commerce, and Customs Tariffs .. 318 to 328 PREFACE. Tius volume on the History, Productions, and Resources of the Cape of Good Hope has heen undertaken and prepared at the request of the Committee appointed by the Government for the representation of the Oolony at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition to be held in London •luring the present year. Eleven years ago, I published, at the request of the Government, the first Descriptive Handbook of the Cape. Colony; and, looking retrospectively at the stage of progress then recorded, and the change* :md material improvements which have since taken place, one cannot fail to recognise the great advance that marks the past decade, espe- cially in the oj>ening up of interior communications. The transition now effected from the old bullock-wagon mode of pro- gression to that of the iron-horse and the railway, is suggestive of a potentiality of wealth and prosperity, only awaiting the application of intelligence, enterprise, and energy to the development of the vast natural resources of the country. Interruptions to our progress may occur, as at the present time, from long-continued and severe droughts, from changes in the world's markets, or from neglect of our staple products for more alluring but illusive investments. Such apparently-disastrous checks, how- ever, leave a legacy of valuable experience, and generally stimulate to greater effort and more careful industry. Certain it is, that when- ever the flowing tide of our prosperity has been stopped by these or other repressing circumstances, the Colony has always, with marvellous recuperative power, sprung up again and bounded forward at an increased pace. Our present position may accordingly be regarded as but a temporary pause to concentrate fresh energy for a new stage »f production and development. PREFACE. In writing and editing this volume, the object kept in vie* tbeen to Riipply useful, instructive, and reliable information .regard to the condition and resources of the Colony of the Cs > Good Hope alone; all reference to the aspects, conditions, or pc relations of other Colonies, States, or Territories of South Afric therefore, been excluded. To the gentlemen who have assisted with their special contribu I beg to acknowledge my obligations, as well as to those who in various ways aided me with information for the Handbook, . ;imong whom I take the liberty of mentioning Mr. Hampden Under-colonial Secretary, and the officers of his department; Mr, de Smidt, Surveyor-General, and the officers of his department; Langhain Dale, Superintendent-General of Education; Mr. .-.Stewart, As. M.I.E., of the Hydraulic Engineer's Department; Messrs. R. Hare, P. Ryan, E. J. Dunn, and the Rev. G. • Stegmann. I may add with pleasure, that this volume is in every respeo Colonial production, the printing of the letter press having h performed by Messrs. Richards & Sons, the Government Printers; •maps and plans prepared and put upon the stone in the office the Surveyor-General; and the lithographic illustrations and bind . executed by the old-established firm of Saul Solomon & Co., to wh .-artist, Mr. Graham Winch, a meed of praise is due. JOHN NOBLE. 1 Parliament Houses, Cape Town, February 24th, 1886. MfejC KJf/woiV- ti: Telegraph Lines i ffraph Lines vnLy J* era o/'presen I VLtuouAjbure, ^jyisit cf possible, Viticulture; ernmrnt Ilanlalions Colony. ''A . -rsln o Scale of English Miles. 20 30 40 ....■■., ..i .,. -,..s,-.: i'riStf&aL tff .: I - ;',K ?v ..l->aaKV AaT'jn, lENUX AND DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE CAPE. The world is indebted to the Portuguese navigators of the fifteenth century for the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. Some traditions of Phoenician voyagers having circumnavigated Africa in earlier times have been handed down to us by ancient writers; but the first unquestionable historical record we have of any explorers sailing round the southern extremity of this con- tinent is that relating to the voyage of Bartholomew Diaz and Joa Infanta in I486. Towards the end of August in that year, the King of Portugal, John II., sent out two ships of fifty tons each, and a tender laden with surplus supplies of food, to proceed along the coast of Africa, beyond the points which had already been explored, in the hope that they might reach its further extremity and ultimately discover a seaway to India. The navigators carried with them stone pillars, each in the form of a cross, which they erected at such capes, bays and headlands as the3* discovered; and amongst other points selected for this purpose was the mouth of the Orange River (now the north-western boundary of the Cape Colony), which they named Cape Voltas, owing to the many tacks (voltas) they had to make from adverse winds at that place. Steering thence seawards, they were compelled to run for thirteen days with sails shortened, encountering seas which, as their vessels were small, they considered highly dangerous. However, the tempest which lashed the waves with fury having abated, they tried to reach the land by shaping their course east- wards, thinking the coast line still extended north and south. But, finding that they sailed several days without sighting it, they took a northerly course until they came to a bay which they named "Los Vaquiros," or the Bay of Cowherds (the present Vleesch Bay, near Gouritz River), on account of the number of cattle they saw on land tended by native herdsmen. Proceeding further along the coast, on their new course, they came to an indent (now known as Algoa Bay) where they landed on a small Island, and Diaz set up a pillar named "Santa Cruz," but, as there were two springs on the island, some called it the H k4 DISCOVERY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. "Fountain Rock," and by both terms the island is still known. This was the first land, beyond the Cape, which was trodden by European feet. The crews of the ships at this point began to complain; they were worn out with fatigue and alarmed at the great seas they had passed, and protested against going further, saying that quite enough had been discovered; that they were sure the land trended more and more eastward, whence it would seem. there was behind them some great Cape, and that it would be a better plan to turn back for the purpose of seeking it. Diaz greatly desired to prosecute the voyage, but by way of compromise proposed that they should proceed two or three days further along the coast, and should they not by that time make any discovery which might induce them to continue, they would be at liberty to turn back. This was agreed to. At the end of the time mentioned, however, they had only readied a river some twenty-five leagues eastward, and as Joa Infanta, the Captain of the second ship, was the first to land there, the river was called Rio de Infanta. It was the estuary now known as the Great Fish River mouth On the return voyage, the navigators sighted the remarkable mountain range of the Cape Peninsula; and Diaz nnd his com- panions named its southern extremity "Cabo Tormentos," or Stormy Cape, in remembrance of the rough seas they had passed through in doubling it; but upon their arrival in Portugal, when they made report of their discovery, the King, on account of the promise it gave of the much longed-for ocean-route to India, be- stowed upon it the name by which the southern land of Africa has ever since beeu known, "Cabo de Boa Esperanca "—The Cape of Goon Hope. After an interval of ten years, another fleet was sent out from Portugal, in confident expectation of reaching India by the Cape route. The command was given to Vasco da Gama, who doubled the Cape of Good Hope on the 20th of March, 1497, and, after touching at Natal and Mozambique, successfully reached India in the following month of May. In rounding the Cape he touched at Mossel Bay (which Diaz had named San Bras), and there he was the first to hold intercourse with the Hottentots of South Africa. He describes them as "negroes with frizzly hair; they value their flocks of cattle very highly, and some of them our men saw were very fat and clean, and women rode upon them, on pack saddles of reed. Our crews were much entertained by these natives, as they are a pleasure-loving people, given to playing on musical instruments and dancing; and among them were some who played upon a kind of pastoral reed, which seemed good after its fashion." The incidents of Da Gama's voyage furnished material to the Portuguese poet Camoens for his great national epic, the "Lusiad," OCCUPATION 11Y THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY. 3'- in which he thus romantically describes the Cape and its aboriginal, inhabitants:— As from the wave the chariot of the day, Wliirl'd by the tiery coursers, springs away, There, full in view, the giant Cape appears, Wide spread its limbs, and high its shoulders rears. Behind us, now, it curves the bending side, And our bold vessels plough the eastern tide. Nor long excursive off at sea we stand, A cultnr'd shore invites us to the land. Here their sweet scenes the rural joys bestow, And give our wearied limbs a lively glow, The tenants of the coast, a festive band, With dances meet us on the yellow sand; Their brides on slow-pac'd oxen rode behind; The spreading horns with flow'ry garlands twiu'd, Bespoke the dew-lapp'd beeves their proudest boast, Of all their bestial store they valued most. By turns the husbands, and the brides, prolong The various measures of the rural song. Now, to the dance the rustic reeds resound; The dancer's heels, light quivering beat the ground: And now, the 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 Mnntuan swan: With smiles we hail them, and with joy behold The blissful manners of the age of gold. During the century and a half succeeding these discoveries, the- Cape was used as a temporary place of call by the Portu- guese, English, and Dutch, respectively, who engaged in the Eastern ocean-trade. Their ships resorted to Table Bay for water and live-stock, which they obtained from the natives. They also made it a means of postal communication: outward-bound vessels buried their letters or despatches and European news at certain spots, indicated by square stones, on which were eDgraved the names of the ships; and the return fleets carefully searched for these to obtain intelligence from their homes or of their countrymen. But no permanent settlement was attempted by any of the maritime powers of Europe until 1652, when the Dutch East India Com- pany, under charter grauted by the States-General of the United Provinces of Holland, took possession of Table Bay, establishing a fort, and occupying the lands skirting the foot of Table Mountain, chiefly with the object of having always in readiness supplies for' the refreshment of their passing ships. Jan Anthony van ltiebeek, a surgeon and merchant in the service- of the Company, who in one of its return fleets had spent a few weeks at the Cape, and had previously voyaged to China, Japan, the West Indies and Greenland, was chosen the first Commander, or Governor, of the new settlement. He left the Texel on the- 24th December, 1651, witli three ships, the Dromcdaris (which carried his flag), the Rcijger, and the Goeih Hope, and anchored in Table Bay on the 6th of April, 1652. He was accompanied by his family, and was provided with necessary materials and mer- b2 -4 THE FIRST SETTLEMENT. • chandize, and authorized to land from the ships about a hundred men to form a garrison, erect a residence and defensive works, and • constitute the embryo colony. In accordance with instructions, they erected near the beach • on what is now the Military Parade-ground, Cape Town, a small ■ earthen work fort, "as a stronghold against any attempts of the savages," and, under protection of its eight-pounder cannon, the hrst inhabitants laid out their gardens and pastures. They first raised vegetables and grew corn. They afterwards introduced and propagated the vine, the orange, the olive and other fruit trees. They bartered brass, beads, brandy and tobacco for the cattle and sheep of the Hottentots. And from time to time they sent ■ out small expeditions, to penetrate into the Interior, with a view to make search for more profitable commodities for trade, and to learn "more and more of the secrets of Africa," and especially to try and find a way inland to the auriferous lands of Monomo- tapa and Sofala, which even in those days were believed to be the true Ophir whence King Solomon had imported his gold. The daily life and progress of the little garrison of the Fort de Goede Hope are minutely detailed in the quaint and interesting "journals" and " despatches " of Van ltiebeek and his successors, still preserved in the Archives of the Colony. The. first act of the founder of the settlement, immediately : after his arrival in Table Bay, was to hold a council of his officers on board the principal ship, the Dromedaris. The proceedings were solemnly opened by supplicating the blessings of Heaven upon the important work in which they were about to engage. They prayed that "as they were called to the government of the .affairs of the Cape of Good Hope,—to advise and take such measures as might best tend to promote the interests of the East India Company—to maintain justice, and, if possible, to implant and propagate the true Reformed Christian doctrine amongst the wild and savage inhabitants, for the praise and honour of God and the benefit of their employers,—it might please the Almighty Father to preside at their assembly, and with heavenly wisdom ■enlighten their hearts, and remove all perverse passions, misunder- standings and other defects and human weaknesses, that their minds might be so composed, that in all their deliberations they should not resolve anything which would not tend to the praise and glory of His holy name and the benefit of their masters, with- out considering in the least their own personal advantage or profit." This form of prayer was in use at every succeeding meeting of the •Council, and on every Sabbath day service was held, and a sermon read either by the Commander, or by Willian Barends Wylandt, the Chaplain, or "sick comforter" as he was called, who, although mot ordained discharged minor clerical functions. THE LANDING OF VAN RIEBEEK. O- The Council at their first meeting resolved that the Commander Jan van Riebeek, accompanied by the Captains of the ships, David Connick, Johan Hoegsat, and Simon Turver, should land with some • armed soldiers, to inspect and measure a place fitted for a fort, and that the carpenter and men of the ships with all speed should erect,. within the boundaries of the fort, a convenient store and dwelling house according to a plan furnished to them. The landing of Van Riebeek to select the site of the fort, and his interview with the Hottentots, "making use of signs and many- broken Dutch and English words," has furnished a subject for one of the few historical paintings to be found in the Colony. The accompanying illustration is a copy of an admirable picture,, executed by the late Charles Davidson Bell, formerly Colonial Surveyor-Greneral, which was originally in the possession of the Hon. William Porter, and was by him presented in 1861 to the South African Public Library. On the 10th of April, work was commenced on the fort; but a number of the men landed from the ships proved to be so unskilful, weak, sea-worn, and scorbutic, as to render compara- tively little aid; and the Commander had to set to work himself as engineer, excavator, carpenter, mason and blacksmith. He and his family took up their quarters in a leaky hut on shore until better accommodation could be provided for them. By his con- tinual presence, however, the work advanced. The end of the following month saw the Residency sufficiently completed for occupation; and on the 6th of June, within its walls the Chaplain's wife was delivered of a child, the first of European stock born at the Cape. Meanwhile, the Commander made several excursions to acquaint himself with the surrounding country. In the kloofs or ravines of Table Mountain he found fine, thick and fairly long trees, fit for masts for ships, but difficult to remove. On some of them the dates 1604, 1620, and 1622 were found carved. Harts, elands, steenbuck and other game were plentiful; but so wild that they could not be approached. The hippopotamus and rhinoceros were in near neighbourhood; and one evening a lion killed the cattle of a Hottentot quite close to the fort. A day or two afterwards, says the Journal: "The Commander while walking in the garden [where the Parliament Houses now stand] found traces of wild animals all over it, and soon after a large Hon sprung up from the outside of the ground, forty or fifty paces off,, and walked slowly towards the mountain. "We therefore sent after him a sergeant, a hunter, and four or five soldiers with firelocks; upon which fully two hundred Hottentots instantly pursued with all their sheep and cattle and surrounded the lion in a deep kloof on the side of the mountain, so that he could turn in no direction without forcing his way through the sheep, which. •% plains, where they ohtained a subsistence by imitating the native- mode of life, killing game and depasturing 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, inasmuch as it "would add to their revenue, and increase the food supplies of the settlement." In 1705, they give then- formal sanction to the extension of the territory by issuing " loan leases," or revocable squatting licences, to such as preferred a re- quest for them, but always subject to the condition of resumption of the property at any time by the Company. Wherever there was vacant or disposable land, whoever chose to do so might apply for it; and if after temporary occupation, he found difficulty in securing permanent waters, or in grazing his cattle, he immedi- ately enlarged his range, and moved further into the interior. It was in this manner that the early Cape " Boers" or farmers adopted the nomad habit of "trekking," which has been continued by their descendants along the border of the European settlements until the present time. The dispersion of the European population, however, was in many ways detrimental alike to themselves and their descendants. In the inland districts, then designated "Overberg" (beyond the mountains), they were confined to an isolated world of their own,, where any energy or industry was cramped by the obstacles of travel to, or the impossibility of getting, a market for their produce, and they and their children were compelled to endure an unpro- gressive mode of existence, without any available means of advancement. Among them for many months in the year, bread was a luxury scarcely attainable,—biltong, the dried flesh of game or oxen, taking its place. Rarely could they gladden their heaits with a glass of wine. The most wealthy farmer was considered as well-dressed in a jacket of cloth, breeches of undressed leather, woollen stockings, a cotton handkerchief about his neck, a coarse calico shirt, Hottentot veldt-schoen, or else leather shoes with brass buckles, and a coarse hat. A plain close cap, and a coarse cotton gown, virtue, and good house-wifery were looked upon by the fair sex as sufficient adornments for their person. They had neither church nor school within one or two hundred miles of them; but every morning and evening the patriarch of the family offered up prayer and praise, and read from, the cherished family Bible, whose simple teachings served to maintain the principles as well as the forms of morality and civilization amongst them. Governor-General Imhoff, who touched at the Cape in 1743, 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, '20 TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES FIXED. a magistracy and church were established at Swellendam in 1745, the Gamtoos River being then declared the farthest limit of the ■settlement. But when the colonists spread to the Bruintjes Hoogte, Oamdeboo, and the Sneeuwberg mountains, a magistracy was established in 1786, at Graaff-Reinet "to prevent hostilities with the natives, and any foreign power settling at Algoa Bay;" and the Great Fish River was proclaimed as the territorial boundary of the Company's prosessions. Although measures had, from time to time, been taken to confine the inhabitants within the limits of the old districts, the Govern- ment were never really able to control or restrain them. From the Castle at Cape Town proclamations and placaats were issued for- bidding any burgher to leave his loan-farm, without permission, on any pretext whatever, "or to proceed into the interior on pain of corporal or oapital punishment, aye, even to the death, and the •confiscation of all property." But these orders were treated with indifference and contempt, and the border farmers moved from one place to another as their fancy led them, some as elephant hunters crossing the boundary after the large game, and others as "togt- • gangers" or traders, bartering goods with the natives around or beyond them. Under these circumstances, collisions and conflicts with the native races were inevitable. Within one or two hundred miles of the capital, the early pioneer found excellent tracts of land unoccupied, except by remnants of the weak and scattered Hottentot tribes,—the Kboi Khoin, or "men of men" as they termed themselves,—who peaceabty accepted service with them in return for food and protection. But the colonists passing further inward, through the Karoo plains, encountered the hostility of the Bushmen, who were widely spread over the country from the Nieuwveldt 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 firearms, 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 kuowledge of the state of things there, exercised but little •control over them. ENCOUNTERS WITH BUSHMEN AND KAFIRS. 25 There was continual fighting with the Bushmen for nearly thirty years, 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 official 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 pioneers advancing eastward encountered the- formidable Kafirs of the Amakosa nation. Some of the latter had been, for years previously, steadily encroaching upon and conquering the Gonaqua Hottentots, westwards of the Great Kei River. About the time of their first conflict with the colonists,, they appear to have been engaged in an intertribal war with their neighbours, the Ama-Tembus, by whom they were signally defeated, their chief Khahabe being killed and their cattle becoming the prize of the victors. Being impoverished by these losses, a considerable number of them crossed the- Fish River and commenced plundering the Europeans, then mischief and rapacity being often accompanied by cruel murders. Amicable means were tried to induce them to retire, but without success. The border inhabitants then determined to do them- selves justice by the law of force. They assembled a Commando,, under Commandant van Jansveld, and successfully repulsed the Kafirs in several actions, capturing 5,300 head of their cattle, a good portion of which was recognised as cattle stolen from the- colonists. This, the first rupture between the two races, took place in 1781 and 1782. Afterwards it was agreed between some Chiefs of the tribes and Governor Van Plettenberg, on his journey to the interior in 1778, that in order to avoid all disputes in the future, the Fish River from its source to the sea should be mutually recognised as the boundary between the Kafirs and the European inhabitants. In the meantime, the struggle between England and her American Colonies had been some time in progress, and Holland became allied with France and the armed Neutrality Powers, and an active enemy against England. In 1780, war with Holland was declared, and the British Government planned an expedition in the following year 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 Yerde islands, it accidentally met with the fleet of English ships of war, 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 ~22 CLAMOUK AGAINST THE OFFICIALS OF THE COMPANY. French Admiral pursued his way to Simon's Bay, where he landed his troops, some two or three thousand in number. The presence of this force preserved Cape Town against any attack upon the part of the English fleet, and at the same time prevented the colonists from attempting to imitate the conduct of the Americans in their struggle for independence. During the war, however supplies of specie from Holland were stopped, and to meet the exigencies of the Government a colonial paper currency, was thrown into circulation by Governor Van Plettenberg to the amount of nearly one million rix-dollars (then cf the value of four shillings each), with a promise that the same would be redeemed at par on the arrival of ships from Fatherland. On the resumption of peace in 1783, this pledge was only partially fulfilled. When the French troops took their departure, the defects of the monopolising system under which the settlement had grown up were again keenly felt, and discontent generally prevailed amongst the burghers. Two or three years before (in 1779"), they had sent to Holland four delegates—Messrs. Jacob van Reenen, Barend J. Artoys, Tielman Roos, and N. G. Heyns,—with a list of accusations against Governor Plettenberg and other functionaries, and a petition for redress of their grievances. They complained of the corruption .'ind exactions of the officials of the Company; and of the arbitrary power exercised by the Governor and the independent fiscal Boers, especially in the compulsory removal from the Colony of persons whom they thought fit to designate as " useless " or " dangerous" subjects. They asked for a reform of the Court of Justice, for a definition of burgher rights and privileges, and for the establish- ment of a printing press, or at least, that the members of the community should be able to obtain copies of the laws in force. And, as in every previous petition, they prayed for the concession of a limited export trade. Some of these demands were met, and regulations promulgated -to check the abuses on the part of officials which were com- plained of. But, with regard to the aspirations for civil and commercial privileges, the petitioners were reminded that they had been only permitted "as a matter of grace to have a residence in the land" and gain a livelihood as tillers of the earth, and that the settlement was planted not for their commercial advantage, but for the welfare of the Company. This did not serve to allay the dissatisfaction so generally preva- lent, and in 1785 other delegates, named Redlinghuys, Bergh, lioos, ani Bresler were sent to Holland, to obtain, if possible, redress from the Company, and failing in that to appeal to the States-General of the Provinces, for a reform of the evils which were at the root of the Company's unpopularity. The burghers DISAFFECTION IN SWELLENDAM AND GRAAFF-REINET. 23 in their memorial demanded the right to sell their produce to who- ever they chose—"that all that commerce introduces into the country shall be freely landed, and all that the country produces shall be freely exported; it being an established rule that the farmer cannot maintain himself without a sufficient vent for what- ever his labour may produce from the land; and a Colony like this, composed of farmers alone, can have no durable means of supporting itself without a steady demand for produce propor- tioned to its quantity; nor without facilitating internal communi- ation as much as possible, as the difficulties of transport must otherwise neutralise all the efforts of the farmers by diminishing their profits." The long-continued prosperity of the Dutch East India Company was at this period on the decline. Its finances were in confusion, and there were complaints of misgovemment in other of its posses- sions besides the Cape of Good Hope. The Stadtholder of the Netherlands, in 1791, appointed two Commissioners, Messrs. Neder- berg and Frekenius, to inquire into the affairs of all the settlements. On their arrival at the Cape in 1793, there was great expectation of the redress of abuses, and of reform in the system of adminis- tration; but nothing was immediately done, excepting establishing a bank of loans (called the Lombard Bank), to assist the inhabi- tants by enabling them to get advances on mortage bonds and other securities. They also issued a proclamation warning the inhabi- tants not to live beyond their means, and not to keep costly equipages and establishments; but to cultivate silk, wool, cotton, oil, wax, and indigo. They then proceeded on to Battivia, leaving the Cape in charge of Commissary-General Sluysken and the chief officers of the Company as a Council of Regency. Internal troubles had meanwhile been accumulating. In the border districts, the absence of any power of control on the part of the Government produced its natural effect upon the colonists —evoking a restless independence, which resented any mandate or interference on the part of the authorities. Hostilities between the colonists and Kafirs were frequent; and it was charged against the former, by the first magistrate placed at Graaff-Reinet, that these disturbances were stimulated by covetousness for their neighbour's cattle. The Government instructed their officers to inculcate amongst them principles of humanity and the policy of living in harmony with the Kafir tribes; but that course was characterised " as working the destruction of the land," and distur- bances rose to such a height that the authorities found themselves under the necessity of giving their sanction to "Commandoes" as before. Afterwards, when called upon to contribute their share of the taxes for the support of Government, the border men of Graaff- Reinet repudiated their obligation to pay anything "for places 24 END OF THE COMPANY'S RULE. which they had been obliged to defend at their own expense." They at the same time complained of the restrictions on the sale of their produce, and the inconvenience and loss occasioned to them by the depreciation of the paper currency, which it fed been promised would have been redeemed after the arrival of ships from Holland, but of which a considerable amount was still in circulation.* Several disbanded soldiers had prior to this been allowed to settle in the country, and almost every Boer of any consideration had one of them employed as a schoolmaster to his children. Those men diffused the principles of Jacobinism and Republican- ism, which at this time had spread even to the Cape. Parties of what were termed "Loyalists" and "Nationalists " weie or- ganized, and "Liberty, equality and fraternity "became a cry even in the remote country districts. The proceedings of these parties —although very ridiculous—were then considered very formidable, simply because of the weakness of the Government, which had no garrison outside of Cape Town to support its authority. At length, on the Gth of February, 1795, the inhabitants of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet assembled in arms, and made—as they termed it—" a revolution"; expelling the Magistrates from their offices; and declaring themselves "unwilling to obey the Dutch East India Company any longer; and that they would be independent." A general spirit of disaffection against the Company's rule existed throughout the length and breadth of the land; but at this very juncture, when the disagreement between the people and the Government threatened the tranquillity of the country, an unexpected solution of the internal difficulty was brought about by the course of political events in Europe. The occupation of Holland by the French Revolutionists made the Prince of Orange (the Stadtholder) a refugee in England; and the English Government, with the concurrence of the Prince, sent out a fleet and troops under Admiral Elphinstone and Generals Clarke and Craig, who forcibly took possession of the Colony in the name of His Majesty the King of Great Britain on the 10th September, 1795. An effort for the recapture of the Cape was made in the follow- ing year, but the Dutch squadron, which was fitted out for the pur- pose, numbering nine vessels of war, with 342 guns and 2,000 troops, under command of Rear-Admiral Lucas, was captured by Admiral Elphinstone, without any resistance, in the harbour of Saldanha Bay in August, 1796. At the peace of Amiens, the Cape of Good Hope was again * By a proclamation of April, 1790, a fine of 1,000 rix-dollnrs was imposed on persona who would not uccept the Government paper money, except at u discount of 8 to 10 per cent. CHANGE OF SOVEREIGNTY. 20 restored to Holland, in 1803; but the East India Company was then replaced by the Batavian Republic, who sent out, as their repre- sentatives to the Colony, the Governor-General Janssen and Commissioner-General De Mist, who at once set about establishing a new and efficient administration upon just and liberal principles— "no longer dependent upon any commercial body," but such as might tend to reconcile the burghers who had rebelled against the unpopular Company, and soothe the continued animosities between them and the Aborigines. Scarcely three years had passed, however, when the sovereignty of the country was changed once more. On the renewal of the war in Europe, England determined upon the recapture of the Cape of Good Hope, and sent out a well-appointed force under General Sir David Baird. After a brief but honourable struggle, Governor-General Janssen, on the 19th January, 1806, surren- dered the Colony, his troops being embarked and sent to Holland by the English Government. At the peace which followed, in 1815, the King of the Nether- lands, 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, along with other possessions, in perpetuity to the British Crown. TEMPORARY OCCUPATION BY GREAT BRITAIN. From 1795 to 1803, the British Government held the Cape temporarily as a possession by conquest. Their principal reason for doing so was its importance as a military station, and its being considered the key to India and the East, which the leading naval power of the world must hold possession of in all contingencies. A considerable armed force was maintained at Cape Town, defensive works were constructed, and there was a liberal expenditure of money. In the seven years of their occupancy it was estimated that more than a million and a half sterling of English money was spent in the Colony, whose exports at that time did not exceed £15,000 per annum, and whose European population af all ages and sexes was not above 25,000 in number. By the terms of capitulation, the inhabitants were guaranteed the preservation of all the prerogatives they enjoyed, and the protection of all private property, whether belonging to individuals, churches, orphans or public institutions; the free exercise of their publio worship without alteration; that no new taxes should be intro- duced, and those existing should be modified as much as possible in consideration of the decay of the Colony; and that the paper currency then in existence should be continued at its then current value, and all the lands and houses, the property of the Dutch East India Company, taken over by the new Government were bound security for the paper-money in circulation. The British Commanders, Elphinstone and Craig, adopted every measure calculated to promote the prosperity of the settlement. They at once announced that the monopolies and restrictions on the internal trade of the Colony, hitherto in force for the benefit of the Dutch East India Company, were now at an end; that internal trade was entirely free and unrestricted; that every person might sell his produce to whom, and in what manner, he pleased, as best suited his interests; and that all inhabitants so disposed were at liberty to exercise any trade or profession which might suit their inclination; that the navigation of the coast from harbour to harbour was also free, and that there existed no restraint in regard to the possession of boats or vessels of any sort by which the produce of any part of the Colony might be conveyed to a market. Major-General Craig assumed the reins of Government for a year or two, until the arrival of his successor, Earl Macartney, who as a civilian of high rank and character was chosen for the office of Governor. He endeavoured to soften the national feelings and MONOPOLIES'AND RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE ABOLISHED. 27 prejudices of the inhabitants by a conciliatory and enlightened policy, dealing kindly and liberally with individuals who had sustained losses by the change of sovereignty of the country; re- taining in office many of the former functionaries, and largely em- ploying colonial-born persons in places of trust in the administra- tion. Among other reforms he took steps for putting an end to the practice of proceeding by torture against persons suspected of crime, and of punishment after conviction by breaking on the wheel. Capital punishment—especially of slaves and natives—was, according to the Dutch law, carried out by the executioner, who, in the terms of the sentence, had to see that the criminals were "bound to a cross and broken thereon alive, from under upwards with the coup de grace "; or laid upon a wheel or hung on the gallows, "there to remain a prey to the air and the birds of the heavens." Reports from the Courts of Justice relative to the subject were obtained by Craig, who urged upon the Home Government to authorise a stop being put to the inhuman procedure. In the Commission issued to his successor, Earl Macartney, the necessary instruction was given by the King's command. The racks, wheels, and other instruments of torture were destroyed, and for capital crimes the cord was made the instrument of death as in England. Earl Macartney's governorship only extended over twelve months. In accepting office he made it a condition that should his health give way he would be authorised to transfer his duties to the officer next in command, Lieut.-General Francis Dundas. The emoluments allowed the Governor at this time were a salary of £10,000 per annum and £2,000 table money; the Secretary to the Governor received £3,000; and it was provided that in case the revenue of the Colony fell short of the cost of the establish- ments, the deficiency was to be made up by the Home Government. Before his departure, Earl Macartney proclaimed the boundary of the Colony to be, on the eastern frontier, the Great Fish River, on the north the Zekoe River, behind the Sneeuwberg, and the Caree or Roodeberg behind Camdeboo; and the Zak River, the Hoggeveld and the Hantam, forming a semi-circle from the east to the western limits, the Koussie River. He also issued a procla- mation with regard to commerce and navigation. When the settlement was under the Dutch East India Company, it ws usual to admit vessels of countries in amity with Holland into the ports; so now it was announced that British ships, or those of countries in amity with Great Britain only were permitted to do the same, and to import or export free of any duty; but no goods from the East could be imported except by English East India Company's vessels. Sir George Yonge was sent out as successor to Macartney, but his term of office was also of short duration. During it, however, 28 SIR GEORGE YONGe's ADMINISTRATION. a printing press was established for the first time—Messrs. Walker and Robinson being authorised to this effect by Proclamation of 1st July, 1800; but the privilege was accompanied with the con- dition that no paper, book or pamphlet was to be put to press until the same had been approved by the Government. Much discontent prevailed during Sir George Yonge's adminis- tration, and many complaints having reached England, he was suddenly and unexpectedly recalled, and a Commission appointed to enquire into the abuses charged against his government. The first of his acts, which gave a great degree of offence and dissatisfaction, was the shutting up of the public gardens in Cape Town. This happened almost immediately after his arrival in the Colony, and at a season of the year (the middle of summer), when the inhabitants were accustomed to enjoy the refreshing coolness of the shady walks—then the only avenues of the kind in the vicinity of the town. In consequence of complaints, an order was issued by the Governor stating that his object was to put the avenues in re- pair, and all respectable persons were permitted to enter on writing down their names at the entrance-gate; but very few would accept as an indulgence what they had always considered as a right. Another matter complained of was that, in direct violation of the articles of Capitulation, which expressly stated that no new taxes would be imposed, the Governor had augmented those already established by issuing proclamations requiring licences to be taken out for keeping billiard tables, holding clubs or societies, and for the killing of game. The regulations respecting licences for billiard tables and clubs wero considered to be of little harm, as they tended to check disorderly meetings, gambling, and dissipation, and were meant also to suppress Jacobin gatherings; but the laws enforced with regard to the killing of game, and the taking out of an annual licence for that purpose, created very general discontent. At that time, game, both large and small, was so abundant in the colony, that the prohibition inflicted an injury on the fanners, especially those in the remote parts, many of them having been in the habit of killing game for the maintenance of their families, and others to protect their fields from destruction. The complaints on this point at length produced an amendment of the law on the 6th November, 1800, modifying the restrictions laid down. The discontent occasioned by the foregoing acts was increased by a proclamation of the 14th August, 1800, imposing additional charges on colonial produce—brandy being increased from three to six rixdollars per leaguer, when brought into town: also by a proclamation ordering the establishment of the office of wine-taster, to which the Governor's own private secretary was appointed. It was further complained of that he attempted to grant in perpetuity HIS CORRUPT SURROUNDINGS. 29 the public lands mortgaged for the paper currency, by giving a grant of land to Mr. Duckitt, who had been sent out by the Secre- tary of State as a model agriculturist, to teach and introduce im- proved modes of husbandry; the Burgher Senate (who had to report upon all alienations of ground) holding that so long as the Capitulation treaty was in force, Government had no power to alienate by permanent grant any of the lands mortgaged for the redemption of the paper currency circulating in the colony. But there were other and graver chaiges, to the effect that the aide-de-camp, private secretary, and others around the Governor, were in the habit of exacting a part of the profits accruing to indi- viduals, who obtained through their means certain privileges not granted in common—in other words, " for facilitating their affairs with the Government." The evidence before the Commission fully established the fact that a practice prevailed of taking douceurs or bribes for obtaining or granting certain privileges or contracts, although there was nothing whatever to show that the Governor was cognisant of or shared in these. The prevailing opinion (says the Commission appointed to examine into these abuses) was that the most effectual way of carrying a point with the Governor was by pecuniary offices to those about his person. An instance of the depravity and profligacy of those imme- diately connected with the representative of the Sovereign, was given in the case of an official, who wanted one-half, but afterwards agreed to take one-third, of the profits on the importa- tion of a cargo of slaves. A Mr. Hogan was one of those for whom this official " facilitated affairs." He had a vessel named the Collector, which he employed as a privateer; she was remark- able for the number of prize slave cargoes which she brought into port, having ostensibly captured them from prizes off the coast of Madagascar. But the Captain and officers of a Danish ship which arrived at the Cape while the Collector was in harbour, identified her as well known in the slave trade. They declared the Collector had never captured any prize, but that the slaves were purchased and put on board the vessel at Mozambique. This case was investigated by the Court of Justice, and it was proved that the Court of Vice-Admiralty had been grossly imposed upon by false witnesses and false log-books; and Hogan seems to have been the person who planned the whole of it. Sentence was given against the Captain of the Collector, who bore the name of Smart, but he fled the Colony, and was declared an outlaw. Governor Yonge was exonerated from all knowledge of these affairs; but a despatch from Downing-street, dated 14th January, 1801, directed him to resign his government into the hands of Lieut-General Dundas, without waiting the arrival of Lord Glen- 30 SWELLENDAM AND GKAAFF-REINET AGAIN. burvie, who was appointed his successor, but who accepted the appointment of Paymaster to the Forces instead. The condition of the country districts in the meanwhile called for the serious attention of each successive Governor. At Swellen- dam, after the capitulation, the former Landdrost, Mr. Faure, was reinstated; and the people received him to his satisfaction. At Graaff-Reinet the burghers were apprehensive that their conduct might be represented in a very bad light by some one or other of the old servants of the Company, and they addressed a communi- cation to Governor Craig, setting forth the reasons of their dis- content and their grievances; at the same time requesting that he would be pleased to appoint a proper magistrate over them; provide a clergyman to fill the vacant pulpit of their Church, and furnish the district with the necessary gunpowder and lead for its requirements. It was deemed undesirable to re-appoint the former Landdrost, Mr. Maynier, to the magistracy, and one was selected for the office who was likely to be acceptable to the people. He was accompanied by a clergyman who was known to many of the inhab- itants. On iheir arrival at Graaff-Reinet, they found there was no person disposed to come forward to take the oath of allegiance; but the people made a representation of their views, for the infor- mation of the Governor, setting forth that " they were willing to bring to Cape Town all their produce; that they would observe all reasonable orders and laws provided the Government furnished them with what the country was in want of; that they would not take the sword against the English, and that they only refused to take the oath, because when their High Mightinesses of the Netherlands should re-take the country they would not be able to justify themselves for so doing." After a short stay, and finding themselves surrounded by an insubordinate people, who showed as little respect for the magistrate and clergyman as they did for what they termed the "aristocrats of the old Company," whom they had previously sent about their business,—the magistrate, Mr. Bresler, and the clergyman, the Rev- Mr. Manger, took their departure and returned to Cape Town. General Craig ordered a military force into the country to subdue the burghers and to secure obedience to authority. But meanwhile a change came over the representatives of Graaff-Reinet. At a public meeting held in August, 1796, they resolved to throw themselves on the protection of the British, and submit to the order of the Governor. By this time Earl Macartney had arrived at Cape Town, and he sent Mr. Bresler back as Landdrost to Graaff-Reinet, accompanied by his own private seoretary, Mr. Barrow—afterwards widely known as Sir John Barrow. They were amicably received by the inhabitants, and for a while peace and tranquillity was restored. THE VAN JAARSVELD REBELLION. 31 Two years afterwards, however, disturbances again occurred, which led to most unfortunate and disastrous results. The Court of Justice had issued a decree for the apprehension of Comman- dant Adrian van Jaarsveld, on a charge of falsifying a receipt with the object of defrauding the Orphan Chamber of an amount of arrear interest due on a mortgage on the building of his loan-place named "De Yreede" at the foot of the Nieuweld Mountains. He was arrested and sent from Graaff-Reinet to Cape Town in charge of four dragoons and the Secretary to the Landdrost. A short distance from Graaff-Reinet, the escort was met by an armed body of Boers, who rescued the prisoner. They then strengthened their number by summoning all the farmers between the Lange Kloof and Bushman's River to join them, under threat of being considered as "traitors to the country, -who would be dealt with after the affair was over." The ringleaders and their followers took an oath to be faithful to each other to the last drop of their blood. The inhabitants of Bruintjes Hoogte were most prominent amongst them. The Sneeuwberg farmers appear to have kept aloof from the rising. This force marched on Graaff-Reinet, and on arrival at the Sunday's River Drift, lay there encamped for about a month, prescribing rules how the Kafirs should be treated, and threatening to hang the Landdrost and exterminate the garrison, which consisted only of a sergeant and seven Dragoons. The new clergyman of Graaff-Reinet, the Rev. Mr. Ballot, repeatedly went out to interview the insurgents, and endeavoured to persuade them of their folly; and he succeeded so far as to retard their plans and prevent acts of personal violence. Meanwhile, news of the revolt having reached the authorities in Cape Town, the Acting Governor, General Dundas, at once dispatched two divisions of troops, one overland and the other by sea, to Algca Bay, for the relief of GTaaff-Reinet. Major McNab, -with a detatchment of Dragoons and Hottentots, proceeded overland, and as it was known the insurgents had sent emissaries to induce the people to come to their assistance, along his route, he issued proclamations exhorting and ordering the inhabitants to remain quietlv at their homes. General Vandeleur had command of the troops landed at Algoa Bay. He at once proceeded inland, but met with no opposition on the road. On his arrival at Graaff-Reinet, he found that the insurgents had retired to Bruintjes Hoogte, and had sent in two of their number submissively applying for pardon. Van- deleur then followed them to Bruintjes Hoogte, where the people laid down their arms. The leaders, Marthinus Prinsloo, van Jaarsveld, and others, who were considered more culpable, were apprehended and sent on to Cape Town to await their trial, and the rest were pardoned on their paying a fine to Government 32 HOTTENTOT AND KAFIR COS FEDERACY. of one or two horses for the cavalry, according to their means. A few of them, who refused to surrender, retired as fugitives into Kafirland. Duringthese movements of the British troops, crowds of Hotten- tots flocked after them. Some came from their kraals; others availed themselves of the prevailing disturhances to abandon the service of the farmers, which they complained had been cruel and oppressive to them. When the insurgents surrendered, 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 dis- armament 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 Boer masters from whom they had fled, and to whose anger and ill-will they feared they would fall a sacrifice. Some of them asked the authorities to point out some means for their subsistence, and to allot them certain un- occupied 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 bushy country from the Bushman's to the Sunday's River, and aggressively advancing on the Europeans. The Kafirs welcomed the Hottentot reinforcement to their side, as several of them were well accustomed to the use of firearms. Immediately upon this union, they set about plundering and burning the farmers' houses, in many cases murdering the defence- less inhabitants on the thresholds of their dwellings, and desolating the whole country from the Bushman's and Sunday's Rivers west- ward even to Langekloof and Knysna. The border farmers were confounded by this unexpected insur- rection of the Hottentots, and panic-stricken at their first successes. The confederacy was a formidable one, and consisted of seven hundred men who had already with them more than three hundred horses and one hundred and fifty fire-locks, and the Hottentots who still remained under the farmers were suspected of not being well disposed but rather inclined to join them on the first •opportunity. A commando of burghers was formed under Com- mandant Tjart van der Walt, and a detachment of troops under Major Sherlock took the field, to suppress these plundering bands, the latter checking their advance westward at Langekloof. Un- fortunately Van der Walt,—one who is described as "inspiring con- fidence into his own people and striking terror into his oppo- nents,"—was struck down by a musket ball, when penetrating the woods near the Gamtoos Biver. Deprived, of his services, the Boer Commando broke up, without accomplishing any favourable result. HOW PEACE WAS MADE. 33 While the eountry districts were in this deplorable state, General Dundas sent for the former Landrost of Graaff-Reinet, Mr. Maynier, and commissioned him to use his efforts for the restora- tion of peace. Dundas, remembering the unfortunate events at San Domingo, 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. The question was, how to enter into negotiations with them. Mr. Maynier tendered his servioes, and went unarmed into the territory between the Sunday's and Bushman's River, where the confederacy was assembled. After much trouble, he concluded a peace with the Hottentots, the terms of which were "that Government should protect them against the ill-treatment of the Boers in the most efficacious manner, and should provide that when they served the Boers they should be well paid and well treated." He then returned to the General, bringing with him the principal chiefs of the confederacy, Klaas Stuurman, Boezak, and Bovelander, with whom the General ratified this peace. A similar plan was adopted with regard to the chiefs of the Kafirs, to whom presents were forwarded, and with whom the General also agreed on terms of peace. Mr. Maynier was then appointed Resident Commissioner at Graaff-Reinet, charged with superintending and carrying out the regulations necessary to give effect to the agreement made with the Hottentots, and to restore order in the district. The plan he adopted was to open a register of the time, wages, and other terms upon which each Hottentot entered the service of any European master; so as, in case of dispute, reference could be had thereto as to their mutual engagements. He urged the farmers, now re- covering from the panic and apprehension which had seized them, to return and take possession of their farms, as the only way of restoring confidence and tranquillity. But a state of unrest continued throughout the country owing to the circulation of mischievous reports, which were in many cases believed by the inhabitants, who were extremely credulous and easily imposed upon. A number of Boers assembled in arms at Zwager's Hoek, as it was rumoured the Kafirs and Hottentots were preparing to extirpate the farmers at Bruintjes Hoogte. Their leaders, Commandant Rens- burg and Field-cornet Erasmus, said they were unable to restrain the people at their places, and were obliged to go with them. They marched to Graaff-Reinet, where they requested ammunition and leave to go on commando; at the same time complaining of the privi- leges granted to the Hottentots, and especially their being permitted to use the Church, thus placing them on an equal footing with the Christians; and, finally, demanding that those Hottentots who had murdered their relations should be given up into their hands. 34 ATTACK OX GRAAFF-REINET DROSTDY. At this time, there were a large numher of Hottentots in the town; many of them alarmed by the movements of the farmers, having fled from their kraals, or from their masters' service, to the Drostdy for protection. They were received and provided for by the Commissioner, as a temporary measure, it being considered prudent to have them under supervision and control there, lest they might form roaming bands and renew the system of plunder and depredation which had previously prevailed. The Commis- sioner, parleying with the insurgents, consented that the Hottentots should be kept out of the Church, where the Missionary Dr. Van der Kemp had been ministering to them, and that the use of that building should be left entirely to the Europeans; that such of the Hottentots as were accused of murder should be arrested and tried according to the laws of the country, but not delivered into the hands of their accusers without any proof of their crimes. A small body of dragoons, with four field pieces, in addition to the Hottentots, were prepared to defend the town; the other inhabitants having laid down their arms, refusing to use them against their countrymen. The insurgents threatened that if the Hottentots were not delivered up, they would destroy the place. The Commissioner received this challenge with firmness, and after their refusal to lay down arms, or retire, opened fire upon them. The fire was returned on the side of Van Rensburg and his party, and was continued from morning until sunset, but they at length retired and dispersed to their farms, without subduing the Drostdy, and happily even without any bloodshed on either side. Mr. Maynier continued his efforts to restore order, and endeavoured to get the Hottentots to enter, for the second time, into the service of their masters; but his firmness and occasional severity in carrying out his plans, in conformity with the principles he had laid down, made him exceedingly unpopular with the farmers. Reports to his discredit were circulated all over the country; amongst others, that one of the best and most respectable of the inhabitants of the Camdeboo, a Mr. Naude, had been cruelly murdered by a band of Kafirs, and that he had in some way connived at this atrocity. The general dissatisfaction amongst the Graaff-Reinet colonists was such as to force General Dundas, much against his will, to recall Mr. Maynier; and upon the return of the latter to Cape Town, a commission was appointed by the Government to enquire into the accusations brought against him. These charges were :— Delaying to acquaint the Government with the turbulent state of the country; obtaining cattle from the Kafirs and Hottentots for beads and other trifles, inadequate to their value; sending emissaries among the Hottentots to dissuade them from entering the British service; refusing to bring certain Hottentots to RELEASE OF THE BOER PRISONERS. 35' Graaff-Reinet accused of murder, and permitting them with* impunity to escape; injustice and cruelty in the matter of the murder of Naude, and also in delivering into the hands of the Boers a number of Hottentots who fled to him for protection. The Commission, after a lengthened investigation, reported that Mr. Maynier was "entirely innocent of all and every of the- charges preferred against him, and that some of the evidence- was such as to merit the most serious reprobation." He was at once re-appointed to office, as a member of the Court of Justice. Meanwhile, an intimation of the probable early restoration of the- Cape to the Dutch Government reached the Colony; and the- Governor, General Francis Dundas, made arrangements for the termination of his administration. He shewed a generous inten- tion towards the Hottentots who had taken refuge at Graaff-Reinet and were indisposed to re-enter the service of their former masters. He proposed to the Rev. Dr. Van derKemp to locate them, under- his charge, on a farm-place near Algoa Bay, where they would have the protection of the Military detachment stationed at Fort Frederick. The proposal was accepted, and Van der Kemp left Graaff-Reinet with 300 Hottentots, men, women, and children, and founded the mission institution of Bethelsdorp, which became an asylum for numbers of the race who left their kraals and hiding-places in the woods, and settled down as peaceful; subjects. The Boer prisoners who had surrendered to General Vandeleur in 1799, had been all this time in custody within the Castle of Cape- Town. Their trial took place in 1800, before the Court of Justice,, consisting of Messrs. 0. G. de Wet, A. Fleck, C. Matthiessen, H.. A. Truter, J. P. Baumgardt and J.TA. Truter, Secretary. The leaders, Prinsloo and Van Jaarsveld, were condemned to death;; others were ordered " to be delivered to the executioner blind-folded,, and having kneeled down upon a heap of sand, to have the sword waved over their head for punishment, and then to be banished for the remainder of their lives from the settlement;" and some were recommended to mercy and set at liberty. Owing to the change- of Governors, and the disturbances in the country, the execution of the sentence of the Court of Justice was postponed from time to- time; and Governor Dundas, in December, 1801, recommended that, in consideration of these circumstances, clemency should be shewn to the prisoners by some modification of the capital part of their punishment, if not by a full remission of their sentence, "thereby demonstrating the mild spirit of the English, and the placable forbearing system actuating the Government." Shortly after this, information of the Treaty of Amiens, restoring the Cap© to the Batavian Government, was received, and on the evacuation of the Colony by Great Britain in February, 1»03, the prisoners »2 36 RELATIONS WITH THE KAFIRS. •were free to leave the Castle under the amnesty granted by the Batavian Commissioners. During the short interregnum from 1803 to 1806, while the •Cape was under the Batavian Government, Governor Janssen, and his colleague, Commissioner de Mist, gave their earnest .attention to the condition of the frontier districts. They visited the Border, and personally interviewed the Hottentots and the Kafir chiefs, with the object of re-establishing a good under- standing between them and the Colonists. In the course of their journey, they 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 occupied by Kafirs under the chiefs T'Slambie, Congo and ■others, who were then in revolt against their paramount chief, Gaika. They acknowledged that the Great Fish River was the boundary of the Kafir territory, and promised to return there as soon 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, Capt. Alberti, to induce them to quit the Colony and retire to their •own country, were in vain. ^The Government had no force to •compel their retirement, and was therefore obliged to content itself with being on a half friendly footing with them. In this situa- tion relations with the Kafirs remained, until the Colony was .again taken under British dominion. THE CAPE UNDER BRITISH DOMINION. From the date of the surrender of the Cape to the British forces- under General Sir David Baird, in 1806, the country may be said to have entered upon a new era. It then virtually became a British Colony. By the articles of capitulation, however, the burghers and inhabitants were guaranteed all the rights and privileges including their form of public worship, which they had hitherto enjoyed. The paper money actually in circulation was continued current as before, until the pleasure of His Britannic Majesty should be known. All bona fide private property re- mained free and untouched. Public lands and houses, the property of the Batavian Republic, were delivered up and remained as security for such of the paper money as was not already secured by mortgage upon the estates of individuals, without prejudice, how- ever, to free use being made of the said lands and houses for public purposes. The total population of the Colony at this period, was 73,663 souls, of whom 26,720 were of European descent; and the lands in occupation of individuals consisted of 96 places, measuring 26,136 morgen held in freehold; 355 morgen held in quitrent:. and 1,739 places held on "loan-leases." The population was distributed as follows:— EUROPEAN INHABITANTS. HOTTENTOTS. 6LAVE8. Men. Women. Men. Women. Men. Women. Cape Town 3,26.3 3,034 233 202 5,513 3,322 Cape District 802 630 343 244 3,154 1,139 Stellenbosch 2,613 2,286 1,221 1,239 5,728 2,986 Swellendam 2,551 2,235 2,108 2,174 1,795 1,064 Graaff-Keinet 2,394 2,103 2,239 2,491 899 483 Uitenhage 1,257 1,094 1,047 1,278 346 245- Tulbagh 1,289 1,169 1,416 1,422 1,62] 991 Total 14,169 12,551 8,607 9,050 19,056 10,230 The general character of the policy adopted by Sir David Baird, and the several British Governors who succeeded him, partook in some measure of the liberal principles of administration introduced under the auspices of the Batavian Government. The Colonists were free to dispose of their produce upon the most advantageous terms, and a profitable market was at once provided by the large Naval and Military expenditure within the Colony itself, and at a later period by the establishment and supply of a garrison and squadron at St. Helena. -'38 SLAVE INSURRECTION. Earl Caledon, who was Governor from 1807 to 1811, established -a system of postal communication between Cape Town and the ■country districts by relays of post-riders. He also instituted "Circuit Courts," appointing Commissioners from the Court of Justice to proceed once a year or oftener throughout the whole of the Colony and administer the laws among all classes of the in- habitants with the same power and authority as was exercised by the Court in Cape Town. He likewise sought to ameliorate the •condition of the Hottentots by issuing regulations requiring that they should have a fixed place of abode, or otherwise be treated as vagabonds; and that all contracts entered into by them should be registered with the conditions as to wages, time of payment, .and date of termination of contract, so that po master could act unfairly to them, or detain them, their wives, or children after the «xpiry of such term of contract. The object of these regulations was to protect the Hottentots, and encourage them to prefer entering the service of the inhabitants to leading an indolent life, by which they were rendered useless to themselves and the com- munity at large. The abolition of the slave trade and the discontinuance of the importation of slaves, at this time, were not without a beneficial influence on domestic life and the habits, manners and morals of the inhabitants. But considerable alarm was created in the western districts by an attempted insurrection of a number of the negroes in servitude. The plot originated with a slave named Louis, and two Irishmen, Hooper and Kelly. Their plan was to incite the slaves in the inland districts to rebel, and having armed them with such weapons as they could procure in the country, to march them to 'Cape Town, seize the batteries, and despatch a letter to the Governor demanding the liberty of the slaves of the Colony; and in cnse of ■this being refused, they were to make themselves masters of the magazines, force the prisons, release the prisoners, and fight for their liberty. Louis, Hopper and Kelly, dressed in grotesque uniform with gold and silver epaulettes, and the first wearing a large sword, drove to the farm of a Mr. P. G. Louw, of Zwart- land, and passed themselves off as Spanish officers. The master being absent, the mistress did her best to provide a good supper and entertain tbem properly. Next morning they took possession of Louw's wagons and horses, and proceeded to the residence of his neighbour Basson, where they bound the proprietor and made themselves masters of the guns, powder, and ammunition, stating that their instructions were from the Government and the Fiscal, to take all Christians and carry them to Cape Town. Proceeding then from farm to farm, gathering wagons, horses and arms, and inciting the slaves at each place to join them, they formed a considerable cavalcade passing through Koeberg and EXPULSION OF THE KAFIRS. 3y Tygerberg. Some of them plundered the farmers' houses, outraged the farmers' wives, and forced their European masters, tied and bound, into their wagons. News of the outbreak soon reached Cape Town, and a detachment of Infantry and Cavalry were marched out with such promptitude that the insurgents were surrounded and captured, some at Salt River and others at Koeberg. The number of prisoners taken was 326. Those of the slaves who were passive in the affair were returned to their masters, and the wagons, horses, saddles, guns and other property were given back to the owners. The remainder of the prisoners were sent to trial, and the leaders, Louis, Hooper, and Abraham Jepta, were sentenced to death, while Kelly was transported from the Colony. A system of predatory warfare was reported to prevail on the eastern frontier, between the Colonists and the fugitive Kafirs; and complaints were also made of the incursions of Bushmen upon the farmers of the Nieuwveld and Zak River. Earl Caledon felt it desirable to obtain accurate information respecting these matters, and the way to remedy the evils complained of. He appointed an officer on whom he could rely, Colonel Collins of the 83rd Regiment, to visit these territories, and report the result of his observations. The reports furnished by Col. Collins contained very full and interesting information as to the character and history of the two races, the Bushman and Kafir. With regard to the Bushmen, he recommended the establishment of two or three Mission Institutions, around which they might be attracted and induced to settle down, and thus weaned from their predatory and wild life in the plain and mountains. As to the steps necessary to be taken for checking Kafir aggression and securing the permanent tranquillity of the Eastern Districts, his recommendation was to oblige all the Kafirs settled in the Zuurveld to withdraw to their own country across the Fish River, and to oppose innumerable obstacles to their return to the Colony. It fell to the lot of Earl Caledon's successor, Sir John Francis Cradock (afterwards Lord Howden) to carry out this policy of expulsion. The landdrosts of Graaff-Reinet and Uitenhage, in 1811, reported that the country was overrun with Kafirs, and that their depredations were quite without precedent. Several colonists and their herdsmen were murdered, and in one instance the body of a young man, named Jacobus de Winter, was found by his father suspended to a tree by the lash of a wagon-whip, with both hands covering the face, giving reason to imagine that the assegais with which he had been pierced did not occasion instant death, and that he had endured most cruel and barbarous torture. An armed force, composed partly of troops and partly of burghers, from all the districts of the Colony, was called into the 40 col. Graham's expedition. field, and placed under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Graham of the Cape Regiment. In the instructions to that Officer, Sir John Cradock stated that the hasis of his action was to secure the undisturhed establishment of the territory surrendered by the Dutch. "It is unneces- sary," he said, "to expatiate upon a subject of so plain a nature, where the arguments are so fully proved by the repeated aggression of the Kafir nation, who have made such continual inroads into our territories, and have to a great extent, after outrages of the most atrocious kind, banished the peaceable inhabitants from their dwellings and property. As the measures of passive conciliation and forbearance have proved ineffectual, it is necessary to adopt another mode of proceeding, and their complete expulsion from our Territory must be accomplished. I experience much satisfac- tion, while entering upon a measure of this description, from the general information that His Majesty's subjects have not in any of the late proceedings been the aggressors, but that the Kafir nation have been constantly the depredators and offenders. After this general view, it will be my desire that you take the most effectual measures to clear His Majesty's Territory from the Kafir nation or marauders of any description, and that they be repelled permanently within their own boundaries." The Amakosa Chief, Gaika, was informed of the intention of the Government, and expressed approval of the steps to be taken for driving the Kafirs into their own territory, as he said they had only occupied the Zuurveld in order to withdraw their allegiance from him, whose vassals they were. The country in which the expeditionary force had to operate was one of the most difficult for military movements which could be conceived. From the Sunday's River to the Bushman's River, there is an extended jungle of high bush, affording cover, even at the present day, to the elephant and the buffalo; and behind this bush there rises a series of broken mountain ridges intersected with thickly wooded ravines, extending for a distance of forty to fifty miles in length and varying from nine to twelve miles in breadth. These ridges are known as the Zuurberg and Rietberg mountains, and the Bushman's River Pass; they are within view of the traveller by railway between Port Elizabeth and Alicedale Junction. In November, 1811, Colonel Graham proceeded with his force, which he divided into three divisions—the right under his own command; the centre under Major Cuyler; and the left under Mr. Stockenstrom, landdrost of Graaff-Reinet. The armed burghers and the Cape Regiment, with some dragoons and artillery formed the advanced column; while the regular troops, including de- tachments of the Cape Regiment, the 83rd and the 60th Regiments, MASSACRE OX THE ZUURBERG. 41 formed the reserve, to guard against the Kafirs penetrating through any of the country to the rear of the commando, and entering the inhabited districts of the Colony. Major Cuyler, with the centre division, went direct to Congo's Kraal; the chief was not visible, but all his troops were drawn up' in battle array and ornamented with crane feathers, the emblem of war. By the messages sent, Congo appeared inclined to follow the advice given to him of quietly retiring to his own coun- try, and was therefore allowed till next day to consider of it. Next day, however, the chief T'Slambie and many of his Kafirs were observed going towards an adjacent wood, and it was ascertained that the main body of his and Congo's followers were assembled around him. Col. Graham then united the right and centre forces, and dividing nearly one-half of them into companies of dismounted men, each sixty strong, ordered them to enter the wood and remain there while one of the enemy was to be found. This plan was repeated as other wooded fastnesses were reached, and ultimately proved effectual. The Kafirs had never been attacked on foot or in a wood before, and in the jungle their only arm, at that time the "assegai," was a miserable weapon, as room is required to throw it with effect. After several of their number had fallen, they fled from their favourite and hitherto undisturbed haunts—the chief T'Slambie foremost amongst them, with a whole herd of followers and cattle, retiring across the Great Fish ltiver near to its mouth. Their abandoned kraals were burnt and their gardens and fields laid waste; but their women and children were invariably pro- tected and restored to them, together with all captured cattle. The services of the burghers during the campaign were highly spoken of by Col. Graham; and he mentioned the following colonists as having specially distinguished themselves: Comman- dant Jacobus Linde, of Swellendam; Botha, of George; Gabriel Stoltz, Ignatius Muller, William Nel, and John and Isaac van Niekerk of Uitenhage, and Piet Pretorius of Graaff-Ileinet. During the early part of these operations, which extended over twelve days, Col. Graham sent orders to Mr. Stockenstrom, who was on the north side of the Zuurberg, to join the right division on the south side; and the latter at once left his quarters, accom- panied by twenty-four men, chiefly burgher commandants. When more than half-way across, on the top of the Zuurberg mountain, at a spot known as Doom Nek, where there was open smooth ground, a number of Kafirs met the party, and Mr. Stockenstrom, placing a fatal confidence in their friendly professions, dismounted and entered into conversation with them. For nearly half an hour the venerable magistrate smoked his pipe with them, and passed the tobacco-bag round amongst them, while the subject of the expulsion was discussed. He did all he could to persuade them 42 IMPROVEMENT OF THE LAM) TENURE. to leave, and assured them that not a shot should he fired if they went across the Fish River quietly. While the "palaver " was proceeding, some other Kafirs arrived, who reported that mood had been shed. The character of the meeting at onoe changed. The Kafirs, now upwards of one hundred in number, rushed upon Mr. Stockenstrom and those who were next to him, as they were mounting their horses, and instantly murdered the old gentleman, -eight of the farmers who were with him, and a Hottentot. The rest of the party managed to effect their escape and brought the ead tidings to Col. Graham. For some time after the expulsion of the Kafirs, the military aDd burghers continued to guard the boundary along the Great Fish River. Col. 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 resisted 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. Sir John Cradock was disposed to think that, to prevent the evils which had to be overcome on the frontier, it was desirable to concentrate the population of the country and secure their attention to agriculture more than to pastoral pursuits, which tended to a roving life, and was the cause of their weakness and occasional troubles. The system of "loan-leases" appeared to him from this point of view to be very injurious, and he was determined not to perpetuate it. The question of land tenure had been under consideration of the Government for some time, and by Imperial as well as Colonial authorities it was considered desir- able that the holders of land should no longer be subject to a revocable lease, but have such a tenure as would enable them to apply capital to the improvement of their estates. In 1812, a proclamation was issued by Sir J. Cradock, allowing the holders of all lands on loan to convert them into perpetual quitrent properties and to hold the same hereditarily for the annual payment of a -sum to be prescribed acoording to the situation, fertility, and other circumstances of the ground. The object of this was, as the pro- clamation states, "a paternal desire to give to the farmers the security of title to their land, without any claim to resumption on the part of Government, so that they might be enoouraged to plant timber, and improve and extend agriculture, by having the right to dispose of their places as they chose, by dividing the same among their children, letting, selling, or otherwise alienating it." In the following year, Cradock resigned the Government, much to the regret of all classes of colonists, who in public addresses testified that his three years' administration of V THE BEZUIDENHOUT REBELLION. 43 the Cape had conduced greatly to the happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants. He was succeeded by Lord Charles Somerset, who arrived on the 5th April, 1814. He found the troublous affairs of the border varied by a rebellion among some of the colonists of European descent, of which he gave a detailed account to Earl Bathurst. The oircumstances which led to this outbreak arose out of the relations between master and servant. A Hottentot who had been several years in the service of Frederick Bezuidenhout, residing near the border, in what is now known as Glen Lynden (then termed the Baviaan's River), complained of ill-treatment. His complaint was made to Mr. (afterwards Sir Andries) Stockenstrom, who, in succession to his father, filled the office of Landdrost at Graaff-Reinet. The Field-cornet of Baviaan's River, a colonist named Opperman, was directed to inquire into the case, and to see that justice was done to the complainant. Bezuidenhout considered this interference between him and his servant to be an innovation of his right—an intolerable exhibition of authority; and set both the Field-cornet and the Magistrate at defiance. In consequence of this, application was made to the Commission of Circuit, and a warrant issued for his apprehension. The Under-Sheriff was then dispatched by Mr. Stockenstrom to take Bezuidenhout into custody, and as it was reported he had sworn never to surrender himself, the officer of justice was accom- panied by a military escort, under Lieut. Rosseau, a native of the Colony, with twenty men of the Cape Corps. When they approached Bezuidenhout's dwelling, he called to them not to advance farther, and he himself retreated, accompanied by two others, behind a parapet wall, from whence, after calling to the party to leave his premises, he commenced firing upon them. He fired twelve or fourteen rounds before the party noticed it, after which they returned his fire, and he with the two men with him retired to a cave in a rock, which it subsequently appeared he originally intended to do, as he had lodged there a considerable quantity of ammunition. The mouth of this cave could only be approached by one man at a time, but from the top its occupants could be heard and spoken to. From thence Bezuidenhout was repeatedly summoned to surrender, which he with vehement imprecations refused to do, saying also that they should never arrest him while alive, and that he would shoot many of them before he himself should fall. The sergeant of the party, however, approached near to the mouth of the cave, and while Bezuidenhout was in the act of levelling at him, shot him dead. His companions surrendered and were carried prisoners to Graaff-Reinet. The occurrence created considerable sensation. At the burial of 44 "slaghter's nek." the deceased, his hrother, in a Btate of great excitement, called upon all around him to avenge his death; and from that day he and his family connections seem to have set themselves to mature and carry out plans of retaliation upon the civil and military authorities. They sought to call in the aid of the Kafirs to extirpate the "tyrants," promising them the Zuurveld and the cattle of those colonists who would not join them against the Government. Captain Andrews, the officer in command of the nearest military post, obtained information of the movement, and at once arrested one of the most influential of those concerned in it, named Hendrik Prinsloo. This led to the immediate assemblage of an insurgent band, demanding Prinsloo's release. Many were intimidated into joining them by a story being circulated that those who did not assist would be given over to the plunder of the Kafirs. But the chief Gaika, who had been appealed to, could not be induced to move; he gave them clearly to understand that he would not embroil himself in their quarrels. Meanwhile, martial law was proclaimed, and the military were strengthened by the arrival of reinforcements and of many loyal burghers under their field-oommandants. In face of the force thus arrayed against them, the rebel leaders fled away, while numbers of their followers came forward and laid down their arms. Bezuidenhout, with some of his family and his brother-in-law Faber, endeavoured to escape into Kafirland, but their intention becoming known a detachment of the Cape regiment under Captain Fraser proceeded to overtake them. They came up to them and demanded their surrender. Bezuidenhout's reply was to raise his gun and fire upon the soldiers. His wife assisted him in re-loading his gun and even fired a shot herself, exclaiming " Let us never be taken alive! let us die here together." After this Bezuidenhout fell mortally wounded, and thereupon the others surrendered themselves. The sequel of the affair was that thirty-nine out of the whole of the insurgents were taken as prisoners to Uitenhage on the charge of high treason and waging war against the Crown. A special commission of the Court of Justice was sent to hear the case, and after a lengthened trial in the Drostdy of Uitenhage, five of the prisoners were sentenced to be exeouted, viz., H. F. Prinsloo, S. C. Bothma, C. J. Faber, T. C. de Klerck, and A. C. Bothnia. Others were transported and banished from the border, and the remainder were ordered to witness the execution of their comrades, and then to be released. The fiat executio put in foroe on this occasion was the first instance of colonists of European stock suffering death for treason against the Crown. Many of the friends of the delinquents hoped to the last that the utmost severity of the law would not be enforced, and the abhorrent circumstances attend- ing it created an excitement and ill-feeling which were not allayed lord c. Somerset's kafir policy. 45 for many years after. The spot selected as the place of execution was the H11 known as Slaghters Nek, overlooking the valley of the Great Fish River, where the chief act of rehellion had been com- mitted. There the machinery of death was erected. The hang- man was a negro. The halters were insufficient to bear the weight of the unfortunate men, or as some suspected were intentionally cut; and no sooner had the platform been removed than four of the five fell from the gallows. The unfortunate men cried for mercy, and one addressing himself to the bystanders, exclaimed that by this accident it was clearly manifest God would not permit them to be put to death. The officer in charge, Colonel Cuyler, in the stem performance of his duty, had the execution carried out according to the letter of the sentence. The Governor, in his despatch, added that it did not appear from the examinations and confessions of the prisoners that they had any ground of complaint beyond that already mentioned; but accustomed to consider the Hottentot as an inferior being, they were extremely impatient of the restraint the British regulations put upon them, and it was particularly obnoxious to have the Cape regiment, chiefly composed of Hottentots, among them to enforce these regulations. His Excellency added: "This feeling is very general, and although the Cape Corps has done its duty on this and on every occasion and merits my warmest acknowledgments, yet, had I a British battalion with which I could replace it, I would withdraw it from the frontier on account of the prejudices of the people." The troops at his disposal, however, were by no means sufficient to maintain the security of the border, and complaints of Kafir depredations became as rife as ever. Lord Somerset then oon- ceived the policy of recognising the ascendancy of the chief Gaika over all the Kafir tribes inhabiting the border, and of maintaining pacific relations with them by means of his controlling authority. He repaired to the frontier in 1817, and held au interview with this chieftain, at which T'Slambie and others were present. After some discussion, arrangements were made with them on the basis of the recognition of the supremacy of Gaika over the other tribes west of the Kei lliver, and it was stipulated that all intercourse with the Colony should be prohibited except through the medium of that ohief. It was also agreed on the part of the chiefs to accept the principle of Kafir law known as "collec- tive responsibility," by which the head of a kraal is responsible for the families under him, the headman of a number of kraals for the kraals or villages under him, and so the area of responsibility gradually extending until the supreme authority, the chief, is reached, to which all are answerable. His Excellency told them that he intended in future to send to the kraals to which stolen 46 col. brereton's expedition. cattle should be traced, and to call upon such kraal to restore it, and if the people of that kraal should have permitted the stolen cattle to pass through and not have stopped it, that he should then require of the kraal an equal number of Kafir cattle in lieu of that which had been stolen. The agreement thus entered into was adhered to with tolerable good faith for a while; but tribal feuds between Gaika and bis uncle T'Slambie, and jealousy of the alliance of the former with the Colony, led to a combination against Gaika by the other chiefs. In November, 1818, he was attacked and defeated by them at Amalinda, near Debe Nek, in the King William's Town district, and compelled to take flight to the Kahaberg, near the sources of the Koonap ltiver. Gaika appealed for aid to the Colonial Government, and it was felt that it was essential his cause should be espoused. The system of Kafir plundering was daily increasing, and with it the usual number of murders, some of which were traced to T'Slambie's people. The officer commanding on the frontier, Lieut.-Col. Brereton, was authorised to call T'Slambie to account, and in 1819 he entered Kaffraria with a large force of military and mounted burghers. T'Slambie and the minor hostile chiefs, however, evaded him, and retired to the impenetrable fastnesses of the bush. Brereton's force carried off vast herds of cattle from the people's kraals, and returned to Graham's Town, without having effected anything against the chiefs. He restored Gaika to his former residence, and presented him with a large quantity of cattle beyond what he had been plundered of, and also gave to the colonists a number of Kafir cattle equal to what they had been dispossessed of. He then disbanded the burgher commando, which had accompanied him. This gave T'Slambie's followers an opportunity of entering the Colony at a time when the Government had but a small force to repel them. The wholesale capture of their cattle had roused them to a frenzy of revenge against the military and the colonists, and their excited feelings were still more inflamed by the native eloquence of a seer or prophet, named Makanna or Lynx, who claimed to have been sent by the Great Spirit to assist them in battle against the white man. He counselled them to unite their forces for a simultaneous attack upon Graham's Town, the head- quarters of the British troops and the depot of stores and ammuni- tion. On the 22nd April, 1819, they mustered their army, 10,000 in number, and suddenly made their appearance on the hills above the military cantonment. Lord Somerset, in reporting the event, said:— "The close bushy country which intervenes between Graham's Town and the Kafir Border, had enabled this body to approach very ATTACK UPON AND DEFENCE OF GRAHAM S TOWN. 47 near the place before they were discovered, and when the}' were- partially 60, Lieut.-Colonel Willshire was absent inspecting a part of the Colonial Troop of Cavalry, at some distance from the town. The small garrison, not exceeding altogether 320 men, was ably drawn out and formed by Capt. Trappes, of the 72ndEegiment, for the defence of the place, and 60 men of the It. A. Corps, under Lieut. Cartwright, were detached for the protection of the Barracks, which are situated about 2,000 paces from the town, which itself is straggling and open. As soon as Lieut.-Colonel Willshire was apprised of what was going on, he put himself at the head of his troop and rode towards the enemy to reconnoitre, and found him advancing with a rapidity which had nearly prevented the Lieut.-Colonel's retreat upon the town. How- ever he joined his small force, and made the necessary dispositions for receiving the attack. The Kafirs halted on an eminence to make their last arrangement, and divided their force into three columns, commanded, it is supposed, by the three chiefs who are known to be principally hostile to the Colony, viz.,—T'Slainbie, Congo, and Lynx. Two of the columns were directed upon the town, the third advanced against the Barracks, while about 1,000 men were posted between Graham's Town and the nearest station from whence relief could come to our troops (Blue Krans). They advanced by signal (at a discharge of musketry from an adjoining hill) and rushed forward with great impetuosity, making the air resound with their appalling shrieks. Lieut.-Colonel Willshire received them with firmness, and when but within a few paces opened his fire of artillery and musketry upon them with such effect, as very soon to check their progress and- evidently to make them waver. Our little band cheered in its turn ;• and advanced towards the enemy, who very soon retreated, dragging away numbers of his wounded. The attack at the Barracks lasted longer, the enemy having penetrated even into the Barrack Square, but Lieut. Cartwright defended his post with great intrepidity, and drove back the enemy, after having killed nearly treble his own num- bers, of whom 102 were afterwards counted in the Barrack Square alone. The whole loss of the Kafirs on this occasion, in killed, can- not be estimated at less than between 700 and 800, whilst our loss' only consisted in three killed and five wounded. We learn that T'Slambie lost three sons in this affair, and that the Kafirs retreated into their own country with a great number of wounded." Not only Graham's Town, but other parts of the district of Uitenhage, suffered from the Kafir inroad at this time. The- invading tribes proceeded as far as the Sunday's River, destroying farms, killing thirty inhabitants, including nine unoffending members of the Moravian Mission Institution, and carrying oft I roops of cattle, horses, and sheep. The burgher forces of the Colony from west and east were again summoned to assemble, and between the 22nd and 31st of July, two thousand of them marched into Kafirland, supported by detachments of the regulars and artillery. After protracted and fatiguing movements, to clear the enemy out of the bushy 48 NEW KAFIR BOUNDARY. fastnesses of the Chumie and Keiskamma valleys, some of the hostile chiefs treated for mercy and peace. Makanna or Lynx voluntarily surrendered himself to Commandant Stockenstrom as a prisoner. Walking into camp, with the magnanimity of a Roman, he said, "If I have occasioned the war, let me see if delivering myself up to the conquerors will restore peace to my country!" and he begged that the war should not he continued, as ;all their cattle had been taken by Colonel Brereton, and the people were starving. Congo, Iiabanna, and others of minor note surrendered to Colonel Willshire. T'Slambie took refuge for a time beyond the Tembu territory. Gaika was permanently restored to the lands whence he had been driven, and the inferior chiefs, ■who had surrendered, declared themselves subordinate to him. During all this period a considerable portion of the scant population of the Colony was withdrawn from their ordinary avocations, performing the duties of armed burghers, at great personal expense and sacrifice. The Commando called out in 1811 had not been disbanded until 1815. Three years after- wards they were summoned for two months to accompany Col. Brereton in his raid upon T'Slambie. In 1819 they were in the field for seven months, mounted and equipped at their own cost .and submitting to fatigue and privation without a murmur. Lord Somerset did not fail to represent the merits and value of the force. "The burghers and their respective Commandants," he said, "have fulfilled their duties with unexampled perseverance; but no praise which I could bestow would describe the merits of Mr. Landdrost Stockenstrom, who on every occasion has led his men with the greatest dexterity, courage and foresight, and to •whose knowledge of the country the Officer Commanding has been greatly indebted." At the termination of hostilities in October, 1819, the Governor, at a conference with Gaika and other Chiefs, took steps for securing to the Colony some permanent advantages as a result .of the recent operations. The occupation of the thickets .along the Fish River had exposed the Colony to invasion, .and it was stipulated at this conference that the bush country was to be cleared of all Kafirs, the Chief Congo and his adherents who inhabited these fastnesses being compelled to retire behind the Keiskamma. It was further stipulated that the Kafir border should in future be the ridge of the Kat River Hills from the Winterberg to where that ridge joins the River Chumie, the •Chumie itself to its junction with the Keiskamma, and thence the Keiskamma to its embouchure. The Colonial boundary was thus .extended eastward to the Keiskamma River, and two military posts were to be established in the most commanding situations of the .ceded territory. At the same time, missionary agents (the Rev. J. 50 DISADVANTAGES AND ATTRACTIONS. proper to tell them that vigilance and courage will have the effect of giving their property efficient protection; that the Kafirs do not molest those hamlets where six or seven families unite together for mutual support, and are constantly on the alert for their defence in. case of attack. We have several instances of associations of this nature living in perfect security quite on the border of the Fish River, not one hundred yards from the Kafir country. The Kafirs are con- stantly on the watch, and commit their thefts when they discover our settlers to be off their guard. The herds of these families are tended in common by armed watchmen; should these be indolent or negligent tbey are the victims of their supineness by the loss of their property, and sometimes the sleeping herdsmen lose their lives. It is obvious that increase of population will remedy tbis evil, and that the Kafirs cannot, from their not using firearms, be any match for Europeans who have such to oppose to them. "Having thus stated the disadvantages to which settlers would be liable in the country we have to offer them, it is now necessary to advert to the more favourable side of the picture, and to say that their reward is to be found in the cultivation of a most fertile soil in the most healthy and temperate climate in the universe, where cold is never so piercing as to congeal water, and where the rays of the sun are never so powerful as to render exposure to them injurious, or to impede the usual labours of the field. . . Upon a most fruitful soil, the same species of cultivation which affords food to man in our country is most likely to be successful here; added to which, that when the immediate wants of the new settlers are supplied, no country yields finer wool than may be here reared ; that the corn of this country has brought in the London market the highest price known there ; that tobacco is an article which might be advantageously cultivated and prepared so as to equal the best American produce; and that experiments upon the cotton plant have proved that it may be cultivated here to the greatest advantage." Lord Somerset was clear and candid in his statement of the drawbacks as well as of the attractions which the Cape frontier districts then offered to those who were looking for " a new land of promise." The events happening along the border from 1817 to 1819, must also have kept the Secretary of State well informed of what the new settlers might have to contend with. But no reference to these drawbacks was made when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1819, asked the House of Commons for a vote of £50,000 for the encouragement of emigration to the Cape. The country was glowingly represented as unrivalled in the world for its climate, natural beauty, and fertility; and when the vote was granted, the eagerness and anxiety of individuals to be allowed to emigrate to South Africa were unbounded, there being no fewer than 90,000 applicants while the number accepted amounted altogether to about 5,000. Tne scheme of emigration was carried out on the lines originally THE EMIGRATION OF 1820. 61 suggested by Lord Somerset. The emigrants were required to be of good character and possessed of some means. No one was accepted who had not sufficient to carry out, at the least, ten able- bodied individuals above eighteen years of age, with or without families. And to give security to the Government that they had such means, the leaders of parties had to deposit at the rate of £10 for every family, provided that the family did not consist of more than one man, one woman, and two ohildren under fourteen years of age. Passages were to be provided for them at the expense of Govern- ment, and they were to receive a free grant of land at the rate of 100 acres for every person or family taken out. Of the deposit of £10 made to the Government, one-third was to be repaid on landing, when the victualling at the expense of Government ceased; a further proportion of one-third was to be repaid as soon, as it was certified that the settlers under the direction of the person taking them out were actually located upon the land assigned to them; and the remainder at the expiration of three months from the date of their location. A supply of agricultural implements was to be sent out, with a view to disposing of them to- such settlers as might require them at prime cost or on credit, and seed corn was to be supplied if necessary on terms equally favour- able. Bibles and Common Prayer Books were also distributed to those who might apply to receive them. In cases where one hundred families went together and asked to carry out with them a minister of their own persuasion, Government was to assign a salary to such a minister, if he should be approved of by the Secretary of State. Subsequently, it was, by the King's pleasure, made a special condition of the several grants in the new settlement, that the lands should be cultivated by means of free labour alone, and that any employment of slaves upon them would render the lands sub- ject to forfeiture. And, later on, the Bang's commands were given to make provision, by proclamation, that English settlers coming to reside in the Colony should, as long as they remained in the state in which they arrived, enjoy the same rights and powers of devising property which they had under the law of England; and that, in case of entering into the marriage state within the Colony, they might, by an ante-nuptial contract, exclude community of property according to the Colonial law, and retain to themselves the right of free testamentary disposition as in England—such con- tracts, however, not affecting or destroying the rights of children, acquired at their birth, under the common law of the Colony.* * By Act No. 23 of 1874, all restrictions on the freedom of the disposition of property lias been removed; but without interference with the Roman Dutch law of community of property, or the luws of inheritance ab intesialo. e2 52 NAMING OF PORT ELIZABETH. In the month of November, 1819, Lord Somerset received inti- mation that the transport ships, with the emigrants, would leave England that month, so as tor arrive at the Cape at the commence- ment of the planting season, and he was directed to make the necessary arrangements for their reception in the Colony. He was given a discretionary authority to afford them assistance in every practicable manner so as to enable them to carry their ultimate objects into effect. "But," wrote Earl Bathurst," experience has shown that the settlement and cultivation of waste land is best achieved by the active application of the means which the settlers on it may themselves possess; and your lordship will not give this further assistance, except in cases where it may be essentially necessary to prevent the industrious settler from being over- whelmed by the pressure of unavoidable difficulties. . . . And generally it is my duty to convey to you the anxious wish and injunctions of the Prince Regent that in confiding these settlers to your lordship's care, they will not find that they have lost the protection of His Majesty's Paternal Government." This despatch reached Lord Somerset when he was on the eve ■of leaving the Cape for England, in consequence of the state of health of one of the members of his family; and the duty of re- ceiving and locating the emigrants devolved upon the Acting Governor, Sir Kufane Shaw Donkin, who was ably assisted by Colonel Bird, the Colonial Secretary, and Mr. Henry Ellis, the deputy Secretary. The first transport ships, the Nautili*, 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 was then unnamed; it consisted of a wave-washed beach, lined by ridges of barren sand-hills, with a small fortification crowning the heights, and a few cottages and huts. The Acting Governor anti- cipated 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. Among the emigrants was Thomas Pringle, the Scottish lyric poet, who in his "Narrative of a Residence in South Africa," has given us a graphic word-picture of the landing of the settlers:— "It was," he says, "an animated and interesting scene. Around us in the west corner of the spacious bay were anchored ten or twelve large vessels, which had recently arrived with emigrants, of whom a great proportion was still on board. Directly in front, on a rising ground a few hundred yards from the beach, stood the little forti- fied barrack or block-house, called Fort Frederick, occupied by a . i. ., -■ . ■' ■ :«:;;'•- ■ < disposed, pass another enactment arranging details, before it came into operation. This proceeding was regarded as a violation of the constitutional rights of the colonists; but the Imperial Act being held in terrorem, the Cape Legislature accepted the position T and, after a severe struggle of parties, in 1865, agreed to a Bill incorporating British Kaffraria with the Colony, and increasing the number of constituencies entitled to representation in the- Assembly, as well as enlarging the Legislative Council. The tract of country beyond the Great Kei River was at this- time almost unoccupied, having been depopulated during the famine of 1857, and the chief Kreli expelled beyond the Bashee River, as a punishment for the evils he had caused in Kaffraria. Sir G. Grey had filled up a small portion of it with friendly natives, Kafirs and Fingoes, placed under European magistrates; and he proposed occupying other parts with a European population reared in the Colony, and holding their lands on a system of military tenure, similar to the Cathcart grantee system in Queen's Town. Governor Wodehouse proposed a similar scheme for its settlement, with the addition that an armed force shoidd be organised for the defence of the new frontier. But the Secretary of State, apprehending that such an occupation would increase the risk of further Imperial expenditure, directed British authority to be withdrawn, and the Kei River made the colonial boundary. Sir Philip "Wodehouse thereupon granted Kreli permission to return with his followers to a portion of the vacant territory; while the remainder of it was allotted to Fingoes and Tembus, who crowded some of the Frontier districts, and whose excessive population was thus drawn off. The transfer of these natives from within the Colony was finally carried out in 1866, and the fertile country, now known as the Transkei, became peopled with portions of Fingo and other tribes, having no alliance with their Gcaleka neighbours, and believed to be friendly and loyal to the British Government, from a consciousness of benefits received and an appreciation of the peace secured to them by its influence. Some important questions occupied public attention during the administration of Governor Wodehouse. One was the long con- tinued but unsuccessful agitation for a division of the Colony into two separate governments. Another was the unsatisfactory rela- tions between the Executive Government and the Legislature. 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. The remedy for this was a change to the system of responsible or party Govern- ment; but to such a change a majority of the colonists were 70 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. opposed, considering it to be premature and unsuited to the country Between 1867 and 1869 the finances showed a marked decline, and to equalise revenue and expenditure, a large scheme of taxation was submitted by Government. The House of Assembly resolved that instead of this taxation there should be considerable retrenchment of the public expenditure. Matters threatened to come to a dead- lock. Sir Philip Wodehouse reported the Constitution to be unworkable. He dissolved Parliament, and, with the approval of the Secretary of State, made an appeal to the country at the elections,—the issue being whether the Legislature should be modi- fied, as Sir Philip proposed, so as to consist of a single chamber of thirty-six members, giving the Executive increased powers; or whether the Colony should have the administration 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 left the Colony. Governor Sir Henry Barkly, experienced in the working of con- stitutional Government in Australia, was then sent out, with authority to press the adoption of full self-government upon the •Colony, which he did with success. In 1872, he introduced a measure, which, after five days' debate, was passed in the House of Assembly by a majority of ten votes, and in the Legislative Coun- cil by a bare majority of one. The new constitution thus created was assented to by the Queen and proclaimed on the 29th November, the first Ministry being formed by Sir John Charles Molteno. Following upon the inauguration of Responsible Government there was another marked advance of the prosperity of the Colony. Shortly before there had been a long period of adversity. Abnor- mal 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 universally depressed, as Mr. Gladstone's alcoholic scale of duty 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. Diamonds were found along the banks of the Vaal River; and the success of the first search parties brought numerous others from the neighbouring colonies and republics, as well as from abroad. The rich mines of Griqua- land West,* which were then opened, gave employment to large bodies of men; and this, combined with a return of favourable seasons, reacted upon the agricultural and pastoral classes throughout the whole Colony, producing such beneficial effects that the public re- * An epitome of the History of Griqualand West will be found in I he chapter on -' Diamond Mining at the Cape." MATERIAL PROGRESS. 71 venue, which had previously exhibited deficits, shewed for several years an uninterrupted annual increase and a handsome surplus over each year's expenditure. In 1874, the exports of the Colony (which in 1854 were only £764,461), amounted in value to £4,233,561, exclusive of a large unregistered exportation of diamonds, estimated in that year at £200,000. The export of wool reached 42,620,481 lbs., of the value of £2,948,571. The imports in the same year advanced to £5,558,215, the greater part of which were from Great Britain, and the public revenue which in 1854 was only £300,000, rose to above one million and a half sterling The census of the Colony taken in 1875, shewed that the total population numbered 720,984 persons, of which the European or whites amounted to 236,783, and the various native and coloured classes to 484,201. The total area of holdings was close upon eighty million acres, of which about sixty millions were held upon quitrent tenure, over eighteen millions on leasehold, and a million were freehold properties. The number of different kinds of live- stock was:—Sheep (woolled), 9,986,240; other sheep, 990,423; horses, 205,985; mules and asses, 29,318; draught cattle, 421,762; other cattle, 689,951; angora goats, 877,988; other goats, 2,187,214; pigs, 116,738; ostriches, 21,751. Twenty years of peace had almost lulled the Colony into forget- fulness of native disturbances and war, when in 1876 rumours began to spread of "looming troubles " owing to the restless state of some of the Kafir tribes. Although the feeling of insecurity was attributed to groundless " scares," Sir Henry Barkly, with the advice of his ministers, appointed a Commission to consider the question of frontier defence. This Commission, after taking the evidence of military and other officials, brought up a report, stating that "the Colony was living upon a mine that might at any moment be sprung beneath its feet." Different opinions prevailed as to the extent of the danger, but the Government felt it to be its duty to strengthen the defensive forces of the country. In 1877, Sir Bartle Frere was appointed Governor, in succession to Sir H. Barkly, and was charged as High Commissioner with the supervision of British interests in Griqualand West, in Natal, and South Africa generally. On his arrival, he loyally co-operated with the ministry of Sir John Molteno, then in office, and made arrangements, after meeting Parliament, for visiting the frontier. Just at this time, the accident of a fight at a wedding feast in the Transkei set the tribes on the border in commotion. Some Fingoes had been beaten and one Gcaleka killed. This revived the old animosity which had existed for many years between these two tribes. The Gealekas entered Fingoland at four points, sweeping off tattle from the Fingo villages, and one of their armed parties 72 THE WAR OF 1877-78. attacked the Mounted Police Force at Gwadana, killing one officer and four men. Measures were at once taken by the Govern- ment for the protection of the Fingoes and the punishment of their enemies. The Colonial Forces and Volunteers from the principal distriots and towns, as well as two of H.M.'s infantry regiments, a naval brigade, and artillery, were brought into the field, and Kreli and Ms forces were defeated and driven over the Bashee River. It was thought the disturbance was then at an end; but the Gcalekas shortly afterwards reappeared in considerable force, and a body of them crossed the Kei River into the Gaika territory, and induced that tribe, under the chief Sandilli, to engage in hostilities. A portion of the Graikas, however, remained faithful to the Government, as did many of the smaller tribes. After a few 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 the minor Gaika and Tembti chiefs who took part in the rebellion. The Gaika territory was- declared forfeited, with the exception of the several Christian mission stations; and the remainder of the Gaika tribe was removed across the Kei, into a portion of the fine country left vacant by the dispersion of the Gcalekas. Kreli was outlawed, but took refuge in Bomvanaland; and, after seven years' life "in the bush," he has now been pardoned by the Government, and permitted to settle down as a peaceful subject in a portion of that district. During the course of the war, in the early part of 1878, the Governor and his Ministers unhappily were not in acoord—the point of difference between them having reference to the control of the forces in the field, and who should conduct the operations for the suppression of the rebellion. The Governor ultimately dismissed Sir John Molteno and his colleagues from office, and summoned Mr. John Gordon Sprigg to form a ministry, which was at once done. Parliament was assembled shortly afterwards, and the action of the Governor was challenged in the House of Assembly, but after a long debate, the House resolved by a majority of 37 to 22 that, under all the circumstanoes of the case, the removal of the Ministers was unavoidable. Parliament, before it arose, voted its thanks to the Officers Commanding and to all the forces, regulars and colonial, who had been engaged in the suppression of the rebellion. It also made provision for the self-defence of the Colony in the future, by sanctioning considerable votes for increasing the Cape Mounted Police, and passing laws for the organisation of a Yeomanry Corps, Volunteers, and the Burgher and Levy forces—the latter embracing every able-bcdied man in the Colony between 18 and 50 years of age, with some necessary exceptions. It likewise gave the Govern- THE BA8UTO REBELLION. 73 ment the power to proclaim areas, within which it would not he lawful for any persons to have arms or weapons without a licence. Under this Peace Preservation Act, as it was termed, the Kafirs and Fingoes on the Frontier and in the Transkei were disarmed of their guns and assegais, compensation being allowed them for the same; and an intimation was given that the law would also be extended to the Basuto tribe, occupying the territory of Basuto- land. This tribe, as already mentioned, had been at war with the Orange Free State in 1868, and were on the point of being entirely subjugated and broken up, when Sir Philip Wodehouse, in his capacity of High Commissioner, stepped in and saved them by proclaiming British sovereignty over them. In the Free State and in some parts of the Colony, at the time, the interference was regarded as an unwarrantable act, but it was approved of and confirmed by the Imperial Government. For a year or two after- wards, the territory was held by the Cape Mounted Police Force; and in 1871, before the introduction of Responsible Government, Parliament was induced, at the instance of Governor Sir H. Barkly, to annex it to the Colony, which became responsible for its expenditure and administration. From this period, the tribe made marked progress in material prosperity and civilization, and their government by European magistrates under Col. Griffith, C.M.G., was deemed to be a success. There were some of the chiefs, however, who chafed under the control of the Magistrates; and in 1879, Moroisi, a Bahputi chief, defied the authorities and went into rebellion. His death and the forfeiture of his lands followed. The Basutos, Borne of whom had aided in the suppression of the revolt, were troubled about this confiscation of territory; and when the extension to them of the Peace Preservation Act was announced, their chiefs seized the occasion of arousing and influencing the tribe to oppose it. The feeling against the disarmament policy was further encouraged by the statement, made through the ordinary public channels, that the Colonial Ministry "was not supported by the Home Government. On the issue of the disarming proclamation, some loyal people obeyed the order, and surrendered their arms; but the fact of their doing so drew upon them the enmity of the chiefs, who aocording to native custom "ate them up," threatening their lives and carrying off their cattle, A troop of the Cape Mounted Riflemen then moved up to Basutoland, for the protection of the loyalists. They were met on the border by armed forces of the Basutos, who essayed to resist 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 76 GERMAN PROTECTORATE. to Mr. Luderitz, intimating that failing British action, Germany would itself take its suhjects at Angra Pequina under protection. The Secretary of State communicated with the Colony, enquiring, if the place was declared British, whether the Cape would be prepared to take the responsibility and control of it. When the matter was submitted to the Cape Parliament, it at once passed resolutions in favour of the annexation of the whole coast up to the Portuguese boundary. But in the interval, during which this reference to the Colony was made, a German man-of-war made its appearance and proclaimed a Protectorate over the coast from the Orange River to the twenty-sixth parallel of south latitude, and soon after another German gun-boat took possession of the whole of the rest of the West Coast, Walwich Bay and certain Islands excepted, in the name of the German Emperor. The British Government acquiesced in the action of the German Govern- ment; and this settled the question. The Cape Government, how- ever, lost no time in legalising the annexation to the Colony of Walwich Bay, which was done by proclamation of Sir Herculea Robinson under Act 35 of 1884, and at the same time the annexa- tion of the Port of St. John's, at the mouth of the Umziravubn River on the East Coast, which had been proclaimed British territory in 1878, was completed. The Government then carried through the incorporation of the whole of the Transkeian Territories. The districts of Griqualand East, Idutywa and Fingoland had been annexed by Aot in 1877; and in 1885 the territories of Tembuland, Emigrant Tembuland, Gcalekaland and Bomvanaland, were made integral portions of the Cape of Good Hope. The present inland boundaries of the Cape Colony are :—On the Eastern coast, the Umtata River from its mouth to the town of Umtata, and from thence along the line of road separating Griqua- land East from Pondoland, to a point on the Umtamvuna River touching the boundary of Natal, thence to the Umzimkulu River, and north to the Drakensberg range of mountains, following them to the sources of the Telle River, and thence its junction with the Orange River, and along the course of the Orange River to a point named Ramah; then in a northern direction, along the boundary of the Orange Free State to Platberg, on the Vaal River; then following down the Vaal River to its junction with the Orange River, and thence to the mouth of that river on the Western Coast. The total area of the Colony thus described embraces an extent of 213,630 square miles, being nearly double the area of the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. The present population is computed at a total of 1 ,252,347 persons. Nt"V,' YOUK PUB.:.: t.sr - -.El -•n. -. ■\^i3 Wt I"-.: PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE COLONY. The leading features of the physical geography of the Cape Colony, which greatly determine its climate and natural produc- tions, are the several ranges of mountains that cross the country in irregular lines, and, separated from each other by valleys and plains, form a series of terraces rising in successively-increasing altitudes, from the seaboard to the interior. The Cape Peninsula, which is generally the first land sighted by the voyager from England, presents a characteristic specimen of the form and structure of these mountain ranges, its tabular summit and peaks shooting up abruptly from the sea, and standing out bold and high. Table Mountain rises almost perpendicularly to a height of 3,852 feet above Table Bay. It is flanked on the right by the remarkable Lion's Head 2,100 feet high, the slopes on its neck covered by the beautiful satin-leafed Silver Tree, and its long round-backed extremity stretching outward as the Lion's Rump. On the left again there is the picturesque Devil's Peak (or Wind Berg of the old Dutch mariners) 3,315 feet in height; while in the horse-shoe valley between these points, the city of Cape Town is spread out, with its suburbs extending around the mountains for fourteen miles, from Sea Point to Constantia. A heath-covered sandy tract, forming the isthmus between Table Bay and False Bay, connects the Cape Peninsula with the Dra- kenstein and Hottentots Holland mountain range, which is the first high harrier between the coast region and the inland districts. Ihese mountains stretch southward to Cape Hanglip at the entrance of False Bay, and northwards in a somewhat irregular series through Clanwilliam and Namaqualand to the Orange River. The vine-growing valleys of Stellenbosch, Drakenstein, Paarl, Wellington, Twenty-four Rivers and the Olifant's River are along the seaward slopes and spurs of these mountains, while the undulating plains reaching from them to the coast are exten- sive grain-producing districts, known as the "granary" of the Colony. The Berg River runs through a portion of this country, from Fransche Hoek to St. Helena Bay, over a course of 63 miles. Immediately behind the first range, is another having its highest point in the Winterhoek 6,840 feet near Tulbagh. This forms the principal watershed of the west; the drainage on one side running to the Olifant's River, which empties itself into the Atlantic, and on the other to the Breede River, which flows into the Indian Ocean. The Breede River is navigable for small vessels for some distance from it mouth. The fertile valleys of the 78 THE MOUNTAIN RANGES. Warm Bokkeveld, Worcester, Goudini, Hex River, Robertson, and Montagu, are in this tract. Proceeding eastward, the range is known as the Hex Riverr Langebergen, Outeniqua and Tzitzikamma mountains, running parallel to the coast, and subsiding near Cape St. Francis. This part of the country has been occupied for several generations by the descendants of the early colonists. There are many towns and villages established in it, such as Caledon, Swellendam, Heidelberg, Riversdale, George, and Mossel Bay, and the lands are occupied as corn farms, vineyards, orchards, tobacco plantations, sheep and cattle pastures, and ostrich enclosures. From George and the Knysna to th6 Tzitzikamma, near Humansdorp, it is well wooded, the forests running for a distance of 170 miles with a varying depth of from ten to twenty miles from the sea. A third range, known as the Zwarteberg, diverges from the elevated Hex River Heights, and encloses on one side the Ghannaland Karoo, Tradouw and the fertile districts of Ladismith, Oudtshoorn, and Lange Kloof, while on the other it forms the boundary of the " Great Karoo." The same range extends east- ward as the Antoniesberg, Elandsberg, and the Cockscomb or Great Winterhoek, rising to 5,967 feet in the Uitenhage division, and there joining the hilly ridges of the Zuurberg, which die away some distance beyond Graham's Town, near the mouth of the Great Fish River. The Great "Karoo"—signifying a dry or arid country— consists of extended undulating plains, dotted over with small bushes, and is characterised by a general absence of shade, of verdure, and of permanent surface waters. Behind this Great Karoo there rises a bold escarpment of flat-topped hills, known on the western side as the Roggeveld and Nieuwveld mountains, and further eastward as the Sneeuwbergen. These form the higher plateau of the Upper Karoo districts, eloping away to the valley of the Orange River. Here the wide-spreading bushy plains are more or less diversified by hills of sandstone, and shale, and conical dykes or kopjes of black trap rock. The hills of the Roggeveld reach to 5,150 feet; but the highest point of the Sneeuwbergen (the Compassberg or Spitzkop mountain, in the Richmond district) rises to 7,800 feet above sea level. This constitutes the central water- shed of the Colony; the drainage on one side running north to the Orange River, and on the other flowing south-eastward to the Indian Ocean. The plains of the Karoo bear no resemblance to the sandy wastes of Sahara. In seasons of drought, the soil is parched and arid, and vegetation scorched and shrivelled; but after rains it is trans- formed into luxuriant pastures, carrying countless flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle and horses, which thrive wonderfully on the GEOLOGY OK THE COLONY. 79 aromatic herbage, and peculiar dryness and salubrity of its climate. In former years, these plains abounded with wild game; and even as late as 1844, the notable Nimrod, Roualeyn Gordon Cumming, of Altyre (whose spoils of the ohase trom South Africa attracted so much notice in London during the first Great Exhibition of 18-31), had his hunting grounds in the neighbourhood of the Thebus Mountain, on the borders of the Middelburg and Cradock districts. Thousands of springboks, interspersed with troops of gnus, or wildebeeste, quaggas, zebras, ostriches and other game, then dotted the immense flats, which are now oocupied with flocks of wool- bearing sheep, farmers' dwellings, orchards and gardens. Of the larger game, there are few at present to be found within the boundaries of the Colony; but springboks are generally to be seen quietly grazing or scouring over ;the plain, and a small troop of zebras still occupy the mountain pastures within five miles of Cradock. In other portions of the Colony, the stately Koodo and the beautiful bontebok are preserved on private properties; and in the Knysna forests and Addo Bush, elephants and buffalo are more numerous than in the Transvaal. From the central range of the Sneeuwbergen, an arm runs eastward under the names of Tandtjesberg, Zwagershoek, and Boschberg, linking on to the Great Winterberg Mountain, over 7,000 feet high, then extending along the grassy heights of the Katberg, Elandsberg, Gaikaskop, the Hogsback and the Amatolas, and terminating with the Buffalo and Kologha ranges, in the division of King William's Town. This grassy plateau stretches further northward to the boundary of the Uueen's Town district, rising from there by another step to the Stormberg Mountains, 6,000 to 7,000 feet in height, where are situate the border districts of Wodehouse, Aliwal North and Barkly; and then it joins on to the Drakensberg or Quathlamba Mountains, whose highest peak, 10,000 feet, is on the borders of the adjacent Colony of Natal. The structure of these various mountain ranges and the Geology of the Colony generally, has now been pretty accurately determined; although there are still many important points and details to be worked out by accurate survey. The three classes of formations, primary, secondary and tertiary, have each their representatives in South Africa, and are to be met with under cir- cumstances analagous to those in which they are found on other parts of the earth's crust. The mountains nearest the seaboard, and the rocks forming the littoral of the south and eastern parts of the Colony, consist of the Palaeozoic or primary formation, pierced and penetrated by intru- sive rocks. Clay-slate, sometimes broken through and altered by granite, is the underlying formation over the whole of the southern 80 THE CANGO CAVES. districts; while on the west coast, from the Oliphants River northwards and extending into Bushmanland, the prevailing formation is granite and gneiss, passing into metamorphic schists as the Orange River is approached. It is in this tract that the valuable Namaqualand copper mines are situate. Metamorphic rocks similar to che Namaqualand schists also appear on the east side of the colony, at George and Knysna, associated with gneiss, and penetrated by granite veins, and veins and reef of quartz; traces of gold have been found here over a considerable area, but not sufficient to encourage working. Above the clay-slate, is a great sedimentary deposit of quartzose sandstone, with in some places imbedded pebbles, such as forms the upper portion of the Table Mountain, Lion's Head, and also the Hottentots Holland and Langebergen ranges. Both the clay- slate and this sandstone have as yet proved unfossiliferous. Resting conformably on the sandstone, in the second range of mountains, are a series of argillaceous shales and coarse red sand- stones, which contain numerous fossils, chiefly trilobites, brachio- pods, and encrinites, characteristic of the Upper Silurian or Devonian rocks. These fossiliferous deposits extend along the mountains northward from the Gydow, behind Ceres, to the Cedarbergen, and eastward along the Hex River heights and the Great Zwarteberg towards Uitenhage. At the base of the Zwarteberg range, which is considered to be of the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone period, there is a Limestone which belongs to the Namaqualand schists formation. In this limestone occurs the famed Cango oaves, a series of very curious and interesting stalactite caverns or grottoes, which were visited. in 1874 by Sir H. Barkly, accompanied by 300 of the neigh- bouring residents. Although persons have penetrated these caves for more than a mile distance, they have never been explored to the end; and their inner recesses still remain as a field of adventure for any one ambitious of going where man has never been before. The caves have been thus described by Lieut. Shirwell, an Indian visitor, who declared that Elephanta, and other caves of India, did not gratify him so much as these :— "At the mouth of the caves, a stout ladder was lowered down, and we descended to the depth of about 33 or 34 feet, and found ourselves standing in a vast hall of six hundred feet in length, about one hundred in breadth, and from sixty to seventy feet high. In the centre of this magnificent cave stands a colossal stalactite of seventy feet in height, white as the purest marble, and sparkling as if strewn with diamonds. "From the roof depend enormous masses of lime, gradually growing into stalactital columns, whilst on the damp ground rising to meet these pendant masses, are huge stalagmites formed by the continual filtration of lime through the superincumbent rocks; some have THE CANGO CAVES. 81 nearly met and formed columns, others are but commencing to form; in fact the whole floor of the cave is strewed with stalagmites of various growths, and on the roof, opposite to each, hangs a corre- sponding mass. "The work of filtration of calcareous matter is proceeding steadily, and in time this vast hall will become a labyrinth of pure alabaster- like columns. This cave is known by the name of Van Zyl's Flak, after the discoverer, a Dutch Boer, who discovered the caverns whilst hunting in these mountains. "Leaving this hall, we entered a small cavern about forty feet square, and thirty feet high. This is called the Registry, from a practice of visitors writing their names on the pure snow white lime walls. A few more paces brought us to the most beautiful and most wonderful part of the caverns. Whilst writing our names in the registry, all the boers except one, who had delayed us purposely by pointing out various names and superscriptions, had quietly slipped away, but on passing from this spot through a narrow passage and entering the next cave, we soon perceived why they had left us. A eight at once beautiful and astonishing now burst upon our sight. We stood in a vast cave, one hundred and forty feet square, and about fifty in height, the whole of the most dazzling and sparkling whiteness; columns and pillars snow white, and some transparent crystallized lime stood on all sides, the roof covered with innumerable small and delicate icicle looking stalectites, each with a huge drop of pure water hanging from their extremities, and as each drop parted company with its filter and fell to the ground, it had the appearance as if a shower of diamonds was falling from the roof. The boers had all taken up positions with their lights to enable us to see the whole of this fairy-like cavern at one coup oVoeil. I stood bewildered and astonished at this wonderful sight. In the centre of the cavern stands a column as pure and as white as alabaster. It is the height of the halL fifty feet, and about nine feet in circumference, and worked in the most minute manner. It is of pure crystallized lime, surrounded by horizontal bands or raised divisions at every three or four feet. These divisions are filled up with minute filigree work and vertical lines, in fact the column appears, to use a borrowed simile, as if "raised by a giant, and finished by a jeweller." At either end of the hall are groups of the same substance, resembling bed curtains and flowery drapery, running into elegant arabesques. All around the sides of the hall the lime has taken the forms of various objects, amongst which fancy may discover a high altar of a Catholic church, decked out with all the paraphernalia of grand mass; stalactites, resembling high and lofty candelabra, cups and goblets, steps and censors; in another corner may be seen a collection of elegant drapery, flowers, trees and animals; one mass in particular bears the exact resemblance to the head of a gigantic bull. "Being continually saturated with water, the groups appear semi- transparent, the hanging and falling drops of water also reflect the light of the torehes, giving to the whole a dazzling and sparkling appearance. The spar when broken off, dries and loses its trans- 82 CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION. parency becoming a dull and opaque body. Leading out of this hall are innumerable passages: where they lead to, or how far they extend no one knows. The walls are pierced in every direction with dark looking openings, each leading into other caverns, thus making the whole mountain one vast network of caves and grottoes. As a speci- men of natural excavation, I much doubt if these caverns are to be equalled by any in the world, both for beauty, height, or extent, for their extent is as yet quite unknown." The northern slopes of the Zwartberg range consist of sand- stones and quartzite of the same age as the Zuurberg mountain (Carboniferous). Succeeding these is a conglomerate formation whose peculiar characteristic is the number of pebbles and fragments of other rocks, from the size of a pea to several tons in weight, imbedded in it. Various observers have termed this a claystone porphyry, a trap ash, a metamorphic conglomerate, and a boulder clay. Its origin has been attributed to igneous action, to glacial action, and to aqueous distribution. But observations which have just been concluded by Mr. E. J. Dunn, in his recent geological surveys on behalf of the Government, establish the fact that this conglomerate is of glacial origin. Not only are the boulders, blocks, and pebbles striated, scored, and grooved, but they have also flat surfaces ground on them, in some cases. Its outcrop has now been traced from the Vaal River, near Kimberley, through Bushmanland south of the Orange River, down past Calvinia to Karoo Poort, and thence easterly, past Prince Albert and Graham's Town, to the Guiana River mouth. It re-enters the land south of the mouth of St. John's River, crosses the Umzimkulu Drift, entering Natal, and continues past Pietermaritzburg on to the junction of the Tugela and Buffalo Rivers and into Zululand. The whole of the area included by the outcrop is underlaid by this remarkable conglomerate, which extends over a length of 700 miles, with a breadth of about 250 miles. At one point, about a mile from the junction of the Vaal and Orange Rivers, a distinctly glaciated rock surface is laid bare, with the conglomerate, con- taining striated pebbles and boulders, resting upon it. Overlying this conglomerate are carbonaceous shales, forming the Lower Karoo Beds. These beds dip away from the conglomerate on the north side towards the south, and on the south towards the north, forming apparently an immense trough or basin, in which there now appears a probability of coal deposits being found in positions more central and accessible, and of greater value to the country than any hitherto discovered. It is in these carbonaceous shales that the diamond mines are situate at Kimberley. Above the Lower Karoo Beds are the Upper Karoo Beds. These formations together, forming the Karoo plains, cover an immense area, extending from the boundary of the gneiss, in the Calvinia MESOZOIC, JURASSIC, AND TERTIARY. 83- district on the west, to the Zwarteherg and Zuurberg on the east, spreading over the Midland and most of the Eastern Districts,. and stretching northwards as far as the Vaal River. In these Karoo beds, a great variety of fossil reptilian verte- brates (Dicynodonts, &c.) are found. They have been described and catalogued by Sir Richard Owen, the eminent palaen- -tologist, who, writing of them, says:—" Before the continent of Africa as it now is existed, these animals lived, died, and propagated their kinds through untold generations. From their jaws and dentition they were herbivorous, and from what is known of their limbs more terrestrial than aquatic. The old lake-basins represented by these deposits muoh exceed in extent those inland fresh water seas which recent explorers have now discovered for us in the centre of the Continent." As to the age of these Saurians, Sir R. Owen adds, the present phase of evidence is that they are not later in time than the Trias, and probably lived in the Palaeozoic periods. The Stormberg Coal Measures, from their characteristic plants and fossils, are considered to be of the secondary or Mesozoic epoch. Tbey measure about 1,000 feet thick and rest immediately and conformably on the Upper Karoo beds, the principal deposits as yet found, and now in course of working, being at from 300 to 400 feet from the base. Mr. Dunn classes these Stormberg rocks in four groups, rising in succession, viz.:—Coal Measures, Red Beds, Cave Sandstone, and Volcanic rocks. Very grand scenery results from the weathering of these sandstones, and caves of large size occur in them. Representing later geological periods, are the Sunday's River Beds (Jurassic), extending along the course of the Sunday's River, the valley of the Olifant's River, in Oudtshoorn, and from Mossel Bay to Heidelberg; and the Tertiary clays, limestones, and sand- stones found in the Zwartkops River Valley, on the old race-course at Graham's Town, and on the Cape Flats, and elsewhere. Unmistakeable old volcanoes, which were probably the centre of eruptive activity in the Triassic age, are found in the Stormberg range. Two of them still preserve a crater-like shape—one is locally known as Glatkopjes, and the other as Telemachus Kop. In the middle and eastern portions of the Colony, igneous rocks occur abundantly, shewing that after the deposit of the Karoo beds and at the close of the period occupied in the accumulation of the Stormberg beds, volcanic agencies on a grand scale were developed,. and vast masses of dolerite introduced through the stratified rocks in all directions; but although passing through, they did not generally disturb their horizontal position. The contours of most of the hills and mountains are thus always marked by bold and massive outlines. g2 84 CAPE SCENERY. To some English readers, it may come as a surprise that South African scenery, instead of heing dreary and monotonous, has a fair proportion of grand and majestic as well as wondrously beautiful and picturesque points. The bold, towering mountains of the Eastern districts, of the Stormberg, and the Drakensberg, compare favourably with anything in Wales, the West of Ireland, or the Highlands of Scotland. The combination of hill and lake and woodland in the divisions of George and Knysna, and along the reaches of the St. John's River, bear contrast in some respects with Cumberland and Westmoreland. The jungly ravines and the dense primeval forests, where "Nature reigns supreme in awful loneliness," have a rare wild beauty of their own; in their deep recesses, beneath the shade of majestic yellowwoods, you may wander for hours, so far as the tangled undergrowth will let you, the silence unbroken save by the wind among the trees, the subdued note of a bird, or the chirp of an insect. There is also a great charm in the pure transluoent atmosphere of the country; in its strange yet exquisite vegetation, and in the brilliant colouring of mountain slope or forest glade under the purple light of morning, •or the rosy glow of sunset— When the sultry summer noon is past, And mellow evening comes at last, With a low and languid breeze Fanning the Mimosa trees. Even the wide-extending pastoral plains of the Karoo have a cer- tain attraction for many—not merely as valuable sheep-walks, or for the herds of wild game occasionally met with, but from the freedom as well as the exhilarating buoyant air of the desert, and that strange sense of solitude which is realised as one gazes over the unbroken perspective of blue sky and fading distance, When no tree, nor cloud, nor misty mount, Appear to refresh the aching eye; But the barren earth and the burning sky, And the blank horizon round and round, Spread—void of living sight and sound. The traveller who journeys up country, in crossing several of -the mountain ranges, may enjoy a diversity of panorama scarcely inferior to that which is obtained along the great Alpine passes. The Hottentot's Holland Kloof, on the main route from Cape Town to the frontier, is one of these elevations, rising a sheer height of near a thousand feet, and overlooking the whole of the •Cape Peninsula from False Bay to Table Bay. Still more attrac- tive, as well as imposing, is the entranoe to the interior by Bain's Kloof, Mitchell's Pass, and Karoo Poort. The railway carries you from Cape Town to the pretty village of Wellington, at the foot •of the mountain range, where the road winds up with many a THE NhJ'A i /«K PUBLIC L1BKAKY MTOA, LfNOX ANO H'.nEN FO'.'NBATIONS. bain's pass. 8&- curve and stretch for seven or eight miles to the crown of Bain's Pass, commanding a magnificent panorama of the surrounding country. Here the prospect extends over a distance of forty or fifty miles, yet the atmosphere generally is so clear and trans- parent that every feature stands revealed with the most minute distinctness. The silvery stream of the Berg River, the tree- embowered township of the Paarl, stretching at the base of the immense glistening domes of granite rock which the old colonists- named the Pearl and Diamond; the village of Wellington, with its white-washed houses and brown orchards; and the succession of trim homesteads, vineyards, and corn-fields, spreading out mile after mile, to the white line of surf which marks the deep blue sea north of Table Bay, are all as plain to the eye as the smooth velvet slopes of the Groeneberg, and the dark green and gold of the orange groves surrounding the farms snugly nestled in the Wagonmaker's Valley many hundreds of feet immediately below. The scene is one of pleasing landscape beauty, such as no other part of the Colony affords; and it contrasts most strikingly with the wild grandeur of the eastern side of the Kloof, a few yards further on. Huge mountain masses there form the portal of the Titanic gorge, through which the Pass gradually descends for about ten miles to the Breede River Valley. Nearly all along this way the road has been blasted and scarped out of a hard quartzose sandstone—in some places being cut through frowning krantzes, leaving gigantio gates, natural arches, and overhanging ledges; in others crossing abyss-like gaps and fissures, which have been built up with precipitous retaining and parapet walls from 100 to 300 feet high. "Hills upon hills in quick succession rise" as you advance, and new objects of admiration or astonishment are ever presenting themselves. The rock scenery is singularly weird and fantastic—now rising high in majestic buttressed walls, then piled up in craggy pinnacles—here standing in gaunt spectral groups, or there strewn in broken and crumbled confusion. Its scathed and weather-worn character in many places might convey a dreary and perhaps monotonous impression, if it were not for the endless charms of light and shade arising from the winding course of the road, and the varied colours and forms of the vegetation which fringes the sides of the mountains. Although not so luxuriant nor so dense as in other places, there is generally a rich display of charac- teristic 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 en- closes many humid recesses whence issue rills and streams which keep these evergreon and fresh all the year round. The flowering season of September, however, is the time to see the Pass to ad- 86 michell's pass. vantage; then after the winter 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 tor- rent of the Witte River at the hottom 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 greets you. This is another mountain scene of great boldness and picturesque beauty. The Breede River, 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 strength- ened 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 climb- ing over projecting krantzes, and then descending abruptly to the river bed, and farmers delight to tell of their perilous adventures in crossing it, not many years ago, when waggons and produce had to be carried over piecemeal, or on the backs of oxen, and after- wards put together and re-arranged, when they had managed to scramble through. In this kloof the mountains appear more huddled together, and tower up in grand and wild confusion, the cliffs, and peaks, and crags seeming to topple every way from the highly inclined stratification of the rocks, while the many grassy hollows and patches of flowering heaths and shrubs clothing their sides give a soft verdant character to the scene. On reaching its summit, which is about 2,000 feet above the sea, the village of Ceres and the District of Warm Bokkeveld are seen stretched out on a circular undulating plain bounded by the heights of the Cold Bokkeveld, which are all snow-clad in winter. From here one road passes over these heights by the Gydow Mountain to the northern parts of the Bokkeveld, and another proceeds by the steep and ■toilsome ascent of the Hottentot's Kloof to the Karoo Poort, leading to Calvinia and Roggeveld, and Beaufort West and the Interior. From Port Elizabeth, a few hours journey by rail brings you to the Zuurberg Mountain Pass, which is unrivalled in point of beauty of vegetation and novelty of scene. Stopping at the •Coerney Station, the approach to the Pass is for some distance through portion of the Addo Bush—a dense jungle consisting chiefly of spekboom and other suoculent plants, growing in such rank luxuriance as to be almost impervious unless a path be cut through them. Many parts of the frontier are covered with such thickets, which in the tunc of war were occupied by the Kafirs as natural strongholds, whence they could suprise their objects of attack or elude their pursuers. At this place the Bush gives shelter to a few herds of elephants, whose foot-prints and tracks .are occasionally to be seen crossing the road; and the old Dutch ZUURBERG PASS. 87 colonist who is owner of a farm about half-way to the mountain is sometimes subjected to nocturnal visits from them. "The flies and the elephants," he says, are the only troubles of his life; the for- mer swarm and tease him during the day, whilst the latter trample the corn-fields at night, and are "too big to wrestle with." Their numbers, however, are now fast diminishing, and apparently they are getting more timid and suspicious of man, as they have removed their haunts to the extreme recesses of the "bush." Nearing the foot of the Pass, the mountain heights in the fore- ground, clothed with the strange, stiff, gaunt forms of the gigantic Euphorbia, have rather a gloomy, sombre effect; but this is soon lightened and improved as the view changes when the first ascent of a quarter of a mile is made, and the grandeur and beauty of the hill and forest scenery is disclosed. Then there are imposing bushy cliffs and weather-stained rocks bristling against the sky overhead, while in the valley outstretched below lofty trees, draped with grey lichens, or festooned with convolvolus, wild vine, or monkey rope parasites stand up like ancient monarchs, as they are, out of the tangled mass of copse, clustering shrubs, flowering plants, grasses, and ferns, which form the undergrowth vegetation. Through this the road rises, cut out of the solid rock on one side, with deep perpendicular precipices on the other, until it passes through a rocky gateway, and emerges at the top, on what is apparently a table-land of grassy downs, but in reality is one of the several hilly ridges, running off into deep furrows and kloofs in every direction. It is in crossing these "necks" or ridges that the peculiar character of the Zuurberg is realised and seen to advantage. The poet Pringle was strikingly impressed with it, as far surpassing anything of the kind he had witnessed elsewhere, or formed a conception of from the accounts of others. He describes it as " a billowy chaos of naked mountains, rocks, precipices, and yawning abysses, that looked as if hurled together by some prodigious con- vulsion of nature, while over the lower declivities and deep sunk dells a dark impenetrable forest spreads its shaggy skirts, and adds to the whole a still more wild and savage sublimity." It is indeed a superb scene when looked upon from the summit of the moun- tain which commands a bird's-eye view of all the lower ranges. There you can mark the great arches and deep troughs of the Zuurberg formation, now rising in soft rounded contours, then swelling out in gentle undulations, the emerald grassy slopes con- trasting with the grey precipices and dark foliage of the forest recesses, or the bright silvery gleams of the streams in the inter- vening deep valleys. There is also a splendid prospect of the surrounding country stretching to the coast and the waters of the Indian Ocean, as well as of the fantastic peaks of the Winterhoek 88 THE KATBERG ROAD. mountain (the Cockscomb), which in the clear atmosphere appears much nearer than it actually is. The heights above the city of Graham's Town also command a magnificent view of characteristic frontier scenery—an exquisite landscape of tumbled hills and dales, variegated with verdant slopes- and wooded heights, and backed by massive mountains, whose tops fade into the blue haze on the far distant horizon. Woest Hill on the one side and Botha's Hill on the other, each afford a good prospect, but the culminating point of view is Governor's Kop, an eminence about 2,700 feet high, ten miles east of the city. Directly in front and north-eastward, the gloomy dark valleys of the Great Fish River extend; one can discern the tower of Fort Peddie, and the sand hills between the Fish River and the Beka, and in the distance the mountains of Kaffraria, with the peak of Tabindoda or the Man Mountain. To the right there appear spread out The gardens of Albany with their evergreen parks and rich corn land, Their soft grassy slopes, wooded kloofs and deep vleis, with the broad-leaved lotus Wafting delicious perfume around; while in the distance the white farm-houses of Bathurst and the Kowie are scattered in groups, and the coast line is girded with a beautiful sapphire belt, formed by the Indian Ocean, extend- ing as far as the eye can reach, from the Bushman's River to the Keiskamma. On the great northern road, leading from Graham's Town to Queen's Town, there is another mountain pass, the Katberg, of striking grandeur and romantic beauty, and the approach to it through Fort Beaufort and the Kat River district is fittingly picturesque. The mountain, at the point where the road crosses it, cannot he less than 3,000 or 4,000 feet high, and the pass winds up on the ridge of a kloof, through bush and forest and rocky krantzes and over waterfalls and fearfully deep gullies, which make one marvel at the intrepidity »nd skill of the engineer who laid it out. On the breast of the Katberg there are three distinct belts or zones, the lower consisting of undulating slopes and coombs, some of them of richest emerald green: others, hardly less beautiful, of a ripe russet-yellow tint, which harmonize delightfully with the dark sombre forest foliage in the zone immediately above. This forest covers not merely the ravines, but the whole breadth of the mountain within the limits of elevation to which it extends; and at some points in the Pass nothing can be more striking than to gaze upwards to the forest-clothed heights above you, and then glance down into the yawning depths of still grander forest in the ravines and gullies almost perpendicularly beneath. Above all this again, you have the third zone of magnificently precipitous rock, rising in columnar basalt, and forming a perfect diadem along THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY »»TOH, LENOX ANB TILOEN FeUNiATIONS, KAFIRLAND. 89 the mountain crest. From the top a magnificent outlook over the valleys far helow is to be had, and according to the season of the year or the state of the weather, it changes from the picturesque to the wild and fantastical. We visited it on a bright clear summer's day, but it may be seen under different circumstances, such as in winter, when snow enwraps the heights in its white wreaths, giving it a perfectly Alpine appearance; or in dark storm, when loud thunders echo over the rock peaks, and vivid lightnings illumine the yawning precipices around; and at other times, when the spreading vales below are covered with a sea of silvery mist, out of which the tops of the hills rise up like islands on an expanse of ocean. The whole of what once was Kafirland, but now is more com- monly known as Kaffraria and the Transkeian Territories, is a glorious country, fertile and beautiful, and frequently grandly picturesque. The Drakensberg Mountains, which are more or less snow-clad during the winter months, present many magnificent scenes. Their native name "Quathlamba"—heaped up in a jagged manner—is descriptive of their general appearance. They assume the most fantastic shapes and formB, and it requires but a small stretch of the imagination to see depicted, castles and castellated turrets, spires, and pinnacles, in their rugged heights. Streams without number have their sources in them, and flow onward to the lower plateau, half-way to the sea-coast, where th y are joined by many others, and their strength and volume 'i- creased until they unite and form the larger rivers, such as ' le Bashee, TJmtata, and Umzimvubu. This tract consists of un l- lating plains and open valleys, abounding in rich grassy pasta ;e and very fertile soil. Dotted here and there over the surfa/ of the country are the numberless huts and kraals of the ni ve inhabitants, with their sleek cattle grazing on the grassy slopes—a picture of real pastoral beauty. Belts of hills and kops rise here and there along the valleys, their sides or crests covered with the dark rich foliage of Kafir forest trees and bush, while gbnting out from between their cover may be seen streamlets falling from con- siderable heights in magnificent cascades. In this land waterfalls are numerous, as they may also be said to be along a good portion of the eastern mountain slopes of the Colony. One of the largest and most magnificent is on the Tsitza River, near to Shawbury Mission station, along the main road from TJmtata to Kokstad. Below Shawbury the river takes a bend, and after running through some picturesque gorges wooded to the water's ridge, it passes across a flat country until it reaches the edge of a huge precipice, over which it rushes. This rift or chasm is some 150 yards across, and the volumes of seething water make a gigantic leap into the abyss. In heavy floods this is a 90 st. john's river. grand sight to witness—the whole forming one continuous broad sheet, and each foaming wave seeming to endeavour to overtake its predecessor before reaching the depths below. The falls have been measured, and reach the height of 375 feet, they therefore take pre-eminence as the highest in the Colony. The grandest and most romantic scenery, however, is met with At' the St. John's River, which may be reached by road from Umtata through Western Pondoland, or by vessel or steamer along the coast. Prom seaward, the.river. mouth is a noticeable object, and so remarkable that any one having onoe seen it, or even a sketch of it, cannot fail to recognise it again. * A lofty table-topped mountain appears to have been cleft to its base, leaving a wedge- shaped gap through which the, river flows to the sea. The edges of the cleft which, near the mouth, lie about 2,000 feet asunder, approaoh each other, until near the top of the first reach they are about 1,500 feet apart. They rise in abrupt forest-clad steeps until they attain a height of six to seven hundred feet. From these edges, on both sides of the river, plateaus extend until, on each side, other precipituous cliffs rise, which culminate about a mile and a half from the sea, where they attain a height of about 1,200 feet, and lie only 4,000 feet apart, considerably less than a mile. These are the well-known " Gates" of St. John's, or the Umzimvubu River. "Like giant sentinels on either hand, The stately portals of the 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 towers. Low at their feet, in deep eternal shade, The river flows past mountain, krontz, and glade, Onward and onward from its distant source, Till, midst this scene sublime, it ends its course." Inside of the " Gates" the river partakes more of the character of a lake or lagoon than a stream. There is an expanse of sky- blue water nearly 500 yards wide, between stately mountains and luxuriantly wooded hills. The steep wooded slopes come down close to the edge of the water, and in many places the thick tangled forest overhangs the margin, forming beautiful arcades. To appre- ciate the nature of this river scenery, one must witness the inde- scribable 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 clustering 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 iTHE NEW YOnKI PUBLIC LIBRARY *»TO«, LENOX AN* ILDEN FtUNBAn***, ■ * i i THE CLIMATE. 91 ends and t^e •Hadiw^ # .l The cn^'ite semi-tropical vegeta- tion, Afric:. i in its tyne ■• id J almost JB. jsikan in its ueavty; the charrus of lig'it «n4b,%aad« over the grand panoiao1 , <"n mountain, woo'1, and w^teri and-.*' r i/limp^s < " h'U and d .... worming ths high lands, .a the «ttwnc distal ot nn.il seemingly merging into the cobalt sky$ iueifrb r picture o -in Nature untouched by Art rarely to be met with, The mouth of tbis., river, like most < ibe rivers on the coast, is obstructed y'a bar_^Fi 'shifting .sand, the channel contracting, ex- panding, and ehang 4g its coiidition according to the volume of water or ilopds in the ."i^jjjh It is reported to have been so flooded on one occasion as fMiave had a width of 900 feet with a dept'i of 30 feet nearly the 'jfrhole of the distance across. After the shallowF ir *i(kicacie* q£ the mouth and first half mile have bee i pasei'd, *b J*^ iin and ramies from the sea, at which point the tidal waw and n iW *i*e navigation is abruptly stopped by a pebbly steep inclination, d< vn which the river waters flow from their distant d rail ge area, he rolling uplands of Pondoland and Grinualand East. The verdure >f these Eastern coast lands is due to the supplies of moisture cam'-1 fo them by the trade winds of the Indian Ocean. The vapour-lad' i clouds are arrested or caught by the high maintain barric; „'upon 'vhose summits and sides their refreshing ant1 fertilizing ^..^wers descend. And this brings us to a brief noHce of f "■■linaa/^ and meteorological conditions of the Colony. Tb seasc .< <* Cape it must be remembered come in reverse ord_- to tini northern hemisphere;—thus, the Cape sum- mer is fror. * ibefr to February ; Autumn from March to May; Wiiter- fi ,je ?o August, and Spring from September to No, ember. Cne oi u dice which has an important influence on the cli nate of 'oleny is the existence of two ocean currents on its coi: ca—^-ti > i he tropical ocean current coming down from the Mozambii . fW* nol along the east coast and around Cape L'Agul- ha*; and „Li ..••'■ the cold South Atlantic current on the West Cr.iH. .%. jle 14*." an(I False Bay mark the differences of tem- p*> ture (■'■' the 'wo—the waters of the latter at times registering 15 ,L:gh" d\ n those of the former. Another striking distinction is, that in Autumn and Winter, the equatorial or return winds from the North-west discharge their 92 THE HAINFATX. moisture in copious rains over the Western districts as far as the boundary of the Karoo and the Gouritz River, while at the same seasons of the year the Midland and Eastern districts are usually dry. In Spring and Summer again, the south-easterly winds laden with moisture from the tropical current of the Indian Ocean precipitate their rains along the mountain-ranges of the Eastern districts and the high plateaux extending to the centre of the Colony, while at this season the Western districts are comparatively dry. Thanks to the labours of the Government Meteorological Commission and of Mr. J. G. Gamble, Hydraulio Engineer, the distribution of rainfall in South Africa is beginning to be fairly understood, as will be seen from the Rainfall Map, which accom- panies this Handbook, prefacing the chapter on the *' Cape as a Health Resort." Rain-gauges are placed at every seat of magis- tracy in the Colony and the observations registered are regularly tabulated and published. From these several stations the monthly averages have been taken and diagrams prepared shewing the rainfall at various places during each season of the year. Mr. Gamble thus sums up the result of these observations:— "The North-west of the Colony is almost rainless. The south-west has abundant winter rains. The south coast has rain in all months. December and January being the driest time; in the midlands, as well as in the north and east, the rains occur generally in February and March, though near the coast there is a second maximum in October and November. "Droughts seldom occur all over the Colony in the same year; in fact it seems as if a drought in the interior frequently occurs in the same year as abundant rains on the south-west coast. "The statement is frequently made that South .£ -ica is drying up. If by this is meant that the springs and streams Y-e not so constant as they used to be, the statement is undoubtedly tr?e. If it is meant that less rain falls than in former historic times, the statement has certainly not been proved, and is most probably untrue. The early books of travels speak of droughts in the interior; Sparrman mentions the great drought of 1775. The forty-five years of rainfall measure- ment at the Royal Observatory give no support to the view that the quantity of rain is diminishing. But the cutting down of trees, and the burning of the veld has affected and is affecting the permanence of springs and streams. Both white men and natives seem to act recklessly in this matter, cutting down bush for kraals and firewood, the natives especially using large quantities of young trees for their huts and game traps. The increased number of flocks has also contributed to this result. Where the grasses and bushes are eat™ off the sun bakes the soil, and the rain runs off into the rivers, forming new 'sluits' as it runs, and is lost in the sea without replenishing the underground supplies." The rainfall is variable in amount, as will be seen from the following examples. At Pella, on the north-west border, the THE NEW YOKK PUBLIC LIBRARY A1TOA, LENOX »Nt TILBEN F*UN»ATIONS. THE TEMPERATURE. 93 average yearly fall is 2\ inches, one-fifth of which falls in May. For five years there has been no rains during November. At the Royal Observatory, near Cape Town, the average is about 25 inches, three-fifths of whieh falls during the winter months, May, June, and July. August is also one of the rainiest months. At Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth, as well as at most coast towns the rainfall is irregularly distributed throughout the year. The yearly fall at the former town is 16-inches; at the latter 23 inches. At Mossel Bay the wettest months are February and March, at Port Elizabeth, May and October. January is the driest month at both places. At Carnarvon, a town in the Northern Karroo, and fairly typical of that district, the average rainfall is 8 inches, one-fifth of which falls in March; from June to December, the average for each month is less than half an inch. At Grraaff-Beinet, in the east central Karroo, the average is 14§ inches, and the wettest month, March. Queen's Town and Aliwal North, towns on the Eastern border, have average yearly falls of 20f inches and 24J inches respectively. Their greatest rains generally occur in February and March, and their droughts in June, July, and August,—in these respects resembling the towns in the Karroo. In the course of the winter season, during some days, the peaks of the Drakenstein and Winterhoek mountains within sight of Cape Town are white with snow; and up-country the mountain ranges such as the Sneeuwbergen and Amatolas are frequently covered; while on the Drakensberg and about Barkly East snow lies for weeks together. The up-country winters are usually very dry, but at intervals of some years, snow sufficient to enable snow- balling to be indulged in, has fallen at Kimberley, Beaufort West and Queen's Town. The accompanying illustration is from a photograph by Mr. Dugmore of Queen s Town, giving a view from the Octagon-square of that place, shewing the surrounding hills enveloped in a snowy mantle. With regard to the temperature of the air, the Cape, generally speaking, is not a hot country. During some days in the month of January the heat is excessive, but it never lasts for more than a short tine. The greatest heat of summer is not more than in the hottest parts of Europe; and the prevailing winds and dry atmosphere temper such excesses-, rendering the warmest day supportable, while the balmy coolness of the nights are surpass- ingly agreeable and enjoyable. At the Royal Observatory, two miles from the coast, the mean temperature of the air throughout the year is about 61° 26' Fahr. in the shade, the hottest days being in January, with an average temperature of 68Q 92', the coldest about July, with an average temperature of 54° 03'. Elsewhere, in the Colony, the observations have been rather intermittent and not 94 HAIL AND THUNDER STORMS. extended over so long a period, but they are sufficiently reliable to serve as an index to the climate. Mr. Gamble has observed that "places on the coast have a much less range both in the annual and daily period than those in the interior. The summers and the noondays are hotter up-country than by the sea; and the winters and the early mornings before dawn are milder by the ocean than inland.'' He gives the following table of temperature means reduced from a series of observations :— Height Winter. Summer. above , * —, , * sea. miii. mean. max. min. mean. mas. feet. deg. d»g. deg. deg. deg. deg. Eoyal Observatory 37 47 55 62 58 68 70 Wynberg 250 48 55 65 57 67 80 Simon's Town ..? 100 52 58 65 64 70 80 Somerset West. . P100 46 55 64 59 74 84 "Wellington 360 45 54 63 59 71 81 Worcester 794 43 56 65 58 75 86 Clanwilliam 300 38 57 66 56 80 91 MosselBay 105 51 57 64 63 69 77 Port Elizabeth ..181 51 58 66 63 69 77 Nel's Poort 3,100 41 51 66 56 72 89 Graaff-Reinet ..2,500 44 56 67 62 75 88 Somerset East . .2,500 46 55 63 61 69 79 Graham's Town. .1,800 45 57 65 60 69 79 K.William'sTownl,314 39 53 67 56 68 81 East London 30 50 58 68 62 65 76 Aliwal North ..4,300 33 44 60 59 70 88 In some of the Eastern Districts hot winds are occasionally ex- perienced during summer; they come from the north-west, carrying with them waves of heated air from the central plains, blowing as if from a furnace; but, fortunately, they are not of long duration. Hail-storms are rare in the West, but in the Midland, Northern, and Border districts they occur with such violence as to cause considerable damage to vegetation and stock. Thunder- storms are also very rare in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, but more inland they are frequent in summer, and often very grand— fleecy clouds rising on the horizon, and swelling and darkening until the lightning flashes along them and the thunder peals out with prolonged and increasing reverberation; it is then a sight to watch the brilliant colours and forms of the electric discharges and their varied track against the inky black sky, now forked, now straight, now zig-zagged, now in quivering rays and horizontal flashes, appearing and disappearing rapidly, in the twinkling of an eye Such striking exhibitions of Nature's elements, however, do not last long; after them the rain ceases, clouds roll up and disperse, and a delicious cool atmosphere follows. ■'■>&$•¥ m ■ fc'ft; J i ■ !fe 'M L $ ':■■?' CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE COLONY. The city of Cape Town is the metropolis of the Cape Colony. It is1 by far the most populous of the towns scattered throughout South Africa; and its position as the seat of Government, as the meeting place of the Legislature, and as an important commercial entrepot, together with its many natural attractions and advantages, have contributed to gather around it a comparatively wealthy and stationary community, whose social circles possess all the charms of old established and cultivated European society. The number of inhabitants of the city and suburbs is about 80,000, of whom two-thirds may be said to be residents of the city proper within its municipal boundaries. This embraces both white and coloured races, with all their varieties of nationality and gradations of blood, from fairest Saxon to darkest Ethiopian. The first glimpse of Cape Town from seaward does not impress a stranger with its dimensions. The massive wall of Table Mountain forming the back ground, and the Devil's Peak and Lion's Head enclosing it on either flank, dwarfs the valley where the city is laid out. The houses present a mass of flat-roofed dwellings, a few church towers and some factory or mill chimneys rising up amongst them, with alternate villas, gardens, and vine- yards on the outskirts, joining on to the pine and silver-tree plantations which clothe the base of the mountain. But if anyone takes the trouble to visit the more elevated points of view, such as- are afforded by the Garden suburbs, or the drive along the Kloof Road, a perfect bird's-eye picture of the town and circling bay may be had, in many respects comparing favourably with Naples or Rio de Janeiro. The Dutch founders of Cape Town laid out its squares and streets with mathematical preciseness. The main thoroughfares run parallel to each other from the mountain to the sea, and are crossed at right angles by secondary streets of lesser width. The central and principal street is Adderley-street, or the " Heerengracht," as it was formerly termed. Here, on the left hand are the Railway Station buildings, the Commercial Exchange and Reading-room, the imposing Standard Bank buildings, and, higher up, the capacious Dutch Reformed Church, with its quaint old vane-topped Flemish spire; while on the right hand there stretches a line of mer- chants' stores, the Cape of Good Hope Bank, warehouses, offices and shops—many of them large buildings with decorated exteriors, plate-glass windows, and all the attractions of the modern style of 417766 100 FORT ELIZABETH. fir, and gum trees, the city merchants and officials deligh and there is a great deal to justify their choice; for d summer months they are oooler, the difference of tempi Wynberg being as much as ten degrees less than thai Town, owing to its more elevated position and its exposuf winds coming up from the south. And for those 4 further change of scene and air, there are the beaches of berg and the warm waters of Kalk Bay, now connect* with Cape Town. Any one travelling by the railw the City will be charmed with the green lanes along from Mowbray and Eosebank to Claremont, the glimpses o wood and mountain precipices above Eondebosch and 5 and the open breezy flats stretohing from Kenilworth acre Stellenbosch hills. The drive along the main road in the sa tion is even more delightful,—through the glorious avenu« and oaks extending onwards from Mowbray; past the Bx>: village church and the woods of Westbrook; past th groves of Newlands and the slopes of Protea, the episa denoe of the Bishop of Cape Town; up the Wynbei with its clumps and thickets of silver trees; and on to Rathfelder's, or the hospitable homesteads and rich vine Constantia. Along this route, the alternate views of hill dotted with cottages, mansions, and verandahed retreats, grand background of mountains, are as charming as can with in any part of the Colony. Port Elizabeth, situate on the shores of Algoa Bay, : ^ the principal commercial towns of the Colony. Its popi about 18,000, of whom the greater portion are European visitor arriving there by any of the mail steamers will finl him all the evidences of an enterprising, energetic, and prl place. For two or three miles along the water-side, anc sloping hill ascending from it, and on the brow of the above, there rise in succession warehouses, stores, mam" shops, offices, dwelling-houses, churches, sohools, hospital and other buildings of every description and variety of arc! Close to the principal landing-place, in Jetty-street, is the'. station, and along the sea-wall skirting the water's edge, of rail are laid connecting Graham's Town, Uitenha Grraaff-Reinet as well as Colesberg and Kimberley with Immediately above this is the central and business pa town, forming what is known as the Main-street, contaii principal banking and mercantile establishments, shops, sta places of business, extending from Market-square through C street and Prinoe's-street to the Prison-buildings and the •. || the North-end Among the public buildings are the Town-hall; the oa ^ lr» . graham's town. 101 Produce-markets recently erected by the Town Council at a cost of £70,000, and covering an extensive area; the newly completed Government offices, the Post and Telegraph office, and the Hospital. The Town-hall in Market-square is a stately and oommodious structure, somewhat in the Italian style, but with a portico of Corinthian columns. The Town Council offices are there, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the public reading-room and library, and a small museum; and there is a hall about eighty feet long by forty broad—undoubtedly one of the finest in the colony for public assemblies and entertainments. Standing on the broad flight of steps at the entrance of this building, the Bayonian (as a resident here is termed) may feel proud as he surveys the unmistakable evidences of commercial enterprise and substantial wealth around him—all the growth of little more than sixty-five years' British colonization The fashionable quarter is on what is termed the "Hill,"—in contradistinction to the "town below "—a flat tableland, on the terraced ground above the Main-street. Its aspect and sur- roundings are very pleasant and enjoyable, as this height is generally fanned by fresh cool breezes from the sea. Many superior mansions and pretty villa residences have been erected here. There are also some handsome churches, such as St. Augustine's Roman Cathclic Church, the Scottish Presbyterian Church, and Trinity Church; an admirably managed Provincial Hospital; a well endowed collegiate establishment, the Grey Institute; and a well regulated Club, where, after the labours of the day, the mercantile class usually congregate for relaxation, and courteously extend their hospitality to visitors. On the open flat beyond the Hill, there is the attractive St. George's Park, laid out and maintained by the Corporation of the town. It has very agreeable walks through avenues of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, and is ornamented with a fine conservatory, water basins, and grassy plots. The country about Port Elizabeth is very bare and uninviting; but there are some localities such as the Red-house on the banks of the Zwartkop River, and the coast lands of Emerald Hill and Van Staden's River, which afford good suburban retreats; and the pleasant town of TJitenhage is within an hour's reach by railway. Graham's Town is inland about 106 miles by rail from Port Elizabeth, and 43 from Port Alfred. Next to the beautiful environs of the Western metropolis, it is beyond question the most pleasant place of residence in the Colony. Embosomed in green bins—the spurs of the Zuurberg range—at an elevation of 1,760 feet above the sea, the city, with its broad streets lined with trees, and its houses interspersed with gardens, presents a thoroughly English appearance, and is an acknowledged and favourite health- 102 king William's town. resort. The principal thoroughfare and business place is High street. At its upper end stand the old Drostdy buildings (now a public school) where the Colonial Parliament had its sittings in the session of 1864. Not far from it are the Botanic Gardens, where there is a conservatory erected to the memory of Colonel Fordyce, of H.M's 74th regiment, who fell in the Kafir war of 1851. In the middle of High-street stands the St. George's Cathedral, where in front of the communion table, a monument is erected to the memory of Col. Graham, from whom the city takes its name. Lower down the street is Commemoration Chapel, the principal place of worship of the Wesleyan denomina- tion, erected to commemorate the gratitude of the British immi- grants of 1820 for the blessings enjoyed by them in the Albany settlement. Although much smaller than Port Elizabeth in point of popula- tion (its white inhabitants numbering about 7,000), and the coloured natives 3,000, Graham's Town ranks as the metropolis of the Eastern and Frontier Districts. It is a cathedral city, and the place of residence of the Bishops of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, and the Superintendent of the Wesleyan body. It is also the seat of the Eastern Districts Court, with attendant judges, solicitor-general, barristers and members of the side bar. There are among its local institutions a Museum, a Natural History Society, and a Public Library. Formerly the city was the head-quarters of the military, and the residence of the Lieut.- Governor. The extensive military barracks are now appropriated to public uses. There is an excellent Public Hospital and a Provincial Lunatic Asylum. A spacious assembly room, the Albany Hall, is available for meetings and amusements, and there are various Masonic, Odd-fellows, Templars, and other societies, largely patronised by the inhabitants. The city has recently been connected by railway with its port, the Kowie River Mouth (Port Alfred), a favourite watering place. King William's Town, or "King," as it is sometimes shortly termed, ranks as an important commercial centre, being on the highway from the harbour of East London to the interior, and from the Eastern Districts to the Transkei and Kafirland. It has also the chief command of the native trade, extending beyond the Border and north to Basutoland. The town itself is pleasantly situated, stretching along the banks of the Buffalo River, and connected by a branch line with the railway from East London to Aliwal North. At the western end is the native location. Next comes the military barracks and officers' quarters. Then there is the business part of the town, with its public buildings, churches, clubs, stores, and private residences; while more to the eastward is the German settlers' town, with its GRAAFF-REINET. 108 thatched verandahed cottages; and beyond that the camp and head- quarters of our colonial defensive force. The Town-hall is a large and capacious building, reflecting credit on the place. Between it and the river is the Botanic Garden, with an area of about fourteen acres of alluvial soil of the richest description, where everything grows in the greatest luxuriance. On a rise, to the north, are the public offices, on which has been erected a memorial clock tower in remembrance of the Rev. J. Brownlee, who commenced the first mission station in Kaffraria on the site of the present town. Adjacent to this is the handsome and imposing edifice erected by Sir George Grey (and known as the Grey Native Hospital), for the purpose of breaking the belief of the natives in witch-doctors, by placing skilful medical treatment and maintenance within their reach, free of charge. It has now been established more than a quarter of a century, and the success of the Institution amongst the Natives, is proved by the number who travel hundreds of miles to seek medical and surgical aid, showing that the Kafir people are breaking through their race prejudices and acknowledging the superiority of scientific treatment of ordinary diseases. Graaff-Reinet, the oldest and the largest of the towns in the midland districts, is situated near the centre of the Colony at the base of the hilly range where the Sunday's River leaves the Sneeuwbergen Mountains for the plains. These hills rise behind it to a height of 1,000 or 1,500 feet. The summit of one of them, the Spandeau Kop, has a rough resemblance to a haystack, and adjoining it there is a ridge of loosely-piled trap rock with pillars of columnar basalt, standing out in bold relief to the height of ;(00 or 400 feet, having a very picturesque effect. This spot is known by the name of the Valley of Desolation. At the foot of these hills, the Sunday's River sweeps round and forms a bend about a mile across, and in this bend the town is laid out, an abundant supply of water being distributed through it by several channels from the bed of the stream. The streets are wide, and many of them are planted with rows of trees on each side. The principal buildings are the Dutoh Reformed Church, with its clock tower and spire, a handsome English Church, the Govern- ment Offices, the Town-hall, the College, Masonic Lodge, and the Public Library. There are several large and comfortable private buildings and stores of modern style, but the houses generally are of the old-fashioned type, with thatched roofs, gables and "stoeps," or terraces, the usual form of dwelling of the old colonists. Nearly aE have vineyards, gardens, or orchards, or some spot of greenery attached to them. These give the town a very pleasing appearance, and its marked contrast with the surrounding arid Karoo plains obtained for it long ago the appropriate title of the "Gem of the Desert." 104 KIMBERLEY. Kimberley, the inland terminus of the railway system, has advanced from the position of a mushroom camp to that of a permanent mining centre, presenting an industrial activity which ■compares favourably with any portion of the Colony. The popu- lation of the town and its adjacent mining townships is computed at between 25,000 and 30,000, more than one-half of whom are whites. Of late years considerable improvements have been effected in Kimberley; many of the temporary corrugated iron houses have been removed and given place to substantial and •comfortable dwellings. The Bank of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope and the Standard Banks have each of them erected hand- some and commodious premises; and the Kimberley Club-house, built at a cost of £18,000, is one of the most roomy and well arranged in South Africa. The High Court of Griqualand, the Post and Telegraph Offices, and the Town-hall,'are also very ■spacious and commodious buildings; and the same may be said of the chief hostelry of the town, the Quoen's, which was built at an expense of about £20,000. There are churches belonging to all denominations, and amongst the local institutions is the admirably- managed Carnarvon Hospital, where there is extensive accommo- dation for both European and coloured patients and admirable convalescent wards for the better class of invalids, who can pay for the same. The streets and roads, which extend over a distance of about 20 miles, are well laid out and kept in good order. The jewellers' and drapery establishments are fully as attractive as some of the same class in Regent-street; and there is an air of business and activity all over the place. The drainage of the town has lately been much improved; all sewage is carried outside its limits. There is a plentiful water supply brought in from the Vaal River, and available to the inhabitants for household and garden purposes, at a charge not exceediEg Is. 3d. per hundred gallons. The lighting of the town is effected by 32 electric Brush lights of 2,000 candle-power each. The daily morning market is generally a busy scene, crowded with groups of dealers and wagons, with their long teams of oxen, laden with produce from the Orange Free State, Bechuanaland. the Transvaal, and the far interior up to the Zambesi region. The value of produce sold in the Kimberley market annually is over £231,862 lis., and the number of wagons and other vehicles conveying produce to the market 18,185. On the adjacent Du Toit's Pan (Beaconsfield) market the value of produce is over £163,392, and the number of wagons and other vehicles 20,468. There are several other country towns, such as Stellenbosch, the Paarl, Worcester, Beaufort West, Queen's Town, Cradook, Coles- berg, and Miwal North, of considerable size and importance. The Colony is now divided for electoral purposes into seven DISTRICTS AND TOWNS. 105 Provinces, and for fiscal and magisterial purposes into seventy divisions or districts. The following is an enumeration of the several provinces and divisions, and the chief towns and villages:— Western Province. Divisions and Districts. Towns and Villages. Cape Town Cape Town and Green Point. Cape Division Woodstock, Maitland, Mowbray, Rondebosch, Wynberg. Newlands, Claremont, Kenilwortb, Wyn- Simon's Town. berg, Constantia, Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Simon's Town, KuiPs River, Blueberg, and Durban. Stellenbosch Stellenbosch, Eerste River, Somerset West, and the Strand. Paarl Paarl, Wellington, Drakenstein, Frenchhoek. North- Western Province. Malmesbury Malmesbury, Darling, Hopefield, St. Helena Bay, Riebeek West, Mamre, Groenekloof. Piquetberg Piquetberg, Porterville, and Goedverwacht. Namaqualand Springbokfontein, Hondeklip Bay, Port Nol- Port Nollotb. loth, Bowesdorp, and Leliefontein. Clanwilliam Clanwilliam, Troe Troe, Calvinia, Brandvley, Calvinia. and Katkop. Worcester Worcester, Ceres, Tulbagh, Steintbal, Gouda, Tulbagh. Bergville, Hermon, Wolseley, and Prince Ceres. Alfred. South- Western Province. Svrellendam Swellendam, Heidelberg, Zuurbraak, Malagas, Robertson. Port Beaufort, Robertson, Montagu, and Lady Grey. Eiversdale Riversdale, Ladismith, and Amalienstein. Ladismith. Caledon Caledon, Genadendal, Villiersdorp, Greyton, Bredasdorp. Bredasdorp, Elim, and Napier. Oudtsboorn Oudtshoorn, Cango, and Calitzdorp. George George, Blanco, Hopedale, Uniondale, Schoon- Uniondale. berg, Pacaltsdorp, Lyon, Aliwal South, Mossel Bay. Plettenberg's Bay, Melville, Belvidere, Knysna. Newhaven, Redbourne, and Edmundton. Midland Province. Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet, Petersburg, Aberdeen, and Murraysburg. Murraysburg. Aberdeen. Beaufort Beaufort, Prince Albert, Petersburg, Willow- Prince Albert. more. Willowmore. 106 DISTRICTS AND TOWNS. Midland Province—continued. Divisions and Districts. Towns and Villages. Victoria West Victoria West, Prieska, Fraserburg, Onderste Prieska. Dooms, Kenhardt, Upington, Sutherland, Fraserburg. and Carnarvon. Sutherland. Carnarvon. Richmond Richmond, Britz Town, and Hope Town. Hope Town. South-Eastern Province. Albany Graham's Town, Salem, Sidbury, Riebeei, Bathurat. Bathurst, Port Frances, and Port Alfred. Victoria East Alice, Aberdeen, and Peddie. Peddie. Uitenhage Uitenhage, Jansenville, Humansdorp, Hankey, Jansenville. Alexandria, Paterson. Humansdorp. Alexandria. Port Elizabeth Port Elizabeth, Zwartkops, and Walmer. North-Eastern Province. Fort Beaufort Fort Beaufort, Post Retief, Adelaide, Heall Stockenstrom. Town, Elands Post (Seymour), Hertzog. Balfour, and Philip Town. Albert Burghersdorp, Molteno, Sterkstroom, and Ventersberg. Somerset East Somerset East, Groote Vlakte, Been Leegte. Bedford. Pearston, Bedford, and Glenlynden. Cradock Cradock, Steynsburg, and Maraisberg. Steynsburg. Colesberg Colesberg, Phillipstown, Hanover, and Middel- Hanover. berg. Middelburg. Eastern Province. King William's Town. King William's Town, Berlin, Breidbach, Stutterheim Braunsweigh, Frankfort, Stutterheim, and Komgha Komgha. East London East London, Panmure, Potsdam, and Macleau. Queen's Town Queen's Town, Whittlesea, Tarkastad, Lady Cathcart. Frere, Glen Grey, and Cathcart. Tarka. Aliwal North Aliwal North, Lady Grey, James Town, and Herschel Herschel. Wodehouse Dordrecht and Barkly East. Barkly East. Griqualand West Province. Kimberley Kimberley, De Beer's, Beaconsfield, Du Toit's Herbert. Pan, Herbert, Barkly West, Pniel, Douglas, Barkly West. and Griqua Town. Upper Hay. THE NEW YOKK PUBLIC LIBRARY AITOK, LENOX AND TILKN F«UNkATlON8. POLITICAL AND CIVIL INSTITUTIONS, king the occupation of the Cape as a Dependency of the .tch East India Company from 1652 to 1795, all executive, islative, and judicial authority was exercised by a Governor 1 Council, who were appointed by the Company and respon- le for their proceedings to the directors in Holland. A ailar form of administration prevailed from 1803 to 1806, ring the time the ColoDy was transferred to the Batavian Re- Mio—the Governor and Council, however, being no longer « pendent upon a commercial body, but only subject to the ^ipreme power of the State. (rounder the British Government from 1795 to 1803, and after- P»rds from 1806, the Governors alone exercised all the power and ^thority, until, in 1825, an Executive Council was appointed to- ISost them. Ten years afterwards, in 1835, a Legislative Council, phose proceedings were open to the public, was established by ^oyal Instructions. The Council consisted of not more than twelve ms, exclusive of the Governor, who was president; and of six were persons holding office under the Crown, and the ler six were selected from the chief landed proprietors and Wchants, and nominated by the Governor. The first persons so laminated to the Council were:—P. L. Cloete, sen., J. B. Ebden, U. van Breda, C. S. Pillans, and J. J. du Toit, J. son. By Letters Patent issued by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in B60, this Legislative Council was authorised to enact ordinances or the establishment of complete representative Government; and J an Order-in-Council dated 11th March, 1853, what is termed jlhe "Constitution Ordinance," providing for the creation of a Jolonial Parliament, consisting of a House of Assembly and legislative Council, came into force. I The Governor was empowered to have an Executive Council to ■dvise and assist him, composed of the Colonial Secretary, the aLttorney-General, the Auditor-General, the Treasurer-General, and the Collector of Customs—all of whom, with the exception of the last-named, were entitled to sit and take part in the debates ^nd proceedings of Parliament. These officers, however, had no fight to vote as members of the Legislature; and, although Karged with the conduct of public affairs, were in no way required to enjoy the confidence and support of a majority of the Sectors or their representatives. Hence there occasionally arose Mi antagonism in action and policy between the Government of the day and the Parliament. 108 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. A change to theBritish system of Responsible or Party Government was proposed, and continued to be agitated for, at different periods afterwards; but it was not adopted until 1872. In that year an Act was passed by the Legislature, and received the Royal Assent, which provides that the members of the Executive Council may hold seats and vote in either House of Parliament. Under this authority, His Excellency the Governor now selects his advisers or "Cabinet Ministers" from among those persons possessing the confidence of the majority of the people's representatives, and who as such are responsible to the Legislature for the acts of the Government. These Ministers, once installed, hold office until they find that they are unable to secure in the Legislature the requisite support of their policy,—or the Governor deems it his duty to act on important questions in opposition to their policy and advice,—when theygive place to others, in analogy with the usage prevailing in the United Kingdom. While the gifts of Representative and Responsible Government have thus been conceded to the Colony, the Crown has still the prerogative of appointing its own Governors and of exercising a veto on all 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 internal affairs, the man- agement 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 composed of: A 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, and Polioe. An Attorney-General, who is the law adviser and public prose- cutor, and controls the Department of the Administration of Justice. A Treasurer-General, who is the Receiver-General and Finance officer, and principal Collector and Controller of Customs and Excise. A Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works, charged with the administration of the Land Laws and supervision of Railways and other public works, Diamond and other Mines, Irrigation, Forests, Agriculture, Lighthouses, and Harbours. A Secretary for Native Affairs, who is charged with the man- agement of all the relations with the aboriginal tribes. All the above Ministers have permanent Under-Secretaries, or assistants, as heads of their several Departments. CHANGE OF MINISTRIES. 109 Frequent change of Ministries was a noticeable characteristic 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 crisis would be experienced at the Cape. But the prediction has not been fulfilled. There have been only four Ministries in offioe since 1872, and their average duration has been considerably over three years. The following is a list of them :— Molteno Ministry. From December, 1872, to February, 1878. Premier and Colonial Secretary .. Sir J. C. Molteno, M.L.A. Treasurer of the Colony .. .. H. White, M.L.C. t J. H. de Villiers, M.L.A. Attorneys-General.. .. .. J S. Jacobs, M.LA. ( A. Stockenstrom, M.L.A. Commissioners of Crown Lands I C. A. Smith, M.LA. and Public Works I 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. Treasurers of the Colony .. .. ( J ^p^m.la. ,.. n ^ ( Thos. Upington, M.L.A. Attorneys-General | j w jJonSrd, '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. From May, 1881, to May, 1884. Premier, Attorney-General, and Colonial Secretary.. .. Sir T. C. Scanlen, M.L.A. Colonial Secretaries .. .. J. C. Molteno, M.L.A. T . ., n , ( C. W. Hutton, M.L.C. Treasurers of the Colony .. ■■\C.J. Ehodes, 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. Entered on Office 13th May, 1884. Premier and Attorney-General .. Thos. Upington, M.L.A. Colonial Secretaries .. .. ( J; TudUhop^MX.A "° Treasurer of the Colony .. J. Gordon tiprigg, 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. 110 THE LEGISLATURE. The Legislature consists of two branches. The Lower House, or House of Assembly, numbers seventy-four members, elected to serve for five years, unless Parliament is sooner dissolved. It nominates its own Speaker and officers, and members residing beyond a certain distance from the seat of Government are paid an allowance of £1 per day, in addition to travelling expenses, for attendance during any session for a term of ninety days. With the exception of paid officers under Government (other than members of the Executive iCouncil), any qualified voter may be elected as a member of the House of Assembly. The qualification required of voters is, being a born or naturalized British subject resident in the Colony for twelve months before registration, and an occupier of property of the value of £25, or in receipt of salary or wages of not leas than £50 per annum, or not less than £25 with board and lodging. This very liberal franchise—approaching to universal suffrage— gives nearly every colonist the privilege of taking part either as elector or elected representative in the conduct of public affairs and in promotion of the welfare of the community. The Upper House, or Legislative Council, consists of twenty- two members, who are elected by the same voters as the House of Assembly, but a property qualification is required for membership —namely, the possession of immovable property worth £2,000 or 1 of movable property worth £4,000. For the eleotion of members of the Council, the Colony was formerly divided into two constituencies 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." The Parliament must meet once in every year, and oftener if necessary. Its sessions are usually held during the months from April to July, in Cape Town. The rules of procedure observed by its members are substantially the same as those adopted by the British Parliament. The journals, entries, and proceedings 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. The great bulk of the law of the Colony consists of the Roman- 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 the Colonial Parliament. There is also a large body of statute law, scattered throughout the Imperial statute book, which, has force within it. The highest Court of Judicature in the Colony is the "Supreme Court," which has its sittings in Cape Town. It has cognizance LAW COURTS. Ill of all pleas, and jurisdiction in all causes, civil, criminal, and mixed, arising in the Colony, over all persons resident and being within the Colony. It has, moreover, full powers to review, correct, or set aside the proceedings of all inferior courts of justice within the Colony, and may order the re-hearing of any im- portant case before five or more judges. The Court consists of one Chief Justice and eight puisne Judges, two forming a quorum. Three of these judges form the " Court of the Eastern Districts " sitting at Graham's Town ; and three form the " High Court of Griqualand" sitting at Kimberley, the pre- siding judge in each of these Courts being entitled "Judge President." The Court sitting in Cape Town is usually composed of the Chief Justice and two judges. There is also a Court of Appeal for hearing appeals from the Court of the Eastern Districts, or the High Court of Kimberley, or any Circuit Court. This court also sits at Cape Town, and consists of the Chief Justice, the Judge Presidents of the Eastern Districts and High Court respectively, and two other Judges. From the judgment of the Supreme Court an appeal lies to the Queen in Her Privy Council, in case such judgment is given for, or involves, any claim to the value of five hundred pounds sterling, or directly or indirectly affects civil rights,—leave to appeal having been first obtained from the Supreme Court. Circuit Courts are held twice in every year, at such times and places as the Governor directs. Such courts have each in their respective districts the same powers which the Supreme Court has throughout the Colony. The Attorney-General has the right and duty to prosecute all crimes in all courts in the Colony, in person or by deputy; and the right of prosecution is entirely in his own control. He is aided by an assistant law adviser to the Crown. For the Eastern Districts, a Solicitor-General is empowered to exercise the functions of the Attorney-General in regard to all criminal business; and a Crown Prosecutor has similar powers and functions in Griqualand West. There is a Vice-Admiralty Court, the Chief Justice being judge, which sits at Cape Town for the trial of offences committed on the high seas and for the adjudication of maritime disputes. Besides these higher courts, there are courts of Resident Magis- trates 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; 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. 112 TRANSFER OF LAND AND DEBT TEG1STRY. 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 oonform 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 to sare life and property. The Commissioners of Police and members of the constabulary of a distriot are empowered to arrest persons for any orime or offence, and they are required to suppress all tumults and other breaches of the peace. The Colonial police force numbers 800 men. Among other institutions, there is one connected with the transfer of land, which was established at a very early date by the Dutch East India Company, and is deserving of particular notioe. It is the Government Department known as the" 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 1685, shortly after the Cape was first occupied by Europeans; and at any moment the purchaser of an estate may refer to and ascertain all the by-gone circumstances, servitudes, encumbrances, and other matters connected with any old property, without the troublesome complexity or enormous expense which attends the same pro- ceeding 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 properties 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," whioh 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 oontinue his loan on the securities of the new purchaser, or by the mort- gagee consenting to transfer of the land. 113 Under this system the most perfect security is given to the capitalist, and the conveyance of landed property is made certain, simple, and economical. The Conveyancers, who are authorised to practise by the Supreme Court, satisfy themselves before passing any deeds that the transferer has a clear title to the property, and not merely a life interest in it; that there are no servitudes or prohibitory conditions in the way of transfer; that there are no mortgages upon it in the " debt registry;" that the diagrams are correct; and that the proper transfer or succession duties have been paid. Thus the largest, best-conditioned, or most involved estate, may be sold and transferred from one owner to another on a couple of sheets or less of paper; and the faeilities are so great that the time occupied in passing any deeds is not more than about seven days. The Department also provides for a registry of all rights secured under the Copyright Act, the Trades Marks Act, and the Friendly Societies' 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 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 iu 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 uuder their guardianship, must be paid into the hands of the Master, by him put out to interest, and the interest, when re- quired, paid for their maintenance and education,—at one per cent, less than the usual rate of interest. 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 £600,000, 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 and a half per cent. This ceases on their attaining their majority. Foreign heirs not having legal representatives in the Colony, are allowed at one-half of the legal rate current in the Colony, and for a period not exceeding five years. Their names and residences, where i 114 LOCAL BOARDS AND DEFENCE. 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, 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 Counoils and Muncipalities are empowered to raise revenues for their respective purposes, by the levy of rates upon landed properties, by tolls, and by licences. There are also Village Management Boards, and Public Health Boards. The receipts administered by the Divisional Councils amounted, in 1884, to £173,796 peraanum ; and by Municipalities to £541,851. The value of the fixed property throughout the Colony, for rateable purpose (exclusive of all the territories of Transkei, Tembuland and Griqualand East) is £37,799,508. The defence of the Colony is provided for by permanent and volunteer forces, consisting of the Cape Mounted Riflemen (includ- ing the Cape Field Artillery), numbering 700 officers and men; the Cape Infantry Regiment, numbering 520 officers and men; and Volunteer Corps—artillery, cavalry, engineers and riflemen— numbering 3,223 men. The armament includes fifteen field-guns, and stores of Martini-Henry and Snider rifles and carbines. Besides the above, there is an auxiliary force, composed of the burgher* and levies, comprising every able-bodied man in the colony more than eighteen and under fifty years of age (with certain excep- tions), their numbers, according to the hst, being computed at 46,000 burghers and 77,000 levies. In case of a call for active service, the first drafts are taken from those between the ages of eighteen and thirty years. For some years past, the annual expenditure on Colonial Defence amounted to over £200,000; but considerable retrenchment has lately been effected; and the vote for 1885-6 was £155,000. The outlay of the Imperial Government in 1884 on military services in the Colony is stated to have been £88,752. RELIGION AND MISSIONS. 115- From the period when the Colony became a British possession, contributions towards the support of the clergy of several denomi- nations were granted by the Government at various times. In 1853 these grants 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 congre- gations excluded from a share in it, as well as the persistent agitation of the advocates of the "Voluntary Principle," finally induced 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 existing incumbents,, 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. Existing incumbents appointed to vacancies where previous' incumbents were in receipt of stipends, receive the same salary,, whether more or less, as was paid to the predecessor in such vacancy. The congregations of the different religious denominations in the Colony (exclusive of the Transkeian Territories) number as far as ascertained 383,765 members, 232,046 being classed as whites- and 150,719 as coloured. Of these the Dutch Reformed Church numbers 162,739; Wesleyans 68,814; Church of England 57,895; Congregationalists, Independents and London Missionary Society,. 33,065; the Moravian or United Brethren 10,053; the Rhenish Mission, 10,011; Roman Catholics, 9,694; Presbyterian (Free- Church of Scotland), 8,646; and besides these there are Baptists,. Lutherans, French Reformed Church, Free Protestant, and Hebrew, and Mahommedan Congregations. Among the aboriginal tribes, various Christian Missionary Societies have their agencies; and their good influence in raising the natives, both morally, educationally and industrially, are- acknowledged by all who observe their labours. The Government commission on Kafir Laws and Customs, which sat in 1881-82, and of which the present Premier was a member, bore its unani- mous testimony to the good which has been and is being effected by them, and recommended that all the countenance, protection and support which may be possible should be extended to them. Dr. Dale, the head of the Education Department of the Colony, has truly remarked that every one who would honestly measure the result of these missionary labours, shoidd extend the horizon of his observation some sixty years back, and contrast what the native population was then and now. Thousands of the heathen inhabi- tants of Kafirland have in the intervening period taken the first step towards civilization; have acquired handicrafts, engaged in i2 ■116 SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. industrial trades, and accummulated fixed property; and many of them may proudly point to churches and chapels that have arisen chiefly from their own efforts, where large congregations, neatly- dressed and well behaved, now regularly assemble at the sound of the Sabbath-bell. The heterogeneous population of the Colony may be classed .under three main sections:—The first, comprising the inhabitants of European origin, English, Dutch, French, German, and other; the second, those of mixed race, who form the bulk of the domestic ; servants and day-labourers in the towns and villages; and the third, the aborigines, Kafirs, Fingoes, Basutos, and Bechuanas. To meet the educational wants of this tripartite community, the .system of Public Education has been adjusted, and consists of (1). The Public and District Boarding and Day Schools, under Jocal boards of management. (2). The Mission Schools under the control of Religious or Mis- . sionary Bodies. (3). The Aborigines Day Schools, trade-classes, and Training In- stitutions, in connection with Missionary Societies. The Public Schools lead up to the Colleges, in which the course •of study is regulated by the requirements for degrees in the Uni- •versity of the Cape of Good Hope, which is an examining body forming the copestone of the system of Public Education. The Government co-operates with each section of the com- munity in promoting education, by means of grants-in-aid from the public revenue. The objects to which grants are appropriated under the provi- sions of the Higher and Elementary Education Acts are these:— (1). Grant in aid of the general expenses of the University, and :bursaries. (2). Grants in aid of salaries of professors and lecturers in colleges, which offer facilities to students to qualify themselves for degrees in :the University of the Cape of Good Hope. (3). The half salaries of Principal and Assistant teachers in the ithree grades of Public Schools. (4). The half salaries of superintendents and teachers of District Boarding Schools among the agricultural and pastoral population, and • of Boarding Departments in connection with the Public Schools. (5). Capitation allowances towards the maintenance of indigent ■scholars resident in District Boarding Schools, and aid towards the .expenses of industrial departments connected with these schools. (6). Aid towards the salaries of teachers of District Mission Schools under the direction of religious bodies, with the view of assisting the managers to provide secular instruction for the children of the poorer .class, who are not reached through the agency of the Public Schools. (7). Aid towards the salaries of teachers of Day Schools among the SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 117 Aborigines, Kafirs, Fingoes, Basutos, &c; also of trade teachers in the Native Training and Industrial Institutions. (8). Capitation allowances for part maintenance of native boys and. girls, resident in Industrial Institutions and receiving general indus- trial training besides ordinary school instruction. (9). Capitation allowances to native apprentices in the Trade Schools. (10). Assistance in equipping schools with all necessary appliances,. furniture, books, maps, blackboards, scientific apparatus, &c, sewing materials when a seamtress is employed to teach sewing and cutting out clothes; and tools for the native workshops. (11). The training of Elementary Teachers. (12). Schools of Art. Through these several agencies, the primary instruction of all classes, without distinction of creed or colour, is sought to be pro- moted; and whilst at the same time, the superior instruction of those who aspire to professional pursuits and University degrees is not overlooked, special attention has been given to the instruction of native lads in trades, such as carpentry, waggonmaking, print- ing and bookbinding, &c, and to the training of native girls for domestic employments. To encourage native lads to become skilled workmen, an allow- ance of £15 per annum, maintenance money, is made for those who, after one year's probation, have entered into a definite engage- ment with the authorities of the institution with which they are connected, for a further period not exceeding four years, nor less- than two years, as apprentices to one of the following trades :— carpentry, waggonmaking, blacksmith's work, tailoring, shoe- making, printing, and bookbinding. To e* -.ourage native girls to become habituated to and skilled in the performance of the duties of domestic civilised life, an allow- ance of £10 per annum, maintenance money, is made for those who, after three months' probation, have entered into a definite- engagement with the authorities of the institution. The day-schools among the aborigines are usually kept by native teachers who have passed the elementary Teachers' Examination; but the Trade-teachers are Europeans. The managers of a school may provide for the religious instruc- tion of the scholars at a time set apart by them for that purpose,- in addition to the ordinary school hours; but no scholars may be compelled to attend at that time for religious instruction without the consent of their parents or guardians. Freedom of action as regards education in the Colony has been- promoted without any undue striving for uniformity, either in modes of teaching or results. Parents are expected to feel their obligation to educate their children; teachers have free scope for their zeal and professional experience; and local authorities- 118 SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. are encouraged to co-operate in maintaining their own schools in •efficiency. Thus Parents, Teachers, and School Managers contri- bute to their own individual and collective interests; and the •Government intervenes not to damp voluntary zeal, nor to check private and municipal efforts, hut to foster the progress of Educa- tion; to keep alive a spirit of generous emulation among Teachers as well as Pupils : in short, to supply whatever appears to be de- fective in the local agencies, whether it be inadequacy of funds, weakness of control, or a low conception of the scope and methods of true education. The latest statistics to June, 1885, are as follow:— University and Colleges. In the five Colleges aided in connection with the University of the dape of Good Hope, there were 305 students; of these 216 were preparing for Matriculation. 75 ,, for the B.A. Degrees, and 14 ,, for the Survey Certificate. Schools for the year ended ZQth June, 1885. I. No- 'Schools and Institutions in actual operation during some portion of the year . . .. .. . . . . . . 989 New Schools opened during the year .. . . . . . . 75 Schools closed during some portion of the year .. . . 85 II. Annual enrolment of scholars .. .. .. .. .. 75,713 Highest Quarterly Ditto 54.934 Daily attendance .. .. .. .. 39,034 III. Public Schools, Classes 1, 2, 3, and Farm Schools .. .. 328 Boarding Schools and Departments .. .. .. .. 54 Mission Schools .. . . . . .. . . .. . . 400 :Special Institutions (Training and Art Schools, &c).... 5 Aborigines' Schools—Colonial .. .. .. .. .. 28 ,, Transkei 92 „ Tembuland . .. .. .. 42 ,, East Griqualand .. .. .. 40 Total .. .. 989 The Government Expenditure for public Education for the financial year ended June, 1885, amounted to £95,000, including administration. Of this amount, the University and Colleges absorbed £8,000; the Public Schools, £28,000; the Mission Schools, £18,000 and the Aborigines' Day and Industrial Schools, £21,000. PUBLIC LIBRARIES ANI> MUSEUMS. 119 The agencies which are supported for the education of the white population enjoy about 40 per cent, of the Government Grants; those for the education of children of mixed races about 19 per cent.; and the Aborigines day and trade-schools 21 per cent. The Department of Public Education is directed by the Superintendent-General of Education, who is responsible for the administration of the grants in accordance with the School Regulations 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 Department encourages and co-operates with local efforts for the extension and improvement of elementary and superior education, and without interfering in the management and discipline of any schools presses upon the attention of managers aDd teachers such changes as appear desirable in the accommoda- tion for the school and the teacher, the methods of teaching, the text-books, furniture, and other apparatus, as well as the discipline and general organization of the school. Teachers can obtain by results a merit grant or good service allowance as a recognition not of mere length of service but of distinguished merit, where a school is reported as excellent throughout. 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 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 40,000 volumes in every department 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 £3 per annum may take out one or more sets of books and periodicals for perusal at their homes. A narrow vestibule leads from the Library to the Museum, which occupies the other wing of the building, and is filled with a very interesting collection, numbering many thousand specimens of the mammalia, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, and minerals. The country Libraries are fifty-one in number, the most notice- able being one at Port Elizabeth which contains 14,758 volumes; one at Graham's Town containing over 7,000 volumes; one at King William's Town with 10,254 volumes; one at Graaff-Reinet with 5,150 volumes; and one at Alice (Lovedale) with 6,438 volumes. 120 SAVINGS BANKS AND MAIL SERVICE. The Press, from its first establishment in 1824, has exerted a highly educational influence in the Colony. There are now 42 newspapers published in English; 22 in English and Dutch; 7 in Dutch; 1 in German; 1 in Kafir; and 1 in Kafir and English. Of these papers, 10 are dailies; 9 published twice a week; 14 twice; 38 once; 1 fortnightly and 2 monthly. Of Benevolent and Charitable Institutions, the Government maintains a General Infirmary and Lunatic Asylum on Robben Island, at the entrance of Table Bay, and a Lunatic Asylum at Graham's Town. There are also commodious public hospitals at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Graham's Town, King William's Town, Queen's Town, and Kimberley. There is a fine roomy Sailor's Home, for the accommodation of seamen connected with Table Bay. Orphanages and other benevolent societies, under the care of philanthropic bodies, are voluntarily supported. There is an admirable Young Men's Christian Association in Cape Town; and Masonic, Odd-Fellows' and Good Templars' lodges are numerous throughout the Colony. To foster habits of prudence and forethought, without which neither communities nor individuals can be prosperous, there is an old-established Savings' Bank Society at the metropolis, with some branches in the country districts, whose permanently invested funds now amount to £345,599. The Government Post Office Department has also opened Savings Banks at most of its offices since the 1st January, 1884, and the statement of business done from the opening up to 31st December, 1885, shows an excess of deposits over withdrawals of £174,000, which is invested under security of the public revenue. The Postal service throughout the colony is well performed. There are 620 post-offices, and the estimated number of letters annually posted is six and a half millions. The postal rate for letters is one penny per half-ounce within town delivery; two- pence within the colony, or South Africa, and sixpence to England -r to Continental parts an extra charge is made. Money can be transmitted by post-office or telegraph order; and, by parcel-post, parcels can be forwarded to or from any place in South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Ocean Mail service with England is now a weekly one. By the contracts entered into with the Union Company and Sir Donald Carrie's Castle Company, the voyage is required to be performed in 211 days via Madeira or Lisbon, and 22| days when St. Helena and Ascension have to be touched at. Premiums for speed at the rate of £6 5s. per hour, are given for passages completed under the allotted time. A postal subsidy of £25,000 is paid to each Company, instead of the proceeds of postage on the mail matter conveyed. THE NEW YOKK?, PUBLIC LIBRARY\ AITOR, LENOX »N0 TILOEN FOUN»*TION8. ROADS, TELEGRAPHS, RAILWAYS, HARBOURS, AND IRRIGATION WORKS. The progress of the Colony is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the improvements which have taken place in the means of travelling from the sea-hoard to the inland districts. In a country with no rivers available for internal navigation, and where the physical features presented formidable obstacles to ordinary communication, its material advancement was heavily handicapped until roads were made, mountain barriers crossed, and rivers bridged. Lord Charles Somerset was the first to commence the opening of the mountain passes by constructing a road over the French 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 de- vised the construction of main lines of communication throughout the Colony, together with the advantageous employment of colonial convict labour upon them; and, aided by a public board of administration (the Central Road Board), and the professional services of Colonel Michell and Mr. A. G. Bain, as engineers, he was successful in carrying out to completion undertakings which, to use the language of Governor Sir Harry Smith, "would do honour to a great nation instead of a mere dependency of the British Crown." There are now about 4,100 miles of constructed main road throughout the Colony, and the roads other than main roads, or as they are officially known, divisional roads, extend to fully four thousand three hundred additional miles. Over such a great extent of communication there are necessarily a considerable number of bridges, and some of them are very large and important structures. The principal ones, however, are those which span the Orange River at different points. This river which traverses the continent almost from east to west, having its sources in the highest points of the Drakensberg mountain and emptying itself into the South Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast, is subject to great and heavy floods, due to its extensive drainage area, which is estimated at 400,000 square miles. The interruption to trade with the interior occasioned by the stoppage of traffic when the river was swollen after heavy rains, was felt to be a very serious drawback, and the Colonial Parliament, in 1874, authorised the river 122 BRIDGES AND TELEGRAPHS. being spanned by four separate iron bridges. That at Hope Town is the largest, being 1,480 feet long, and cost £114,260. The next in size is the one at Colesberg, measuring 1,339 feet in length, and which cost £108,726. There is another at Bethulie, 1,350 feet long which cost £78,874 ; and the fourth is at Aliwal North, 860 feet in length, and cost £59,904. The cost of construction was con- siderably increased by the heavy charges which had to be paid for the transport of the material (ironwork, &c.) from the seaports to the Orange River. Another bridge, similar in design and structure to those over the Orange River, spans the Great Kei River, uniting the old Colony proper with the Transkeian territories. It is of iron lattice super- structure, resting upon iron piers filled with cement, and has thirteen spans of 94 feet 11 inches each. Its cost was over £49,000. This work was undertaken by the Government at the instance of Capt. Blyth, O.M.G., the chief magistrate of the Transkei, who urged the importance of it on the ground that a bridge over the formidable drift of the Kei River would secure free access to the Territory at all seasons, and have a mo3t civilizing and beneficial effect upon the natives. The Fingoes themselves showed their appre- ciation of it by voluntarily contributing £1,500 towards making the approaches. The progress of construction was interrupted for some time during the war of 1877-78, but soon afterwards the bridge was completed, when the Kafirs significantly made the remark, "Now we see that we are conquered; the land of the Ama- settlers (British settlers) and of the Amakosa is one." Electric telegraphs have been extensively constructed, and there are few towns throughout the Colony which are not in communica- tion with the Metropolis. The total expenditure on purchase and construction of lines up to the end of 1884 was £351,000. The number of stations open and available in 1885 for the use of the public was 203, and the number of miles of wire, 8,663. The maximum cost of a telegram of ten words between the extreme points of the system (1,500 miles) is one shilling, with a charge of sixpence for every additional five words. But the works which afford strongest evidence of the enterprise and progressive spirit of the Cape Colony are the extensive rail- ways which have been undertaken chiefly within the last twelve or fifteen years. Railway communication was first 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 Com- pany under a guarantee of a rate of interest of 6 per cent, per annum on a sum of £500,000. In 1862, private Colonial enter- prise started a short branch line, from Salt River to Wynberg, without any guarantee or subsidy; and later on, another line RAILWAYS. 123 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, consequent upon the general prosperity resulting from the discovery and develop- ment of the diamond mines in Qriqualand West, legislative 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. These lines were sub- sequently authorised to be extended inland, until now they form three main systems, converging towards Kimberley and the Interior, and the Orange Free State. At the commencement of the present year (1886), the total number of miles of Government railway open for traffic in the Cape Colony was 1,599 miles, purchased, constructed, and completed nt a cost of £13,407,385. The following is an enumeration of the several main and connecting lines :— Western System. Miles. Cape Town Dock to Kimberley . . 648 Stellenbosch Branch . . . . 26 Malmesbury Branch . . . . . . 29 Salt River to Kalk Bay . . . . 15 Total Milage. ri8 Mid land System. Port Elizabeth to De Aar Junction . . 338 Naauwpoort to Colesberg . . . . 38 Zwartkops to Graaff-Reinet . . 178 Alicedale to Graham's Town . . . . 35 589 Eastern System. East London Harbour to Aliwal North 282 Blaney to King William's Town . . 10 292 Total 1,599 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 system is north-east, crossing the rivers forming the main drainage of the country, and intervening ridges, and the bridges are consequently loth numerous and important. The Midland system runs north, following chiefly the main drainage of the country; while the principal characteristic of the Eastern system is its severe gradients and curves. 124 RAILWAYS. Some portions of the lines are, in an engineering point of view, highly creditable to the engineers who laid them out and superin- tended their construction. The entry into the Karoo over the Hex River range of mountains is specially worthy of notice. From the town of Worcester (780 feet above sea level) the line proceeds up the beautiful Hex River Valley, and then begins to climb the moun- tains by curves and zigzags along their sides, piercing some of the mountain spurs by tunnels, and crossing gullies spanned by viaducts, until within a distance of 36 miles it attains an altitude of 3,193 feet. Looking down from the top of the moun- tain there is a magnificent view of the valley, some 2,000 feet below; and the stupendous character of the engineering work by which the ascent has been accomplished can be fully appreciated. For upwards of twenty miles the line is steep in gradient (1 in 40 and 1 in 45), sharp in curve, deep in rock cutting, and precipitous in embankment. The highest point, however, is at Pieter Meintjes Fontein, 77 miles from Worcester, where a height of 3,588 feet is attained—a little higher than the summit of Table Mountain. Beyond this high level it again descends, being 2,717 feet at Buffel's River, and 1,537 feet (the lowest point beyond Worcester) at the Dwyka River; then ascending again, the altitude of 2,37i) feet is attained between Prince Albert and Fraserburg Road, and it finally runs into Beaufort West at an altitude of 2,778 feet. From thence to Kimberley the Western line is on comparatively easy ground. The highest point (5,185 feet) on the Midland system is at Bosworth, near Naauwpoort, 164 miles from Port Elizabeth, from whence the country is generally 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 London. Owing to the nature of the country traversed, there is a large amount of waterway to be provided for. On the Eastern system there are eleven bridges of 100 feet opening and upwards, with a total waterway of 1,798 feet. On the Midland there are, including those across tidal rivers, fourteen bridges with a waterway of 4,229 feet; and on the Western, twenty-one such bridges with a waterway of 5,743 feet. The latter includes the bridge over the Buff els River, consisting of six spans of 100 feet each; that over the Geelbeck River, consisting of five spans of the same length; a third over the Blood River, consisting of seven spans; and a fourth and fifth over the Dwyka and Bitter Water Rivers, consisting respectively of four and seven spans of the regulation length. The largest however is the " Good Hope" bridge spanning the Orange River on the Kimberley extension line. It is a substantial and magnificent piece of engineering skill. Its total length is RAILWAYS. 125 1,230 feet, in nine spans of 130 feet each, plus the width of the piers. From the water to the rail, the height is fifty-six feet, and the weight is ninety-five tons per span, giving a total of 855 tons for the whole structure. The piers were commenced with the foun- dation being laid in July, 1884, and the erection of the girders in June, 1885, and the bridge was opened for traffic on the 28th November, 1885. The total cost of the bridge is estimated at £60,000. For some years, all the rolling-stock and coaching required for the Railways was imported; but now well-equipped Eailway Workshops have been established at TJitenhage and at Salt River, where repairs and transformations, as well as construction, are executed departmentally. Among other improvements carried out at these workshops, may be mentioned a most comfortable adapta- tion of the Pullman ear, for through journeys from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and Kimberley; and also a successful alteration of the locomotive engines, some of which are fitted up with long fire-boxes and ash-pans and an arrangement of movable bars, specially adapted for burning Colonial coal containing a con- siderable per centage of dross. This Colonial coal is now extensively used on the Eastern system of Railways, from East London to Aliwal North; and contracts have been entered into by the Government for its regular supply. Three of the mines, Cyphergat, Molteno and Fair View, are in close proximity to the Railway line, on the Stormberg, while another mine, the Indwe, which yields coal of better quality, is dis- tant some miles. The contract prices are for the former 16s. per ton, and the latter 25s. per ton. When a junction is effected between the Eastern and Midland systems, the whole of the Rail- ways may be worked with Colonial fuel. Taking the total cost of purchase and construction of the Govern- ment Railways, including rolling-stock, locomotive establishments, and raising of loans, the amount disbursed has been about thirteen and a half million sterling, or an average of about £8,613 per mile. The contribution towards interest on this capital from the receipts or earnings is equal to rather more than 2| per cent. But it must be borne in mind that it is only now that the systems have attained completion, and some time should be allowed to realise the full benefit which must inevitably result from the stimulus given to the trade and resources of the interior by the recent opening of the Main Trunk Line to Kimberley. The following table shews in respect to each of the last five years, the progress of the lines of Railway, the average length open, the earnings and expenses per mile, capital invested, cost per mile, the amount of passenger and goods traffic, and the quantity of work- ing rolling stock, &c.:— 126 RAILWAYS. PARTICULARS. 1880. 1882. 1883. 18S4. 188S. Length of line) Sanctioned miles On 3l8t Dec. [ Opened 961 1,520 1,520 1,520 1,599-31 907 969 1,212 1,453 1,599 31 each year. J To be opened,, 66 552 307 68 Average length open ... „ 882 962 1,089 1,344 1,4(8 Earnings per mile of line open £ 726 17s. 6d. 1,00615s. 4d. MO 9s. 5d. 717 18s. 8d. 699 10s. Oi Train miles ran miles 1,873,081 2,892,878 2,603.468 2,412,604 2,765.989 Earnings per train mile ... s. d. 6s. 101d. 6s. 8'3d. 7s. 0'37d. Ss. Od 7s. &1. Expenses ,, ,» ... » 4s. 11".'.. 1. 4s. irsd. 4s. HS7d. 5s. 3.4d. 4s. lOi Expenses per cent, of earnings percent 7247 77 02 77 96 66-1 613 Capital invested on lines open £ 7,990,403 9,275,540 10,487,417 12,104,757 13.407 ,sa Net receipts, per cent, of capital £ 2. 4s. 2d. 2. 7 s. lOd. 2. 108. 8Jd. 2. 14s. Id. 2. 14e. 51 Cost per mile to 31st December ' each year 8,810 9,582 8,616 8,850 8,613,4s. lid Earnings £ 641,101 968,511 915.274 964.903 1,037,358 Expenditure 404,649 745,993 649,449 637,441 672,4* Passengers No. 1,324,406 2,4S5,SS15i 2,584,165 2,107,004J 2,428..^ Goods Tonnage 308,636 506,323 452,970 412,454 375,HJ3 Working, Rolling Stock: Locomotives ... No. 120 183 218 227 227 Carriages ... „ 252 290 340 291 320 Trucks „ 1,848 2,675 2,!I28 3,025 3,146 Other Vehicles „ 114 261 299 321 435 Besides the Government railway lines, there are others in the Colony constructed by private companies. One is in the min- ing district of Namaqualand, constructed by the Cape Copper Mining Company from Port Nolloth to O'okiep, a distance of 92 miles, and worked with mules. Another is the line which has been constructed from Graham's Town to Port Alfred, some 43 miles long, to which, however, the Government contributed a subsidy of £50,000. The principle of stimulating private enterprise in the construction of local lines, has also been adopted in reference to a line now in course of construction and equipment by the Central Railways Company between Worcester, Robertson, and Roodewal, a distance of about 40 miles, for which a subsidy of £75,000 has been granted. For the purpose of developing the valuable coal- fields at the Indwe, in the Wodehouse district, a subsidy of 1,000 acres of land and a grant of £50,000 (or in lieu of one moiety of that amount a grant of 25,000 morgen of land), have likewise been authorised to a Company for the construction and equipment of a railway connecting the Indwe with the Eastern system of railways at Imvani. On the various Harbour Works of the Colony, a sum of £1,602,000 has been spent, out of moneys raised on the credit of the Government; and interest on the capital amount so invested is paid by the Harbour Boards of the several ports, out of revenues collected by them from dock dues, wharfage, and other sources. The necessity of protecting the anchorage of Table Bay from the disastrous effects of the north and north-westerly gales to which it was exposed, led at various times to the production of Plan showing1 > Existing and Authorized Table Bay Harbottr Works. lA.tKcgrrofihAdjiTi'tfae, Siwftye^ OtrwaZa Dtp* PnntteL Zj> iSotarruTri/ A Of Cap*- Kwn, TABLE BAY HARBOUR AND GRAVING DOCK. 127 deigns for works having that object in view, which, together with an increasing demand for dock accommodation, resulted in 1860 in the formation of the Table Bay Harbour Board, and their ultimate adoption of Sir John Coode's plans as the best suited to fulfil the required conditions of the port. The first work undertaken was that of running out from the shore a Breakwater in a N. by E. 5 E. direction, formed of stones of varying sizes excavated from a quarry partly on the site of the old Chavonne Battery. The first wagon of stone was deposited by H. R. H. Prince Alfred on 7th July, 1860. During the pi-o- gress of the Breakwater it was determined to convert the quarry in process of formation into a basin, and its form was modified with that object. The Breakwater mound was completed to a length of 1,870 feet in July, 1868, having been carried out into 5j fathoms of water, and it effectually protected a portion of the anchorage together with the dock and outlying works. These consisted of the Alfred Dock or inner basin having an area of 8} acres, and an outer basin protected by a jetty G10 feet long, run out from the Breakwater on its south side at 970 feet from its root. They were opened for traffic on the 20th November 1869, and the formal ceremony took place on July 11th, 1870, in the presence of H.R.H. Prince Alfred. Prior to the completion of these works, the Board acquired by purchase the Patent Slip belonging to Messrs. De Pass & Co., and removed it to the south end of the Alfred Dock. The means of repairing large vessels being still wanting, arrange- ments were made with the Lords of the Admiralty to assist with funds towards the construction of a Graving Dock of such pro- portions that it would suffice to accommodate the largest of Her Majesty's ship likely to visit these waters. Plans were accordingly prepared by Sir John Coode and approved of by the Imperial Sovernment, but some difficulty as to certain restrictions both of priority and in matters of finance having arisen, the Harbour Board undertook the cost of construction themselves, and during the pro- gress of the work an additional one hundred feet in length was given. This structure, which is built of granite (obtained from the Paarl 36 miles distant from Cape Town), will bear comparison with any similar work in the world. The foundation stone was laid in 1867, on the 24th August, by H.R.H. Prince Alfred. It was Dpened by the Governor Sir Hercules Robinson on the 20th October, 1882, and was named after His Excellency the "Robinson" xraving Dock. Since its completion it has been largely used by vessels requiring ■ither to be repaired or cleaned, and from the 4th to the 5th November of 1885, it was occupied by the White Star Line ..S. " Coptic" of 4,448 tons and 438 feet length, which had met 128 TABLE BAY DOCKS. with the loss of one of the blades to her propeller. She was docked, a new blade affixed, and undocked in 24 hours. During the construction of the Graving Dock, a timber jetty was erected 500 feet in length and 68 feet wide, running out from the Breakwater at 1,630 feet from its root for the accommodation of the large steamers from England to Australia and New Zealand requiring coal en route. A depth of water of 28 feet is here ob- tainable, and as much as 1,300 tons of coal has been put on board one of these vessels in 12 hours. At the same time a Quay wall, 600 feet long, was constructed parallel to the Breakwater between the above structure and the jetty forming the east side of the outer basin. The rapidly developing trade of the port having rendered further increase of accommodation desirable, plans for works providing this were submitted, in 1880, by Sir John Coode, and sanctioned. To protect these, and in order to afford largely increased anchor- age, an extension of the Breakwater was necessary, and authority was obtained in August, 1880. It was determined to lengthen the mound 800 feet in the same direction as the existing structure, and continue it a further distance of 1,000 feet in a north-easterly direction into 7^ fathoms of water. At the present time this work has been carried out a distance of 660 feet and is still proceeding, a total length of Breakwater of 2,530 feet having been constructed, which gives an extensive sheltered area of anchorage in Table Bay. The bend referred to is already half finished, and each foot that the breakwater is now advanced will afford in proportion a much larger protected area than a similar advance did formerly. The quarry, from which the material for the breakwater is being excavated, is so designed that it may be made to give, with but small expenditure, additional dock accommodation of 8 acres, with a minimum depth at low water springs of 27 feet; an entrance would in that case be made through the West Quay immediately to the South of the entrance to the Graving dock. The scheme, dated 2nd February, 1883, of Sir John Coode for an Outer Harbour of sixty-two acres has been adopted, and all the works are being carried on with due regard to its requirements. The mound of the South arm, which will run parallel to the break- water at a distance 1,650 feet south of it, will shortly be commenced. This work will protect the Quay Wall between the East and breakwater jetties from the effect of seas due to South East winds, and make it available as additional berthage room. The whole of the docks are most efficiently lit by the Anglo- American "Brush" arc and incandescent light system, and a well organized fire brigade and fire extinguishing apparatus are maintained. There is an adequate supply of excellent water, which is delivered on board vessels at 3s. per ton. TABLE BAY DOCKS. 129 The increased importance of the trade of the port, largely due to the facilities now afforded to the shipping by the Breakwater and Docks, rendered it necessary that its defences against any attack of an hostile fleet should be considerably increased. With this object in view the Amsterdam Battery was greatly strengthened in 1879, by the deposit of surplus material in front of it from the Break- water quarry excavation, and two new Batteries of considerable power have been erected this year, one at Mouille Point and the other at the South head of the Bay at Craig's Tower; the labour and tools for which were supplied from the Table Bay Harbour Works. As the trade of the port has increased, the dock dues charged have been considerably reduced, and the following are the rates at the present time :— Dock Dues on Goods. Upon all goods landed from or shipped to ports or places beyond the limits of this Colony, "bona fide" in transit, or from distressed vessels, to be re-shipped, or coals, 2s. per ton. Upon all goods transhipped, landed from or shipped to ports or places within the limits of this Colony, "bona fide " in transit or from distressed vessels, Is. per ton. On horses, mules, asses, horned cattle and ostriches landed, shipped or tran- shipped, 5s. each. On calves, sheep, pigs and goats landed, shipped or transhipped, 3d. each. On Vessels. > On all vessels entering the Dock or Basins with the privilege of remaining therein for twenty-one days, including the day of arrival and departure, per ton, 6d. For every week or portion of a week after the above period, per ton in Docks or Basins, 2d. On every vessel re-entering Docks or Basins within forty days from her first entrance on that voyage, per week or portion of a week, per ton, 3d. On all coasters or craft of 50 tons and under, at per month of thirty days, per ten, 4d. Xote.—All vessels are charged at the above rates at per register ton gross, and are found in fenders and stages only. All vessels, whether ships of war, transports, or belonging to the mercantile marine of any nation, visiting this port for coal or stores only, and not remaining more than eight days in Dock or at the Quays, and neither landing nor receiving <:argo, will be charged at the rate of 4d. per ton, otherwise the charge will be 6d. per ton, as per Dock regulations. On Ballast. Stone Ballast put on board at per ton, 5s. Earth Ballast do. 3s. Ballasting vessels after hours, an extra charge of one shilling per ton will be made. All ballast landed in the Dock to become the property of the Board. Graving Dock and Patent Slip. For docking and undocking vessels, or for taking up and launching from the Patent Slip, per ton register gross, including days of docking and undocking, or of taking up and launching, 2s. The minimis charge, however, to be in no case less than £25 for the above. Sent charge for Graving Dock and Patent Sltp. Vessels of 250 tons and under for every twenty-four hours' occupation of Dock Slip, £A. K 130 OTHER HARBOURS. Vessels above 260 tons for every twenty-four hours' occupation of Dock or Slip at per ton register gross, 6d. All vessels taken into the Dock or on the Slip for the purposes of inspection or cleaning and painting only will be allowed a deduction of 25 per cent, on the above charges. Sir John Coode is Engineer-in-Chief, and to him the successful development of all the works is due. The Breakwater, Alfred Dook, and outer Basin, were carried out under the immediate superintendence of Mr. A. T. Andrews, who was succeeded in 1871 hy Mr. A. C. Jenour, during whose regime the extension of the Breakwater was commenced and the Graving Dock and Break- water jetty, &c, constructed; he retired in March, 1884, and Mr. H. Thwaites is the present Resident Engineer. The cost of the entire works up to the 31st December, 1884, has been £1,273,078, while the revenue during the same period has been £938,048, the last yearly revenue being £72,197, which is sufficient to pay the interest of the money already expended or likely to be required to complete the works in hand and to provide for their proper maintenance. The comparative small cost of these important undertakings has been due in a great measure to the extensive employment of convict labour. The total gross tonnage entered inwards and outwards in the year after the opening of the Alfred Docks was 110,058 tons, which had increased last year to 814,840 tons, the whole of the shipping arrangements being under the charge of Captain Hewat, the Dock Superintendent. Simon's Bay is the naval station and dockyard for Her Majesty's vessels. Mossel Bay, situate midway between Table and Algoa Bays, 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, steam cranes, and other facilities for landing and loading cargoes. Algoa Bay, the chief port for the eastern and midland districts, and the Interior, is an open but safe roadstead with good holding ground, and the loading and discharging of vessels are very ex- peditiously done by means of steam tugs and lighters and surf- boats, and gangs of native labourers. But this method, being found subject to occasional interruptions from the state of the surf, large iron jetties have recently been constructed and run into dwp water; and these are fitted with steam and hand cranes, by which the landing and shipping operations are greatly facilitated. An elaborate scheme for an outer harbour capable of sheltering vessels of any size has been designed by Sir John Coode, who contemplates the construction of an iron viaduct extending seaward for a distance of 3,000 feet, and at its outer end a breakwater pier 2,000 feet in length in a N. by E. direction, having a depth of 33 feet at the [THE NEW YORK I PUBLIC LIBRARY TILBEH FOONiATIOHS. IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT. 131' south or inner end, and 36 feet at the outer end at low water of spring tides. The estimated aggregate cost will be about a million * sterling; but the prosecution of this large undertaking is at present in abeyance. At Port Alfred (the Kowie River Mouth) there is good holding; ground at the outer anchorage; and a steam tug and lighters for loading and discharging, or for bringing vessels of moderate draught (nine to twelve feet) into the river to the wharves, a mile- from the entrance, where there are stores, a bonding warehouse, and the railway to Graham's Town. The harbour works were commenced many years ago by a private company, but were taken over by the Government in 1869. They were afterwards carried on, according to plans recommended by Sir John Coode, and designed to affect the flow of the river and tides so as to in- crease the depth of water at the entrance. East London, at the Buffalo River Mouth, is another river har- bour where similar works, under Sir John Coode's direction, have been in progress. These were intended to remove the " bar," and^ keep clear the passage to the deep reaches of water inside. Train- ing walls, forming quays, were built so as to narrow the river channel and thereby increase the scour, and a breakwater of concrete blocks, like that of Portland, constructed in the form of an arm outside, to prevent the sea from checking the river's outflow and* driving the sand back upon the bar. In former years occasional floods or freshets in the Buffalo River served to clear the "bar "' sometimes to a depth of seventeen feet, and vessels were then able to pass inside and discharge cargo, without the use of surf-boats or the delays and risk attendant upon lying at an open anchorage outside. But since the works have been proceeded with, no freshets • have occurred, and the sand accumulation has shallowed the entrance of the river. To remove this obstruction, in the absence of a freshet,. a powerful dredger or sand pump has been ordered, and will shortly be at work to scour out the sand from the entrance, so as to enable ■ Teasels of large draught to utilise the spacious water accommodation. inside the river's mouth. Government, recognising the crude and unsystematic manner in. ibich irrigation was generally conducted by private persons, and sing desirous of affording them the benefits of professional advice,. as well as of being inclined to commence large works on its account,. in 1875 instituted the present Hydraulic Engineer's Department,. with Mr. J. G. Gamble, M. Inst. C.E., as its head. Under the direction of this Department, the most likely districts of the Colony have been inspected, with a view either to the improvement of the- method of irrigation in vogue, or the inauguration of large public works. Advice has been given to private persons and to public bodies and companies, and a large number of works for irrigation. k2 182 IRRIGATION LAWS. ;and for town water supply have been constructed under the : supervision of the Department. With a view to encourage farmers and public bodies to undertake irrigation works, an Irrigation Act was passed by the Legislature in 1877. Under this Act, provision is made for the constitution of Irrigation Boards in districts, wherever three or more owners of land . agree to act in combination for carrying out irrigation works, or the storage of water. The members of the board are chosen from and elected by the landowners. They have borrowing and rating powers, and the Government is authorised to assist them with loans ■ of money on the credit of the rates assessed; but the character of the works to be carried out is in every case to be decided by a professional engineer appointed by the Government. Provision is also made for aiding individual proprietors and farmers desirous of storing water or irrigating their lands; they may receive assistance from Government in the sbape of an advance, on undertaking to pay a rent-charge for the same at the rate of 8 per cent, for a term not exceeding 24 years. An Act passed in 1879 extended the provisions of tbe second part of the Act of 1877 to municipal bodies, thus enabling the Government to lend money to munici- palities for the purpose of improving the water supply of the towns; and an Act sassed in 1880 introduced several further improvements. The conditions under which loans for irrigation works may be obtained were republished in a concise form in 1885. Tbey are briefly as follows :— The loan must be secured by first mortgage upon the land on which the works are to be constructed, and will be granted for a term of any number of years, at the dis- cretion of the recipient, not exceeding twenty-four. The loan will be repayable, through the Civil Commissioner, by nieans of fixed annual payments varying with the term of the loan. For tweuty-four years, the longest term for which money can be borrowed, the annual payments would be at the rate of eight per cent, per annum on the amount of the loan. For a less number of years the annual payments would be larger in proportion. The recipient of the loan will understand that after having made all the annual payments he is relieved from all further liability whatsoever, and will have discharged both principal and interest. The annual payments above referred to may, at the discretion of the recipient, be redeemed at any Sme before the expiration of the term for which the loan is granted, by a payment calculated by a scale fixed for this purpose. The existence of a previous mortgage or other incumbrance need not be a bar to a loan under the Irrigation Acts, provided the previous mortgagee or others consent to the preference of the Government Loan. The Government will give the necessary notices to the persons previously interested (if any), whether mortgagee or others': allowing a period of four months within which they may object to the preference of the Government Bond. Land under mortgage for a loan under the Irrigation Acts cannot be transferred without the consent of the Government, and unless the rent-uharge (or annual re-paj - ment) is fully paid up. The works must be constructed upon plans and specifications approved by the ■ Government, who will bear all costs of inspection aud examination of the scheme. If it be desired, designs will be furnished by Government free of charge; but in this ease, to guard against loss, the applicant will be required to undertake to make good the cost of the necessary surveys in the event of the works not being carried out. Only where there is much measurement required will this guarantee exceed Ten Pounds (£10), and . in no case will it exceed Fifty Pounds (£50). IRRIGATION WORKS. 133"> Until the repayment of the entire loan the owner is bound to keep the works in efficient repair, and to certify once a year, through the Civil Commissioner, as to the- condition of his work, under pain of an action for default and damages resulting there- from. The loan will be issued in instalments. One-fifth of the whole amount will be advanced upon the completion and registration of the Mortgage Bond, to enable the works to be commenced. Subsequent instalments will be paid on the certificate of the Hydraulic Engineer that sums previously advanced have been properly spent. The facilities for making reservoirs, while more abundant in- some districts than in others, are fairly plentiful in all parts of the Colony. This of course applies to ordinary farmers' dams. It is obvious that large works requiring special circumstances cannot be- constructed equally well in all parts, yet there are numerous sites of the most promising kind scattered through the Colony, the utilisation of which is a mere matter of money directed by a little energy. Calvinia has of late years been the scene of considerable dani- making, the works being constructed by the farmers from pecuniary assistance obtained from Government under the Irrigation Act. In that, as well as in numerous other distriots, there are immense tracts of the most fertile land, which only need water to produce tlie most astonishing crops. An average of 70 bushels of wheat from one bushel sown can be relied on, while a return of 130 bushels is not infrequent. In the division of Beaufort West, Victoria West, Prince Albert, Jansenville, &c, there are large reservoirs for the use of stock. Little use is made of them for irrigation, as the farmers prefer the less laborious occupation of sheep-farming. Griqualand West is not sufficiently diversified in character to admit of the construc- tion of numerous reservoirs; there are, however, many farmer's reservoirs in existence. Some Karroo districts, owing to their flat character, are quite unsuited for reservoirs, while others which are intersected by low ranges of hills, afford at breaks in the range unrivalled sites for dams. In the divisions of Worcester, Swellendam, Caledon, and in fact along the low ground at the foot of all the great mountain ranges, the configuration is well suited for reservoirs, but little use has been made of the sites. In Oudtshoorn and along the sides of the Great Fish River the- side valleys and kloofs are well adapted for dams. The drainage area of the Great Fish River is well worth a close investigation, lor the land is of first rate quality, and its proximity to the rail- way admits of a ready market. A properly organised association, or a company more intent on developing the land than in speculat- ing, could not fail to find this locality one of the best in the Colony for agriculture. Farmers' reservoirs as ordinarily constructed, generally have many defects. They are seldom proportioned to the drainage area (Ite IRRIGATION WORKS. ''from which they oolleot their supply: they are too shallow, the ■water seldom standing more than 12 feet against the bank, con- ^8equently there is a large loss from evaporation in comparison with "the quantity stored. The embankment is nearly always wanting in strength, the base being to narrow, the slopes too steep, and the inner one seldom pitched with stones. As little provision is made 'for the escape of storm water the flow in floods overtops the bank ;and ends by breaching it. In works constructed by loans under the Irrigation Acts, Govem- •ment insist on proper designs and methods of construction, a •course which is gradually introducing numerous examples of what reservoir embankments should be, but even in cases where the >work is being done without aid from Government, experience is beginning to convince farmers that it is more economical to build a substantial dam at first than to rebuild an inferior one after • every storm. Until 1876 Government had not constructed any irrigation •works, but in that year it sanctioned the construction of a small ireservoir at Brand Vley, a small village in the division of Calvinia, >about half way between the villages of Calvinia and Kenhardt. The work consists of an embankment which blocks up a "poortje" :above the village, through which "poortje " a branch on the Zak Jliver runs in times of flood. The embankment forms a shallow lake about two square miles in area when full, and averaging 5 Ifeet deep. It was intended to make the depth greater, but the ■work required for this was omitted until Government should see what success the village will have. The water can be drawn •off by means of a six-inch siphon, which was erected at a cost of £165. The total cost of the work has been £835, of which Govern- iment contributed £745, the erfholders finding the balance. The reservoir, shallow though it is, has proved of great service to the neighbourhood, thousands of animals having been kept alive -that would otherwise have perished for want of water. The value •of stock thus saved must have long ago exceeded the cost of the ■work. But the usefulness of the dam is not confined to saving stock, for in 1879 eighty muids of wheat were sown on the village •erven, from which a return of from 60 to 100 fold was obtained. During the year 1882 operations were commenced by Govern- ment at Annshaw, in the division of King William's Town, for the purpose of supplying water to a native location. This work was undertaken in fulfilment of a promise made many years ago ■to Chief Kama by former Governors, in recognition of his loyalty during frontier troubles. This work consists of a furrow, 8 miles long, which conducts water from the Keiskama River to the lands •occupied by the natives. The cost was slightly over £4,000. In 1882, Parliament sanctioned the raising of a loan for con- IRRIGATION WORKS. 135 ■structing irrigation works on a somewhat extensive scale at Stols- hoek, near Beaufort "West, and at Van Wyk's Vley, in the Carnar- von division. The work at Stolshoek, completed in 1884, was undertaken for the purpose of] irrigating a fuel plantation for the railway. The principal work is a masonry wall, which blocks up an opening in a low ridge of trap hills at the foot of the southern •slope of the Nieuweldt mountains, thereby forming a reservoir having a drainage area of about five square miles, and capable of holding 96,000,000 gallons of water. The greatest depth of water is 20 feet. The wall is 500 feet long, 21 feet high, and contains 3,000 cubic yards of cement masonry, the cost of which was £2 7s. 6d. per cubic yard, exclusive of the cost of carrying water for mortar a distance of two miles. The water is conducted from the reservoir to the intended plantation in cast iron pipes. This work has cost about £8,700. Van Wyk's Vley is by far the most important irrigation work which has been constructed in South Africa. The work is designed for the purpose of storing the rainfall so as to irrigate an extensive tract of fertile country, which without water is practically worth- less. The drainage area of the reservoir is 460 square miles, an extent which to the casual observer would appear capable of yield- ing an immense volume of water. However, owing to the scanty and extremely irregular rainfall of the surrounding country, the flow into the reservoir is not in keeping with the extent of the drainage area. As an example of the scanty rainfall it may be mentioned that the averages for the years 1883 and 1884 did not exceed four inches. The works consist of an earthwork embankment a little more than 300 yards long, and 31 feet high at its highest point, a masonry tower at the inside toe of the embankment for drawing off the water, a masonry culvert containing cast iron pipes for leading the water through the embankment, and an overflow for storm water. The water is led to the irrigable lands in a large canal. The reservoir when full will hold 35,000 million gallons, and the extent of the water surface will be 19 square miks, with an average depth oi over 10 feet. The greatest depth is 27 feet. The total cost of the work, exclusive of land, has been between £23,000 and £24,000. The water supply of various towns have of late years been im- proved under the supervision of the Hydraulic Engineer's Depart- ment, and among them may be mentioned King William's Town, Queen's Town, East London and Port Elizabeth. The old works which supplied King William's Town with water consisted of a weir on the Buffalo River, from which the water Was led out by means of an open furrow to a turbine placed near the town. The fall of a large quantity of water was used to pump up a portion into a high level reservoir from which it was 136 WATERWORKS. distributed through the town in pipes. Unfortunately in dry seasons the flow in the Buffalo was too small to work the turbine, consequently the town had at these seasons to do without its high level service. In 1878 Mr. Gamble recommended the Town Council to lead out the Buffalo in pipes at a point high enough to bring the water into the town by gravitation. These works were begun about two years afterwards. The water is conveyed from the Izeli, a branch of the Buffalo, in cast-iron pipes, to a service reservoir commanding the whole of King William's Town. The length of the main from the intake to the service reservoir is 8 miles, and its diameter 10 inches. The general features of the works constructed at Queen's Town are, a reservoir for the purpose of storing the storm-water from the Komani River, the water being conducted into the reservoir by means of a weir and furrow, a siphon to draw off the water, and a 6-inch main with distributing pipes and hydrants for the supply of the town. The embankment is 650 yards long and 31 feet high at the highest part. The reservoir is estimated to hold 80 million gallons of water. At East London, the works comprise a reservoir in the Ama- linda Valley which collects the rain water from the drainage area of the uppermost part of the valley. This drainage area extends to 1,500 acres. The surface is covered with green turf and studded with mimosa trees. The length of the embankment is 300 yards, and its greatest height, measured from the surface of the valley, 31 feet. The water area when full covers 26 acres, with a depth at the bank of 25 feet. There is a substantial masonry culvert through the embankment with a cast iron tower at its inner end for drawing off the water. This tower is the first of its kind in the Colony, if not in South Africa. From the storage-reservoir the water is led by a cast iron main to a covered service-reservoir 4f miles distant; thence it is conducted into the town by a main which delivers it into the distributing pipes. Hydrants are attached to the distributing pipes for flre-extmguishing purposes. Until quite recently the water supply of Port Elisabeth was very scanty. The lower, or business part of the town drew water from a main laid along the beach from a small valley called Shark's River, in the sand-dunes between Port Elizabeth and Cape Recife. The upper part of the town, however,—where most of the best houses have been built—was dependent on underground tanks in which the rain caught on the roofs was stored. To remedy such a condition of affairs, a scheme was devised and approved by Mr. Gamble, for bringing in the water from the basin of "Van Staaden's River," over some twenty-eight miles of difficult, and in several places mountainous country, into the town. The work con- sists of a small intake weir in the mountains, from which a cast BEAUFORT WEST UAM. 137 iron main is laid to Port Elizabeth, communicating with, and pass- ing by a service reservoir at the highest point of the suburbs of the town. The present main was designed to carry 840,000 gallons per diem, but from actual measurement the main itself gave on one occasion 930,000 gallons and on another 960,000 gallons in twenty* four hours. The total cost has been about £130,000. The construction of these waterworks has very materially aided the expansion of Port Elizabeth, and numbers of houses and gardens have been built and laid out year by year on the "Hill," which has now very much the aspect of a neat, well-ordered English watering-place. At liiversdale, Somerset East, George Town, Wellington, and Mossel Bay, gravitation works for the distribution of water have also been carried out; that at Mossel Bay costing £26,000, the length of piping being 22 miles. At Beaufort West, a very large dam or reservoir has been constructed by the local Municipal Corporation. Previous to the formation of this dam the town was solely dependent for its water supply on two springs, the yield of which often fell to 20,000 gallons a day—a supply which was quite insufficient in the dry seasons. Accordingly the Municipal Commissioners constructed a reservoir by throwing an embankment across an opening in a ridge of low hills, thereby collecting the drainage from an area of 60 square miles. The capacity of the reservoir newly-made, under the supervision of Mr. Brand, in 1880, is estimated at 572,000,000 gallons. The greatest depth of water at the embank- ment is 19 feet, and the height of the embankment at its highest part is 25 feet. The cost of the works was £13,800. In 1883, the direct revenue derived from leasing new lands to be irrigated from the dam is stated to have been £1,000. The indirect revenue can scarcely be estimated, consisting as it does in a great improve- ment in the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Another important undertaking—that of supplying water to the Diamond Fields at Kimberley from the Vaal River (a distance of 17 miles)—has been very successfully carried out by the Kim- berley Waterworks Company (Limited), an English association, with a capital of £350,000. The intake is in the centre of the Vaal River, and the water flows through two eighteen-inch wrought iron pipes into a well 70 feet deep, built of stone in cement. At the head of the well in the engine house is a powerful A frame engine, which lifts the water from the well and forces it through eighteen-inch pipes into reservoirs or settling tanks, of which there are four, each capable of containing one million gallons. From these tanks the water is conducted through suction pipes, fourteen inches in diameter, to the main engines, by which it is now forced a distance of seventeen miles through fourteen-inch wrought iron 138 THE KIMBERLEY WATERWORKS. pipes into the storage reservoir at Kimberley, a height ahove the river of about 470 feet. The engine-house at the river is divided into three separate compartments:—the lowlift engine-house, where stands the A frame engine to lift the water from the well; the boiler-house, in which are four compound sectional boilers, and the main engine-honse where are two 60 n. h.p. horizontal compound surface condensing engines which can be used separately or together as may be required. The engines and boilers were specially designed for this Company, and constructed by Messrs. Simpson & Co., of London. In the first instance, it was thought advisable to break the distance and lift from the River to Kimberley, and an intermediate Station, about halfway between the two points, was accordingly constructed. At this station there is a reservoir of a capacity of 300,000 gallons, and an engine-house containing two horizontal engines and three boilers precisely similar to those at the river. The water was originally pumped from the reservoirs at the river into this one, and thence almost simultaneously pumped to the storage reservoir at Kimberley. After numerous tests and experi- ments it was found to be feasible to pump direct the entire distance from the river to Kimberley, and consequently the intermediate station is not now in use. The storage reservoir at Kimberley is a large circular basin, constructed at the highest point above the town, and capable of containing ten millions of gallons. The water for consumption in the town is conducted through 14-inch pipes to the filtering reser- voir (200,000 gallons) in the vicinity where, after being filtered, it is discharged into a clear water reservoir adjoining, capacity 300,000 gallons, and thence flows by gravitation through a 14-inch wrought iron pipe into the heart of the town, and is then distributed through branches of 6 and 3-inch cast iron pipes. There are mains through nearly every street and a large number of hydrants have been fixed for the protection of property. The town system is divided by means of valves into 24 sections, so that while one section may be undergoing repair the general supply is not interrupted. The condition of the water for use in the mines being immaterial, the four mines, Kimberley, De Beer's, Dutoitspan, and Bultfontein are served direct from the storage reservoir. There are now about seventy miles of mains laid. Mr. F. R. Despard, As., M.I.C.E., is the manager and superintending engineer. CAPE WOODS AND FORESTS. By A. W. Heywood, Fokest Department. The large forests of the Colony exist in the temperate regions of the Southern mountain chains near the sea, running almost parallel to the coast. Altogether these wooded "tracts cover an area of something over 350 square miles. About one- half of this forms a nearly continuous strip in the Divisions of George, Knysna, and Humansdorp, constituting the Conserva- torship of Knysna. The other half (the Conservatorship of King William's Town) is situated in the Amatola mountains and subsidiary ranges, in the Divisions of Stutterheim, King Wil- liam's Town, Victoria East and Stockenstrom. There are also some small patches of high timber forests in the Fort Beaufort Division, and a larger area in the Zuurberg mountains of the Uitenhage Division; in addition to which, the Eastern forests comprise about 50 square miles of low but valuable forest partially demarcated near the coast. The Transkeian Territories lately annexed to Cape Colony are reported to contain many fine forests; but their extent is not accurately known, nor have they as yet been placed under the administration of the Forest Department. They are said to abound in both the Stinkwood of the Western, and the Sneeze- wood of the Eastern forests, a circumstance unknown in the older portions of the Colony. Until within a recent period, the management and working of the Cape forests was of a very unsystematic and thriftless cha- racter. Fellings were not confined to limited areas or sections; woodcutters were allowed to pick and choose their trees indiscri- minately throughout the forests, and to pay only for the wood actually removed. The consequence of such a method was that only the choicest trees were felled, and their rejected portions left to cumber the ground. It has been estimated that by working on this system nearly thirty cubic feet of wood were wasted for every one utilised and paid for. Natural reproduction was thus severely handicapped; many forests disappeared altogether; and those which now remain and are at all accessible, have been impoverished to the last degree. In 1880, the question of forest management was brought before Parliament. It was pointed out that the officers in charge had received no special training for the work which had in eonse- 140 FOREST MANAGEMENT. quence suffered severely, and the salary for a trained forest officer was voted by the Legislature. The Crown Agents in London were consulted, and with the assistance of Colonel Pearson, then at Nancy, the services of Count de Vasselot de Regne. of the French Forest Department, were secured. This officer arrived in Cape Town early in 1881, and as Superintendent of Woods and Forests undertook the organisation of the present Forest Department. In 1883, by the courtesy of the Indian Government, the services of Mr. Hutchins, Deputy Conservator of Forests, were made tem- porarily available to the Colony. Count de Vasselot first set about the introduction of a proper management scheme for the Knysna and adjoining forests, whilst Mr. Hutchins proceeded with the demarcation of Reserves in the King William's Town and neighbouring divisions. KNYSNA AND TZITZIKAMMA FORESTS. Having regard to the conditions prevailing at George, Knysna and Tzitzikamma, Count de Vasselot adopted the method of dividing the forests into blocks, and sub-dividing them again into sections. Fellings now proceed regularly in bi-annual sections, so that the re-growth in the first section cut may develop into mature trees by the time the working of the last section is finished, and there will thus be no occasion at any time to close the entire forest. The period for the "revolution" of fellings has been fixed at 40 years. (For a full description of the system adopted see Intro- duction to Systematic Forestry: Cte. M. de Vasselot.) The forest staff at the Knysna consists of one Conservator, 3 officers of the higher grade, and 6 forest rangers or guards. The work of each officer of the higher grade extends over an area varying, according to circumstances, from 10,000 to 30,000 acres. The timber, or high forests, are surveyed by him. He determines the boundaries of series or blooks, and draws up work- ing plans for the formation of sections. All working schemes are submitted to the Superintendent of Woods and Forests, and after approval the lines are opened, seotions surveyed, and trees avail- able for felling counted and stamped. The total forest area in the Knysna conservation is approxi- mately 100,000 acres, of which about three-quarters have been considerably exhausted by reckless and indiscrimate felling. Not- withstanding this, sixteen series or blocks have already been formed and twenty-one sections opened for felling. No working is allowed under any oircumstances in forests not properly surveyed and demarcated. Two-thirds of the Knysna forests have yet to be so treated. It is estimated that these forests, even in their present condition, properly worked, will yield annually 1,200,000 cubic feet of squared timber valued at £15,000 at licence rates. KN'YSNA WOODS. 14] The tariffs for standing trees at present in force at Knysna vary from one penny to three pence per cubic foot of sound wood, with one exception, Stinkwood, for which the rate is fixed at one shilling per foot, as this, the most valuable species, was threatened with extermination. Poles from six inches to ten inches in diameter are sold at one penny per running foot; spars from four inches to six inches in diameter, sixpence per 100 running feet. The following list includes the principal woods found in the Knysna forests. The weights and cost of working have been calculated by Messrs. J. Bisset, M.I.C.E., and Henry Hall, F.B.G.S.:— Weight of a cubic foot (dry) in lbs. Common Name. Botanical Name. -1 II m u Upright Yellow wood Podocarpus latifolius 35 1-35 Outeniqua do. Do. elongatus .. 30 1-35 Black Ironwood Olea laurifolia 64 2-00 White do Vepris lanceolata 71 Stinkwood Oreodaphne bullata 54 1- 6 Olyvenhout (Olive) Olea verrucosa 72 2- 0 Assegai Curtisia faginea 66 1- 5 White Pear Pterocelastrus rostratus.. 51 Kersehout (Candle wood).. Do. variabilis 68 Wit Els (White Alder) .. Platylophus trifoliatus .. 38 125 Saffraan Elceodendron croceum .. 54 Quar Euclea undulata 63 Ylier (Wild Elder) Nuxia floribunda 47 Red Els (Eed Alder) • .. Cunonia Capensis 47 1-60 Essenhout (Cape Ash) Eckebergia Capensis 48 1-40 Hard Pear.. Olinea Capensis .. 68 Beukenhout (Beech) Myrsine melanopleos 47 Kamassi (Cape Box) Gronioma Kamassi 58 White Wood 48 Zybast Celastrus acuminatus 64 Zwarthout 68 Red Wood Ochna arborea Melkhout (Milk Wood) .. Mimusops obovata 68 1-75 Red Pear . . Scalopia Ecklonii Zwart Bast (Black Bark). . Eoyena lucida 55 Klip Els (Rock Alder) .. Plectonia mundtiana 55 Terblantz Protea sp. The great difficulty attending the preparation of all Colonial woods has been to overcome their excessive tendency to warp and 142 YELLOW-WOOD. orack when dried. It is hardly possible to successfully season wood in open yards, so dry is the climate, and so great the daily range of temperature. The question of the most suitable time for felling is therefore of the greatest moment, and has been carefully considered by Count de Vasselot, whose remarks on this subject are of considerable interest. He says:— I am of opinion that the period for felling all wood (in the Colony; should be between the 1st of April and the 31st of August, and that a felUng season of three months is long enough for any species. Tims if a species be of late vegetation (as the assegai for instance in 1884), the cutting season might be limited from the 1st of May or even the 1st of June to the 31st of August; and in the same manner if species commence vegetation early, the season might be from the 1st of April to the 1st of July. (Selection and Seasoning of Wood. Count M. de Vasselot). Nearly 50 per cent, of the total yield of Colonial high timber forests consists of the two species of yellowwood (Podocarpus lati- folius and P. elongatus). Of these the former, or "Upright " has sometimes been called the "real" or true yellowwood, but its claim to such title is open to dispute. The name is derived from the Dutch "opregte." The latter, or Outeniqua yellowwood, attains larger dimensions than any other tree in the Colony. Its crown is massive, fre- quently sixty feet in diameter, and its trunk short and bifurcated. Upright yellowwood, on the contrary, has a comparatively light covert, and a greater length of bole. It is difnoult to distinguish between the wood of these species; both are of a light-yellow colour, and very close grained, but the bark of the Upright is of a whitish appearance, and fibrous, whereas that of the Outeniqua is almost black, thin, and scaly. The largest Outeniquas measure thirty feet in girth and about eighty feet in height. Upright, though sometimes found with a clean bole of fifty feet, does not average more than six feet in girth. Both species have an equal commercial value, and may be regarded as the "Colonial pine." The economic career of yellowwood has been somewhat chequer- ed. The floorings, ceilings, doorways, and window sashes of many old Colonial homesteads were made of this wood, and in- stances are numerous of its having withstood the influences of wind and weather for upwards of a hundred and twenty years. Some of the piles used in constructing the old jetty at Knysna were of yellowwood, and for twenty years remained sound and untouched by the voracious teredo. On the other hand sleepers of unpickled yellowwood have been known to rot in the second year after they were laid down, and their average duration has not exceeded four or five years. In cases where reliable information has been forthcoming, it has CREOSOTING APPARATUS. 143 been ascertained that much of the wood giving unsatisfactory re- sults had been felled in Spring after the sap had risen, and employed in an utterly unseasoned condition. In one instance, green wood cut in summer had been coated with tar. The sap was thus shut in, evaporation prevented, and rot was the natural sequence. With results so variable, large consumers of timber have systematically avoided yellowwood, but it has been demonstrated that the wood has has not been fairly tried, and that failures have resulted not from any inherent defect, but from improper felling and carelessness in seasoning. In 1877 twenty-four railway sleepers were experimentally ereo- soted in England, and laid in the Cape main line. For the pur- pose of examination, five were taken up in 1883, and found to be sound, and the remainder, half Upright and half Outeniqua, are still in the ground. Further experiments, made by Messrs. J. Bland & Co., of Cardiff, S. Wales, in 1883, demonstrated that yellowwood readily absorbs creosote, and is capable of resisting, the various shocks and strains to which a railway sleeper is subjected, more effectually than the Baltic fir now principally in use. The success of these trials induced Government to purchase saw-mills at Gouna, near Knysna, and to erect a creosoting apparatus capable of turning out a sleeper supply sufficient for the whole Colony. This work has already been taken in hand by a special Government department. Contracts for 50,000 sleepers have been entered into,- and a first shipment of 10,000 forwarded to Cape Town, creosoted and ready to lay down. Besides the creosoting method, experiments are also in progress for the protection of yellowwood by the injection of chloride of zinc, a process attended with marked success in Holland. The result of this extensive trial is awaited with considerable interest. If successful the Baltic sleeper will be superseded so far as Cape Colony is concerned; for her forests are well able to yield the supply necessary to maintain existing lines, and it is expected that other woods, notably Ironwood, will be found equal to the service. For 1886 requirements are estimated at 80,000 sleepers. Large sums have been annually voted by Parliament for forest conservation purposes with as yet but small return so far as revenue' is concerned. If, however, Yellowwood proves itself the good wood its few friends believe it to be, and can be manufactured at a price to compete with Baltic fir, then the large amounts annually sent abroad, £83,000 in 1883, and £44,000 in 1884, for the purchase of sleepers may be retained within the Colony, and encouragement will be given for more extensive schemes of conservation. The most valuable timber grown in the Knysna forests is undoubtedly Stinkwood (Oreodap/me bullata). About one-eighth of the wood marked for felling in these forests consists of Stink' 144 STINKWOOD. wood. In organio structure the wood bears a remarkable resem- blance to Burmah teak, and has been called the "Teak" of South Africa. Stinkwood naturally reproduces itself with great facility from seeds and ooppioe shoots, but as a nursery tree its qualities have not been ascertained. Its growth is rapid: perhaps more rapid than that of any other indigenous tree in the Colony; as few as six annual rings of growth are frequently counted to the inch. Three distinct varieties are produced by this species,—white, mottled, and black, owing to different conditions of growth. When freshly worked a somewhat disagreeable odour is exhaled from the wood, but all unpleasantness quickly disappears. Stinkwood has been extensively used for building purposes and wagonmaking. The black variety is highly prized for cabinetmaking. It takes an excellent polish, and has a wavy irridescent appearance; otherwise it is not unlike walnut. Used as railway sleepers, Stinkwood has lasted ten or twelve years in the ground, but it has now become too valuable for the purpose. The high prices obtained for logs, and the former relatively low licence rate for felling, naturally led to a large trade in this wood to the neglect of other species, and to the detriment of the forests. Stinkwood was therefore fast dis- appearing, and in 1883 the licence was raised to one shilling per cubic foot, a higher rate than for any other Knysna woods. As with all Colonial woods the greatest care is necessary in seasoning Stinkwood. The climate of the country is such that the period of repose in vegetation is very short, and not easdy deter- mined; the difficulty of taking trees at the moment they contain their minimum of sap is therefore correspondingly great. Added to this the extreme dryness of the atmosphere induces a too rapid evaporation of the moisture in the wood, and splits and cracks can only be avoided by the greatest care. A trial has been made to overcome these difficulties by immersing the wood in brackish water for three months. Three hundred logs intended for the con- struction of railway rolling stock, have been thus treated. The results so far appear satisfactory, but too short a time has elapsed to report fully on this process. When successful methods for its preparation have been discovered, and when the measures now adopted for restoring and improving the forests shall have pro- duced an increased supply, it is not too much to expect that Stink- wood will be used in the manufacture of all Colonial rolling stock, and the importation of this considerable item discontinued so far as the woodwork is concerned. The quantity of Stinkwood avail- able for felling in 1885 in the surveyed portions of the Knysna and Tzitzikama forests was 65,500 cubic feet, valued at licence rates at £3,132, and worth £11,500, delivered in Cape Town. The order Jasminaceje is represented in the Knysna and Tzitzi- kama forests by three principal varieties: Oka verrucosa (olive OLIVE-WOOD AND I RON-WOOD. 145 wood, or Olyvenhout); Oka laurifolia (Black Ironwood); and Oka faceolata (Bastard Ironwood). The wood commonly called white Ironwood (Vcpris lanceolata) belongs to a totally different order, Xanthoxyleee. Black Ironwood largely predominates, and constitutes about one-sixth of the contents of these forests. It is extremely hard, heavy, and difficult to work, and its economic uses in the Colony are few. For furniture, wagonmaking, and fencing poles a small quantity is consumed, hut its testings as railway sleepers (uncreo- soted) have not been sufficiently encouraging to justify its extended use for this purpose. Trials have not yet been made of its durability when creosoted. They are, however, proposed, and if successful Ironwood will form a valuable supplement to Yellow- wood in this service, and the forests will be greatly benefited by the removal of large quantities of mature timber now simply rot- ting away. Under instructions from Sir John Coode, Ironwood has been experimented on for piles at Yarmouth (where only American Greenheart can endure), and of seven species of Cape hardwoods, excluding Sneezewood (Pteroxylon utile) which was not tried, it has best withstood the action of the sea-worm. On the Breakwater at Table Bay, it is used above water, but below is rapidly attacked by the teredo. Black Ironwood takes an excellent polish and is peculiarly marked. Selected logs might be exported with profit for the manufacture of mechanical appliances, engine-bearings, &c, re- quiring a hard, heavy, close-grained wood. Of other Knysna trees none attain the dimensions of those already described. For the most part they are hard, tough, close grained, and principally used in the construction of carts, wagons, agricultural implements and for fencing poles and furniture. For cabinetmaking of a high class, some Cape woods might be exported with advantage. Hard Pear, Wild Olive, Kersehout, Essenhout, Red and White Els are specially worthy of notice. For the requirements of the colonial wagon-making industry, the Knysna woods are admirably adapted, possessing all the toughness and elasticity necessary to withstand the perpetual shocks and strains occasioned by roads, in some localities of the very worst description. The ordinary load of a transport wagon is 10,000 lbs., and the usual team consists of sixteen oxen, though in some mountain passes a double team is required. In the Western Province, thePaarl and Worcester are centres of the wagon-making trade. In the prosperous years following the discovery of the Diamond Fields, hundreds of carts and wagons were sent away every month to Kimberley, the Transvaal, and Free State. Of late years the industry has considerably declined, partly owing to the railway 146 WOOD FOR ENGRAVING PURPOSES. having in many districts superseded the primitive mode of convey- ance, and partly to the diminution of trade. Large numbers of the unique Cape cart, with fixed or folding hood, are, however, still manufactured. For strength, endurance, and comfort in travelling they are unequalled by any American imitations which have endeavoured to compete with them. Wagons are usually built in the hottest part of the year, and are thus able to withstand the severest droughts. At the Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition, it was ascertained that several Colonial hard woods might be advantageously used for engraving purposes. Specimens* were therefore prepared (cross sections, one inch thick), and forwarded to Messrs. C. and A. Young, engravers on Avood, Ludgate Circus, and their report is as follows:— Kamassi (Gonioma Kamassi). Suitable for the finest mechanical engraving, such as machinery of all descriptions; also adapted for ordinary engraving purposes. Quar {Euclea undulata). Nearly equal Kamassi, and quite suitable for ordinary engraving. Redwood (Ochna arborea). Very suitable for ordinary en- graving, also most excellent for wood type. Salie Wood (Buddleia sahiqfolia). Quite suitable for the bolder kinds of engraving, also excellent for wood type. Saffraan {Elwodendron croceum). Excellent for the large size of wood type, posters, and bold engraving generally. White Pear (Pterocelastrus rostratiis). A good useful wood for all the larger kinds of engraving, wood type, posters, &e. With the exception of Saffraan, the trees mentioned in this list are under two feet in diameter. Some of them rarely exceed, twelve inches in diameter, and are at the present time sold at the rate of one penny per running foot as poles. As their small size would pro- bably not militate against their usefulness for engraving purposes, and for the manufacture of mechanical appliances, such as weaver's shuttles, skate-rollers, &c, it is expected that further trials will lead to an export trade in these valuable woods to meet the demand for the ever diminishing supply of true box-wood. No estimate of the quantity of these woods is at present avail- able, as all trees under twelve inches in diameter, when marked for sale, have been indiscriminately described as "poles." The num- ber is, however, considerable, and arrangements are in progress for the enumeration of each species. * Specimens were not tested of Cape Box (Gala-gala), probably a more valuable wood than any of those submitted. Its qualities will be mentioned in connexion witb the Eastern forests of the Colony. EASTERN FORESTS. The principal timber trees in the Eastern forests are: 147' Common Name. Botanical Name. Sneezewood Pteroxylon utile. Upright Yellowwood Podocarpus latifolius. Bastard do. Do. pruinosus. Outeniqua do. Do. elongatus. White Ironwood Vepris lanceolata. Black do. Olea laurifolia. Red Els Cunonia Capensis. Scalopia Ecklonii. Red Pear White Pear Pterocelastrus rostratus. Hard Pear Olinea Capensis. Thorn Pear Scolopia Zeyheri. Kafir Plum Harpephyllum Caffriun. Boerbone Schotia latifolia. Kamdeboo Stinkwood Celtis rhamnifoliu. Saffron-wood Elcedendron croceum. Essenwood (Cape Ash) Eckebergia Capensis. Wild Olive Olea verrucosa. Knobwood Xanthoxylon Capense. White Milkwood Sideroxylon inerme. Cape Plane. . Ochna arborea. Beukenwood Myrsine melanopleos. Red Milkwood Wild Lemon Grumiha cymosa (?) Assegai Curtisia faginea. Paardepis, or Foul Leafwood Hippobromus alata. Cape Box (Gala-gala) Undetermined. Black Bark or Swart Bast Royena lucida. Guarri Euclea lanceolata. Red Currant Euclea sp. Wild Chestnut Calodendron Capense. Natal Mahogany, Blinkbar, or Wild Peach Red Stinkwood or Bitter Almond Brabejum stellatifolium? Septee Halleria elliptica. Kajatenhout, or Cape Teak Atherstonea decussata. The forests in the East of the Colony are somewhat larger than the Knysna forests, but less compact and less well known. They are naturally classified into mountain forests and coast forests. The bulk of the mountain forests lies North of King William's Town, on the slopes of the two parallel ranges of the Perie and Amatola Mountains. In addition there are detached portions of l2 148 SNEEZEWOOD. forest commonages, and the total area of the Eastern mountain forests is 152 square miles. The licences charged hy Government for felling in the Eastern forests are considerably higher than at Knysna. Thus Upright Yellowwood, which costs 3d. per cubic foot at Knysna, is . charged at the rate of 7d. in the King William's Town divisions. Nor has the old system of selling by load been altogether dispensed with in some districts. An entire revision of the King "William's Town tariff is considered necessary, both for the well being of the forests and the true interests of consumers. As at Knysna about fifty per cent, of the timber is Yellowwood. In the Amatolas both species, Upright and Outeniqua, abound; : some of the largest in the Colony are found in the King William's Town forests. The " Eastern Monarch" (Outeniqua) has a girth of thirty feet, a clean bole of 40 feet, and a total height of 90 feet. The most important tree is, however, Sneezewood (PteroxyUm utile). On the Amatolas it is probably on the verge of its habitat in the west, whilst eastward it flourishes at intervals as far as Natal, where it is said to grow better than in this Colony. Within the Colony Sneezewood and Stinkwood (Oreodaphne bullatd) are never found growing together. The Knysna forests possess no , Sneezewood and the Amatolas no Stinkwood, with the exception of a few small specimens which may be regarded as botanical curiosities. In the forests of the Transkeian territories both are found growing side by side. This is somewhat remarkable, and would appear to denote a blending of the climatic conditions prevailing in the more western regions, favourable to both ; species. Sneezewood is one of the most valuable woods in South Africa. In point of durability it ranks with Grreenheart, Jarrah, and • Camphor. On the Port Elizabeth breakwater, where the attacks of the sea worm (teredo navalis) are exceptionally virulent, it has successfully withstood the test of partial immersion for upwards of twenty years. The heartwood of Sneezewood is regarded as imperishable for fencing posts. It is not attacked by the white ; ant, and posts put in by the earliest colonists are sound to the present day. Unfortunately the supply of large wood is now very limited. Its extirpation was imminent when the forests were taken over for management, and felling is now prohibited in ■ Government reserves. Natural regrowth is everywhere abundant, . and with careful conservation much may be done towards the restoration of Sneezewood to the economic uses it is so eminently i suited to fulfil. The Coast Forests He either directly along the sea shore or in the valleys of the larger rivers as they approach the coast. They have i no pretension to the grandeur of the Amatola forests, and in many BOXWOOD. 149' places, notably in the neighbourhood of Alexandria and Bathurst, have been reduced to mere scrub. They are chiefly valuable for the Sneezewood and Boxwood* they contain. Only during the past year has the value of the latter wood been brought to notice,. and Boxwood now bids fair to tako its place as by far the most valuable wood in South Africa. The Box-producing country is unfortunately limited at present to the south-east corner of the Colony in the neighbourhood of East London. The total area probably does not exceed fifteen or sixteen square miles, half of which is in the hands of private proprietors. Until quite recently this valuable product has been sold as firewood at five shillings a load on the East London market. The average diameter of Boxwood rarely exceeds a foot, and its length of bole twenty feet. An approximate calculation has been made of the Boxwood contained in the Crown forests of Fort Pato and Fort Grey, 7,000 and 12,000 acres in extent respectively. It is estimated that together they contain J>61,400 cubic feet of serviceable wood of different sizes, besides an ample natural re-growth of young trees. Assuming 35 cubic feet to weigh a ton, by which weight the wood is sold, the stock in these forests may be considered roughly 10,000 tons, and, at a price of £20 per ton in the rough log, should be worth £200,000 on the English market. Or if, in order to maintain a continued supply and to keep up natural reproduction, one-fortieth part of the stock be annually felled, a revenue of £5,000 per annum should be derived by the Colony from these two small forests alone. The total area producing Boxwood should yield more than double that amount. Kamassi wood, which, as previously mentioned, grows abundantly at Knysna, is in many respects similar, and by some declared superior to the Boxwood of East London. Together it is hoped these woods may in some measure meet the decreasing supply of hardwoods referred to above. The Conservator of King William's Town is assisted by a staff of six European foresters and four native forest guards. Each forester is stationed in the forest of which he has charge, and besides the ordinary police and inspection duties required of him as well as of similar officers at the Knysna, he is entrusted with the management of a nursery, two or more acres in extent, adjoining his cottage. Each forester is expected to raise 40,000 young trees during the year for planting out on bare patches it is desirable to re-forest. * The genus of this tree has not been determined by Cape Botanists. It has many characteristics of Buxaceac, a genus not hitherto recognised at the Cape. Species of troe Bv.xiis are found in Madagascar and in tropical Africa, and this may prove to be a new species. 1-50 -WESTERN EOREST DIVISION. The Western Divisions of Cape Colony contain little forest of any kind. There are, however, large areas of Crown Land which furnish firewood and grazing, and these are under the immediate supervision of a Conservator and staff of rangers. The most im- portant work in this Division is in connection with Plantations, which have been begun on an extensive scale. In the District of Swellendam there exists a small area of indi- genous woodland about 900 acres in extent, and though nominally under the control of the Forest Department, it is unsurveyed, and no measures have as yet been taken for its systematic management. The species contained in this forest are similar to those of Knysna, and the wood is considered equally serviceable for wagon making and kindred industries. The most noteworthy indigenous tree now found in the "Western Division is the Berg Cypress or Cedar (Widdringtonia junipervide*), which grows in the mountains of Clanwilliam. In former times the whole of the Cedar Berg range was studded with these trees, but conflagrations and the unrestrained use of the axe have well nigh decimated these valuable forests. All the internal woodwork of the church at Clanwilliam and of numerous homesteads is of Cedar from the neighbouring mountains. Sir John Alexander reports that in 1836 a tree was cut down measuring 36 feet in girth, and furnishing 1,000 feet of planking. In quality the wood is said to be equal to the Scriptural Cedar of Lebanon. The specimens remaining are of small growth and scattered over an area of about thirty miles amongst the abrupt mountain crags and kloofs of the Cedar Bergen, snow-capped in winter. The reproduction of this tree from seed has been successfully accomplished in the Government nurseries to be subsequently spoken of. With the exception of Pinus insignis so successfully introduced at Graham's Town, the only pines thoroughly acclimatised in the •Cape Colony are Pinus pinaster (Pin maritime of Franoe) and Pinus pinea (Stone Pine of Italy), and nowhere do they flourish so well as on the Cape Peninsula. The Pine woods stretching along the fertile strip of country on the south-east slopes of Table Mountain constitute a remarkable feature in the landscape. Both species reproduce themselves with the greatest facility, and under old trees in favoured localities, young Pines come up like grass. Cape Town and its suburbs are supplied with firewood from these plantations, and the wood, though excellent in quality, is rarely applied to other uses. The Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) was first introduced into Cape Colony in 1828. Plants from Australian seed were raised in Mauritius by Sir Lowry Cole when Governor of that island, and •on being transferred to Cape Town in the above-mentioned year DRIFT SANDS. 151 he brought a number of seedlings with him. Nine only survived the voyage, and were planted in the Governor's garden. Of these two are still standing, and consequently are about 58 years old. The largest measures 19 feet in girth at 3 feet from the ground. Its height is not more than 95 feet, further growth having been stopped, as with all trees in these gardens, by the violence of the wind. Perhaps the most completely acclimatised forest tree is the Oak (Qiiercm pedunculata) introduced by the earliest Dutch settlers. This tree has become naturalised in all the more temperate portions of the Colony, though the climate is undoubtedly warmer than in its European habitat. It bears acorns regularly and very abundantly, and is freely reproduced from self-grown seedlings. It is easily transplanted, and but little care is ordinarily taken to ensure success. In many towns of the Western Province the streets are planted with oaks. At Stellenbosch and Paarl they have attained very large dimensions, and the cool shade afforded by their giant arms is the delight of the villagers and a lasting monument of the enterprise and forethought of Governor van der Stell, who planted them. Cape Town also has its leafy avenue of oaks which, planted 200 years ago, had fallen somewhat into decay. Its restoration has been undertaken by the Forest Depart- ment, and a sum of £400 has already been expended on pruning and re-planting. The fixation of the ever-shifting belt of sand constituting the isthmus between False and Table Bays, for many years occupied the attention of Government, and the importance of the work was augmented by the construction of the main railway line from Cape Town across the sand at its most unsettled point. The sand sup- ply is derived from False Bay, and blown inshore by the strong south-east gales prevailing in summer. Previous to 1877, rows of bush screens were erected across the wind, and seeds sown between them. This method was wholly unsuccessful. The screens were blown down, the seeds hopelessly buried, and the sands continued their way without interruption. In the above mentioned year, at the instigation of Mr. Lister, the present Conservator of the Western Forest Division, a railway siding was constructed from D'Urban Road station, nine miles from Cape Town, right into the heart of the drifts, and along this the street refuse of Cape Town was deposited daily. In this manner about 1,500 tons of manure were supplied monthly for about five years, a great portion of which has been carted away and spread over the sand • hills. In the drifts thus temporarily arrested, a mixture of seed was sown composed of Pyp Grass [Ehrhartia giyantea), Australian Black Wattle {Acacia Saligna), Hakea Suateolens, and two varieties of Pine (P. Pinaster and P. 152 DRIFT SANDS. Pined). The success of this method has been complete, and the- sandy wastes in the vicinity of the railway, in area about four miles, are now clothed with a luxuriant growth of grass and trees with an almost park-like appearance. Pyp grass grows readily and quickly, fixing the sand until such time as the more effective trees spring up. The more difficult portions have cost about £6 per acre to reclaim, but the average of the entire area does not exceed £2 per acre. A return equal to the interest on the money thus invested may now safely be drawn from the plantation. The Pines have not been altogether successful, but the Black Wattle (A. Saliffna) could not apparently have found a more con- genial home. The trees first planted are now eight years old, and where special care has been given to their cultivation, some measure five feet in girth at one foot from the ground, where the branches bi-furcate. Self-sown seedlings spread rapidly, and in a few years the entire area will doubtless be covered with this valu- able wood, and a handsome revenue may be looked for. The bark is highly esteemed by tanners, who pay for it £7 10s. per ton, dry, and for fuel the wood is far superior to the fir, now almost universally consumed. The percentage of tannin yielded by this Wattle has not been definitely ascertained in the Colony, but it is- supposed to be not inferior to the Australian yield, viz., 30 per cent. The entire isthmus between Table Bay and False Bay ap- pears to be admirably adapted for the cultivation of Australian tannin-producing Acacias. Special prizes are offered by Govern- ment for the cultivation of these sandy flats, and private enterprise- is now being directed, though somewhat languidly, to meet an in- creasing want of tanning material. Acacia Glaucophylla is also- extensively grown, and A. melanoxylon has been very successfully introduced. The latter variety has, however, been almost entirely eradicated, and its planting discouraged, owing to its ready attack by the Dorthesia or Australian Bug. PLANTATIONS. In 1876 a stimulus was given to tree-cultivation by the passing of an Act, whereby public bodies were aided by Government to the extent of one-half their expenditure on such work, and £1,000 is annually voted for the purpose. In the same year an experimental fuel plantation, principally Blue Gum, was com- menced by Government at Worcester, about 100 miles from Cape Town. The area of this plantation is 80 acres, and it contains- about 40,000 well grown poles; many of them, now ten years old,. •To the ravages of this post the Colony is indebted for the loss of many of her finest orange groves in the neighbourhood of Wellington, Stellenbosch, and Piquetberg. The Dorthesia has been described in the United States, where it also destroys orange trees, as lecrya Pitrchasi. According to the reports of Professor McCoy, of the Mel- bourne Museum, it is undoubtedly a native of Victoria, Australia. PLANTATIONS. 153 are five feet six inches in girth, and all nearly 100 feet high. The annual increment is calculated to be eleven tons of dry wood per acre. A similar plantation, eight acres in extent, was commenced, and is now flourishing, at Beaufort West, but the scarcity of water, and the brak (saline) nature of the soil rendered the work too costly to be continued. The success of the Worcester plantation has lead to the forma- tion of nurseries and plantations at Tokai, on the Table Mountain range near Constantia, and at Ceres Road. At Tokai plants have been raised of about 150 species of extra-tropical trees, of which the seeds have been imported from all the warm-temperate countries of the world. There are 33 varieties of Eucalypti, and about 20 varieties of Pines. The Oak (Q. pedunculata), and Camphor Tree, acclimatised for upwards of 200 years, are exten- sively propagated. Nearly a million tree-plants are now flourishing in these nurseries. It is proposed to re-forest the whole of Table Mountain, and in two seasons nearly 1,000 acres have been planted. At Ceres Road an area of about 3,000 acres bordering the railway is in process of re-foresting. In one season 500 acres have been planted with 105,000 trees, comprising 75 species.— Special attention is given to the cultivation of Jarrah (E. marginata), and Camphor Tree, which are expected to prove most useful in railway works. DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS AND SEEDS. This is an important function of the Forest Department in the Western Division. In four years, 1882-85, fully a quarter of a million plants have been distributed throughout the colony from the Worcester nurseries, at an almost nominal rate; and in two seasons Tokai has supplied the public with 140,000 plants. Of seeds, 19,000 pounds weight have been disposed of in four years, consisting principally of Pinus pinea, P. pinaster, and Acacia mliyna. A large proportion is supplied gratis to perpetual lease- holders of certain Crown lands. With such machinery at work, and with a growing appreciation of the utility of tree-planting and forest conservation, it is con- fidently hoped that the efforts of Government in this direction, will, in future years, render the colony independent of foreign markets for her timber supply. THE CAPE AS A HEALTH RESORT. The Cape Peninsula. By C. Lawkence Herman, M.B.; M.C.; M.R.C.S. Though the Cape climate has already for a long time enjoyed a reputation for its salubrity, and many travellers have been warm in their praises of its health-giving properties, it is incomprehensible that so little is known in Europe of its advantages as a resort for invalids, "even by our best physicians."* The South African Medical Association, with a view to placing on record some definite and reliable information on the subject, appointed a committee, with the sanction of the Colonial Govern- ment, to collect and collate information dealing with this impor- tant subject. Circulars were sent to medical men all over the Colony asking for assistance, and a large number of replies were elicited, containing most valuable information. The space allotted in the Handbook to this subject unfortunately renders it impossible to do more than give a few extracts from some of these replies. It will be sufficient, however, to say that they were of a uniformly favourable character, and establish incontestably the beneficial effects of this climate on invalids suffer- ing from chest affections. The appended reports, necessarily very brief, written by gentle- men who have a practical knowledge of the districts they describe, and using the information obtained in reply to the committee's circular, may serve as a guide to the most important areas into which, for purposes of description, it has been found necessary to divide the Colony. It must be remembered that over so extensive an area, presenting such varied physical features, high mountains, low-lying valleys, elevated table lands interpersed by patches of desert here and there, the climate must needs vary very considerably in different parts, and it is necessary therefore carefully to examine the meteorological circumstances of each area before recommending invalids to take up their residence in any particular locality. The seasons here are not so well marked as in Europe. Spring merges into summer, and there is little change between autumn and winter. Christmas time sees us at the Cape in nearly mid- summer. Spring is a most delightful season, when glad nature * Dr. Harry Leech, Notes on South Africa for Invalids. THE CAPE PENINSULA. 155 rejoices, and the earth is covered with the greenest verdure, crop after crop of the most beautiful flowers succeed each other, covering the veldt on every side, as far as the eye can reach with a red, white, or yellow carpet. The heat is nowhere excessive, and though the direct rays of the sun, particularly in summer, may be very great, yet the peculiar dryness and rarefaction of the atmosphere render it easily bearable. In some of the deep-lying valleys where the motionless air becomes heated by the large mountain masses, the heat is in summer oppres- sive, but the actual heat is at no time excessive. Taking as an example Kimberley, notably one of the warmest places in the Colony, we find the absolute maximum temperature during 1882:— For January 1055 [ For July 75-6 February 101-3 March 94-2 April 91-5 May 79-1 June 750 August 85'0 September 92-7 October 96-0 November 97-5 December 101*0 Yet there is no place in the Colony whose people have more ceaseless activity, or more restless energy. Europeans work here all day, heedless of the heat. The day is characterised by a maximum of sunlight, a balmy, buoyant atmosphere with a clear cloudless sky of the purest blue, and a cool night succeeds a warm day. In former years, before the opening of the Suez Canal, the Cape was the favoured resort for invalids from India. It was the winter season that evoked their enthusiasm. 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 dear away and the sky remains bright for several days." The total mean annual temperature is 61 "26 F. in the shade, a remarkable approach to the mean annual temperature of England, 62°, and when to this fact is added the peculiar characteristics of the Cape climate, the excessive dryness, clearness, and rarefaction of the atmosphere, with a maximum of sunlight, a series of condi- tions of an almost typical character are met with for the treatment of pulmonary affections. The peculiar dryness of our climate, while it gives it such valuable properties for invalids suffering from pulmonary disease, is, as Dr. W. H. Ross remarks, "the cause at once of all our woes and our wants. The periodical and long-continued droughts have made 156 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. all agricultural speculations a mere matter of reliance on St. Swithin; while the gradual denudation of the soil by bush-fires, and careless cutting down of trees, has intensified the action of the sun and the desert winds. The greater part of our colonial land is glazed with baked clay, from which the water runs off as fast as it falls. There is nothing to retain moisture and allow of slow filtration, and except in the neighbourhood of the Knysna and George forests, and the few miles of territory that are moderately well wooded, there is really no certainty as to water supply." Such being the broad characteristics of the Cape climate, it is easy to see what class of patients will be most benefited by a sojourn here. The rainy seasons vary in different parts, so that the invalid need find no difficulty in travelling from place to place to avoid the wet. In the most advanced cases, it would be best to winter on the plains and pass the summer in the cooler and more elevated mountain lands of the interior; but in less marked conditions the coast need not be left, as the late Dr. Harry Leech (Medical Officer for the port of London) remarks in his " Notes on S. Africa for invalids:"— "I can safely say that even the air of "Wynberg on the one side, and of Green and Sea Points 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. 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 (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." The prevalent diseases are those of Europe; epidemic disease is rare. There is no ague, or yellow fever, nor has cholera ever visited our shores, and hydrophobia is unknown. Cases of chronic lung disease are infrequently met with among the European population, and acute lung disease is not attended with so much danger as in Europe; even infants a few weeks old recover from severe attacks of bronchitis which would invariably have proved fatal in Europe. The fevers are of a mild type, and are seldom followed by sequelce. Diseases of a parasitic nature are rare, and Hydatids are infrequent. Rheumatisms and neuralgia? are common, due to some extent, doubtless, to the large amount of meat consumed, and perhaps also to a diluted malarial influence. "Whilst all pulmonary affections are benefited by a residence in this climate, it cannot be too earnestly recommended that cases sent out here should be carefully picked; frequently invalids THE CAPE PENINSULA. 157 suffering from pulmonary phthisis arrive here in the last stages of their complaint, and are landed only to die. To derive any real benefit they must arrive early, and to effect any lasting ameliora- tion in their condition it is advisable for them to take up residence here for a considerable period; in fact, they must he encouraged to make this country their home. Sufferers from bronchial and asthmatic affections derive great benefit here. Where there is any marked hereditary phthisical tendency, a residence is most strongly to be recommended, particularly in the case of children. In other conditions of debilitating and wasting disease, much benefit will be derived from travelling in our equable climate; and a convalescence from a serious illness can be most profitably spent by voyaging to the Cape, spending a short time here, and then returning. The voyage to the Cape has justly become famed as one of the most pleasant and enjoyable it is possible to make, and the great ocean steamers of the Cape lines have become celebrated for their comfort and punctuality. Provided with every necessary and every comfort, each carrying a surgeon, they touch, either outward or homeward, at Lisbon, Madeira, St. Helena, and sometimes Ascension, and accomplish the voyage to Cape Town in somewhat less than three weeks. Cape Town is the most convenient place for the invalid to land at; it is provided with the best means of communication with the interior. "In all the world," says Mr. Froude, in his Oceana, "there is no place so beautifully situated." The sanitary condition of the town itself is unfortunately not over good, though vastly improved in the last year or two. Hotels and private boarding- houses are numerous, and everything obtainable m the European towns can be got here. It is advisable, however, for the invalid suffering from distinct pulmonary disease not to tarry too long in Cape Town, but to select a locality to proceed up-eountry, and by rail in six, twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours he can comfort- ably, in a Pullman car, be transported hundreds of miles at very small expense and without any discomfort. The cost of living fluctuates very much and differs considerably in different localities, but on the whole it is not more expensive than in England. Luxuries are dear, and servants bad, but the ordinary necessaries of life are cheap and plentiful. In the western parts of the colony fruit is very plentiful. House rent is generally high, and the accommodation as a rule is not perfect. The hotels and boarding-houses are open to improve- ment, particularly up-country. A great stride would be made if a good sanitorium for invalids was established on European principles. 158 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. GEAHAM'S TOWN AND THE EASTEEN DISTEICTS. By the Hon. W. Gctbon Atherstone, M.D., F.R.C.S., F.G.S. This area may De said to include all that portion of the Cape Colony between the main chains of mountains and the seaboard to the eastward of the 26th parallel of longitude; the home, in fact, of the British Settlers of 1820 and their descendants. It is divided, as are the southern and western parts of the Colony, into three terraces, separated by mountain ranges running parallel to the coast. 1st. A coast plateau extending to the base of the first moun- tain range, about 1,000 feet altitude, embracing the districts ol Alexandria, Bathurst, Peddie, East London, and Komgha. 2nd. The midland terrace, between the altitudes of 1,000 and 2,500 feet, comprising Albany, Somerset, Bedford, Fort Beaufort, Victoria East, Stockenstrom, and King William's Town. 3rd. The upper plateau, from 2,500 to 5,000 feet above the sea, in which are situated the districts of Cradock, Tarkastad, Queen's Town, Stutterheim, Cathcart, Wodehouse and Aliwal North. The climate of this important and interesting part of the Colony is as varied as the physical character of its fiscal sub- divisions are diversified in altitude, soil, vegetation, geological for- mation, and capacity for absorbing and retaining or throwing off the rainfall, and thus affecting the moisture or dryness of the climate, and its range of temperature,—the chief meteorological factors in considering the claims of particular localities for selection as health resorts. In these three terraces, we have thus a coast climate, warm and moist and equable, its winter cold moderated by the warm sea; a midland climate, cooler and drier and more genial, but with a greater range of temperature, due to its altitude and the greater amount of evaporation from diminished pressure, its mean range varying from 18° to 20°; and a mountain climate drier still, and more bracing, but with much greater extremes of temper- ature, cold nights and hot days, the mean range being more than double that of the lower or coast plateau. Taking Port Elizabeth, Graham's Town, and Aliwal North as representing the three types of climates, the following, taken from tables compiled by the Cape Astronomer-Royal in 1881, of four years observations, 1876 to 1879, will justify these remarks, which are also substan- tially borne out by later and more complete tables compiled by the Meteorological Department. THE EASTERN DISTRICTS. 159 Temperatoee. Humidity Rain M o * . o a> • (E) 1879. I 1. Coast plateau, j 1 Mean temp. Absol max. Mean Mean of min. Complete saturation =100. Amount in inches. «** Absol min. of max. Mean range o t 0 1. Port Elizabeth alt. 180 ft. Summer Winter 66-8 595 945 97 6 48'5 43-0 76-0 67-4 604 533 14-6 141 75 j 80) 1999 49{ 8.E. NE.A W.N. 2. Mtdlaxd. Summer Winter 631 53-1 99-0 82-0 440 350 74-3 637 56 6 50-9 177 74 j 77) 29-59 "1 8.W. WSW Graham's Town 12-8 alt. 1800 ft. 3. Mountain-. Summer Winter 67 i 102-0 84-7 41-0 240 88'£ 62-6 55-8 38-4 344 34'2 55) 77 j 2286 -I S.E. N.W. Aliwal North ... 48-8 alt. 4330 ft. 3. Mountain. Summer Winter 69-7 493 1010 330 230 853 66-8 549 392 30-4 27 6 44 ) 73 j 1835 69J S.E. S.E. Colesberg Bridge 84-5 alt. 3600 ft. 1. Coast {W. i Summer Winter 638 55'3 96-0 920 42 0 41-5 762 664 652 49'2 11-0 17 2 751 83j 34-62 92 J S.E. N.W. Wynberg alt. 250 ft. It will be seen that Graham's Town has the lowest mean temperature in summer, and the smallest range in winter, and the largest rainfall, which occurring in summer cools the heat, and explains its low temperature. The humidity is also less than at Port Elizabeth, although the rainfall is 3 more (nearly 30 inches to 20 inches, at the coast station;) whilst the dry winter reduces the range to 12-8, that of Port Elizabeth 141. The character of the vegetation, soil, and geological formation exerts also a considerable influence on climate and health. The rank luxuriant hairy grass is generally met with in the coast lands, and on the " Zuurberg " Mountains, hence named "Zuur veldt" or "Sour grass" country. The greater part of Lower Albany, Alexandria, Bathurst, Peddie, East London and Keiskama to Fort Beaufort, is of this character. It is far less nutritive than the grass of the middle terrace which is generally "sweet grass," or alkaline bush, the rock formation being shales or conglomerate, rich in alkalies and lime. Stock from this country sent down to the coast lands often sicken and die from the change, gorging them- selves on the coarse grass which requires twice the quantity to give the same amount of nutriment. A mixed herbage is met with on the mountains of the upper terraces, a luxuriant red grass, highly nutritious: and on the plains the stunted karoo shrubs, bitter and alkaline, or a mixture of both, called " gebroken veldt; " and in some parts the mimosa thorns, always an indicative of good country for stock. The special advantages of the climate of each district for indivi- 160 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. dual eases has, of course, to be considered separately. Dr. Drew has ably set forth the claims of Alexandria; Dr. Egan those of King William's Town; Dr. Pearson, those of Seymour and the Kat- berg; but generally the whole of the Eastern Districts have a reputation for salubrity and almost entire absence of malarious and endemic diseases. The extraordinary increase of the descendants of the original settlers during the two-thirds of a century that have elapsed since their arrival here in 1820 ; the advanced age to which so many of them have attained; the tall stature, and healthy physical development of the frontier residents generally, both Dutch and English, as well as the splendid physique and healthy appearance cf the native races, Kafirs and others, and their rapid rate of increase, all point to the healthy character of climate and soil. One of the advantages of Graham's Town as a sanitarium, in addition to its elevated site, fine climate, and pure air, is, as already related, the facility with which invalids can remove by rail to a higher or lower level, to the soft warm balmy air of the coast, where no frosts are known, or the keen dry mountain air of the Katberg, Winterberg, or Stormberg. Another is, that the patient is within easy reach of the comforts and luxuries as well as the necessities of civilized life, and the pleasures of English society— advantages most important yet too often overlooked or disregarded in the choice of a suitable residence for invalids. Of what avail to the unhappy consumptive with body and mind out of gear, is a healthful climate if shut out from the world and society, and from all sources of mental and physical enjoyment. Here pleasurable occupation and amusement suited to every taste, with sufficient inducement for out-door exercise—often as essential as medical treatment or pure air in cases of lingering diseases—are readily obtainable. To the sportsman the deep wooded kloofs of the neighbourhood offer abundant excitement. Antelopes of various kinds, the rhebok, blauwbok, and boschbok, with hares, pheasants, partridges, are found close by; herds of buffaloes still haunt the tangled thickets of the Kowie bush; the duyker and oribie on the grassy flats near Bathurst, and the graceful gazelle of the Cape (the springbok), with korhaan and guinea-fowl on the plains to- wards Bedford and Somerset. To the angler the deep shady pools of the Kareiga, within a few miles, offer tempting attractions, and to lovers of the picturesque, those enjoyable picnic and boating excursions to the different watering places—the Kowie, Kasouga, and Kleinemont—afford in all seasons pleasing change and variety. Whilst to those of intellectual habits and literary taste, the various institutions of the city, its reading-rooms, circulating library, museum, and botanical gardens, are at all times accessible. Invalids who have experienced the effects of both olimates, assert CENTRAL KARROO DISTRICTS. 161 that there is no comparison hetween the clear, dry, invigorating climate of this part of the Colony, and the warm, moist, relaxing heat of Madeira, which has hitherto enjoyed the monopoly of a sanitarium for chest complaints. During my professional life of 45 years in Graham's Town, 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. I have known also cases of hereditary consumption completely eliminated from the system by a prolonged residence in the drier inland parts of the Colony; and I can confidently state, that if the unhappy victim of hereditary consumption were to be sent out to this Colony three or four years before the expected period of attack (as shewn by the history of other members of the family), and kept here in some favourable locality until three or four years after that age, there would be every chance of the hereditary taint being entirely eliminated from the system. In most cases the patient returns home too soon after he feels him- self well, and the irritative matter in the air of his native climate lights up again the dormant germs of his old complaint. THE CENTRAL KARROO DISTRICTS. By H. W. Savndeks, M.B., Loud., F.R.C.S., Eno. The plateau of the "Karroo" or "Great Karroo " is a vast tract of country in the Western and Midland Provinces of South Africa, lying between the Roggeveld and Nieuwveld mountains on the north, and the Zwarteberg mountains on the south, and extending from the Hantam in Calvinia District to Sunday's River in the Graaff-Reinet District, that is, over five degrees of longitude. It includes, for the purposes of a general description, the fiscal Divisions of Tulbagh, Worcester, Prince Albert, Beaufort West, Murraysburg, Willowmore, Aberdeen, Jansenville, part of Somerset East, Cradock and Graaff-Reinet. The approximate average level of the Karroo is about 3,000 feet above sea level. To shew the gradual rise to the north we may give the approximate heights of the chief towns, viz.:—Tulbagh 400 feet; Worcester, 780; Ceres, 1,700; Prince Albert, 2,100 Beaufort West, 2,850; Aberdeen, 2,400; Somerset East, 2,400 Graaff-Reinet, 2,500; Murraysburg, 3,800; Cradock, 2,856. The average height of the Nieuwveld, Roggeveld and Zwartberg mountains may be taken at 5,000 feet, but some of the peaks rise over 7,000 feet. The climate of the Great Karroo is characterised by its extreme M 162 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. dryness, severe and prolonged droughts occurring at intervals, whilst at the best seasons rains seldom fall. The temperature is intensely hot in summer, much more bear- able, however, than an equivalent heat in a moister atmosphere, and the nights are cool, at least on the plains, away from the im- mediate vicinity of the mountains. The skies in summer are mostly of brass, unclouded, exoept by the cirrus of heat on the horizon. Winds in summer are not infrequent, but they are mostly from the north and north-west, and having passed over or perhaps originated in the desert, are comparable to the simoon on a small scale, bringing great clouds of red dust with them, and feeling as if coming from an oven; they seldom blow long. Some places nearer the coast come under the influence of the south-east trades, such as Tulbagh, Prince Albert, Worcester, &o. Thunderstorms are not very frequent, but are often of great violence, and often follow in the wake of the north-west winds; in a few hours vast tracts of country may be transformed into temporary lakes, and great damage is done by the bursting of dams and overflow of rivers at these times. The winter is characterised by very cold nights and early morn- ings, with several hours of bright, sunny weather between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., or thereabouts. The air is remarkably clear, bright and braoing; yet, except in the higher parts of the Karroo, a fire in the sitting room is generally a luxury rather than a necessity, although often acceptable in the evenings. Snow generally falls on the mountains, and sometimes on the higher plains; but for the most part no snow lies in the plains of the Karroo proper—Beaufort, and especially Murraysburg and Gradoek. being exceptions. 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, ooinoiding as it does with the European summer. Of this more will be said hereafter. Taken as a whole, the air of the Karroo may be considered to present some, at least, of the features 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. Coolness or coldness of air temperature and great warmth of sun temperature. 4. Rarefaction. 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 per- CENTRAL KAKKOO DISTRICTS. 163; fection, 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 exeroise and out-door life demanded by the disease; further, the inadequate ventilation- found in most of the houses renders in-door 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 time this has not been practicable from the want of any accom- modation for invalids, but steps are being taken to supply this- want. For instance, Dr. Davey, of Beaufort West, is now recommend- ing in the Lancet, a comfortable home with a Scotch family on the "Nieuwveld Mountains." The summit of the pass now in course of construction over the Zwartberg Mountains, from Prinoe Albert,. is also highly recommended by my friend, Dr. Mearns, of that village, having the advantages of ozone-laden winds in summer from the sea, a plentiful supply of pure mountain water from a, beautiful stream at hand, and a view over the fertile district of Oudtshoorn; hence also a short excursion leads one to the beautiful stalactite caves of the Cango. If sufficient encouragement could be given, no doubt properly constructed institutions could be es- tablished under medical supervision at these and other favourable- spots, and the Karroo would then offer the invalid an all-the-year round residence which would compare with advantage with that in any part of the world—the summer to be spent in the moun- tains, the winter on the plains—thus fulfilling the indications now greatly and wisely insisted upon, namely, an uninterrupted residence in and about the same locality. Nothing has astonished the writer more than the hap-hazardl manner in which consumptive patients are bundled off to South Africa without regard to the phase of the disease, peculiarities- of temperament, or the appropriateness of the climate; and the ignorance displayed of the varieties of climate in South Africa would be laughable, if its consequences were not often so sad. Probably within the bounds of the Colony we possess climates* more varied than can be found in any equivalent area in Europe, and yet the formula suffices, "go to the Cape." The wet season on the south and south-western coast, for example, is the winter;. on the eastern seaboard it is the summer. Too often invalids act at their own or friends' instigation,, having an instinctive preference for a warm climate, or attracted by the reputation of "the Cape;" but still more frequently the medical attendant or even the consulting physician is equally care- less or ignorant in this respect, and either sends incurable and. unsuitable cases to die far away from friends and the comforts of m 2 :164 CAVE HEALTH RESORTS. home, or having selected an appropriate case sends the patient, without any precise instructions, to take his chance. Even Dr. Weber in his recent Croonian Lectures has fallen intu ■error about South Africa. He advises patients to travel up-country by ox-wagon from Wynberg or Qrahamstown. Considerable astonishment would be caused by this method of travelling in a country, all, or nearly all, the chief towns of which are now either on or near lines of railway, and even Bloemfontein is little .more than a day's journey from the present terminus at Kimberley. No doubt the opportunities of acquiring precise information .regarding these points are extremely meagre; neither the countless popular books of travel, nor even the writings of the late Dr. Harry Leach and others, are to be relied upon as accurate, and it was th«- Intention of the medical profession here to compile a medical handbook for the Cape (with full particulars of each district and village) for the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, but it was found that the time allotted was too short; but this is a desideratum we •may shortly hope to see supplied. As Dr. Weber says, the influence of long standing routine mostly guides the practitioner when he selects the most appropriate ■ climate for consumption, the idea of this being ultimately associated as regards treatment with that of warm climates. The formula is " choose the warmest climate accessible," and so one locality is chosen above another on account of an insignificant ■ difference in the mean heat of the year or season. These premises, that cold favours the formation and development of tubercle and that heat deters them, rest upon no proof, and a reaction has set in in some quarters, resulting in an opposite theory, viz., that cold -climates should be exclusively employed. These extremes have produced as a resultant the theory of altitude as the great preven- tative and curative of phthisis. Dr. Jaocond's writing on this subject is diffuse and somewhat difficult to follow, but his argument condensed is to this effect:— •" That, seeing that alike in very hot and very cold climates phthisis .is very prevalent, whilst there are numerous elevated places in the Andes, Switzerland, Silesia, &c, where at a certain altitude con- sumption is almost unknown, one is inclined to favour the altitude theory. This altitude varies for different places according to conditions of temperature. The altitude which preserves at one region will not do so at another, which at the same height :has a warmer temperature." If this theory be applied to the Karroo, it is doubtful whether on account of the latitude, any altitude obtainable on the plains, • comes up to the standard of requirement, and it is pretty certain "that there is no region in which absolute immunity from phthisis ^amongst the native bom inhabitants can be claimed. Nevertheless CENTRAL KARROO DISTRICTS. 165- ihe writer knows from the experience of a three years' residence,, and from communications from various medical men in these districts, that phthisis, especially tubercular phthisis, is almost unknown in many parts. The study of the whole question shows decisively the healthful influence of life in the open air; so that with an agricultural or pastoral people, the lower limit of protection descends, and vice rerm sedentary occupations cause it to ascend. It might be inferred that the protection conferred by altitude is illusory, and that the result depends upon mode of life—yet this would be a. complete error, since the most favourable mode of life, that of an- agricultural population, is powerless against the effects of low altitudes. The climatic conditions which are associated in South Africa with an altitude which confers immunity from phthisis, are chiefly a temperature cold in winter and cool in summer, the winds- having a special direction at fixed times during summer, and- scarcely existing in winter, and a complete pureness of air. These conditions, plus a high altitude, give us the type of olimates which are tonic and stimulant, i.e., curative. I believe they may be found at several places in the manner already hinted at, viz., a-- residence on the summit of the mountain ranges in summer an& on the plains in winter, if the cold be found too severe in the higher altitude. The forms of consumption in which altitude climates are advisable are thus summed up by Dr. Hermann Weber:— 1. Hereditary and acquired tendency to phthisis. 2. The so-called " phthisical habitus." 3. All conditions comprised by the term " phthisis," excepting cases' which are described as non-suitable, e.g. :— (a) Patients of the irritable constitution at any stage of the disease. (>) Very advanced phthisis. («) Phthisis com- plicated by emphysema. (d) Phthisis complicated by albuminuria, (e) Phthisis complicated by disease of the- heart. (/) Phthisis complicated with ulceration of the larynx, (g) Phthisis complicated with rapid progress and constant fever, (h) Phthisis complicated with great loss of weight. («) Phthisis complicated with considerable em- pyema, (f) Phthisis in persons who cannot sleep or eat at high stations, or feel the cold too severely. A tendency to Smmopti/sis was formerly regarded as forbidding- mountain climates, but this is now regarded as an error; it is said, in fact, that it occurs less frequently m these high regions; never- theless, in such cases, considering the remarkable call made upon the circulatory and pulmonary systems by a sudden change to a highly rarefied atmosphere, it would, I think, be better, as a matter 166 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. of prudence, when there is a great tendency to Haemoptysis, to ■make the upward journey by easy stages. Probably in theory the open air, tent and waggon life recom- mended by Livingstone for the Kalihari region, would be the most perfect, but it is seldom practicable, except for the most robust; it 'would be too hot in summer, too cold in winter, besides being •unfitted in other ways. On the whole, however, the Karroo climate is favourable to -out-door life. In summer the whole day can be passed in .a well shaded verandah, or in a hammock slung between trees, and in winter the calm, dry, cold air is inviting to exercise, and the summer evenings, if the patient be prudently clothed, can be •utilized for exercise. Unfortunately the house accommodation, from an invalid's point of view, leaves much to be desired. The common plan of keeping "the house cool is to shut it up all day long in summer, opening the doors and windows only in the early morning; the result is good, as far as coolness is concerned, but an atmosphere is produced thereby which lacks the constant interchange of fresh and foul aii demanded by conditions of health, and still more by those of ■disease. The houses are also as a rule badly ventilated and ill- constructed, comfort being sacrificed to economy, building being -excessively dear. There is a great lack of shady walks, also, on account of the absence of woods. In some villages the streets are well planted, •notably Worcester, Beaufort "West, and Graaff-Eeinet. The farm houses are for the most part situated on the open plains, and have a few trees planted in the vicinity, and frequently productive vegetable and fruit gardens and orchards. Food is on the whole cheap and wholesome, but lacks variety, and the cooking leaves much to be desired for invalids; the supply of milk, fresh butter and eggs varies very much according to the locality and the season; "always a feast or a famine" is almost a South African proverb. Vegetables are well supplied at some places and very scanty at others; a fact dependent more upon the abundance or otherwise of the water supply than upon difference of local industry. Most of the villages contain several hotels, at which the charges are moderate, about £7 10s. to £10 per month for board and lodging, and boarding houses somewhat lower; and lodgings with private families can generally be negotiated. A fair house can often be obtained for from £3 to £6 per month unfurnished. Illustrative cases.—The nature and scope of the Handbook forbid the insertion of cases reported in extenso, but a few jottings from various sources may not be uninteresting, as illustrating the remarks already made. CENTRAL KARROO DISTRICTS. 167 Dr. Zahn, of Ceres, reports that the death rate for lung and pleura diseases in the district, with an European population of '^,000, is as follows:—Between 1872 and 1884, five cases of chronic and six of acute lung disease (exclusive of children and of those who have emigrated with diseased lungs). In the case of coloured natives, Dr. Zahn is unable to make a satisfactory statement, as they do not as a rule fall under his notice, hut he believes lung disease to be rather prevalent among them, due to poverty, intem- perance and bad hygienic surroundings. Since 1872 only one case of mileory tubercle in a youth of eighteen. Many invalids suffering from phthisis have visited Ceres, and have as a rule been benefited, but Dr. Zahn is unable to report a single instance of complete recovery, usually he believes because the stay was too short or the disease already far advanced. Dr. Hurford, of Ceres, reports that many cases of pulmonary disease have been greatly benefited by a sojourn there. Dr. Davey, of Beaufort West, reports that many cases of advanced phthisis have come to Beaufort, with often the result of a certain improvement at first, but, with the exception of a very few, this was temporary only; the comforts of home and the presence of friends and relatives are much missed, and their want helps to make matters unsatisfactory. It is far otherwise in the earlier stages of phthisis: here a residence in these parts often works wonders, especially if patients are in fairly comfortable circumstances. Dr. Mearns, of Prince Albert, reports that during a residence of more than seven years he has remarked a special immunity from pulmonary consumption and asthma. The place is not much resorted to by invalids because the virtues of the climate have never teen made known, and perhaps also because there is no first-class accommodation for invalids. Dr. M. reports the following cases among others:— 1. G.E., aged 19, came in 1879 with marked dulness at both apices; on left, breaking down of tissue, muco-purulent, frequently sanguineous expectoration, night sweats, emaciation, bad appetite. After four months be left with marked improvement in all symptoms, the disease of left apex stationary. 2. W.C., aged 42, came in January, 1882, advised by his medical men that he bad not six months to live. Cavities in both lungs, great emaciation, night sweats, purulent expectoration, with frequent haemorrhages, loss of appetite, and in short he appeared to be sinking rapidly. Improvement was steady and marked; he gained weight, appetite returned, night sweats almost ceased, and one cavity appeared to have closed; he continued to improve until 1883, when he got chilled in returning from Cape Town, pleurisy supervened and it was long ere he regained strength. He continued moderately well, taking 168 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. a good amount of exercise, till 1884, when he again visited Cape Town and contracted pneumonia, from which he died a few days after hi» return. 3. L.A., aged 24, has spent three winters here. He came with catarrh at both apices, which disappeared after a time but reappeared after returning home (in a neighbouring district) on two occasions; the last time she stayed some months and her medical adviser told me that she remains, fifteen months later, strong and well. 4. H.N., aged 18, with bad family history, had dulness at left apex and harsh breathing at the right, troublesome cough, night sweats and loss of flesh. He remained here six months, during which time above symptoms quite disappeared, and two years later when seen again he was well and chest quite healthy. 5. P.T., aged 35, bad family history, was given up about ten years ago as an incurable consumptive. There is no reliable account of the state of his lungs then, but now they show evidence of old pleuritic adhesions and consolidation. He is not robust but strong enough to follow the avocation of a sheep farmer, and his is a case which the climate of the Karroo has very much benefited. No reports have unfortunately been received from Cradock, Graaff-Reinet, or Somerset East; the first named town has a high reputation as a place of resort for pulmonary invalids. The writer is acquainted with a number of cases of phthisic which have very greatly benefited by the climate of the Karoo, and in two cases where a sojourn of a couple of years has been made a complete cure has resulted; these cases were both in an early stage. He knows of one case of "fibroid phthisis with dilated bronohi," where the sufferer for many years has had all the- appearance of a hale old man, and the disease is almost always in abeyance. He has sent cases of bronchial catarrh of an inveterate kind from Cape Town to the Karroo, with the invariable result of cure within a very short time. Cases of asthma, unless complicated with excessive emphysema, are nearly always benefited, and the disease kept in abeyanoe. Itinerary.—A few words regarding the accessibility of the various towns mentioned may be useful. They may be thus epitomised:— 1. On a Line of Railway :— 1. Worcester, 109 miles from Cape Town. 2. Beaufort Westr 339 miles from Cape Town. 3. Cradock, 181 miles from Port Elizabeth; 658 miles from Cape Town. 4. Graaff- Reinet, 185 miles from Port Elizabeth. 2. Off a Line of Railway :— 1. Tulbagh, from Tulbagh Road Station a few miles by cart (76 miles from Cape Town). 2. Ceres, 10 miles from UPPER KARROO DISTRICTS. 169 Ceres Road Station, which is 85 miles from Cape Town. 3. Prince Albert, 30 miles by passenger cart from Prince Albert Road Station, which is 265 miles from Cape Town. 4. Marraysburg, about 50 miles from Nelspoort Station, 371 miles from Cape Town. 5. Somerset Hast, 16 miles from Cook- house Station, which is 126 miles from Port Elizabeth. 6. Jansenville, 18 miles from Mount Stewart Station, which is 113 miles from Port Elizabeth. 7. Aberdeen, about 30 miles from Aberdeen Road Station, which is 145 miles from Port Elizabeth. 8. Willowmore, 73 miles from Baroe Station, which is 103 miles from Port Elizabeth. THE UPPER KARROO PLATEAU. By J. Baikd, M.D., L.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Ed. The immense tract of country included under this area embraces the Upper Karroo plateau sloping from the midland mountain ranges to the valley of the Orange River. It includes the fiscal divisions of Aliwal North, Albert, Colesberg, Middelburg, Hanover, Hopetown, Herbert, Kimberley, Richmond, Victoria West, Fraser- burg, Carnarvon, Calvinia, and part of Namaqualand. This plateau varies in height from 2,700 to 6,000 feet above sea level, one point, the Compassberg, 7,800 feet, being the highest point in the Cape Colony. To medical men and invalids the great and characteristic feature of this elevated plateau is the nature of its climate and its suitability as a residence in certain diseases of the lungs. The following remarks are intended to shew this, as far as can be done by words. There cannot be said to exist any well marked division of the year into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter; rather it may be described as a long summer and a long winter. The former begins rather suddenly about the month of September, increases in intensity till January, and then decreasing till the end of April, while the latter may be said to last from the end of April till the month of September. During the first half of the summer months a westerly or north-westerly wind prevails during the day which is very warm and dry; it often blows with great force, bringing with it clouds of red sand. Towards evening the wind abates, and is followed by a steady, cool and refreshing breeze from the south- east during the night, which quite invigorates and braces after the hot winds of the day. Towards the end of December or the beginning of January thunderstorms are common, accompanied by a great downfall of rain, often with hail showers. These storms are of short duration, and their effect is such as to infuse new life into every living thing. With the exception of these 170 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. thunderstorms, it may be said that for the whole summer life is led under a cloudless sky. The heat in summer, although great— and on some days the thermometer ranges as high as 110° F. in the shade—cannot be described as oppressive, except it be shortly before a thunderstorm when the sky is overcast. This is owing to the excessive dryness of the air and to a gentle current of wind which almost always blows. But even with the very hottest days a cool night can almost invariably be depended on. The winter in this region is most delightful during the day. The air is dry, clear and sharp. But during the hours between sunset and sun- rise the air is very cold, accompanied by sharp frosts. Often the pools of water are frozen over, but the ice melts soon after the sun rises. Snow falls but rarely, in some places once in five or six years, and that in no great quantity. While these remarks apply generally to this whole area, it will be understood that the climate will vary somewhat as we approach or recede from the mountains which form its boundary. To enable an idea to be formed of the climate of the different Divisions, I shall quote from the reports of competent medical observers on their different towns and districts. At the extreme east of this area lies the Division of Albert. From Burghersdorp, the chief town of this Division, Dr. Kanne- meyer thus reports:—" The chief summer months are hot and relaxing during the day:—the mid-winter nights are cold. During the rest of the year the weather is temperate and delightful. The sun is rarely obscured, never for a whole day, mostly and grate- fully by thunder-clouds during the hot summer afternoons. We live practically under a cloudless sky. Our principal rainfall is in summer, sharp and short thunderstorms. These showers are very refreshing. The range of temperature in summer is high on the plains. In the Stormbergen (Mountains) it is more equable, the heat never oppressive during the day, nor are the nights cold; and there is more verdure and humidity. In winter, the days are cloudless, rainless, sunny, and very dry on the plains. Between sunset and sunrise, the air is very cold and frosty. Snow is rare. The mountainous parts are cold and comparatively damp,—frosts heavy and snow occasionally. Mists or fogs are unknown on the plains; in the mountains they occur frequently." A little further to the West of Albert, and not far from the Sneuwberg range of mountains, lies the Division of Hanover. From Hanover, the chief town of this Division, Dr. Wm. Bourke sends the following report:—" The climate of this district is a particularly dry and bracing one. The winter is seldom severe,— being comparable to that of the South of France, the days throughout that season being bright and balmy. On only one occasion was the thermometer known to register 20° of frost. The VPPER KARROO DISTRICTS, 171 summer months are warm, and in the absence of the light prevail- ing winds, they approach a tropical heat; hut as a rule you can depend on a gratefully cool evening. The sun throughout the year reigns supreme in the heavens, and seldom, indeed, if ever, a day passes without his radiant beams being both seen and felt. For the past three years the average rainfall was 10 "2 inches— distributed on an average over 34 days or portion of days in the year. There is little or no snow during the winter." To the West of Hanover lies the Division of Richmond. Dr. Fick thus reports of his town and district:—" To the South and East, the district of Richmond is bounded by a formidable range of mountains, the Sneuwbergen, one point of which, the Compass- berg, is the highest in the Cape Colony, being 7,800 ft. above sea level. During winter we often have beautiful days—no wind or dust—a cloudless sky—a bracing air, and the sun sufficiently strong to make staying out of doors a pleasure. The winter nights are cold—the minimum of temperature measured once by me was —8°C. When the summer sets in the windy days begin, bringing a great deal of fine and coarse sand even through closed shutters. Mornings and afternoons are always fresh and pleasant even in the hottest time of the year. In summer, heat at midday is piercing, but not oppressive." To the North of the Divisions of Hanover and Richmond lies the large Division of Hopetown, having for its northern boundary the Orange River. From Hopetown, the chief town of the Division, Dr. E. B. Muskett thus reports:—" The surrounding country consists chiefly of large plains, often sandy, with hills, some of considerable elevation. The town itself is situated in a valley opening towards the Orange River, the river being distant about 1^ miles. The prevailing wind is from the Westward, and blows frequently with force during the early summer months. The thermometer may rise to 100° F. in the shade in summer and fall to 20° F. in winter. The air is extremely dry. Rainfall very scanty, said to average 5 inches, and falls almost entirely in thun- der-showers, rain without lightning being rare. Snow is rare, but tolerably severe frosts occur at night in winter. Ice always melts before the middle of the day." Further to the West of the Division of Richmond, and forming the apex of this triangular area lies the extensive Division of Fraserburg. From its chief town, Dr. H. P. Butler reports as follows :—" In winter there is dry cold for the most part, but the frost is very severe, sometimes registering 19°. In summer it is very hot and dry in daytime; but the evenings are very pleasant, being cool. The sun is rarely obscured either in summer or in winter. The thermometer varies in summer from 90° to 110° F. in the shade. In winter it varies from 24° to 70° F. The rain- 172 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. fall is very slight, being 2 to 4 inches for the past few years. Snow often falls in winter. The air is very dry." From the Division of Carnarvon to the North of Fraserburg, Dr. Hanau reports very much in the same terms as those of Dr. Butler. When we take into consideration the extreme dryness and porous nature of the soil, the great elevation above sea level, the tem- perature and dryness of the air, the practically cloudless sky, permitting almost constant outdoor life, and if to these we add the scantiness of population and the absence of hurry, worry and bustle which characterise European life, we have an almost ideal set of conditions requisite for the alleviation and cure of certain diseases of the lungs, and especially phthisis. I say cure of phthisis advisedly, because cases of cure are within the experience of almost every medical man practising in this area. Further, the all but complete absence of pulmonary phthisis in persons born and bred in this area is proof of the favourable operation of the above con- ditions in this direction. The most convincing proof, however, is afforded by the record of cases by competent medical men. In a personal experience of ten years practice as a physician, in a district in the Division of Colesberg, with a population of about 3,000 white and coloured, and moulding all ages, only two cases of pulmonary phthisis came under my care, originating in natives of the district, but neither of which were tubercular. One case was that of a girl aged 16; she had a slight attack of pneumonia, which ultimately developed into phthisis. After careful treatment she gradually recovered, married, and is now the mother of several children. The other case was one of syphylitic phthisis in a mar- ried woman. She died in childbed. Several cases from near the coast of this Colony, and from Europe, came under my care with phthisis, all of whioh were greatly benefited by residence, and followed active and useful lives. One case especially I can call to mind, that of a Mrs. A. B., who, in spite of extensive disease of both lungs, carried on an active business, reared a large family of children, and nursed for some years a paralytic husband. The only signs of illness she exhibited were occasional attacks of coughing, and in the summer slight streaks of blood in the spectum. I am fully convinced that had this patient been living at or near the sea coast of this Colony, or in any part of Great Britain, she would long ago have succumbed to this dire disease, whereas she is alive and actively employed at this present time. The following short history by Dr. E. B. Muskett, of Hopetown, of two cases which came under his notice within the last few years, speaks volumes:— "B.. P. and C. P., two brothers, aged respectively 18 and 19 years, arrived in Hopetown three years ago. Their two elder UPPER KARROO DISTRICTS. 173 brothers died within eighteen months of rapidly developing con- sumption. On the death of the last they took fright, and had their lungs examined by two physicians, separately, one a specialist. Both pronounced the young men to be suffering from the incipient stages of phthisis, and recommended them to leave England immediately, which they at once did. On examination of their chest on their arrival in Hopetown, both were found to be in an almost similar state—dullness over a considerable area at the apices of both lungs, more pronounced on the left side, lengthened expiratory murmur, some crepitation, flattening of the chest in the affected region and diminished movement. In addition they suf- fered from muscular weakness, shortness of breath on exertion, and less of flesh. They also had slight cough but no expectoration. At the end of six months the physical signs had much diminished, and they had regained strength and flesh, the younger so much so that his clothes were too small for him. At the expiration of a year, the physical signs had disappeared, and they felt otherwise well. Now, after three years the one pursues a laborious profession in Kimberky, the other has returned to England; both are in the enjoyment of excellent health." Dr. Fick, of Eichmond, thus reports of his own case:—" I, myself, am a fair sample of a man who has benefited by residence in this climate. I came from Germany in 1879, partly because I was suspected to be Consumptive. After a few years stay in Richmond, my whole appearance was altered. I became hale and hardy, and had gained in weight 40 lbs., weighing 180 to 190 lbs." From Burghersdorp in the Division of Albert, Dr. Kanne- meyer reports as follows:—" I have more than once had the opportunity to see cases of phthisis coming from Europe, but too far advanced for cure, derive temporary benefit during their sojourn amongst us. Incipient or early cases at once improve. Hitherto invalids frequenting this part of the country in search of health have made their stay too short, or have come too late. Continuous residence is necessary to estabUsh a cure. There are about half-a-dozen persons residing in this town at present, leading useful lives, who came here as confirmed invalids, and whose lives have been undoubtedly saved by continuous residence." From the town of Hanover, Dr. Bourke sends the following :— "There seems to be a special immunity from Consumption enjoyed by the inhabitants of this district, as it is seldom if ever met with among the people born and bred in this district There are to my knowledge two cases of Consumption in this district to all intents and purposes cured. The individuals in question arrived from England with the disease in a most aggravated form; and now after several years residence, they are practically restored to their former health and vigour. The late District Surgeon of this 174 CAPE HEALTH RESORTS. place is another instance in point. For notwithstanding the advanced stage of the malady on his arrival in this Colony, he was enabled, through the beneficial effeot of this climate, to carry on the arduous duties of a general practitioner for ten years; and it was only on his return to England that he suocumbed to the disease. Other two cases occur to my memory in which the patients are being gradually restored to health and vigour." Dr. J. Hanau sends the following instances from the town of Carnarvon:—"A German gentleman (a missionary), about 54 years of age, is reported to me by good authority, as having suffered from Consumption some twelve to fifteen years ago. He is now so well that as long as I have known him, he has not required medical attendance. Another German, aged 30, in whose family there is hereditary predisposition to Consumption, became ill in this Colony, and exhibited signs of phthisis after an attack of pleurisy. He is now attending to his business, and seldom requires professional advice.—A young gentleman, aged 21, born in Cape Town, with a family predisposition, was warned by his former medical attendant, and while resident in Cape Town was constantly troubled with attacks of Bronchitis, now finds himself as well as possible, and is never troubled by his old complaint." The late Dr. L. Gogol, District Surgeon of Murraysburg—a district to the South of Richmond,—in reporting to the Govern- ment in the year 1882, says:—" During a practice extending over five years, I have not hit upon one patient with pulmonary phthisis, born in this or the adjoining districts." These are but a few of the examples of benefit devided from residence in this area. If space permitted, their number could be very largely increased by drawing on the case-books of any physician practising within its limits. They will, however, suffice to establish the truth of the statement, that not only can phthisis be alleviated and life prolonged, but that it can actually be cured by a sufficiently long residence. Although, from the grave nature of the disease, and because of the brilliant results recorded of its cure, phthisis has been chiefly and especially mentioned, this is not the only disease benefited by residence. Many cases of Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis are on record where benefit has been derived. Indeed, speaking generally, cases requiring a dry warm air and altitude are all benefited. With a record such as the foregoing, it would seem strange that the advantages of residence here are not more widely known and generally used by Europeans than they at present are. One reason for this is the fact that sufficient attention has not been drawn to it by medical men in the European Medical Journals. But the chief reason for its neglect is the fact that until quite UPPER KARROO DISTRICTS. 175 recently it was very difficult of access. Before the discovery of the Diamond Fields, which lie beyond this area, it was to Euro- peans at least an unknown country, the usual mode of travelling at that time was the slow ox-wagon or on horseback. When the wealth of Eamberley attracted a large population from all parts of the world, the ox-wagon gave place to the speedier passenger coach and the post-cart. These are now supplanted by the Railway, which runs right through the centre of this area into Kimberley beyond. What was twelve years ago a journey causing much expense, time and trouble, can now be accomplished with cheap- ness, speed, and all the ease and comfort of a Pullman car. What it formerly took days to accomplish can now be executed with comfort in hours. There are no Hospitals or Sanatoria for the reception of invalids in this area. Those, therefore, who contemplate a resi- dence here will have to depend upon Hotels, Boarding Houses and private lodgings. Board and lodging in any of these establish- ments ranges from £6 to £12 per month according to the mode of life and accommodation. For those who contemplate housekeeping on their own account the following information will be of service. Unfurnished houses are obtainable in most of the towns and villages, and cost from £2 to £6 10s. per month according to accommodation. Domestic servants are almost all drawn from the coloured classes. Their wages range from 15s. to 30s. per month with food. These servants as a general rule are by no means of the best, but often very good, well trained, and faithful servants are to be met with. The general rule is that servants do not sleep in the houses of their employers, but leave for their own homes at night and return early in the morning. With regard to food, beef and mutton are cheap and plentiful, the average price being 6d. per lb.; Bread, 2 lb. loaf, 6d. Milk and Butter depend so much on the nature of the seasons and the rainfall, that no general rule holds good for the whole area. After a good season with heavy rainfall, both butter and milk are plentiful, and the latter very good in quality. The prices will then range for butter from Is. to 3s. per lb., and for milk 3d. to 4d. per quart bottle. In dry seasons, again, milk is scarcely to be had for payment, but where it can be had it varies from 4d. to 8d. per quart bottle, while butter ranges from 2s. to 4s. per lb. Canned or imported milk and butter are both extensively used during the dry seasons. During the summer eggs are cheap and plentiful, but during the winter they are dear and scarce: the price varies from Is. to 2s. 6d. per doz. When the towns are situated on or near a river, such places, for example as Aliwal North, Colesberg, Hanover, Philip's Town, Hope Town, river fish are obtainable. In winter, sea fish can be had by rail from the different Coast Ports. No prices can be stated DIAMOND MINING AT THE CAPE. By Theodore Eeunert, M. Inst. M.E. The existence of diamonds is recorded in such primitive times and their occurrence is so widely distributed over the globe, that it is impossible to say when and where they were first discovered. Even if the mention of the diamond in the Book of Exodus (chap. xxxix, v. 11) amongst the jewels in the high priest's breast- plate be declared an error on the part of the translators, there is evidence enough that diamonds were possessed by the Hindoos and Greeks many centuries before the Christian era; nay, it is declared on good authority that the history of the Koh-i-noor may be traced back for 5,000 years, at whioh remote period it is celebrated in one of the songs of the Vedas as having formed part of the treasures of an old Indian chief. There is little doubt that the earliest known diamonds came from India. The writers under the Roman Empire and those of the Middle Ages who allude to diamonds and their origin, refer only to the Indian mines, and, indeed, until quite modern times no other source of supply was known. The Indian mines are scattered along the whole centre of the peninsula from near the southern bank of the Ganges in the province of Bundelcund, lat. 25Q N., to the banks of the Pennaur River in the Madras Presidency, lat. 15° N. The famous mines of Golconda are in the Nizam's Dominions, about lat. 17°, though it is probable no diamonds were ever found in or near the city itself. To-day the only Indian mines regularly worked are the northern ones at Punnah in Bundelcund, but the total yield is of trifling importance to the world's traffic, the bulk of the production being consumed by the local markets, the principal of which is at Benares. It is estimated that the annual weight of Indian diamonds ex- ported to Europe does not exceed 100 carats. They are chiefly interesting through their historical associations, nearly all the celebrated crown-jewels of Europe having been derived from India. The opening of the Brazilian mines at the beginning of the last century practically closed the mines of the Deccan. The Brazilian diamond-fields are situated in the Serra do Espin- haco, a chain of mountains running parallel with the coast between Bahia and Rio Janeiro, following the direction of the 43rd meridian between latitudes 10° and 20° north. In this range occur the re- nowned mines of Diamantina in the province of Minas Geraes, but other rich diamond mines exist in the very centre of the Continent near Villa Bella (or Masso Grosso), at Cuyaba and other places on 178 BRAZILIAN AND OTHER MIXES. the Paraguay river. For a hundred and fifty years these mines oontinued to supply the world with diamonds, till the discover}' of the vastly richer diamond deposits of South Africa ruined the Brazilian trade, as that had previously ruined the Indian mines. Several other widely distant countries have yielded diamonds, though in much less quantities than India and Brazil. In the North American continent diamonds have been found in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, California, as well as in Mexico. Two countries in Europe have also supplied a few stones In the year 1829, some diamonds were discovered in the gold washings on the European side of the Ural Mountains near the iron mines of Bissersk, and a single diamond is reported to have been found at Dlaschkowitz, in Bohemia. Small quantities are said on doubtful authority to occur also in Algeria, and in some parts of Siberia. More important than any of the last named are the mines of the East India Archipelago. About the year 1840 diamonds were found in Sumatra, subsequently in Celebes, but the island of Borneo alone in that group has continued to produce a regular supply, sending, it is computed, about 3,000 carats annually into the European market. One of the largest diamonds in the world, a pure white stone of 367 carats, was found near Landak in Borneo; it is still uncut and belongs to the Rajah of Matam. One other diamondiferous region only, but that completing the number of the continents, remains to be mentioned. Diamonds were discovered in Australia in the year 1852, and again in 1859, on the Macquarie River in New South Wales, 100 miles north-east of Sydney, also ten years later near Rylstone on the Cndgegong River, and latterly at Bingera near the Gwydir River, in the ex- treme north of the Colony, about lat. 30" S. long. 151°. The Diamond Fields of South Africa, though of later discovery than any cf the above, have eclipsed them all in richness and extent. They are situated north of the Orange River, in the pro- vince of Griqualand West, at a distanoe of 500 miles from the coast, and an elevation of 4,000 feet above the sea. The story of their discovery, of which many slightly different versions exist, is as follows. Early in the year 1867, a trader named John O'Reilly, travelling southwards from the Orange River, rested his oxen at the farm " De Kalk," the property of one Schalk van Niekerk, in the Hopetown district; and this is Mr. O'Reilly's account of what he saw there, given in a letter addressed some five years later to the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Henry Barkly :— "In March, 1867, I was on my way to Colesberg from the Junc- tion of the Vaal and Orange Rivers; I outspanned at Mr. Niekerk's Farm, where I saw a beautiful lot of Orange River stones on bis table, and whioh I examined. I told Niekerk they were very DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AFRICA. 1791 pretty. He shewed me another lot, out of which I at once picked the " first diamond." I asked him for it, and he told me I could have it, as it helonged to a Bushman boy of Daniel Jacobs. I took it at once to Hope Town, and made Mr. Chalmers, Civil Commissioner, aware of the discovery. I then took it on to- Colesberg, and gave it to the Acting Civil Commissioner there for transmission to Cape Town to the High Commissioner. The Acting Civil Commissioner sent it to Dr. Atherstone, of Graham's- Town, who forwarded it to Cape Town." Dr. Atherstone wrote back to the Colesberg Commissioner—Mr. Lorenzo Boyes, who is still a member of the Civil Service in another part of the Colony—" I congratulate you on the stone- you have sent me. It is a veritable diamond, weighs 21 £ carats, and is worth £500. It has spoiled all the jeweller's files in Graham's Town, and where that came from there must be lots- more." Dr. Atherstone's opinion was confirmed by Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, the Crown jewellers in London, to whom the stone was sent for inspection, and it was subsequently purchased at the above valuation by ISir Philip "Wodehouse, who preceded Sir Henry Barkly in the Governorship, and who sent it to the Paris- Exhibition of 1867. It may be imagined that Messrs. Boyes and O'Reilly, who- shared the proceeds of this sale, were well satisfied with their bargain. They lost no time in returning to the scene of the first discovery, where others soon joined in the exciting search, but the success was so small that for another two years the existence of diamond fields in South Africa continued to be disputed. How- ever, in 1869, Van Niekerk secured from a Griqua or 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 Hope Town for over £10,000. This was the famous- "Star of South Africa." It weighed 83J 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 J carat3. 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 Paver, but it is a curious fact that though the* earliest finds were in the Hope Town District no mine has been discovered there. However, careful prospecting soon proved that the banks of the Vaal River were rich in diamonds. The search- ing parties worked their way from the junction of the Orange- and Vaal up the latter stream as far as Hebron, leaving detach- ments of diggers along the whole course. About 100 miles above the junction following the windings of the river, they reached KLipdrift, or Barkly, which little town has since remained the n2 fi.80 BUSH TO THE VAAL, 1869-70. -centre of the twenty or thirty mining camps where with more or less of intermission and with varying success the hanks of the Vaal have continued to be explored for diamonds up to the present •time (1886). In 1870 a large population, numbering not less than 10,000, •chiefly males, had spread itself along the 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