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 SOUTH AFEIOA. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BY 
 
 Sib DONALD CUEEIE, KC.M.G., M.P., 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FELLOWS OF THE EOYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE 
 
 MEETING IN LONDON ON TUESDA Y, THE 10th APRIL, 1888. 
 
 The Right Honourable LORD BRASSET, KC.B., in the Chair. 
 
 {Printed, by permission, from the Proceedings of the Institute.)
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FELLOWS OF THE EOYAL COLOMAL 
 INSTITUTE, 10th APEIL, 1888. 
 
 The Right Honourable LORD BRASSEY m the Chair, 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 By SIE DONALD CUEEIE, K.C.M.G., M.P. 
 
 I confess it was with some hesitation that 1 
 agreed to deliver an address upon South Africa. 
 The pohtical circumstances of the time render the 
 task a difficult one. In addition to the Imperial 
 interests concerned, there are questions now under 
 discussion between the different States and 
 Colonies of South Africa which involve delicate 
 issues ; and there are commercial and other rival- 
 ries which are, to say the least, embarrassing. 
 At the same time it may be expected that there 
 should be a readiness to meet the public desire 
 for information, and for the production of such 
 data as may be of practical value to those who 
 have other than merely political considerations in
 
 relation to South Africa. In fulfilling the task 
 allotted to me, I can only hope to be favoured 
 with the same patient attention as was extended 
 to me when on the 7th June, 1877, I set before 
 the Fellows of the Eoyal Colonial Institute " Thoughts 
 upon the present and future of South Africa and 
 Central and Eastern Africa." 
 
 For about sixteen years past I have been more 
 or less intimately associated with the material 
 interests and policy of that part of the world, 
 and yet my first visit only took place a few 
 months since. I had no personal knowledge of 
 South African territory when we met together 
 eleven years ago, but on referring to your records 
 I find it was possible for me to appreciate at that 
 time, to some extent, the resources of the country, 
 the characteristics of the people, and their pos- 
 sible future. 
 
 I left London with my daughters for Cape 
 Town in the middle of October last, to find on 
 arrival there a hearty welcome. After a stay of 
 a week I proceeded by rail to Kimberley, a 
 distance of about 647 miles, where we visited 
 the Diamond Mines, and the Waterworks, and 
 other objects of interest in the neighbour- 
 hood. After careful enquiry as to the means of 
 locomotion through what people here think are 
 the wilds of South Africa, I became the possessor 
 of three travelling carriages and sixteen horses, 
 with stores and all necessaries for a long land
 
 5 
 
 journey, and started for the capital of the 
 Orange Free State. You may travel very 
 rapidly in South Africa by the post-cart, but 
 must do so by night and by day, and this 
 is not what I consider travelling for pleasure : 
 we journeyed at our leisure. The distance 
 accomplished each day was about 30 miles. In the 
 course of a few days we reached Bloemfontein, 
 receiving great kindness from my old friend, 
 President Sir John Brand. Thence we journeyed 
 to Potchefstrom, the scene of the famous siege of 
 the British troops during the Transvaal war. From 
 Potchefstrom we proceeded to Pretoria, where we 
 enjoyed the hospitality of His Honor President 
 Paul Kruger ; and while there I visited Johannes- 
 burg, the chief town of the gold districts of 
 Witwatersrandt. From Pretoria we drove to 
 Heidelberg, through the Transvaal to Standerton 
 (a town which was also beleaguered during the 
 war, but did not surrender), thence to Cold- 
 stream, at the extreme northern limit of Natal. 
 Early in the morning after our arrival, we 
 drove to Majuba, and reached the summit, 
 afterwards we visited the scene of the struggle 
 at Laing's Nek, and thence made our way to 
 Lady smith, the northern terminus of the Natal 
 Eailvay system, where I disposed of the car- 
 riages and horses. 
 
 Through the kindness of His Excellency the 
 Governor of Natal, and the Eailway authorities,
 
 we reached Pietermaritzburg in great comfort ; 
 whence after spending a few days we left by 
 the train for Durban. Having enjoyed a pleasant 
 rest we embarked on board of the steamer 
 Venice, and steamed to St. John's Eiver, thence 
 to East London, where I met the Premier 
 of the Cape Colony. After spending some time 
 there we were conveyed by railway to King- 
 Williams Town. From that town we drove 
 to Grahamstown, and visited the Exhibition 
 of Colonial Products. Thence we drove to 
 Lovedale, an establishment for the education 
 and practical training of the natives, under 
 the able administration of the Eev. Dr. 
 Stewart. We then took the train to Port 
 Elizabeth, the commercial capital of the Eastern 
 Province, where we enjoyed a few days' stay. 
 Leaving Port Elizabeth we steamed to Mossel Bay, 
 and then visited the Knysna with its primeval 
 Forest. From the Knysna we steered for Cape 
 Town, glad to partake once more of the hospitality 
 of our friends there. 
 
 I am sure you will allow me to repeat here 
 the warm acknowledgments which I had so 
 frequently to express for the extremely kind 
 way in which we were welcomed, everywhere 
 throughout the Free State, the Transvaal, Natal, 
 and the Cape Colony. In all, we travelled about 
 a thousand miles by road, not to speak of 
 journey ings by train or steamer ; and I can recom-
 
 mend anyone who wishes to have fresh bracing 
 air at a range of 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, to take a trip to South Africa, 
 and, either in an ox- waggon or in a spring 
 cart, to see the country and experience what it 
 is to have a good appetite. 
 
 The question we discussed before this Institute in 
 1877 was, what combination of circumstances and 
 systematic arrangement of means, development of 
 resources, and motive power, would press South 
 Africa forward in civilisation and prosperity, taking 
 into account the obstacles which had hindered its 
 progress. 
 
 My first object to-night must be to review the 
 circumstances of that time as marking an epoch 
 in South African history, in order to estimate the 
 forces which had been brought into play previous 
 to 1877, and which operate still in the social 
 and poHtical relationships of the country. This 
 review will guide us to an avowal of errors 
 in policy which have marked the past history 
 of that part of the world;' and we may be able 
 to estimate the present, and the future, of the 
 Cape, Natal, the Orange Free State, the Trans- 
 vaal, and the native territories as far north as the 
 Zambesi. 
 
 The white population of South Africa is largely 
 composed of the descendants of the Dutch resi- 
 dents, who held Cape Town and the neighbouring 
 districts, under the flag of the Netherlands, and
 
 8 
 
 then under ours, until the emancipation of the 
 slaves was decreed by the British Parliament. At that 
 time large numbers of the population, dissatisfied 
 both with our policy and with the way in which 
 that policy was carried out, left the Cape Colony 
 and removed beyond the Orange Eiver and to 
 Natal. These countries were in the possession of 
 native tribes ; but finally, after much conflict and 
 hardship the Emigrants obtained a solid footing 
 north of the Orange Eiver and the Vaal. Later 
 on, after serious complications had arisen with the 
 natives, and especially with Moshesh, the ruler of 
 Basutoland, British authority was withdrawn from 
 beyond the Orange Eiver ; not without protest on 
 the part of the loyal population, who had no 
 desire to separate their fortunes from the Mother 
 Country. Two independent States were then 
 created ; the former under what was known as 
 the Orange Eiver Free State, the latter under 
 the title of the South African Eepublic, or the 
 Transvaal. 
 
 What were the relations of these two Eepubhcs 
 to the Cape Colony and to Natal eleven years 
 ago, and what are they now? A few years pre- 
 viously {i.e., 1872) the Cape Colonists had received 
 from the Imperial Parliament power to manage 
 their own affairs under responsible government. 
 But no arrangement was then made for the 
 proper transfer of authority over the natives in 
 British BasutoLmd, nor for the settlement of the
 
 claims of the Orange Free State in regard to an 
 adequate rebate of customs duties or the right to 
 conveyance of their imports in bond through the 
 ports of the Cape Colony. In regard to the 
 Transvaal this customs question may be dis- 
 cussed upon international grounds; but in the 
 case of the Orange Free State a specific assurance 
 had been given by the Imperial Commissioner, Sir 
 George Eussel Clerk, which led the people of that 
 State to expect that privileges of a liberal charac- 
 ter would be granted to them in connection with 
 import duties to which it was admitted they were 
 entitled in consideration of the peculiar position of 
 the Free State and its distance from the seaports. 
 
 Another element of controversy arose at that 
 time. The discovery of diamonds upon the North- 
 Western frontier of the Cape Colony gave an 
 impulse to colonial prosperity and enterprise ; and 
 a large population soon took possession of lands 
 on the frontier under British sanction and 
 authority. This occupation of the Diamond Fields 
 provoked much ill-feeling on the part of the 
 population of the Orange Free State, the Go- 
 vernment of that Eepublic claiming that the 
 lands referred to were actually within its 
 territory. For five years the controversy con- 
 tinued between the President of the Free 
 State and the Imperial Government, with no 
 small risk to the cordial relation of the two 
 countries. Fortunately, however, in 1876 the
 
 10 
 
 negociations were brought to a satisfactory con- 
 clusion under an agreement between Lord 
 Carnarvon and President Brand, then on a visit 
 to England upon the invitation of our Govern- 
 ment. There have been many complications in 
 South Africa since that time, and some of them 
 disastrous for England ; but there would have 
 been added an element of serious danger and of 
 undoubted embarrassment for British influence in 
 South Africa, if the Imperial Government had 
 not at that time adopted the advice tendered to 
 them, and made arrangements for the final settle- 
 ment of the Diamond Field question. 
 
 President Burgers, of the Transvaal, had visited 
 this country shortly before President Brand arrived 
 in London. He was favourable to the claims of 
 the Orange Eree State, and it was his desire to 
 link that State and the Transvaal together by 
 material as well as political ties. The transfer 
 of the Concession granted by the Portuguese 
 Government for a railway from Delagoa 
 Bay was secured to the Transvaal, and Presi- 
 dent Burgers' efforts were directed towards such 
 an arrangement with the Free State as would asso- 
 ciate the two Eepublics in that enterprise. Presi- 
 dent Brand, however, did not wholly approve 
 the policy referred to : he agreed with the 
 Imperial Government to favour Eailway com- 
 munication with the Cape and JSfatal ; and this 
 policy has been maintained by the Orange Free
 
 11 
 
 State ever since, as I shall shew when dealing 
 with the Eailway question. 
 
 The years following the visits of Presidents 
 Burgers and Brand to this country were marked 
 by troubles throughout South Africa, in no small 
 degree the result of a knowledge on the part of 
 the natives that there were serious controversies 
 between the various sections of the white popula- 
 tion. The Transvaal made war upon Secocoeni ; 
 Kreli and Sandilli broke out into revolt in the Cape 
 Colony ; Cetewayo made his preparations for war ; 
 the Transvaal was annexed by England ; war with 
 Cetewayo followed ; the Cape Government sought 
 to disarm the Basutos ; Imperial authority had to 
 be restored over the Basutos ; the Transvaal 
 asserted its claims to, and gained, independence. 
 Finally, South Africa's affairs settled down from 
 complete exhaustion ; the record being one of 
 disaster and calamity in our Imperial history. 
 
 To these political troubles there succeeded a 
 period of commercial depression similar to that 
 which has prevailed during the last three years in 
 Europe. It has been said that over-trading pro- 
 duced the depressed condition of business in South 
 Africa; but I think the result was chiefly owing 
 to sympathy with other commercial centres, and 
 to the drought and bad seasons, which reduced 
 the price of wool and agricultural produce so low as 
 to bring them under the cost of production. Ostrich 
 feathers also fell in value ; the want of employment
 
 12 
 
 compelled the population to seek openings elsewhere ; 
 and even in the Transvaal, with its promises of golden 
 harvests, the financial position became at one time 
 so serious that men's minds were disturbed with 
 the enquiry whether an alteration of the political 
 position might not become necessary. 
 
 All this has now changed. Just as in 1872 the 
 Cape Colony took a start from the discovery of 
 diamonds, so South Africa has again made a leap for- 
 ward through the acknowledged possession within 
 its boundaries of untold wealth in gold ; and you 
 may form an estimate of the effect upon Colonial 
 Trade, when I mention that the total value of 
 exports from the Cape Colony in 1887 amounted 
 to £7,719,335, an increase of £744,639 over the 
 previous year ; the imports showed an increase of 
 £1,241,567 in 1887 over the imports of 1886; 
 and the Customs duties collected in 1887 
 exceeded the amount received in 1886 by 
 £96,711. In like manner the Colony of Natal 
 made progress ; the total exports which in 1886 
 amounted to £960,290, reached, in the first nine 
 months of 1887 the figure of £741,948, while the 
 imports in 1886, which showed a value of 
 £1,331,115, had increased during the same period 
 in 1887 to £1,653,841. The revenue of the Cape 
 Eailways was considerably increased, and in Natal 
 it had nearly doubled, amounting to £257,877 in 
 1887, as compared with £149,999 in 1886. 
 
 This improvement in the trade of South
 
 13 
 
 Africa may be owing to a considerable 
 extent to the increased production of gold ; 
 for while in 1887 the value of the precious 
 metal exported reached a total of £223,487 
 only £69,543 represents the value exported in 
 1885 — that is to say, the gold export increased 
 threefold in two years. If we compare this 
 increased export with what it was some years 
 ago, the progress in gold mining enterprise will 
 be better understood. In 1871 the value of 
 gold exported was only £670; in 1875 £39,432; 
 in 1884, £69,000 ; in 1886, £134,769 ; and in 
 1887, as I have stated, the value was nearly a 
 quarter of a million sterling. But this progress 
 is more marked within the last few months 
 owing to the increased number of stamps 
 at work ; for in January of this year the export of 
 gold from the Cape and JSTatal reached the 
 large amount of £57,562, and in February it had 
 increased to £70,325, equal to an annual export 
 of over three-quarters of a million sterling. 
 The gold output for the first three months of 1888 
 was nearly equal to the output in the whole of 1887. 
 If, then, we take into account the gold retained 
 for use in the country we may assume that the 
 production has already reached a total value of 
 about a million sterling per annum. 
 
 Now you will naturally enquire which are the best 
 auriferous districts, and in what way is gold mining 
 carried on in South Africa; and you will also ask
 
 14 
 
 is there in the future a possibility of an increased 
 production ? I venture to think that there is prac- 
 tically no limit to the production of gold in South 
 Africa, and for a few minutes I shall direct your 
 attention to the districts where success has attended 
 gold mining operations. I hold in my hand a small 
 nugget of gold which the late President Burgers, 
 of the Transvaal, gave to me in 1875 when he 
 visited me in London. He brought with him a 
 larger lump of solid gold, worth about £600, which 
 I exhibited at the Conversazione of this Institute ; 
 but at that time few people could be induced to 
 believe that large supplies of the precious metal 
 existed in South Africa. These specimens of gold 
 were brought from Pilgrims Eest, and they indi- 
 cated alluvial deposits ; but in that district, although 
 a large amount of capital was invested, the success 
 has not been so marked as was expected. The 
 question for the miners was to discover the source 
 of the alluvial deposits, and in what quarter to find 
 the quartz reefs. Ultimately rich gold reefs were 
 discovered at no great distance in the district now 
 known as the De Kaap Gold Fields, of which Bar- 
 berton is the centre, situated some 3,000 feet above 
 the sea level. This part of the world was prac- 
 tically uninhabited ; few white men visited it ; 
 but now the population of Barberton amounts to 
 about three thousand, and the capital invested 
 there in gold mining cannot be less than nearly a 
 million sterling of paid up capital.
 
 15 
 
 Tt is within this region that the famous Sheba 
 Mine is situated. It is practically a mountain mass, 
 offering very little indication of visible gold, but so 
 richly does the precious metal permeate the rock 
 that its fortunate claim holders, who had the 
 utmost difficulty at first in paying their way as 
 working miners, have now for their property a 
 marketable value of over three-quarters of a 
 million sterling. Of course it would be absurd 
 to say that all the district round Barberton is as 
 rich as the Sheba Eeef, but the district is so far 
 developed as to give proof of abundant wealth, and 
 we may be well assured that further mining 
 operations will reveal additional treasures. 
 
 But another discovery in the Transvaal has pro- 
 duced a rival to Barberton. North of the Klip 
 Eiver, some 30 miles south-west of Pretoria, there 
 were discovered about two and a half years ago veins 
 or reefs of conglomerate known as Banket, which 
 have been found to contain remarkably rich deposits 
 of gold. The Government of the Transvaal pro- 
 claimed it as a public gold field on the 18th 
 July, 1886 ; and when I visited Johannesburg, its 
 centre of activity, I was astonished to see the 
 wealth that lay ready to the hand of the miner. 
 It was in alluvial washings, or in reefs of quartz 
 that gold mining prospectors had always found 
 their rewards, and no small incredulity was 
 felt when the Witwatersrandt conglomerate was first 
 spoken of in terms of confident expectation. It
 
 16 
 
 was said to be a mere fancy of enthusiastic men ; 
 but the population of Johannesburg is now not 
 much under 5,000 ; and I saw dwelUng-houses, stores, 
 churches, banks, and well laid-out streets and 
 squares, where, 6,000 feet above the sea, only 18 
 months before, the flocks of the farmer found 
 pasture, and the large game, which are not yet 
 extinct in the northern district of the Transvaal, 
 roamed at will. There are nearly 1,000 head of 
 stamps at work in the gold diggings of the 
 district ; and it is estimated that the total produc- 
 tion of gold in Witwatersrandt for last month was 
 about £70,000. 
 
 As indicating to you the value to the Transvaal 
 Exchequer of mining licenses as a source of 
 revenue, I need only state that the amount re- 
 ceived for the year ending 31st March, 1885, was 
 only £1,359 ; by 31st March, 1886, it had advanced 
 to £5,706; and at 31st March, 1887, to £45,380; 
 while the receipts for the six months ending 30th 
 September, 1887, show an estimated total of £70,000 
 a year. The total revenue of the Transvaal has 
 increased by leaps and bounds during the last 
 three or four years. For the year ending 31st 
 March, 1885, it was £161,595 ; at 31st March, 1886, 
 £177,876; by 31st March, 1887, it amounted to 
 £380,433 ; while for the six months ending Septem- 
 ber 30th, 1887, it was at the rate of over £600,000 
 per annum. All this is owing to the gold discoveries 
 
 Away to the north of Pretoria, in the border
 
 17 
 
 district inhabited partly by Kaffirs, who claim 
 some kind of independence of the Transvaal 
 Government, there are known to exist exceedingly 
 rich deposits of gold. I speak of the district of 
 Zoutpansberg ; but there is also a large store of 
 mineral wealth upon the lands situated on the 
 western frontier of the Transvaal. The Malmani 
 Gold Fields, not yet developed, give rich promise ; 
 while at Heidelberg, in the same Eepubhc, near 
 the Natal frontier, as well as at Potchefstrom in 
 the direction of Kimberley, there are operations 
 now in progress which well repay the enterprise 
 of the capitalist, and of such as are actively en- 
 gaged Id gold mining. 
 
 It is not in the Transvaal only that gold has 
 been found in great abundance. Gold miners 
 have had considerable success in Zululand and 
 Natal as well ; while even in the Cape 
 Colony there are prospects of considerable value. I 
 landed at the beautiful port of the Knysna, situated 
 between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, and visited 
 the forest of the district within whose boundaries 
 also auriferous ground has been discovered, in the 
 shape of alluvial deposits with reefs of gold-bearing 
 quartz. The prospects for South Africa are therefore 
 very promising ; and I daresay the possible discovery 
 of gold treasures may enchant the imagination of 
 many of my hearers, indisposed though they may 
 be to adventures and risks. Hence I may repeat 
 what I said in South Africa, how necessary it is to 
 
 2
 
 18 
 
 bear in mind that gold mining is an industry, and 
 that assiduous labour, with scientific skill, are neces- 
 sary as well as enterprise. It has been laid to the 
 charge of those who are connected with gold mining 
 that some properties have been given to the public 
 burdened with too much promotion money or 
 payment to vendors ; but it will be a satisfaction 
 to you here to know, as it is highly credit- 
 able to those who have at heart the interests of 
 Johannesburg, that a mining board has been 
 established there, which undertakes to supply 
 information to the public and to intending in- 
 vestors with respect to the intrinsic value of the 
 properties declared to be gold bearing, and offered 
 for sale to public companies. 
 
 The future of the gold mining industry is of 
 course a question for estimate and prophecy ; but 
 as regards diamonds the production and export 
 may be calculated by reference to the output of 
 the two great diamond mines of the Cape Colony, 
 viz., the Kimberley Mine and De Beer's. The 
 value of the diamonds produced in 1887 from the 
 Kimberley Mine was £1,410,207. 12s. ; De Beers, 
 £1,022,878. 6s.; Du Toitspan, £987,283. 17s.; 
 Bulfontein, £612,962. 18s. ; equal to a total 
 of over four millions sterling. Diamonds were 
 first found in the Kimberley district in the 
 year 1870, while in the following year De 
 Beers may be said to have been discovered. 
 Four years previously a trader bought from a
 
 19 
 
 farmer in the Hopetown District a stone, the 
 value of which was not important in his estima- 
 tion; it had been picked up by a Bushman near 
 the Orange Eiver; it weighed 21f carats and was 
 declared to be worth £500. In 1869 a Hottentot 
 sold to a farmer for £400 a stone which weighed 
 83 J carats ; it was re-sold at Capetown for 
 £10,000, this is the famous " Star of South 
 Africa," which weighed 46 J carats after being 
 cut. It is not to be wondered at that news of 
 all this in 1871 produced a rush to the diamond 
 field. Early in the same year another mine, but 
 not of such extent, was discovered about two 
 miles from Kimberley, and work commenced 
 upon the farms of Dutoitspan and Bultfontein, now 
 well known mines. I visited the whole of the 
 diamond mines during the time I was at Kim- 
 berley, and certainly the visit was one of extreme 
 interest, for they form one of the wonders of the 
 world. Upon the discovery of the diamonds the 
 land was divided into claims under Government 
 control, and ultimately these claims became to a 
 greater or less extent the property of Companies. 
 In the Kimberley Mine there were the Central 
 Company, the Standard Company, the French 
 Company, and others, while in the De Beers mine 
 the claims came also into the hands of Com- 
 panies. The different holdings in each of these 
 mines are now so united that they practically 
 form only two separate mines, the Central Com-
 
 20 
 
 pany holding until very lately nearly the whole 
 of the Kimberley Mine, while the De Beers Mine 
 had been united under one control. Very lately, 
 however, the De Beers Mine has obtained the 
 main portion of the interest in the Kimberley 
 Mine ; and it is generally believed that both mines 
 will sooner or later be amalgamated. The diamonds 
 in these mines are found in a blue clayey rock, the 
 surface outcrop of which is of comparatively small 
 extent. The rock dips almost vertically, and is 
 hemmed in by what is termed the " reef " of harder 
 rocks. 
 
 The area of the Kimberley Mine enclosed at 
 the surface within the reef was about 11 acres 
 in extent. The enclosing rocks converged inwards 
 at a dip of one in three, so that as the depth 
 increased the section of the diamond-bearing rock 
 increased. The rock also becomes harder about 
 270 feet from the surface. A point, however, 
 has been reached at which the enclosing rocks 
 again open out, and the blue rock widens. The 
 popular theory of the formation of diamonds is that 
 there has been at some stage of the world's history, 
 an outburst of heat and force from below, resulting 
 in the conversion of carbon into the crystalline 
 form which we call diamonds. This Kimberley 
 Mine is now being worked at a depth of 500 feet, 
 and underground working has been established 
 from the bottom of the shafts, extending in depth 
 another 150 feet, tunnels stretching into the
 
 21 
 
 diamondiferous blue ground. This blue ground is 
 taken to the surface, and conveyed by the tram- 
 ways to the extensive fields round the mine, in 
 which, to the extent of hundreds of thousands of 
 tons, it is spread out exposed to the air for some 
 months, for the purpose of disintegration ; after 
 the action of the sun and weather has decomposed 
 the blue, the material is brought to the mine 
 from the fields, and the earth is washed. Each 
 morning's washing in the Kimberley Mine pro- 
 duced, when I was at Kimberley, between £3,000 
 and £4,000 in value of diamonds. The yield of 
 diamonds from the Kimberley Mine from 1871 to 
 the end of 1885 amounted in value to about 
 £20,000,000 sterling, and the output in 1887 was 
 over £1,400,000 sterling. 
 
 In the De Beer's Mine as in the Kimberley Mine 
 there is a variety in the relative richness of the 
 ground, but the claims are rich and extensive. 
 The gross amount of diamonds, produced in that 
 mine between 187] and 1885 inclusive, reached 
 a value of about £9,000,000 sterling, and the 
 production in 1887 was over a million sterling 
 In the De Beers Mine there has not been so 
 large an excavation of diamondiferous ground or 
 removal of main and floating reef as in the Kim- 
 berley Mine, where the output of reef and ground 
 must have been 20 millions of tons. The working 
 of these mines underground by shafts and tunnels, 
 as in coal mines, is being pursued with great skill
 
 22 
 
 and vigour; but it is admitted that open working 
 of the mines, if the superincumbent reef could 
 be removed, would entail less expense and con- 
 sequently assure to the proprietors a larger revenue. 
 The annual expenditure in labour, &c., is not 
 much under two millions sterling in connection 
 with the different diamond mines, while the out- 
 put has a net value of somewhere about four 
 milhons sterling. 
 
 There are river diamond diggings on the banks 
 of the Vaal. The gems, which are highly 
 esteemed for their colour and value, are found 
 in the rich gravel below heavy boulders, 
 or in the few inches of red sand which are 
 spread over the rocks, or in alluvial soil among 
 the gravel mixed with red sand, loam and boul- 
 ders, washed into the crevices of the rocks by 
 the action of water. Some authorities consider 
 that they were formed where they lie, others 
 believe that their source is in the Drakensberg 
 Mountains, or in the soil forming the banks of the 
 river. In the three years ending August, 1885, the 
 river diggings produced diamonds valued at about 
 £130,000 ; and we may estimate that the total 
 yield from the Vaal Eiver up to this date is over 
 two millions sterling. Some four years ago in the 
 time of drought part of the river was diverted, 
 and diamonds to the value of £300,000 taken out 
 of the bed. Occasionally a digger strikes 
 a portion of the old river bed, silted up with
 
 23 
 
 lime and gravel, where he finds rich deposits. 
 The largest diamond found in the Vaal Eiver 
 was worth about £0,000, while the value of the 
 largest diamond which has been found in the 
 Kimberley Mine was £60,000. There are about 
 2,300 natives employed at various river diggings 
 with about 250 whites as overseers ; in the 
 Kimberley Mines there is a grand total of 
 about 1,500 white men and 12,000 Kaffirs. The 
 total value of diamonds produced in 1867 was 
 £500; in 1870, £153,000; in 1872, £600,000; 
 in 1878, £2,150,000 ; in 1886, £3,261,000; and 
 in 1887, the value reached £4,033,332. In 
 addition to the mines and river workings 
 to which I have referred, there are very 
 important diamond mines in the Orange 
 Free State. The Jagersfontein Mine is especially 
 rich in the quality of the stones found there ; 
 and the unworked deposits of the extensive 
 property and mines known as Koffifontein and 
 Khpfontein in the same Eepublic have yet to be 
 developed. 
 
 The Copper Mines of South Africa are very 
 valuable, and in Namaqualand these have had 
 specially active development, through the opera- 
 tions of the well-known Cape Copper Company and 
 of the Namaqua Company. The ores found in 
 Namaqualand are of excellent quality, giving an 
 average of about 25 to 32 per cent, of copper. 
 The export of copper ore in 1867 was 4,300 tons ;
 
 24 
 
 in 1870, 7,200 tons; in 1878, 12,500 tons; in 1882, 
 19,669 tons ; in 1886, 28,429 tons ; and in the 
 nine months of 1887, 22,458 tons. 
 
 I may also mention the coal and other mineral 
 resources of the country, the silver, lead, and 
 other precious and useful metals. I would 
 specially refer to the enormous coal production 
 which is assured for the future, so important 
 a factor in the material resources and pros- 
 perity of a country. I saw in the river beds, 
 and on all sides, abundance of excellent coal 
 and, within 30 or 40 miles of the Witwaters- 
 rand gold district, coal was being excavated and 
 transmitted in considerable quantities for the use 
 of the mines at a cost, delivered, of about 30s. 
 per ton. At Kimberley the cost of coal which is 
 imported from Great Britain is not much under 
 £8 per ton. The coal resources of Natal are 
 especially valuable. I visited Newcastle and the 
 neighbouring district, the mines of which are 
 spread over a very great extent of country, and 
 will before very long, upon the completion of the 
 railway to Newcastle, prove to the sugar industry 
 of Natal, and to the Mercantile Marine of Durban, 
 a useful means for the supply of excellent 
 coal. 
 
 The question of how far it is possible to pro- 
 mote the growth and export of grain is receiv- 
 ing attention from the farmers of the Cape 
 Colony, and it was with the greatest interest I
 
 25 
 
 observed that for the first time in 12 years 
 steamers were being offered grain for conveyance 
 to England. I am satisfied that when the 
 Border Line of Eailway is completed, which 
 it is to be hoped will be established across the 
 Eastern Province in connection with the Midland 
 Line of Eailway, the farmers of the Eastern por- 
 tion of the Cape Colony will be able to supply 
 their agricultural produce in abundance, but they 
 at present require an outlet and the means for 
 conveyance of grain and cattle towards the mining 
 districts, to Kimberley, and to the seaports. 
 
 I would venture to make a few remarks upon 
 the possibilities of the future in regard to the 
 cultivation of the vine, and the prospects of those 
 who seek to develop the manufacture and export 
 of wine and brandy. There is no part of the 
 world where the wine industry has a better chance 
 of success than in South Africa. The climate 
 is favourable, the soil in certain districts is all that 
 can be desired, the vines are of suitable quality, 
 and the fruit is delightfully luscious and abundant. 
 It has been stated by some wine experts that 
 Cape wines are not suited to the English 
 market. ISTow, every variety of grape has its 
 distinct character, and of necessity the wine- 
 grower should select and manipulate the grapes 
 according to the character of the wine to be pro- 
 duced. There is, I may say, every variety of 
 grape to be found, such as is found in Burgundy,
 
 26 
 
 or upon the Ehine, the Moselle, or m the districts 
 of Charente. I suppose there must be a reason 
 for past ill-success in the manufacture of Cape 
 wine ; but we may take encouragement from what 
 the Cape Government have done in seeking to 
 obtain a better cultivation of the grape and its 
 manufacture into wine, at the Government farm of 
 Constantia. The growth and manufacture of wine 
 requires capital; it is necessary for the wine to 
 have time to mature ; and this is specially necessary 
 in the case of brandy. I venture to think that 
 brandy can be made at the Cape as well as in 
 the district of Cognac ; and that arrangements 
 which are now in progress for the pro- 
 motion of the wine industry in the Cape Colony, 
 will lead to the employment of capital upon 
 an extensive scale for the growth of the vine 
 and the manufacture of wine under careful and 
 practical supervision. It was a great pleasure to 
 me to visit the old town of Stellenbosch, within the 
 borders of which the Huguenot families who emi- 
 grated from France took up their first residence. 
 This fine old town is the centre of the wine-grow- 
 ing district, distant thirty-six miles from Cape 
 Town. The first emigrants to that part in 1669 
 consisted of French Protestants — some two hundred 
 persons — men, women, and children. There were the 
 sons of Admiral Duquesne, De Villiers, Dupret, 
 Duplessis, among them ; and their descendants now 
 form a large proportion of the indigenous white
 
 27 
 
 population of South Africa ; and to this day they 
 retain the high characteristics of their fathers. 
 These emigrants brought with them the vines of 
 France ; and among the farms you will find the 
 names known in their native land — Laraotte, 
 Elione, Languedoc, and La Eochelle. In that 
 warm climate I do not know how these 
 settlers were able to bear some of the singular 
 rules of the Dutch Government of that day, as, 
 for example, in regard to umbrellas, when it was 
 laid down as law that no one less in rank than a 
 junior merchant, or the wives or daughters of 
 such as had been members of the Council, should 
 venture to use umbrellas ; or, as to carri- 
 ages, it being a law of that time that every 
 person without exception was to stop his carriage 
 and get out of it when he saw the Governor 
 approach. The good Huguenots must have found 
 it very strange to discover at the Cape these very 
 modest but annoying indications of the spirit 
 which they hoped they had left behind them. JN^ot- 
 withstanding all the obstacles thrown in their way, 
 the vine-growers of that district have maintained 
 their love of the vine, and their natural capacity 
 for its cultivation and manufacture into wine. I 
 was astonished to see the exhibition of fruit at 
 Stellenbosch on the day of the annual show, and 
 it was very evident the population were prepared 
 to uphold the credit of the district in the products 
 historically associated with Stellenbosch.
 
 28 
 
 The production of wool is one of the most im- 
 portant of the industries of South Africa, and it 
 is satisfactory to observe that the efforts of the 
 farmers are being directed with increased energy 
 to an improvement in the manipulation and quality 
 of the wool, while Parliament has devoted atten- 
 tion to legislation calculated to promote this im- 
 provement in quality. For a considerable time past, 
 the prices for wool have remained at a very low figure, 
 but lately the farmers have been encouraged by an 
 increase in the price, and there is reasonable ground 
 for the hope that there is a better prospect in store 
 for the wool trade. The increase in the export of 
 wool from South Africa is not so great as might 
 have been expected, and by no means equal to 
 the increase of exports from such countries as 
 Australia. 
 
 Ostrich farming is another of the staple industries 
 of South Africa, but prices have fallen, and they are 
 not so remunerative the last year or two as they 
 were. Ostrich farming is an important part of the 
 trade of the colonies. In 1865 the total weight of 
 feathers exported was 17,522 pounds. The annual 
 value of feathers exported from Natal is about 
 £12,000, while from the Cape the export in 1886 
 reached 288,568 pounds, of the value of over half 
 a million ; in 1884 the quantity exported was 
 about the same, but the value in that year was 
 nearly a million sterling.
 
 29 
 
 The establishment of railway communication has 
 been of inestimable value to the agricultural and 
 commercial interest of the Cape Colony and Natal; 
 and there is yet to be a larger extension of the 
 existing 1,400 miles of iron road in the Cape 
 Colony, and of the 216J miles already open for 
 traffic in Natal. The railway is of importance 
 also to the mining interests ; and it has for the 
 Eepublics, as for the colonists, a high political 
 significance and interest. Hence the importance 
 of directing intelligently the routes by which rail- 
 way communications are to be established, avoiding 
 the errors which in South Africa, as in England, 
 have been committed in the form of lines without 
 strategical or commercial and practical value. It 
 is absurd to have two or three lines of railway 
 in competition with each other, and all for what may 
 be termed a moderate traffic. Now, the great question 
 under discussion in South Africa at the present 
 moment is how and where to establish the routes to 
 the interior. In the Transvaal, President Kruger, 
 following his predecessor, President Burgers, aims at 
 securing a control of the traffic of the Transvaal 
 by way of Delagoa Bay. On the other hand, very 
 spirited efforts are being made in Natal to secure 
 a fair proportion of the trade from Durban to 
 Ladysmith, and through Harrismith, into the 
 Pree State, or by way of Newcastle and Cold- 
 stream to the Transvaal; while in the Cape
 
 30 
 
 Colony, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town seek 
 to secure their share of the benefits to be 
 derived from the trade with the Orange Free 
 State and the Transvaal. I have taken the liberty 
 to state in South Africa that care should be 
 exercised not to overdo the work of railway 
 extension, and that it may be quite possible to 
 find in the future that the trade to the interior 
 is not sufficiently advanced to warrant too 
 extensive a railway system throughout South 
 Africa. In the estimation of President Kruger, as 
 representing a powerful section of the community in 
 the Transvaal, Delagoa Bay offers the more 
 attractive route for Transvaal interests, there being 
 a fear on the part of those who favour this route 
 that some day or other England may seek to re- 
 establish authority over the Transvaal, and that 
 it is as well to have an alternative route and so 
 be independent. The suspicion, however, that 
 England desires to annex the Transvaal is fast 
 disappearing from the minds of the population ; 
 and an intelligent estimate of what is involved in 
 seeking to establish a monopoly of Transvaal com- 
 munication by the Delagoa Bay route discovers 
 this significant fact, — that, supposing the monopoly 
 of trade with the Transvaal to be secured to 
 Delagoa Bay, there is assured to the Dutch Com- 
 pany, which has the concession for the Transvaal 
 Eailway, the advantage of entire immunity from
 
 31 
 
 taxation upon goods imported into the Transvaal 
 by their line. In other words, that route will enjoy 
 freedom from Transvaal duties, whereas goods im- 
 ported by way of the Cape, Natal or the Orange 
 Free State are to be liable to duty. This, I 
 pointed out to President Kruger, when in Pretoria, 
 means that in given circumstances the revenue 
 of the Eepublic from taxation upon imports may 
 disappear, the result being a possible additional 
 taxation of the digger population. 
 
 It is not difficult to see that there is involved 
 in this an internal political danger for the Trans- 
 vaal. But there is a further and very serious 
 result to be feared, namely, the antagonism which 
 would arise between the Transvaal and the 
 Orange Free State. There would also be the 
 danger of the rupture of commercial relations 
 between the Cape and Natal on the one 
 hand, and the Transvaal on the other, followed 
 by pohtical results which I am convinced 
 would prove very detrimental to Transvaal 
 interests. Beyond the question of taxation and 
 revenue, or the bearing of the course referred 
 to upon the convention between this country and 
 the Transvaal there are powers under the Con- 
 cession which allow to the Dutch Concessionaires 
 the means of dealing preferentially with those who 
 may use the Delagoa Bay route, in regard to the 
 mileage rates and classes of goods.
 
 At a conference between President Kruger and 
 President Brand, held at Bloemfontein shortly 
 before my visit the offer was made to the Free 
 State of an annual payment by the Govern- 
 ment of the Transvaal of £20,000 for 10 years, 
 provided the Free State would practically limit 
 its railway system to a connection with the 
 Transvaal lines and the Delagoa Bay route. But 
 President Brand, supported by his people, declined 
 this proposal. It was in view of these efforts on the 
 part of the Government of the Transvaal, that the 
 Governments of the Orange Free State, the Cape 
 Colony and Natal, decided to hold a conference 
 at Cape Town ; and in the newspapers you will 
 have observed that a satisfactory result has followed 
 the deliberations of the delegates. The decision 
 arrived at is to establish equal tariff rates in 
 the Cape, Natal and Orange Free State, with such 
 a guaranteed rebate to the Orange Free State 
 upon the Customs charges, on goods in transit as 
 may place them on somewhat like a par with goods 
 conveyed through Portuguese territory under the 
 treaty between the Governments of Lisbon and 
 to the Transvaal. A similar advantage is 
 offered to the Transvaal. It may therefore be 
 taken for granted that provided the Parliament of 
 the Cape, the Council of Natal, and the Volksraad 
 of the Orange Free State adopt the proposals 
 referred to, there will follow the immediate 
 establishment of through railway communication
 
 33 
 
 in connection with the present lines of the Cape 
 Colony, and of Natal, the former by way 
 of Colesberg and the latter through Lady- 
 smith, in the direction of Harrismith, towards 
 Newcastle and Coldstream on the northern 
 border of ISIatal, and thence to the Transvaal. 
 It is possible also that before long the railway 
 system of the Cape Colony will extend from 
 Kimberley to Potchefstroom in the Transvaal, 
 thence to Pretoria and Johannesburg ; and indeed 
 we may anticipate that from Kimberley another 
 railway line will be extended northwards towards 
 the Malmani goldfields, and to Betchuanaland. 
 
 The Delagoa Bay Eailway, under a concession 
 granted by the Government of Portugal, is now 
 completed to within a few miles of the Portu- 
 guese frontier, but no progress has yet been made 
 in laying the Transvaal Eailway, intended to join the 
 existing line at the frontier. It appears to be an open 
 question how the Transvaal Eailway is to be laid down, 
 and whether Bai'berton is to enjoy the advantages 
 of direct railway communication. Barberton 
 is surrounded by mountains, through which 
 it is difficult for a railway to pass, and it is 
 understood that the railway will ran from the 
 Portuguese frontier away to the north of Bar- 
 berton, thence by Nelspruit, and not touch at 
 Barberton. At present the Barberton traffic is 
 carried by way of Natal, and the Cape Ports; 
 but if the Delagoa Bay line were completed and 
 
 3
 
 34 
 
 linked with the Transvaal section, there can be 
 no doubt a large share of the Barberton trade 
 would seek that route, and that it would ultimately 
 secure a large proportion of the business to the 
 eastern districts of the Transvaal. It appears to me 
 that as regards Johannesburg, and even Pretoria, and 
 the region lying to the north-east of Pretoria, 
 as well as the Potchefstroom district, the Cape 
 Colony and Natal are sure to enjoy a very 
 important share of the traffic by way of the 
 Orange Free State. 
 
 In considering this question of railway exten- 
 sion, I cannot help offering the remark that if 
 the sea-coast ports, and, indeed, the Governments 
 of the Cape and Natal were less in rivalry, there 
 would be an easier solution of the railway ques- 
 tion. The good people of Natal, with a deter- 
 mination and vigour which do them honour, hold 
 with a tenacity peculiarly British to the claims of 
 their own colony. They claim a special position 
 in relation to the trade with the interior ; but I 
 venture to think that it would be better for all 
 concerned, including the interests of this country, 
 if the Cape and Natal could see their way to a 
 union of interests, and indeed a complete union of 
 Government. The intervening country — Pondo- 
 land — could then be dealt with, and there would 
 stretch from Cape Town to the Portuguese 
 frontier — if we except Amatongaland, a coun- 
 try, however, which is under our influence —
 
 35 
 
 a territory under a single Government, enjoying 
 the management of its own affairs under the 
 Crown ; and although it is not an opinion 
 which is received with favour by those who 
 desire to have responsible Government for Natal, 
 I cannot but express the conviction that the 
 interests of that enterprising colony would in the 
 long run benefit, as I believe the Cape Colony 
 also would benefit, by a junction of their forces, 
 and by united political action. Certainly this 
 would be in the direction of that union of 
 South Africa which we may hope for in the future, 
 and the influence of our compatriots would not 
 suffer through the increased strength which co- 
 operation and identity of action between the 
 Cape and Natal would secure. 
 
 Both these colonies, as well as the Imperial in- 
 terests, have run serious risks in the last few years 
 from the efforts of foreign powers on the Western 
 and South Eastern Coasts to obtain poHtical in- 
 fluence and territory. If the Cape and Natal had 
 been united, or, in other words, if there had been 
 a stronger colonial influence, and one more in 
 harmony with the sympathies of the Eepub- 
 lics, a more definite position could have been 
 taken up by the Colonial Governments in rela- 
 tion to the pretensions of Germany at Angra 
 Pequena. Our Government showed very little 
 foresight as to the intentions of Germany to 
 annex Damaraland, and the coastline from Cape
 
 36 
 
 Frio northwards. I introduced a deputation to 
 Lord Derby, in 18S4 when his Lordship was 
 seriously warned of what might possibly happen 
 in that district ; his Lordship, however, gave us to 
 understand that Germany was not a colonising 
 power, and that Great Britain would consider it an 
 unfriendly act if Germany should annex the terri- 
 tory referred to; Germany, nevertheless, did annex the 
 South West Coast of South Africa very shortly after- 
 wards, and Lord Derby said no more. While the 
 Cape Colony was thus to no small extent impaired 
 in its position in that quarter. Natal narrowly 
 escaped feeling a similar influence on its border ; 
 for the German Government would have secured 
 St. Lucia Bay and the coast line between Natal 
 and the possessions of Portugal, had not the British 
 Government telegraphed instructions to despatch a 
 gunboat from Cape Town with orders to hoist the 
 British flag at St. Lucia Bay. It would be easy 
 for me to give particulars of the pressure which 
 had to be put upon the late Government to secure 
 this result. 
 
 I have spoken of Pondoland as practically under 
 British influence. This country stretches from the 
 north-eastern frontier of the Cape Colony lo the 
 Natal frontier, and with a sea coast line of about 
 120 miles. The entrance to St. John's Eiver, the 
 port of Pondoland, is held by the Cape Colony, 
 whose Government is represented by Customs 
 officials and by a detachment of the Cape Mounted
 
 37 
 
 Eifles. I was much impressed with the magnificent 
 scenery along the whole coast of Pondoland, and 
 particularly the entrance to the St. John's Eiver. 
 It reminded me of Skye. The territory abounds in 
 minerals, the grazing is excellent, and the popula- 
 tion have hitherto shewn considerable self restraint. 
 From all that is known, and notwithstanding 
 the disputes as to the succession to the highest 
 position of authority amongst the Pondos, there is 
 not, I have been told, so much disinclination to a 
 close and intimate association with the Colonies 
 as might be expected. I have heard that the 
 Pondo authorities favour a union with Natal, 
 rather than with the Cape; but this point of 
 interest would disappear under such a union 
 between the Cape and Fatal as I have indicated. 
 It was often remarked in South Africa, and, 
 indeed, in England a short time ago, 
 that the German Government had in view 
 the annexation of Pondoland; and when I 
 was in Natal it was stated that representatives 
 of Berlin influences, either official or non-official, 
 were seeking to bring about close relationships 
 between Germany and the Pondo chiefs. You 
 can easily imagine what issues would be raised 
 by the introduction of foreign authority in 
 Pondoland, separating as it would the Cape from 
 Natal. 
 
 I cannot but refer both from a British and a 
 Colonial point of view to Amatongaland and to
 
 38 
 
 Swazieland. In the case of the former, a 
 territory stretching from the northern part of 
 Zulnland to the Portuguese frontier at Delagoa 
 Bay, it must be admitted that the interest of 
 our country should be predominant, and that the 
 exercise of authority there by a foreign power 
 would only embarrass us in our relations with the 
 Transvaal and with Swazieland, and compromise 
 to a serious extent the influence we may justly 
 claim to possess amongst these native races, 
 and with the Matabele king, whose lands border 
 the Portuguese possessions and stretch towards 
 the Zambesi. The population of Swazieland have a 
 special claim upon our Government and the people 
 of this country. When President Burgers, eleven 
 or twelve years ago, attacked Secocoeni, he sought 
 the assistance of the Swazi tribes and endeavoured 
 to obtain from them the route through 
 Swazieland to the sea coast, aiming also at 
 the possession of St. Lucia Bay and the control 
 of Amatongaland. The Transvaal burghers were 
 unsuccessful in their attack upon Secocoeni. Sub- 
 sequently, after the annexation of the Transvaal, 
 Lord Wolseley, with the help of the Swazis, 
 destroyed Secocoeni's power, a task which was 
 accomphshed with the declared purpose of 
 strengthening the position of the Transvaal popu- 
 lation. At the time of the Zulu War, the Swazis 
 offered to us their assistance, which was declined, 
 but their hostile attitude to a certain extent
 
 39 
 
 embarrassed Cetewayo ; and when the retrocession 
 of the Transvaal took place, our Government 
 stipulated that the independence of Swazieland 
 should be guaranteed. 
 
 I admit that Swazieland, through our own 
 action, is practically shut in from communication 
 with us, except through Amatongaland. Never- 
 theless, is it possible for us to renounce our 
 interest in the Swazies, and thereby declare to 
 them — in repetition of a policy we have too often 
 pursued — that we have really no regard for our 
 previous obligations ? And if so, will there not 
 be an increase of that doubt and misgiving which 
 prevails in the native mind, and which already 
 has extended itself to the capital of Lobengulo, 
 the king of the Matabeles, and indeed with 
 varying intensity throughout the coloured 
 populations of South Africa ? There is no- 
 thing more marked in South Africa than the 
 belief that no dependence is to be placed upon 
 British assurances, or the continuity or definite- 
 ness of our Imperial policy. Our treatment of the 
 Zulus must ever remain a disgrace to our states- 
 manship ; and the repeated efforts which I have 
 made in concert with others for years past to 
 secure for that brave people a fair measure of 
 consideration, have resulted only in this — starvation 
 amongst them, civil war, and the subjection of a 
 large part of their very best territory now to foreign 
 authority. There is in the case of Swazieland a
 
 40 
 
 serious commercial question to be considered, but 
 with a political significance attaching to it, namely, 
 the discovery in that country of a large extent of 
 auriferous land, and the fact that the principal per- 
 sons engaged in gold mining enterprise there, under 
 concessions from the King, are from England and 
 the Colonies. I was told in Natal that the white 
 population would not submit to the annexation 
 of the country by the foreign element which 
 seeks possession, and it is for our Imperial and 
 Colonial Governments to take care that no 
 provocation arises which can possibly endanger 
 peaceful relations with the Transvaal. 
 
 I venture also to point out another danger, and 
 that is the possibility of such an extension of 
 foreign power to the west of the Transvaal as 
 may, in conjunction with a similar influence 
 from the East Coast, bar the routes for our 
 commerce towards the north in the direction 
 of the Zambesi : a result which it is not in the 
 interest of the Orange Free State, nor of the 
 Transvaal to encourage. 
 
 Our position in South Africa naturally depends 
 upon the friendship of the population, and upon 
 our providing suitable defences upon the sea 
 coast. On this subject of Coast defences the noble 
 Lord who occupies the Chair has recently given 
 us the results of his observations in various 
 parts of the Queen's wide dominions. It is of 
 paramount importance to the Empire that our posi-
 
 41 
 
 tion should be strong at the Cape ; for in any war 
 in which we may be engaged, the Suez Canal need 
 not be depended upon as a route for warships, 
 nor, indeed, for troops. The Cape will be the 
 only reliable route if military action should at 
 any time become necessary in India or the 
 East ; and, as regards the Austrahan Colonies and 
 our possessions in the East, it is by way of the 
 Cape that our ironclads or warships will have 
 to operate. Our Government has done well to 
 push forward the fortifications at Simon's Bay, 
 and the defences of Cape Town. I am not 
 disposed to think that it is wise, as has been 
 proposed by some authorities, to give up Simon's 
 Bay, for, in the event of war. Table Bay might be 
 crowded with shipping seeking shelter, and there 
 might be a difficulty in anchoring or manoeuvring 
 men of war there, or of employing it as our 
 only naval base. The naval operations necessary 
 would involve the employment of large naval 
 forces, and the dockyard of Simon's Bay, under 
 the protection of the forts, would prove of 
 inestimable value. There need be no fear of 
 the conquest of South Africa by a foreign power 
 — the people of that portion of the Continent are 
 quite able to defend themselves ; I rejoice to 
 think that in the growing goodwill between 
 the populations of the Eepublics and of the 
 Cape and Natal there is a guarantee of increased 
 strength. And here I may repeat a suggestion 
 
 4
 
 42 
 
 which I made some time ago to the authorities, 
 that it would be greatly to the advantage of this 
 country to establish, at the Cape and in Natal, 
 stations where our young troops could become 
 acclimatised for, say, a couple of years on their 
 way to India. There is sufficient land obtainable 
 at a small cost for drill, and for a purpose 
 which is httle encouraged in our army, but which 
 is all important in time of war — that is, shooting 
 and mancBuvring, Similarly, the time expired 
 troops returning homewards could rest in these 
 districts, and be transferred to England after be- 
 coming acclimatised in a colder climate than 
 India. Their transfer home could be arranged at 
 any time of the year, which would be more favour- 
 able to their health than the present arrangements 
 by the Suez Canal route. I hold that it would 
 be of great value to the young soldiers to mix 
 with the old soldiers who have seen foreign ser- 
 vice, and the Cape and Natal would themselves 
 gain benefit, for possibly many of the time-expired 
 soldiers could settle down upon the frontier of the 
 Cape, on lands devoted to the purpose, and prove 
 a suitable frontier force in case of need. The 
 presence of some thousands of seasoned men 
 stationed in the Cape and Natal w^ould secure a 
 reserve for immediate employment in an emergency, 
 whether in India, Australia, in Africa, or naarer 
 home. 
 
 This Imperial interest has for the Colonies a
 
 43 
 
 certain advantage, but the permanent interest of 
 Great Britain among the populations of South 
 Africa is to secure their goodwill and ready 
 assistance. It has been said that it is a dream to 
 speak of the union of South Africa, but I am not of 
 that opinion. The union of South Africa is nearer, 
 in my humble judgment, than people imagine ; 
 but that desirable result will only be hindered if 
 we entertain the feelings and carry out the policy 
 which has characterised our dealings in the past 
 towards the population of South Africa. There 
 is no continuity in British policy in South Africa 
 — in fact, one looks in vain for a policy at all in the 
 chequered history of that country. It was with 
 sad thoughts of what might have been accom- 
 plished by friendly and timely action on the part of 
 the Government of this country that I looked at 
 Majuba on my way to Natal. The records of those 
 who had died, spoke only to my mind of 
 valuable lives thrown away through incapacity and 
 mismanagement ; and I may say I have both political 
 parties in this country in view in making these 
 observations. It may be asked. Is there any hope 
 that the inhabitants of the Eepublics will ever be 
 united in cordial and hearty association with the 
 Colonists and the people of this country ? Yes, 
 I am under the conviction that the tendencies of 
 the time are favourable to this happy result ; and 
 that in the future — with England's protection upon 
 the sea coast, the populations of the Transvaal,
 
 44 
 
 the Free State, the Cape, and Natal will become 
 more and more closely attached to each other, 
 enjoying the management of their own affairs, and 
 forming together a prosperous and united South 
 Africa, in practical harmony with the people of 
 the British Isles, and our Colonial Empire. 
 
 Watcrlow & Sons, Limited, Printeis, London Wall, Loudon.