(F. R. C.)
Geology.—The colony affords the typical development of the geological succession south of the Zambezi. The following general arrangement has been determined:—
Table Of Formations.Post-Cretaceous and Recent.
The general structure of the colony is simple. It may be regarded as a shallow basin occupied by the almost horizontal rocks of the Karroo. These form the plains and plateaus of the interior. Rocks of pre-Cape age rise from beneath them on the north and west; on the south and east the Lower Karroo and Cape systems are bent up into sharp folds, beneath which, but in quite limited areas, the pre-Cape rocks emerge. In the folded regions the strike conforms to the coastal outline on the south and east.
Pre-Cape rocks occur in three regions, presenting a different development in each:—
The pre-Cape rocks are but little understood. They no doubt represent formations of widely different ages, but all that can be said is that they are greatly older than the Cape System. The hope that they will yield fossils has been held out but not yet fulfilled. Their total thickness amounts to several thousand feet. The rocks have been greatly changed by pressure in most cases and by the intrusion of great masses of igneous material, the Namaqualand schists and Malmesbury beds being most altered.
The most prominent member of the Cango series is a coarse conglomerate; the other rocks include slates, limestone and porphyroids. The Ibiquas beds consist of conglomerates and grits. Both the Cango and Ibiquas series have been invaded by granite of older date than the Table Mountain series. The Nieuwerust beds contain quartzite, arkose and shales. They rest indifferently on the Ibiquas series or Malmesbury beds.
The pre-Cape rocks of the northern region occur in the Campbell Rand, Asbestos mountains, Matsap and Langebergen, and in the Schuftebergen. They contain a great variety of sediments and igneous rocks. The oldest, or Keis, series consists of quartzites, quartz-schists, phyllites and conglomerates. These are overlain, perhaps unconformably, by a great thickness of lavas and volcanic breccias (Pniel volcanic series, Beer Vley and Zeekoe Baard amygdaloids), and these in turn by the quartzites, grits and shales of the Black Reef series. The chief rocks of the Campbell Rand series are limestones and dolomites, with some interbedded quartzites. Among the Griquatown series of quartzites, limestones and shales are numerous bands of jasper and large quantities of crocidolite (a fibrous amphibole); while at Blink Klip a curious breccia, over 200 ft. thick, is locally developed. Evidences of one of the oldest known glaciations have been found near the summit in the district of Hay. The Ongeluk volcanic series, consisting of lavas and breccias, conformably overlies the Griquatown series; while the grits, quartzites and conglomerates of the Matsap series rest on them with a great discordance.
Rocks of the Cape System have only been met with in the southern and eastern parts of South Africa. The lowest member (Table Mountain Sandstone) consists of sandstones with subordinate bands of shale. It forms the upper part of Table Mountain and enters largely into the formation of the southern mountainous folded belt. It is unfossiliferous except for a few obscure sheils obtained near the base. A bed of conglomerate is regarded as of glacial origin.
The Table Mountain Sandstone passes up conformably into a sequence of sandstones and shales (Bokkeveld Beds), well exposed in the Cold and Warm Bokkevelds. The lowest beds contain many fossils, includingPhacops, Homalonotus, Leptocoelia, Spirifer, Chonetes, Orthothetes, Orthoceras, Bellerophon. Many of the species are common to the Devonian rocks of the Falkland Islands, North and South America and Europe, with perhaps a closer resemblance to the Devonian fauna of South America than to that of any other country.
The Bokkeveld beds are conformably succeeded by the sandstones, quartzites and shales of the Witteberg series. So farimperfect remains of plants (Spirophyton) are the only fossils, and these are not sufficient to determine if the beds belong to the Devonian or Carboniferous System.
The thickness of the rocks of the Cape System exceeds 5000 ft.
The Karroo System ispar excellencethe geological formation of South Africa. The greater part of the colony belongs to it, as do large tracts in the Orange Free State and Transvaal. It includes the following well-defined subdivisions:—
In the southern areas the Karroo formation follows the Cape System conformably; in the north it rests unconformably on very much older rocks. The most remarkable deposits are the conglomerates of the Dwyka series. These afford the clearest evidences of glaciation on a great scale in early Carboniferous times. The deposit strictly resembles a consolidated modern boulder clay. It is full of huge glaciated blocks, and in different regions (Prieska chiefly) the underlying pavement is remarkably striated and shows that the ice was moving southward. The upper shales contain the small reptileMesosaurus tenuidens.
Plants constitute the chief fossils of the Ecca series; among others they includeGlossopteris, Gangamopteris, Phyllotheca. The Beaufort series is noted for the numerous remains of remarkable and often gigantic reptiles it contains. The genera and species are numerous,Dicynodon, Oudenodon, Pareiasaurusbeing the best known. Among plantsGlossopterisoccurs for the last time. The Stormberg series occurs in the mountainous regions of the Stormberg and Drakensberg. The Molteno beds contain several workable seams of coal. The most remarkable feature of the series is the evidence of volcanic activity on an extensive scale. The greater part of the volcanic series is formed by lava streams of great thickness. Dykes and intrusive sheets, most of which end at the folded belt, are also numerous. The age of the intrusive sheets met with in the Beaufort series is usually attributed to the Stormberg period. They form the kopjes, or characteristic flat-topped hills of the Great Karroo. The Stormberg series contains the remains of numerous reptiles. A true crocodile,Notochampsa, has been discovered in the Red Beds and Cave Sandstone. Among the plants,ThinnfeldiaandTaeniopterisare common. Three genera of fossil fishes,Cleithrolepis, SemionotusandCeratodus, ascend from the Beaufort series into the Cave Sandstone.
Cretaceous rocks occur only near the coast. The plants of the Uitenhage beds bear a close resemblance to those of the Wealden. The marine fauna of Sunday river indicates a Neocomian age. The chief genera areHamites, Baculites, Crioceras, Olcostephanusand certainTrigoniae.
The superficial post-Cretaceous and Recent deposits are widely spread. High-level gravels occur from 600 to 2000 ft. above the sea. The remains of a gigantic ox,Bubalus Baini, have been obtained from the alluvium near the Modder river. The recent deposits indicate that the land has risen for a long period.
(W. G.*)
Fauna.—The fauna is very varied, but some of the wild animals common in the early days of the colony have been exterminated (e.g.quagga and blaauwbok), and others (e.g.the lion, rhinoceros, giraffe) driven beyond the confines of the Cape. Other game have been so reduced in numbers as to require special protection. This class includes the elephant (now found only in the Knysna and neighbouring forest regions), buffalo and zebra (strictly preserved, and confined to much the same regions as the elephant), eland, oribi, koodoo, haartebeest and other kinds of antelope and gnu. The leopard is not protected, but lingers in the mountainous districts. Cheetahs are also found, including a rare woolly variety peculiar to the Karroo. Both the leopards and cheetahs are commonly spoken of in South Africa as tigers. Other carnivora more or less common to the colony are the spotted hyena, aard-wolf (orProteles), silver jackal, theOtocyonor Cape wild dog, and various kinds of wild cats. Of ungulata, besides a few hundreds of rare varieties, there are the springbuck, of which great herds still wander on the open veld, the steinbok, a small and beautiful animal which is sometimes coursed like a hare, the klipspringer or “chamois of South Africa,” common in the mountains, the wart-hog and the dassie or rock rabbit. There are two or three varieties of hares, and a species of jerboa and several genera of mongooses. The English rabbit has been introduced into Robben Island, but is excluded from the mainland. The ant-bear, with very long snout, tongue and ears, is found on the Karroo, where it makes inroads on the ant-heaps which dot the plain. There is also a scaly ant-eater and various species of pangolins, of arboreal habit, which live on ants. Baboons are found in the mountains and forests, otters in the rivers. Of reptiles there are the crocodile, confined to the Transkei rivers, several kinds of snakes, including the cobra di capello and puff adder, numerous lizards and various tortoises, including the leopard tortoise, the largest of the continental land forms. Of birds the ostrich may still be found wild in some regions. The great kori bustard is sometimes as much as 5 ft. high. Other game birds include the francolin, quail, guinea-fowl, sand-grouse, snipe, wild duck, wild goose, widgeon, teal, plover and rail. Birds of prey include the bearded vulture, aasvogel and several varieties of eagles, hawks, falcons and owls. Cranes, storks, flamingoes and pelicans are found in large variety.
Parrots are rarely seen. The greater number of birds belong to the order Passeres; starlings, weavers and larks are very common, the Cape canary, long-tailed sugar bird, pipits and wagtails are fairly numerous. The English starling is stated to be the only European bird to have thoroughly established itself in the colony. The Cape sparrow has completely acclimatized itself to town life and prevented the English sparrow obtaining a footing.
Large toads and frogs are common, as are scorpions, tarantula spiders, butterflies, hornets and stinging ants. In some districts the tsetse fly causes great havoc. The most interesting of the endemic insectivora is theChrysochlorisor “golden mole,” so called from the brilliant yellow lustre of its fur. There are not many varieties of freshwater fish, the commonest being the baba or cat-fish and the yellow fish. Both are of large size, the baba weighing as much as 70 ℔. The smallest variety is the culper or burrowing perch. In some of thevleisand streams in which the water is intermittent the fish preserve life by burrowing into the ooze. Trout have been introduced into several rivers and have become acclimatized. Of sea fish there are more than forty edible varieties. The snock, the steenbrass and geelbeck are common in the estuaries and bays. Seals and sharks are also common in the waters of the Cape. Whales visit the coast for the purpose of calving.
Of the domestic animals, sheep, cattle and dogs were possessed by the natives when the country was discovered by Europeans. The various farm animals introduced by the whites have thriven well (see below,Agriculture).
Flora.—The flora is rich and remarkably varied in the coast districts. On the Karroo and the interior plateau there is less variety. In all, some 10,000 different species have been noted in the colony, about 450 genera being peculiar to the Cape. The bush of the coast districts and lower hills consists largely of heaths, of which there are over 400 species. The heaths and the rhenoster or rhinoceros wood, a plant 1 to 2 ft. high resembling heather, form the characteristic features of the flora of the districts indicated. The prevailing bloom is pink coloured. The deciduous plants lose their foliage in the dry season but revive with the winter rains. Notable among the flowers are the arum lily and the iris. The pelargonium group, including many varieties of geranium, is widely represented. Inthe eastern coast-lands the vegetation becomes distinctly sub-tropical. Of pod-bearing plants there are upwards of eighty genera: Cape “everlasting” flowers (generally species ofHelichrysum) are in great numbers. Several species of aloe are indigenous to the Cape. The so-called American aloe has also been naturalized. The castor-oil plant and many other plants of great value in medicine are indigenous in great abundance. Among plants remarkable in their appearance and structure may be noted the cactus-like Euphorbiae or spurge plants, theStapeliaor carrion flower, and the elephant’s foot or Hottentots’ bread, a plant of the same order as the yam. Hooks, thorns and prickles are characteristic of many South African plants.
Forests are confined to the seaward slopes of the coast ranges facing south. They cover between 500 and 600 sq. m. The forests contain a great variety of useful woods, affording excellent timber; among the commonest trees are the yellow wood, which is also one of the largest, belonging to the yew species; black iron wood; heavy, close-grained and durable stinkhout; melkhout, a white wood used for wheel work; nieshout; and the assegai or Cape lancewood. Forest trees rarely exceed 30 ft. in height and scarcely any attain a greater height than 60 ft. A characteristic Cape tree isLeucadendron argenteumor silver tree, so named from the silver-like lustre of stem and leaves. The so-called cedars, whence the Cedarberg got its name, exist no longer. Among trees introduced by the Dutch or British colonists the oak, poplar, various pines, the Australian blue-gum (eucalyptus) and wattle flourish. The silver wattle grows freely in shifting sands and by its means waste lands,e.g.the Cape Flats, have been reclaimed. The oak grows more rapidly and more luxuriantly than in Europe. There are few indigenous fruits; the kei apple is the fruit of a small tree or shrub found in Kaffraria and the eastern districts, where also the wild and Kaffir plums are common; hard pears, gourds, water melons and species of almond, chestnut and lemon are also native. Almost all the fruits of other countries have been introduced and flourish. On the Karroo the bush consists of dwarf mimosas, wax-heaths and other shrubs, which after the spring rains are gorgeous in blossom (seeKarroo). The grass of the interior plains is of a coarse character and yellowish colour, very different from the meadow grasses of England. The “Indian” doab grass is also indigenous.
With regard to mountain flora arborescent shrubs do not reach beyond about 4000 ft. Higher up the slopes are covered with small heath,Bruniaceae, Rutaceae, &c. All plants with permanent foliage are thickly covered with hair. Above 6000 ft. over seventy species of plants of Alpine character have been found.
Races and Population.—The first inhabitants of Cape Colony of whom there is any record were Bushmen and Hottentots (q.v.). The last-named were originally called Quaequaes, and received the name Hottentots from the Dutch. They dwelt chiefly in the south-west and north-west parts of the country; elsewhere the inhabitants were of Bantu negroid stock, and to them was applied the name Kaffir. When the Cape was discovered by Europeans, the population, except along the coast, was very scanty and it is so still. The advent of Dutch settlers and a few Huguenot families in the 17th century was followed in the 19th century by that of English and German immigrants. The Bushmen retreated before the white races and now few are to be found in the colony. These live chiefly in the districts bordering the Orange river. The tribal organization of the Hottentots has been broken up, and probably nopure bredrepresentatives of the race survive in the colony.
Half-breeds of mixed Hottentot, Dutch and Kaffir blood now form the bulk of the native population west of the Great Fish river. Of Kaffir tribes the most important living north of the Orange river are the Bechuanas, whilst in the eastern province and Kaffraria live the Fingoes, Tembus and Pondos. The Amaxosa are the principal Kaffir tribe in Cape Colony proper. The Griquas (or Bastaards) are descendants of Dutch-Hottentot half-castes. They give their name to two tracts of country. During the slavery period many thousands of negroes were imported, chiefly from the Guinea coast. The negroes have been largely assimilated by the Kaffir tribes. (For particulars of the native races see their separate articles.) Of the white races in the Colony the French element has been completely absorbed in the Dutch. They and the German settlers are mainly pastoral people. The Dutch, who have retained in a debased form their own language, also engage largely in agriculture and viticulture. Of fine physique and hardy constitution, they are of strongly independent character; patriarchal in their family life; shrewd,slimand courageous; in religion Protestants of a somewhat austere type. Education is somewhat neglected by them, and the percentage of illiteracy among adults is high. They are firm believers in the inferiority of the black races and regard servitude as their natural lot. The British settlers have developed few characteristics differing from the home type. The British element of the community is largely resident in the towns, and is generally engaged in trade or in professional pursuits; but in the eastern provinces the bulk of the farmers are English or German; the German farmers being found in the district between King William’s Town and East London, and on the Cape Peninsula. Numbers of them retain their own language. The term “Africander” is sometimes applied to all white residents in Cape Colony and throughout British South Africa, but is often restricted to the Dutch-speaking colonists. “Boer,”i.e.farmer, as a synonym for “Dutch,” is not in general use in Cape Colony.
Besides the black and white races there is a large colony of Malays in Cape Town and district, originally introduced by the Dutch as slaves. These people are largely leavened with foreign elements and, professing Mahommedanism, religion rather than race is their bond of union. They add greatly by their picturesque dress to the gaiety of the street scenes. They are generally small traders, but many are wealthy. There are also a number of Indians in the colony. English is the language of the towns; elsewhere, except in the eastern provinces, thetaalor vernacular Dutch is the tongue of the majority of the whites, as it is of the natives in the western provinces.
The first census was taken in 1865 when the population of the colony, which then had an area of 195,000 sq. m., and did not include the comparatively densely-populated Native Territories, was 566,158. Of these the Europeans numbered 187,400 or about 33% of the whole. Of the coloured races the Hottentots and Bushmen were estimated at 82,000, whilst the Kaffirs formed about 50% of the population. Since 1865 censuses have been taken—in 1875, 1891 and 1904. In 1875 Basutoland formed part of the colony; in 1891 Transkei, Tembuland, Griqualand East, Griqualand West and Walfish Bay had been incorporated, and Basutoland had been disannexed; and in 1904 Pondoland and British Bechuanaland had been added. The following table gives the area and population at each of the three periods.
The 1875 census gave the population of the colony proper at 720,984, and that of Basutoland at 128,176. The colony is officially divided into nine provinces, but is more conveniently treated as consisting of three regions, to which may be added the detached area of Walfish Bay and the islands along the coast of Namaqualand. The table on the next page shows the distribution of population in the various areas.
The white population, which as stated was 187,400 in 1865 and 579,741 in 1904, was at the intermediate censuses 236,783 in 1875 and 376,987 in 1891. The proportion of Dutch descended whites to those of British origin is about 3 to 2. No exact comparison can be made showing the increase in the native population owing to the varying areas of the colony, but the natives have multiplied more rapidly than the whites; the increase in the numbers of the last-named being due, in considerable measure, to immigration. The whites who form about 25%of the total population are in the proportion of 4 to 6 in the colony proper. The great bulk of the people inhabit the coast region. The population is densest in the south-west corner (which includes Cape Town, the capital) where the white outnumbers the coloured population. Here in an area of 1711 sq. m. the inhabitants exceed 264,000, being 154 to the sq. m. The urban population, reckoning as such dwellers in the nine largest towns and their suburbs, exceeds 331,000, being nearly 25% of the total population of the colony proper. Of the coloured inhabitants at the 1904 census 15,682 were returned as Malay, 8489 as Indians, 85,892 as Hottentots,24168 as Bushmen and 6289 as Griquas. The Kaffir and Bechuana tribes numbered 1,114,067 individuals, besides 310,720 Fingoes separately classified, while 279,662 persons were described as of mixed race. Divided by sex (including white and black) the males numbered (1904) 1,218,940, the females 1,190,864, females being in the proportion of 97.70 to 100 males. By race the proportion is:—whites, 82.16 females to every 100 males (a decrease of 10% compared with 1891); coloured, 103.22 females to every 100 males. Of the total population over 14 years old—1,409,975—the number married was 738,563 or over 50%. Among the white population this percentage was only reached in adults over 17.
The professional, commercial and industrial occupations employ about ¼th of the white population. In 1904 whites engaged in such pursuits numbered respectively only 32,202, 46,750 and 67,278, whereas 99,319 were engaged in domestic employment, and 111,175 in agricultural employment, while 214,982 (mostly children) were dependants. The natives follow domestic and agricultural pursuits almost exclusively.
Registration of births and deaths did not become compulsory till 1895. Among the European population the birth-rate is about 33.00 per thousand, and the death-rate 14.00 per thousand. The birth-rate among the coloured inhabitants is about the same as with the whites, but the death-rate is higher—about 25.00 per thousand.
Immigration and Emigration.—From 1873 to 1884 only 23,337 persons availed themselves of the government aid to immigrants from England to the Cape, and in 1886 this aid was stopped. The total number of adult immigrants by sea, however, steadily increased from 11,559 in 1891 to 38,669 in 1896, while during the same period the number of departures by sea only increased from 8415 to 17,695, and most of this increase took place in the last year. But from 1896 onwards the uncertainty of the political position caused a falling off in the number of immigrants, while the emigration figures still continued to grow; thus in 1900 there were 29,848 adult arrivals by sea, as compared with 21,163 departures. Following the close of the Anglo-Boer War the immigration figures rose in 1903 to 61,870, whereas the departures numbered 29,615. This great increase proved transitory; in 1904 and 1905 the immigrants numbered 32,282 and 33,775 respectively, while in the same years the emigrants numbered 33,651 and 34,533. At the census of 1904, 21.68% of the European population was born outside Africa, persons of Russian extraction constituting the strongest foreign element.
Provinces.—The first division of the colony for the purposes of administration and election of members for the legislative council was into two provinces, a western and an eastern, the western being largely Dutch in sentiment, the eastern chiefly British. With the growth of the colony these provinces were found to be inconveniently large, and by an act of government, which became law in 1874, the country was portioned out into seven provinces; about the same time new fiscal divisions were formed within them by the reduction of those already existing. The seven provinces are named from their geographical position: western, north-western, south-western, eastern, north-eastern, south-eastern and midland. In general usage the distinction made is into western and eastern provinces, according to the area of the primary division. Griqualand West on its incorporation with the colony in 1880 became a separate province, and when the crown colony of British Bechuanaland was taken over by the Cape in 1895 it also became a separate province (seeGriqualandandBechuanaland). For electoral purposes the Native Territories (seeKaffraria) are included in the eastern province.
Chief Towns.—With the exception of Kimberley the principal towns (see separate notices) are on the coast. The capital, Cape Town, had a population (1904) of 77,668, or including the suburbs, 169,641. The most important of these suburbs, which form separate municipalities, are Woodstock (28,990), Wynberg (18,477), and Claremont (14,972). Kimberley, the centre of the diamond mining industry, 647 m. up country from Cape Town, had a pop. of 34,331, exclusive of the adjoining municipality of Beaconsfield (9378). Port Elizabeth, in Algoa Bay, had 32,959 inhabitants, East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo river, 25,220. Cambridge (pop. 3480) is a suburb of East London. Uitenhage (pop. 12,193) is 21 m. N.N.W. of Port Elizabeth. Of the other towns Somerset West (2613), Somerset West Strand (3059), Stellenbosch (4969), Paarl (11,293), Wellington (4881), Ceres (2410), Malmesbury (3811), Caledon (3508), Worcester (7885), Robertson (3244) and Swellendam (2406) are named in the order of proximity to Cape Town, from which Swellendam is distant 134 m. Other towns in the western half of the colony are Riversdale (2643), Oudtshoorn (8849), Beaufort West (5478), Victoria West (2762), De Aar (3271), and the ports of Mossel Bay (4206) and George (3506). Graaff Reinet (10,083), Middleburg (6137), Cradock (7762), Aberdeen (2553), Steynsburg (2250) and Colesberg (2668) are more centrally situated, while in the east are Graham’s Town (13,887), King William’s Town (9506), Queenstown (9616), Molteno (2725), Burghersdorp (2894), Tarkastad (2270), Dordrecht (2052), Aliwal North (5566), the largest town on the banks of the Orange, and Somerset East (5216). Simon’s Town (6643) in False Bay is a station of the British navy. Mafeking (2713), in the extreme north of the colony near the Transvaal frontier, Taungs (2715) and Vryburg (2985) are in Bechuanaland. Kokstad (2903) is the capital of Griqualand East, Umtata (2342) the capital of Tembuland.
Port Nolloth is the seaport for the Namaqualand copper mines, whose headquarters are at O’okiep (2106). Knysna, Port Alfred and Port St Johns are minor seaports. Barkly East and Barkly West are two widely separated towns, the first being E.S.E. of Aliwal North and Barkly West in Griqualand West. Hopetown and Prieska are on the south side of the middle course of the Orange river. Upington (2508) lies further west on the north bank of the Orange and is the largest town in the western part of Bechuanaland. Indwe (2608) is the centre of the coal-mining region in the east of the colony. The general plan of the small country towns is that of streets laid out at right angles, and a large central market square near which are the chief church, town hall and other public buildings. In several of the towns, notably those founded by the early Dutch settlers, the streets are tree-lined. Those towns for which no population figures are given had at the 1904 census fewer than 2000 inhabitants.
Agriculture and AlliedIndustries.—Owing to the scarcity of water over a large part of the country the area of land under cultivation is restricted. The farmers, in many instances, are pastoralists, whose wealth consists in their stock of cattle, sheep and goats, horses, and, in some cases, ostriches. In the lack of adequate irrigation much fertile soil is left untouched.
The principal cereal crops are wheat, with a yield of 1,701,000bushels in 1904, oats, barley, rye, mealies (Indian corn) and Kaffir corn (a kind of millet). The principal wheat-growing districts are in the south-western and eastern provinces. The yield per acre is fully up to the average of the world’s yield, computed at twelve bushels to the acre. The quality of Cape wheat is stated to be unsurpassed. Rye gives its name to the Roggeveld, and is chiefly grown there and in the lower hills of Namaqualand. Mealies (extensively used as food for cattle and horses) are very largely grown by the coloured population and Kaffir corn almost exclusively so. Oats are grown over a wider area than any other crop, and next to mealies are the heaviest crop grown. They are often cut whilst still tender, dried and used as forage being known as oat hay (67,742,000 bundles of about 5½ ℔ each were produced in 1904). The principal vegetables cultivated are potatoes, onions, mangold and beet, beans and peas. Farms in tillage are comparatively small, whilst those devoted to the rearing of sheep are very large, ranging from 3000 acres to 15,000 acres and more. For the most part the graziers own the farms they occupy.
The rearing of sheep and other live-stock is one of the chief occupations followed. At the census of 1904 over 8,465,000 woolled and 3,353,000 other sheep were enumerated. There were 2,775,000 angora and 4,386,000 other goats, some 2,000,000 cattle, 250,000 horses and 100,000 asses. These figures showed in most cases a large decrease compared with those obtained in 1891, the cause being largely the ravages of rinderpest. Lucerne and clover are extensively grown for fodder. Ostrich farms are maintained in the Karroo and in other parts of the country, young birds having been first enclosed in 1857. A farm of 6000 acres supports about 300 ostriches. The number of domesticated ostriches in 1904 was 357,000, showing an increase of over 200,000 since 1891. There are large mule-breeding establishments on the veld.
Viticulture plays an important part in the life of the colony. It is doubtful whether or not a species of vine is indigenous to the Cape. The first Dutch settlers planted small vineyards, while the cuttings of French vines introduced by the Huguenots about 1688 have given rise to an extensive culture in the south-western districts of the colony. The grapes are among the finest in the world, whilst the fruit is produced in almost unrivalled abundance. It is computed that over 600 gallons of wine are produced from 1000 vines. The vines number about 80,000,000, and the annual output of wine is about 6,000,000 gallons, besides 1,500,000 gallons of brandy. The Cape wines are chiefly those known as Hermitage, Muscadel, Pontac, Stein and Hanepoot. The high reputation which they had in the first half of the 19th century was afterwards lost to a large extent. Owing to greater care on the part of growers, and the introduction of French-American resistant stocks to replace vines attacked by the phylloxera, the wines in the early years of the 20th century again acquired a limited sale in England. By far the greater part of the vintage has been, however, always consumed in the colony. The chief wine-producing districts are those of the Paarl, Worcester, Robertson, Malmesbury, Stellenbosch and the Cape, all in the south-western regions. Beyond the colony proper there are promising vine stocks in the Gordonia division of Bechuanaland and in the Umtata district of Tembuland.
Fruit culture has become an important industry with the facilities afforded by rapid steamers for the sale of produce in Europe. The trees whose fruit reaches the greatest perfection and yield the largest harvest are the apricot, peach, orange and apple. Large quantities of table grapes are also grown. Many millions of each of the fruits named are produced annually. The pear, lemon, plum, fig and other trees likewise flourish. Cherry trees are scarce. The cultivation of the olive was begun in the western provinces,c.1900. In the Oudtshoorn, Stockenstroom, Uniondale, Piquetberg and other districts tobacco is grown. The output for 1904 was 5,309,000 ℔.
Flour-milling is an industry second only in importance to that of diamond mining (see below). The chief milling centres are Port Elizabeth and the Cape district. In 1904 the output of the mills was valued at over £2,200,000, more than 7,000,000 bushels of wheat being ground.
Forestry is a growing industry. Most of the forests are crown property and are under the care of conservators. Fisheries were little developed before 1897 when government experiments were begun, which proved that large quantities of fish were easily procurable by trawling. Large quantities of soles are obtained from a trawling ground near Cape Agulhas. The collection of guano from the islands near Walfish Bay is under government control.
Mining.—The mineral wealth of the country is very great. The most valuable of the minerals is the diamond, found in Griqualand West and also at Hopetown, and other districts along the Orange river. The diamond-mining industry is almost entirely under the control of the De Beers Mining Company. From the De Beers mines at Kimberley have come larger numbers of diamonds than from all the other diamond mines of the world combined. Basing the calculation on the figures for the ten years 1896-1905, the average annual production is slightly over two and a half million carats, of the average annual value of £4,250,000, the average price per carat being £1 : 13 : 3. From the other districts alluvial diamonds are obtained of the average annual value of £250,000-£400,000. They are finer stones than the Kimberley diamonds, having an average value of £3 : 2 : 7 per carat.
Next in importance among mineral products are coal and copper. The collieries are in the Stormberg district and are of considerable extent. The Indwe mines are the most productive. The colonial output increased from 23,000 tons in 1891 to 188,000 tons in 1904. The copper mines are in Namaqualand, an average of 50,000 to 70,000 tons of ore being mined yearly. Copper was the first metal worked by white men in the colony, operations beginning in 1852.
Gold is obtained from mines on the Madibi Reserve, near Mafeking—the outcrop extending about 30 m.—-and, in small quantities, from mines in the Knysna district. In the Cape and Paarl districts are valuable stone and granite quarries. Asbestos is mined near Prieska, in which neighbourhood there are also nitrate beds. Salt is produced in several districts, there being large pans in the Prieska, Hopetown and Uitenhage divisions. Tin is obtained from Kuils river, near Cape Town. Many other minerals exist but are not put to industrial purposes.
Trade.—The colony has not only a large trade in its own commodities, but owes much of its commerce to the transit of goods to and from the Transvaal, Orange River Colony and Rhodesia. The staple exports are diamonds, gold (from the Witwatersrand mines), wool, copper ore, ostrich feathers, mohair, hides and skins. The export of wool, over 23,000,000 ℔ in 1860, had doubled by 1871, and was over 63,473,000 ℔ in 1905 when the export was valued at £1,887,459. In the same year (1905) 471,024 ℔ of ostrich feathers were exported valued at £1,081,187. The chief imports are textiles, food stuffs, wines and whisky, timber, hardware and machinery. The value of the total imports rose from £13,612,405 in 1895 to £33,761,831 in 1903, but dropped to £20,000,913 in 1905. The exports in 1895 were valued at £16,798,137 and rose to £23,247,258 in 1899. The dislocation of trade caused by the war with the Boer Republics brought down the exports in 1900 to £7,646,682 (in which year the value of the gold exported was only £336,795). They rose to £10,000,000 and £16,000,000 in 1901 and 1902 respectively, and in 1905 had reached £33,812,210. (This figure included raw gold valued at £20,731,159.) About 75% of the imports come from the United Kingdom or British colonies, and nearly the whole of the exports go to the United Kingdom. The tonnage of ships entered and cleared at colonial ports rose from 10,175,903 in 1895 to 22,518,286 in 1905. In that year9⁄11ths of the tonnage was British. It is interesting to compare the figures already given with those of earlier days, as they illustrate the growth of the colony over a longer period. In 1836 the total trade of the country was under £1,000,000, in 1860 it had risen to over £4,500,000, in 1874 it exceeded £10,500,000. It remained at about thisfigure until the development of the Witwatersrand gold mines. The consequent great increase in the carrying trade with the Transvaal led to some neglect of the internal resources of the colony. Trade depression following the war of 1899-1902 turned attention to these resources, with satisfactory results. The value of imports for local consumption in 1906 was £12,847,188, the value of exports, the produce of the colony being £15,302,854. A “trade balance-sheet” for 1906 drawn up for the Cape Town chamber of commerce by its president showed, however, a debtor account of £18,751,000 compared with a credit account of £17,931,000, figures representing with fair accuracy the then economic condition of the country.
Cape Colony is a member of the South African Customs Union. The tariff, revised in 1906, is protective with a generalad valoremrate of 15% on goods not specifically enumerated. On machinery generally there is a 3%ad valoremduty. Books, engravings, paintings, sculptures, &c., are on the free list. There is a rebate of 3% on most goods from the United Kingdom, machinery from Great Britain thus entering free.
Communications.—There is regular communication between Europe and the colony by several lines of steamships. The British mails are carried under contract with the colonial government by packets of the Union-Castle Steamship Co., which leave Southampton every Saturday and Cape Town every Wednesday. The distance varies from 5866 m. to 6146 m., according to the route followed, and the mail boats cover the distance in seventeen days. From Cape Town mail steamers sail once a week, or oftener, to Port Elizabeth (436 m., two days) East London (543 m., three days) and Durban (823 m., four or five days); Mossel Bay being called at once a fortnight. Steamers also leave Cape Town at frequent and stated intervals for Port Nolloth.
Steamers of the D.O.A.L. (Deutsche Ost Afrika Linie), starting from Hamburg circumnavigate Africa, touching at the three chief Cape ports. The western route is via Dover to Cape Town, the eastern route is via the Suez Canal and Natal. Several lines of steamers ply between Cape Town and Australian ports, and others between Cape Colony and India.
There are over 8000 m. of roads in the colony proper and rivers crossing main routes are bridged. The finest bridge in the colony is that which spans the Orange at Hopetown. It is 1480 ft. long and cost £114,000. Of the roads in general it may be said that they are merely tracks across the veld made at the pleasure of the traveller. The ox is very generally used as a draught animal in country districts remote from railways; sixteen or eighteen oxen being harnessed to a wagon carrying 3 to 4 tons. Traction-engines have in some places supplanted the ox-wagon for bringing agricultural produce to market. The “Scotch cart,” a light two-wheeled vehicle is also much used.
Railways.—Railway construction began in 1859 when a private company built a line from Cape Town to Wellington. This line, 64 m. long, was the only railway in the colony for nearly fifteen years. In 1871 parliament resolved to build railways at the public expense, and in 1873 (the year following the conferment of responsible government on the colony) a beginning was made with the work, £5,000,000 having been voted for the purpose. In the same year the Cape Town-Wellington line was bought by the state. Subsequently powers were again given to private companies to construct lines, these companies usually receiving subsidies from the government, which owns and works the greater part of the railways in the colony.
The plan adopted in 1873 was to build independent lines from the seaports into the interior, and the great trunk lines then begun determined the development of the whole system. The standard gauge in South Africa is 3 ft., 6 in. and all railways mentioned are of that gauge unless otherwise stated.
The railways, which have a mileage exceeding 4000, are classified under three great systems:—the Western, the Midland and the Eastern.
The Western system—the southern section of the Cape to Cairo route—starts from Cape Town and runs by Kimberley (647 m.) to Vryburg (774 m.), whence it is continued by the Rhodesia Railway Co. to Mafeking (870 m.), Bulawayo (1360 m.), the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi (1623 m.) and the Belgian Congo frontier, whilst a branch from Bulawayo runs via Salisbury to Beira, 2037 m. from Cape Town. From Fourteen Streams, a station 47 m. north of Kimberley, a line goes via Klerksdorp to Johannesburg and Pretoria, this being the most direct route between Cape Town and the Transvaal. (Distance from Cape Town to Johannesburg, 955 m.)
The Midland system starts from Port Elizabeth, and the main line runs by Cradock and Naauwpoort to Norval’s Pont on the Orange river, whence it is continued through the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal by Bloemfontein to Johannesburg (714 m. from Port Elizabeth) and Pretoria (741 m.). From Kroonstad, a station midway between Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, a railway, opened in 1906, goes via Ladysmith to Durban, and provides the shortest railway route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and Natal. From Port Elizabeth a second line (186 m.) runs by Uitenhage and Graaff Reinet, rejoining the main line at Rosmead, from which a junction line (83 m.) runs eastwards, connecting with the Eastern system at Stormberg. From Naauwpoort another junction line (69 m.) runs north-west, connecting the Midland with the Western system at De Aar, and affords an alternative route to that via Kimberley from Cape Town to the Transvaal. (Distance from Cape Town to Johannesburg via Naauwpoort, 1012 m.)
The Eastern system starts from East London, and the principal line runs to Springfontein (314 m.) in the Orange River Colony, where it joins the line to Bloemfontein and the Transvaal. (Distance from East London to Johannesburg, 665 m.) From Albert junction (246 m. from East London) a branch, originally the main line, goes east to Aliwal North (280 m.).
The west to east connexion is made by a series of railways running for the most part parallel with the coast. Starting from Worcester, 109 m. from Cape Town on the western main line a railway runs to Mossel Bay via Swellendair and Riversdale. From Mossel Bay another line runs by George, Oudtshoorn and Willowmore to Klipplaat, a station on the line from Graaff Reinet to Port Elizabeth. (Distance from Cape Town 666 m.) From Somerset East a line (164 m.) goes via King William’s Town to Blaney junction on the eastern main line and 31 m. from East London. The Somerset East line crosses, at Cookhouse station, the Midland main line from Port Elizabeth to the north, and by this route the distance between Port Elizabeth and East London is 307 m. Before the completion in 1905 of the Somerset East-King William’s Town line, the nearest railway connexion between the two seaports was via Rosmead and Stormberg junction—a distance of 547 m. From Sterkstroom junction on the eastern main line a branch railway goes through the Transkei to connect at Riverside, the frontier station, with the Natal railways. It runs via the Indwe coal-mines (66 m. from Sterkstroom), Maclear (173 m.) and Kokstad. From Kokstad to Durban is 232 m. The eastern system is also connected with the Transkei by another railway. From Amabele, a station 51 m. from East London, a line goes east to Umtata (180 m. distant). Thence the line is continued to Port St Johns (307 m. from East London), whence another line 142 m. long goes to Kokstad.
Besides the main lines there are many smaller lines. Thus all the towns within a 50 m. radius of Cape Town are linked to it by railway. Longer branches run from the capital S.E. to Caledon (87 m.) and N.W. via Malmesbury (47 m.), and Piquetberg (107 m.) to Graaf Water (176 m.). A line runs N.W. across the veld from Hutchinson on the western main line via Victoria West to Carnarvon (86 m.). From De Aar junction, a line (111 m.) goes N.W. via Britstown to Prieska on the Orange river. From Port Elizabeth a line (35 m.) runs east to Grahamstown, whence another line (43 m.) goes south-east to Port Alfred at the mouth of the Kowie river. Another line (179 m.) on a two-foot gauge runs N.W. from Port Elizabeth via Humansdorp to Avontuur.
A line, unconnected with any other in the colony, runs fromPort Nolloth on the west coast to the O’okiep copper mines (92 m.). It has a gauge of 2 ft. 6 in.
The railways going north have to cross, within a comparatively short distance of the coast, the mountains which lead to the Karroo. The steepest gradient is on the western main line. Having entered the hilly district at Tulbagh Road, where the railway ascends 500 ft. in 9 m., the Hex River Pass is reached soon after leaving Worcester, 794 ft. above the sea. In the next 36 m. the line rises 2400 ft., over 20 m. of that distance being at gradients of 1 in 40 to 1 in 45. The eastern line is the most continuously steep in the colony. In the first 18 m. from East London the railway rises 1000 ft.; at Kei Road, 46 m. from its starting-point, it has reached an altitude of 2332 ft., at Cathcart (109 m.) it is 3906 ft. above the sea, and at Cyphergat, where it pierces the Stormberg, 204 m. from East London, the rails are 5450 ft. above the sea. From Sterkstroom to Cyphergat, 15 m., the line rises 1044 ft. The highest railway station in the colony is Krom Hooghte, 5543 ft., in the Zuurberg, on the branch line connecting the Eastern and Western systems. The capital expended on government railways to the end of 1905 was £29,973,024, showing a cost per mile of £10,034. The gross earnings in 1905 were £4,047,065 (as compared with £3,390,093 in 1895); the expenses £3,076,920 (as compared with £1,596,013 in 1895). Passengers conveyed in 1905 numbered 20,611,384, and the tonnage of goods 1,836,946 (of 2000 ℔).
Posts and Telegraphs.—Direct telegraphic communication between London and Cape Town was established on Christmas day 1879. Cables connect the colony with Europe (1) via Loanda and Bathurst, (2) via St Helena, Ascension and St Vincent; with Europe and Asia (3) via Natal, Zanzibar and Aden, and with Australia (4) via Natal, Mauritius and Cocos.
An overland telegraph wire connects Cape Town and Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, via Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Other lines connect Cape Town with all other South African states, while within the colony there is a complete system of telegraphic communication, over 8000 m. of lines being open in 1906. The telephone service is largely developed in the chief towns. The telegraph lines are owned and have been almost entirely built, at a cost up to 1906 of £865,670, by the government, which in 1873 took over the then existing lines (781 m.).
The postal service is well organized, and to places beyond the reach of the railway there is a service of mail carts, and in parts of Gordonia (Bechuanaland) camels are used to carry the mails. Since 1890 a yearly average of over 50,000,000 has passed through the post. Of these about four-fifths are letters.
Constitution and Government.—Under the constitution established in 1872 Cape Colony enjoyed self-government. The legislature consisted of two chambers, a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly. Members of the Legislative Council or Upper House represented the provinces into which the colony was divided and were elected for seven years; members of the House of Assembly, a much more numerous body, elected for five years, represented the towns and divisions of the provinces. At the head of the executive was a governor appointed by the crown. By the South Africa Act 1909 this constitution was abolished as from the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Cape Colony entered the Union as an original province, being represented in the Union parliament by eight members in the Senate and fifty-one in the House of Assembly. The qualifications of voters for the election of members of the House of Assembly are the same as those existing in Cape Colony at the establishment of the Union, and are as follows:—Voters must be born or naturalized British subjects residing in the Cape province at least twelve months, must be males aged 21 (no distinction being made as to race or colour), must be in possession of property worth £75, or in receipt of salary or wages of not less than £50 a year. No one not an elector in 1892 can be registered as a voter unless he can sign his name and write his address and occupation. A share in tribal occupancy does not qualify for a vote. A voter of non-European descent is not qualified for election to parliament (see furtherSouth Africa). The number of registered electors in 1907 was 152,135, of whom over 20,000 were non-Europeans.
For provincial purposes there is a provincial council consisting of the same number of members as are elected by the province to the House of Assembly. The qualifications of voters for the council are the same as for the House of Assembly. All voters, European and non-European, are eligible for seats on the council, but any councillor who becomes a member of parliament thereupon ceases to be a member of the provincial council. The council passes ordinances dealing with direct taxation within the province for purely local purposes, and generally controls all matters of a merely local or private nature in the province. The council was also given, for five years following the establishment of the Union, control of elementary education. All ordinances passed by the council must have the sanction of the Union government before coming into force. The council is elected for three years and is not subject to dissolution save by effluxion of time. The chief executive officer is an official appointed by the Union government and styled administrator of the province. The administrator holds his post for a period of five years. He is assisted by an executive committee consisting of four persons elected by the provincial council but not necessarily members of that body.
To the provincial council is entrusted the oversight of the divisional and municipal councils of the province, but the powers of such subordinate bodies can also be varied or withdrawn by the Union parliament acting directly. Divisional councils, which are elected triennially, were established in 1855. In 1908 they numbered eighty-one. The councils are presided over by a civil commissioner who is also usually resident magistrate. They have to maintain all roads in the division; can nominate field cornets (magistrates); may borrow money on the security of the rates for public works; and return three members yearly to the district licensing court. Their receipts in 1908 were £269,000; their expenditure in the same period was £283,000. The electors to the divisional councils are the owners or occupiers of immovable property. Members of the councils must be registered voters and owners of immovable property in the division valued at not less than £500.
Municipalities at the Cape date from 1836, and are now, for the most part, subject to the provisions of the General Municipal Act of 1882. Certain municipalities have, however, obtained special acts for their governance. In 1907 there were 110 municipalities in the province. Under the act of 1882 the municipalities were given power to levy annually an owner’s rate assessed upon the capital value of rateable property, and a tenant’s rate assessed upon the annual value of such property. No rate may exceed 2d. in the £ on the capital value or 8d. in the £ on the annual value. The receipts of the municipalities in 1907 amounted to £1,430,000. During the same period the expenditure amounted to £1,539,000.
Law and Justice.—The basis of the judicial system is the Roman-Dutch law, which has been, however, modified by legislation of the Cape parliament. In each division of the province there is a resident magistrate with primary jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. The South Africa Act 1909 created a Supreme Court of South Africa, the supreme court of the Cape of Good Hope, which sits at Cape Town, becoming a provincial division of the new supreme court, presided over by a judge-president. The two other superior courts of Cape Colony, namely the eastern districts court which sits at Graham’s Town, and the high court of Griqualand which sits at Kimberley, became local divisions of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Each of these courts consists of a judge-president and two puisne judges. The provincial and local courts, besides their original powers, have jurisdiction in all matters in which the government of the Union is a party and in all matters in which the validity of any provincial ordinance shall come into question. From the decisions of these courts appeals may be made to the appellate division of the Supreme Court. The judges of the divisional courts go on circuit twice a year. In addition, since 1888 a special court has been held atKimberley for trying cases relating to illicit diamond buying (“I.D.B.”). This court consists of two judges of the supreme court and one other member, hitherto the civil commissioner or the resident magistrate of Kimberley. The Transkeian territories, which fall under the jurisdiction of the eastern district court, are subject to a Native Territories Penal Code, which came into force in 1887. Besides the usual magistrates in these territories, there is a chief magistrate, resident at Cape Town, with two assistants in the territories.
Religion.—Up to the year 1876 government provided an annual grant for ecclesiastical purposes which was divided among the various churches, Congregationalists alone declining to receive state aid. From that date, in accordance with the provisions of the Voluntary Act of 1875, grants were only continued to the then holders of office. The Dutch Reformed Church, as might be anticipated from the early history of the country, is by far the most numerous community. Next in number of adherents among the white community come the Anglicans—Cape Colony forming part of the Province of South Africa. In 1847 a bishop of Cape Town was appointed to preside over this church, whose diocese extended not only over Cape Colony and Natal, but also over the island of St Helena. Later, however, separate bishops were appointed for the eastern province (with the seat at Graham’s Town) and for Natal. Subsequently another bishopric, St John’s, Kaffraria, was created and the Cape Town diocesan raised to the rank of archbishop. Of other Protestant bodies the Methodists outnumber the Anglicans, eight-ninths of their members being coloured people. The Roman Catholics have bishops in Cape Town and Graham’s Town, but are comparatively few. There are, besides, several foreign missions in the colony, the most important being the Moravian, London and Rhenish missionary societies. The Moravians have been established since 1732.
The following figures are extracted from the census returns of 1904:—Protestants, 1,305,453; Roman Catholics, 38,118; Jews, 19,537; Mahommedans, 22,623; other sects, 4297; “no religion,” 1,016,255. In this last category are placed the pagan natives. The figures for the chief Protestant sects were:—Dutch Reformed Church, 399,487; Gereformeerde Kerk, 6209; Lutherans, 80,902; Anglicans, 281,433; Presbyterians, 88,660; Congregationalists, 112,202; Wesleyan and other Methodists, 290,264; Baptists, 14,105. Of the Hottentots 77%, of the Fingoes 50%, of the mixed races 89%, and of the Kaffirs and Bechuanas 26% were returned as Christians.
Education.—There is a state system of primary education controlled by a superintendent-general of education and the education department which administers the parliamentary grants. As early as 1839 a scheme of public schools, drawn up by Sir John Herschel, the astronomer, came into operation, and was continued until 1865, when a more comprehensive scheme was adopted. In 1905 an act was passed dividing the colony into school districts under the control of popularly elected school boards, which were established during 1905-1906. These boards levy, through municipal or divisional councils, a rate for school purposes and supervise all public and poor schools. The schools are divided into public undenominational elementary schools; day schools and industrial institutions for the natives; mission schools to which government aid for secular instruction is granted; private farm schools, district boarding schools, training schools for teachers, industrial schools for poor whites, &c. In 1905 2930 primary schools of various classes were open. Education is not compulsory, but at the 1904 census 95% of the white population over fourteen years old could read and write. In the same year 186,000 natives could read and write, and 53,000 could read but not write. There are also numbers of private schools receiving no government aid. These include schools maintained by the German community, in which the medium of instruction is German.
The university of the Cape of Good Hope, modelled on that of London, stands at the head of the educational system of the colony. It arose out of and superseded the board of public examiners (which had been constituted in 1858), was established in 1874 and was granted a royal charter in 1877. It is governed by a chancellor, a vice-chancellor (who is chairman of the university council) and a council consisting (1909) of 38 members, including representatives of Natal. The university is empowered to grant degrees ranking equally with those of any university in Great Britain. Originally only B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.D., M.B., and M.D. degrees were conferred, but degrees in literature, science and music and (in 1908) in divinity were added. The number of students who matriculated rose from 34 in 1875 to 118 in 1885, 242 in 1895 and 539 in 1905. The examinations are open to candidates irrespective of where they have studied, but under the Higher Education Act grants are paid to seven colleges that specially devote themselves to preparing students for the graduation courses. These are the South African College at Cape Town (founded in 1829), the Victoria College at Stellenbosch, the Diocesan College at Rondebosch, Rhodes University College, Graham’s Town, Gill College at Somerset East, the School of Mines at Kimberley and the Huguenot Ladies’ College at Wellington. Several denominational colleges, receiving no government aid, do the same work in a greater or less degree, the best known being St Aidan’s (Roman Catholic) College and Kingswood (Wesleyan) College, both at Graham’s Town. Graaff Reinet College, Dale College, King William’s Town, and the Grey Institute, Port Elizabeth, occupy the place of high schools under the education department. The Theological Seminary at Stellenbosch prepares theological students for the ministry of the Dutch Church. At Cape Town is a Royal Observatory, founded in 1829, one of the most important institutions of its kind in the world. It is under the control of a royal astronomer and its expenses are defrayed by the British admiralty.
Defence.—The Cape peninsula is fortified with a view to repelling attacks from the sea. Simon’s Town, which is on the east side of the peninsula, is the headquarters of the Cape and West Coast naval squadron. It is strongly fortified, as is also Table Bay. Port Elizabeth is likewise fortified against naval attack. A strong garrison of the British army is stationed in the colony, with headquarters at Cape Town. The cost of this garrison is borne by the imperial government. For purposes of local defence a force named the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police was organized in 1853, and a permanent colonial force has been maintained since that date. It is now known as the Cape Mounted Riflemen and is about 700 strong. Its ordinary duty is to preserve order in the Transkeian territories. The Cape Mounted Police, over 1600 strong, are also available for the defence of the colony and are fully armed. There are numerous volunteer corps, which receive a capitation grant from the government. By a law passed in 1878 every able-bodied man between eighteen and fifty is liable to military service without as well as within the limits of the state. There is also a volunteer naval force.
Revenue, Debt, &c.—The following table shows the total receipts (including loans) and payments (including that under Loan Acts) of the colony in various financial years, from 1880 to 1905:—
The colony had a public debt of £42,109,561 on the 31st of December 1905, including sums raised for corporate bodies, harbour boards, &c., but guaranteed in the general revenue. The greater part of the loans were issued at 3½ or 4% interest. Nearly the whole of the loans raised have been spent on railways, harbours, irrigation and other public works. The value of assessed property for divisional council purposes was returned in 1905 at £87,078,268. The total revenue of the divisional councils increased from £160,558 in 1901 to £273,543 in 1905, and theexpenditure from £170,892 in 1901 to £243,241 in 1905. The receipts from municipal rates and taxes rose from £520,587 in 1901 to £700,103 in 1905; the total municipal receipts in the same period from £978,867 to £1,752,105. At the end of 1905 the total indebtedness of the municipalities was £5,775,420, and the value of assessed property within the municipal bounds £53,948,224.
Banks.—-The following table gives statistics of the banks under trust laws:—
Standard Time, Money, Weights and Measures.—Since 1903 a standard time has been adopted throughout South Africa, being that of 30° or two hours east of Greenwich. In other words noon in South Africa corresponds to 10.0 A.M. in London. The actual difference between the meridians of Greenwich and Cape Town is one hour fourteen minutes. The monetary system is that of Great Britain and the coins in circulation are exclusively British. Though all the standard weights and measures are British, the following old Dutch measures are still used:—Liquid Measure: Leaguer = about 128 imperial gallons; half aum = 15½ imperial gallons; anker = 7½ imperial gallons.Capacity: Muid = 3 bushels. The general surface measure is the old AmsterdamMorgen, reckoned equal to 2.11654 acres; 1000 Cape lineal feet are equal to 1033 British imperial feet. The Cape ton is 2000 ℔.
The Press.—The first newspaper of the colony, written in Dutch and English, was published in 1824, and its appearance marked an era not only in the literary but in the political history of the colony, since it drew to a crisis the disputes which had arisen between the colonists and the governor, Lord Charles Somerset, who had issued a decree prohibiting all persons from convening or attending public meetings. Its criticisms on public affairs soon led to its suppression by the governor, and a memorial from the colonists to the king petitioning for a free press was the result. This boon was secured to the colony in 1828, and the press soon became a powerful agent, characterized by public spirit and literary ability. In politics the newspapers are divided, principally on racial lines, appealing either to the British or the Dutch section of the community, rarely to both sides. There are about one hundred newspapers in English or Dutch published in the colony.
The chief papers are theCape Times, Cape Argus, South African News(Bond), both daily and weekly; theDiamond Fields Advertiser(Kimberley) and theEastern Province Herald(Port Elizabeth).Ons LandandHet Dagbladare Dutch papers published at Cape Town.