CHAPTER XVII.

[Contents]CHAPTER XVII.THE COUNTRY OF THE AFRICANDERS.Some knowledge of the physical structure of South Africa is necessary to an understanding of its resources, economic conditions and the longstanding political problems which, to all appearance, are now nearing a final solution.Nature has divided that part of Africa lying south of the Zambesi River into three distinct and well-defined regions. A strip of lowland skirts the coast of the Indian Ocean all the way from Cape Town around to Natal, Delagoa Bay and still northeast to the mouths of the Zambesi. Between Durban, the principal port of Natal, and Cape Town this strip is very narrow in places—the hills coming down almost to the margin of the sea. Beyond Durban, to the northeast, the low plain grows wider. This belt of lowland is more or less swampy, and from Durban northward is exceedingly malarious and unhealthful. This feature is a prime factor in the physical[262]structure of the country and has had much to do with shaping its history.The second region is composed of the elevated and much broken surface presented by the Drakensburg or Quathlamba range of mountains, reaching from Cape Town to the Zambesi Valley—a distance of sixteen hundred miles. In traveling inland, after leaving the level belt, at from thirty to sixty miles from the sea the hills rise higher and higher—from three thousand to six thousand feet. These hills are only the spurs of the principal range, some of whose peaks rise to an elevation of eleven thousand feet.Beyond the Quathlamba Mountains, to the west and north, is the third natural division of South Africa—a vast tableland or plateau, varying from three thousand to five thousand feet above the sea level. This region occupies about seven-eighths of the area of South Africa.To a bird’s-eye view of the country the physical scheme is exceedingly simple—a great plateau filling the interior, a belt of lowland bordering the Indian Ocean and one principal mountain range between the two.Geologically considered, the oldest formation is found in the northern part of the tableland and toward the northeastern end of the Quathlamba[263]Mountains. The principal formations in this region are granite and gneiss, believed to be of great antiquity—probably of the same age as the Laurentian formations in America. The rocks of the Karoo district are not so ancient. There are no traces anywhere in South Africa of late volcanic action, nor has any active volcano been discovered there; but eruptive rocks of ancient date—porphyries and greenstones—are found overlying the sedimentary deposits in the Karoo district and in the mountain systems of Basutoland and the Orange Free State.The African coast is notably poor in harbors. There is no haven between Cape Town and Durban. From Durban to the Zambesi there are but two good ports—that of Delagoa Bay and Beira. With the exception of Saldanha Bay, twenty miles north of Cape Town, the western coast, for a thousand miles, has no harbor.The temperature in Southern Africa is much lower than the latitude would lead one to expect. This is accounted for by the fact that there is a vast preponderance of water in the southern hemisphere, which has the effect of giving a cooler temperature than prevails in a corresponding northern latitude. The difference in both heat and cold represents over two degrees of difference[264]in latitude. Thus, Cape Town, 34° S., has a lower temperature in both summer and winter than Gibraltar and Aleppo, in 36° N. Nevertheless, the thermometer registers high in some parts of South Africa. Even at Durban, in latitude 30° S., the heat is often severe, and the northern part of the Transvaal and the British territories to the north of it lie within the Tropic of Capricorn. The mean temperature in South Africa proper is 70° Fahrenheit in January and 80° in July.Over most of the country the climate is exceptionally dry. In the region of Cape Colony there are well-defined summer and winter; but in the rest of South Africa for about two-thirds of the year there is only a dry season, when the weather is cooler, and a wet season of four or five months, when the sun is the highest and the heat is most intense. The rainy season is not so continuous, nor is there so great a precipitation, as in some other hot countries. In the parts where the rainfall is heaviest, averaging over thirty inches in the year, the moisture soon disappears by evaporation and absorption, and the surface remains parched till the next wet season. As a consequence of this the air is generally dry, clear and stimulating.CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.[265]It is interesting to note the effect upon climate of the physical structure described above. The prevailing and rain-bringing winds are from the east and the southeast. They bring sufficient moisture to the low plain along the sea coast, and passing inland the rain-bearing clouds water the foothills of the Quathlamba Mountains and precipitate snow on the loftier peaks beyond them. A portion of the moisture is carried still farther to the west and falls in showers on the eastern part of the plateau—the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the eastern border of Bechuanaland and the region northward toward the Zambesi. Sections farther to the north and west receive but little of the annual rainfall, ranging from five to ten inches in the year. That little is soon dissipated, the surface becomes dry and hard, and such vegetation as springs up under the brief showers soon dies. Much of this region is a desert, and so must remain until more and more continuous moisture is supplied, either by artificial irrigation or by some favorable change in natural conditions.From these permanent physical features—the lowlands along the coast, the elevated plateau in the interior, the mountain range running between them, a burning sun and a dry atmosphere[266]—have developed many of the other natural phenomena of South Africa.The rivers of that country—laid down in great numbers on the maps—are not rivers during much of the year. In the dry season they are either without water altogether or consist of a succession of little pools scarcely sufficient to supply the cattle on their banks with drink. And when they are rivers they are, most of the time, such as can neither be forded nor navigated; the violent rains—continuing for hours and sometimes for many days—have converted them into roaring torrents.Now, if that country could have been entered by waterways, as were North and South America, it would not have remained an unknown land so long. But there was no other means of penetrating it than the lumbering ox-wagon, making at best a dozen miles a day, with frequent long halts in the neighborhood of good grass in order to rest and recuperate the cattle. It is this lack of navigable rivers that now compels the people to depend exclusively on railways for internal transportation and travel. With the exception of tidal streams there is no internal water communication of any value.Another peculiarity of the east coast rivers[267]arises out of the nearness of the Quathlamba Mountains to the sea. Such rivers as take their rise in the mountains have very short courses, and the few that come from beyond, finding channels through the mountain passes, are so obstructed by rapids and cataracts at the point of descent from the higher levels that no boat can ascend them.South Africa presents to the foreigner from cooler climates no serious danger as to health. The sun-heat would be trying were it not for the dryness of the atmosphere and the invariable coolness of the nights, which have the effect of a refreshing tonic. With due care in providing sufficient wraps for the occasional cold day in the dry season, and the means of comfortable sleep during the cool nights, there is nothing to fear.The much-dreaded malarial fever has its habitat in the lowlands of both the east and the west coast. Persons who are notimmuneto it can choose their place of residence on the higher lands, or take refuge in quinine.The dryness and purity of the air in many parts of South Africa—notably Ceres, Kimberley, Beauport West and other places in the interior plateau—make it peculiarly suitable for[268]persons suffering from any form of chest disease—always excepting tuberculosis, for which the sure remedy has not yet been discovered. But even the victims of that malady find atmospheric and other conditions friendly to a prolongation of life in the salubrious air and sunshine of the South African tablelands.On the whole, there can be no question as to the general good effect upon health of the South African climate. Europeans and Americans living therein pursue their athletic sports with all the zest experienced in their native climates, and the descendants of the original Dutch and Huguenot settlers—now in the sixth and seventh generations—have lost nothing of the stature nor of the physical energy that characterized their forefathers.South Africa used to be the habitat of an unusually rich fauna. The lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, antelope in thirty-one species, zebra, quagga, buffalo and various other wild creatures—some of them savage, and all of them beautiful after their kind—abounded. But of late years all this has been changed. Since firearms have been greatly improved and cheapened and the country has been opened to the Nimrods of the world and the[269]swarming natives have procured guns and learned to use them, the wild animals have been thinned out. There are now but two regions in South Africa where big game can be killed in any great numbers—the Portuguese territory from the Zambesi to Delagoa Bay, and the adjoining eastern frontier of the Transvaal.Snakes of various kinds and sizes, from the poisonous blackmambato the python that grows to over twenty feet in length, used to infest many parts of the country, but they have almost disappeared from the temperate regions inhabited by the whites.The farmers’ worst enemies are not now the great beasts and reptiles of former years, but the baboons, which gather in the more rocky districts and kill the lambs, and two species of insects—the white ants and the locusts—which sometimes ravage the eastern coast.Beyond that of most countries in the world of equal extent the flora of South Africa is rich in both genera and species. The neighborhood of Cape Town and the warm, sub-tropical regions of eastern Cape Colony and Natal are specially affluent in beautiful flowers. In the Karoo district, and northeastward over the plateau into Bechuanaland and the Transvaal, vegetation presents[270]but little variety of aspect, owing in part to the general sameness of geological formations and in part to the prevailing dryness of the surface.In general, South Africa is comparatively bare of forests—a fact for which denudation by man cannot account, for it is yet a country new to civilization. Some primitive forests are to be found on the south coast of Cape Colony and in Natal. These have been put under the care of a Forest Department of the government. In the great Knysna forest wild elephants still roam at large. The trees, however, even in the preserved forests, are small, few of them being more than fifty or sixty feet in height. The yellowwood grows the tallest, but the less lofty sneezewood is the most useful to man. Up the hillsides north of Graham’s Town and King William’s Town are immense tracts of scrub from four to eight feet high, with occasional patches of prickly pear—a formidable invader from America, through which both men and cattle make their passage at the cost of much effort and many irritating wounds from the sharp spines. A large part of this region, being suitable for little else, has been utilized for ostrich farming.In the Karoo district and northward through[271]Cape Colony, western Bechuanaland and the German possessions in Namaqualand and Damaraland—a desert region—there are few trees except small and thorny mimosas. Farther east, where there is a greater rainfall, the trees are more numerous and less thorny. The plain around Kimberley, once well wooded, has been stripped of its trees to furnish props for the diamond mines and fuel.The lack of forests is one of the principal drawbacks to the development of South Africa. Timber is everywhere costly; the rainfall is less than it would be if the country were well wooded; and when rains do come the moisture is more rapidly dissipated by absorption, evaporation and sudden freshets because of the absence of shade. Of late energetic measures have been taken to supply nature’s lack by artificial forestry. On the great veldt plateau in the vicinity of Kimberley and of Pretoria and in other localities the people have planted the Australian gum tree, the eucalyptus and several varieties of European trees, including the oak, which, besides being useful, is very beautiful. If the practice be continued the country will reap an incalculable benefit, not only in appearance, but also in climatic conditions.[272]The largest political division of South Africa is Cape Colony. The area is about 292,000 square miles and the population, white and native, is 2,011,305. The whites number about 400,000. But little of it is suitable for agriculture, and considerable portions of it are too arid for stock raising. Including the natives the population is only about seven to the square mile. On the lowlands skirting the sea on the south and west are some fruitful regions that give a profitable yield of grapes and corn. On the tableland of the interior there is a rainfall of only from five to fifteen inches in the year. As a consequence the surface is dry and unfriendly to vegetable life. In an area of three hundred miles by one hundred and fifty there is not a stream having a current throughout the year, nor is there any moisture at all in the dry season except some shallow pools which are soon dried up by evaporation. Nevertheless, in this desert, bare of trees and of herbage, there is abundance of prickly shrubs, which are sufficiently succulent when they sprout under the summer rains to afford good browsing for goats and sheep. In the northwestern part of the interior and northward to Kimberley and Mafeking, the country is better watered than the more westerly regions, and[273]grazing animals find a generous growth of grass as well as nutritious shrubs. In the southeastern part the rainfall is still heavier. The foothills of the Quathlamba Range toward the sea are covered in places with forests, the grass is more abundant and much of the land can be tilled to profit without artificial irrigation. In 1899 there were about 3,000 miles of railway and nearly 7,000 miles of telegraph open in the colony. The number of vessels entering the ports of Cape Colony in 1897 was 1,093, with a total tonnage of 2,694,370 tons; in addition to this there were 1,278 vessels engaged in the coastwise trade, with a tonnage of 3,725,831 tons. The foreign commerce of Cape Colony is large, including, as it does, the bulk of the import and export trade of all South Africa. The total importation of merchandise for 1897 was $80,127,495, and the exports, including a large proportion of the gold and diamond products of Kimberley and the Transvaal, amounted, in 1898, to $123,213,458.Natal, beyond any other part of South Africa, is favored by natural advantages. It lies on the seaward slope of the Quathlamba Mountains, and its scenery is charmingly diversified by some of the lesser peaks and the foothills of that range. It is well watered by perennial streams[274]fed by the snows and springs of the mountains. While the higher altitudes to the west are bare, there is abundance of grass lower down and toward the coast there is plenty of wood. The climate in general is much warmer than that of Cape Colony; in the low strip bordering the sea it is almost tropical. This high temperature is not caused so much by latitude as by the current in the Mozambique Channel, which brings from the tropical regions of the Indian Ocean a vast stream of warm water, which acts on the climate of Natal as does the Gulf Stream on that of Georgia and the Carolinas. Nearly the whole of Natal may be counted temperate; the soil is rich, the scenery is beautiful, and, with the exception of certain malarious districts at the north, the climate is healthful. Foreigners from Europe and America may reasonably hope to enjoy long life and prosperity in it. The principal crop for export is sugar, but cereals of all kinds, coffee, indigo, arrowroot, ginger, tobacco, rice, pepper, cotton and tea are grown to profit. The coal fields of the colony are large, the output in 1897 being 244,000 tons. There are 487 miles of railway, built and operated by the government. The imports in 1897 amounted to nearly $30,000,000. Pop. 828,500; whites, 61,000.[275]The Orange Free State, in its entire area of 48,000 square miles, is on the great interior plateau at an altitude of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level. The surface is mostly level, but there are occasional hills—some of them rising to a height of 6,000 feet. The land is, for the most part, bare of trees, but affords good grazing for two-thirds of the year. The air is remarkably pure and bracing. There are no blizzards to encounter. There are, however, occasional violent thunderstorms, which precipitate enormous hailstones—large enough to kill the smaller animals, and even men. Notwithstanding the generally parched appearance of the country, the larger streams do not dry up in winter. The southeastern part of the Free State, particularly the valley of the Caledon River, is one of the best corn-growing regions in Africa. In the main, however, with the exception of the river valleys, the land is more suitable for pasture than for tillage. The grazing farms are large and require the services of but few men; as a consequence the population increases slowly. The Free State, corresponding in size to the State of New York, has only about 80,000 white inhabitants and 130,000 natives. The chief industry is agriculture and stock-raising. A railway,[276]constructed by the Cape Colony government, connects Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, with the ports of Cape Colony and Natal, and with Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic.The South African Republic, commonly called the Transvaal, is 119,139 square miles in area. The white population, numbering 345,397, is largely concentrated in the Witwatersrand mining district. The native inhabitants number 748,759. All the Transvaal territory belongs to the interior plateau, with the exception of a strip of lower land on the eastern and northern borders. This lower section is malarious. It is thought, however, that drainage and cultivation will correct this, as they have done in other fever districts. Like the Free State, the Transvaal is principally a grazing country. The few trees that exist in the more sheltered parts are of little value, except those in the lower valleys. The winters are severely cold, and the burning sun of summer soon dries up the moisture and bakes the soil, causing the grass to be stunted and yellow during most of the year. Until about sixteen years ago there was little in the surface appearance and known resources of the Transvaal to attract settlers, and nothing to make it a desirable[277]possession to any other people than its Africander inhabitants. In 1884 discoveries of gold were made, the first of which that excited the world being some rich auriferous veins on the Sterkfontein farm. In a little time it became known that probably the richest deposit of gold in the world was in the Witwatersrand district of the Transvaal. Later, in 1897, diamonds were discovered in the Transvaal, the first stone having been picked up at Reitfontein, near the Vaal River, in August of that year. Since then the precious crystals have been found in the Pretoria district, in Roodeplaats on the Pienaars River, at Kameelfontein and at Buffelsduff. The output of gold in 1898 was $68,154,000, and of diamonds $212,812.01. The total output of gold since it was first discovered amounts to over $300,000,000, with $3,500,000,000 “in sight,” as valued by experts. The commerce of the South African Republic, while necessarily great because of the large number of people employed by the mining industries, cannot be as accurately stated as that of states whose imports are all received through a given port or ports. Foreign goods reach it through several ports in Cape Colony, Natal, Portuguese East Africa, and in smaller quantities from other ports on the coast.[278]The total imports for 1897 are estimated at $107,575,000.Griqualand West, a British possession bordering on Cape Colony on the south and on the Free State on the east, owes its chief importance to the Kimberley diamond mines, near the western boundary of the Free State and 600 miles from Cape Town. These mines were opened in 1868 and 1869. It is estimated that since that time $350,000,000 worth of diamonds in the rough—worth double that sum after cutting—have been taken out. This enormous production would have been greatly exceeded had not the owners of the various mines in the group formed an agreement by which the annual output was limited to a small excess over the annual demand in the world’s diamond markets. So plentiful is the supply, and so inexpensive, comparatively, is the cost of mining that other diamond-producing works have almost entirely withdrawn from the industry since the South African mines were opened. It has been estimated that ninety-eight per cent of the diamonds of commerce are now supplied by these mines.The British protectorate of Bechuanaland, lying to the north of Cape Colony and Griqualand and to the west of the Transvaal, has an[279]area of about 213,000 square miles, with a population of 200,000—mostly natives. A railway and telegraph line connect it with Cape Colony on the south and Rhodesia on the north.Rhodesia includes the territory formerly known as British South Africa and a large part of that known as British East Africa. The area is about 750,000 square miles—equal to about one-fourth of the area of the United States of America, excluding Alaska. No exact statement of population can be made; estimates range from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000, of which only about 6,000 are whites. The entire territory is under the administration of theBritishSouth African Company, organized and incorporated in 1889, subject to the British High Commissioner at Cape Town. Rhodesia lies chiefly within the tablelands of South Africa and has large but yet undeveloped resources, including grazing and agricultural lands and important mining districts. Owing to the newness of the country to civilization no definite statement can be made relative to its commerce. In all probability Rhodesia will open a field wherein enterprise along the lines favored by its natural resources and conditions will be richly rewarded.The End.[281]

CHAPTER XVII.THE COUNTRY OF THE AFRICANDERS.

Some knowledge of the physical structure of South Africa is necessary to an understanding of its resources, economic conditions and the longstanding political problems which, to all appearance, are now nearing a final solution.Nature has divided that part of Africa lying south of the Zambesi River into three distinct and well-defined regions. A strip of lowland skirts the coast of the Indian Ocean all the way from Cape Town around to Natal, Delagoa Bay and still northeast to the mouths of the Zambesi. Between Durban, the principal port of Natal, and Cape Town this strip is very narrow in places—the hills coming down almost to the margin of the sea. Beyond Durban, to the northeast, the low plain grows wider. This belt of lowland is more or less swampy, and from Durban northward is exceedingly malarious and unhealthful. This feature is a prime factor in the physical[262]structure of the country and has had much to do with shaping its history.The second region is composed of the elevated and much broken surface presented by the Drakensburg or Quathlamba range of mountains, reaching from Cape Town to the Zambesi Valley—a distance of sixteen hundred miles. In traveling inland, after leaving the level belt, at from thirty to sixty miles from the sea the hills rise higher and higher—from three thousand to six thousand feet. These hills are only the spurs of the principal range, some of whose peaks rise to an elevation of eleven thousand feet.Beyond the Quathlamba Mountains, to the west and north, is the third natural division of South Africa—a vast tableland or plateau, varying from three thousand to five thousand feet above the sea level. This region occupies about seven-eighths of the area of South Africa.To a bird’s-eye view of the country the physical scheme is exceedingly simple—a great plateau filling the interior, a belt of lowland bordering the Indian Ocean and one principal mountain range between the two.Geologically considered, the oldest formation is found in the northern part of the tableland and toward the northeastern end of the Quathlamba[263]Mountains. The principal formations in this region are granite and gneiss, believed to be of great antiquity—probably of the same age as the Laurentian formations in America. The rocks of the Karoo district are not so ancient. There are no traces anywhere in South Africa of late volcanic action, nor has any active volcano been discovered there; but eruptive rocks of ancient date—porphyries and greenstones—are found overlying the sedimentary deposits in the Karoo district and in the mountain systems of Basutoland and the Orange Free State.The African coast is notably poor in harbors. There is no haven between Cape Town and Durban. From Durban to the Zambesi there are but two good ports—that of Delagoa Bay and Beira. With the exception of Saldanha Bay, twenty miles north of Cape Town, the western coast, for a thousand miles, has no harbor.The temperature in Southern Africa is much lower than the latitude would lead one to expect. This is accounted for by the fact that there is a vast preponderance of water in the southern hemisphere, which has the effect of giving a cooler temperature than prevails in a corresponding northern latitude. The difference in both heat and cold represents over two degrees of difference[264]in latitude. Thus, Cape Town, 34° S., has a lower temperature in both summer and winter than Gibraltar and Aleppo, in 36° N. Nevertheless, the thermometer registers high in some parts of South Africa. Even at Durban, in latitude 30° S., the heat is often severe, and the northern part of the Transvaal and the British territories to the north of it lie within the Tropic of Capricorn. The mean temperature in South Africa proper is 70° Fahrenheit in January and 80° in July.Over most of the country the climate is exceptionally dry. In the region of Cape Colony there are well-defined summer and winter; but in the rest of South Africa for about two-thirds of the year there is only a dry season, when the weather is cooler, and a wet season of four or five months, when the sun is the highest and the heat is most intense. The rainy season is not so continuous, nor is there so great a precipitation, as in some other hot countries. In the parts where the rainfall is heaviest, averaging over thirty inches in the year, the moisture soon disappears by evaporation and absorption, and the surface remains parched till the next wet season. As a consequence of this the air is generally dry, clear and stimulating.CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.[265]It is interesting to note the effect upon climate of the physical structure described above. The prevailing and rain-bringing winds are from the east and the southeast. They bring sufficient moisture to the low plain along the sea coast, and passing inland the rain-bearing clouds water the foothills of the Quathlamba Mountains and precipitate snow on the loftier peaks beyond them. A portion of the moisture is carried still farther to the west and falls in showers on the eastern part of the plateau—the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the eastern border of Bechuanaland and the region northward toward the Zambesi. Sections farther to the north and west receive but little of the annual rainfall, ranging from five to ten inches in the year. That little is soon dissipated, the surface becomes dry and hard, and such vegetation as springs up under the brief showers soon dies. Much of this region is a desert, and so must remain until more and more continuous moisture is supplied, either by artificial irrigation or by some favorable change in natural conditions.From these permanent physical features—the lowlands along the coast, the elevated plateau in the interior, the mountain range running between them, a burning sun and a dry atmosphere[266]—have developed many of the other natural phenomena of South Africa.The rivers of that country—laid down in great numbers on the maps—are not rivers during much of the year. In the dry season they are either without water altogether or consist of a succession of little pools scarcely sufficient to supply the cattle on their banks with drink. And when they are rivers they are, most of the time, such as can neither be forded nor navigated; the violent rains—continuing for hours and sometimes for many days—have converted them into roaring torrents.Now, if that country could have been entered by waterways, as were North and South America, it would not have remained an unknown land so long. But there was no other means of penetrating it than the lumbering ox-wagon, making at best a dozen miles a day, with frequent long halts in the neighborhood of good grass in order to rest and recuperate the cattle. It is this lack of navigable rivers that now compels the people to depend exclusively on railways for internal transportation and travel. With the exception of tidal streams there is no internal water communication of any value.Another peculiarity of the east coast rivers[267]arises out of the nearness of the Quathlamba Mountains to the sea. Such rivers as take their rise in the mountains have very short courses, and the few that come from beyond, finding channels through the mountain passes, are so obstructed by rapids and cataracts at the point of descent from the higher levels that no boat can ascend them.South Africa presents to the foreigner from cooler climates no serious danger as to health. The sun-heat would be trying were it not for the dryness of the atmosphere and the invariable coolness of the nights, which have the effect of a refreshing tonic. With due care in providing sufficient wraps for the occasional cold day in the dry season, and the means of comfortable sleep during the cool nights, there is nothing to fear.The much-dreaded malarial fever has its habitat in the lowlands of both the east and the west coast. Persons who are notimmuneto it can choose their place of residence on the higher lands, or take refuge in quinine.The dryness and purity of the air in many parts of South Africa—notably Ceres, Kimberley, Beauport West and other places in the interior plateau—make it peculiarly suitable for[268]persons suffering from any form of chest disease—always excepting tuberculosis, for which the sure remedy has not yet been discovered. But even the victims of that malady find atmospheric and other conditions friendly to a prolongation of life in the salubrious air and sunshine of the South African tablelands.On the whole, there can be no question as to the general good effect upon health of the South African climate. Europeans and Americans living therein pursue their athletic sports with all the zest experienced in their native climates, and the descendants of the original Dutch and Huguenot settlers—now in the sixth and seventh generations—have lost nothing of the stature nor of the physical energy that characterized their forefathers.South Africa used to be the habitat of an unusually rich fauna. The lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, antelope in thirty-one species, zebra, quagga, buffalo and various other wild creatures—some of them savage, and all of them beautiful after their kind—abounded. But of late years all this has been changed. Since firearms have been greatly improved and cheapened and the country has been opened to the Nimrods of the world and the[269]swarming natives have procured guns and learned to use them, the wild animals have been thinned out. There are now but two regions in South Africa where big game can be killed in any great numbers—the Portuguese territory from the Zambesi to Delagoa Bay, and the adjoining eastern frontier of the Transvaal.Snakes of various kinds and sizes, from the poisonous blackmambato the python that grows to over twenty feet in length, used to infest many parts of the country, but they have almost disappeared from the temperate regions inhabited by the whites.The farmers’ worst enemies are not now the great beasts and reptiles of former years, but the baboons, which gather in the more rocky districts and kill the lambs, and two species of insects—the white ants and the locusts—which sometimes ravage the eastern coast.Beyond that of most countries in the world of equal extent the flora of South Africa is rich in both genera and species. The neighborhood of Cape Town and the warm, sub-tropical regions of eastern Cape Colony and Natal are specially affluent in beautiful flowers. In the Karoo district, and northeastward over the plateau into Bechuanaland and the Transvaal, vegetation presents[270]but little variety of aspect, owing in part to the general sameness of geological formations and in part to the prevailing dryness of the surface.In general, South Africa is comparatively bare of forests—a fact for which denudation by man cannot account, for it is yet a country new to civilization. Some primitive forests are to be found on the south coast of Cape Colony and in Natal. These have been put under the care of a Forest Department of the government. In the great Knysna forest wild elephants still roam at large. The trees, however, even in the preserved forests, are small, few of them being more than fifty or sixty feet in height. The yellowwood grows the tallest, but the less lofty sneezewood is the most useful to man. Up the hillsides north of Graham’s Town and King William’s Town are immense tracts of scrub from four to eight feet high, with occasional patches of prickly pear—a formidable invader from America, through which both men and cattle make their passage at the cost of much effort and many irritating wounds from the sharp spines. A large part of this region, being suitable for little else, has been utilized for ostrich farming.In the Karoo district and northward through[271]Cape Colony, western Bechuanaland and the German possessions in Namaqualand and Damaraland—a desert region—there are few trees except small and thorny mimosas. Farther east, where there is a greater rainfall, the trees are more numerous and less thorny. The plain around Kimberley, once well wooded, has been stripped of its trees to furnish props for the diamond mines and fuel.The lack of forests is one of the principal drawbacks to the development of South Africa. Timber is everywhere costly; the rainfall is less than it would be if the country were well wooded; and when rains do come the moisture is more rapidly dissipated by absorption, evaporation and sudden freshets because of the absence of shade. Of late energetic measures have been taken to supply nature’s lack by artificial forestry. On the great veldt plateau in the vicinity of Kimberley and of Pretoria and in other localities the people have planted the Australian gum tree, the eucalyptus and several varieties of European trees, including the oak, which, besides being useful, is very beautiful. If the practice be continued the country will reap an incalculable benefit, not only in appearance, but also in climatic conditions.[272]The largest political division of South Africa is Cape Colony. The area is about 292,000 square miles and the population, white and native, is 2,011,305. The whites number about 400,000. But little of it is suitable for agriculture, and considerable portions of it are too arid for stock raising. Including the natives the population is only about seven to the square mile. On the lowlands skirting the sea on the south and west are some fruitful regions that give a profitable yield of grapes and corn. On the tableland of the interior there is a rainfall of only from five to fifteen inches in the year. As a consequence the surface is dry and unfriendly to vegetable life. In an area of three hundred miles by one hundred and fifty there is not a stream having a current throughout the year, nor is there any moisture at all in the dry season except some shallow pools which are soon dried up by evaporation. Nevertheless, in this desert, bare of trees and of herbage, there is abundance of prickly shrubs, which are sufficiently succulent when they sprout under the summer rains to afford good browsing for goats and sheep. In the northwestern part of the interior and northward to Kimberley and Mafeking, the country is better watered than the more westerly regions, and[273]grazing animals find a generous growth of grass as well as nutritious shrubs. In the southeastern part the rainfall is still heavier. The foothills of the Quathlamba Range toward the sea are covered in places with forests, the grass is more abundant and much of the land can be tilled to profit without artificial irrigation. In 1899 there were about 3,000 miles of railway and nearly 7,000 miles of telegraph open in the colony. The number of vessels entering the ports of Cape Colony in 1897 was 1,093, with a total tonnage of 2,694,370 tons; in addition to this there were 1,278 vessels engaged in the coastwise trade, with a tonnage of 3,725,831 tons. The foreign commerce of Cape Colony is large, including, as it does, the bulk of the import and export trade of all South Africa. The total importation of merchandise for 1897 was $80,127,495, and the exports, including a large proportion of the gold and diamond products of Kimberley and the Transvaal, amounted, in 1898, to $123,213,458.Natal, beyond any other part of South Africa, is favored by natural advantages. It lies on the seaward slope of the Quathlamba Mountains, and its scenery is charmingly diversified by some of the lesser peaks and the foothills of that range. It is well watered by perennial streams[274]fed by the snows and springs of the mountains. While the higher altitudes to the west are bare, there is abundance of grass lower down and toward the coast there is plenty of wood. The climate in general is much warmer than that of Cape Colony; in the low strip bordering the sea it is almost tropical. This high temperature is not caused so much by latitude as by the current in the Mozambique Channel, which brings from the tropical regions of the Indian Ocean a vast stream of warm water, which acts on the climate of Natal as does the Gulf Stream on that of Georgia and the Carolinas. Nearly the whole of Natal may be counted temperate; the soil is rich, the scenery is beautiful, and, with the exception of certain malarious districts at the north, the climate is healthful. Foreigners from Europe and America may reasonably hope to enjoy long life and prosperity in it. The principal crop for export is sugar, but cereals of all kinds, coffee, indigo, arrowroot, ginger, tobacco, rice, pepper, cotton and tea are grown to profit. The coal fields of the colony are large, the output in 1897 being 244,000 tons. There are 487 miles of railway, built and operated by the government. The imports in 1897 amounted to nearly $30,000,000. Pop. 828,500; whites, 61,000.[275]The Orange Free State, in its entire area of 48,000 square miles, is on the great interior plateau at an altitude of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level. The surface is mostly level, but there are occasional hills—some of them rising to a height of 6,000 feet. The land is, for the most part, bare of trees, but affords good grazing for two-thirds of the year. The air is remarkably pure and bracing. There are no blizzards to encounter. There are, however, occasional violent thunderstorms, which precipitate enormous hailstones—large enough to kill the smaller animals, and even men. Notwithstanding the generally parched appearance of the country, the larger streams do not dry up in winter. The southeastern part of the Free State, particularly the valley of the Caledon River, is one of the best corn-growing regions in Africa. In the main, however, with the exception of the river valleys, the land is more suitable for pasture than for tillage. The grazing farms are large and require the services of but few men; as a consequence the population increases slowly. The Free State, corresponding in size to the State of New York, has only about 80,000 white inhabitants and 130,000 natives. The chief industry is agriculture and stock-raising. A railway,[276]constructed by the Cape Colony government, connects Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, with the ports of Cape Colony and Natal, and with Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic.The South African Republic, commonly called the Transvaal, is 119,139 square miles in area. The white population, numbering 345,397, is largely concentrated in the Witwatersrand mining district. The native inhabitants number 748,759. All the Transvaal territory belongs to the interior plateau, with the exception of a strip of lower land on the eastern and northern borders. This lower section is malarious. It is thought, however, that drainage and cultivation will correct this, as they have done in other fever districts. Like the Free State, the Transvaal is principally a grazing country. The few trees that exist in the more sheltered parts are of little value, except those in the lower valleys. The winters are severely cold, and the burning sun of summer soon dries up the moisture and bakes the soil, causing the grass to be stunted and yellow during most of the year. Until about sixteen years ago there was little in the surface appearance and known resources of the Transvaal to attract settlers, and nothing to make it a desirable[277]possession to any other people than its Africander inhabitants. In 1884 discoveries of gold were made, the first of which that excited the world being some rich auriferous veins on the Sterkfontein farm. In a little time it became known that probably the richest deposit of gold in the world was in the Witwatersrand district of the Transvaal. Later, in 1897, diamonds were discovered in the Transvaal, the first stone having been picked up at Reitfontein, near the Vaal River, in August of that year. Since then the precious crystals have been found in the Pretoria district, in Roodeplaats on the Pienaars River, at Kameelfontein and at Buffelsduff. The output of gold in 1898 was $68,154,000, and of diamonds $212,812.01. The total output of gold since it was first discovered amounts to over $300,000,000, with $3,500,000,000 “in sight,” as valued by experts. The commerce of the South African Republic, while necessarily great because of the large number of people employed by the mining industries, cannot be as accurately stated as that of states whose imports are all received through a given port or ports. Foreign goods reach it through several ports in Cape Colony, Natal, Portuguese East Africa, and in smaller quantities from other ports on the coast.[278]The total imports for 1897 are estimated at $107,575,000.Griqualand West, a British possession bordering on Cape Colony on the south and on the Free State on the east, owes its chief importance to the Kimberley diamond mines, near the western boundary of the Free State and 600 miles from Cape Town. These mines were opened in 1868 and 1869. It is estimated that since that time $350,000,000 worth of diamonds in the rough—worth double that sum after cutting—have been taken out. This enormous production would have been greatly exceeded had not the owners of the various mines in the group formed an agreement by which the annual output was limited to a small excess over the annual demand in the world’s diamond markets. So plentiful is the supply, and so inexpensive, comparatively, is the cost of mining that other diamond-producing works have almost entirely withdrawn from the industry since the South African mines were opened. It has been estimated that ninety-eight per cent of the diamonds of commerce are now supplied by these mines.The British protectorate of Bechuanaland, lying to the north of Cape Colony and Griqualand and to the west of the Transvaal, has an[279]area of about 213,000 square miles, with a population of 200,000—mostly natives. A railway and telegraph line connect it with Cape Colony on the south and Rhodesia on the north.Rhodesia includes the territory formerly known as British South Africa and a large part of that known as British East Africa. The area is about 750,000 square miles—equal to about one-fourth of the area of the United States of America, excluding Alaska. No exact statement of population can be made; estimates range from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000, of which only about 6,000 are whites. The entire territory is under the administration of theBritishSouth African Company, organized and incorporated in 1889, subject to the British High Commissioner at Cape Town. Rhodesia lies chiefly within the tablelands of South Africa and has large but yet undeveloped resources, including grazing and agricultural lands and important mining districts. Owing to the newness of the country to civilization no definite statement can be made relative to its commerce. In all probability Rhodesia will open a field wherein enterprise along the lines favored by its natural resources and conditions will be richly rewarded.The End.[281]

Nature has divided that part of Africa lying south of the Zambesi River into three distinct and well-defined regions. A strip of lowland skirts the coast of the Indian Ocean all the way from Cape Town around to Natal, Delagoa Bay and still northeast to the mouths of the Zambesi. Between Durban, the principal port of Natal, and Cape Town this strip is very narrow in places—the hills coming down almost to the margin of the sea. Beyond Durban, to the northeast, the low plain grows wider. This belt of lowland is more or less swampy, and from Durban northward is exceedingly malarious and unhealthful. This feature is a prime factor in the physical[262]structure of the country and has had much to do with shaping its history.

The second region is composed of the elevated and much broken surface presented by the Drakensburg or Quathlamba range of mountains, reaching from Cape Town to the Zambesi Valley—a distance of sixteen hundred miles. In traveling inland, after leaving the level belt, at from thirty to sixty miles from the sea the hills rise higher and higher—from three thousand to six thousand feet. These hills are only the spurs of the principal range, some of whose peaks rise to an elevation of eleven thousand feet.

Beyond the Quathlamba Mountains, to the west and north, is the third natural division of South Africa—a vast tableland or plateau, varying from three thousand to five thousand feet above the sea level. This region occupies about seven-eighths of the area of South Africa.

To a bird’s-eye view of the country the physical scheme is exceedingly simple—a great plateau filling the interior, a belt of lowland bordering the Indian Ocean and one principal mountain range between the two.

Geologically considered, the oldest formation is found in the northern part of the tableland and toward the northeastern end of the Quathlamba[263]Mountains. The principal formations in this region are granite and gneiss, believed to be of great antiquity—probably of the same age as the Laurentian formations in America. The rocks of the Karoo district are not so ancient. There are no traces anywhere in South Africa of late volcanic action, nor has any active volcano been discovered there; but eruptive rocks of ancient date—porphyries and greenstones—are found overlying the sedimentary deposits in the Karoo district and in the mountain systems of Basutoland and the Orange Free State.

The African coast is notably poor in harbors. There is no haven between Cape Town and Durban. From Durban to the Zambesi there are but two good ports—that of Delagoa Bay and Beira. With the exception of Saldanha Bay, twenty miles north of Cape Town, the western coast, for a thousand miles, has no harbor.

The temperature in Southern Africa is much lower than the latitude would lead one to expect. This is accounted for by the fact that there is a vast preponderance of water in the southern hemisphere, which has the effect of giving a cooler temperature than prevails in a corresponding northern latitude. The difference in both heat and cold represents over two degrees of difference[264]in latitude. Thus, Cape Town, 34° S., has a lower temperature in both summer and winter than Gibraltar and Aleppo, in 36° N. Nevertheless, the thermometer registers high in some parts of South Africa. Even at Durban, in latitude 30° S., the heat is often severe, and the northern part of the Transvaal and the British territories to the north of it lie within the Tropic of Capricorn. The mean temperature in South Africa proper is 70° Fahrenheit in January and 80° in July.

Over most of the country the climate is exceptionally dry. In the region of Cape Colony there are well-defined summer and winter; but in the rest of South Africa for about two-thirds of the year there is only a dry season, when the weather is cooler, and a wet season of four or five months, when the sun is the highest and the heat is most intense. The rainy season is not so continuous, nor is there so great a precipitation, as in some other hot countries. In the parts where the rainfall is heaviest, averaging over thirty inches in the year, the moisture soon disappears by evaporation and absorption, and the surface remains parched till the next wet season. As a consequence of this the air is generally dry, clear and stimulating.

CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.

CATTLE ON THE VAAL RIVER.

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It is interesting to note the effect upon climate of the physical structure described above. The prevailing and rain-bringing winds are from the east and the southeast. They bring sufficient moisture to the low plain along the sea coast, and passing inland the rain-bearing clouds water the foothills of the Quathlamba Mountains and precipitate snow on the loftier peaks beyond them. A portion of the moisture is carried still farther to the west and falls in showers on the eastern part of the plateau—the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the eastern border of Bechuanaland and the region northward toward the Zambesi. Sections farther to the north and west receive but little of the annual rainfall, ranging from five to ten inches in the year. That little is soon dissipated, the surface becomes dry and hard, and such vegetation as springs up under the brief showers soon dies. Much of this region is a desert, and so must remain until more and more continuous moisture is supplied, either by artificial irrigation or by some favorable change in natural conditions.

From these permanent physical features—the lowlands along the coast, the elevated plateau in the interior, the mountain range running between them, a burning sun and a dry atmosphere[266]—have developed many of the other natural phenomena of South Africa.

The rivers of that country—laid down in great numbers on the maps—are not rivers during much of the year. In the dry season they are either without water altogether or consist of a succession of little pools scarcely sufficient to supply the cattle on their banks with drink. And when they are rivers they are, most of the time, such as can neither be forded nor navigated; the violent rains—continuing for hours and sometimes for many days—have converted them into roaring torrents.

Now, if that country could have been entered by waterways, as were North and South America, it would not have remained an unknown land so long. But there was no other means of penetrating it than the lumbering ox-wagon, making at best a dozen miles a day, with frequent long halts in the neighborhood of good grass in order to rest and recuperate the cattle. It is this lack of navigable rivers that now compels the people to depend exclusively on railways for internal transportation and travel. With the exception of tidal streams there is no internal water communication of any value.

Another peculiarity of the east coast rivers[267]arises out of the nearness of the Quathlamba Mountains to the sea. Such rivers as take their rise in the mountains have very short courses, and the few that come from beyond, finding channels through the mountain passes, are so obstructed by rapids and cataracts at the point of descent from the higher levels that no boat can ascend them.

South Africa presents to the foreigner from cooler climates no serious danger as to health. The sun-heat would be trying were it not for the dryness of the atmosphere and the invariable coolness of the nights, which have the effect of a refreshing tonic. With due care in providing sufficient wraps for the occasional cold day in the dry season, and the means of comfortable sleep during the cool nights, there is nothing to fear.

The much-dreaded malarial fever has its habitat in the lowlands of both the east and the west coast. Persons who are notimmuneto it can choose their place of residence on the higher lands, or take refuge in quinine.

The dryness and purity of the air in many parts of South Africa—notably Ceres, Kimberley, Beauport West and other places in the interior plateau—make it peculiarly suitable for[268]persons suffering from any form of chest disease—always excepting tuberculosis, for which the sure remedy has not yet been discovered. But even the victims of that malady find atmospheric and other conditions friendly to a prolongation of life in the salubrious air and sunshine of the South African tablelands.

On the whole, there can be no question as to the general good effect upon health of the South African climate. Europeans and Americans living therein pursue their athletic sports with all the zest experienced in their native climates, and the descendants of the original Dutch and Huguenot settlers—now in the sixth and seventh generations—have lost nothing of the stature nor of the physical energy that characterized their forefathers.

South Africa used to be the habitat of an unusually rich fauna. The lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, antelope in thirty-one species, zebra, quagga, buffalo and various other wild creatures—some of them savage, and all of them beautiful after their kind—abounded. But of late years all this has been changed. Since firearms have been greatly improved and cheapened and the country has been opened to the Nimrods of the world and the[269]swarming natives have procured guns and learned to use them, the wild animals have been thinned out. There are now but two regions in South Africa where big game can be killed in any great numbers—the Portuguese territory from the Zambesi to Delagoa Bay, and the adjoining eastern frontier of the Transvaal.

Snakes of various kinds and sizes, from the poisonous blackmambato the python that grows to over twenty feet in length, used to infest many parts of the country, but they have almost disappeared from the temperate regions inhabited by the whites.

The farmers’ worst enemies are not now the great beasts and reptiles of former years, but the baboons, which gather in the more rocky districts and kill the lambs, and two species of insects—the white ants and the locusts—which sometimes ravage the eastern coast.

Beyond that of most countries in the world of equal extent the flora of South Africa is rich in both genera and species. The neighborhood of Cape Town and the warm, sub-tropical regions of eastern Cape Colony and Natal are specially affluent in beautiful flowers. In the Karoo district, and northeastward over the plateau into Bechuanaland and the Transvaal, vegetation presents[270]but little variety of aspect, owing in part to the general sameness of geological formations and in part to the prevailing dryness of the surface.

In general, South Africa is comparatively bare of forests—a fact for which denudation by man cannot account, for it is yet a country new to civilization. Some primitive forests are to be found on the south coast of Cape Colony and in Natal. These have been put under the care of a Forest Department of the government. In the great Knysna forest wild elephants still roam at large. The trees, however, even in the preserved forests, are small, few of them being more than fifty or sixty feet in height. The yellowwood grows the tallest, but the less lofty sneezewood is the most useful to man. Up the hillsides north of Graham’s Town and King William’s Town are immense tracts of scrub from four to eight feet high, with occasional patches of prickly pear—a formidable invader from America, through which both men and cattle make their passage at the cost of much effort and many irritating wounds from the sharp spines. A large part of this region, being suitable for little else, has been utilized for ostrich farming.

In the Karoo district and northward through[271]Cape Colony, western Bechuanaland and the German possessions in Namaqualand and Damaraland—a desert region—there are few trees except small and thorny mimosas. Farther east, where there is a greater rainfall, the trees are more numerous and less thorny. The plain around Kimberley, once well wooded, has been stripped of its trees to furnish props for the diamond mines and fuel.

The lack of forests is one of the principal drawbacks to the development of South Africa. Timber is everywhere costly; the rainfall is less than it would be if the country were well wooded; and when rains do come the moisture is more rapidly dissipated by absorption, evaporation and sudden freshets because of the absence of shade. Of late energetic measures have been taken to supply nature’s lack by artificial forestry. On the great veldt plateau in the vicinity of Kimberley and of Pretoria and in other localities the people have planted the Australian gum tree, the eucalyptus and several varieties of European trees, including the oak, which, besides being useful, is very beautiful. If the practice be continued the country will reap an incalculable benefit, not only in appearance, but also in climatic conditions.[272]

The largest political division of South Africa is Cape Colony. The area is about 292,000 square miles and the population, white and native, is 2,011,305. The whites number about 400,000. But little of it is suitable for agriculture, and considerable portions of it are too arid for stock raising. Including the natives the population is only about seven to the square mile. On the lowlands skirting the sea on the south and west are some fruitful regions that give a profitable yield of grapes and corn. On the tableland of the interior there is a rainfall of only from five to fifteen inches in the year. As a consequence the surface is dry and unfriendly to vegetable life. In an area of three hundred miles by one hundred and fifty there is not a stream having a current throughout the year, nor is there any moisture at all in the dry season except some shallow pools which are soon dried up by evaporation. Nevertheless, in this desert, bare of trees and of herbage, there is abundance of prickly shrubs, which are sufficiently succulent when they sprout under the summer rains to afford good browsing for goats and sheep. In the northwestern part of the interior and northward to Kimberley and Mafeking, the country is better watered than the more westerly regions, and[273]grazing animals find a generous growth of grass as well as nutritious shrubs. In the southeastern part the rainfall is still heavier. The foothills of the Quathlamba Range toward the sea are covered in places with forests, the grass is more abundant and much of the land can be tilled to profit without artificial irrigation. In 1899 there were about 3,000 miles of railway and nearly 7,000 miles of telegraph open in the colony. The number of vessels entering the ports of Cape Colony in 1897 was 1,093, with a total tonnage of 2,694,370 tons; in addition to this there were 1,278 vessels engaged in the coastwise trade, with a tonnage of 3,725,831 tons. The foreign commerce of Cape Colony is large, including, as it does, the bulk of the import and export trade of all South Africa. The total importation of merchandise for 1897 was $80,127,495, and the exports, including a large proportion of the gold and diamond products of Kimberley and the Transvaal, amounted, in 1898, to $123,213,458.

Natal, beyond any other part of South Africa, is favored by natural advantages. It lies on the seaward slope of the Quathlamba Mountains, and its scenery is charmingly diversified by some of the lesser peaks and the foothills of that range. It is well watered by perennial streams[274]fed by the snows and springs of the mountains. While the higher altitudes to the west are bare, there is abundance of grass lower down and toward the coast there is plenty of wood. The climate in general is much warmer than that of Cape Colony; in the low strip bordering the sea it is almost tropical. This high temperature is not caused so much by latitude as by the current in the Mozambique Channel, which brings from the tropical regions of the Indian Ocean a vast stream of warm water, which acts on the climate of Natal as does the Gulf Stream on that of Georgia and the Carolinas. Nearly the whole of Natal may be counted temperate; the soil is rich, the scenery is beautiful, and, with the exception of certain malarious districts at the north, the climate is healthful. Foreigners from Europe and America may reasonably hope to enjoy long life and prosperity in it. The principal crop for export is sugar, but cereals of all kinds, coffee, indigo, arrowroot, ginger, tobacco, rice, pepper, cotton and tea are grown to profit. The coal fields of the colony are large, the output in 1897 being 244,000 tons. There are 487 miles of railway, built and operated by the government. The imports in 1897 amounted to nearly $30,000,000. Pop. 828,500; whites, 61,000.[275]

The Orange Free State, in its entire area of 48,000 square miles, is on the great interior plateau at an altitude of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level. The surface is mostly level, but there are occasional hills—some of them rising to a height of 6,000 feet. The land is, for the most part, bare of trees, but affords good grazing for two-thirds of the year. The air is remarkably pure and bracing. There are no blizzards to encounter. There are, however, occasional violent thunderstorms, which precipitate enormous hailstones—large enough to kill the smaller animals, and even men. Notwithstanding the generally parched appearance of the country, the larger streams do not dry up in winter. The southeastern part of the Free State, particularly the valley of the Caledon River, is one of the best corn-growing regions in Africa. In the main, however, with the exception of the river valleys, the land is more suitable for pasture than for tillage. The grazing farms are large and require the services of but few men; as a consequence the population increases slowly. The Free State, corresponding in size to the State of New York, has only about 80,000 white inhabitants and 130,000 natives. The chief industry is agriculture and stock-raising. A railway,[276]constructed by the Cape Colony government, connects Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, with the ports of Cape Colony and Natal, and with Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic.

The South African Republic, commonly called the Transvaal, is 119,139 square miles in area. The white population, numbering 345,397, is largely concentrated in the Witwatersrand mining district. The native inhabitants number 748,759. All the Transvaal territory belongs to the interior plateau, with the exception of a strip of lower land on the eastern and northern borders. This lower section is malarious. It is thought, however, that drainage and cultivation will correct this, as they have done in other fever districts. Like the Free State, the Transvaal is principally a grazing country. The few trees that exist in the more sheltered parts are of little value, except those in the lower valleys. The winters are severely cold, and the burning sun of summer soon dries up the moisture and bakes the soil, causing the grass to be stunted and yellow during most of the year. Until about sixteen years ago there was little in the surface appearance and known resources of the Transvaal to attract settlers, and nothing to make it a desirable[277]possession to any other people than its Africander inhabitants. In 1884 discoveries of gold were made, the first of which that excited the world being some rich auriferous veins on the Sterkfontein farm. In a little time it became known that probably the richest deposit of gold in the world was in the Witwatersrand district of the Transvaal. Later, in 1897, diamonds were discovered in the Transvaal, the first stone having been picked up at Reitfontein, near the Vaal River, in August of that year. Since then the precious crystals have been found in the Pretoria district, in Roodeplaats on the Pienaars River, at Kameelfontein and at Buffelsduff. The output of gold in 1898 was $68,154,000, and of diamonds $212,812.01. The total output of gold since it was first discovered amounts to over $300,000,000, with $3,500,000,000 “in sight,” as valued by experts. The commerce of the South African Republic, while necessarily great because of the large number of people employed by the mining industries, cannot be as accurately stated as that of states whose imports are all received through a given port or ports. Foreign goods reach it through several ports in Cape Colony, Natal, Portuguese East Africa, and in smaller quantities from other ports on the coast.[278]The total imports for 1897 are estimated at $107,575,000.

Griqualand West, a British possession bordering on Cape Colony on the south and on the Free State on the east, owes its chief importance to the Kimberley diamond mines, near the western boundary of the Free State and 600 miles from Cape Town. These mines were opened in 1868 and 1869. It is estimated that since that time $350,000,000 worth of diamonds in the rough—worth double that sum after cutting—have been taken out. This enormous production would have been greatly exceeded had not the owners of the various mines in the group formed an agreement by which the annual output was limited to a small excess over the annual demand in the world’s diamond markets. So plentiful is the supply, and so inexpensive, comparatively, is the cost of mining that other diamond-producing works have almost entirely withdrawn from the industry since the South African mines were opened. It has been estimated that ninety-eight per cent of the diamonds of commerce are now supplied by these mines.

The British protectorate of Bechuanaland, lying to the north of Cape Colony and Griqualand and to the west of the Transvaal, has an[279]area of about 213,000 square miles, with a population of 200,000—mostly natives. A railway and telegraph line connect it with Cape Colony on the south and Rhodesia on the north.

Rhodesia includes the territory formerly known as British South Africa and a large part of that known as British East Africa. The area is about 750,000 square miles—equal to about one-fourth of the area of the United States of America, excluding Alaska. No exact statement of population can be made; estimates range from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000, of which only about 6,000 are whites. The entire territory is under the administration of theBritishSouth African Company, organized and incorporated in 1889, subject to the British High Commissioner at Cape Town. Rhodesia lies chiefly within the tablelands of South Africa and has large but yet undeveloped resources, including grazing and agricultural lands and important mining districts. Owing to the newness of the country to civilization no definite statement can be made relative to its commerce. In all probability Rhodesia will open a field wherein enterprise along the lines favored by its natural resources and conditions will be richly rewarded.

The End.

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