CAPE TOWN AND TABLE BAY.CAPE TOWN AND TABLE BAY.
Two of the officers of the rescued crew, upon their arrival in their home at the Netherlands, set forth the advantages to be derived from the establishment of a station in Table Valley.
A year later three vessels set sail from Texel, not for the purpose of carrying passengers to South Africa to found a colony, but to establish a refreshment stationfor the fleets on their way to and from eastern seas.
In 1652, the little fleet from the Netherlands reached the coast, and proceeded to form such a station at Table Valley, under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company.
The only permanent inhabitants at the Cape were a few Hottentots. These subsisted chiefly on shellfish. The little band of settlers found much discomfort from the winter rains. The tents and wooden structures leaked badly, and many of the members became ill and died.
When these rains ceased, however, a change for the better came. Grass began to grow and every sort of edible plant. Ground was dug up, seeds planted, and soon luxuriant vegetable gardens gladdened the eye and the palate. Reeds, to thatch the houses, were obtained, and thus their roofs were made secure from the rainy season.
The pleasantest weather in South Africa is immediately after what are termed the winter rains. Just at the close of this season a clan of Hottentots came to the Cape peninsula. They drove before them great herds of horned cattle and flocks of sheep in search of fresh pasturage. Though always suspicious of each other, this clan and the Europeans maintained the pleasantest relations during the three months of their stay at the peninsula.
During that time the commander of the station secured in barter more than two hundred head of cattle and nearly six hundred sheep.
At the end of the first year, the station was wellestablished and prosperous. A garden had been planted, a system of irrigation introduced sufficiently great to water the whole extent of cultivated ground, some acres in all. A hospital, plain but substantial, with earthen walls and thatched roof, and large enough to give accommodations to two or three hundred men, had been built; while a cattle trade had been opened with another friendly clan that had visited the peninsula.
The second winter was not very eventful. True, some building was done, oxen were trained to draw timber from the forests behind Devil's Peak, and much new ground was broken up.
"Wild animals gave more trouble than anything else. The lions were so bold that they invaded the cattle pens by night, though armed men were always watching them; and leopards came down from the mountains in broad daylight and carried away sheep under the very eyes of the herdsmen.
"One morning before daybreak there was a great noise in the poultry pens, and when the guards went to see what was the matter, they found that all the ducks and geese had been killed by wildcats. The country appeared to be swarming with ravenous beasts of different kinds."
The Europeans had been settled in Table Valley about a year and a half, when they had their first difficulty with the Hottentots. The treacherous natives, one Sunday, while the settlers were holding church, killed the little white herdsman of the settlement and ran away with almost the entire herd of cattle.
This was a sad blow. The fort needed to be strengthened by palisades made from the timber cut in the forests back of Devil's Peak. The working oxen were gone, and all timber had to be carried on the shoulders of the settlers. Then, too, the clans that had supplied the settlers with meat deemed it wise to remain at a distance, and the loss of this article of food was keenly felt.
After a few months, quiet and apparent peace were restored. During the next few years, exploring parties were sent out to learn of the physical features of the neighboring country, and to make the acquaintance of well-disposed Hottentot clans.
During these years, nearly every garden plant native to Europe or India was grown at the Cape. Potatoes and maize, however, had not yet been introduced. The oak and the fir tree, various kinds of fruit trees, varieties of vines from France and South Germany, strawberries and blackberries, were all in a thriving condition. Horses had been introduced from Java, and pigs and sheep, together with dogs, rabbits, and poultry, from Europe.
In February, 1657, the first real colony was established along the Liesbeek River, at Rondebosch, by nine of the Company's servants, who obtained their discharges and had small lots of land allotted to them. In this manner the colonization of South Africa was begun.
In 1658 negro slaves were introduced. This was a great mistake on the part of the colonists. In this move they but followed the example of all colonizing nations, who made of the negro merely a hewer ofwood and a drawer of water. No doubt, the cause of all the subsequent troubles of the Dutch settlers with England was due to the establishment of a system of slavery.
Many of the first slaves were taken from a Portuguese slaver which had been captured at sea. Not long after, quite a number of slaves were brought by the vessels of the Company from the coast of Guinea. A few of these were sold to the burghers, but most of them were maintained by the government and employed at all kinds of rough labor.
In addition to negroes, the East India Company began the introduction of Asiatics into the settlement. They were chiefly natives of Malacca, Java, and the Spice Islands. These people were, for the most part, criminals banished to slavery for life or for a term of years by the court of justice at Batavia. South Africa was chosen as their place of banishment. These men were far more intelligent than the natives of Guinea or Mozambique. Many of them were employed by the settlers as masons, harness makers, coopers, and tailors.
Later, South Africa was made a place of banishment for political prisoners of high rank from India. These prisoners were often accompanied by their families. Many of them had numerous attendants, both male and female.
It was thus that the colony at the Cape was settled by three distinct varieties of the human family, and really peopled by four varieties, for we must include the native Hottentots.
Europeans, negroes, and the Javanese represented the original settlers, but various mixed races of every color soon populated the colony. Hence, it is doubtful if anywhere else in Africa could a greater diversity of hue and of features be found than in the Cape peninsula.
There are now five distinct governments represented in South Africa in the following divisions of territory: Cape Colony, Natal, and British Kaffraria,—all British possessions; the South African Republic, and the Orange Free State,—both independent republics. Of these divisions Cape Colony and the South African Republic, formerly known as the Transvaal, are the most interesting.
In addition to these divisions there are various dependencies, as British Bechuanaland, the British Protectorate, the German Protectorate, the British Chartered Company Territory, the Portuguese Possessions, and Swaziland.
The aborigines of South Africa have been described as savages of a very degraded type. "They were pigmies in size, yellowish-brown in color, hollow-backed, and with skins so loose that in times of famine their bodies were covered with wrinkles and flaps. On their heads were rows of little tufts of wiry hair hardly larger than peppercorns, and leaving the greater portion of the surface bald.
"Their faces were broad in a line with the eyes, their cheeks were hollow, and they had flat noses, thick lips, and receding chins. They anointed their bodies with grease when any was obtainable, and then painted themselves with soot or colored clay.
"The clothing of the males was the skin of an animal hung loosely over the shoulders; that of the females was little more than a small leathern apron. To the eye of a European, no people in any part of the world were more unattractive.
"These savages were thinly scattered over every part of the country from a very remote period; for implements, such as arrowheads and perforated stones similar to those which they had in use when white men first met them, have been found in positions where the overlying materials must have been undisturbed for an incalculable time."
Such were the Bushmen, as the Europeans have named these pigmies. "They had no domestic animal but the dog, and they made no effort to cultivate the soil. They lived by the chase and upon wild plants, honey, locusts, and carrion.
"They had no government other than parental. This they ceased to acknowledge when able to care for themselves. They had feeble frames, wholly unfitted for toil, yet they possessed very keen vision and could detect objects at a great distance. They were fleet of foot, and could endure great hardships in the chase. Their only weapon was a frail bow. The arrowhead was coated with a poison so deadly that even the slightest wound was mortal."
In addition to the Bushmen, the first settlers on South African soil found a people much superior. They belonged to the race now known as the Hottentots, and must have occupied the soil long before the advent of the white man. Several points of resemblance can be traced between these two peoples, yet there are many essential differences in the shape of the head and face; for instance, the ear of the Bushman is lobeless, a marked contrast to that of the Hottentot.
The Bushmen and Hottentots were constantly at war with each other. The Hottentots lived in communities, each with its own chief. They depended mainly upon the milk of cows and ewes for food; for they did not practice agriculture. They had horned cattle, gaunt and bony, and sheep covered with hair in place of wool. These sheep had fatty tails of great weight. With the exception of the dog, these were the only domestic animals. The men lived in indolence; their only occupation was moving from place to place with their herds and flocks, as pasturage failed. If the supply of milk became short, the women gathered bulbs and roots of nutritious properties to eke out an existence. These people slept in huts, which consisted of slender wooden frames covered over with matting, and which could be easily taken down at a moment's notice, and set up again on a new camping ground almost as quickly as tents.
Such were the people with whom Europeans had to deal, when the first settlements were made in South Africa. There was another branch of the human family that began to invade South Africa even before it wassettled by the white man. It formed a part of the great Bantu family, which occupies all of Central Africa extending from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
They were a stalwart people, versed in agriculture and working in metal. They had a strict government and a well-defined system of law. They were a people of mixed ancestry, doubtless; some individuals displaying all the physical features and mental peculiarities of the negro, others showing marked Asiatic features and the quick mental powers of a superior race. The Bantu tribes were healthy and vigorous, but they were rarely at peace.
The three classes of people who occupied South Africa before its settlement by the white man "enjoyed the lives they were leading quite as much as Europeans enjoy their lives, though their pleasures were of a lower kind. Given freedom from disease and a slain antelope, and there could be no merrier creature than a Bushman. He was absolutely devoid of harassing cares.
"A Hottentot kraal, in the clear moonlight of Africa, with men, women, and children dancing to the music of reeds, was a scene of the highest hilarity.
"The Bantu woman, tending her garden by day and preparing food in the evening, which she may not partake of herself until her husband and his friends have eaten, is regarded as an unhappy drudge by her European sister. In her own opinion her lot is far more enviable than that of the white woman, whom she regards as being always in a state of anxiety."
As with most of the tribes of Africa, the chief elementof disturbance in their lives was war. The hand of the Bushman was usually against every man, and every man's hand was against him. The Hottentot tribes were constantly robbing one another of cattle, and on their eastern border were struggling in vain against the advancing Bantu. Most of the time every Bantu clan was at war with its nearest neighbors, whoever these might be.
Various reasons have been given for the origin of the term Hottentot. One writer declares, and doubtless he is correct, that the name arose from the peculiarity of the language spoken by this people. It is "much broken, full of monosyllables, uttered with strong aspirations from the chest, and a guttural articulation which it is difficult to acquire."
In conclusion he says, "It is as if one heard nothing from them buthot and tot." A peculiar sound, called the "click," is made in pronouncing words. This is done by pressing the tongue up against the palate and suddenly removing it.
All early records of the Dutch settlers praise the good traits of the Hottentots. The tribes were all distinguished by the title "good men." One writer states that during the first fifty years of the colony not a single instance of theft from the colonists was known.
Later, a waistcoat decorated with silver buttons was stolen. This was hard to conceal, and was soon discovered in the possession of a Hottentot who belonged on a kraal a short distance from Cape Town.
The thief was no sooner discovered by his fellows than he was taken by them to town and delivered intothe hands of the magistrates. So great a disgrace did they deem his offense, that they demanded that he be punished in order to wipe out the stain of his evil deed. Nor was their sense of justice satisfied even when he had received a severe flogging, for they banished him from his clan as unworthy to associate with it.
It is sad to relate that the injuries inflicted on the Hottentots by the colonists have had a very bad influence upon their characters. In the past one hundred and fifty years they have, like the red man, been driven from the lands of their forefathers, and have lost the sturdy independence of which they had reason to be proud.
The Hottentots, before subjugation, usually arranged their encampment about a kraal, or cattle fold, in the shape of a half-moon. The encampment consisted of the cabins, or huts, which, with their covering of mats, looked more like overturned baskets than dwelling places. If possible, the encampment ground was chosen so that a hedge of thorn completed the circle of which the huts formed a part. Thus were the natives and their cattle secure against the wild beasts prowling around the camp.
In sections where lions were numerous, the natives built a curious kind of house, or cabin, on the top of poles or branches, sometimes ten or twelve feet above the ground. This was to protect the children, who soon learned to climb the poles to their airy cabins and to feel secure from harm.
The Hottentots have a curious manner of drinking water. It is thrown into the mouth by means of theright hand, which is seldom brought nearer than a foot's length from the mouth. So quickly and dexterously is this done that thirst is soon quenched.
The Hottentots are very skillful in breaking in their oxen for riding purposes. This they do when the animals are about a year old. They first pierce the nose to receive the bridle. This is done by making a slit through the cartilage between the nostrils. This slit is large enough to admit a finger. Into this hole a long stick from which the bark has been stripped is thrust. At one end of the stick is a forked branch. This is to prevent its passing through. To each end is then fastened a thong of hide long enough to reach around the neck. These thongs serve as reins. A sheep skin on which the wool still remains is placed across the back of the animal. Another is folded and bound on with a rein long enough to pass around the body several times. This serves for a saddle. Sometimes a pair of stirrups is added. These consist merely of a thong with a loop at each end, slung across the saddle. Very often these loops are distended by a piece of wood to form an easier rest for the foot.
Before the nose of the animal has healed, the Hottentot mounts him and puts him in training. In a week or two he becomes very obedient to his master. "The facility and adroitness with which the Hottentots manage the ox has often excited the traveler's admiration; it is made to walk, trot, or gallop, at the will of its master.
"Being longer legged and rather more lightly made than the English ox, it travels with greater ease andspeed, walking three or four miles in an hour, trotting five, and, on an emergency, galloping seven or eight.
"The ox in South Africa seems little inferior to that most sagacious of all quadrupeds, the dog. Among the Hottentots these animals are their domestics, and the companions of their pleasures and fatigues. While the sheep are grazing, the faithfulbackley, as this kind of ox is called, stands and grazes beside them. Still attentive, however, to the looks of its master, thebackleyflies round the field, obliges the flocks of sheep that are straying to keep within proper limits, and shows no mercy to robbers who attempt to plunder, nor even to strangers who come near.
"It is not the plunderers of the flock alone, but even the enemies of the nation, that these oxen are taught to combat. Every army of Hottentots was furnished with a proper herd of these creatures, which were let loose against the foe. Thus sent forward, they overturned all before them, and often procured their masters, even before they had struck a blow, an easy victory."
If a driver loses one of his oxen, he shows much patience and perseverance in searching for it, even though suffering from the oppressive heat of the sun. He will continue the search for days, scanning the ground carefully for footprints, until he comes upon the track of the wanderer. Regardless then of fatigue, hunger, or thirst, he presses on until the lost has been found.
The original colony was settled by the Dutch as early as the middle of the seventeenth century. Near the beginning of the nineteenth century it passed into the hands of the British. The laws, customs, and names of places remained essentially Dutch, and the language spoken is, to a great extent, that of the first settlers.
The old colony comprised the section that occupies the most southern part of the continent of Africa, and borders the Atlantic and Indian Ocean on either side. Griqualand West has been so recently received into the family of Cape provinces that it is hardly as yet recognized as being included in the colony.
The physical features of the country are peculiar. Though intersected by many rivers, yet the Cape is, practically speaking, a dry country. None of the rivers are navigable, and the rainfall is scant and fitful over a large part of the colony.
Generally speaking, the climate of the country is temperate. In most of the hot valleys, however, the temperature is ovenlike in summer. We must not forget that the summer season at the Cape occurs during our winter. On the higher grounds the average temperature in the warmest months equals that of Italy. In winter the temperature often falls below the freezing point. Then the air is clear, fresh, and invigorating.
Fevers and epidemics—scourges of most of the sections of Africa—are here unknown. On the east coast and in the extreme south there is an abundant fall of rain. The province of Natal is especially fortunate in this respect.
In the interior of the colony there is less rainfall, while in the vicinity of the Orange River there are only a few light showers. It has been asserted that towards the mouth of the river there have been periods when no rain has fallen for many years.
One writer records the curious fact that the westerly winds which prevail in the winter season, from April to October, bring rain to the southeast maritime regions, while on the eastern coast the rainy season is in the summer, from September to April.
The highest mountain ranges are covered with snow for several months. In the inland sections frequent thunderstorms occur; these bring brief but copious falls of rain.
If we should start from the southern portion of the Cape and travel northward, we should find the country rising in a series of terraces. These finally culminate in what is known as Spitz Kop, or Compass Mountain. From this elevation, eight thousand five hundred feet above the sea, the country gradually declines to the Orange River.
These terraces, on their outer edges, resemble mountain ranges. They run in a direction from east to west, or, as one writer has described them, "parallel to the coast and to each other."
The outer, or the seaboard slopes of the ridges, constitutethe best parts of the colony. They are for the most part thickly inhabited. The chief towns and villages are located here, and the fields of grain, the vineyards and orchards, and the tobacco plantations have given the country a well-deserved fame and reputation.
The narrow mountain gorges serve as passageways from one terrace to another. They bear the name of "kloofs." Their sides are the only passes into the interior. It is believed that the mountain torrents, which flow during certain seasons of the year, have worn deep valleys in their sides, and thus occasioned these kloofs, or mountain passes.
Beyond the Zwartebergen, or the Black Mountain, is the great grazing district of Cape Colony. It consists of vast undulating plains, and is known as the Great Karroo.
No trees are found upon the Great Karroo, and but very few shrubs. As soon as the wet season begins, however, this great district is covered with rich verdure and a profusion of flowers. Then the flocks of sheep enjoy all the luxuriance of a paradise of herbage, which clothes field, valley, and hillside alike.
It is at this season that the Great Karroo seems like a beautiful garden. One can scarcely believe the testimony of those who, having visited it a few days before the wet season begins, describe it as a bare, barren, brown waste.
During the summer months this region is dry and dreary in its character. Little or no running water is to be found, and only after a thundershower are the pools filled. For a brief season then the beds of thestreams have running water. They soon run dry, and only by digging deep down in their beds can a scant amount of brackish water be obtained to supply both man and beast until the rainy season begins.
Snow rarely falls upon the coast of Cape Colony, and when it does, it remains but a short time.
The most prominent object seen from Cape Town is Table Mountain, which rises to a height of over thirty-five hundred feet. The summit is sometimes covered with a sprinkling of white, but almost before the people at Cape Town have had time to notice its novel dress, it presents again its wonted aspect.
Cape Colony is by no means the flat, undulating country that many writers would erroneously lead us to believe. On the contrary, it is a wildly picturesque region, with mountainous sections, even, to diversify its character. Interspersed among bold mountain ridges we find light upland tracts and broad elevated plains. While, coursing through the rugged mountain gorges, the drainage of the country finds a path to the Indian or Atlantic Ocean, and even north to the Orange River, and is eventually discharged on the barren northwestern coast. Cape Colony can boast, even within the limits of the sections longest settled by the white man, some of the most picturesque scenery in the world. Hill and valley, barren plain and rich woodland, alternate to add beauty to the landscape.
The rivers of Cape Colony vary as to their extent. The Orange River, though the largest, is so broken up by the various cataracts as to be unsuitable for navigation. This is true of many of the other rivers. A veryfew of them can be sailed on for a short distance for pleasure, but so short as to be impractical for navigation or transit.
The general appearance of Cape Colony, like that of the whole of the South African region, is dry. During the rainy season the orchids and different bulbous plants give to the ground the appearance of a gayly flowered carpet. The many varieties of heath, for which the Cape is noted, lend a most beautiful character to small patches of territory.
The objects which are most striking to the traveler are, however, the thorny shrubs. These not only manifest themselves to his sight, but to his sense of feeling, as they come in contact with his skin. Mingled with these shrubs are various cactuslike plants. These are quite characteristic of a country where the vegetation must store up moisture during the abundance of the rainy season for the drought of the dry season.
Wheat is grown in the richer sections, together with maize, oats, barley, millet, and Kaffir corn. Rye is raised in some sections, and rice grows well in some of the best undulated districts. Tobacco is grown in many sections, and cotton has been introduced as an experiment.
The Cape still continues to be, to some extent, a hunting ground. In the early days of the colony vast herds of many varieties of the antelope family, lions, giraffes, rhinoceroses, leopards, hyenas, and jackals, roamed over it. Now the hunter must seek his game far to the north of the Orange River.
Ostriches were once common, but are now few. Mostof the feathers of these birds are obtained from beyond the borders of the colony, or from tame ones kept on farms and reared from eggs heated artificially. The rearing of ostriches has now become a recognized industry in the Cape.
Many species of venomous snakes are common. Troublesome insects are not so common here as in other parts of Africa.
The chief industry of the colony is wool raising. It has been estimated that there are fifteen million sheep throughout the colony. Many of them are of the Merino breed. These are rapidly displacing the big-tailed sheep raised by the early Dutch settlers. The Angora goat is kept quite extensively for the sake of its long silky hair. Cattle of the finest description are found in every part of the country, the better varieties having displaced those owned by the natives and early settlers.
Among the commonest sights at the colony are the long lines of wagons, which lumber slowly over the roads. These are drawn by six, eight, or even ten yokes of oxen, which subsist upon such scanty herbage as they can find along the road. Coaches are common, and the many railways now form a network across the colony. The latter, valuable as they are for the utility of the country, can never rival the picturesqueness of the typical Cape wagon, which, doubtless, for many years will continue to be the most characteristic mode of South African travel.
The history of Cape Colony is one of many vicissitudes. The various Kaffir wars, nine in all, togetherwith the five seasons of warfare with the Basuto tribes, were enough to paralyze and cripple the energies of any government. The peculiar characteristics of the Dutch settlers were not always pleasing to Great Britain, and she had occasion many times to exercise her power in sections to which she could lay any possible claim. Now, however, that the management of their own affairs has passed into the hands of the Dutch settlers, Cape Colony has made great progress towards good government and prosperity.
The chief industries still continue to be pastoral and agricultural. In the vicinity of the Great Karroo grazing plains, agriculture can be carried on only where there is running water. Consequently, much labor has been expended in making reservoirs, the waters of which irrigate the gardens and orchards. The sinking of artesian wells has recently been attempted, and has proved a successful experiment.
In the districts which adjoin the eastern border, and on the first and second terraces from the southern coast, where the rainfall is sufficient for all purposes of agriculture and cattle raising, both pursuits are followed. While wheat and maize form the principal crops, oats are raised extensively for horses, and almost every variety of vegetable and fruit is grown in abundance.
In this portion of the colony, namely the southwestern corner, which was founded as early as the seventeenth century, the vine, as well as wheat, is largely cultivated.
In the middle of the present century, rich copper mines were opened in that portion called Namaqualand.This part of the colony had long been regarded as the least valuable of any of the provinces.
To quote from Theal'sSouth Africa, in theThe Story of the Nationsseries: "It is impossible to give the value of the purely colonial products, but the quantity from the whole of South Africa exported in the year that ended on the 30th of June, 1893, was valued at a little over thirteen and a half million pounds sterling, of which twelve and a quarter million passed through the ports of Cape Colony, and one million and a quarter through Durban, Natal."
This same writer tells us: "Of the items that made up this amount gold was first, being valued at four millions and a half, and diamonds came next, being valued at nearly four millions. The copper ore exported was worth over a quarter of a million, and the coal over fifty thousand pounds.
"These figures, representing nearly two-thirds of the total exports, show the importance of the mining industry of South Africa, and it must be remembered that this industry is only in its infancy."
Among the other exports may be mentioned wool, Angora hair, hides, skins, horns, and ostrich feathers. These have been increased in value about tenfold since 1850.
Nearly everything in the way of agricultural products is required for home use. Some fruits and grains are, however, sent out of the country. Among the agricultural products that find a foreign market may be named aloes, bark for tanning purposes from Natal, and dried flowers from Cape Colony. The fisheries, too,not only supply enormous quantities of food for home consumption, but also export largely to Mauritius. Natal furnishes also great quantities of sugar.
It is interesting to learn that the supply of fish which the harbor of Cape Town affords is apparently inexhaustible. Not only is there a great variety of species, but there are several that are very wholesome and of a fine flavor.
The Cape salmon, in size and appearance somewhat resembling that of Britain, and the snook, a voracious marine pike, are both very abundant. After an excursion of a few hours, boats often return laden with these fish, which are sold very cheap, and form the principal food of the colored population. At the west end of Cape Town, fish may be seen suspended on long lines, as clothes are with us, that they may be dried; and vast quantities are salted for exportation, Mauritius being the principal market.
Fishing for snook is a source of amusement. They may be caught while the boat is in motion, by trailing a leaded hook astern, with some white streamers of rag attached, or when at anchor, by alternately throwing the bait to a distance and drawing it quickly back. Penguins, Cape pigeons, albatross, and some kinds of sea gull, surround the boat, while flocks of gannets and cormorants fly around the fishermen.
The Cape pigeons are an interesting feature about Cape Colony. They seem to welcome the arrival of each ship in the harbor, and to take delight in the sight of mankind about them. After a storm, and when the wind has subsided so that the surface of the oceanbecomes calm, these Cape pigeons settle upon the water and swim gayly about, like ducks in a pond, and with as little fear, apparently, of any danger.
It is no uncommon thing for the sailors on board ship to bait their hooks and catch these pigeons as they would fish. It seems a cruel sport, yet the rest of the crew will line the side of the ship and find amusement in watching what they call "the fun" with the poor creatures.
If caught and placed in a hen coop till morning, they will, on being released, stagger awkwardly about over the slippery deck; for they are unable to take to the wing unless they can have some good starting point, as the edge of a ship's railing or the crest of a heaving wave.
In captivity, if kept alone, they are peaceable; but if not in solitary confinement they are very quarrelsome, and fight continually.
Their powers of flight are somewhat remarkable. When a ship is going at the rate of two hundred miles a day, the Cape pigeon will hover around it, sheer off or approach it, and soar aloft or descend, as if the vessel were absolutely stationary. They really fly without much effort.
It is interesting to watch their flight; for it seems to consist of a series of maneuvers, as they fly, now against the wind, when they always ascend, thus taking advantage of its force; now before the wind, when they descend, that little exertion may be needed to keep them above water; then, whirling rapidly, like a hawk, to exhaust their speed when wishing to check their rapid flight.
Very different in character is the albatross, one of the most conspicuous of the birds which follow the ships that plow the ocean. When on the wing his appearance is very striking. In solemn, even flight he soars along with outstretched pinions measuring from fifteen to eighteen feet between the tips. Scarcely seeming to stir, he appears rather to float along in his course.
Now and then, with a slow flapping of his wings, he mounts higher into the air; but he seems to scorn the swift motion and animated flutter that characterize the movements of other birds.
Like a specter, he sails silently along almost close to you. His still, motionless form would seem devoid of life were it not that his keen, piercing eye and an occasional quick turn of the head, which gives him a sharp, prying expression, betray him.
But, if you wish to see a complete transformation scene, throw a piece of rusty pork overboard, and the long, curiously crooked beak employs its enormous strength in a manner very suggestive of life and energy.
Now and then the black petrel, with its piercing eye, darts across the ship's stern, while the stormy petrel flutters just overhead, yet beyond the reach of a gun. Truly, the entrance to Cape Colony is as novel as it is interesting, and is filled with pleasant pictures.
About the middle of the present century Cape Colony comprised all the land between the Orange River on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and British Kaffraria and the rivers Indwe and Tees on the east. During recent years the greater portion of the territory between the Indwe and Kei Rivers on one side, and Natal on the other, has been annexed to Cape Colony; but in some respects it is still regarded as a dependency.
The annexed territory is described as a very beautiful and fertile tract of land. It bears, as we shall see, a resemblance to Natal. The temperature along the coast is not, however, quite so high.
Just below the Drachenberg Mountains lies an elevated tract of country, where the nights are extremely cold, too cold, in fact, for the Bantu tribes; hence, no tribes except the Bushmen have ever resided there permanently until within a short time.
There are fine forests on the lower terraces. Rain is abundant and the drainage perfect, the rivers, on account of their rapid fall, speedily carrying off all superfluous moisture. The climate is on this account exceedingly healthy, though the grass is so rich and other vegetation so luxuriant that, had the land been more nearly level, fever would probably be common.
South Africa abounds in waterfalls, of which the most celebrated are the great falls of the Orange, the Tugela's leap of sixteen hundred feet over the face of the Drachenberg, and the fall of the Nmgeni, a few miles from Maritzburg; but the most imposing of all, perhaps, is in the Tsitsa in the annexed territory.
Ordinarily this stream tumbles over the precipice in three or four rills, but in times of flood a volume of water from four to five hundred feet wide drops nearly four hundred feet into a narrow chasm.
Various sections have from time to time been annexed to Cape Colony. These sections had become involved in native feuds and wars, with such disastrous results that the chiefs gladly placed their lands under the protection of the British rule. Thus, in 1879, eight districts were formally annexed.
Along the coast of Great Namaqualand there are several small rocky islands upon which sea birds congregate in vast flocks; and as there is but little rain in that region, the guano is of considerable value. These islands became dependencies of Cape Colony a good many years ago. The men employed to gather the guano are their only inhabitants.
Farther north on the same coast is Walfish Bay, the only port through which access can be had to Great Namaqualand and Damaraland. The country around it is a dreary waste of sand, and a more uninviting spot can hardly be imagined. It became a dependency of Cape Colony in 1884.
On this little strip of land some six or seven hundred Hottentots of a very degraded type are living. Theonly other inhabitants are the colonial magistrate, with his staff of police, a missionary family, and a few traders and forwarders of goods into the interior.
Basutoland, which was annexed to Cape Colony in 1871, contains at the present time about two hundred and twenty-five thousand Bantu and six hundred Europeans. The white people consist of officials, missionaries, and traders. None other are permitted to settle within its borders, for by the annexation of the territory Cape Colony became responsible for the welfare and good order of the land.
Cape Colony has now a population of three hundred and sixty-six thousand Europeans and seven hundred and fifty-five thousand colored people. This does not include the people occupying the various annexed territories. The colored population includes several native tribes, more than half of which are Bantu, and various mixed races of Asiatics, descendants of freed slaves and Hottentots.
The missionaries have been laboring for many years among the Bantu. Taken as a whole, the results of their labors are discouraging, though a portion of the people have made a considerable advance in civilization. Great efforts have been made to give them a good education.
The system of public schools is excellent. Those of the first and second class are attended almost exclusively by white children. There are several colleges where the higher branches of education are taught, and many private schools of excellent standing are maintained by the various religious societies. There is also a university, but with rather limited advantages. The towns and villages are well supplied with public libraries; these are aided by the government. There is scarcely a town or a village that has not two or three churches, banks, insurance offices, newspaper printing offices, and various benevolent institutions.
Good roads have been made throughout the colony, even in the wildest sections. The rivers, on the principal routes, have been bridged. Scarcely a hamlet can be found that is not connected by postal service and telegraph wire with all parts of South Africa.
The railway lines form an important feature in the colony. One from Cape Town passes through the Orange Free State to Pretoria in the South African Republic, while lines from Cape Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and East London connect these ports with important towns in both of the above sections. These lines were all constructed by the government, under very liberal conditions and terms.
Numerous improvements have been made in the harbors, particularly in Table Bay. Here, a long time ago, the beach, after winter storms, was frequently strewn with the wrecks of costly fleets; now ships lie in a dock in perfect safety, and are protected by a magnificent breakwater.
On the coast are many lighthouses, which stand as sentinels to warn seamen of danger by night, and the ancient terror of stormy seas off the Cape of Good Hope has long since been forgotten.
The colony is connected with Europe by two submarine cables; so that everything of importance that occurs there one day is known in England through the newspapers on the next. Splendid steamships, carrying mails and passengers, arrive from, and leave for, England weekly. They make the run of six thousand miles in less than fifteen days; and the passage is certainly one of the pleasantest in the world.
Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, has a pleasant situation on the south side of Table Bay. It is a flourishing city of forty-five thousand inhabitants. It has many fine buildings and pretty villas, lighted by gas.
Tramways and railways pour into it the rich agricultural products of the adjacent countries. There is little, indeed, to remind the visitor that he is in a colonial capital founded, and for a long time inhabited, solely by Dutch settlers.
Cape Town is, in many respects, very unlike any city seen in Europe. No two houses can be found of the same size or architecture. The finest stores and other buildings stand in close proximity to the humblest and poorest homes and shanties of galvanized iron. Here the shedlike shop of a grocer or provision dealer stands side by side with the almost palatial building which shelters the display of a wealthy jeweler.
Here may be seen Kaffirs clothed in the rags of a uniform; Chinamen in their clean blue frocks; lanky Boers in brown velveteens, with their wives in black gowns, with thick black veils and huge poke bonnets; merchants in gray silk coats and white hats; officers in uniform; Parsee washerwomen; Moslem Malays, all passing, in a quick procession, the hotel door.
Hansoms and two-horse broughams are used here; and in the hotels accommodations can be obtained equal to anything found in towns of the same size in Europe and America.
Cape Town is the point of departure for two lines of railways. The one line runs to Worcester, and is to be extended across the Karroo; the other ends in the center of the Constantia wine district.
The atmosphere of Cape Colony is so clear and dry that objects can be distinctly seen even at great distances. The first object which attracts the attention of the traveler, as he approaches the colony from the sea, is Table Mountain. Its massive walls rise to the height of thirty-five hundred feet.
The colonists look with interest upon Table Mountain and watch the clouds as they assume fantastic shapes about and above it. Sometimes a snowy, fleecy vapor seems to spread over its top. This the colonists, not inappropriately, call the tablecloth. When, under the potent rays of the sun, this vapor disappears, they say, "The tablecloth has been rolled up and put away for some other time."
Here and there on some of the mountain spurs may be seen the remains of the blockhouses of the early colonialdays. These were stout structures erected by the early settlers to protect themselves from native tribes with whom they disputed the possession of the soil. But let us return to the capital.
It is of interest to read that early in this century Cape Town contained only about one thousand houses. It had a Dutch castle, a Government House, and a couple of churches, together with a government slave pen; for the colonists were strongly in favor of the sale of slaves.
The town of to-day presents strong contrasts to the old town. The suburbs alone have an extent of some fourteen miles.
There are broad, open streets lined with handsome modern buildings, and various shops, stores, and banks, together with Houses of Parliament, an art museum, and a university, which give a prosperous and modern appearance to the town.
Gas lights the town, cabs rattle over the streets, trams and railways are actively at work. Along the beach stretches a straggling line of buildings. Some of these are used for the drying of skins, the pressing of wool, the curing of fish, and boat building, soap making, and other industries.
The Botanical Gardens are kept in beautiful order. They furnish not only a charming promenade for the people, but serve as a nursery for young plants and trees. On every side the town presents an appearance of thrift and industry.
A walk through the street offers many an attractive picture. The gay and picturesque dress of the peoplemust needs attract the eye of the stranger. Women with faces of every hue, from tawny black to olive brown, may be seen with their headdresses of gayly colored handkerchiefs, while their shoulders are draped with others of still gayer hues, to lend a finish to the stiffly starched, beflowered cotton gown of gorgeous coloring.
On every side sturdy, healthy children romp about, laughing and displaying their glistening white teeth, as they engage in their various sports.
"In all the world there is not a fairer country than the pleasant land of Natal, stretching in steps from the Drachenberg, which bounds it like a mighty wall, downward to the shore of the Indian Ocean. The coast belt is covered with subtropical vegetation, for it is heated by the warm Mozambique current, which runs southward along it, and gives it a higher temperature than is due to its distance from the equator.
"Each terrace, as the traveler ascends, is cooler than the one below, though it is nowhere cold. It is a well-watered land. Numerous streams, issuing from the Drachenberg and the fronts of the lower terraces, rush along in deep gorges to the sea, and carry off the super-abundant moisture, so that it is also well drained."
Its soil is rich, its forests produce excellent timber, and its grazing valleys resemble meadows. Its climate everywhere is healthy for Europeans.
Compared with Cape Colony, Natal is of slight importance. It is much smaller in size, having an area only about one half that of Scotland.
One writer has described the country as spurs of wooded mountain and picturesque hills, which slope down like the fingers of a hand from the higher cliff-like edge of the Drachenberg, some eleven hundred feet high.
Fertile valleys, watered by steadily flowing rivers, lie between these mountain fingers of the land; while between the coast and the mountains lie tracts of level grass-covered land, or fertile undulating sections, on which are pastured great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.
The climate of Natal we may consider as semi-tropical. It has a favorable position, hence the summer heat is not excessive. The winters are unusually pleasant.
Probably no portion of South Africa is so well watered as Natal. As many as twenty-three rivers flow through the country and enter the Indian Ocean. Owing to the mountainous nature of the country, none of these rivers are navigable.
In many places the scenery is very picturesque. Only a small portion of the colony is as yet settled. There are sugar plantations scattered here and there throughout the entire country, however; for they can be worked to advantage by Indian coolies. These coolieshave, upon trial, been found more skillful and more steady laborers than the natives.
Coffee is grown in the low sections. Wheat, oats, and maize are raised to quite an extent. The latter cereal is universally known by the name "mealies" in South Africa.
The coast region extends inland for about fifteen miles. It is here that the principal settlements are found. The capital of Natal, called Maritzburg, has a situation about sixty miles inland from Port Natal.
Port Natal is the only harbor, and not a specially fine one; for a sand bar across its mouth impedes navigation.
Quite a wagon traffic is carried on through the interior of the colony down into the Orange Free State and also to the Transvaal, or South African Republic. From these countries the products of Natal are transported to Cape Colony. Considerable quantities of the products of Central Africa and neighboring sections, such as wool, ostrich feathers, and ivory, are sent out of the country through the Natal Port.
Natal seems to have a promising future. It was originally chosen by the Dutch Boers, who, fleeing from British rule, sought a home where they might establish their own laws. As far back as the middle of the present century it was made a separate colony, though it had not the strong government to be found at the Cape.
The fertile coast section is capable of producing the various tropical crops in abundance. Here the pineapple ripens out of doors, and sugar, coffee, arrowroot, indigo, tobacco, ginger, rice, pepper, and cotton are grown to a large extent.
Farther within the interior, in the more elevated sections, the various cereals and the ordinary crops of cooler climates thrive well. Upon the hills and upland valleys is a luxuriant growth of herbage, which fits them for grazing purposes. In some tracts near the coast and in the deep glens of the Drachenberg Mountains fine forests of timber are found. Coal exists in some sections, and limestone is very abundant.
The settlers have sometimes complained of the want of laborers. Although there are but twenty-three Europeans in Natal to two hundred and ninety Zulus and Kaffirs, yet the complaint is made that the white man must depend upon coolie labor. This seems an exaggeration of facts, when we consider that on every farm and in every sugar mill many natives may be found at work, earning profitable wages. True, these native workmen are not very prepossessing laborers; for a long time must elapse before a savage can be trained into habits of industry and thrift.
Sometimes the natives are employed for domestic service, and they generally do remarkably well. The "Cape Boys," or the colored descendants of the St. Helena tribes that emigrated to the Cape, usually drive the coaches; but the Zulus are employed to attend to the wagons, and may be found making themselves generally useful throughout the country.
Port Natal and Maritzburg are both small towns, yet they are the largest to be found in Natal.
The Zulu war caused great expense to the colony, and the contract to build three hundred and forty-five miles of railway has swelled the public debt to an enormous sum.
War and national debt are a heavy burden for any country to bear. Yet with peace comes prosperity, and thrift and enterprise will accomplish great results in a country's progress. Hence some changes for the better are now apparent.
Maritzburg and Durban have become very thrifty towns of late years. Durban is said to be the only gateway of commerce, not only for the colony itself and for Zululand, but for part of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic.
In order to improve the entrance to the inner harbor extensive works have been constructed, and large ships can now cross the bar and lie beside a wharf as safely as in a dock.
Numerous handsome buildings embellish this town, conspicuous among which is the grandest municipal hall in South Africa.
A railway has been constructed from Durban to Charlestown, on the border of the South African Republic. It passes through Maritzburg and also through the villages of Estcourt, Ladysmith, and Newcastle, farther inland. From Ladysmith there is a branch-line by way of Van Reenen's Pass in the Drachenberg to Harrismith in the Orange Free State. It goes up the Drachenberg in a series of zigzag sections.
The government has in contemplation the completion of this railway from Harrismith until it reaches the great Northeastern, which runs through Cape Colony and the Orange Free State. This will give an unbroken line of communication between Cape Town and Durban. It is very probable that theCharlestown line will be continued to the gold fields of the South African Republic at an early date.
The chief branch of the system of railways passes through an extensive tract of coal of very good quality. This is a great advantage to the country, for fuel can thus be obtained at a low rate.
This main branch is on the plateau which is at the foot of the Drachenberg. It has a central situation and easily transports the coal to the coast along a descending grade.
Not only do these railways and towns receive their coal from the coal-bearing section, but great quantities are exported. In 1892 nearly three hundred thousand dollars' worth was sent abroad.
Northeast of Cape Colony lies a country rich in the natural beauty of its scenery and noted for the great variety of animal life to be found there.
Kaffraria, or Kaffirland, serves to separate Cape Colony from Natal. It is occupied by various semi-independent tribes of Kaffirs. They number more than five hundred thousand.
They occupy a region about twice the size of Greece. Compared with Natal, it about equals it in area. While if we compare it with the Orange Free State, we find its area only about one-half as large.
The territory is bounded on the south by the Kei River. It is for this reason we find it sometimes bearing the name Transkei. It is well watered and fertile. In its more elevated sections it is well wooded.
The country possesses vast tracts of land suitable for agricultural and grazing purposes. Both these branches of industry are followed to some extent by the natives.
While the natives are classed together under the general name of Kaffir, yet there are a number of distinct tribes bearing special names and occupying well-defined tracts in the territory. Most of these tribes have been some time under British rule to a certain extent. Constant insurrections and rebellions have been the direct cause of the Kaffir wars, so frequently discussed among the current topics of the newspapers.
The cost to Great Britain in the attempt partially to subjugate these tribes must have been enormous.
Several of the more powerful of them have occupied some of the best agricultural sections of South Africa. Others, while inferior to some tribes in strength and warfare, are superior in intelligence and an adaptability to civilization.
Under the influence of civilization some of the natives have learned not only to cultivate corn and wool, but have become versed in trade and have even learned to acquire money. Periods of war have been of such frequent occurrence that the effects of civilization have not been as lasting as the British nation could desire.
There are several Kaffir countries not included within the area of Kaffraria. The most important of these isZululand. This country became quite important under the military discipline of a line of warrior chiefs, and soon extended its boundaries until they reached the Limpopo and the limits of Cape Colony.
A war with Great Britain was disastrous to Zululand; hence, its boundaries since 1880 are not so extensive. The country has been divided among a dozen or more native chiefs, some of whom are in nowise Zulus.
The region north of Delagoa Bay has been under the rule of an independent Zulu chief. He has allowed the Portuguese to found settlements here and there along the coast.
Many dissensions have arisen among the different Zulu conquerors; and neighboring tribes, taking advantage of them, have, in turn, subjugated the Zulu tribes or have risen in arms to exterminate them.
The Kaffirs that live beyond the Fish River, on the eastern border of the colony, belong to one tribe of the Bechuana family.
In character they are bold, warlike, and very independent. From the possession of these qualities and from their cast of features, it is believed by many that they are of Arabian origin.
The men are well proportioned and extremely tall; some of them are six feet and upwards in height. The women have good tempers and are animated and cheerful in their temperament. They have beautiful teeth, white, and regular in form. They have neither the thick lips nor the flat noses of most of the African natives. Their figures, however, form a strong contrast to those of the men; for they are short and sturdy.
The name Kaffir, or unbeliever, was given by the Moors to the tribes dwelling along the southeastern coast of Africa, and was afterwards adopted by the Portuguese. Later, the term was applied to all the tribes in the same region.
The Kaffirs' mode of life is very simple. The diet consists principally of milk. This is kept in leathern bottles till it becomes sufficiently thick and acid. Boiled corn is a favorite dish. This is served in small baskets, from which each one helps himself with his hands. Some times a kind of pottage is made of the corn. Again, it is formed into thick cakes, and baked upon the hearth.
The winter's provisions are stored either in pits or subterranean granaries. These cakes, with an occasional feast of fresh meat, form a diet substantial enough for this hardy people.
The dress of the Kaffirs is made entirely from the skins of beasts. These are prepared in such a way as to make them soft and elastic. The covering of the men consists of a long cloak, which hangs loosely from the shoulders and reaches nearly to the feet. In order to protect themselves from the parching effects of the sun's rays, these people anoint their bodies with some oily substance. The dress of the women is also made of skins, but fashioned differently.
The chief wealth of the Kaffir consists of his herds of cattle. His highest ambition is to increase the size of his herds, and his chief thought is to look after the welfare of his four-footed friends.
The life of a Kaffir woman is one of bondage. She is expected to perform the most laborious tasks, such as tilling the ground, felling wood, and erecting dwellings.
The Kaffirs are very shrewd when bartering their goods. When one has goods to dispose of, he will sit down among his comrades and await the approach of one of the colonial traders, who has beads and other articles of traffic to exchange for Kaffir goods.
As neither party can understand the language of the other, the trade is carried on by means of signs; for an interpreter is seldom present.
If the quantity of beads offered for any article does not seem sufficiently large, the Kaffir merely shakes his head to express his dissatisfaction with the price offered. If more beads are added to the quantity already offered, the Kaffir may still continue to show dissent by a still more vigorous shake of the head.
Sometimes such an interview terminates, after much time has been spent in negotiation, without either party coming to terms. The bead merchant does not hesitate to show his vexation and chagrin at the result of the interview, but the Kaffir appears cool and indifferent from first to last.
Often a second and a third dealer will approach the Kaffir, hoping to secure a bargain, but the stubborn fellow not unfrequently refuses to consider any offer, and departs, with his undiminished load, for the next market or fair ground.
Here he may or may not dispose of his goods, according to the mood he may be in. But it is no uncommon thing for him ultimately to exchange his articles for a less quantity of beads than he was originally offered for them.