Chapter Twenty Four.The physical geographical features of that region, lying between the Matabele and Mashona country, and the Indian Ocean, now under the rule of the chief Umzela and other chiefs.This extensive portion of South Central Africa abuts on the north-east boundary of the Transvaal, the eastern boundary of the Mashona and Matabeleland, and the Zambese in the north, up to 29 degrees 50 minutes East longitude. On the east by the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the Portuguese possessions at Delagoa Bay. The main watershed passing through the Mashona country, which divides the Limpopo from the Zambese river, in 18 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, turns east and separates the waters flowing into the Zambese, through the Mazoe river, from that which flows into the Sabia, runs south down to 21 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 5 minutes East longitude, when it turns easterly and north-east, and enters the south side of Sofala Bay. This river has many tributaries on the west, draining a portion of the Mashona country, but on the eastern bank there are few, and those but small. The most important river is the Buzi, taking its rise from many small tributaries in a hilly district, to the east of the Sabia in 20 degrees 30 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 30 minutes East longitude, on a tributary of which the Umsweleze, the chief Umzela’s kraal, is situated; the Buzi from this point takes a sweep round in a north-east direction, and enters the Indian Ocean in 19 degrees 50 minutes South latitude, passing through the Sofala region, between this latter river and the Sabia. The Garogesi river enters Sofala Bay.There are several small rivers north of the Buzi to the mouth of the Zambese, that drain the coast-line, which is very flat and marshy. The tributaries of the Zambese are the Zangwe, Sankatsi, Mowila—the main branch of the Mazoe enters the river below Tette—Nake, Zingesi, and Panyame. In the northern portion, between the Mashona and Zambese, are many isolated and extensive hills,—Vimga, Nadsu, and Vimiga, drained by the Nake and Zingesi. To the east of these hills is the Lobolo mountain, with its many spurs, and more to the east the Moltkeberg, drained by the Mazoe and its tributaries, Gaverese, Upa, Janhambe, Jankatse, and others of smaller note, all which are in the Zambese basin, which includes also—lower down that river—the Mowila, Sankatsi, and Zangwe.The country towards the sea is flat and most uninteresting. There are several low ranges of hills in outlying districts. The country generally is dense bush, and full of game. The Portuguese possessions do not extend many miles beyond the south bank of the Zambese river. The chiefs in those districts claim up to that line.The altitude of the Lombolo mountain is 4200 feet, and the Moltkeberg 3700 feet above sea-level. The general rise of the country is 1700 feet, gradually sloping towards the Zambese and coast. The northern division is divided into different tribes under their respective chiefs. The Banyai country is between the Mashona and Zambese, in which is situated the Portuguese town of Tette, on the banks of the Zambese. Pretty and picturesque country around, with fruit of every kind, melons, oranges, lemons, sweet potatoes, pines, and every kind of vegetable; but the Portuguese are so lazy that everything is left almost to nature. The river is navigable for small steamers for seventy miles above Tette, which is situated 260 miles from its mouth. Magnificent timber trees grow in the valleys, and on the slopes of the hills ivory palm, Mali palm, the palm that grows to the height of eighty feet; the seed of the fruit is eaten by the natives; it grows in the uplands, and down on the low-lying swampy country. Mashola, a tree that bears a round fruit similar to the Kaffir orange. The india-rubber tree is very common; the fruit can be eaten. The Umtonto tree is used for making baskets and other things. Large tracts of country are covered with the Mowasha bush, mahogany, and ebony up in the hill districts, and all similar trees found growing in the Mashona country are found there.There are many native villages along the banks of the several streams, the country being very thickly populated, particularly in the hill districts, and the people are industrious and skilful workmen in all branches of trade, and they make their own blankets from the wild cotton and baobab tree, which they work by hand, the former by having the yarn spun by hand with a small stick, weighted at the end; four sticks are stuck in the ground to form a kind of loom, the yarn stretched tight, and being wound on a piece of wood, is passed backwards and forwards, the strands being threaded, to allow the woof to pass through and through by a backward movement of the hand. They can make blankets the usual size, and very white and strong. They also manufacture bands of various sizes for native uses. The blankets made from the bark of the tree, and bags to hold milk, are very strong and beautifully made. The females are fond of ornamenting their persons, wearing copper and brass rings round their necks, on their legs and arms, and some have silver, which I was told is got out of the mountains. Gold is found in all the mines in the Banyai country; the natives sell it to the Portuguese at Tette, and quartz reefs cross the country in many districts; several portions have not yet been visited, consequently the richness of this region is not known.On the mountains and high lands the country is healthy, but the low-lying ground in the rainy season is very unhealthy. Portuguese native traders are the only ones that go into those extensive regions, and supply the population with beads, brass wire, and other things in exchange for the gold-dust they procure from the rivers. There is an old fort on the Mazoe river, under the Lobolo mountains, and several others higher up that have been partly destroyed by the natives for walls for their gardens, where they plant small fields of cotton to make their blankets; a little piece is so occupied adjoining their huts, and it is found to grow very well in elevated positions. I have found it wild as high as 4300 feet above the sea-level, in a light soil, where water is not found near, but in the low lands it is very plentiful.South of the Banyai country is the Batoka, in which is the Moltkaberg, watered by the Upa river, a tributary of the Luenya. The source of the Mazoe rises on the watershed in this region, at the Sakaloko kraal, in 18 degrees 0 minutes South latitude. Another spring issues close to Mebka kraal, and at Gangwesi kraal, at an elevation of 4210 feet above the sea, and flows north, on which there are many villages, close to several large vleis, and towards the east is the large kraal of the chief Makombes on the Mewila river. There are also many other native kraals situated on all the branches of this river down to the Zambese, and along its banks, Senna being the most important, where there are several hills that skirt it. The Batoka tribe is numerous—a fine, powerful race. The country is full of bush and fine timber, the same which grows in the Banyai district.On the east of Batoka is the Senna region, which reaches to the Zambese and to its mouth, and along the eastern coast, down to where the Sofala joins it. All that is known of this country is that it is very flat and low; and within its boundary, on the banks of the Zambese, Dr Livingstone’s wife was taken ill and died, and was buried on its banks under a baobab tree, a little below the town of Shupanga, and opposite to the town of Mulu. Forty miles above the great river Shire branches off, which flows from Lake Shirwa, in 15 degrees 0 minutes South latitude, 35 degrees 50 minutes East longitude. There are few hills in this part of the country of any note. Cotton grows abundantly, and vegetation is coarse and rank in the swamps.On the south of Batoka is Birue. This region joins up to the Mashona country, the Sabia being the boundary, Senna on the east, and Sofala on the south. The Sabia river rises in 18 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, near the village of Sakalato, and flows south as before stated. Upon the banks are Kambesa, Gansuma, Umsosa, Kambiss, and others. The country is high, with hills of no great extent, thickly wooded, with abundance of large game of every kind; palms, baobab, mahogany, ebony, mapari, india-rubber, and a variety of other trees. The valley along the river is very pretty and picturesque, well cultivated by the natives, and produces every kind of vegetable. The people are civil, but very inquisitive, and great beggars. White cotton seems to be much in demand. The land gradually descends towards the ocean, until the flat and swampy country is reached.To the south of Birue is the district of Quitive, a portion of Sofala that joins up to the Sabia, on the south by Umselayon region. This district is supposed to be the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba. Manica is the principal kraal, near which are several ancient ruins, and the remains of a tower a few miles to the north-west of Manica. It stands on high ground, 4100 feet above sea-level, which descends to the east, and not far from the ruins is a large sheet of water, also several plains on the south of Manica. The population is a mixed race, composed of Umgovis, who are part Zulus, Mandowas, Basigas, Batagas, Mashonas, and others, who are under the chief Umzela. There are extensive open grass-lands, and the low-lying country is healthy during five months of the winter, when there is no fear of taking the fever. Thirty miles south of Manica the land rises to 4458 feet.To the east of this district is the Sofala region, in which the Portuguese town and port of Sofala are situated. The town is but a poor place, as all the Portuguese towns are on this coast; but they command all the trade of the up districts, which is considerable in ivory, skins, a few ostrich feathers, and other products of the country. It is situated in 20 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, 34 degrees 30 minutes East longitude. The country at the back of the town is hilly, occupied by the Mandowa tribe, and is more healthy. The river Bozi flows through it to the sea, well-wooded with fine timber and bush. Elephants, rhinoceros, and large game abound. Rice, cotton, spices of all kinds, oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, figs, and wild fruit. I was told that Umzela, the chief who occupies the country south, claims as paramount chief all those districts in the north, down to the Mandanda region; but his claim is something similar to that of the Portuguese, who lay claim to all South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, from Sofala. He must be content to put up with such regions as he now has power to govern; and those countries north of Birue are independent, except such portions along the coast and up the Zambese as the Portuguese have the power to rule, which is not much beyond the guns at their so-called forts. With respect to any extensive or strong stone remains of ancient cities, supposed to have belonged to the love-sick Queen, there are none, beyond those that have been erected without mortar. If this district formed part of her kingdom where she resided, her palace must have been small, and of no account. If substantial buildings had been erected, they would surely be there now, as the natives with the means at their disposal could not have destroyed them; but what is so remarkable is that no relics have been found of any kind, no rubbish left where they may have stood. The only one I discovered was in a stream of the Sabia, where the copper beads were found. It was an oval piece of copper, the size of a sixpence, and as thick, with much defaced marks on both sides that cannot be made out, being so much worn. To pronounce it a coin would be premature. When the country is properly prospected, there may be found sufficient evidence to settle this long-disputed question; but if extensive ruins existed, the natives would know, and it would soon have reached the ears of travellers that have passed through that country. There must be some foundation for these ancient traditional reports. The country shows that in remote times gold in large quantities has been extracted from the earth, and if it is so easily found in the rivers, why should not nuggets have been found lying on the surface, which first drew the attention of the ancients to look for it. The name of the river flowing through this region, the “Sabia,” may have been changed by time from “Sheba,” the same as “Sofala” for “S’Ophir.” There is also a ruin called Piza, and another Manica, two names foreign to the other names of the country; and the region of Monomotapa may have received its name from some early inhabitants, descendants of the people under this renowned queen. At present nothing is definite on this point, and the magnificence of her palaces have been, much overrated in ancient history. If this was the real Ophir of Solomon, the Arabs along the coast and at Sofala believe this to be the true Ophir, Umzela was the great chief of all that part of the country known as the Birue, Quitive, Sofala, and Mandanda regions. His chief kraal, Utshani, is situated in 20 degrees 27 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 28 minutes East longitude, between lofty hills, the altitude being 3180 feet by aneroid barometer, and it is situated on the upper source of the Buzi river, which flows in a north-east direction and enters the Indian Ocean on the north of the town and port of Sofala. The country is very fertile, and the banks of the Sabia on the west of the town, through which that river meanders in a south direction, is flanked by high and picturesque hills, and clothed in all the beauty of tropical vegetation. Mahogany, ebony, untanto, palm, umchani, maparri, umsimbili, bananas, assagaai or lance wood, barrie, boschlemon, wild almond, kajaten (a fine black wood), knopjes doorn, wild olive, saffraan, fig, cabbage tree, makwakwe (the strychnine of the country), vitboom (quinine), india-rubber, and a host of other sorts that would fill a page if named, all most valuable for various purposes. Large flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle are reared. There is also the large game, such as elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, koodoos, and other large antelopes, lions, tigers, wolves, jackals, tiger-cats in plenty, beside the various earth-animals, ant-bears, porcupines, armadillos, and many others. Umzela’s territory is called Umselayon, which embraces all those districts above described. The mountains which completely encircle the chief’s kraal are very picturesque and peculiar in their form, making the Sinika river a tributary of the Buzi; which forms in its course almost a circle, thickly studded with fine timber and bush, and they do not extend much beyond the river towards the east, which is a low, flat country to the sea. The Portuguese have no control over any part of Umzela’s territory; they only hold possession of narrow slips of land along parts of the coast. The natives offered no opposition to my visits, and were willing to barter food for articles of clothing, principally linen cloth; but in many other portions of the country I had to use great caution to prevent suspicion as to the object of my visits. In many cases I have passed through tribes who would have been troublesome, but as I took goods to barter I was considered a trader, and as such one can journey almost anywhere. Some considered also I was a doctor or medicine-man, because I caught and preserved insects, snakes, and other small reptiles, besides plants. When this idea takes possession of some of the African races, they leave you unmolested; any injury they might inflict would be considered unlucky to themselves. I used to carry representations of snakes of wood, that are sold in England, and masks with extensive noses, so that when the natives came round my waggon begging, as they frequently did, from two to three hundred at a time, I would draw down the front sail of the waggon, slip inside, put on one of these masks, and with the snake curling about in my hand jump out in their midst, when the women and children would rush away howling, the men after them, to their kraals, and I would be left free from annoyance. During my stay at their station, before I could obtain these things, I used a large burning-glass, and when any one troubled me, would burn their hand until it began to pain. Then I would run after others, which soon cleared them off. Travelling past their kraals so frequently they knew my waggon, and if they pestered me for presents I had only to get out my sun-glass, and they were away in no time.The only rivers of consequence beside the Sabia and the Buzi in this portion of Umzela’s country are the Umkoni, Umswelise, Umtschomie, Gerongosi, the source of which rises not far from the Buzi, runs east, and enters the Indian Ocean, about twenty miles south of Sofala. The Lusuti rises with several branches about thirty miles to the north of Umzela’s kraal, and joins the Buzi sixty miles from its mouth. There is also the Haroni and its tributary the Lusiti, and the small river Donde that flows into the Sofala harbour. South of the Mandanda region are the districts of Sheshonga, Indobolini, Mashelbe, and Makalingi. To the east is the Manklin district, that takes the coast-line from Maramone Bay, down south to Cape Lady Grey, off which are the islands of Bazaruta, Benguela, Sigin, and a small group at Cape St. Sebastian. To the north of Maramone Bay, some thirty miles, are the two great islands of Chuluwan. All the coast-line is flat, infested with the tsetse-fly, and most unhealthy. The Mandowa tribe occupy the hill district and country inland from Sofala, and it is under the rule of Umzela, and is in charge of Imbasugwar, one of his chief men.Manukuza, father of Umzela, is a Zulu from Zululand, who fled from Chaka, the great Zulu king. His followers are called Mongonis, and all the tribes under him, viz. Basigo, Kulu, Mandanda, Cholee, and Mandower, are called Tonges. Deloms, a chief of Umzela, is over the district of Mazibbe, and Sondaba, an Indian, over Sheshongi, which is on the south side of the Sabia. The country is flat and marshy, and full of game. Rhinoceros, elephants, koodoos, giraffes, wildebeest, wild hogs, and nearly all the antelope tribe, and zebras. Date and other palms, bananas, jute, and wild cotton, beside many native fruits abound.A very poisonous plant grows on the flats, from which the natives extract, from the seed, poison to put on their assagais and arrows.(This poison is the strongest known. An eminent toxicologist, who in distilling became inoculated with it through a slight scratch. He was nearly dying for six weeks, and said he had no idea that any poison could be so strong; it would kill a man in three minutes, and an elephant in one hour and a half. The flesh of animals killed by it is not poisonous. It loses its strength by evaporation in about a year.)The country in places is noted for its immense ant-hills, almost as large as those I have described in another part of this work. The southern boundary of Umzela’s territory is not at present ascertained; the country south of that already described is known under the name of Umhlenga, where the Queen Mafussi, of Inhoxe, rules a portion, which is a vast, open, undulating country, through which the Limpopo flows for over 200 miles to the sea, at Port Alice. The Lundi river, a tributary of the Sabia, joins it in Umzela’s country. It is the continuation of the Ingwesi, mentioned in the Mashona description. To the south of this region, and inland from the town and port of Inhambane, is the region called Makwakwa or Marangwe—a strong, powerful race of the same tribe as the Chobis, Bala Kulu, Basiga, Mashongonini, and Mandandas. Inhambane is situated on the sea-coast. The territory is very narrow, not exceeding twenty miles inland, and eighty miles along the coast.A small river, the Inyanombi, falls into the bay, and the river Zavara drains the country of the Makwakwa’s tribe—a low, flat region. There is still a tribe occupying a part of Umzela’s territory that call themselves the powerful Makololo race, of the same family that ruled an extensive region on the Zambese river above the Victoria Falls, and became a terror to the neighbouring tribes. The Barutse people fought and nearly exterminated them, scattering those left far and wide amongst other tribes, and broke up the race entirely. This Makololo nation on the Zambese extended as far as that white tribe mentioned, living on the Quito and upper portion of the Cubango—now become mixed with the black races, and from reports, a wild and savage race, eating human flesh. May not these two tribes have travelled up the Zambese together at some remote time? It seems singular that the Makololos in Umzela’s country should call themselves the once-powerful Makololo tribe; and we find them on the Upper Zambese, the most powerful tribe in all that central part of Africa, 400 miles away from those in Umzela’s land. It is an interesting study to trace the various periods, as they advanced south from Egypt, and to find at the present time many Arabian and Jewish customs amongst them; and another interesting feature of those races is that many names of places in Central Africa are precisely similar to many names in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. So far as is known of this country, we come across limestone, slate shale, red sandstone, green stone, quartz, porphyritic rocks, gravel, and on the western slope of the highlands, granites.Referring again to the land of Ophir, there are no black races in any other part of Africa that allow a woman to rule over them; but in the immediate neighbourhood of Sofala there are three queens, viz. Queen Mafussi over Inhoaxe, adjoining Umzela’s territory, and immediately on the south of her are the two Queens Majaji and Mescharoon. May not this be one identification, that it was right that woman should be a ruler as well as man, handed down from the Queen of Sheba’s time? Also a large portion of Madagascar is ruled over by an Arab race that must have settled there a very long time ago. Their language is Arabic, and queens of that island have and do now rule the greater portion of it.
This extensive portion of South Central Africa abuts on the north-east boundary of the Transvaal, the eastern boundary of the Mashona and Matabeleland, and the Zambese in the north, up to 29 degrees 50 minutes East longitude. On the east by the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the Portuguese possessions at Delagoa Bay. The main watershed passing through the Mashona country, which divides the Limpopo from the Zambese river, in 18 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, turns east and separates the waters flowing into the Zambese, through the Mazoe river, from that which flows into the Sabia, runs south down to 21 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 5 minutes East longitude, when it turns easterly and north-east, and enters the south side of Sofala Bay. This river has many tributaries on the west, draining a portion of the Mashona country, but on the eastern bank there are few, and those but small. The most important river is the Buzi, taking its rise from many small tributaries in a hilly district, to the east of the Sabia in 20 degrees 30 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 30 minutes East longitude, on a tributary of which the Umsweleze, the chief Umzela’s kraal, is situated; the Buzi from this point takes a sweep round in a north-east direction, and enters the Indian Ocean in 19 degrees 50 minutes South latitude, passing through the Sofala region, between this latter river and the Sabia. The Garogesi river enters Sofala Bay.
There are several small rivers north of the Buzi to the mouth of the Zambese, that drain the coast-line, which is very flat and marshy. The tributaries of the Zambese are the Zangwe, Sankatsi, Mowila—the main branch of the Mazoe enters the river below Tette—Nake, Zingesi, and Panyame. In the northern portion, between the Mashona and Zambese, are many isolated and extensive hills,—Vimga, Nadsu, and Vimiga, drained by the Nake and Zingesi. To the east of these hills is the Lobolo mountain, with its many spurs, and more to the east the Moltkeberg, drained by the Mazoe and its tributaries, Gaverese, Upa, Janhambe, Jankatse, and others of smaller note, all which are in the Zambese basin, which includes also—lower down that river—the Mowila, Sankatsi, and Zangwe.
The country towards the sea is flat and most uninteresting. There are several low ranges of hills in outlying districts. The country generally is dense bush, and full of game. The Portuguese possessions do not extend many miles beyond the south bank of the Zambese river. The chiefs in those districts claim up to that line.
The altitude of the Lombolo mountain is 4200 feet, and the Moltkeberg 3700 feet above sea-level. The general rise of the country is 1700 feet, gradually sloping towards the Zambese and coast. The northern division is divided into different tribes under their respective chiefs. The Banyai country is between the Mashona and Zambese, in which is situated the Portuguese town of Tette, on the banks of the Zambese. Pretty and picturesque country around, with fruit of every kind, melons, oranges, lemons, sweet potatoes, pines, and every kind of vegetable; but the Portuguese are so lazy that everything is left almost to nature. The river is navigable for small steamers for seventy miles above Tette, which is situated 260 miles from its mouth. Magnificent timber trees grow in the valleys, and on the slopes of the hills ivory palm, Mali palm, the palm that grows to the height of eighty feet; the seed of the fruit is eaten by the natives; it grows in the uplands, and down on the low-lying swampy country. Mashola, a tree that bears a round fruit similar to the Kaffir orange. The india-rubber tree is very common; the fruit can be eaten. The Umtonto tree is used for making baskets and other things. Large tracts of country are covered with the Mowasha bush, mahogany, and ebony up in the hill districts, and all similar trees found growing in the Mashona country are found there.
There are many native villages along the banks of the several streams, the country being very thickly populated, particularly in the hill districts, and the people are industrious and skilful workmen in all branches of trade, and they make their own blankets from the wild cotton and baobab tree, which they work by hand, the former by having the yarn spun by hand with a small stick, weighted at the end; four sticks are stuck in the ground to form a kind of loom, the yarn stretched tight, and being wound on a piece of wood, is passed backwards and forwards, the strands being threaded, to allow the woof to pass through and through by a backward movement of the hand. They can make blankets the usual size, and very white and strong. They also manufacture bands of various sizes for native uses. The blankets made from the bark of the tree, and bags to hold milk, are very strong and beautifully made. The females are fond of ornamenting their persons, wearing copper and brass rings round their necks, on their legs and arms, and some have silver, which I was told is got out of the mountains. Gold is found in all the mines in the Banyai country; the natives sell it to the Portuguese at Tette, and quartz reefs cross the country in many districts; several portions have not yet been visited, consequently the richness of this region is not known.
On the mountains and high lands the country is healthy, but the low-lying ground in the rainy season is very unhealthy. Portuguese native traders are the only ones that go into those extensive regions, and supply the population with beads, brass wire, and other things in exchange for the gold-dust they procure from the rivers. There is an old fort on the Mazoe river, under the Lobolo mountains, and several others higher up that have been partly destroyed by the natives for walls for their gardens, where they plant small fields of cotton to make their blankets; a little piece is so occupied adjoining their huts, and it is found to grow very well in elevated positions. I have found it wild as high as 4300 feet above the sea-level, in a light soil, where water is not found near, but in the low lands it is very plentiful.
South of the Banyai country is the Batoka, in which is the Moltkaberg, watered by the Upa river, a tributary of the Luenya. The source of the Mazoe rises on the watershed in this region, at the Sakaloko kraal, in 18 degrees 0 minutes South latitude. Another spring issues close to Mebka kraal, and at Gangwesi kraal, at an elevation of 4210 feet above the sea, and flows north, on which there are many villages, close to several large vleis, and towards the east is the large kraal of the chief Makombes on the Mewila river. There are also many other native kraals situated on all the branches of this river down to the Zambese, and along its banks, Senna being the most important, where there are several hills that skirt it. The Batoka tribe is numerous—a fine, powerful race. The country is full of bush and fine timber, the same which grows in the Banyai district.
On the east of Batoka is the Senna region, which reaches to the Zambese and to its mouth, and along the eastern coast, down to where the Sofala joins it. All that is known of this country is that it is very flat and low; and within its boundary, on the banks of the Zambese, Dr Livingstone’s wife was taken ill and died, and was buried on its banks under a baobab tree, a little below the town of Shupanga, and opposite to the town of Mulu. Forty miles above the great river Shire branches off, which flows from Lake Shirwa, in 15 degrees 0 minutes South latitude, 35 degrees 50 minutes East longitude. There are few hills in this part of the country of any note. Cotton grows abundantly, and vegetation is coarse and rank in the swamps.
On the south of Batoka is Birue. This region joins up to the Mashona country, the Sabia being the boundary, Senna on the east, and Sofala on the south. The Sabia river rises in 18 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, near the village of Sakalato, and flows south as before stated. Upon the banks are Kambesa, Gansuma, Umsosa, Kambiss, and others. The country is high, with hills of no great extent, thickly wooded, with abundance of large game of every kind; palms, baobab, mahogany, ebony, mapari, india-rubber, and a variety of other trees. The valley along the river is very pretty and picturesque, well cultivated by the natives, and produces every kind of vegetable. The people are civil, but very inquisitive, and great beggars. White cotton seems to be much in demand. The land gradually descends towards the ocean, until the flat and swampy country is reached.
To the south of Birue is the district of Quitive, a portion of Sofala that joins up to the Sabia, on the south by Umselayon region. This district is supposed to be the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba. Manica is the principal kraal, near which are several ancient ruins, and the remains of a tower a few miles to the north-west of Manica. It stands on high ground, 4100 feet above sea-level, which descends to the east, and not far from the ruins is a large sheet of water, also several plains on the south of Manica. The population is a mixed race, composed of Umgovis, who are part Zulus, Mandowas, Basigas, Batagas, Mashonas, and others, who are under the chief Umzela. There are extensive open grass-lands, and the low-lying country is healthy during five months of the winter, when there is no fear of taking the fever. Thirty miles south of Manica the land rises to 4458 feet.
To the east of this district is the Sofala region, in which the Portuguese town and port of Sofala are situated. The town is but a poor place, as all the Portuguese towns are on this coast; but they command all the trade of the up districts, which is considerable in ivory, skins, a few ostrich feathers, and other products of the country. It is situated in 20 degrees 10 minutes South latitude, 34 degrees 30 minutes East longitude. The country at the back of the town is hilly, occupied by the Mandowa tribe, and is more healthy. The river Bozi flows through it to the sea, well-wooded with fine timber and bush. Elephants, rhinoceros, and large game abound. Rice, cotton, spices of all kinds, oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, figs, and wild fruit. I was told that Umzela, the chief who occupies the country south, claims as paramount chief all those districts in the north, down to the Mandanda region; but his claim is something similar to that of the Portuguese, who lay claim to all South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, from Sofala. He must be content to put up with such regions as he now has power to govern; and those countries north of Birue are independent, except such portions along the coast and up the Zambese as the Portuguese have the power to rule, which is not much beyond the guns at their so-called forts. With respect to any extensive or strong stone remains of ancient cities, supposed to have belonged to the love-sick Queen, there are none, beyond those that have been erected without mortar. If this district formed part of her kingdom where she resided, her palace must have been small, and of no account. If substantial buildings had been erected, they would surely be there now, as the natives with the means at their disposal could not have destroyed them; but what is so remarkable is that no relics have been found of any kind, no rubbish left where they may have stood. The only one I discovered was in a stream of the Sabia, where the copper beads were found. It was an oval piece of copper, the size of a sixpence, and as thick, with much defaced marks on both sides that cannot be made out, being so much worn. To pronounce it a coin would be premature. When the country is properly prospected, there may be found sufficient evidence to settle this long-disputed question; but if extensive ruins existed, the natives would know, and it would soon have reached the ears of travellers that have passed through that country. There must be some foundation for these ancient traditional reports. The country shows that in remote times gold in large quantities has been extracted from the earth, and if it is so easily found in the rivers, why should not nuggets have been found lying on the surface, which first drew the attention of the ancients to look for it. The name of the river flowing through this region, the “Sabia,” may have been changed by time from “Sheba,” the same as “Sofala” for “S’Ophir.” There is also a ruin called Piza, and another Manica, two names foreign to the other names of the country; and the region of Monomotapa may have received its name from some early inhabitants, descendants of the people under this renowned queen. At present nothing is definite on this point, and the magnificence of her palaces have been, much overrated in ancient history. If this was the real Ophir of Solomon, the Arabs along the coast and at Sofala believe this to be the true Ophir, Umzela was the great chief of all that part of the country known as the Birue, Quitive, Sofala, and Mandanda regions. His chief kraal, Utshani, is situated in 20 degrees 27 minutes South latitude, 32 degrees 28 minutes East longitude, between lofty hills, the altitude being 3180 feet by aneroid barometer, and it is situated on the upper source of the Buzi river, which flows in a north-east direction and enters the Indian Ocean on the north of the town and port of Sofala. The country is very fertile, and the banks of the Sabia on the west of the town, through which that river meanders in a south direction, is flanked by high and picturesque hills, and clothed in all the beauty of tropical vegetation. Mahogany, ebony, untanto, palm, umchani, maparri, umsimbili, bananas, assagaai or lance wood, barrie, boschlemon, wild almond, kajaten (a fine black wood), knopjes doorn, wild olive, saffraan, fig, cabbage tree, makwakwe (the strychnine of the country), vitboom (quinine), india-rubber, and a host of other sorts that would fill a page if named, all most valuable for various purposes. Large flocks of sheep and goats and herds of cattle are reared. There is also the large game, such as elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, koodoos, and other large antelopes, lions, tigers, wolves, jackals, tiger-cats in plenty, beside the various earth-animals, ant-bears, porcupines, armadillos, and many others. Umzela’s territory is called Umselayon, which embraces all those districts above described. The mountains which completely encircle the chief’s kraal are very picturesque and peculiar in their form, making the Sinika river a tributary of the Buzi; which forms in its course almost a circle, thickly studded with fine timber and bush, and they do not extend much beyond the river towards the east, which is a low, flat country to the sea. The Portuguese have no control over any part of Umzela’s territory; they only hold possession of narrow slips of land along parts of the coast. The natives offered no opposition to my visits, and were willing to barter food for articles of clothing, principally linen cloth; but in many other portions of the country I had to use great caution to prevent suspicion as to the object of my visits. In many cases I have passed through tribes who would have been troublesome, but as I took goods to barter I was considered a trader, and as such one can journey almost anywhere. Some considered also I was a doctor or medicine-man, because I caught and preserved insects, snakes, and other small reptiles, besides plants. When this idea takes possession of some of the African races, they leave you unmolested; any injury they might inflict would be considered unlucky to themselves. I used to carry representations of snakes of wood, that are sold in England, and masks with extensive noses, so that when the natives came round my waggon begging, as they frequently did, from two to three hundred at a time, I would draw down the front sail of the waggon, slip inside, put on one of these masks, and with the snake curling about in my hand jump out in their midst, when the women and children would rush away howling, the men after them, to their kraals, and I would be left free from annoyance. During my stay at their station, before I could obtain these things, I used a large burning-glass, and when any one troubled me, would burn their hand until it began to pain. Then I would run after others, which soon cleared them off. Travelling past their kraals so frequently they knew my waggon, and if they pestered me for presents I had only to get out my sun-glass, and they were away in no time.
The only rivers of consequence beside the Sabia and the Buzi in this portion of Umzela’s country are the Umkoni, Umswelise, Umtschomie, Gerongosi, the source of which rises not far from the Buzi, runs east, and enters the Indian Ocean, about twenty miles south of Sofala. The Lusuti rises with several branches about thirty miles to the north of Umzela’s kraal, and joins the Buzi sixty miles from its mouth. There is also the Haroni and its tributary the Lusiti, and the small river Donde that flows into the Sofala harbour. South of the Mandanda region are the districts of Sheshonga, Indobolini, Mashelbe, and Makalingi. To the east is the Manklin district, that takes the coast-line from Maramone Bay, down south to Cape Lady Grey, off which are the islands of Bazaruta, Benguela, Sigin, and a small group at Cape St. Sebastian. To the north of Maramone Bay, some thirty miles, are the two great islands of Chuluwan. All the coast-line is flat, infested with the tsetse-fly, and most unhealthy. The Mandowa tribe occupy the hill district and country inland from Sofala, and it is under the rule of Umzela, and is in charge of Imbasugwar, one of his chief men.
Manukuza, father of Umzela, is a Zulu from Zululand, who fled from Chaka, the great Zulu king. His followers are called Mongonis, and all the tribes under him, viz. Basigo, Kulu, Mandanda, Cholee, and Mandower, are called Tonges. Deloms, a chief of Umzela, is over the district of Mazibbe, and Sondaba, an Indian, over Sheshongi, which is on the south side of the Sabia. The country is flat and marshy, and full of game. Rhinoceros, elephants, koodoos, giraffes, wildebeest, wild hogs, and nearly all the antelope tribe, and zebras. Date and other palms, bananas, jute, and wild cotton, beside many native fruits abound.
A very poisonous plant grows on the flats, from which the natives extract, from the seed, poison to put on their assagais and arrows.
(This poison is the strongest known. An eminent toxicologist, who in distilling became inoculated with it through a slight scratch. He was nearly dying for six weeks, and said he had no idea that any poison could be so strong; it would kill a man in three minutes, and an elephant in one hour and a half. The flesh of animals killed by it is not poisonous. It loses its strength by evaporation in about a year.)
The country in places is noted for its immense ant-hills, almost as large as those I have described in another part of this work. The southern boundary of Umzela’s territory is not at present ascertained; the country south of that already described is known under the name of Umhlenga, where the Queen Mafussi, of Inhoxe, rules a portion, which is a vast, open, undulating country, through which the Limpopo flows for over 200 miles to the sea, at Port Alice. The Lundi river, a tributary of the Sabia, joins it in Umzela’s country. It is the continuation of the Ingwesi, mentioned in the Mashona description. To the south of this region, and inland from the town and port of Inhambane, is the region called Makwakwa or Marangwe—a strong, powerful race of the same tribe as the Chobis, Bala Kulu, Basiga, Mashongonini, and Mandandas. Inhambane is situated on the sea-coast. The territory is very narrow, not exceeding twenty miles inland, and eighty miles along the coast.
A small river, the Inyanombi, falls into the bay, and the river Zavara drains the country of the Makwakwa’s tribe—a low, flat region. There is still a tribe occupying a part of Umzela’s territory that call themselves the powerful Makololo race, of the same family that ruled an extensive region on the Zambese river above the Victoria Falls, and became a terror to the neighbouring tribes. The Barutse people fought and nearly exterminated them, scattering those left far and wide amongst other tribes, and broke up the race entirely. This Makololo nation on the Zambese extended as far as that white tribe mentioned, living on the Quito and upper portion of the Cubango—now become mixed with the black races, and from reports, a wild and savage race, eating human flesh. May not these two tribes have travelled up the Zambese together at some remote time? It seems singular that the Makololos in Umzela’s country should call themselves the once-powerful Makololo tribe; and we find them on the Upper Zambese, the most powerful tribe in all that central part of Africa, 400 miles away from those in Umzela’s land. It is an interesting study to trace the various periods, as they advanced south from Egypt, and to find at the present time many Arabian and Jewish customs amongst them; and another interesting feature of those races is that many names of places in Central Africa are precisely similar to many names in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. So far as is known of this country, we come across limestone, slate shale, red sandstone, green stone, quartz, porphyritic rocks, gravel, and on the western slope of the highlands, granites.
Referring again to the land of Ophir, there are no black races in any other part of Africa that allow a woman to rule over them; but in the immediate neighbourhood of Sofala there are three queens, viz. Queen Mafussi over Inhoaxe, adjoining Umzela’s territory, and immediately on the south of her are the two Queens Majaji and Mescharoon. May not this be one identification, that it was right that woman should be a ruler as well as man, handed down from the Queen of Sheba’s time? Also a large portion of Madagascar is ruled over by an Arab race that must have settled there a very long time ago. Their language is Arabic, and queens of that island have and do now rule the greater portion of it.
Chapter Twenty Five.The Portuguese possessions on the east coast, within South Central Africa.The earliest records we have of this coast-line is from the Portuguese, who first sailed round the Cape to the north, as far as the Mozambique coast, in 1497, under Vasco de Gama. In 1508 they visited the coast again and conquered Sofala, and soon after Quilimane, Inhambane, and Delagoa Bay, where they built a fort at Lorenzo Marques in the inner harbour, and took possession of the coast northwards, including the mouth of the Zambese and both banks of that river beyond Tette, where they formed a town, claiming the country far in, up the river and along the coast, but at the present time they have no jurisdiction over it, beyond a few miles of the coast, the natives not allowing any interference with their rights beyond the reach of their guns at the forts.Up to 1875 the Portuguese only held the northern portion of Delagoa Bay, down as far south as the 26 degrees South latitude, and half of the island of Inyack; the English Government disputing their claim to any territory south of the 26 degrees, and the southern portion of Inyack was held by the British Government. Much correspondence passed between the two Governments, when it was referred to arbitration, and Marshal MacMahon, then President of the French Republic, decided in July, 1875, that the Portuguese had a right to the country down to 26 degrees 30 minutes South latitude, which included the whole of the bay and island of Inyack—to the exclusion of British interests. The boundary then laid down as the southern limit of Portugal should follow that latitude up to the Lobombo mountain, which borders on Swaziland, an independent chief.Following the mountain north to the middle of the lower part of the Comatie river, where it flows through that mountain, from thence in a north-east direction to Pokionies Kap, on the north side of the Olifant river, where it passes through the mountain north-west by north, to the nearest point of the Stricundo mountain, on the Umzim Voobo river, then in a straight line north to the junction of the Pafarie river with the Limpopo. All on the west of this line is the Transvaal boundary. This is the boundary on paper and maps, but the Portuguese have no more jurisdiction over the country north of 25 degrees between the sea and the Transvaal boundary, than they have over Umzela’s territory, with the exception of a small portion along the coast to the Zambese river, and up that river to Tette. The Barpeda tribes, east of the Transvaal, are divided into many classes, ruled over by independent chiefs.The country at the back of Delagoa Bay is a flat unhealthy country for forty miles inland, when it begins to rise, until the summit of the Lobombo mountain is reached. The river Lorenzo Marques, which enters the inner harbour at Delagoa Bay, is navigable for small craft for forty miles up. The region to the north of that harbour, through which the lower portion of the river Limpopo passes, is a low flat country, full of bush, and most unhealthy. The tsetse-fly swarms. Large game is plentiful over all this region. The southern portion is called Gasa; the northern, Umhlenga—already described. The entrance of the Limpopo river is in 25 degrees 17 minutes South latitude, and about three miles broad, which it continues to be up to the junction of the Olifant river, gradually narrowing towards the north. It is full of hippopotami and alligators that grow to an enormous size, and several kinds of fish.Lorenzo Marques is the capital of the Portuguese possessions in East Africa; for some distance along the coast it is a dirty unhealthy place. The fort mounts a few old guns, and is the governor’s residence. Several stores are kept by Portuguese natives and one or two English. The inner harbour, upon which the town is built on the north bank, is picturesque. Tropical trees of many varieties grow: cocoa-nuts, palms, bananas, lemons, oranges, beside vegetables; but the inhabitants are a lazy set of people, and the town or country will never improve under its present Government.The islands of Imyack and Elephant command the entrance of the outer bay, and the islands at the mouth of the Uncomasi or King George’s river, Krocodil, and Sabia, that rise in the Transvaal south of Lydenburg, which has never been thoroughly explored. The coast-line from Delagoa Bay to Inhambane is likewise little-known, as also between that port and Sofala, and north to the Zambese river. The principal towns in the Portuguese possessions on the east coast are Lorenzo Marques, Inhambane, Sofala, and the two small river towns up the Zambese, Senna and Tette. Steamers occasionally touch at all the coast towns named, on their way to Zanzibar from Natal.Quilimane is situated on the north of the Zambese river, upon one of its branches, where a Portuguese governor resides for that district.Another Sabia flows into the ocean near Sofala.
The earliest records we have of this coast-line is from the Portuguese, who first sailed round the Cape to the north, as far as the Mozambique coast, in 1497, under Vasco de Gama. In 1508 they visited the coast again and conquered Sofala, and soon after Quilimane, Inhambane, and Delagoa Bay, where they built a fort at Lorenzo Marques in the inner harbour, and took possession of the coast northwards, including the mouth of the Zambese and both banks of that river beyond Tette, where they formed a town, claiming the country far in, up the river and along the coast, but at the present time they have no jurisdiction over it, beyond a few miles of the coast, the natives not allowing any interference with their rights beyond the reach of their guns at the forts.
Up to 1875 the Portuguese only held the northern portion of Delagoa Bay, down as far south as the 26 degrees South latitude, and half of the island of Inyack; the English Government disputing their claim to any territory south of the 26 degrees, and the southern portion of Inyack was held by the British Government. Much correspondence passed between the two Governments, when it was referred to arbitration, and Marshal MacMahon, then President of the French Republic, decided in July, 1875, that the Portuguese had a right to the country down to 26 degrees 30 minutes South latitude, which included the whole of the bay and island of Inyack—to the exclusion of British interests. The boundary then laid down as the southern limit of Portugal should follow that latitude up to the Lobombo mountain, which borders on Swaziland, an independent chief.
Following the mountain north to the middle of the lower part of the Comatie river, where it flows through that mountain, from thence in a north-east direction to Pokionies Kap, on the north side of the Olifant river, where it passes through the mountain north-west by north, to the nearest point of the Stricundo mountain, on the Umzim Voobo river, then in a straight line north to the junction of the Pafarie river with the Limpopo. All on the west of this line is the Transvaal boundary. This is the boundary on paper and maps, but the Portuguese have no more jurisdiction over the country north of 25 degrees between the sea and the Transvaal boundary, than they have over Umzela’s territory, with the exception of a small portion along the coast to the Zambese river, and up that river to Tette. The Barpeda tribes, east of the Transvaal, are divided into many classes, ruled over by independent chiefs.
The country at the back of Delagoa Bay is a flat unhealthy country for forty miles inland, when it begins to rise, until the summit of the Lobombo mountain is reached. The river Lorenzo Marques, which enters the inner harbour at Delagoa Bay, is navigable for small craft for forty miles up. The region to the north of that harbour, through which the lower portion of the river Limpopo passes, is a low flat country, full of bush, and most unhealthy. The tsetse-fly swarms. Large game is plentiful over all this region. The southern portion is called Gasa; the northern, Umhlenga—already described. The entrance of the Limpopo river is in 25 degrees 17 minutes South latitude, and about three miles broad, which it continues to be up to the junction of the Olifant river, gradually narrowing towards the north. It is full of hippopotami and alligators that grow to an enormous size, and several kinds of fish.
Lorenzo Marques is the capital of the Portuguese possessions in East Africa; for some distance along the coast it is a dirty unhealthy place. The fort mounts a few old guns, and is the governor’s residence. Several stores are kept by Portuguese natives and one or two English. The inner harbour, upon which the town is built on the north bank, is picturesque. Tropical trees of many varieties grow: cocoa-nuts, palms, bananas, lemons, oranges, beside vegetables; but the inhabitants are a lazy set of people, and the town or country will never improve under its present Government.
The islands of Imyack and Elephant command the entrance of the outer bay, and the islands at the mouth of the Uncomasi or King George’s river, Krocodil, and Sabia, that rise in the Transvaal south of Lydenburg, which has never been thoroughly explored. The coast-line from Delagoa Bay to Inhambane is likewise little-known, as also between that port and Sofala, and north to the Zambese river. The principal towns in the Portuguese possessions on the east coast are Lorenzo Marques, Inhambane, Sofala, and the two small river towns up the Zambese, Senna and Tette. Steamers occasionally touch at all the coast towns named, on their way to Zanzibar from Natal.
Quilimane is situated on the north of the Zambese river, upon one of its branches, where a Portuguese governor resides for that district.
Another Sabia flows into the ocean near Sofala.
Chapter Twenty Six.A cursory glance at those ports of South Africa that occupy the extreme south of the African continent, south of South Central Africa.South of South Central Africa, which has comprised my field, of exploration, is the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, which takes in the whole of the southern peninsula of the African continent, from the Orange river to Cape Agulhas, and extends towards the east as far as Natal. It is divided into the eastern and western provinces and Griqualand West. Cape Town is the seat of Government and the capital, and is governed by a High Commissioner and Governor, a Ministry and Legislative Council, and a House of Assembly, both elected. The Governor is appointed by the British Government.The principal ports are Table Bay at Cape Town, False Bay, including Simon’s Town, and the naval station of the colony, Mossel Bay, Algoa Bay at Port Elizabeth, East London, and a few small bays along the coast.The principal rivers are the Orange, Caledon, Kraai, Zeekoe, Buffalo, draining Little Namaqualand, Olifant, Berg rivers draining the district of Malmesbury, Zout river draining Koeberg and neighbourhood. Easters river enters False Bay, Londerende river drains part of Swellendam and Worcester districts, Gawirtz and its tributaries drain the George, Worcester, and Beaufort districts, and several small streams up to Zwartkops, that enters the sea a few miles to the north-east of Port Elizabeth. Following up the coast are Samdays, Bushman, Kowie, Great Fish river, Kaga, Koonap, Kat, Keiskama, Buffalo, Great Kei, White Kei, Indwa, Tosmo (which drains the country round Queen’s Town and part of Kaffraria), Bashee, Umtata, Umzimvobo, and Umzimcula; not one of them is navigable from the great fall they take in their course to the sea, and they have deep water in them only after heavy rains, which is the case with all the rivers in this colony.There are several mountain ranges, viz. Table mountain at the back of Cape Town, 3500 feet above sea-level. Stormberg, Zwagerskook, Winterberg, Amatola, and their spurs, and many others of less note. Some of them are 8000 feet above sea-level. On the eastern border in Noman’s-land is the Drakensberg, that divides this colony from Natal, having its lofty head 10,000 feet above sea-level, where the grand scenery is rarely to be equalled in any part of South Africa. Noman’s-land or Griqualand East, principally occupied by the Griqua tribe who left Camphill ground and took up their residence in that fine rich country.Numerous vleis and pans, some extensive, many are dry the greater part of the year. The largest is Commissioner’s pan, in what is called Bushmanland, some twenty miles in circumference, and contains a crust of salt on the dry bed, where there is no water in it. There are salt-pans near Uitenhage, Cradock, and Betheldorp, beside many fresh-water pans of considerable extent, but they are becoming dryer every year, as also the fountains: many of them thirty years ago gave out a copious supply, and at the present time are small streams. Verkeerde vlei, close to the Karroo Port, water is generally found in it, as also Vogel vlei, no great distance from the Berg river. Nearly every other vlei may be termed pans, being so shallow, they are scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding country; so impregnated is the soil with salt that many springs and fountains have a brackish taste, and this is the case all over the southern part of the African continent, which indicates that at one time it had a close connection with the ocean.Several mineral springs in the Cape Colony, both hot and cold. A chalybeate spring at the foot of the Kradoun mountain on the eastern slope with a temperature of 110 degrees. Hot springs at Montague, Winterberg, Caledon, Malmesbury, Olifant, and one near Breed river, which is found to rise to a temperature of 156 degrees.The mineral wealth of the colony is not known. Copper is found in large quantities in Little Namaqualand, near the Orange river. Near Port Elizabeth lead has been found. Iron is largely distributed over many districts, and coal has of late years been found near Stormberg, Burghersdorp and other places, and conveyed to the diamond-fields, which turns out to be of better quality than was at first expected, and lately gold.Very fine caves in the Zwarteberge range of mountains, a short distance from Oudtshoorn village, much resorted to, for their peculiar beautiful stalactites of limestone formation.Many extensive forests in the colony, near the town of Clanwilliam, Outenigera, Zitzikamma; there is also the Adda bush, dense bush along the Amatola mountains, Kat river, and the Knysna. To the eastward we find the Kadoun forest, extending nearly eighty miles in length along the sea, and some fifteen miles in width.Deep extensive kloofs along the mountain ranges are well-timbered. The Great Fish river bush is very extensive, and many others along the Buffalo mountain, Katberg, Chumie, and Boschberg, are densely wooded with fine timber, principally yellow wood that grow to a great size.The great Karroo desert is situated more in the western division of the Cape Colony, lying between the mountains Bokkeveld, Wittebergen, and Swartebergen. In length it is from Mitchell’s Pass in the south nearly 400 miles, extending northwards to the Orange river, and from east to west over eighty, a most wretched and dried-up country; scarcely a blade of grass to be seen. The Karroo bush is plentiful, of which the sheep are very fond—a dreary waste. The main road from Cape Town to Hope Town and Kimberley passes diagonally through its entire length, through Mitchell’s Pass, a fearful gorge of seven miles, the road cut out of the solid sandstone rock on the left hand, with perpendicular cliffs, and on the right a precipice of some three and four hundred feet; the only safeguard to prevent carriages from falling over are a few large boulders placed at long distances apart to prevent any vehicle from going too close to the edge. The scenery along the seven miles of this pass is grand in the extreme, but it can only be enjoyed when on foot, when at every few steps a halt must be made to view the bold outline of this wild and picturesque pass. The railway from Cape Town to Hope Town avoids this singular formation, consequently the great traffic is carried round in another direction, more to the east, passing through Beaufort West and Victoria West, over a flat and barren part of the great Karroo. The mountain pass at Franschehoek is very fine, also Baiu’s Kloof, both possessing grand scenery.The principal towns in the colony beside Cape Town, in degree of importance, are Port Elizabeth, Graham’s Town; the capital of the eastern province is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley. Victoria East, Ceres, Beaufort West, Hope Town, close to the Orange river, through which the railway runs to Kimberley diamond-fields. Somerset is situated at the foot of Boschberg mountain, one of the most picturesque towns in the colony; Bedford is built at the fort of Kagaberg, in a rich and valuable part of the country; Cradock, a town situated on the bank of the Great Fish river. Graaff Reinet is erected on the Sunday’s river, one of the most pleasant towns in the colony, situated in a mountain region, some of them are the highest in the colony. Compassberg is over 9200 feet above sea-level. Sneeunbergen is another prominent mountain range with beautiful scenery, and the town is well laid out; the streets have oranges and other trees planted along their sides, that add much to the general appearance of the town. Colesberg is situated on the main transport road from Port Elizabeth to the diamond-fields, Kimberley, Orange Free State, and the interior. The railway from Port Elizabeth runs to Colesberg, from thence passengers and goods are conveyed by passenger-carts and ox-waggons. (A railroad now runs through this country to Kimberley.) The town and country are not very inviting, a vast extent of barren open plains, that slope towards the Orange river, of which the town is distant some eleven miles. Richmond, Hanover, and Middleburg are rising towns. Aliwal North is situated on the Orange river on the main road to the Orange Free State and also to Kimberley. Burghersdorp is on the Stormberg river. Albert is another town in this district, and is on the road from East London to the Free State. King William’s Town, Grey Town, and East London are in the same division; the latter is a rising port, and will eventually be very important as a sea-port. Queen’s Town is situated on the Indwe river, and has several native locations belonging to the Tambookie tribe. There are several small villages situated throughout all these districts. To the east is what is termed British Kaffraria, in which the port of East London is situated on the Buffalo river. Its eastern boundary is the Great Kei river, separating it from Kaffirland proper; the country is picturesque, with lofty and well-wooded hills.The native population in British Kaffraria are mostly of the Gaika and Amakosa Kaffirs.The population of the Cape Colony is various. The western province has a greater proportion of the Boer element than the English, but in the eastern province the English predominate. Many Germans have settled in the colony since the German legion has been disbanded, and form a considerable portion of the population. French, Swedes, Americans, and many others from different countries, not forgetting the Chinaman.Of the natives there are the Hottentot, whose pure breed is nearly extinct; a few are now living on the banks of St. John’s river. Korannas, who are closely allied to the Hottentot, and are found more to the north on the Orange river, as also the Bushman. Griquas, a bastard tribe, descendants of the Dutch and Hottentot women, who have their separate captains, and live much after the Boer in habits and customs. In the Cape Town district are many Malay from India; in fact I may say one-fourth of the population is made up of them. Those races that may be termed Kaffirs are the Gaika, Gonebi, Amakosa, Slambie (who occupy lands in British Kaffraria), Amagaleka, Amatembu in the eastern part of Queen’s Town, and the country to the east of this division on to Natal is Kaffirland proper, known under the name Tambookies.Railroads have been extensively increased of late years, running through the country to all parts. One direct from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, another direct to Kimberley, Worcester, Graham’s Town, King William and Queen’s Town, and many other parts.The public transport roads are in most cases good, but many that wind over the steep mountain passes are very bad, and trying to oxen and mules when they have heavy loads.Griqualand West forms a portion of the Cape Colony, and is situated on the north side of the Orange river, and as it has been fully described in the first part of this work, in consequence of the greater portion of it being included in South Central Africa, I have merely to state that Kimberley, Bulfontein, De Beers and De Toitspan, the four large mines, now form one considerable town, and may be considered the richest of any in the colony, with a population that is not living in a sleepy hollow, as the rest of the colony is, but showing some vitality and energy, which has in a great measure saved the colony from ruin.The district of Cape Town is very pretty and picturesque, well planted with firs and other trees. The town is well supplied with fruit of almost every description and vegetables. Abundance of fish are caught in the bay.The climate is mild and healthy; the rainy season commences in the autumn, about May, and lasts until August. In the summer months it is rare to have a storm.Wild animals are becoming very scarce; a few of the large game such as the elephant and buffalo are preserved in the Addo, Kowie, and Zitzchkamma forests, and may be occasionally seen going down in troops of thirty and forty to the sea to have a bath. A few wild beasts; blesbok and many springbok may now be seen on the plains, and also the ostrich.Tigers and tiger-cats are yet plentiful in the kloofs of the mountain ranges that extend so far through the colony. A few sea-cow, I believe, are still to be seen in the rivers on the eastern border, beyond East London.Between the eastern division of the Cape Colony, that is Kaffraria proper, and the upper part of the Caledon river, is Basutoland, an extensive region that joins up to Natal or Drakensberg mountain as its eastern boundary, the north by the Caledon river and the Orange Free State, as also a portion of its western boundary. The country is very mountainous, with deep and thickly wooded kloofs, making the scenery very lovely. Some of the hills on the Drakensberg side are 9500 feet above sea-level. The Basutos are a branch of the Bechuana family, of the Barolong tribe, the same family as Montsioa, who left Basutoland when young, and occupied the country he now holds on the Molapo river. The small district of Thaba Nchu belonged to these people, which was separated from Basutoland by the Free State, and in fact that state surrounded it; and in consequence of a difference between the two chiefs, Samuel and Sepinare Moroka (the latter being killed), President Brand went with a force of Free State burghers and took possession of the town and territory of Thaba Nchu, and annexed it to that state. Samuel was the son of the old chief Moroka, the other his nephew. When Moroka died in 1880, the people were divided as to who should be the chief. There is no doubt the son had the greatest claim; he was an educated Kaffir, having spent several years at St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury, and was in every respect a gentleman in behaviour. He is now a wanderer amongst his tribe.Thaba Nchu, in 1863, was the largest native town in British South Africa; the population then was about 9000, with mission houses and church schools.It was from this station, in 1837, that the Boers who escaped from the fight with Moselikatze, joined the Barolongs to drive that chief from Mosega, and collected a force of 1000 men. Montsioa, the present chief, held command of part of the expedition, and through the Basuto assistance, the Boers managed to drive Moselikatze more to the north. We now see the return they get for this help: their country at Thaba Nchu taken from them, and Montsioa would have lost his, and himself and people been murdered, if the British Government had not stepped in at the eleventh hour and saved them. Basutoland, which is separated from Thaba Nchu, is now under British protection, and is one of the finest wheat-growing countries in South Africa, and the natives, if they had been let alone, would have remained at peace, as they were growing rich in supplying the diamond-fields with corn. But as their country joins for such a distance to the Free State, which is occupied by a Boer population, it is impossible for them to remain in peace for long, for no tribe, however peacefully inclined the people may be, can with Boers on their border remain so long, as the latter have many ways of causing a disturbance, which we have so frequently witnessed, as in the case of Montsioa and Monkuruan, and the only way to prevent any further trouble in that country was for the British Government to take it under their protection. Thaba Bosigo is their principal town and one of their mission stations.The Orange Free State occupies the whole of that part of Africa lying between the Cape Colony, Basutoland, Natal, and the Transvaal. Bloomfontein is the capital and seat of Government. Mr Brand is the President, now Sir John Brand, with a Volksraad to carry on the Government, and contains within its area about 55,000 square miles.The principal rivers are the Vaal, Orange, and Caledon, that form the boundary. The tributaries of the Vaal are the Likwa spruit, the north-east boundary, Klip, Welge, Rhenoster, Valsch, Vet, Modder, and Keit.The principal towns are Harrismith, situated on the north-east portion of the State, about twenty-five miles north of the Drakensberg range, the boundary of Natal, and on the main transport roads from Natal to the diamond-fields, Bloomfontein, Potchefstroom, and Pretoria in the Transvaal; also Winburg, Cronstad, Boschof, Keckstad, Fauresmith, and many others of lesser note.The country is almost one unbroken open grass plain, very scarce of wood; in some parts there are long stretches of thorn, principally mimosa bush, but the demand for wood at the diamond-fields is so great that in a few years there will be scarcely a stick worth cutting, as the price for a waggon-load of wood varies from ten to thirty pounds. A large proportion of the population in the various towns are English and other nationalities.The climate in winter is cold, but dry. The elevation averages 4500 feet above sea-level, which is the cause. Fortunately the winters are dry. The rainy season is from November to April. In the summer months very severe thunderstorms pass over the country. Generally there is a great want of water previous to the rainy season, and many cattle die from cold and starvation. Game, twenty years ago, was plentiful, and also lions; but only a few blesbok, wildebeest, and springbok are to be met with. Some of the farmers have now begun to preserve them on their farms, otherwise they would have long since disappeared from the country. Lions have all been destroyed, but a few wolves are still left. In parts of the country there are some very pretty localities, where the woods are preserved, and occasionally may be seen several hundred baboons visiting those parts for the gum, of which they are very fond. Many of them are of great size; they may be heard a long distance, as they pass with their half-human grunts, and it would be dangerous for any single individual unarmed to come across their path.It is impossible for any great improvement to be made in the present state of affairs in the State. The country is too poor, and with very little chance of its ever becoming richer, with such a lack of energy for advancing in civilisation as is in the Boer character.The British colony of Natal is situated on the coast, and joins on to the Cape Colony at its extreme eastern boundary, called Kaffirland proper, and Griqualand East as also Basutoland. To the north it joins up to the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, the Drakensberg mountain dividing it from them. On the eastern side, Zululand is separated from it by the Tugela and the Buffalo rivers. It has a coast-line of 150 miles. The extreme northern point is in 27 degrees 25 minutes South latitude, down to 31 degrees 10 minutes. The extreme western point is in 29 degrees 4 minutes, to 31 degrees 30 minutes, being the eastern point at the mouth of the Tugela, where Zululand joins it.It is governed by a Lieutenant-Governor, and Executive and Legislative Councils. The principal town is Maritzburg, situated about fifty miles inland from the port of Durban. The latter has become an important town, where all the shipping trade is carried on for the colony and the interior. On the main transport road to the Free State and Transvaal are Howick, close to the Umgeni waterfall, Weston, Estcourt, Colenzo, Ladysmith, and Newcastle. East of Maritzburg is Richmond; north of Durban is Pinetown, and many others in various parts of the country.The mountain range on the western boundary, and on its northern, called the Drakensberg, are the highest of any of the mountains of South Africa, and it possesses some of the finest scenery in this part of the world. The loftiest peaks are 10,000 feet above sea-level. The general elevation of the upper portion of the colony is 4000 feet, sloping gradually until it reaches the coast-line.The climate is very healthy, both in summer and winter, and very mild. The coast region is more tropical from its being less elevated than the up-country; many extensive sugar plantations are cultivated, and the Natal sugar has become an important article of commerce. Coffee, tobacco, indigo, tea, arrowroot, various kinds of spices, all kinds of garden vegetables, tomato, yams, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. Cotton is cultivated also.Maritzburg is the seat of Government, and the principal military station. Railways are now pushing their way up towards Newcastle. When I knew the colony in 1860 the principal mode of conveyance was by bullock-waggons and passenger-carts. The colonists are now going in for preserving fruits, which are highly prized for their delicious flavour.There is some very fine building stone, particularly the marble found near Alfreda. Coal is found at Newcastle and Biggarsberg. Iron is distributed largely all over the country, and copper has also been discovered. Limestone has been found on the Bushman river and Upper Tugela. Slate is also found in several parts, and on the Bushman river, in which are beautiful specimens of fossil ferns. Altogether, Natal is a pleasant and healthy colony, but the native population being so large, now reaching to near 400,000, against a white population of something under 30,000, is a drawback to the whole of the country being profitably utilised, as it would otherwise be, if the colour was reversed. And one does not see what the end is to be, as Natal cannot carry a dense white population whilst the Kaffirs live and increase nearly as rapidly as the whites.Gold will probably settle the question, as the bulk of the Kaffirs remaining will be crowded out, and a small population of white men will remain and feed the gold-diggers in the Transvaal and beyond.The End.
South of South Central Africa, which has comprised my field, of exploration, is the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, which takes in the whole of the southern peninsula of the African continent, from the Orange river to Cape Agulhas, and extends towards the east as far as Natal. It is divided into the eastern and western provinces and Griqualand West. Cape Town is the seat of Government and the capital, and is governed by a High Commissioner and Governor, a Ministry and Legislative Council, and a House of Assembly, both elected. The Governor is appointed by the British Government.
The principal ports are Table Bay at Cape Town, False Bay, including Simon’s Town, and the naval station of the colony, Mossel Bay, Algoa Bay at Port Elizabeth, East London, and a few small bays along the coast.
The principal rivers are the Orange, Caledon, Kraai, Zeekoe, Buffalo, draining Little Namaqualand, Olifant, Berg rivers draining the district of Malmesbury, Zout river draining Koeberg and neighbourhood. Easters river enters False Bay, Londerende river drains part of Swellendam and Worcester districts, Gawirtz and its tributaries drain the George, Worcester, and Beaufort districts, and several small streams up to Zwartkops, that enters the sea a few miles to the north-east of Port Elizabeth. Following up the coast are Samdays, Bushman, Kowie, Great Fish river, Kaga, Koonap, Kat, Keiskama, Buffalo, Great Kei, White Kei, Indwa, Tosmo (which drains the country round Queen’s Town and part of Kaffraria), Bashee, Umtata, Umzimvobo, and Umzimcula; not one of them is navigable from the great fall they take in their course to the sea, and they have deep water in them only after heavy rains, which is the case with all the rivers in this colony.
There are several mountain ranges, viz. Table mountain at the back of Cape Town, 3500 feet above sea-level. Stormberg, Zwagerskook, Winterberg, Amatola, and their spurs, and many others of less note. Some of them are 8000 feet above sea-level. On the eastern border in Noman’s-land is the Drakensberg, that divides this colony from Natal, having its lofty head 10,000 feet above sea-level, where the grand scenery is rarely to be equalled in any part of South Africa. Noman’s-land or Griqualand East, principally occupied by the Griqua tribe who left Camphill ground and took up their residence in that fine rich country.
Numerous vleis and pans, some extensive, many are dry the greater part of the year. The largest is Commissioner’s pan, in what is called Bushmanland, some twenty miles in circumference, and contains a crust of salt on the dry bed, where there is no water in it. There are salt-pans near Uitenhage, Cradock, and Betheldorp, beside many fresh-water pans of considerable extent, but they are becoming dryer every year, as also the fountains: many of them thirty years ago gave out a copious supply, and at the present time are small streams. Verkeerde vlei, close to the Karroo Port, water is generally found in it, as also Vogel vlei, no great distance from the Berg river. Nearly every other vlei may be termed pans, being so shallow, they are scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding country; so impregnated is the soil with salt that many springs and fountains have a brackish taste, and this is the case all over the southern part of the African continent, which indicates that at one time it had a close connection with the ocean.
Several mineral springs in the Cape Colony, both hot and cold. A chalybeate spring at the foot of the Kradoun mountain on the eastern slope with a temperature of 110 degrees. Hot springs at Montague, Winterberg, Caledon, Malmesbury, Olifant, and one near Breed river, which is found to rise to a temperature of 156 degrees.
The mineral wealth of the colony is not known. Copper is found in large quantities in Little Namaqualand, near the Orange river. Near Port Elizabeth lead has been found. Iron is largely distributed over many districts, and coal has of late years been found near Stormberg, Burghersdorp and other places, and conveyed to the diamond-fields, which turns out to be of better quality than was at first expected, and lately gold.
Very fine caves in the Zwarteberge range of mountains, a short distance from Oudtshoorn village, much resorted to, for their peculiar beautiful stalactites of limestone formation.
Many extensive forests in the colony, near the town of Clanwilliam, Outenigera, Zitzikamma; there is also the Adda bush, dense bush along the Amatola mountains, Kat river, and the Knysna. To the eastward we find the Kadoun forest, extending nearly eighty miles in length along the sea, and some fifteen miles in width.
Deep extensive kloofs along the mountain ranges are well-timbered. The Great Fish river bush is very extensive, and many others along the Buffalo mountain, Katberg, Chumie, and Boschberg, are densely wooded with fine timber, principally yellow wood that grow to a great size.
The great Karroo desert is situated more in the western division of the Cape Colony, lying between the mountains Bokkeveld, Wittebergen, and Swartebergen. In length it is from Mitchell’s Pass in the south nearly 400 miles, extending northwards to the Orange river, and from east to west over eighty, a most wretched and dried-up country; scarcely a blade of grass to be seen. The Karroo bush is plentiful, of which the sheep are very fond—a dreary waste. The main road from Cape Town to Hope Town and Kimberley passes diagonally through its entire length, through Mitchell’s Pass, a fearful gorge of seven miles, the road cut out of the solid sandstone rock on the left hand, with perpendicular cliffs, and on the right a precipice of some three and four hundred feet; the only safeguard to prevent carriages from falling over are a few large boulders placed at long distances apart to prevent any vehicle from going too close to the edge. The scenery along the seven miles of this pass is grand in the extreme, but it can only be enjoyed when on foot, when at every few steps a halt must be made to view the bold outline of this wild and picturesque pass. The railway from Cape Town to Hope Town avoids this singular formation, consequently the great traffic is carried round in another direction, more to the east, passing through Beaufort West and Victoria West, over a flat and barren part of the great Karroo. The mountain pass at Franschehoek is very fine, also Baiu’s Kloof, both possessing grand scenery.
The principal towns in the colony beside Cape Town, in degree of importance, are Port Elizabeth, Graham’s Town; the capital of the eastern province is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley. Victoria East, Ceres, Beaufort West, Hope Town, close to the Orange river, through which the railway runs to Kimberley diamond-fields. Somerset is situated at the foot of Boschberg mountain, one of the most picturesque towns in the colony; Bedford is built at the fort of Kagaberg, in a rich and valuable part of the country; Cradock, a town situated on the bank of the Great Fish river. Graaff Reinet is erected on the Sunday’s river, one of the most pleasant towns in the colony, situated in a mountain region, some of them are the highest in the colony. Compassberg is over 9200 feet above sea-level. Sneeunbergen is another prominent mountain range with beautiful scenery, and the town is well laid out; the streets have oranges and other trees planted along their sides, that add much to the general appearance of the town. Colesberg is situated on the main transport road from Port Elizabeth to the diamond-fields, Kimberley, Orange Free State, and the interior. The railway from Port Elizabeth runs to Colesberg, from thence passengers and goods are conveyed by passenger-carts and ox-waggons. (A railroad now runs through this country to Kimberley.) The town and country are not very inviting, a vast extent of barren open plains, that slope towards the Orange river, of which the town is distant some eleven miles. Richmond, Hanover, and Middleburg are rising towns. Aliwal North is situated on the Orange river on the main road to the Orange Free State and also to Kimberley. Burghersdorp is on the Stormberg river. Albert is another town in this district, and is on the road from East London to the Free State. King William’s Town, Grey Town, and East London are in the same division; the latter is a rising port, and will eventually be very important as a sea-port. Queen’s Town is situated on the Indwe river, and has several native locations belonging to the Tambookie tribe. There are several small villages situated throughout all these districts. To the east is what is termed British Kaffraria, in which the port of East London is situated on the Buffalo river. Its eastern boundary is the Great Kei river, separating it from Kaffirland proper; the country is picturesque, with lofty and well-wooded hills.
The native population in British Kaffraria are mostly of the Gaika and Amakosa Kaffirs.
The population of the Cape Colony is various. The western province has a greater proportion of the Boer element than the English, but in the eastern province the English predominate. Many Germans have settled in the colony since the German legion has been disbanded, and form a considerable portion of the population. French, Swedes, Americans, and many others from different countries, not forgetting the Chinaman.
Of the natives there are the Hottentot, whose pure breed is nearly extinct; a few are now living on the banks of St. John’s river. Korannas, who are closely allied to the Hottentot, and are found more to the north on the Orange river, as also the Bushman. Griquas, a bastard tribe, descendants of the Dutch and Hottentot women, who have their separate captains, and live much after the Boer in habits and customs. In the Cape Town district are many Malay from India; in fact I may say one-fourth of the population is made up of them. Those races that may be termed Kaffirs are the Gaika, Gonebi, Amakosa, Slambie (who occupy lands in British Kaffraria), Amagaleka, Amatembu in the eastern part of Queen’s Town, and the country to the east of this division on to Natal is Kaffirland proper, known under the name Tambookies.
Railroads have been extensively increased of late years, running through the country to all parts. One direct from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, another direct to Kimberley, Worcester, Graham’s Town, King William and Queen’s Town, and many other parts.
The public transport roads are in most cases good, but many that wind over the steep mountain passes are very bad, and trying to oxen and mules when they have heavy loads.
Griqualand West forms a portion of the Cape Colony, and is situated on the north side of the Orange river, and as it has been fully described in the first part of this work, in consequence of the greater portion of it being included in South Central Africa, I have merely to state that Kimberley, Bulfontein, De Beers and De Toitspan, the four large mines, now form one considerable town, and may be considered the richest of any in the colony, with a population that is not living in a sleepy hollow, as the rest of the colony is, but showing some vitality and energy, which has in a great measure saved the colony from ruin.
The district of Cape Town is very pretty and picturesque, well planted with firs and other trees. The town is well supplied with fruit of almost every description and vegetables. Abundance of fish are caught in the bay.
The climate is mild and healthy; the rainy season commences in the autumn, about May, and lasts until August. In the summer months it is rare to have a storm.
Wild animals are becoming very scarce; a few of the large game such as the elephant and buffalo are preserved in the Addo, Kowie, and Zitzchkamma forests, and may be occasionally seen going down in troops of thirty and forty to the sea to have a bath. A few wild beasts; blesbok and many springbok may now be seen on the plains, and also the ostrich.
Tigers and tiger-cats are yet plentiful in the kloofs of the mountain ranges that extend so far through the colony. A few sea-cow, I believe, are still to be seen in the rivers on the eastern border, beyond East London.
Between the eastern division of the Cape Colony, that is Kaffraria proper, and the upper part of the Caledon river, is Basutoland, an extensive region that joins up to Natal or Drakensberg mountain as its eastern boundary, the north by the Caledon river and the Orange Free State, as also a portion of its western boundary. The country is very mountainous, with deep and thickly wooded kloofs, making the scenery very lovely. Some of the hills on the Drakensberg side are 9500 feet above sea-level. The Basutos are a branch of the Bechuana family, of the Barolong tribe, the same family as Montsioa, who left Basutoland when young, and occupied the country he now holds on the Molapo river. The small district of Thaba Nchu belonged to these people, which was separated from Basutoland by the Free State, and in fact that state surrounded it; and in consequence of a difference between the two chiefs, Samuel and Sepinare Moroka (the latter being killed), President Brand went with a force of Free State burghers and took possession of the town and territory of Thaba Nchu, and annexed it to that state. Samuel was the son of the old chief Moroka, the other his nephew. When Moroka died in 1880, the people were divided as to who should be the chief. There is no doubt the son had the greatest claim; he was an educated Kaffir, having spent several years at St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury, and was in every respect a gentleman in behaviour. He is now a wanderer amongst his tribe.
Thaba Nchu, in 1863, was the largest native town in British South Africa; the population then was about 9000, with mission houses and church schools.
It was from this station, in 1837, that the Boers who escaped from the fight with Moselikatze, joined the Barolongs to drive that chief from Mosega, and collected a force of 1000 men. Montsioa, the present chief, held command of part of the expedition, and through the Basuto assistance, the Boers managed to drive Moselikatze more to the north. We now see the return they get for this help: their country at Thaba Nchu taken from them, and Montsioa would have lost his, and himself and people been murdered, if the British Government had not stepped in at the eleventh hour and saved them. Basutoland, which is separated from Thaba Nchu, is now under British protection, and is one of the finest wheat-growing countries in South Africa, and the natives, if they had been let alone, would have remained at peace, as they were growing rich in supplying the diamond-fields with corn. But as their country joins for such a distance to the Free State, which is occupied by a Boer population, it is impossible for them to remain in peace for long, for no tribe, however peacefully inclined the people may be, can with Boers on their border remain so long, as the latter have many ways of causing a disturbance, which we have so frequently witnessed, as in the case of Montsioa and Monkuruan, and the only way to prevent any further trouble in that country was for the British Government to take it under their protection. Thaba Bosigo is their principal town and one of their mission stations.
The Orange Free State occupies the whole of that part of Africa lying between the Cape Colony, Basutoland, Natal, and the Transvaal. Bloomfontein is the capital and seat of Government. Mr Brand is the President, now Sir John Brand, with a Volksraad to carry on the Government, and contains within its area about 55,000 square miles.
The principal rivers are the Vaal, Orange, and Caledon, that form the boundary. The tributaries of the Vaal are the Likwa spruit, the north-east boundary, Klip, Welge, Rhenoster, Valsch, Vet, Modder, and Keit.
The principal towns are Harrismith, situated on the north-east portion of the State, about twenty-five miles north of the Drakensberg range, the boundary of Natal, and on the main transport roads from Natal to the diamond-fields, Bloomfontein, Potchefstroom, and Pretoria in the Transvaal; also Winburg, Cronstad, Boschof, Keckstad, Fauresmith, and many others of lesser note.
The country is almost one unbroken open grass plain, very scarce of wood; in some parts there are long stretches of thorn, principally mimosa bush, but the demand for wood at the diamond-fields is so great that in a few years there will be scarcely a stick worth cutting, as the price for a waggon-load of wood varies from ten to thirty pounds. A large proportion of the population in the various towns are English and other nationalities.
The climate in winter is cold, but dry. The elevation averages 4500 feet above sea-level, which is the cause. Fortunately the winters are dry. The rainy season is from November to April. In the summer months very severe thunderstorms pass over the country. Generally there is a great want of water previous to the rainy season, and many cattle die from cold and starvation. Game, twenty years ago, was plentiful, and also lions; but only a few blesbok, wildebeest, and springbok are to be met with. Some of the farmers have now begun to preserve them on their farms, otherwise they would have long since disappeared from the country. Lions have all been destroyed, but a few wolves are still left. In parts of the country there are some very pretty localities, where the woods are preserved, and occasionally may be seen several hundred baboons visiting those parts for the gum, of which they are very fond. Many of them are of great size; they may be heard a long distance, as they pass with their half-human grunts, and it would be dangerous for any single individual unarmed to come across their path.
It is impossible for any great improvement to be made in the present state of affairs in the State. The country is too poor, and with very little chance of its ever becoming richer, with such a lack of energy for advancing in civilisation as is in the Boer character.
The British colony of Natal is situated on the coast, and joins on to the Cape Colony at its extreme eastern boundary, called Kaffirland proper, and Griqualand East as also Basutoland. To the north it joins up to the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, the Drakensberg mountain dividing it from them. On the eastern side, Zululand is separated from it by the Tugela and the Buffalo rivers. It has a coast-line of 150 miles. The extreme northern point is in 27 degrees 25 minutes South latitude, down to 31 degrees 10 minutes. The extreme western point is in 29 degrees 4 minutes, to 31 degrees 30 minutes, being the eastern point at the mouth of the Tugela, where Zululand joins it.
It is governed by a Lieutenant-Governor, and Executive and Legislative Councils. The principal town is Maritzburg, situated about fifty miles inland from the port of Durban. The latter has become an important town, where all the shipping trade is carried on for the colony and the interior. On the main transport road to the Free State and Transvaal are Howick, close to the Umgeni waterfall, Weston, Estcourt, Colenzo, Ladysmith, and Newcastle. East of Maritzburg is Richmond; north of Durban is Pinetown, and many others in various parts of the country.
The mountain range on the western boundary, and on its northern, called the Drakensberg, are the highest of any of the mountains of South Africa, and it possesses some of the finest scenery in this part of the world. The loftiest peaks are 10,000 feet above sea-level. The general elevation of the upper portion of the colony is 4000 feet, sloping gradually until it reaches the coast-line.
The climate is very healthy, both in summer and winter, and very mild. The coast region is more tropical from its being less elevated than the up-country; many extensive sugar plantations are cultivated, and the Natal sugar has become an important article of commerce. Coffee, tobacco, indigo, tea, arrowroot, various kinds of spices, all kinds of garden vegetables, tomato, yams, pineapple, and other tropical fruits. Cotton is cultivated also.
Maritzburg is the seat of Government, and the principal military station. Railways are now pushing their way up towards Newcastle. When I knew the colony in 1860 the principal mode of conveyance was by bullock-waggons and passenger-carts. The colonists are now going in for preserving fruits, which are highly prized for their delicious flavour.
There is some very fine building stone, particularly the marble found near Alfreda. Coal is found at Newcastle and Biggarsberg. Iron is distributed largely all over the country, and copper has also been discovered. Limestone has been found on the Bushman river and Upper Tugela. Slate is also found in several parts, and on the Bushman river, in which are beautiful specimens of fossil ferns. Altogether, Natal is a pleasant and healthy colony, but the native population being so large, now reaching to near 400,000, against a white population of something under 30,000, is a drawback to the whole of the country being profitably utilised, as it would otherwise be, if the colour was reversed. And one does not see what the end is to be, as Natal cannot carry a dense white population whilst the Kaffirs live and increase nearly as rapidly as the whites.
Gold will probably settle the question, as the bulk of the Kaffirs remaining will be crowded out, and a small population of white men will remain and feed the gold-diggers in the Transvaal and beyond.
The End.