rnia 
 J 
 
 
 .--. g 
 
 mm^^mm 

 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 I Pt 
 
 -n
 
 THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
 
 gM 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 -" *ffl 1 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 ^~»3 
 
 IT- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 
 
 ' 

 
 DESCRIPTIVE HANDBOOK 
 
 THE CAPE COLONY 
 
 ITS CONDITION AND RESOURCES. 
 
 JOHN NOBLE, 
 
 CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CAPE TOWN: J. C. JUTA. 
 
 LONDON : 
 E. STANFORD, 55, CHARING CROSS. 
 
 1875. 
 
 [all rights reserved.]
 
 753 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A little more than twelve months ago, it was 
 represented to me that a Descriptive Handbook of 
 the Colony, for the information of intending emi- 
 grants in England and elsewhere, was highly neces- 
 sary, and I was solicited to undertake the preparation 
 of one. A personal acquaintance with the greater 
 part of the country, as well as knowledge of its 
 recent remarkable advancement in material prosperity, 
 induced me to accept the task, although fully con- 
 scious that there were others more qualified for the 
 work, if they had only the inclination or time to 
 do it. 
 
 The object I set before myself was to present an 
 impartial account of the aspect and condition of the 
 various divisions of the Colony ; to inform the reader 
 of its liberal land laws, its agricultural and pastoral 
 resources, its mineral wealth, its industries, and its 
 commercial progress ; and thus to direct attention to 
 the favourable field it offers for the profitable employ- 
 ment of intelligent industry and moderate capital, 
 as well as to the moral and social advantages it 
 
 688654
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 possesses, compared with many new countries, from 
 having been for a long time occupied by settled 
 European society. 
 
 There was no lack of material in the shape of 
 public and private information from which to compile 
 this work : the difficulty was to compress it within 
 the compass of a small handbook, and at the same 
 time to pourtray all the principal features and matters 
 of special interest throughout the Colony. I have 
 endeavoured to do this as briefly as was consistent 
 with general accuracy, and without any pretension 
 whatever to literary finish or excellence. A desire 
 expressed to limit the Handbook to about three hun- 
 dred pages, has caused me to leave over extended 
 notices of the Political and Civil Institutions, the 
 Flora and Fauna, and other subjects, for a larger 
 publication, hereafter to be issued, which will embrace 
 a description of the Border States and Territories. 
 
 In the statistical information given in the body of 
 the present volume, I was compelled to adopt, in 
 regard to population and stock, the returns of the 
 official census taken in 1865, supplemented by later 
 statistics obtained from several reliable authorities, 
 from Parliamentary papers, and from the Tables of 
 Trade furnished by the Customs Department. The 
 difficulty and delay in the execution of the print- 
 ing, arising from circumstances beyond control, has,
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 however, enabled me to append a portion of the results 
 of the Census of the present year. 
 
 I now beg to acknowledge my obligations to those 
 gentlemen, official and private, in various parts of 
 the Colony who have assisted me with information, 
 and among whom I may take the liberty of specially 
 mentioning the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, 
 the Surveyor-General, Mr. Hellier, Mr. Reitz, Mr. 
 Dowling, and Dr. Atherstone. 
 
 JOHN NOBLE. 
 
 Chambers, House of Assembly, 
 Cape Town, April, 1875.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface 
 
 The Cape Colony— Physical Features 
 
 Past History 
 
 Present Aspect and Condition — 
 
 I. Cape Town and its Surroundings ... 
 II. The old-settled Cape Districts ... 
 
 III. The West Coast Districts 
 
 IV. The North-West Districts and Orange River 
 V. The South-East Coast Districts ... 
 
 VI. The Midland Karoo Districts 
 VII. The Eastern Districts ... 
 VIII. The Border Districts 
 
 Climate and Seasons ... .,. ... 
 
 Land Tenure and Land Laws 
 
 Pastoral and Agricultural Resources 
 
 Trade Returns -1860 to 1874 
 
 Commercial and Industrial Progress 
 
 Census of 1875 ... ... ... ... 
 
 Map of South Africa 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 30 
 
 yj 
 
 47 
 67 
 88 
 104 
 127 
 168 
 207 
 
 233 
 
 243 
 
 253 
 
 294 
 295 
 
 307
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP. 
 
 The Lithograph of the Alfred Docks is executed by Messrs. 
 Hanhart of London, from a photograph taken by Mr. Moore 
 of Cape Town, for the Table Bay Harbour Board. It shows 
 distinctly the entrance and inner basin, with the mail packets 
 lying at their usual berths, — the Union Company's steamer 
 Nyanza at the East Quay, and the Donald Currie's steam-ship 
 Windsor Castle, with the coasting steamer Florence alongside, 
 at the North Quay. The excavations for the Graving Dock, 
 now in progress, are noticeable at the left corner of the 
 picture. 
 
 Port Elizabeth Market-square and Town-hall (page 170) 
 is from a photograph by Mr. Bruton, of Port Elizabeth and 
 Cape Town. 
 
 The Map of South Africa, originally compiled by H. Hall, 
 Esq., R.E.D., but revised and corrected to date, is issued speci- 
 ally for this volume, from the geographical establishment of Mr. 
 Stanford, London. It represents all the Districts into which the 
 Colony is at present divided, and shows the lines of the proposed 
 new railways. It also embraces the Territories and States 
 adjoining the Colony, to nearly the 25th parallel of soath 
 latitude, and gives the territorial limits of each, as recognized 
 by Her Majesty's Government.
 
 EKRATA. 
 
 The reader is requested to correct the following misprints: r- 
 
 In page 4, line 7, for " west boarder " read " west bordej:' 
 „ „ 24, „ 23, for " 1851 ■ read " 1850." 
 
 20, for "a knowledge" read "or knawledge." 
 
 29, for " 250 " miles read " 300 miles." 
 15, for "W. Dunn & Co." read "Macbie, Dunn & Co.V 
 
 30, for " Belham's " read " Brehm's." 
 30, for " 200,000 bales " read " 100,000 bales." 
 
 21, for u cressulas " read " crassulas." 
 4, for " modulates " read " moderates." 
 
 34, for " orations " read " oratorios'" 
 12, for "Glen Thorn" read " Glen Lyndoch." 
 
 2, for " valued at " read " returned at." 
 9, for " 25,000 lb. per acre." read 2,500 lb. per acre." 
 4, for "East London" read "East Griqualand." 
 9, for "north-egster" read " sow^-easter." 
 
 35, for " 100 chickens " read " 200 chickens." 
 
 27, 
 
 j» 
 
 75, 
 
 jj 
 
 171, 
 
 5J 
 
 176, 
 
 » 
 
 177, 
 
 » 
 
 188, 
 
 5> 
 
 191, 
 
 5> 
 
 192, 
 
 » 
 
 203, 
 
 ?J 
 
 204, 
 
 » 
 
 215, 
 
 ;j 
 
 227, 
 
 5} 
 
 234, 
 
 J) 
 
 268, 
 
 ;j
 
 PHYSICAL FEATUBES. 
 
 A reference to the map will give the reader some 
 idea of the vast extent of territory which has been 
 colonized by Europeans in South Africa. From the 
 extreme promontory where Cape L'Agulhas fronts 
 the Southern Ocean in lat. 34° 50' S., towns, villages, 
 and settlers' homesteads and flocks stretch northwards 
 over the country till about the twenty-second parallel of 
 latitude. The area thus occupied, which may be roughly 
 estimated at about 500,000 square miles, comprises five 
 separate settlements, namely: — 1, The Cape of Good 
 Hope; 2, Griqualand West; and 3, Natal, — all under 
 British dominion: 4, The Orange Free State; and 5, 
 The Transvaal, — which are under independent Repub- 
 lican governments. 
 
 The " Cape Colony " — as the Cape of Good Hope is 
 commonly termed — forms the greater part of this South 
 African possession. The present boundaries are : 
 On the north, the Orange River, which stretches from 
 east to west, over about two-thirds of the Continent, 
 separating the Colony from Great Xamaqualand, 
 Griqualand, and the Free State Republic ; on the 
 east and north-east, the Drakensberg or Quathlamba 
 Mountains, and the course of the Indwe and Great 
 Kei Rivers ; while on each side, east and west, it has 
 a very extensive sea-board — that overlooking the 
 Atlantic being upwards of 500 miles, and that on 
 the Indian Ocean about 700 miles in extent. 
 
 B
 
 2 MAPS OF THE COLONY. 
 
 Unlike the Australian and North American colonies, 
 there has been no regular systematic survey of this 
 country, so that none of the published maps, whether 
 by Arrowsmith, Wyld, Peterman, or Hall, are accurate 
 representations of its geographical and topographical 
 feature?. The early charts were mostly derived from 
 the peregrinations of naturalists or travellers, and 
 filled in from estimates by eye or imagination; in later 
 years they were constructed from imperfect surveys by 
 different surveyors, and rough military reconnaisance 
 sketches ; but in neither case could these be relied 
 upon as the means of judging correctly of distance, 
 direction, area, or difference of level. The value of the 
 maps may be gathered from the fact mentioned by Sir 
 T. Maclear (late Astronomer-Royal), that, in Arrow- 
 smith's map of 1843, the town of Clanwilliam was 
 twenty-one miles from its position, and fourteen miles 
 seemed to have been wedged in near the north horn 
 of St, Helena Bay, dislocating all to the north as far 
 as the boundary. The surveyors engaged during 1874 
 in laying out the authorized lines of railway to the 
 Midland divisions^ likewise found Graaff-Reinet and 
 other towns considerably out of position in Hall's map, 
 although it, as the latest publication, has been rectified 
 as far as it was possible to do so from the material to 
 hand, and is the best at present published. The 
 Government has lately, however, had its attention 
 directed to the subject of setting on foot triangulation 
 surveys for the construction of a really trustworthy 
 map ; and Mr. A. de Smidt, the Surveyor-General of 
 the Colony, has already commenced the work in a 
 manner which promises to ensure ere long the accom- 
 plishment of so desirable an object. 
 
 The Colony is exceptionally fortunate in possessing 
 a thoroughly trustworthy basis on which the requisite 
 triangulation may be founded. The measurement of a 
 base line, always a delicate, difficult, and costly opera-
 
 TRIGXOMETRICAL SURVEY. 3 
 
 tion, is rendered unnecessary by the existence of a 
 great number of points on commanding summits alono- 
 the western and southern coast, fixed in latitude and 
 longitude with rigorous accuracy, and marked by 
 solidly-built beacons. The first step in this direction 
 was made as far back as 1752, when Lacaile, the 
 French astronomer, measured an arc of the meridian, 
 of seventy-three geographical miles in length, between 
 a point in Cape Town and a point at the north end of 
 Piketberg. Nearly a century after, in 1840, the 
 British Admiralty authorized the verification and 
 extension of Lacaile's survey, and the fixing of 
 geographical points available for further surveys ; 
 and this was carried out by Sir Thomas Maclear, 
 who completed a chain of triangles from L'Agulhas 
 to Cape Point, and thence northward to the Bush- 
 manland plain adjoining the Orange River. In 1859 
 the work was taken up at the expense of the Colony, 
 and Captain W. Bailey, R.E., and some men from 
 the Ordinance Survey Department at home, were 
 selected by Government for the purpose. Their 
 operations were concluded in 1862, and embraced a 
 principal triangulation along the coast, and extending 
 inland from Capoc Berg and Table Mountain on the 
 Atlantic side, eastward to the frontier of the Colony 
 on the Great Ivei River. The computed results were 
 tested by the measurement of a base of verification 
 and astronomical observations (near Graham's Town) 
 which proved indisputably the reliability of the survey, 
 and showed that throughout the work the computed 
 distances and geographical determinations of points 
 are very near the truth, so that the probable mean 
 error of the final distances does not exceed about an 
 inch a mile. 
 
 By the geographical points thus fixed, a very 
 careful survey of the sea-coast was carried out by 
 the Admiralty, furnishing what is even of greater 
 b2
 
 4 HYDROGRAPHICAL SURVEY. 
 
 importance — correct charts of the Cape shores. With 
 certain exceptions, the old charts were founded upon 
 a running survey. Captain Owen's party, fifty years 
 ago, swept the sea-board from Table Bay round to 
 the Fish River, and afterwards proceeded along the 
 Eastern coast laying down the shores of Delgoa Bay, 
 Qullimane, and Mozambique. The west boarder had 
 been swept a few years earlier by another officer. 
 Table Bay w T as pretty closely surveyed by Captain 
 Owen, and afterwards touched up by Captain Stanley, 
 Sir Edward Belcher, Lieuts. Dayman and Skead. 
 False Bay was also surveyed by Captain Owen's 
 party. The sad fate of H. M. S. Birkenhead, off 
 Danger Point, led to a closer survey of the distance 
 between Capes Hanglip and L'Agulhas. The Lords 
 Commissioners of the Admiralty sent out an able 
 hydrographical surveyor, with an assistant, to execute 
 this survey and any other that might be needed pro- 
 vided sounding marks were laid down by the Colony, 
 which was subsequently clone by Captain Bailey. 
 The geographic points established by Sir T. Maelesr 
 enabled Lieutenant Dayman to execute the work 
 with a degree of accuracy unparalleled on the 
 Cape shores ; and the splendid chart of these 
 dangerous headlands, now published, was the result. 
 Subsequently, the hydrographical survey to the East- 
 ward was continued by Lieutenant Skead, and 
 afterwards by Lieutenant Archdeacon, and the coast- 
 line of the whole Colony may now be said to be 
 completed from the Orange River on one side to the 
 Great Kei on the other, and on to Natal. 
 
 The geographical features of the Colony are 
 varied — hills, mountains, and valleys succeeding each 
 other as one advances from the coast inland for 
 nearly two hundred miles ; then very wide and tolerably 
 level plains — over which are scattered low rocky 
 ridges — stretch away to the bed of the Orange River.
 
 MOUNTAINS — RIVERS. 5 
 
 One or two districts near to the coast are pretty 
 well clothed with woods, but generally the mountains 
 and hills are bare, and the plains are quite treeless 
 and barren-looking, although affording excellent pas- 
 turage. 
 
 The mountain chains, ranging from 1,000 to 9,000 
 feet high, which intersect the country from the west 
 to north-east, rise in successive steps, attaining as 
 they recede a gradual increase of altitude. Begin- 
 ning with the range nearest Cape Town, we have the 
 Drakenstein and Hottentot's Holland Mountains, at 
 an average of 4,000 feet, running eastward, as the 
 Langebergen, Onteniqua, and Zitzikamma, to Cape 
 St. Francis. Behind them there is a parallel chain, 
 averaoino; 5,0H0 feet hio*h, forming the Cold Bokkeveld 
 and Zwartbergen, bounding the Karoo plains, and 
 running eastward, as the Little Winterhoek and 
 Zuurbergen. And still further inland there is another 
 terrace, averaging about 6,000 or 7,000 feet, commencing 
 in Xamaqualand, and extending through the Roggeveld 
 Karoo, the Nieuweveld, and the Sneeuwbergen of 
 Graaff-Reinet and Middelburo- on to the Stormbero-en 
 on the north-east frontier, and thence to the Drakens 
 berg, on the border of Natal. There are, besides these, 
 many distinct mountains and groups of hills, whose 
 fantastic peaks, flat, serrated, or conical, are well- 
 known landmarks. 
 
 Of the numerous rivers draining the Colony, it is 
 unfortunate that none are available as highways. The 
 largest — the Orange River — has a breadth of bed 
 varying from 200 yards to two miles, with a lengtn or 
 probably 1,000 miles. In many places it forms 
 magnificent reaches, but throughout its course there 
 are islands, rapids and falls which render it useless as a 
 channel of communication from the coast to the 
 interior. The next largest — the Sunday's, Fish, and 
 Gamboos Rivers — have their sources in the central
 
 6 HARBOURS. 
 
 mountain range of the Sneeuwbergen ; but they run 
 off rapidly along the sloping plains, over a length of 
 between 200 and 300 miles, to the sea, where their 
 mouths are blocked with sands thrown up by the 
 winds and currents on the coast. The other rivers 
 such as the Berg, the Breede, the Olifants, the 
 Gouritz, and the Ivowie and Buffalo, are of lesser 
 extent, and only two or three are navigable for short 
 distances from their estuaries. 
 
 Of the many harbours or ports along the sea-board, 
 there are at least a dozen available for commerce, and 
 frequented by steamers and other vessels engaged in 
 transmitting supplies or receiving produce. Table 
 Bay, with its breakwater, docks, patent slip, and 
 other facilities for shipping, may be considered first 
 in importance. Close to it is the commodious 
 harbour of Simon's Bay, — the naval station and 
 dockyard for her Majesty's vessels. Saldanha Bay, 
 St. Helena Bay, Hondeklip, and Port Nolloth, are the 
 other ports on the West Coast. Eastward of Cape 
 L'Agulhas, are the harbours of Mossel Bay, Knysna, 
 Plettenberg's Bay, Algoa Bay, Port Alfred, and 
 East London, most of which afford friendly shelter 
 to vessels unable to beat to the westward against the 
 wintry north-west gales. Algoa Bay is the principal 
 port of trade on the whole of the eastern coast of 
 Africa ; Mossel Bay is advancing in importance ; and 
 the same may be said of Port Alfred and East London, 
 — both of which are river harbours, at present available 
 for ships of medium capacity, but where extensive 
 marine engineering w^orks are in progress, designed 
 to render them more accessible and secure. 
 
 Lighthouses have been erected, and are maintained 
 by the Colonial Government, at the various ports and 
 headlands on the coast. The position and character 
 of these are : 
 
 In Table Bay — 1. Eobben Island ; fixed dioptric,
 
 LIGHTHOUSES. I 
 
 1st order, white light ; visible 20 miles round horizon; 
 154 feet above high water; cylindrical tower, red and 
 white bands, latitude 33° 48' 52" ; east longitude 
 18° 22' 33"; longitude of Cape Observatory 18° 28' 45" 
 — 2. Green Point; flashing dioptric, 3rd order; flash- 
 ing every 10 seconds, white light; visible 13 miles, 
 65 feet above high water, square tower ; 400 yards 
 from low water. Latitude 33° 54' 4" ; east longitude 
 18° 24' 3"— 3. Mouille Point, harbour light;" fixed 
 dioptric, 4th order, red light, visible 10 miles; 44 
 feet above high water ; cylindrical tower, painted 
 black and white bands, 100 yards from low water. 
 Latitude 33° 53' 56"; east longitude 18° 24' 46". 
 
 At Cape Point, the entrance to False Bay, a 
 revolving catoptric, 1st order, 16 reflectors, white 
 light, bright for 12 seconds every minute; visible 
 36 miles; on the Point, 816 feet above high water, 
 iron tower, painted white. Latitude 34° 21' 12". 
 East longitude 18° 29' 30". 
 
 In Simon's Bay, harbour light, South Roman-rock ; 
 covered at high water ; catoptric revolver, 8 reflectors, 
 white light, bright for 12 seconds every half minute; 
 54 feet above high water ; visible 12 mile3 ; circular 
 iron tower, lower half black, upper white. Latitude 
 34° 10' 45". East longitude 18° 7' 30". 
 
 At Cape L'Agulhas ; fixed catadioptric, 1st order, 
 white light, 128 feet above high water; visible 18 
 miles ; circular tower, red and white bands alternately. 
 Latitude 34° 49' 46". East longitude 20° 0' 37". 
 Longitude east of Cape Observatory 1° 31' 54". 
 
 At Mossel Bay, Cape St. Blaize ; fixed dioptric, 
 3rd order ; 240 feet above high water ; red light, 
 visible 15 miles ; a square white tower. Latitude 
 34° IP 10". East longitude 22° 9' 31". 
 
 At Cape St. Francis a light will shortly be erected, 
 a liberal grant of money for the purpose having been 
 made by the Legislature.
 
 8 LIGHTHOUSES. 
 
 At Cape Reciffe ; dioptric, 1st order, revolver, 93 
 feet above high water; white light; a ray of red 
 light visible between the bearings, S. by W. to 
 S.W. J S., clears the Roman Rock. Revolves every 
 minute; visible 15 miles; tower painted, four hori- 
 zontal bands, red and white alternately. Latitude 
 33° V 43". East longitude 25° 42' 12". 
 
 At Port Elizabeth, harbour light on a hill at the 
 back of the town, S. ^ E., 25 yards from Donkin's 
 Monument. A fixed dioptric, 6th order, red light, 
 visible between the bearings of N.W. to N.W. by W., 
 white light from N.W. by "W. to S.W. by W. The 
 white visible 12 miles, which kept in sight clears all 
 danger; 225 feet above high water; tower stone colour. 
 Latitude 33° 57' 45". East longitude 25° 37' 0". 
 
 At Bird Island ; fixed red light, 3rd order ; diop- 
 tric, 80 feet above the main sea level, and can be seen 
 from a ship's deck of 15 feet at a distance of 14J 
 miles in ordinary weather. 
 
 At Buffalo River, East London, on Reef, south 
 side of entrance ; a harbour light, fixed dioptric, 
 6th order, 45 feet above high water, white light ; 
 visible 12 miles; tower painted red and white, 
 alternate bands. Latitude 33° T 5", East longitude 
 27° 55' 2". 
 
 At Port Natal, revolving dioptric, 2nd order, on 
 the Bluff; 282 feet above high water; revolves every 
 minute, white beams, visible 24 miles ; tower iron, 
 conical, painted white. Latitude 29° 52' 50". East 
 longitude 31° 3' 35". 
 
 The geographical nomenclature of the various 
 districts of the Colony which appears on the map 
 may seem rather a strange jargon to the English 
 reader Some of the terms are aboriginal, but 
 generally they are those which were adopted by the 
 early Dutch settlers, and to the colonist very expres 
 sively describe the peculiarities of feature, soil,
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE. 9 
 
 and situation of the different parts of the country. 
 Mr. Hall (whom we have already mentioned as the 
 compiler of the latest and best existing map of the 
 Colony, and who has also published an excellent 
 manual on its geography) freely adopts these African- 
 Dutch names, and says, " they frequently convey a 
 much better idea of this very irregular portion of 
 the earth's surface than the modern titles of the 
 division or district can give. The words 'bergen,' 
 'hop/ and 'kopjes,' represent the several forms, 
 classes, and grades of hills, isolated or otherwise, 
 while minor elevations are clearly defined by 
 'hooghte,' equivalent nearly to our height. 'Rand' 
 is almost untranslatable, but signifying literally edge 
 or margin, and colonially applied to the high land 
 bounding a river valley, as the Fish River Rand, 
 Suikerbosch Rand. 'fciek' is a depression between 
 two hills, over which a road generally leads, ill- 
 translated by our neck, which may be a low, sandy 
 isthmus, or any other connecting feature. ' Hoek,' 
 literally corner, is a colonial term, generally under- 
 stood as a retired mountain valley, with a narrow 
 entrance — a quiet glen you can get into, but where, 
 unless by the same way, there is a difficulty of egress — 
 as Fransch Hoek, Zwager's Hoek, or Mostert's Hoek, 
 6 Ruggens,' literally ' backs,' are a collection of low 
 hills, often bushy, as the Zwarte Ruggens in Graaff- 
 Reinet, Uitenhage, and elsewhere. « Poort ' may be 
 defined as amountain ravine, the bed of a torrentthrough 
 which a road passes, as Brookhuisen's Poort, Howison's 
 Poort, Meiring's Poort, Seven Weeks' Poort, &c. — a 
 very roundabout translation certainly, but using the 
 English word ' pass,' in the sense it is received here, 
 will not define it. Colonists use 'pass' only 
 when some extensive work has been executed, as 
 often over the top of a mountain, or through its 
 valleys, as Sir Lowry's Pass, over Hottentot's
 
 10 GEOGRAPHICAL 
 
 Holland Mountains, or Montagu Pass over Cradock 
 Mountain. e Kloof is literally a cleft or split, and 
 we know no English word perfectly equivalent to it ; 
 for certainly neither cliff, ravine, or glen, come exactly 
 to our colonial idea of a kloof; but in the dialect of 
 the Lowlands of Scotland, i kleugh ' is probably 
 derived from it. e Krantz ' literally signifies a 
 wreath or crown, and is colonially applied to the 
 steep cliffs which crown the summit of so many of 
 our mountains, or form the sides of our river valleys. 
 Hangklip conveys the idea of a mountain overhanging 
 its base, as Cape Hangklip and the picturesque Hang- 
 klip in the Queen's Town district, and of which Hang- 
 rock would be but a clumsy translation. Klip is rock, 
 and is generally applied to some remarkable boulder, 
 as the Paarlklip, Honcleklip, &c, like the Black Rock, 
 Roman Rock, &c, of English charts. And Praam 
 Berg, Tandjes Berg, Tooren Berg, Theebus Berg, 
 Tafel Berg, all describe clearly the shapes of the 
 mountains respectively as inverted boats, rugged- 
 like teeth, towers, tea-caddys, table or flat-topped, 
 &c. e Spitskop ' may be translated peak or sugar- 
 loaf, while an illustration of the many Leeuwkops 
 may be found in the immense masses of sand- 
 stone or basalt forming the summit of many of 
 our hills, in some cases assuming the form of a lion 
 couchaut, as on Lion's Head. The English collective 
 6 Highlands,' as the Highlands of Scotland, Abys- 
 sinia, &c, has hardly any equivalent in our colonial 
 nomenclature. We say, e in the bergen,' as he has a 
 farm c in the Sneuwbergen,' &c. We may generally 
 know the character of our African mountain regions 
 by the names given them ; thus the term Zuurbergen 
 denotes a range of hills covered with sour herbage ; 
 Sneuwbergen, mountains covered occasionally with 
 snow ; Wittebergen, mountains with white quartzoze 
 summits or sides ; Zwartebergen, mountains appearing
 
 NOMENCLATURE. 11 
 
 of a black or dark-blue tint ; Stormbergen, ranges 
 remarkable for the violence of the storms that 
 break on their summit ; TTinterbergen, a cold, cheer- 
 less, naked mountain region ; Boschbergen, mountains 
 densely wooded, &c. The f rivier' of the Dutch, be it 
 a flowing stream or a dry watercourse, is translated 
 indifferently into English as a river; but we can 
 hardly give an equivalent for the term ( spruit,' 
 which signifies the feeders that supply the parent 
 stream near its sources. The long reaches of deep 
 water which are found in many of our watercourses, 
 even when they do not flow, are locally called 
 f Gats,' which would be badly translated by either 
 of its literal meanings, hole or channel. The Dutch 
 equivalent of our English brook, rivulet, stream, 
 torrent, &c, seldom or never appear among our 
 African rivers. The word i Vallei,' generally 
 written here i Vley,' has, colonially, a double 
 meaning, one signifying a valley, the other, as it is 
 generally understood, a hollow surface, in which, in 
 wet seasons, water accumulates, forming a shallow 
 lake, as De Beer's Vley, Verloren Yley, Vogel Vley, 
 and many others. The proper names of most of the 
 rivers are generally given either from their form (as 
 the Groote, Breede, Kromme, Zonder End), or pecu- 
 liarities in their water (as Zout, Brakke, Zwarte, 
 TTitte, Blink, Modeler, Zand), their agricultural 
 equalities (as Vette, Karnmelk, Milk), or from the 
 animals which are founel living in them, or near their 
 banks (as the Visch, Zeekoe, Eland, Rhenoster, 
 Bosjeman, Buffels, Olifant's, &c, &c.) For large flat 
 surfaces, Vlakte is generally used, our equivalent for 
 which is flats. The Dutch Plein is generally used for 
 a large open space within a town. Xo Dutch word 
 has superseded the old Hottentot i Karoo ' in 
 describing the vast interior deserts of the Colony. 
 Duin, or Duinen, well describes the sand hills near
 
 12 ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND NATIVE NAMES. 
 
 the coast. There are other words constantly occur- 
 ring, either in our maps or books of travels in this 
 Colony, such as Drift, the colonial Dutch for a ford ; 
 Kuil, a hole where water collects; Puit, a well; 
 Kraal, a cattle enclosure or native village, and Bosch, 
 a forest or wood, great or small, applicable to the 
 general thickety and scrubby nature of our South 
 African forests. But besides all these particular 
 denominations, there is a very expressive nomencla- 
 ture, chiefly compounds of the words ( veld ' and 
 ■ land ' (field or country), which also tends very 
 much to add to our ideas of the face of the country. 
 Large tracts are thus described, quite independent of 
 the political divisions. For instance, there is the 
 unoccupied and ungranted country called "Trekveld," 
 which literally means Movefield (a country where 
 farmers go to in certain seasons with their flocks) ; 
 the extensive Nieuwveld, or new country, now forming 
 the northern part of the districts of Beaufort and 
 Fraserberg ; the Koudeveld, or Coldfield, on the 
 summits of the Camdebo Mountains, and the Winter- 
 veld (Richmond and Hope Town) extending north 
 to the Orange Kiver e The geographical nomenclature 
 of the Cape Colony has thus, like the Dutch language 
 spoken in the Colony, in a certain degree adapted 
 itself to the country it describes, and as it seems 
 plainly to be understood by every one who has resided 
 here any length of time, it would be a joiece of 
 superfluous labour, in constructing a new map of the 
 Colony, to endeavour to get rid of the anomalies 
 everywhere presenting themselves in the jumble of 
 Dutch and Lno-lish and native words."
 
 PAST HISTOBY. 
 
 A little more than two centuries ago, the Dutch 
 East India Company, under the charter granted to 
 them by the States-General of the United Provinces 
 of the Netherlands, established a garrison on the 
 shores of Table Bay. European possession of South 
 Africa may date from that time, although the 
 Portuguese and English had long before then visited 
 and even formally claimed dominion here. At first 
 it was simply occupied as a station or place of resort 
 for the Dutch ships trading to the eastward, where they 
 could get water and fresh supplies, and recruit their 
 sick crews. There was no attempt at planting a 
 Colony until several years afterwards, and then it was 
 of so anomalous a character, and under such peculiar 
 circumstances, as to contrast most curiously with 
 similar movements elsewhere. 
 
 The early settlers came from what was the most 
 industrious and liberty-loving of countries, Holland, 
 and they were followed by exiled Huguenots, some of 
 the best blood of sunny France. They made their 
 home here, not long after the Pilgrim Fathers from the 
 " Mayflower " landed on the shores of Massachussets 
 and founded New England. They had as rich a 
 country, a much milder clime, and more docile and 
 friendly natives to deal with than their European 
 brethren encountered across the Atlantic ; and it 
 might reasonably have been expected that their
 
 14 PAST HISTORY. 
 
 progress would be in some degree contemporaneously 
 marked and prosperous. The result, however, was 
 widely different, owiDg to the extraordinary mono- 
 polising colonization policy adopted, to which is 
 attributable the comparatively slow growth of the 
 Cape Settlement during the century and a half 
 of the Dutch Company's occupation. The New 
 Englanders, from the outset, happily enjoyed in their 
 new home perfect political liberty, as well as the 
 fullest and freest development of their industry ; but 
 the South Africans were trammelled, fettered, and 
 repressed in every conceivable way by a Government 
 which has been aptly described as — "in all things 
 political, purely despotic, and in all things com- 
 mercial, purely monopolist" Wherefore things were 
 so may be better understood by a brief historical 
 retrospect. 
 
 Jan Anthony Van Riebeek, a surgeon, in the 
 employ of the Dutch East India Company, who had 
 directed the attention of his masters to the advan- 
 tage of establishing a rendezvous at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, for the refreshment of their fleets, was the first 
 officer commissioned to occupy the Cape Promontory, 
 and build a fort and lay out gardens in Table Valley. 
 Accompanied by about a hundred souls, he arrived 
 under the shade of Table Mountain on the 5th April, 
 1652. Hi? followers were officers and servants of the 
 Company, a few of whom, after landing, were released 
 from their engagements, and permitted to become 
 "free burghers," or cultivators of the soil, on pay- 
 ment of tithes and other restrictive conditions of 
 servitude. The daily life they led, and the progress 
 made, are minutely detailed in the quaint and 
 interesting "journal" and "despatches" of Van 
 Riebeek, which are still preserved in the archives 
 of the Colony. These show that the settle- 
 ment was simply regarded as a dependency of the
 
 EARLY COLONIAL POLICY. 15 
 
 Company, and its affairs administered with no 
 other view than that of protecting and supporting 
 the commercial interests of that body. The principal 
 object was to supply its ships cheaply and plentifully — 
 to get as much profit as possible out of the burghers 
 and the natives on whom it was dependent for these 
 supplies — and to prevent them engaging in exchange 
 or barter with any other than the Company's officers, 
 — thus monopolising all trade for its own advantage. 
 Van Riebeek was very zealous in carrying out the 
 instructions and policy of his principals, and in his 
 relations with the natives was tolerably just and 
 friendly. For the ten years of his administration, 
 the Settlement, which scarcely extended over the area 
 now occupied by the City of Cape Town, seems to 
 have answered expectations. It was nothing as a 
 Colony, but it was considered a flourishing establish- 
 ment of the cabbage-garden order, and that was all it 
 was then desired to be. 
 
 During the following years the Company was 
 advised by some of Van Itiebeek's successors, and 
 notably by Governor Van der Stell, to make some- 
 thing more of its Cape dependency — to grow corn, 
 wine, and other products, which might yield rich 
 returns. For this purpose it was urged that the 
 number of residents should be strengthened, as there 
 was land of excellent character in abundance, but 
 labourers were required to till it. The want of 
 industry, it was said, was the great obstacle to 
 success; and, in order to remedy this, the directors 
 of the Company in Holland determined upon rein- 
 forcing their garrison with a number of settlers of 
 the agricultural class. Their policy, as set forth in 
 one of their despatches, was prompted by the con- 
 sideration that " he who would establish a new colony 
 may be justly compared to a good gardener who spends 
 a large sum upon a young orchard, with the prospect
 
 16 PAST HISTORY. 
 
 of his labour and capital being repaid in due time." 
 Had such a policy in its integrity been acted upon, the 
 subsequent history of the country would have been 
 very different. In the above and other expressed aims 
 and intentions of the Company there was much that 
 was good and beneficent ; but, practically, in all that 
 affected the encouragement, or even the toleration, of 
 trade and industry amongst its subjects, everything 
 was held secondary to immediate profit. 
 
 A small party of Dutch and German farmers were 
 the first to recruit the young Colony, and they were 
 shortly afterwards followed by a most valuable body of 
 emigrants — French and Piedmontese refugees, exiled 
 by the political and religious troubles following the 
 revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The latter 
 thoroughly understood the culture of the vine, as 
 well as some handicrafts, and were therefore com- 
 mended to the special consideration of the Governor, 
 who was told to assist them " in all things whereby 
 service could be done to the Company in particular, 
 and to the Church of God." Their total number did 
 not amount to more than two hundred men, women, 
 and children, and most of them were settled on lands 
 in the Stellenbosch district and along the valley of 
 the Berg River, afterwards named Drakenstein and 
 Paarl, where many of their descendants still dwell. 
 They were received, according to the words of 
 Governor Van der Stell, " with love and sympathy, 
 and an assisting hand, to the refreshment and comfort 
 of their sufferings and persecutions," as being "likely 
 to benefit and strengthen the Colony in a wonderful 
 decree, and to excite much emulation among the 
 Netherlanders." Aided by a gift from the Govern- 
 ment of India, the poorest of them were enabled to 
 obtain seed, implements, and other requisites, and so 
 marked was their industry that two years after their 
 settlement they became a self-supporting community.
 
 THE HUGUENOT EMIGRANTS. 17 
 
 They were not long, however, in discovering that the 
 "freedom " which they had been led to expect in their 
 exile was but the shadow of a name. Their language 
 was prohibited to be used at public services, and their 
 children soon became incorporated with the Dutch 
 around them. Any attempt to exercise the most 
 ordinary rights and privileges, such as the election 
 of their own church vestry, was denied them, and 
 even their industry and commerce were controlled 
 by the all-powerful officers of the Company. In 
 fact, they found, as one of their number states, 
 "that the great tyranny of the French monarch from 
 which they had tied was reflected in the petty despots 
 who o-overned uncontrolled at the Cape of Gfood 
 Hope/' 
 
 Before leaving Holland, the emigrants had been 
 required to take an oath of allegiance to the Com- 
 pany, and of compliance with the general or local 
 regulations imposed by its officers. These local regu- 
 lations were of the most illiberal character. Under 
 them they could not purchase anything except from 
 the Company's store, and at the Company's price ; 
 they were forbidden any commercial dealings with the 
 natives, or with the crews of ships visiting the port ; 
 all produce they were bound to sell only to the 
 Governor for a sum fixed at his discretion ; a tithe 
 of their yield was taken as a yearly tax ; and when 
 production passed a certain point, directions were 
 given that "no lands shall be granted for the culti- 
 vation of corn, wine, or other crops of which the 
 excess is burdensome to the Company ! " Of course, 
 there was dissatisfaction and remonstrative opposition 
 to such restrictions, but these were sternly repressed 
 as turbulent and seditious attempts against the lawful 
 authority, and punished with imprisonment, or depor- 
 tation to Mauritius or Batavia. At length, however, 
 in 1705, an opportunity was obtained of secretly for- 
 c
 
 18 PAST HISTORY. 
 
 warding an appeal to the Company in Holland, by one 
 of its homeward bound fleets, in which the " grievous 
 oppression " endured by the people at the hands of 
 the Governor and his officers, was fully set forth. 
 This simply led to the censure and removal of the 
 Governor and his counsellors — " for the restoration 
 of tranquility " — but to no change in the policy of 
 the Company, which was avowed to be the enrichment 
 of itself and not of its colonists. The compilers of 
 the annals of the country during this period assure 
 us that under the system which prevailed even the 
 Garden of Eden could not have been successfully 
 colonised. The recovery of the tithes assessed on 
 all crops raised and stock pastured was farmed out ; 
 and severe penalties were enacted to enforce their 
 payment, and to secure the delivery of all produce 
 at an arbitrarily fixed rate. Corn farmers complained 
 that, under this monopoly, they were compelled to part 
 with their grain for half the price at which it was 
 charged to tlie Company ; wine farmers that they had 
 to deliver their vintage at ten to twenty rix-dollars 
 per leaguer, while it was sold to ship captains at one 
 hundred and fifty rix-dollars ; grantees of land, who 
 ■wanted their title-deeds, that they could not obtain 
 them unless the solicitation was accompanied with the 
 necessary douceur, " for the Governor listened readily 
 to reasons that jingle ; " and altogether the state of 
 things w r as ruinous to the material as well as the moral 
 well-being of the people. 
 
 Many of them, unable to endure the system any 
 longer, moved away into the Interior, beyond the 
 reach of authority, and began that nomad habit of 
 " trekking," which on our borders has continued until 
 the present day. The Colony was in this manner 
 extended several hundred miles inland, towards 
 Uitenhage on one hand and Graaff-Keinet on the 
 other; and a small population, greatly to its detri-
 
 CESSION TO ENGLAND. 19 
 
 ment, was spread over an immense area, isolated, 
 uncared for, and consequently, in some degree, 
 drifting away from civilization. Happily, most of 
 the people carried with them an attachment to the 
 simple teaching and religions observances of the 
 Reformed Church, whose beneficial influences pre- 
 vented them and their descendants from altogether 
 relapsing into semi-barbarism; and to the present 
 time the traveller in the Interior will find the scattered 
 " trek-boers," rough and uncouth, salute their Maker 
 at early dawn with prayer and praise, while every 
 evening the patriarch of the family reads the accus- 
 tomed chapter from the cherished Bible. 
 
 Those who lacked courage or inclination to follow 
 these pioneers of the country into what was then " the 
 desert," continued their representations and entreaties 
 to the Government to abolish the restrictions on trade, 
 so that their industry might have its legitimate reward ; 
 but not until near the commencement of the present 
 century — just as its domination was coming to a 
 close — did the old Dutch Company realize that there 
 was any mistake in its grasping commercial policy, or 
 were steps taken to remedy the abuses which had been 
 committed in its name. During the brief interregnum 
 of British authority between 1795 and 1803, some 
 restrictions were removed and beneficial changes 
 introduced into the general administration of affairs. 
 This was followed by an extension of privileges under 
 the Batavian Republic, who, for a short time resumed 
 the Government, and whose last and best representa- 
 tive, General Janssen, in 1805 announced the new 
 principle that " the Colony must derive its prosperity 
 irom the quantity and quality of its productions, to 
 be improved and increased by general civilization and 
 industry alone." It was this officer who urged upon 
 the farmers the introduction of merino sheep and the 
 growing of wool — prophesying that the prosperity of 
 C2
 
 20 PAST HISTORY. 
 
 the country would be the certain result. But his plans 
 for the improvement and better administration of the 
 settlement were destined to be carried out by other 
 hands ; for in 1806, the Cape was finally captured by 
 British arms, and in 1814, was by treaty ceded in 
 perpetuity to the British Crown and admitted to share 
 in the importance of the mother country and in the 
 benefits of her commercial power. 
 
 Although the conquest of the Colony and its 
 cession to England has been termed "the first charter 
 of liberty to all inhabitants of European descent, who 
 had not high office or high official connection," there 
 was not an immediate bound into the invigorating 
 air of Freedom and Progress. Many abuses were 
 rectified, and free scope given for the development 
 of the resources of the country; but a conservative 
 regard for old laws and old institutions prevailed 
 for a long time. The Governors were as before abso- 
 lute rulers. There was no free press. The functions 
 of courts of justice were limited to Cape Town. 
 The country beyond the first range of mountains was 
 comparatively terra incognita. There was no postal 
 communication. The schoolmaster was not yet abroad; 
 there were only four churches in the whole country, 
 and clergymen had to get official permission before 
 they could teach or preach. Public meetings even 
 could not be convened without leave having been 
 first obtained from the Government ; and politically 
 and socially there was a feeling of habitual submis- 
 sion to and dread of those in authority which made 
 men afraid to think, speak, or act out of the ordinary 
 groove. To quote the testimony of the late Judge 
 Cloete, "the slightest personal dislike of, or a 
 supposed offence given to, the Governor or the Colonial 
 Secretary, marked at once the ruin of any honest man 
 in society, and that neither character nor talent was 
 proof against the proud man's contumely or the inso-
 
 THE BPcITISII SETTLERS. 2L 
 
 lence of office." It required the lapse of several years 
 thereafter to eradicate the evils which the absolute 
 despotism of the period created ; and there are men 
 still living amongst us who during that time laboured 
 long and earnestly in the successive constitutional 
 struggles which have now secured for the colonists 
 the amplest rights and privileges accorded to any 
 people in the world. 
 
 The growth of the Cape of Good Hope as a free 
 Colony, properly so-called, may date from the first 
 British Immigration in 1820 — just fifty-four years 
 ago. Prior to that the only accessions from the 
 United Kingdom were a few merchants and traders, 
 and the civil and military officers appointed to the 
 station. The Eastern Frontier was then sparsely 
 occupied by adventurous pioneer farmers who were 
 continually subject to plunder by bands of Kafirs who 
 came out from the country beyond the Fish River on 
 cattle-lifting raids. Governor Sir John Cradock 
 called out a commando to clear the tract then known 
 as the Zuurveldt, and when this was done declared it 
 u neutral ground," in the hope of preventing any 
 intercourse or collision between the colonists and the 
 Kafirs. But this territorial vacuum was not long 
 maintained : colonists and natives alike naturally 
 abhored it. Lord Charles Somerset who succeeded 
 Sir John Cradock, visited the country himself, made 
 a treaty with the Kafir chief Gaika, to secure an 
 inviolate border, and appointed two missionaries, the 
 Rev. Messrs. Brownlee and Thomson, as Government 
 agents and religious instructors with the chief and his 
 people. Lord Charles at that time was most favour- 
 ably impressed with the character of the unoccupied 
 Zuurveldt (now the district of Albany), through 
 which he travelled, and on his return to Cape Town 
 .a Government notice was issued, inviting parties to 
 establish themselves in that quarter. His Excellency
 
 22 PAST HISTORY. 
 
 had been struck by its pleasing features, its park-like 
 appearance, and its apparent fertility. His public 
 notice is couched in the most glowing terms, as were 
 also his despatches of that period to the Home Go- 
 vernment. These despatches reached England at the 
 close of the Napoleonic war, when trade was greatly 
 depressed, and emigration was looked to as an outlet 
 for relief of the unemployed. The British Parliament 
 voted £50,000 in aid of colonising the country and in 
 a short time no less than 90,000 applications for pas- 
 sages were sent in, although only 4,000 persons could 
 be accepted. They were principally English, some 
 Irish, a few Scotch, and a modicum of "Welsh ; and 
 among them were members of almost every gradation 
 in the social scale — well-educated o-entlemen and 
 half-pay officers, highly respectable manufacturers, 
 and tradespeople, skilful mechanics and artisans, 
 with a large body of labourers and operatives of every 
 class of industry. Most of them were landed in 
 Algoa Bay in April, 1820. What is now proudly 
 termed the " Liverpool of the Cape/' Port Elizabeth, 
 was then nothing more than a fishing village, sur- 
 rounded by sand-hills, with a small military fort 
 crowning the height, and a few rudely-built scattered 
 cottages either occupied by the military or by small 
 traders chiefly dependent upon them. In due course 
 the immigrants reached their locations and soon began 
 to realize their position. It is most interesting and 
 instructive to read the story of their progress as 
 narrated by some of themselves — from their first 
 encampment on the grassy hills and dales of Albany — 
 when the first tree was felled, the first wattle-and- 
 daub house commenced, and the first furrow made by 
 the plough in the virgin soil ; through seasons of 
 flood and drought, and blighted harvests, and through 
 bloody devastating Kafir wars, — to their happy, 
 peaceful, and prosperous position, on the occasion of"
 
 KAFIR WARS. 23 
 
 their recent jubilee celebration commemorative of their 
 arrival in South Africa. Sir George Grey, late 
 Governor of the Cape and of New Zealand, whose 
 practical acquaintance with all the colonies was very 
 great, has placed on record, in a despatch to the Secre- 
 tary of State, his opinion " that the English settlers 
 who came out here in 1820 have succeeded as well as 
 emigrants have done in any part of the world — better 
 than in very many." 
 
 The successive Kafir wars of 1834, 1846, and 1850 
 greatly retarded the development of the country, and 
 sorely tried the courage, perseverance, and industry of 
 the frontier farmers. All were sufferers and many 
 were ruined by these disastrous disturbances. In 
 1834 the whole border was suddenly over-run by the 
 Kafirs, and there being no precautionary provision by 
 the Government for resisting them, they carried off 
 111,418 head of cattle, 156,878 sheep and goats, 
 5,438 horses, and 58 wagons, burnt 456 farm-houses 
 and pillaged 300 houses, thus committing ravages of 
 the lowly estimated value of £288,625, besides mur- 
 dering, in some instances with circumstances of great 
 atrocity, hundreds of individuals. The Kafirs were 
 ultimately subjugated, and it was agreed to, by treaty, 
 that British sovereignty should be extended over 
 them as far as the Kei River, the present limits of 
 the Colony. At the same time a large number of 
 Fingoes, who were in servitude with them, but who 
 had kept aloof from the war, were brought out from 
 Kafirland and located within our border, where they 
 have since proved faithful subjects, and have now so 
 far risen in the scale of civilization as to constitute to 
 a considerable extent the working peasantry of the 
 Eastern Districts. The treaty then concluded with the 
 Kafirs by Sir Benjamin Durban, in 1835, extending 
 the boundary to the Kei River, was unfortunately 
 disapproved of by the Imperial Government and
 
 24 PAST niSTOEY. 
 
 ordered to be reversed, — the allegiance of the chiefs and 
 tribes being renounced and the limits of colonial 
 authority moved back to where it was in 1819 along 
 the Fish River. This policy of concession, although 
 dictated by philanthropic motives, failed to have any 
 beneficial effect upon the natives. They seemed to 
 think that such generosity sprung rather from timid 
 apprehensions and fears, than from kindness 01 a desire 
 to promote their interests. The years immediately 
 following were very trying and disastrous to the frontier 
 settlers. Stock was swept off in droves by the Kafirs, 
 herds where murdered, and the owners, when going in 
 pursuit, were fired on by the robbers, and, in some 
 instances, killed. The Government in vain endea- 
 voured to check this state of things, and war was 
 again declared in 1846. Burgher volunteers from all 
 parts of the Colony were called into the field to aid 
 their brethren in the front, and after a great sacrifice 
 of blood and treasure (the property destroyed or taken 
 being estimated at half a million pounds sterling), 
 peace was secured. But again only for a brief time. 
 For scarcel} r had the settlers re-occupied their farms 
 and resumed their ordinary pursuits when in 1851 
 the Kafirs made an unprovoked attack upon Her 
 Majesty's troops, massacred some of the military 
 grantees occupying the villages in the Chumie Valley, 
 and, joined by a number of discontented and rebellious 
 Hottentots, for nearly two years maintained a guerilla 
 war, involving still greater sacrifices of life and pro- 
 perty than before. This was brought to a termination 
 by the submission of the hostile chiefs to Sir George 
 Cathcart in 1853, and the proclamation of Kaffraria 
 as a British dependency, governed by British func- 
 tionaries. Since then, for a period of over twenty 
 years, the blessings of peace have been uninterruptedly 
 enjoyed. 
 
 Another event which at the time checked the pros-
 
 EXODUS OF EMIGRANT FARMERS. 25 
 
 perity of the Colony, although ultimately it con- 
 tributed to the advancement of civilization and 
 Euiopean dominion in South Africa, was the exodus of 
 the emigrant farmers, or old colonists, in 1835 and 1836. 
 To this they were incited partly by their inherited 
 aversion to coercive authority and partly by newly- 
 created feelings of dissatisfaction if not of exasparation, 
 against the English Government. It had emancipated 
 their slaves and told them that they would be com- 
 pensated in money which would be paid in London ; 
 but by the dishonesty of agents and middlemen, one 
 half the money never reached the poor " boers," while 
 some in simple ignorance considered the whole thing 
 a fraud, and refused to take the documents which 
 would eutitle them to the compensation — of which 
 £5,000 at least remains to the present day unclaimed. 
 The depreciation of the paper-currency of the time 
 was another cause of annoyance ; and the marauding 
 habits of the natives on the north-east frontier, 
 culminating in the ruinous war of 1834, maddened 
 them into a determination to seek " fresh fields and 
 pastures new" even if they had to "trek" to the 
 other end of Africa ; or. as they expressed it, tot cinder 
 kaut uit. They sold their farms and such effects as 
 they were possessed of at whatever prices they could 
 obtain, many a farm being exchanged for a wagon and 
 some for much less value, and emigrated with their 
 wives and children into the country beyond the 
 Orange River. There they separated, — one party 
 crossing over the Quathlamba or Drakensberg Moun- 
 tains, and founding what is now the Colony of Natal; 
 another party crossing the Vaal River and planting 
 what is now the auriferous Transvaal Republic ; while 
 another purchased or obtained leases of the lands of 
 some of the Griquas near the Orange River, forming 
 what is now the Orange Free State and the diamond 
 iferous territory of Griqualand West.
 
 26 RETROSPECT. 
 
 Notwithstanding the drawbacks of three desolating 
 frontier wars and the stocking of those young off-shoots 
 which now form four flourishing border settlements, the 
 Cape of Good Hope has made most substantial 
 progress in its political, material, and social condition 
 during the past fifty years. 
 
 Among the important political changes effected, the 
 foremost was the establishment of a free press — not 
 subject to arbitrary suppression or censorship, as it 
 was in 1824, but placed under the protection and the 
 control of the law. Regularly constituted courts of 
 justice and trial by jury followed, and the action of the 
 law for the protection of life and property was carried 
 into the most remote districts. A liberal and com- 
 prehensive system of education, by public schools, was 
 organized for the European population, and religious 
 and civilizing agencies were extended amongst the 
 various native tribes. The unrestrained absolutism of 
 Governors was checked, first by an Executive Council 
 and afterwards by a Legislative Council, partly elected 
 and partly nominated. An attempt to make the 
 Colony a penal settlement was successfully yet loyally 
 resisted. Local self-government was established by the 
 formation of municipal councils freely elected by the 
 inhabitants. And finally the privileges of a colonial 
 Parliament were obtained, by which the administration 
 of public affairs has been placed under the control of 
 the Legislature on the same system of Responsible 
 Government as prevails in Great Britain. 
 
 The advancement of material prosperity during this 
 period is strikingly evidenced by the growth of villages- 
 and towns, the increase of population, and the expan- 
 sion of production and wealth. The Colony, which 
 fifty years ago was divided into half-a-dozen wide- 
 spread and sparsely peopled districts, has now about 
 sixty magisterial divisions or counties, with towns and 
 villages still more numerous throughout them. The
 
 MATERIAL PROGRESS. 27 
 
 population has increased from a little over 100,000 
 souls to considerably more than 600,000, exclusive of 
 the natives in Basutoland and Kafirland ; and the 
 white population, which in 1821 was below 50,000, 
 now approaches near to 250,000. The imports and 
 exports of the country then scarcely amounted to 
 half a million sterling ; now its external commerce 
 represents nearly twelve million pounds sterling per 
 annum. Then there were but a few thousand merino 
 sheep, and the export of wool was only 26,000 lbs. ; now 
 they are so multiplied that the quantity of wool 
 shipped in 1872 reached 48,822,562 lbs., of the value 
 of £3,275,150. Then the public revenue was not 
 £100,000 per annum — less than that of the present 
 Orange Free State Territory ; while now it is over 
 £1,200,000. Then there were no roads save mere 
 natural tracks, unworthy of the name, scarcely a river 
 was bridged and formidable mountain passes cut off 
 the isolated occupants of the inland districts from 
 intercourse with a knowledge of what was transpiring 
 in the rest of the world. Now, a network of high- 
 ways spreads out from the coast to the interior, rivers 
 are spanned, railways are opened, and in course of 
 construction in all directions, north, east, and west ; 
 while the electric telegraph, uniting the southern 
 extremity of Africa with Europe, will soon speed the 
 world's stirring news from one end of the Colony to the 
 other. Besides this, the sea-board has been lit almost 
 as perfectly as the coast of England ; extensive works 
 have been constructed at the various ports for the 
 accommodation of shipping ; and, what the old Por- 
 tuguese mariners named the " Cape of Tempests," 
 offers a Harbour of Refuge and the secure shelter of 
 land-locked docks to the navies of the world. 
 
 In the social condition of the people there has also 
 been visible improvement. The prejudices once 
 existing from difference of race are rapidly dis-
 
 28 SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT. 
 
 appearing. Colonists, whether of Dutch, French, 
 German, or British descent, are all one in their common 
 intercourse and pursuits, and in their pride in the 
 onward progress and future destiny of South Africa. 
 Improved communication and interchange of the 
 amenities of life have removed territorial rivalries and 
 jealousies, and infused broad and liberal ideas. The 
 conveniences and comforts of civilization are extended 
 in every direction ; and it is not too much to say that 
 the position of the inhabitants in the furthest districts, 
 is at the present day in most respects equal, and in 
 some superior, to that of those who were nearest to 
 the old centres of population some years ago. Edu- 
 cation has made great strides. There are now no 
 less than 168 undenominational schools, 279 mission 
 schools, and 93 aborigines, training and industrial 
 schools in operation — in all 540 — aided by Government, 
 while four colleges provide for the higher and profes- 
 sional studies, and a University has been established 
 confering its privileges on the rising youth. Religion 
 has also multiplied its agencies. There are upwards 
 of 350 churches and chapels belonging to the Dutch 
 Reformed, Church of England, Wesleyan, Lutheran, 
 Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Independent, Baptists, 
 and other denominations. Literature and science have 
 not been forgotten. The Library of the Metropolis 
 boasts its 40,000 volumes, daily open to the public : and 
 there are few towns or even villages without their 
 reading-rooms. Museums and Botanic Gardens offer 
 incentives to the study of Natural History, in addition 
 to the varied productions of the land. I he Press has 
 upwards of forty representatives, and is conducted with 
 an amount of ability and energy which commands 
 admiration from those who are acquainted with its 
 working in larger communities. The Post-office has 
 vastly multiplied its business. The mails dispatched 
 to England by the ocean mail-steamers consists of
 
 FUTURE DESTINY. 29 
 
 176,882 letters, 158,292 papers, and 11.948 books 
 annually. There are nearly 400 inland country post- 
 offices; and the extent of roads open for posts is upwards 
 of 4,500 miles, of which about 4,000 are travelled by cart, 
 and the remainder by horses. Crime is not by any means 
 rife, notwithstanding the scattered and mixed character 
 of the native population. Even the frontier Kafirs 
 are no longer a terror ; the power of their chiefs has 
 been reduced and broken, and they are now adapting 
 themselves to habits of peace and industry, becoming 
 producers as well as consumers, with daily increasing 
 wants, and they and their familes are likely in time to 
 prove of immense advantage to the colonists as reser- 
 voirs of labour. 
 
 To those who have lived through the changeful 
 progressive events of the past half century, thus 
 briefly sketched, the retrospect must be eminently 
 satisfactory and pleasing ; and taken in conjunction 
 with the advance of the Border States, the extension 
 of civilization into the Interor, and the recent wonderful 
 development of mineral riches, diffusing wealth and 
 stimulating enterprise and industry in every direction, 
 may well justify the anticipation that this country is 
 but on the threshold of a magnificent Future. 
 
 " The toil worn fathers have sunk to their rest, 
 But their sons shall inherit their hope's bequest ; 
 — Valleys aie smiling in harvest pride, 
 There are fleecy flocks on the mountain side; 
 Cities are rising to stud the plains, 
 The life-blood of commerce is coursing the veins, 
 Of a new-born Empire that grows and reigns 
 O'er Afric's Southern wilds."
 
 PRESENT ASPECT AND CONDITION. 
 
 I. CAPE TOWN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 
 
 The Cape Colony and the Mother Country are 
 now-a-days brought very close together. The facilities 
 of communication and travel, as well as the tranquil 
 waters and genial temperature usually enjoyed on the 
 ocean highway to South Africa, are such as to render 
 a vovao-e outward or homeward quite an ordinary 
 pleasure-trip. What was formerly an indefinite two 
 or three month's passage is accomplished in twenty 
 three or twenty-four days; and such has been the 
 rate of progress and improvement of late that we may 
 safely say the maximum of accelerated speed has not 
 yet been attained. Instead of the slow easy-going sail- 
 ing ships, or even the crack East Indiamen, which at 
 irregular intervals did the carrying trade for passen- 
 gers and goods about twenty years ago, there are 
 smart commodious steamers arriving and departing 
 almost weekly. The Union Steamship Company 
 which started into existence with only two or three 
 vessels of not more than 500 tons burthen, to perform 
 the monthly postal service, has, after fifteen years, 
 enlarged its fleet to upwards of eighteen steamships, 
 averaging each about 2,000 tons, and running three 
 times" a "month, and may boast of having carried 
 thousands of passengers without a single disaster at
 
 TABLE BAY. 31 
 
 sea. Besides this the Donald Currie " Castle " line 
 has during the last year or two entered the trade with 
 their powerful vessels, and the stimulus of competition 
 thus created has inaugurated a new era of rapid 
 passages and quick dispatch. The voyager who 
 desires novelty and variety has also the choice of two 
 routes, — the direct one, along the Atlantic, with glimpses 
 of Madeira, St. Vincent, Ascension, or St. Helena; and 
 the eastern route, by the P. and O. boats through the 
 Suez Canal to Aden, thence by the British India 
 Company's vessels along the East African Coast to 
 Zanzibar, and from there by the Union steamers past 
 Mozambique and Delagoa Bay to Xatal and the Cape 
 Colony. The point at which both routes converge is 
 the port of Table Bay, which still maintains its old 
 position as the K half-way house " on the highway of 
 commerce. 
 
 The singular mountain scenery around the Bay 
 never fails to arrest the eye if not to excite the admi- 
 ration of strangers. On one side the land rises abruptly 
 from the shore forming the great massive wall of 
 Table Mountain, 3,500 feet high. This imposing 
 central figure is flanked on the right by the remarkable 
 Lion's Head and Bump, and on the left by the pic- 
 turesque Devil's Peak ; while in the broad valley 
 between, the city of Cape Town is spread out, its 
 suburbs extending along the slopes and skirts of the 
 mountain for nearly fourteen miles from Sea Point to 
 Wynberg. On the other side of the Bay, which 
 sweeps in a beautiful unbroken curve eastward to 
 Salt River and thence nothward to Blueberg, there is 
 a flat sandy shore with here and there a few cottages 
 and windmills ; beyond these are the softly rounded 
 hills of Tygerberg and Koeberg, marked by a patch- 
 work of brown or green cornlands surrounding the 
 white-washed farm houses ; and still further and 
 higher the rugged serrated summits of the Draken-
 
 32 BREAKWATER AND DOCKS. 
 
 tein, Paarl, and Tulbagh mountains, whose sharp 
 outline against the blue sky testify to the clearness 
 and purity of the atmosphere. In the hot summer 
 months the aspect of the country is somewhat bare 
 and sunburnt, save where now and again relieved by 
 wood plantations and vineyards, but after the first 
 winter rains it is generally covered with verdure, and 
 with the advent of spring in September the plains and 
 slopes of the hills are gaily luxuriant, flowers of every 
 hue carpeting the sward and presenting a most invit- 
 ing appearance to the new-comer from a northern 
 climate. 
 
 The features and character of the harbour itself 
 have been greatly changed since the opening of the 
 Breakwater and Docks, — a work whose magnitude, 
 importance, and success unmistakably mark the spirit 
 of progress in the Colony. Formerly all the shipping 
 trade was carried on in the open Bay, where in 
 ordinary weather vessels were secure enough, but dur- 
 ing the prevalence of north-west winterly storms were 
 exposed to long rolling heavy seas driving in with 
 tremendous violence. In the memorable gale of the 
 17th May, 1865, no fewer than eighteen vessels out of 
 twenty-eight at the anchorage were cast up as helpless 
 wrecks upon the beach and about fifty lives lost. 
 Happily such disasters cannot again occur. The port 
 now offers in all weathers as good shelter and pro- 
 tection as is to be found in any of the Colonies. A 
 Breakwater runs out from the shore for a length of 
 nearly 2,000 feet, enclosing a large area, where ships 
 can safely lay at their moorings. Inside of this are 
 the Docks, consisting of an outer and an inner basin, 
 together forming an area of sixteen acres in extent, 
 affording accommodation to eighty or ninety vessels. 
 The entrance is 100 feet wide, with a depth of twenty- 
 one feet at low water and between twenty-six and 
 twenty-seven feet at high water. The walls are of
 
 TRADE OF THE PORT. 33 
 
 massive masonry with a strong coping of granite 
 taken from the quarries under Table Mountain. 
 Going through the entrance, we come into the inner 
 dock, a fine piece of water 1,100 feet long and 510 
 feet wide in its greater dimensions, but tapering- 
 inwards, the depth of water also decreasing. The 
 north end is the widest, and is 24 feet deep at low 
 water, or about thirty feet at high water. There are the 
 usual accompaniments of quayage, storage, workshops 
 and patent slip ; and a graving dock is now in course of 
 construction of sufficient size to take in the largest 
 vessels in Her Majesty's navy. Fourteen years ago, 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, then a 
 midshipman in the Enryalus, tilted the first wagon- 
 load of material with which these great works were 
 commenced; and in July, 1870, while Captain of the 
 Galatea, he officially opened them to the commerce of 
 all nations. The chief superintending engineer of the 
 works was Sir John Coode, and the resident engineer 
 Mr. A. T. Andrews. The total expenditure upon 
 them was about half a million pounds sterling, — 
 £300,000 of which was raised by loan guaranteed by 
 the Colonial Government, secured by a first charge 
 upon the wharfage dues of the port, the remainder being 
 paid out of the accumulated dues and revenues of the 
 Harbour Commission, under whose direction the work 
 was carried out. Since the opening of the Docks in 
 the middle of 1870, the total revenues up to the end 
 of 1873 amounted to about £162,000 ; and in the last 
 year alone it was over £52,900. The trade of the 
 port is largely increasing ; and, notwithstanding the 
 ill effects which the Suez Canal may be supposed to 
 have had upon it in regard to its use as a place of 
 call for vessels to and from the East, its commerce is 
 greater now than ever it was before. The number of 
 ship's entered inwards from foreign parts and coast- 
 wise in 1873 was upwards of 700, 
 
 D
 
 34 CAPE TOWN. 
 
 gate tonnage of over 300,000. With this increasing 
 business, it is already pretty evident that the Docks 
 must be soon enlarged to give greater accommodation 
 to shipping, and it is also desirable that the Break- 
 water should be extended to the length originally 
 designed of 3,000 feet, which is all that is needed to 
 make Table Bay a perfect harbour of refuge. 
 
 Cape Town is not seen to the best advantage from 
 the seaward side, nor even by the approach from the 
 Docks. There is a straggling, unkempt appearance 
 about the buildings stretching down to the beach and 
 the jetties ; and the heterogenous industries which 
 manifest themselves, such as boat-building, skin- 
 drying, wool-pressing, flour-mills, gas and soap fac- 
 tories and fish-curing, are not particularly attractive. 
 Besides everything looks dwarfed under the shade of 
 the massive wall of Table Mountain, forming the back- 
 ground. It is only when the central thoroughfares of 
 St. George's-street, Adclerley-street, and the Parade, 
 are reached, with their fine open streets and many 
 handsome looking places of business, that anything 
 like a favourable impression of the South African 
 Metropolis is obtained. Its founders originally laid 
 out this central part with mathematical preciseness, 
 the main streets forming parallel lines, intersected at 
 right angles by secondary streets of lesser width ; 
 but with the growth of population and commerce the 
 lines have been extended in irregular courses, and 
 now the houses and streets are rambling over the 
 whole valley and joining on to the suburbs. The 
 prevailing style of architecture still retains the 
 primitive characteristics of the early settlers — flat 
 roofs, dull fronts and " stoeps.'' These, however, are 
 rapidly giving place to modern edifices and decorated 
 exteriors, in imitation of the more costly structures of 
 Europe. Adderley-street — its old name the " Heeren- 
 gracht " is almost in disuse — ha?, in this manner been
 
 BUILDINGS — CHURCHES. 35 
 
 quite metamorphosed of late years. Once the favourite 
 place of residence of the best Cape families, with a 
 miniature canal in the centre and spreading oaks on 
 each side, it is now entirely devoted to trade purposes. 
 The old " gracht," has long been covered over, the 
 trees have been cut down, and rows of cabs crowd the 
 middle of the street, while shops, stcres, banks, and 
 offices extend from one end of it to the other. St. 
 George's-street has followed suit ; so has Darling- 
 street, formerly the " Keizersgracht ; " and numbers 
 of the other streets are undergoing similar renovations 
 and improvements. Many of the mercantile buildings 
 are very creditable, and would not be considered out 
 of place in some English cities. The handsome offices 
 of the Mutual Life Assurance Society, the Post 
 Office, the Harbour Offices, the General Estate Cham- 
 bers, the old Mixed Commission Buildings, the Young 
 Men's Institute and Theatre, and even the Markets, 
 all show the tendency to new forms and designs. 
 
 The churches and chapels are noticeable, although 
 it is difficult to class some of them under any recog- 
 nized order of architecture. The best specimen of 
 ecclesiastical style is the St. Mary's Roman Catholic 
 Cathedral, a gothic structure, which from its fine 
 commanding site is a conspicuous object from many 
 parts of the town. The new schools in St. John's- 
 street, belonging to the same church, are also very 
 tasteful scholastic buildings. Close to them, facing the 
 avenue of the Gardens, is another chaste and charac- 
 teristic work, the Jewish Synagogue. The Episcopal 
 Cathedral of St. George's is a more ambitious attempt 
 at classic architecture, its Grecian front and orna- 
 mental tower, much resembling St. Martin's-in-the- 
 Fields. The Dutch Reformed Church, with its old 
 vane-topped Flemish spire standing alongside, is again 
 remarkable for the absence of any external beauty 
 or even embellishment, yet it is the largest church in 
 d2
 
 36 TUBLIC LIBRARY. 
 
 the city and has a most spacious pillarless ceiling 
 which will bear comparison with many of the great 
 buildings of England. The Lutheran Church and 
 the Scottish Presbyterian Church externally are also 
 of somewhat ponderous character, but the interior 
 of the former is adorned by the finest specimen of 
 wood-carving in the Colony. A very neat and graceful 
 cruciform building, of modern gothic style, in Over- 
 beek-square, belonging to the German Lutheran 
 body, and another structure of the same order but 
 substantially built of stone, with pitched roof and 
 ornamental windows, erected by the Congregation- 
 nlists in Caledon-square, complete the most prominent 
 places of worship in the city ; and to them will shortly 
 be added another of considerable architectural preten- 
 sion, about to be erected by the Wesleyans on an 
 excellent site in Greenmarket-square. 
 
 But unquestionably at present the finest of all the 
 buildings, and one of the best things Cape Town has 
 to show, is the edifice erected for the accommodation 
 of the Public Library and Museum, which, strange to 
 say, is hid away from the public eye, occupying a 
 retired spot in the rear of St. George's Cathedral 
 and facing the Botanic Garden. It is artistically 
 designed in the Roman Corinthian style, its principal 
 feature being the handsome facade at the entrance. 
 The Library Hall is a fine room about eighty feet 
 lono- by forty feet broad, well lighted, and fitted with 
 galleries and recesses, which are lined with book- 
 shelves and books. A copy of TTinterhalter's full- 
 length painting of Queen Victoria in her coronation 
 robes, is at one end of the room, and at the other a 
 portrait of " Prince Alfred " as he appeared on the 
 occasion of the inauguration of this building in I860. 
 The Library is under the excellent care of Mr. 
 Maskew, the chief Librarian, with Dr. Bleek as an 
 assistant in charge of the Grey collection. It contains
 
 MUSEUM — GEEY STATUE. 37 
 
 upwards of 40,CC0 volumes in every department of 
 Literature and Science, and is open and available for 
 study daily to all classes of the community. JSTo intro- 
 duction or recommendation of any kind is required and 
 the whole is therefore in every respect a public 
 institution. A narrow vestibule leads from it to the 
 Museum, which occupies the other wing of the 
 building, and is filled with a very interesting collec- 
 tion, numbering many thousand specimens, of the 
 mammalia, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, minerals, and 
 other objects, illustrative of the natural history of 
 South Africa, as well as of other countries. 
 
 Immediately in front of this handsome edifice there 
 is a fine marble statue of Sir George Grey, formerly 
 Governor of the Colony. It was executed by Marshall, 
 the sculptor, is of colossal size, and stands on a solid 
 block of Cape granite. This is a fitting adornment 
 to the building, for it was Sir George Grey who set 
 on foot the erection of it, and chose its site, con- 
 ceiving with prescient mind that in course of time a 
 University, Halls of Legislature, and other public 
 institutions of a kindred character, would be raised up 
 around it ; and as a substantial proof of his faith 
 in the future of this country, and the influence which 
 its Metropolis will always have on the higher education 
 of its youth, he gave to the Public Library the princely 
 gift of his own collection of rare books and manuscripts, 
 including many valuable works of the tenih, fifteenth, 
 and sixteenth centuries, — a literary treasury such as no 
 other colonial possession can boast. His plans and 
 hopes for the Cape, then imperfectly understood, are now 
 taking form and shape. A (Jniversity has been 
 created. New Parliament Houses are to occupy the 
 ground to the left of the Library, the Legislature 
 having already voted £45,000 for the construction of 
 a suitably magnificent building. An Art Gallery has 
 been permanently established on the other side, in
 
 38 PUBLIC GARDENS. 
 
 what was once the Tot Nut van het Algemeen 
 Institute, now the property of the Fine Arts Asso- 
 ciation. And at the upper end of the Gardens, the 
 first high-class educational establishment founded in 
 South Africa has been developed into a well-equipped 
 College, whose students may now fully realize Sir 
 George's day-dream of fourteen years ago : " Here in 
 the midst of this beautiful scenery they may resort 
 and converse at their will with the poets, the philo- 
 sophers, the historians of all countries, and of all past 
 times, and here acquire that knowledge which may 
 enable them to bless and earn the blessings of nations 
 which are yet to be born in the interior of this vast 
 continent."* 
 
 The Gardens, although limited in extent, answer 
 for all the purposes of a j:>ark to the city, with the 
 additional advantage of being situate right in the 
 heart, and easily accessible to every part of it. They 
 are a legacy from the olden time, for which the com- 
 munity may thank the Dutch East India Company. 
 Originally planted more for use than ornament, to 
 shelter the vegetables and fruits grown for the refresh- 
 ment of passing fleets, they now afford a grateful 
 shade and j)leasant place of resort to the inhabitants, 
 and are especially appreciated by strangers and 
 visitors, new to African heat and sun. Tne central 
 walk extends for three-quarters of a mile through an 
 avenue of grand old oaks, and this again is relieved by 
 cross-walks and by the grounds of Government-house 
 on one side, and the Botanic Garden on the other. The 
 latter is an ornamental as well as a botanic garden, 
 laid out with grass-plots, flower-beds, shrubberries 
 and conservatories, and contains a rich collection of 
 rare and valuable plants from every quarter of the 
 
 * Address delivered by Sir G. Grey on the occasion of the inau- 
 guration of the building in 1860.
 
 BOTANIC GARDENS. 39 
 
 globe. Although its whole area is not more than 
 fourteen acres, and the situation and soil very 
 unfavourable, it contains upwards of 8,000 varieties 
 of trees and plants, embracing specimens of the most 
 remarkable exotic productions as well as the most 
 interesting types of the indigenous Flora. In this 
 narrow compass the best timber trees of Europe, oak, 
 ash, birch, maple, lime, elm, and pine, grow contigu- 
 ous to the graceful deodar of the Himalayas, the 
 Camphor tree of Sumatra, the lofty bluegums of 
 Australia, and the towering and stately araucaria of 
 Norfolk Island. The fruit-trees of England, laden 
 with apple, pear, or peach, stand side by side with the 
 orange, olive, and mulberry of the Mediterranean 
 Coast, the banana, mango, and alligator pear of the 
 West Indies, and the lit-chie of China. Azaleas, 
 camellia japonicas, fuchsias, and rhododendrons, bloom 
 under the open sky as freely as roses, carnations and 
 violets, while around them are Cape wild flowers of 
 infinite beauty and variety. The Garden in this way, 
 strikingly exhibits the moderate temperature of the 
 Colony, and its fitness for the growth of many vege- 
 table productions, which, although not yet forming 
 articles of common consumption or export, might be 
 raised with great advantage. It was only laid out for 
 scientific and botanical purposes in 1849, and has been 
 brought to its present state of order and completeness 
 by the superintendent, Mr. McGibbon, with very 
 little extraneous aid. The public grant ha? always 
 been meagre, varying from £250 to £500 per annum ; 
 yet the institution is by no means a local one, nor has 
 its usefulness been limited to its immediate sur- 
 roundings. There is hardly a village or district on 
 this side the Orange River, and even beyond, which 
 has not by its agency been supplied with imported 
 trees, shrubs, and flowering plants ; and the finest 
 varieties of fruits, grape-vines, mulberries, grass, and
 
 40 PUBLIC BUILDINGS 
 
 clover, and other valuable productions of different 
 kinds have thus been introduced and spread over the 
 country, to its incalculable benefit. 
 
 Government House, the official residence of Her 
 Majesty's representative in the Colony, is on the left 
 side of the Gardens, with a public entrance from the 
 top of Grave-street. It is a heavy, irregular pile of 
 buildings, originally commenced by the Dutch Com- 
 pany's officials, more than a century and a half ago, 
 and altered and latterly modernized from time to time 
 by its respective occupants. There is nothing palatial 
 or magnificient about it ; on the contrary, it scarcely 
 comes up to the standard of an English gentleman's 
 mansion, and the accommodation is miserably defi- 
 cient, especially when vice-regal pageants are to be 
 gone through, or colonial hospitalities have to be dis- 
 pensed. Ordinarily, in the summer months, the 
 Governor moves away from town to his country resi- 
 dence in the suburbs ; but his office, and the office of 
 his secretary and aide-de-camp, as well as the meeting- 
 place of his Executive Council, are here all the year 
 round. The other public buildings occupied by the 
 various chief departments of the Civil Government 
 and by the Courts of Law, have nothing to recommend 
 them but their size and solidity. They form a massive 
 flat-fronted quadrangle, originally designed for a slave- 
 lodge and hospital, stretching from the lower end of 
 Grave-street to Adderley-street. There are accommo- 
 dated the Treasury, Audit, Deeds' Registry, Survey, 
 Attorney-General's, the Judges', and other offices ; 
 but many other departments, such as that of Educa- 
 tion, Native Affairs, Public Works, and Railways, are 
 scattered about in private houses, rented till suitable 
 public offices are provided. The military head- 
 quarters of the Commander of the Forces and his 
 staff are in the Castle — a quaint specimen of the 
 ancient citadel, of pentagonal form, with ravelins,.
 
 CASTLE — TOWN HOUSE. 41 
 
 glacis, ditches, gate, sallyport, and all the other para- 
 phernalia of the old fortifications. It was designed 
 and commenced as early as 1672, and the bell on the 
 gate tower bears date 1697, but the greater part of 
 the existing quarters and stores appear to have been 
 built or re-built between 1780 and 1785. Some years 
 ago it was offered for sale to the colonial authorities 
 by the Imperial Government. It is of little use for 
 defensive purposes, and the space occupied by it could 
 be very profitably turned to account for the con- 
 venience and improvement of the city. Ample garrison 
 accommodation for the troops quartered here is pro- 
 vided in the main barracks in Caledon-square, — an 
 extensive range of buildings, which were nearly com- 
 pleted by the Dutch (one wing only was unfinished) 
 when the cession of the Colony transferred it ready- 
 made to our hands. Another possession from the 
 olden time is the Town House in Greenmarket-square, 
 a plain but substantial building, with cool, roomy 
 halls and offices. Here the grave and respectable 
 burgesses, chosen by the Government to fill the 
 dignified post of " burgher senators," were wont to 
 exercise a paternal control over the affairs of the 
 inhabitants at the beginning of the century. Muni- 
 cipal administration did not come into existence until 
 more recently, in 1841, and then it was a complex 
 system of boards of commissioners and wardmasters, 
 presided over by a " chairman of the municipality." 
 Now there is a Mayor and Town Council — in the 
 modern corporation style — who are expected to keep 
 pace with the requirements of these progressive times, 
 and to make the city as presentable as it should be. 
 A thorough system of drainage, the removal of 
 " stoeps," the construction of paved streets, and some 
 abatement of the plague of dust during '•' south- 
 easter, " have still to be accomplished before that will 
 be attained.
 
 42 THE SUBURBS — SEA POINT. 
 
 The natural advantages which Cape Town possesses 
 are very great. The magnificent scenery surrounding 
 it, and the plentiful supply of purest water which 
 might be stored and made use of for the ornamenta- 
 tion as well as the cleansing and cooling of every 
 part of it, are such as few cities can boast. This may 
 best be realised by a visit to the more elevated points 
 of view afforded by the beautiful Garden suburbs, or 
 the fine drive leadiug upward over the kloof between 
 the Table Mountain and the Lion's Head. There the 
 whole of the wide valley, gently sloping down from 
 the mountain to the circling bay, spreads out before 
 the eye — a perfectly picturesque picture, with pine- 
 groves, vineyards, and old Dutch mansions, and oak 
 avenues, gardens, and modern villas, following each 
 other in charming succession, until they join the 
 regular lines of streets and square blocks of houses of 
 the city below. 
 
 " On each hand, like sentries keeping 
 Jealous waxd, the mountains frown ; 
 And beneath, like princess sleeping - , 
 Sleeps our city of Cape Town." 
 
 The Kloof Road just mentioned is one of the most 
 enjoyable walks or drives about the city. It is a 
 miniature mountain-pass, carried over the neck or ridge 
 between the perpendicular cliffs at the western end of 
 Table Mountain and the peak of the Lion's Head. From 
 this neck there is a glorious view both landward and 
 seaward — the town and the bay, and the straight 
 lines of road and rail leading into the Interior on one 
 side, and the open sea on the other. The road then 
 descends a wooded ravine towards the Round-house, 
 Camp's Bay, and Clifton, — favourite picnic, fishing, 
 and bathing places ; and curves in and out along the 
 spurs of the Lion's Hill until it reaches the height 
 overlooking the suburbs of Sea Point and Green
 
 RONDEBOSCH AND WYNBEKG. 43 
 
 i^oint, with pretty villa residences clustered along the 
 course of the shore. Those delightful marine quarters 
 are conveniently connected with Cape Town by a 
 tramway, and at any hour of the day one may 
 exchange the glowing heat or dusty streets of the 
 city for the healthful breezes and magnificent ocean 
 view from the granite promontory at Sea Point. 
 
 But the most populous and fashionable suburban 
 resorts are the tree-embowered villages of Mowbray, 
 Hondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, and "VVynberg, 
 on the eastern side of Table Mountain. In these 
 pleasant sylvan retreats the city merchants and Go- 
 vernment officials delight to dwell, and there is a 
 great deal to justify their choice. During the summer 
 months it is far cooler, the difference of temperature at 
 "VVynberg being as much as ten degrees less than that 
 of Cape Town, owing to its more elevated position and 
 Its exposure to the winds coming up from the zone of 
 "Antarctic ice in the southern regions. It is rarely visited 
 by fogs or mists, and although in winter the rainfall is 
 considerable, the hills are well drained by a substratum 
 of gravel. Then the natural beauties of landscape, 
 heightened by the art and industry of the residents, 
 has made these parts a microcosm of the best of South 
 African scenery. Anyone travelling by the railway 
 will be charmed with the green lanes along the line 
 from Eosebank to Claremont, the glimpses of shaggy 
 wood and mountain precipices above Rondebosch and 
 Newlands, and the open breezy flats stretching from 
 "VVynberg across to the Stellenbosch hills. The drive 
 along the main road in the same direction is even 
 more delightful, — through the glorious avenue of pines 
 and oaks extending onwards from Mowbray ; past the 
 Hondebosch village church and the woods of West- 
 brook; past the shady groves of A 7 ewlands and the 
 slopes of Protea, the episcopal residence of the Bishop 
 of Cape Town ; up the "VVynberg Hill, with its
 
 44 POPULATION. 
 
 clumps and thickets of silver trees ; and on to the 
 hospitable homesteads and rich vineyards of Constantia. 
 Along this route the alternate views of hill and dale,, 
 dotted with cottages, mansions, and verandahed re- 
 treats, with the errand background of bold mountains* 
 are unequalled for beauty and picturesqueness in any 
 part of the Colony. 
 
 Such pleasant surroundings contribute to render 
 Cape Town, more than any other place in South 
 Africa, agreeable to residents and attractive to 
 strangers. It is by far the most populous of any of 
 the colonial communities ; and its position as the seat 
 of Government and Legislature, as well as the princi- 
 pal commercial entrepot, has gathered about it a com- 
 paratively wealthy and stationary class, whose social 
 circles possess all the charms of old-established and 
 cultivated society. The number of inhabitants of 
 the city and suburbs is about 50,000, of whom two- 
 thirds may be said to be residents of the city proj^er, 
 within its municipal boundaries. This embraces both 
 white and coloured races, with all their varieties of 
 nationality and gradations of blood, from fairest 
 Saxon to darkest Nubian. Conspicuous amongst the 
 latter, are the descendants of the liberated slaves, 
 mostly half-caste negroes, who, with the mixed Hot- 
 tentots and Kafirs, form the " coolies," or working 
 labourers. They are the lazaroni of the Cape, — 
 contented with warm sunshine and a meal of fish 
 and rice, and always full of animal spirits, grinning 
 with natural good humour, or ready to explode in fits of 
 laughter or contortions of merriment at the least 
 suggestion of fun or excitement. Next to them are 
 the half-oriental Malays, generally followers of the 
 Prophet in matters of faith. They are a numerous 
 and well-behaved class, very serviceable not only in 
 household occupations, but in various mechanical em- 
 ployments. As grooms and drivers they are excellent,
 
 COLONIAL CHARACTERISTICS. 45 
 
 for none can take better care of horses. They are 
 the principal fish and fruit dealers and basket-makers ; 
 while many are masons, carpenters, and painters, 
 tailors, shoemakers, and harness-makers. Several of 
 them have of late years acquired considerable pro- 
 perty, and are quite an aristocracy amongst the 
 coloured people, AYith all their adaptability and 
 progressiveness, however, there is noticeably wanting 
 the intelligence and skill of the European artizan — 
 the results of education and training — which give a 
 marked superiority to the latter, and enable him here, if 
 steady and industrious, quickly to rise from the con- 
 dition of employed to that of employer. 
 
 Among the white population as already stated, there 
 is a considerable variety of nationalities. In addition to 
 English, Irish, and Scotch settlers, there will be found 
 Dutch, German, and French, Danes and Swedes, 
 Portuguese, Italians and even Americans, — their 
 specialities all more or less modified by the cosmopo- 
 litan influences of free and unconstrained colonial life. 
 But the largest and predominating section are the 
 colonial-born of European extraction. Their names 
 usually indicate their diverse descent and ancestry, and 
 their familiar use of the Cape patois of the old Dutch 
 colonists may mark that they are sons of the soil ; yet 
 in all visible characteristics they are broadly identical 
 with the British-born. Constant intercourse with, and 
 continual accessions of books, periodicals, and serials, 
 from, the mother country have naturally infused and 
 extended English habits and ideas, which now generally 
 prevail here. The home markets regulate the springs 
 of trade and commerce ; home fashions rule supreme 
 in every circle : and almost all the popular institu- 
 tions, and pleasures, sports and pastimes, are reproduc- 
 tions of home customs and home life. The mere 
 enumeration of some of the "local institutions" may 
 sufficiently indicate this. There are hospitals, orphan-
 
 46 LOCAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 ages, sailors' homes, savings' banks, young men's 
 institutes, and Christian associations. There are 
 volunteer corps, and cricket, foot-ball and boating 
 clubs. There are musical societies and theatrical 
 entertainments ; and lectures, concerts, and oratorios 
 are frequently given in the assembly-rooms of the 
 Mutual, or St. Aloysius Hall's. There are Masonic, 
 Odd-Fellows', Foresters', and Good Templar lodges. 
 There are comfortable and commodious hotels, a club, 
 public dining-rooms, billiard-rooms, and reading-rooms. 
 There are well supplied fruit, fish, and meat markets. 
 There are cabs, traction engines, tram-cars, railways, 
 and telegraphs. And newspapers (both English and 
 Dutch) are issued on every day of the week. In fact, 
 the new-comer, on his first landing in South Africa, 
 will find evidences on every hand of material and 
 social conditions equal to that of the older countries 
 which he has left behind.
 
 II. THE OLD SETTLED CAPE DISTRICTS. 
 
 Having made the acquaintance of the metropolis 
 and its environs, the reader may seek to know some- 
 thing of the general aspect and condition of the 
 various divisions of this extensive Colony. The first 
 which come in order of position, occupation, and 
 population, is that portion which formed the " Settle- 
 ment of the Cape of Good Hope " upwards of a cen- 
 tury ago. This embraces the Cape peninsula and the 
 lands extending from the sea to the first range of 
 mountains, terminating at Cape Hanglip on the one 
 side, and St. Helena Bay on the other. It is now 
 sub-divided into five districts, known as the Cape, 
 Stellenbosch, Paarl, Malmesbury, and Piquetburg, 
 covering an area of over 5,000 square miles, of which 
 140,000 acres are under cultivation, and containing 
 an aggregate population of about 100,000 souls, chiefly 
 European, or at least of European descent. 
 
 The railway runs through a considerable part of 
 these districts — in one direction to Wynberg, in 
 another to Wellington and Bushman's Rock, opening 
 into the Tulbagh Valley and Worcester, and in a 
 third direction it will soon be extended to Malmes- 
 bury, thus affording every facility for excursions from 
 Cape Town to any of these points. But persons who 
 are fond of active exercise, or partial to climbing 
 
 " To sit upon an Alps as on a throne", 
 
 may have a fine panoramic view of the country by 
 getting to the summit of Table Mountain. The path 
 up by the Platteklip ravine, above the Gardens, is a 
 steep and somewhat fatiguing walk of two or three 
 hours ; but it is unattended with danger, and many
 
 48 SIMON S TOWN. 
 
 ladies, following the example set by Lacly Anne 
 Barnard and Madame Ida Pfeffier, have accomplished 
 it without any difficulty. The splendid prospect which 
 it commands on a clear day will well repay all the 
 trouble of the ascent. The whole of the coast-lands 
 northward towards Saldanha Bay, the cornfields of 
 Koeberg and Malmesbury, the ridges of hills of Tyger- 
 bero- and Paardeberg, and the valleys of Drakenstein 
 and Stellenbosch, are offered to view in the distance ; 
 while every part of Cape Town, with its breakwater 
 and docks, is spread out with all the detailed dis- 
 tinctness of a card-board plan. Behind the city, and 
 skirtino- the mountain eastward, every house and 
 cottage ensconced amongst the silver and pine and 
 oak woods of the suburbs, may be seen : and beyond 
 these the famous vineyards and wine farms of Con- 
 stantia; the fertile valley of Hout's Bay, with its 
 beautiful shelving beach; the fashionable watering- 
 place of Kalk Bay, noted for its good air and good 
 fish ; and near the extremity of the Peninsula the 
 snuo' harbour of Simon's Bay, a natural port of refuge, 
 where vessels can anchor close to the shore, securely 
 protected from every wind. 
 
 Simon's Town itself is not large, consisting mainly of 
 one lono- straggling street, running round the horse- 
 shoe shaped bay, It owes its present importance to 
 the fact of its being the chief station, depot, and 
 rendezvous of the Royal Navy en the £outh African 
 coast. The principal buildings are the Admiralty 
 House, Naval Hospital, and Barracks, the Magistrate's 
 Office, and the English, Roman Catholic, Dutch 
 Reformed, and Wesleyan Churches. The Naval Yard 
 is an extensive establishment, with spacious stores and 
 ample supplies. There are also a boat-dock, landing- 
 piers, and a powerful patent slip, constructed by 
 private enterprise, capable of taking up vessels of 
 about 2,000 tons burthen. The presence of a Flying
 
 CAPE POINT — THE FLATS. 49 
 
 squadron, or the occasional gathering of allied fleets, 
 outward or homeward bound, gives a wonderful 
 stimulus to the life and trade of the town, which 
 otherwise is of a very ordinary character, as there is 
 little or no export from it. The hills above it look 
 bleak and sterile, but some of the kloofs and flats 
 along them are occupied by many good agricultural 
 farms, and cattle, horse, and ostrich breeding is suc- 
 cessfully carried on there. A fine lighthouse, with 
 revolving reflectors, has been erected on the extreme 
 peak of the Cape Point. The view from it is very 
 grand, overlooking the foaming breakers nearly one 
 thousand feet below, and taking in the blue waters of 
 False Bay and the great wide expanse of the South 
 Atlantic. 
 
 11 Here the white surge comes bounding to the shore, 
 And the cliff answers to its angry roar ; 
 For where the Cape of Storms heaves high its steep, 
 The clear south-easter foams along the deep, — 
 Whirls the wild spray in gust? of driving snow, 
 And sweeps with its salt shower the reeling prow ; 
 TVhile round each windiag bay and jutting rock, 
 The glassy swell rolls with its thunder shock ; 
 Or, deepening vast and sullen, heaves away 
 To the lone isles beneath descending day." 
 
 Stretching out from thePeninsulato the distant range 
 of mountains, there is a level plain or flat, forming the 
 isthmus, separating False and Table Bays. A good 
 part of this is a tract of sand dunes, considered 
 almost impassable before the advent of hard roads, but 
 now crossed by railroad as well as turnpike, and in 
 many parts covered with young plantations of accacia, 
 hakea, pine, blue-gum, and other trees which are 
 growing luxuriantly, arresting the progress of the des- 
 tructive drift-sand, and showing what may be done 
 in the way of planting under the most unfavourable 
 circumstances of soil or locality. 
 
 E
 
 50 THE WINE DISTRICTS — SOMERSET WEST. 
 
 Beyond these flats, and along the spurs of the moun 
 tains, are the rich valleys forming the chief wine- 
 producing districts, extending from Hottentot's Hol- 
 land on to Biebeek's Kastel and the Twenty-four 
 Rivers. The number of vine-sticks planted in these dis- 
 tricts, according to the last census, was about 36,000,000, 
 bearing and unbearing, yielding upwards of two and- 
 a-half million gallons of wine, and about two hundred 
 thousand gallons of brandy. Of this quantity Stel- 
 lenbosch and the Paarl, each, gave considerably over 
 1,200,000 gallons of wine and from 70,000 to 80,000 
 gallons of brandy. Besides the vintage, there are 
 crops of agricultural and garden produce, dried fruits, 
 and other articles of value raised. 
 
 This is one of the most fruitful and picturesque 
 par^ of the country. There are several pretty 
 villages and towns throughout it. Somerset West, in 
 the Hottentot's Holland district — the "Brackenbury" 
 of the " Cape and its people," — is one of these, 
 an hour's drive from the railway station of Eerste 
 River. It is a favourite resort of newly-fledged city 
 Benedicts, who find congenial charms in the quiet 
 hamlet and the rides in its vicinity. There is a fine 
 mountain road (Sir Lowry's Pass), with glorious 
 scenery, very accessible. There are magnificent estates, 
 well wooded and watered, with hospitable owners, to 
 be visited — one especially, " Vergelegen," with inte- 
 resting historic associations, as it was laid out by 
 the Dutch Governor Van der Stell, whose plantation of 
 stately camphor-trees still flourishes. And then, close 
 by, there are excellent bathing and fishing grounds at 
 the " Strand," where country cousins from far and 
 near congregate for holiday enjoyments towards the 
 close of the summer months. 
 
 Stellenbosch, directly on the line'of railway, is some- 
 thing more than a village — it is a town, and, next to 
 Cape Town, the oldest in the Colony. It dates its
 
 STELLEXBOSCH. 51 
 
 existence nearly two hundred years back, and still 
 retains most markedly the hereditary characteristics 
 of its founders. It is the u Broek " of South Africa, 
 — a scrupulously clean and quiet rural elysium, where 
 a population, numbering some four thousand, live and 
 prosper apparently with very little effort. It is prettily 
 situated, extending over a broad square plain, watered 
 by the Eerste River, and surrounded by high and steep 
 hills. The streets, which are numerous, are all at 
 right angles to each other, and precisely alike in ap- 
 pearance, all bordered by oak avenues, all furnished 
 with limpid streams, all containing rows of the same 
 kind of houses — white-washed, thatched-roofed, and 
 gable-faced, — and all having a background of vine- 
 yard, or garden, or orchard, yielding delicious fruits 
 of all sorts in abundance. Here the Dutch Reformed 
 Church has established a college, or theological semi- 
 nary, as it is termed, for the training of its clergy. This 
 was the first step taken towards providing for a complete 
 professional education in the Colony; and many youths 
 who were not in a position to go to Europe have by 
 its means been qualified to occupy spheres of great 
 usefulness as preachers and teachers among their 
 countrymen. The college is in a spacious building 
 which was formerly the magisterial residence. It is 
 fronted by large oak trees, some of them sixty or 
 seventy feet high; and beautiful shady walks "for 
 contemplation made," adjoin it along the banks of the 
 river. The Dutch Church — once a heavy squat 
 structure of the olden type — has lately been modernized 
 in the gothic style, and with its graceful spire is a 
 pleasing and conspicuous ornament to the town. 
 There are other churches of various denominations — 
 the English Episcopalians having a very tiny but 
 pretty ecclesiastical building, although the number 
 of members cannot be many. And here, too, are 
 the head-quarters of the Rhenish Missionary Society, 
 e2
 
 52 DRAKENSTEIN AND FRANSCHE HOEK.. 
 
 whose admirable institutions have contributed much 
 to the civilization and improvement of the native 
 coloured races. The local industries are not numerous 
 nor prominent ; they are mostly represented by wine- 
 cellars, distilleries, breweries, and corn-mills, and the 
 ordinary retail store establishments common to the 
 country towns. 
 
 Over the hills above Stellenbosch a road winds pic- 
 turesquely into the valleys of Drakenstein andFransche 
 Hoek. This is where the Huguenot families settled, 
 and named their places after the Gallic homes whence 
 they came — La Parais, Lamotte, Rhone, Languedoc, 
 La Rochelle, Normandie, and the like. The mountain 
 scenery around is very magnificent, towering up in 
 rushed and imposing bluffs and buttresses ; and from 
 one'of the heights a waterfall descends some three or 
 four hundred feet, forming in winter a grand sight, 
 and even in the driest season washing the rocks and 
 trees and shrubs below with perpetual spray. The 
 homesteads are generally along the course of the 
 Bero- River, or its tributary, the Dwaars. They stand 
 in the midst of orange, naartje, or lemon groves, which 
 occasionally number as many as a thousand trees in one 
 clump. Their appearance at any time is exceedingly 
 fine, but especially in September, when the orange 
 is laden with its golden fruit and fragrant blossom, 
 the vines are shooting out their first coat of bright 
 o-reen, the spreading " veldt " is gay with flowering 
 bush, and the mountains high above are here and 
 there tipped with the remains of the winter snow still 
 lyino- in their craggy clefts. Fransche Hoek is at 
 the extreme end of the valley, forming a charming 
 little hamlet engirt with hills. It was there that the 
 three brothers, De Villiers, of La Rochelle, from whom 
 are descended the extensive colonial family of that 
 name, first settled in 1670; and the ruins of the 
 original house built by them — of moulded clay with
 
 A MINING LEGEND. 53 
 
 reed covering — may still be seen. Lower down, near 
 Simon's Valley, is the site of the old church where 
 they and their exiled brethren worshipped ; and there 
 their descendants have erected a memorial school 
 named Simondium, in commemoration of the first 
 French pastor, Pere Simon, who accompanied them to 
 the Colony. In this locality, too, on the slopes of the 
 Simonsberg, above the mission station of Pniel, are 
 the abandoned excavations of the so-called " silver- 
 mines," once worked by some officers of the Dutch East 
 India Company. They consist of several chambers, 
 some of considerable size, tunnelled into the hill, 
 -and the ruins of an old place supposed to have been 
 the smelting-house, — all now nearly covered over with 
 the shrubs and trees growing around them. The his- 
 tory of these "mines" is but little known. The 
 local story is, that a man of the name of Mulder 
 settled here, and having possessed himself of several 
 Spanish dollars, melted these down, and forwarded 
 the silver to the Governor, who ordered the excava- 
 tions to be made. Mulder was pretty comfortable for 
 a time ; but, at last, his store of dollars was ended, 
 and the secret came out, upon which he very quietly 
 disappeared. The Government did not wish to make 
 much fuss about the matter, lest the laugh should be 
 against them, and so the story of silver abounding in 
 the mountain was kept up, and some of the ore said 
 to have been obtained from it was made into a chain, 
 to which the keys of the Cape Town Castle were at- 
 tached, and as such was preserved here until a few years 
 ago. The mines are frequently explored by visitors who 
 come to the neighbourhood ; and groups of crystals, 
 gathered from the quartz veins running through the 
 decomposed granite in which the excavations have been 
 made, are carried away as curiosities. 
 
 Emerging from the vale of Drakenstein, we reach 
 the Paarl — a considerable sized town, on the line of
 
 54 PAARL. 
 
 railway, which also retains the peculiar features of 
 the primitive settlement. Lying along the base of 
 the rocky hill, whose huge granite boulders glistening 
 in the sunshine like monster ee pearls " have given it its 
 name,itf orms one continuous street stretching for nearly 
 seven miles, lined with goodly dwellings, capacious 
 wine-stores, rows of oaks, rose-hedges, gardens, and 
 orchards. At different points in the breaks between 
 the houses there are glimpses of cultivated vineyards 
 running up the slopes of the hill, and again down 
 towards the bed of the Berg River, while across the 
 valley there are picturesque mountains, whose colour- 
 ings under the purple light of early morning, or the 
 warm pink and crimson glows of sunset, are exquisitely 
 beautiful. The inhabitants number about 4,000 or 
 5,000 people, but they do not show themselves much, 
 nor are their active occupations at any time very con- 
 spicuous. During the greater part of the day the 
 long-extending thoroughfare has a dreamy, tranquil 
 appearance, like a nook of the Lotosland, "in which it 
 seemeth alway afternoon," and nobody is ever hurried 
 or busied or excited. The old Dutch custom of a 
 mid-day siesta has not yet become obsolete ; and here 
 one may readily realise Washington Irving's pic- 
 tures of Wolfert's Roost and Diederick Knicker- 
 bocker. The community, however, is a wealthy and 
 prosperous one ; and its local business maintains two 
 banks, besides several other paying institutions. The 
 main source of this, of course, is the wine trade, which 
 is at present very profitable. The produce of the 
 vineyards in a favourable season generally average 
 from one to two leggers (the colonial measure for about 
 126 imperial gallons) from each 1,000 vines ; and most 
 of the farms are large enough to yield over 100 
 leggers, while some give as much as 200 and 300 each 
 vintage. Ten years ago the market price of the 
 article was ruinously low. The commercial treaty
 
 CAPE WIXES. 55 
 
 with France, and the adoption of what is known as 
 the Gladstone tariff (according to the degree of 
 strength) closed the English market to Cape wines. 
 The colonial export, which in 1859 was 1,000,000 gal- 
 lons, valued at £153,000, fell, in 1864, to 30,000 gal- 
 lons, valued at £5,200. In consequence of this the 
 growers could not command more than £3 a legger 
 for their young wines, and many of the poorer class 
 were great sufferers. Those who had means held on 
 to their stock as long as possible, or converted it into 
 spirits, for which there was a local market and a better 
 price. Since then, considerable attention has been 
 given to the manufacture and manipulation of the 
 wines, which have been much improved ; and this has 
 been followed by an increasing colonial consumption, 
 especially on the frontier districts and at the Diamond 
 and Gold-fields. Wines and brandies, the produce of 
 the country, are now imbibed by all classes, Europeans 
 and natives alike. Although the production is fully 
 fifty per cent, more than it was ten years ago, it 
 does not do more than keep pace with the demand. 
 During the present year (1874) the growers have got as 
 much as £12 a legger — an unprecedented high price, 
 which, if continued, will make them all rich men, for 
 the old good average quotation of £7 has been always 
 considered a very satisfactory return for capital and 
 labour. The various pursuits connected with wine and 
 spirit-making give employment to a great number of 
 the people. There are extensive and costly distilleries 
 in many places, and nearly every farm has its large 
 cellars and stores full of huge vats and casks. Wagon- 
 making is also an important industry, and connected 
 with it there is an occupation peculiar to many of the 
 residents of the towns in these old-settled districts. 
 This is known as " togt," — the common signification for 
 trading trips to the inland parts of the country at 
 favourable seasons. Wagons are loaded up with all
 
 56 MANGANESE MINE. 
 
 sorts of merchandise or produce likely to find a sale 
 among the isolated farmers in the interior ; travelling 
 from homestead to homestead, the goods are bartered 
 for sheep and cattle, until finally the wagons and 
 horses are even parted with, and the trader returns 
 with his stock, calculating the profits of his journey 
 according to the prices which they may realize in 
 the Cape Town market. 
 
 A new source of wealth has recently been deve- 
 loped in the mountain range directly opposite the 
 Paarl. Rich veins of manganese ore run through the 
 sandstone formation there in various directions, and 
 at one spot, in the locality known as Du Toit's Kloof, 
 it forms a great lode, standing out like a craggy ridge 
 on the hill tops, and extending in mass over hundreds 
 of yards. It is said to contain thousands- on thousands 
 of tons of ore. This is now being worked, and is 
 found to be of a very superior quality, yielding from 
 seventy to ninety per cent. For the conveyance of 
 the ore from the mountain to the line of railway in 
 the valley, an aerial wire tram has been constructed 
 for a length of five miles. This novel mode of 
 transport consists of a double endless rope, three and 
 a half inches in circumference, made of strand wire, 
 and suspended on strutted supports ranging from ten 
 to seventy feet in height, with spans between them of 
 various lengths, but in one instance extending to twelve 
 hundred yards. The wire is worked by stationary 
 engines at the two extremities of the line, the 
 rope bringing one way the full buckets of ore, and 
 on the other carrying back the empty ones ; and 
 a telegraph apparatus has been superadded which 
 gives perfect control over the engines from any part 
 of the line. The cost of transport by this aerial 
 railway is dependent upon the quantity of ore that 
 can be conveyed over the distance of four or five 
 miles, and it is estimated that with a delivery
 
 WELLINGTON 57 
 
 of fifty tons per day, it will not exceed 4s. 6d. or 
 4s. 9d, per ton. 
 
 About nine miles from the Paarl is the township of 
 Wellington, situate in what the old refugees named 
 the Valle du Charon, and where they richly re- 
 produced the " cornfields green and sunny vines " of 
 their native country. Wellington itself is a place of 
 recent date and growth. It sprang up after the great 
 mountain-road of Bain's Pass, leading over the moun- 
 tain behind it, was constructed about twenty years 
 ago. Later, it has been for some time the inland ter- 
 minus of the railway, and as such has become an 
 important produce depot. Wool-washing and other 
 industries have been established there, and it is now a 
 trade-centre which will be maintained, although the 
 railway line has been extended beyond it. Independent 
 of this, it is surrounded by highly productive farms, 
 and the proprietors generally are well-to-do. Like 
 Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, it is also notably a 
 fruit-bearing place, and the supplies of apricots, 
 peaches, plums, citrons, guavas, chestnuts, figs, 
 apples, pears, quinces, and other varieties are abundant 
 and excellent. The orange groves are very prolific 
 and profitable, most of the trees as ordinarily planted 
 giving each a crop of 5,000 or 6,000, while some old 
 ones in favourable situations give as much as 10,000 
 to 15,000 a-piece. Formerly the ground used to 
 be strewn with the produce of the orchards and 
 orangeries, owing to the difficulty and cost of transport, 
 but now the railway has brought the city market 
 within easy reach of the cultivator. Still there are 
 great quantities of fruit allowed to be wasted, and 
 tons of it might be collected and preserved for home 
 consumption and export. 
 
 Leaving the vine-growing valleys, we pass on to 
 the grain-producing portion of these districts— 
 Koeberg, Zwartland, and Piquetberg. This comprises
 
 58 THE CORN DISTRICTS. 
 
 the whole of the slopes and plains stretching away 
 from the Paarl and Drakenstein and Tulbagh Hills 
 to the western sea-board. It may best be seen from 
 the summit of Bain's Pass, above Wellington, where, 
 on a clear day, about the harvest time, miles and miles 
 of waving corn or mown fields recede in the distance, 
 and give one a most pleasing idea of colonial agricul- 
 tural industry. Half a century ago it was spoken of 
 as the iS granary " of the Colony. Then the whole 
 of the wheat brought into Cape Town, from all parts, 
 did not exceed 146,000 bushels. In 1865, this section 
 of the country alone yielded nearly 400,000 bushels 
 of wheat, in addition to 66,829 bushels of barley, 
 89,784 bushels of rye, 258,559 bushels of oats, and 
 137,548 hundred pounds of oat-hay, besides other 
 produce. Since 1865, owing to the division of pro- 
 perty, the improvement of market prices, and the 
 general impetus given to agriculture, the production 
 has increased. The extent of land cultivated and the 
 yield of corn is half as much again as it was ten years 
 ago, and there are few places where farming industry 
 has not been greatly enlarged in the direction of plant- 
 ing vineyards, grazing sheep, and keeping dairy stock 
 or horses. Better methods of farming are also being 
 adopted, and machinery introduced to economise 
 labour. There are now upwards of twenty portable 
 steam thrashing machines employed during the har- 
 vest, itinerating from farm to farm. Several reaping 
 machines are also at work gathering in the crops, 
 although commonly the scythe and sickle are used. 
 
 Malmesbury, the principal township of this grain- 
 bearing country, is about forty miles distant from 
 Cape Town. It originated like most of the inland 
 towns from the establishment there of a place of 
 worship for the convenience of the farmers, and was 
 for a long time known as the Zwartland Kerk, until 
 in 1829 it received its present name in honour of the
 
 MALMESBURY. 59 
 
 lady of Governor Sir Lowry Cole. It is now a 
 thriving village, and with its large stores, comfortable 
 houses, excellent schools, and handsome new churches, 
 presents a very well-to-do aspect. Fourteen years ago 
 it was treeless and bare like most of the surrounding 
 farms, but of late it has been greatly improved in 
 appearance by planting, and its central square and 
 streets are now pleasantly shaded. It possesses a 
 mineral spring of great repute as a "spa" and 
 spacious buildings with bath-rooms, and other con- 
 veniences have been erected around it for the accom- 
 modation of those who wish to try its medicinal effects. 
 Malmesbury will soon be connected with Cape Town 
 by railway, a branch extension from the main line 
 near D' Urban having been authorized, and this will 
 give its energetic inhabitants an additional stimulus 
 to increase its productions and extend its trade. 
 Bread stuffs and forage form the chief source of 
 business, but other articles have lately contributed to 
 it also. Wool and skins, which formerly were no 
 item of traffic, are now considerable, and the manu- 
 facture of wine and brandy is yearly increasing. Some 
 of the vineyards along the spurs of the Riebeek's 
 Kasteel and Paardeberg Mountains yield richly a 
 wine of first-rate quality, and in most parts of the 
 district there are spots suitable for its production. 
 The wheat lands of Mosselbanks Eiver, Zwartland, 
 and Darling rarely fail to give good crops ; from their 
 proximity to the sea they have always a good rain- 
 fall and their soils, chiefly a stiff clay formation, with 
 occasional patches of sand, give an average return 
 of about twenty fold. The Saldanha Bay and Berg 
 River districts are more of a mixed sandy and lime- 
 stone character and less subject to moisture, but they 
 also yield regularly, and sometimes give as much as 
 fifty fold. Nearly all these farms have excellent 
 pasturage, and now carry a good deal of stock.
 
 60 SALDANHA BAY. 
 
 It is an ordinary custom for cattle from all the 
 neighbouring districts to be sent here for a change 
 during part of the year, and it is wonderful to see 
 the fat and sleek condition which they acquire after 
 a run of a month or two on the herbage of the 
 Bay. Sheep are also now bred and pastured along 
 the Groenekloof farms, the average flocks being 1,000, 
 although some range up to 3,000 ; and there are many 
 large herds of milch cows. The size of the coast 
 farms is generally 3,000 morgen and more ; further 
 inland they are smaller. The average value of these 
 occupied lands may be stated at from 15s. to 30s. per 
 morgen. Sandy places, not fit for corn, may be got 
 at from 5s. to 10s. per morgen ; but good arable lands, 
 with grazing for sheep and horses, are not to be 
 obtained anywhere in the division for less than £l 
 per morgen ; while first-class farms, combining " horn, 
 corn, wool, and wine," are sometimes sold as high as 
 £3 per morgen (equal to two imperial acres). 
 
 There are several small villages throughout Malmes- 
 bury, such as Darling, the Mission Station of Mamre, 
 Hopefield, and the fishing hamlets of Hoetjes Bay, 
 and Steinberg's cove, at nearly all of which there are 
 churches, schools, and stores. In this division too is 
 the beautiful natural harbour of Saldanha Bay. It 
 is about fifteen miles in length, and at its northern 
 side (Hoetjes Bay) there is deep water close up to the 
 shore where ships of any size may anchor. Some 
 years ago a scheme was set on foot by an English 
 capitalist to purchase the properties about the Bay 
 and establish a town there, but this, like many other 
 previous plans for utilizing the natural advantages 
 of the place, has never taken any practical form. At 
 present the harbour is frequently visited by vessels 
 cruising or seeking shelter, who find good accom- 
 modation and generally get supplies from the farms 
 in the neighbourhood. Some of the islands in the
 
 BERG RIVER FARMS. 61 
 
 bay have been used by the Colonial Government as 
 a Quarantine Station. Game is plentiful, and sports- 
 men find ample enjoyment there. 
 
 The Berg River separates Malmesbury from the 
 adjoining district of Piquetberg ; and along the course 
 of the river, especially near its mouth, there are many 
 miles of unoccupied lands, private property, which are 
 admirably adapted for small agriculturists, who might 
 produce quantities of grain and other articles that 
 could be readily shipped along the river to a market. 
 Some of the properties there are from 7,000 to 20,000 
 morgen in extent. The two most remarkable of them 
 are those of Mr. Melck and Mr. Kotze, which for the 
 last forty years have been celebrated for the successful 
 horse-breeding which has been carried on there. Mr. 
 Kotze's is to the south of the river, about twenty 
 miles from its mouth, and Mr. Melck's on the opposite 
 margin, but quite two miles distant, in a straight line 
 across. In some seasons, when rains are heavy, and the 
 river is swollen by the sea-tide, the whole of this space 
 is covered with an expanse of water, so that one 
 may step into a boat from Mr. Kotze's stoep, row 
 across, and land at Mr. Melck's. The water at such 
 times is covered with myriads of wild sea-fowl, 
 including regiments of flamingoes ; and formerly 
 hippopotami were harboured in the high reeds fringing 
 the river, but now they have disappeared, the last 
 having been shot in 1870. Except for a few months 
 of the year, however, the water is confined to its 
 ordinary bed, and the lands on each side form valuable 
 tracts, with abundant pasturage, where horses, cattle, 
 ostriches, and pigs are allowed to run day and night. 
 These farms are devoted to every department of agricul- 
 ture, although the rearing of first-class horses and cattle 
 is their speciality. The best blood-stock, including 
 horses of considerable celebrity, have from time to 
 time been introduced, and the character and appear-
 
 62 NAVIGATION OF THE RIVER. 
 
 ance of their studs have been uniformly well-maintained. 
 The annual sales of the young progeny bring together 
 buyers from all parts of the Colony, and on such 
 occasions the hearty free and unrestrained character 
 of colonial life, and the unbounded hospitality of the 
 colonial farmers, may be seen to the best advantage. 
 Day after day there is open house, festive entertainment, 
 and Beotian plenty ; as at the Canterbury Franklin's, 
 " it sneweth both with meat and bread," and every 
 visitor receives at once a refined and cordial welcome. 
 The Berg River is one of the few navigable streams 
 in the Colony. It rises in the mountains above 
 Fransche Hoek and runs over a course of sixty-three 
 miles to the bight of St, Helena Bay where it dis- 
 charges itself. For a distance of about forty-four 
 miles from its mouth it is used for the transport of 
 produce by sailing-boats of various sizes up to forty 
 tons and five-and-a-quarter-feet loaded draught. 
 " Jantjes Fontein " is the highest and principal point of 
 shipment — the village of Hopefield a few hours' distant 
 beino- the chief depot, and by this means a large 
 quantity of the produce of Malmesbury and Piquet- 
 bero* is brought to market. At the mouth of the 
 river small coasting vessels, drawing six or seven feet, 
 may come in and there are jetties built there by 
 private traders for loading and unloading cargoes. It 
 is found, however, in consequence of the difficulties 
 in the navigation of the bar and mouth, to be usually 
 more expeditious to load and discharge vessels at the 
 anchorage in St. Helena Bay by the cargo boats, 
 especially as of late the work is facilitated by a small 
 steamboat. Last year the Government engaged 
 Staff-Commander May, R.jST., to survey the river with 
 a view to the improvement of its capabilities ; and he 
 reported that the principal obstructions could be 
 removed, and the passage made navigable from the 
 sea for fifty miles of its course at a moderate cost.
 
 THE DEPTH OF CHANNEL. 63 
 
 Of the obstructions at its mouth he says : — " The 
 passage in and out is rarely impracticable from wind 
 and weather during the summer months. The larger 
 boats have to wait for the tide, small boats pass in 
 and out at the lowest tide under oars, or sail if the 
 wind permits their being handled through the winding 
 channel between the rocks. During the winter season, 
 however, when N.W. winds prevail, the passage is 
 frequently wholly impracticable; the whole coast, 
 from the shallow depths becomes a wide expanse of 
 breakers ; but I am informed that the subsidence is 
 prompt upon that of the wind and that the passage is 
 rarely closed on this account for more than a day or 
 two at a time." Respecting the depths of the river 
 he remarks : " The bar is distant from the mouth 
 about a quarter of a mile ; it has depth of four feet 
 only at low water spring, with a rocky and sandy 
 bottom ; the passage of the mouth is so obstructed by 
 rocks which much uncover at low water springs as to 
 render it then only passable for small boats ; and 
 rocks, some only of which uncover, obstruct the 
 navigation for the first three and a half miles of its 
 course ; it is free from rocks in its channel thence to 
 a distance of eleven and a half miles from the mouth, 
 where the last obstructive rock occurs. The rocky 
 bed of the last three and a half miles of its course is 
 mostly more or less covered with sand, at and about 
 the mouth to an average depth of two to four feet on 
 the banks, the bed there being kept free from sand 
 by the accelerated tides. Throughout a distance of 
 forty-four statute miles it has an average depth of 
 six to nine feet ; it has depths, however, of twelve, 
 fifteen, seventeen feet, and in one place twenty- 
 four feet 3 whilst there is no place where a five-feet 
 draught cannot manage to find a passage, although in 
 many places a narrow one. The bottom, where not 
 rocky, is either sandy or sandy mud, and in a few
 
 64 PIQUETBERG. 
 
 places only, mud alone." The limits of penetration 
 upwards of the sea tide varies with the season. During 
 the dry season, that of least fresh water in the river, 
 it is not sufficiently fresh for drinking, below Zeekoe 
 Island ; it is often salt at Mr. Melck's and has been 
 so at Haasenkraal (Mr. Breda's), beyond the present 
 limit of navigation ; whilst, on the other hand, when 
 the river is " full " after rains, the banks, as already 
 stated, are overflowed, much of the adjacent country 
 is laid under water, and fresh water runs unmingled 
 for several miles into St. Helena Bay. 
 
 Captain May states that during the past year, 1873, 
 the following produce was shipped out of the Berg 
 River, viz.: — Wheat, 22,500 bags; rye, 9,235 bags ; 
 barley, 2,328 bags ; oats, 23,077 bags ; tobacco, 5,145 
 lbs. ; whale oil, 1 cask ; butter, 3 casks and 2,000 lbs. ; 
 beans, peas, &c, 790 bags ; hides and skins, 1,150 ; 
 eco-s, 10,000. Most of the exported produce is sent 
 to Cape Town, but much of the oats, rye, &c., to the 
 northward for the supply of the mule trains, &c, in 
 connection with the copper mines of Namaqualand. 
 Two years ago (in 1872) the wheat crop in the neigh- 
 bourhood was so abundant that 7,000 bags were 
 shipped direct to the London market by the steam- 
 ship Marc Antony. 
 
 The village of Piquetberg or Piketberg, as it is 
 sometimes named, is a few miles north of the Berg 
 River and distant about eighty miles from Cape 
 Town. It is on the direct road to Clanwilliam, and 
 the bridge which spans the river near to it — an iron 
 lattice structure which cost £28,000 — is one of the 
 finest in the Colony. The Piquetberg Mountain got its 
 name from the circumstance of a company of soldiers 
 beino- stationed there in the olden time ; now its plateau 
 is occupied as a farm where a large flock of sheep is 
 crazed and a quantity of tobacco is grown. The village, 
 which is very small, only numbering about forty or
 
 PORTERVILLE. 65 
 
 fifty houses, is situate ou a slope at the foot of the 
 mountain, and commands a fine uninterrupted view of 
 the country to the north and south-eastward for some 
 twenty miles. A Dutch church (in which English 
 service is also held), and public offices and schools 
 have been erected, the village being the seat of magis- 
 tracy. It has a plentiful supply of clear water, and 
 the several roads leading from it, over the Grey's 
 Pass to Clanwilliam, to the Twenty-four Rivers, 
 and to Cape Town, are for some distance protected 
 by avenues of trees in luxuriant growth. A new 
 village called Porterville has been established in the 
 ward Twenty-four Rivers on the line of road from 
 Clanwilliam to Tulbagh and Wellington, and from its 
 position it is not unlikely that it may in course of 
 time outstrip Piquetberg. There are two Moravian 
 Mission institutions in the district, one at Goede- 
 verwachting and another at Witte water, where the 
 native labouring population are provided for- The 
 farms of the division are highly productive both in 
 cereals, fruits, and tobacco, and pasture numbers of 
 horned cattle, horses, and some sheep. There is, how- 
 ever, a large portion still uncultivated, and in parts of 
 the flats and Zandveld the occupiers are a poor and 
 ignorant class, as backward as any who are to be found 
 in the extreme border districts. From the want of 
 roads they have been to a great degree isolated from 
 their neighbours, and are not yet much affected 
 by the spirit of enterprise and industry which else- 
 where prevails ; but here and there intelligent pro- 
 prietors from other parts are settling amongst them, 
 whose energetic example will no doubt soon have an 
 educating influence. Their communication with the 
 best markets has also been improved by the openino* 
 of a new bridge over the Twenty-four Rivers, which 
 gives the district the advantage of easy access to the 
 line of railway at Tulbagh Kloof. 
 
 F
 
 66 FISHERIES — SALT PANS. 
 
 Fishing is carried on in all the bays which indent 
 the coast along these divisions. At some places, 
 fishing grounds have been let by Government on 
 leases of five years at £1 per 100 feet. At other 
 places, such as Kalk Bay, Somerset, Saldanha, and 
 St. Helena Bays there are large private establish- 
 ments for the curing and export of the bountiful 
 treasures of the deep, which give employment to 
 numbers of the coloured people. The value of the 
 industry at Kalk Bay and Table Bay is estimated at 
 £35,000, inclusive of home consumption. And at 
 Saldanha and St. Helena Bays last year it amounted 
 to £11,600. Both in Malmesbury and Piquetberg 
 there are several salt-pans some of which yield large 
 supplies of excellent salt.
 
 III. THE WEST COAST DISTRICTS. 
 
 North of Malmesbury and Piquetberg, proceeding 
 along the coast, is the division of Clanwilliam, which 
 once embraced the whole of the country extending to 
 the Orange River, covering an area of about fifty-six 
 thousand square miles. It is now separated into the 
 three districts of Clanwilliam, Calvinia and Namaqua- 
 land. Of these Clanwilliam is the smallest, having an 
 area of 5,930 miles, of which only 10,000 acres are 
 returned as under cultivation. The natural scenery 
 here as elsewhere on the West coast is dull and 
 uninteresting. As a rule, the features are a broad 
 belt of sand, then low scrubby bush swelling into 
 hills of moderate height, and then a background of 
 mountains, whose rugged, but in many parts pic- 
 turesque peaks form the margin of a table-land, 3,000 
 feet high. 
 
 Although an old established district, dating as far 
 back as 1808, and partially occupied by a handful of 
 the immigrants of 1820, Clanwilliam has not advanced 
 equally with other parts of the Colony. The absence 
 of roads, and the natural obstacles to transport from 
 heavy sand tracts and mountain barriers, are among" 
 the causes which have kept it for years in a stagnant 
 state. When no market was accessible, there was 
 little inducement or stimulus for the farmers to cul- 
 tivate more than for their own consumption. Now, 
 however, there is a good road all the way to Cape 
 Town about 160 miles, and for nearly one third of 
 this distance the railway from Tulbagh Kloof may 
 be used. The most fruitful portions of the district 
 itself, such as the Cedarbergen, Bidouw, and Oliphant's 
 F 2
 
 68 THE " NILE " LANDS. 
 
 River, are being opened to the interior by a road now 
 in course of construction over the Pakhuis Mountain. 
 And if an effort was made to open Lambert's Bay 
 (about forty miles from the town of Clanwilliam) as a 
 port, by removing the monopoly of trade there, im- 
 proving the anchorage, and constructing a tramway or 
 even a hard road over the Zandveld, a great stimulus 
 would he given to the development of the local 
 resources. One part, known as the Lower 
 Oliphant's River, is highly productive, and especially 
 fitted for individual industry. This forms what 
 has been termed "the Mile Lands" of South 
 Africa. The river which rises in the Winterhoek, 
 the highest peak of the Tulbagh and Bokkeveld 
 Mountain range, runs through the district and 
 receives several tributaries,, carrying along with 
 them the surface soil of the Calvinia Karoo and 
 Bushmanland. At certain seasons when the river is 
 flooded and overflows, the adjacent land is covered 
 with the mud or " slick," and is marvellously fertile. 
 Under ordinary favourable circumstances it yields at 
 an average one hundred fold. The soil, however, 
 before it produces to this extent, requires soaking for 
 about twenty-four hours, consequently no rain has 
 any productive effect upon it, except when of sufficient 
 amount to produce floods having a sluggish pace or 
 after the evaporation of standing pools. The " stooling" 
 of cereals varies from twenty to as many as one 
 hundred and sixty stalks from one grain. Mr. 
 P. Fletcher, Government Surveyor, who examined 
 the Oliphant's River in 1859, reported that the 
 quantity of land of this character along its banks 
 amounts to 8,700 acres. He further drew attention 
 to the Holle or Zout River, a tributary of the Oli- 
 phant's River as equally fertile, remarking: — " By its 
 arteries it brings together the rich Karoo soil of the 
 Hantam and Hardeveldt, and the rich sandy soil of
 
 KAROO DEPOSITS. 69 
 
 Bushmanland. The best crop of oats I have seen in 
 "Africa was in the deposit of this f periodical.' Other 
 portions are of a very saline character. At a rough 
 guess, I believe that in many spots a dam might be 
 constructed three or four feet high and a couple of 
 hundred feet long, which would flood several hundred 
 acres, thereby rendering them richly arable. I have 
 measured some of last year's ' slick,' two feet deep ; 
 this, of course, was under the most favourable circum- 
 stances, but by the use of dams, the deposit might be 
 regulated, the fresh slick might be allowed to deposit 
 to its full extent, so that in a few years the lands 
 would be out of the reach of ordinary floods — if 
 desirable that they should be so. By this system of 
 irrigation, even the most saline basin would become 
 available to agriculture, and about nine or ten thousand 
 acres on the banks of this one periodical river might 
 be brought under cultivation, which would even 
 excel the richest soil in the f Boland ' (upper country). 
 This is at least my confirmed opinion. Several of the 
 tributaries to the Zout River have extensive Karoo 
 deposit. Some of their basins reaching to nearly one 
 mile in breadth, and their fall so little, that, standing 
 in their delta, a person cannot sometimes judge with 
 the eye which direction water would flow. Their 
 water-course, which winds through the middle of the 
 denosit, is always well-defined, and shows a longi- 
 tudinal section of the plain. Except in ordinary 
 heavy rains, those channels carry off all the water 
 without overflowing, while a few pounds would leave 
 them in a condition to produce fifty, eighty, or even 
 one hundred-fold. Such is the nature of the Farsh 
 River, Geelbek River, portions of the Troe-Troe 
 River, Oorlogs Kloof, the Zak River at Amandel- 
 boom, and other tributaries of the Hartebeeste River. 
 I have not seen the latter, but have been more than 
 once informed that it has, in some places, a deposit of
 
 70 BOER APATHY. 
 
 an hour on horseback in breadth (about five miles), 
 and that when it does overflow there is abundance of 
 grass for all the cattle that visit that quarter. If this 
 description of the Hartebeeste River be correct the 
 products it may be able to yield, either in the form of 
 grain ■ or pasture for cattle, would appear to most 
 people fabulous. We have here, and not here only, 
 but over au extensive portion of the whole Colony, 
 the richest soil in the world, lying at present for two- 
 thirds of the year utterly unoccupied, waste and worth- 
 less." 
 
 Notwithstanding the natural capabilities of the 
 Oliphant's River, they remain undeveloped, owing in a 
 great measure to the apathetic disposition and habits 
 of many of the farmers there. An enterprising 
 colonist who visited them some time ago, says : — " I 
 strolled along the banks of the river and was much 
 struck with the extremeky fertile appearance of the 
 soil and the very little which had been done for turning 
 it to account. It seemed as if the Creator had done 
 everything for the country, and man nothing. Scarcely 
 any rain had fallen for some time past, and the river 
 had not overflowed its banks for more than a year. 
 The stocks of grain and vegetables were getting very 
 low. The farmer was complaining much about the 
 long protracted drought, and when he had finished, I 
 took the liberty of pointing out how he could, by 
 leading out the stream for the purposes of irrigation, 
 or by fixing a pump, to be propelled by wind on the 
 river's bank, secure an abundant supply, independent 
 of the weather. He seemed to listen with some 
 interest to the development of my plans, and I began 
 to hope that he had decided upon doing something to 
 relieve himself of the difficulty ; but eventually, after 
 turning round and scrutinising the whole horizon in 
 the direction of the river's source, as if in search of 
 some favourable symptom, he yawned heavily, and
 
 STATE OF EDUCATION. 71 
 
 merely observed : — f Ach ! wat, dat zal een dag regem' 
 ( f Oh, it will rain one day ! ') 
 
 Mr. Fletcher in his report to Government estimated 
 the European farming population along the irrigable 
 portion of the river at 120 souls, and says: — "When 
 there is an overflow of the river they are- active 
 enough. Day and night they work incessantly ; 
 the sun and moon alike witness that they do not 
 eat the bread of idleness. But talk to them of 
 improvements in the way of artificial irrigation by 
 dams or pumps, and they ridicule the idea. Those of 
 them who have a vague notion that something might 
 be done in this direction, fear the introduction of 
 taxation ; but perhaps the idea most dreaded of all is, 
 that the land will somehow or other get into the hands 
 of strangers (vreemde menscheii), or that such will be 
 encouraged to settle among them. This is a fact 
 which indicates more deep-seated ignorance than any 
 other ; it is one which extends throughout the length 
 and breadth of Clanwilliam. As is the case in the 
 other wards of the district, education is at a very low 
 ebb. There is only one family that has a teacher, to 
 whom several of the neighbours send their children. 
 An inspection of this school shows at once the industry 
 of the teacher and the perseverance of the scholars ; 
 there are ten of the latter, the most of them grown-up 
 and some of them even married ; they are taught to 
 read their catechism, but the greater portion and 
 efforts of their time is devoted to writing a copy of a 
 manuscript letter placed before them. By the end of 
 six weeks (the time generally supposed requisite to 
 complete their education) they can produce a tolerable 
 copy of the original epistle. It is really astonishing 
 to see the progress they make even under this system. 
 Arithmetic is not taught, and I believe there is not 
 one of the farming population I allude to who can 
 cipher a sum in the simplest rules of arithmetic. All
 
 72 PARTNER FARMS — EBENEZER. 
 
 the farms along the irrigable portion of the river are 
 partner farms, or what they call maatschappy plaatsen ; 
 some of them have to the number of seven proprietors, 
 generally brothers or brothers-in-law. Those imagin- 
 ary shares are again subdivided among their families. 
 One of themselves pointed out a farm where seventeen 
 individuals could claim shares. Nothing is more 
 ruinous to the moral as well as material progress of 
 those farmers than the principles of maatschappy farms. 
 Quarrels (roezies) are created between brothers about 
 cutting a bush, allotting flooded river ground, or 
 keeping a few extra bucks, which extend over years, 
 and, in some instances, through life. In talking to some 
 of the most intelligent of the people, they appeared 
 very desirous of having a portion of land that each 
 could call his own ; but doubted whether they could 
 demand a division. I believe they can. One thing, 
 however, is certain, that until these maatschappy s are 
 done away with, there will be no harmony or pros- 
 perity on the Lower Oliphant's River." 
 
 Equally discouraging is the account Mr. Fletcher 
 gives of the condition of the Rhenish Mission Insti- 
 tution of Ebenezer in the same locality. It is richly 
 endowed with lands of 12,000 morgen in extent, of 
 which 1,100 acres is rich river ground, besides grazing 
 rights over 27,000 morgen on the north side of the 
 river. There was on this place a total population of 
 only 276 souls. There was a church and school, and 
 mission buildings to the extent of a couple hundred 
 feet frontage, all built entirely at the expense of the 
 society. Three brick and stone houses were the only 
 representatives of native industry; all the other 
 dwellings were miserable hut and mat houses. The 
 families of the natives are very poor, and live at certain 
 seasons almost wholly on pumpkins, which vegetable 
 they grow along the edge of the river or wherever the 
 water has happened to overflow. When ripe, it is cut
 
 IRRIGATION. 73 
 
 up in strips, dried, and stored for future use. Muids 
 of the larvae of the ant are at another season consumed. 
 Few of them like the occupation of fishing ; most of 
 them prefer the chase. Mr. Fletcher adds: — "I 
 shall now show what the society had in their 
 power to do, even with a portion of the means 
 at their command, by simply adopting the rude 
 appliances which have proved so abundantly suc- 
 cessful for raising water for irrigation in India. Two 
 men and eight oxen can raise water from a well suffi- 
 cient to irrigate eight acres of ground, thirty men 
 and fifteen such spans will, consequently irrigate 
 120 acres, which would, on the Oliphant's River, give at 
 least a return of 2,000 muids of corn ; this would give 
 more than five muids to every man, woman, and child 
 on the institution, or nearly three pounds per diem to 
 each, for 365 days, besides one or two other crops for 
 feeding cattle, &c. There would still remain river 
 land to the extent of 1,780 acres, skirted for nine miles 
 by a dam of water 400 feet wide and an average depth 
 of about ten feet, banked at the lower end by the sea 
 water and at the other fed by four or five cubic feet of 
 water per second — even at the end of the dry season. 
 From the above facts it appears that Ebenezer alone 
 could support comfortably a population of at least 
 50,000. To make this statement more palatable, halve 
 it — and say 25,000 ; or if you doubt the assertion still, 
 refer to standard works on irrigation — such as Smith's, 
 Cotton's, &c." 
 
 But it must not be inferred from these remarks that 
 the inhabitants of all parts of the district are open 
 to the reproach of being as apathetic as those above 
 described on the Lower Oliphant's River. From 
 the Zandveld as much as 18,000 bushels of grain is 
 shipped to Cape Town in a good season. The field- 
 cornetcy of Troe-Troe, where a village has now been 
 formed, produces corn, wine, and dried fruits. Along
 
 74 CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. 
 
 the Upper Oliphant's River there are a succession of 
 fine properties surrounded by orchards and orangeries ; 
 and the latter attain to wonderful perfection in 
 this locality. The Bidouw and Cedarbergen are also 
 noted for various products, such as wine and brandy, 
 tobacco, whipsticks, and all sorts of fruits. Here the 
 cedar tree (Widdringtonia Juniperoides) gives employ- 
 ment to many persons engaged in cutting and sup- 
 plying timber to Clanwilliam and other places. There 
 is likewise an excellent mission station of the Rhenish 
 Society in striking, contrast to that at Ebenezer. It 
 is named Wupperthal and forms quite a small village. 
 Cotton and flax are cultivated, and there are tanning, 
 hat-making, and tobacco and snuff manufactories, all 
 under the superintendence of the missionary. 
 
 During the last ten years there has been a marked 
 change for the better amongst the farmers generally. 
 Schools are now opened, and education is appreciated. 
 Woolled sheep are being preferred to the African, and 
 there are merino flocks of 3,000 and upwards. Angora 
 goats have been introduced, although not with so much 
 success. Large enclosures are made for ostriches, 
 which are here in their natural veldt. Horse-breeding 
 is carried on by several persons, and cattle breeding is 
 very extensively engaged in by all. Sheep once 
 accustomed to the pastures do well, but salt is 
 freely given to them as well as to cattle and is found 
 to be very beneficial ; it is readily obtained at Is. per 
 bushel from the salt pans along the Zandveld. 
 
 The town of Clanwilliam is considered one of the 
 hottest places in the Colony in the summer months. It 
 is situate in a basin, near the junction of the Jan Dissels 
 and the Oliphant's River. There are Dutch and English 
 Churches, schools, and public offices, and the private 
 dwellings are surrounded with well watered and fertile 
 gardens. The population of the town at the last 
 census was 330, and of the district 3,500. The value
 
 CALVINIA. 75 
 
 of immovable property was about £124,000. The 
 reports of the several civil commissioners, however, 
 state that it is capable of supporting a very large 
 population if its resources are only developed. As an 
 instance of what energy and enterprise will do, it may 
 be mentioned that two farmers, some years ago, 
 sold their farm in the Upper Oliphant's River for 
 £250, " because they could not subsist upon it."' 
 It is by no means one of the best farms in that locality; 
 but it now supports upwards of eighty people andthe new 
 proprietor has derived a comfurtable independence from 
 his exertions. Within a year or two past, copper has 
 been found in the district on a farm named " Zand- 
 fontein " and on Government land, but whether it can 
 be obtained in paying quantities remains to be seen. 
 Marble of a good quality is also found, and saltpetre 
 exists in several localities and is used by the inha- 
 bitants for household purposes. Clanwilliam from its 
 beino- a coast district has the advantage of regular 
 winter rains, and it is seldom (not more than once in 
 five or six years) that these fail. There are also in 
 various places many powerful springs which may be 
 used for irrigation ; one of a mineral character on the 
 Upper Oliphant's River has a great curative repute. 
 Land varies much in price according to position and 
 other circumstances, but the average value for occupied 
 properties is from 7s. 6d. to 10s. a morgen. 
 
 Calvinia immediately adjoins Clanwilliam on the 
 inland side. The township (which has a population 
 of about 300) is 250 miles distant from Cape Town, by 
 the direct road leading through Ceres, Karoo Poort, 
 Laange Dooms, Vaarsche Fontein, and Draaikraal 
 outspans. The division is one of the largest in the 
 Colony, extending from the Tanqua River in the 
 Karoo north to the Orange River, embracing an area 
 roughly estimated according to the Blue-book at 
 26,000 square miles, but the greater portion of this
 
 76 EOGGEVELD AND HANTAM. 
 
 tract is generally known as Bushmanland — which will 
 be more particularly noticed hereafter, in connection 
 with the Northern Border territory. The occupied 
 parts of Calvinia are chiefly the high table lands 
 (nearly level with Table Mountain) locally designated 
 the Bokkeveldt, Boggeveld, and Hantam. The 
 climate there in the winter season is very sharp, snow 
 falling and the frosts frequently affecting the fruit 
 trees and the grain crops. The soil is fertile, con- 
 sisting mostly of Karoo, and when the latter rains 
 fall copiously the harvest is good, yielding an average 
 of fifty fold. But being on the debatable ground 
 between the winter and summer rain tract?, the district 
 is subject to periodical droughts, and when these 
 prevail breadstuffs and provisions reach a famine 
 price. It is, however, more a pastoral country than 
 otherwise, and sheep-breeding is the chief occupation 
 of the farmers. The census of 1865 gave the number 
 of woolled sheep in the district at 27,242 and of 
 African sheep 246,943. More than half of the flocks 
 are still of the hairy fat-tailed African kind, which 
 supply the heaviest and best mutton to the western 
 markets ; but year by year these are being cleared 
 out, and farmers are showing a greater disposition to 
 betake themselves to the more valuable merinos. The 
 clip of wool of Calvinia last year was upwards of 800 
 bales, most of it of a superior quality. The farms 
 vary in extent from 3,000 to 10,000 morgen, and some 
 are even 25,000 morgen. The largest flocks are about 
 6,000 sheep, besides cattle and horses, but the average 
 may be put clown at not much more than 1,500. 
 Horse-breeding is carried on to a considerable extent, 
 notwithstanding occasional heavy losses from epidemics. ' 
 The Van der Merwe's, Visagies, and others keep up 
 their valuable blood-stock, and the Western Hantam, 
 like that of the New Hantam (near Colesberg) 
 can always be relied on for supplies of good
 
 TREKVELD AND ACHTERVELD. 77 
 
 serviceable animals. Ostrich-farming is increasing 
 the open and arid nature of the country being favour- 
 able for it, and the amount realized for feathers last 
 year was estimated at £5,000. The excessive dryness 
 of a great portion of the district in summer has induced 
 the farmers for many years past to adopt what is now 
 with them a regular habit — the "trekking" system. 
 They close up their houses and move away with their 
 sheep or cattle to the open plains stretching to the 
 northward, which from the circumstance of their beino- 
 thus used as free commonages have obtained the name 
 of " Trekveld " and * Achterveld." A few years ago, 
 licenses granting the privilege of grazing there were 
 issued by the Government under the Squatters' Act 
 of 1867. This yielded a revenue of £1,500 per annum, 
 and it was estimated that 300,000 sheep and 8,000 
 head of cattle were pastured on these lands. The 
 Squatters' Act having expired, part of the country 
 numbering about 100 large lots was last year put up 
 for annual lease, but only a few of these were taken 
 at the upset rental of £3 per 20,000 morgen, Had 
 there been any reasonable conditions made for the 
 repayment of improvements effected by the lessees, the 
 result would have been very different. The farmers 
 would then have been encouraged to construct reservoirs 
 and watercourses, which are necessary for the occu 
 pation of the country for any length of time. But 
 failing this, they preferred reverting to the old state 
 of things under which they roam about at will in 
 search of the best pasturage and the largest natural 
 pools, and not unfrequently there are quarrels and 
 broils as to the possession of these. The Government 
 however, is making arrangements for the survey of the 
 lands with a view to leasing them for terms of twenty- 
 one years under the Land Act of 1864, and it is 
 estimated that the revenue from them will reach 
 £15,000 or £20,000 per annum. Farms in the occu-
 
 78 NAMAQUALAND. 
 
 pied parts of the district now average, in the Bokke- 
 veld, as much as 30s. per morgen ; in the Hantam, an 
 average of 15s. per morgen ; and in the Achterveld, 
 where little or no improvements have been made, about 
 5s. 
 
 We next come to the rich copper-bearing district of 
 Namaqualand, stretching along the coast from Clan- 
 william to the mouth of the Orange Eiver over an 
 area estimated at twenty-one thousand square miles- 
 The population does not much exceed 12,000 souls, 
 and the extent of cultivated ground about 12,000 
 acres, so that the greater part of the country although 
 known to be rich in hidden wealth is as yet an empty 
 barren wilderness. Its geographical features, as well 
 as its geology, zoology, and botany, and the situation 
 and character of all its mining centres are admirably 
 described by Mr, Wyley, the geologist, in his official 
 report on the district in 1857. A broad sandy tract 
 stretches inland from the sea, and rises by a gradual 
 ascent to the high plateau of Bushmanland. Towards 
 the north the mountains increase, some rising 1,500 
 feet above the general surface, which is about 3,000 
 feet in height. 
 
 The prevailing rock, in Namaqualand, Mr. Wyley 
 says, is gneiss, passing into schists, as we approach 
 the Orange River. In the south, the gneiss is often 
 of a 0-ranitic texture, and cannot always be distin- 
 guished from the granite veins which are mixed up 
 with it, as in all gneiss countries. It is broken into 
 by new granites, and greenstone rocks, and very often, 
 in the south, by a peculiar ferruginous felspar rock, 
 which has been noticed in connection with the mines. 
 This usually forms small rounded or conical hillocks, 
 easily distinguished by their dark rusty brown colour, 
 and as they are pretty sure to accompany the copper 
 indications, they have often served as a guide to the 
 latter, and have been termed " the copper-bearers."
 
 SPRINGBOK. 79 
 
 The bedding of the gneiss, where it can be made out, 
 is sometimes nearly vertical, sometimes horizontal, 
 but it is seldom so marked as to exercise any oreat 
 influence on the form of the hills. Not so with the 
 quartzites and limestones along the middle of the 
 mountain range, which appear in horizontal caps, and 
 flat tabular mountains, like the Table Mountain, or 
 the sandstone hills of the Interior. The hills of Bush- 
 manland, excepting those very far to the eastward, 
 although of gneiss or granite, have also a tendency to 
 the tabular form, owing in most cases, to a more nearly 
 horizontal arrangement of those rocks. Those of the 
 western flats are, for the most part, of the same 
 broken character as the gneiss of the highland 
 districts. 
 
 Springbokfontein, or Springbok as it is commonly 
 named, is the chief seat of magistracy of the district, 
 and near to the centre of the wonderful minino- 
 industry which has sprung up during the last twenty 
 years. The existence of copper in this locality was 
 known nearly two centuries ago, and as early as 1685 
 attempts to turn it to account were made by the 
 Dutch Company's Governor, Yan der Stell, and after- 
 wards by others, but without success. The want of 
 fuel and the difficulties of transport in those days 
 were probably insurmountable obstacles to enter- 
 prise. It was only in 1852 that the working of the 
 present mines was commenced by a Cape Town firm, 
 the late Messrs. Phillips & King, now King & 
 Son. They opened the ground at Springbok, which 
 then was a desolate place, with merely a mud cabin 
 and a few mat huts occupied by the natives. The 
 mineral indication was situated at the base of a hill 
 rising about 600 feet above the plain. Before beino- 
 broken into it exhibited a mass of rusty brown rock, 
 of a somewhat semi-circular form about 160 yards in 
 greatest length. The lowest portion consisted of very
 
 80 MINING VILLAGES. 
 
 slightly altered granite, or rather very granitic gneiss, 
 showing little trace of copper; the upper part on the 
 other hand was highly altered and mineralized gneiss 
 •with an abundant copper stain, not superficial, but 
 penetrating far into the decomposed rock, in addition 
 to which there were several veins of red copper ore at 
 the surface of the ground. The first eleven tons of 
 ore were shipped by the steamer Bospherus on the 
 31st August, 1852. Since then upwards of 88,000 
 tons averaging 30 per cent, of copper, have been shipped. 
 The exports for several years have been 7,000, and it 
 is rapidly approaching to 10,000 tons per annum. 
 Springbok is now an important village, with its public 
 offices, pretty English church, and substantial houses. 
 Five miles away from it, a new mine, the Ookiep, has 
 been opened; and the tall chimney stalk 120 feet 
 high, the smelting works and other extensive build- 
 ings erected there, as well as the large heaps of ore 
 lying about, show the importance of the station. There 
 is a population of 1,500 on the place, a portion of 
 w T hom work under ground and the remainder on the 
 surface, in the different occupations connected with 
 the mine. A number of these are Cornish men and 
 skilled European artisans, but there are also labourers 
 from St. Helena, and Hottentots, Bastards, Damaras, 
 and other natives employed. Again at Spectakel, 
 twenty miles from Springbok, and near to the junction 
 of the Buffels and Schaap Kivers, there is another 
 mine with a population of about 600 ; and at the 
 Concordia mines, eight miles north-east of Ookiep, 
 there is also a large establishment with smelting 
 works and some 300 to 500 people employed there. 
 
 In 1860 Messrs. Phillips & King retired de- 
 servedly enriched by their enterprise and energy, and 
 their property was transferred to the Cape Copper 
 Mining Company (Limited). From that time the 
 development of the mineral wealth of the district has
 
 THE OOKIEP MINE. 81 
 
 been most marked. Skilled labour and machinery 
 were introduced, new centres were opened, a railway 
 constructed from the seaport towards the mines, and 
 the whole business conducted under a well arranged 
 system of administration and management. As a 
 mercantile success, the result has been highly satis- 
 factory. Their principal mine is that of " Ookiep " 
 and the richness of its yield may be judged of from 
 the fact that it produced more metal last year than 
 the whole of the Cornish and Devon mines during 
 the same time. Professor Noble who visited it in 
 1873, says: — "It is beyond all doubt the richest 
 copper mine in the world. In 1870 it yielded 5,300 
 tons of ore, at an average per centage of 29-38; in 
 1871 it gave 6,071, at an average of 32 per cent ; and 
 in 1872 it yielded 6,900 tons, with a per-centage of 
 33-25. During the present year it is yielding at the 
 rate of from twenty to thirty tons per diem ; while the 
 estimated amount of its wealth within reach of the 
 present shaft with its traversing extensions is upwards 
 of 30,000 tons ! The total depth attained by the 
 shaft is 420 feet, — or to give a still more vivid notion 
 of it, I need only mention that the most experienced 
 miners take ' twenty minutes ' in climbing up the 
 ladders from the bottom to the summit level. Of 
 course, at various levels extensions are made in all 
 directions, east, west, north, and south, traversing the 
 copper bearing lode. At the fifty fathom or 300 feet 
 level in one direction there is a i stope ' or excavation 
 of sixty feet by 120 feet, forming a huge cavern, the 
 roof of which is supported by three pillars of resplen- 
 dent ore, necessarily left untouched ; while at the 
 deeper level of sixty fathoms or 360 feet, the area 
 explored and excavated is 210 feet from north to 
 south, and 150 feet transversely to the eastward." 
 Of the ore in reserve — that is, in sight but not yet 
 brought to the surface — the mining engineer's estimate 
 G
 
 82 NEWLY OPENED MINES. 
 
 is 35,000 tons. In his last report he says : " I have 
 gone carefully into calculations as to the quantity of 
 copper ore that we have at present discovered in the 
 mine, and I estimate the number of fathoms, and the 
 yield per fathom, to be as follows : — 
 
 In back of 20 fath. level, 680 faths. yielding 5£ tons per fath. 3,740 
 30 „ 600 „ 5 „ „ 3,000 
 
 40 „ 1,043 „ 5 
 
 48 „ 800 „ 3 
 
 58 „ 2,590 „ 5 
 
 68 „ 1,000 „ 6 
 
 5,215 
 
 2,800 
 
 14,245 
 
 6,000 
 
 Tons 35,000 
 
 Added to this, the managers contemplate the period 
 some years hence when they will be working the ore 
 ground at 120 fathom or 720 feet level, so that Ookiep 
 has a brilliant future to look to. But the Company 
 are also directing attention to other portions of their 
 property, more especially to the locality formerly 
 known as Copperberg (now Carolusberg) six miles 
 south-east of Ookiep which was visited by Governor 
 Van der Stell in 1685. Kildennan, six miles to the 
 north of Ookiep, is also being opened, and another 
 mine at BuffePs Biver, thirty miles to the west of 
 Ookiep, has been found very productive, though 
 uncertain. The Company has likewise commenced the 
 working of the mines known as Kudas and Nuniis, 120 
 miles north of Ookiep. These latter are about sixty 
 miles distant from the coast and within five or six 
 miles from the Orange Biver, which may be made 
 available by means of flat bottomed boats for the 
 transport of the ore to its mouth. 
 
 The Cape Copper Mining Company, although 
 the most important and extensive, is not the only joint- 
 stock association engaged in mining here. The Con- 
 cordia Company with a large capital have commenced 
 work on the Hester Maria and Wheal Julia mines,
 
 TRANSPORT PROBLEM. 83 
 
 and other outcrops of cupriferous rock. There are 
 also many abandoned workings, such as the Bulltrap, 
 Burra Burra, and Schaap Mines, which are awaiting 
 the employment of capital for development. North- 
 ward again from Pella to the Orange River Mouth 
 lodes of copper-bearing rock are known to exist ; and 
 a strip of country 100 miles in width from the sea 
 board ought to be workable with profit if transport 
 and quick dispatch at a reasonable rate were provided. 
 
 The matter of transport was the great difficulty 
 with which the Cape Copper Mining Company had to 
 contend. Their mines were far away from the 
 sea, and the ore had to be conveyed over frightful 
 mountain roads and sandy tracks to the coast. Trains 
 of ox and mule wagons were employed, absorbing the 
 whole agricultural appliances of the district and drafts 
 from other parts of the Colony besides ; but they 
 were unable to meet the rapidly-growing requirements 
 of the traffic, and the piles of valuable ore lyinor 
 unremoved at the mouth of the mines induced the 
 Company to send out their present engineer, Mr. R. T. 
 Hall, to see how the transport problem could be 
 solved. Hondeklip Bay was then the shipping and 
 landing port, and a constructed road was opened from 
 there towards Springbok. Mr. Hall after a careful 
 survey of the country and the coast, recommended the 
 directors to abandon the Hondeklip route and bay, to 
 remove their establishment to Port Nolloth, and to 
 carry a narrow-gauge railway from there inland to the 
 mines. This plan has been adopted with gratifying 
 success. 
 
 The railway as an example of a cheap and effective 
 mode of opening up the country is of a very inter- 
 esting character. It has been constructed for about 
 one tenth of the cost and one fifth of the time required 
 for ordinary lines. The gauge is two feet six inches. 
 It is laid with rails mostly 18 lb. to the yard but 
 G 2
 
 84 NARROW-GAUGE RAILWAY. 
 
 occasionally 28 lbs. securely bolted to longitudinal 
 creosoted pine sleepers seven inches by three inches, 
 and fixed laterally by iron tie-rods fastened under- 
 neath. The line starts from the landing jetty at Port 
 Nolloth, and for the first fifteen miles runs over a 
 sandy plain up to Ograbies, which has an altitude of 
 500 feet above the sea level ; beyond there it winds 
 along the mountain valleys, rising by imperceptible 
 gradients to a level of 1,600 feet near Muishond ; 
 from there towards Klipfontein the ascent is steep and 
 rapid, making 1,400 feet in seven and a half miles, but 
 a ruling gradient of one in twenty for two miles leads 
 it up to the summit level of 3,000 feet ; and thence it 
 descends easily to the mission station of Steinkopf or 
 Kookfontein, about sixty-five miles from the Bay and 
 twenty-six miles from Ookiep, to which the line is 
 now being extended. The cost of this railway over 
 the first fifty-one miles was only £52,205 or a fraction 
 over £1,000 a mile ; over the latter portion to Kook- 
 fontein, on which there are rapid curves and heavy 
 works, both rock cutting and viaducts, the average 
 was much above £1,000 a mile, but in no instance as 
 high as £2,000. The whole sixty-five miles now being 
 worked cost altogether about £100,000, and the entire 
 length of ninety miles to Ookiep will be completed 
 for the estimated total amount of £150,000. The cost 
 of maintenance is from £80 to £100 per mile per 
 annum. The locomotives used are very light, weighing 
 with water and coal about seven tons, and have a 
 working pressure of from 100 lb. to 120 lb. per inch. 
 A good deal of expense has been entailed in securing 
 a regular supply of water. At one place between 
 Nonamas and Ograbies in a valley about a mile in 
 breadth, a well was sunk 124 feet, all the way through 
 alternate layers of sand and hard baked alluvial 
 deposit, but the bottom was as dry as the top, although, 
 strange to say, straight roots of some plant alive ran
 
 TRAFFIC. 
 
 85 
 
 from top to bottom. Now reservoirs have been con- 
 structed, from whicb water is conveyed by pipes to the 
 railway for the use of the engines. 
 
 The quantity of goods carried along this line 
 last year was 3,402 tons (of 2,240 lb.) up ; and 
 10,424 tons down ; and the assistance it has 
 proved to the Company as a means of transport 
 in comparison with the former ox-and-mule-wagon 
 conveyance will be seen from the following traffic- 
 returns of Ookiep for the last six years. It has to be 
 noted that the first portion of the railway (forty-six 
 miles) was opened in 1871, and the second part to 
 Kookfontein in 1873. The two ports have quite 
 altered the positions they relatively held, and for the 
 future the preponderance in favour of Port Nolloth 
 is certain to be still more marked, as the chief trade 
 of the district and of part of the north-west Border 
 will be centred there : — 
 
 
 
 FROM OOKIEP 
 
 
 
 Via POET 
 
 NOLLOTH. Via HONDEKLIP BAY. 
 
 Up Transport. 
 Goods, Fuel, and 
 
 Forage 
 
 Shipping ton 2,240 
 
 lb. 
 
 Down Transport. 
 
 Ore and Regulus. 
 
 Gross Shipping 
 
 ton 2,240 lb. 
 
 Tip Transport. 
 Goods, Fuel, and 
 
 Forage. 
 
 Shipping ton 2,240 
 
 lb. 
 
 Down Transport. 
 
 Ore and Regulus. 
 
 Gross Shipping 
 
 ton 2,240 lb. 
 
 1868 
 
 316 
 
 367 
 
 222 
 
 1,829 
 
 1869 
 
 831 
 
 1,484 
 
 500 
 
 2,891 
 
 1870 
 
 1,364 
 
 2,478 
 
 915 
 
 3,172 
 
 1871 
 
 1,088 
 
 7,461 
 
 286 
 
 1,567 
 
 1872 
 
 1,794 
 
 7,611 
 
 157 
 
 1,163 
 
 1873 
 
 3,402 
 
 10,424 
 
 ... 
 
 1,183
 
 86 FARMS AND MISSIONS. 
 
 The agricultural products of Namaqualand are 
 comparatively limited, chiefly owing to the uncertain 
 and at best of times small rainfall, which does not 
 exceed eight inches annually and in some places not 
 half that amount. There are no such things as per- 
 manent streams ; running water is a thing rarely seen ; 
 and the principal dependence is on surface springs 
 rock springs, or the dry channel of river beds, from 
 which water (chiefly brack) is procured by sinking in 
 the sand. Still there are upwards of one hundred and 
 thirty measured farms and one or two mission stations 
 in the southern part, the produce and stock on which 
 are valued at £180,000. In 1865 the yield of the 
 whole district was 47,076 bushels wheat, 2,476 bushels 
 barley, 11,267 bushels rye, 3,620 bushels oats, some 
 oathay, potatoes, tobacco, and 12,7161b. of wool. The 
 cereal production, however, is far short of what is 
 required for local consumption, the mule train of the 
 Mining Company alone consuming at the rate of 5,837 
 bushels of oats, rye, and barley, and 19,000 lb. of 
 oatsheaves and chaff per month, and large supplies 
 have to be obtained from Malmesbury. To meet 
 the wants of the small farming population, a village 
 named Bowesdorp has been created near the Kamies- 
 bergen, where there is a Dutch Reformed Church 
 and schools. There is also a Mission Station for the 
 improvement of the natives at Lily font ein, in con- 
 nection with the Wesleyan Society. The other 
 mission stations are those of the Rhenish Missionary 
 Society, one at Steinkopf under the Rev. Mr. Brecher, 
 and one at Kammagas, under the Rev, Mr. Weich, 
 where a large reservoir and gardens have been made 
 from which the mining villages get welcome supplies 
 of fruit and vegetables. 
 
 Port Nolloth (formerly known as Robbe Bay) is 
 an indentation on the coast with a reef of rocks pro- 
 tecting it from the Atlantic. Its length from north
 
 PORT NOLLOTH. 87 
 
 to south points, is about two miles, and its breadth 
 from shore to reef varies from 1,000 to 3,000 feet. 
 The reef runs nearly N.W. by S.E., but about the 
 middle and for a space of near 1,500 feet, there is a 
 break, which forms what is termed the bar or entrance 
 to the harbour. The depth of water here is about 
 twenty-eight feet at low tide, the reef on either side 
 is nearly bare at low-water spring tides. On the 
 south side of the bar or entrance is " Robbe Island," a 
 small islet nearly covered at a very high spring tide, 
 but a great protection to the shore against the run of 
 the sea from westward. Opposite here are the public 
 offices and the general places of business. A jetty 
 has been built 300 feet in length, carried out to a 
 depth of eleven feet at low water ; there is also 
 suitable wharfag-e accommodation and stores for the 
 purposes of carrying on a large trade. Moorings have 
 been laid down and beacons and a light for the 
 guidance of vessels have been put up ; and last year 
 authority was granted by Parliament for expending 
 about £5,000 in clearing the harbour and forming a 
 channel from the moorings to the jetty of a uniform 
 depth of eleven feet at low water spring tides. There 
 is a considerable business at the port now, and this 
 year it has been made a seat of magistracy. In 1873 
 the number of vessels entered coastwise was fifty-nine, 
 with a registered tonnage of 6,987 tons ; and fifteen 
 vessels from foreign parts, with a registered tonnage 
 of 4,323 tons ; the total value of direct imports was 
 £34,226, the value of exports £242,722, and the 
 amount paid to Government for duties and royalty 
 on ore exported from the Crown lands was £3,459 
 16s. 8d. Steamers ply weekly between Port Nolloth, 
 Hondeklip Bay, and Cape Town, making passages 
 regularly of about forty-eight hours. Ten or twelve 
 days will allow ample time for a trip from the Metro- 
 polis to the mines and all that is most interesting in 
 Namaqualand.
 
 IV. THE NORTH-WEST DISTRICTS AND 
 THE ORANGE RIVER. 
 
 The north-west districts comprise the extensive 
 unappropriated territory,, marked on the map as Great 
 Bushmanland, forming the inland portions of the 
 divisions of Calvinia, Fraserburg, and Victoria West. 
 Here colonization has only lately been gaining upon 
 the wilderness, and there is still a great area waiting 
 to be filled up, whose pastoral and agricultural capa- 
 bilities when developed will add largely to the wealth 
 of the country. 
 
 The unoccupied lands reach from the settled parts 
 of Calvinia, north of the Hantam Mountains up to 
 the Orange River, about 300 miles in a straight line, 
 and across from the borders of Namaqualand at Pella 
 eastward to Prieska, nearly, if not quite, 400 miles. 
 This large tract was included within the Colony on 
 the proclamation of the Orange River as the boun- 
 dary in 1847 ; but until very lately it was regarded 
 as a desert and left to the free occupation of migratory 
 squatters and their flocks, and wandering Bushmen 
 and Korannas, living along the river, hunting ante- 
 lopes and ostriches in the open plains extending on 
 each side. The squatters consisted of white and 
 coloured people of two classes, — some of whom had no 
 farms, and led a purely nomadic life, and others who 
 had farms in the adjoining districts which they occu- 
 pied during the greater part of the year, only moving 
 into this open country after the periodic rains had 
 fallen, for the sake of the rich pasturage. The 
 Korannas and Bushmen were remnants of the
 
 BUSHMANLAND. 89 
 
 indigenous population, many of them retaining their 
 savage lawless habits, and sometimes levying black- 
 mail upon the squatters' flocks. In 1868-9, their 
 depredations assumed such a character as to excite no 
 small degree of terror among the outlying farmers 
 along this border. Stock to the amount of 15,000 
 sheep besides cattle and horses, were carried off, and 
 life and property there were considered very insecure. 
 But the forays and raids of these banditti were soon 
 checked by the operations of the Frontier Mounted 
 Police under the late Sir Walter Currie, who followed 
 them up and cleared them out of their haunts in the 
 dense bush along the Orange River. Since then the 
 presence of a body of twenty-five policemen, whose 
 head-quarters are at Kenhardt, has sufficed to keep the 
 whole of the country perfectly orderly and peaceful. 
 
 This unpopulated territory is more or less suitable 
 for pastoral occupation, but it is barely supplied with 
 water and subject to recurring droughts. The winter 
 rains which visit the west coast districts, do not extend 
 more than 100 miles inland ; and scarcely any part 
 of Bushmanland ever receives any moisture from them. 
 It is dependent upon the sub-tropical rains and 
 thunder-storms of the summer months. These generally 
 fall in December, but are uncertain. When they 
 come, the sandy flats and plains are quickly trans- 
 formed into one wide meadow of waving grass for 
 hundreds of miles. The grass grows in stools or tall 
 tufts separated from each other by three to six feet of 
 reddish sand. There are five or six species of common 
 occurrence, but the best is that known as the Bushman 
 or " twaa-grass " described by Mr. Wyley : — " It 
 grows from two to three feet in height, from a small 
 bushy base, its long slender culms growing nearly 
 upright, but inclining slightly outwards, with panicles 
 nearly a foot in length. Its long feathery awns, are 
 simple and undivided, but with two stiff bristles at the
 
 90 "TWAA" OR BUSHMAN GRASS. 
 
 base. When it is green, oxen, horses, and sheep, all 
 thrive upon it, and grow fat, in a few weeks ; and 
 even in the winter, when thoroughly dried up, it is 
 better feeding than the green reeds or bushes. Most 
 of the natives, and some of the farmers, trek to it in 
 the summer months, with their cattle, thousands of 
 which may sometimes be seen drinking at the same 
 pool. During the last two years, large quantities of 
 this grass have been brought by the native wagons to 
 Concordia. It is cut with a reaping hook, like oats, 
 each clump or tuft affording about a handful. Four 
 men can usually load up a wagon in an hour, the wagon 
 travelling along as the grass is cut. If cut while in 
 flower, or before the seed ripens, I have no doubt it 
 would make excellent hay, which could be stacked on 
 the ground, and transported, at leisure, for winter 
 feeding." It may seem strange, Mr. Wyley adds, that 
 a tract hundreds of miles in extent, producing this 
 grass, should not be occupied ; but there are serious 
 obstacles to this. In the first place, the grass is green 
 for only a few months at best, and as the rain falls 
 only locally, and some years, scarcely at all, there 
 would be risk in settling at any particular place. 
 Besides, throughout the country where these grasses 
 grow, the waters are few and far apart. Notwith- 
 standing these drawbacks there is little doubt that as 
 soon as the country is surveyed and offered for lease, 
 it will be permanently settled. Wells may be dug in 
 every direction, and many tanks or reservoirs can be 
 constructed ; and it is likely enough that here as in 
 the grassveld of the Hope Town district, several 
 thousands of sheep and cattle may be depastured. 
 The civil commissioner of Calvinia in his last year's 
 report states that according to the information given 
 him by Mr. Garwood Alston, the Government 
 Surveyor, the probable extent of Bushmanland un- 
 occupied, may be put clown at 30,000 square miles,
 
 SALT-PANS AND LAKES. 91 
 
 which can be laid out in farms of about 20,000 morgen, 
 to the number of 500 or 600. Looking at the revenue 
 derived from Crown lands in other parts of the 
 division which are surveyed and leased, the average 
 value of each 20,000 morgen of land there may safely 
 be put down at a rent of at least £20 per annum. Mr. 
 Alston's estimation of the cost of survey of the whole 
 of this tract of land figures at £25,000, or less than 
 the rent of three years, if surveyed in farms to the 
 extent and number stated, and leased under the pro- 
 visions of Act No. 19 of 1864. 
 
 In Bushmanland as throughout many parts of the 
 adjoining northern districts of the Colony there are 
 several of those hollows or depressions having little or 
 no outlet, which are called "vleys," "vloors," and 
 "pans." Some of them are considerable saline 
 deposits, and are covered with salt ; others having an 
 overflow of water show only a filmy coating or saline 
 efflorescence, which does not altogether check vege- 
 tation and as soon as dry, short grass springs up on 
 the mud, affording good pasture for sheep and horses. 
 One of the largest of the salt pans is due north from 
 Calvinia and named the Great Commissioner's Pan. It 
 is about ten or eleven miles long by a little more than a 
 mile broad, covered with a thick crust of salt, looking 
 in the distance almost like snow. Many of the Boer 
 and Bastard squatters employ themselves here, 
 gathering the salt and selling it in the neighbouring 
 districts at from 203. to 30s. a bag. Zevenfontein Pan 
 although not so large also yields salt of excellent 
 quality. There is another about three miles north of 
 the Commissioner's Pan, known as Klavervley, where 
 the water, especially after a flood, is drinkable, and, it 
 is said, the outlet from it could be easily dammed up 
 and a fine lake about one and a half miles long, and 
 more than half a mile broad, with a depth of fifteen 
 feet all over might be secured.
 
 92 "VLOORS" AND RIVER BEDS. 
 
 The drainage of this territory runs northward. The 
 waters of the high plateau of the Roggeveldt and 
 Nieuwveldt Mountains are carried off by the Fish, 
 Riet, Hartog's, and Zak Rivers, which afterwards form 
 the Hartebeeste, and then join the Orange River. In 
 the dry season these streams are comparatively small, 
 and often a mere succession of pools, but after rains 
 they run briskly, and where level with the banks, over- 
 flow and soak the adjacent flats. In many places so 
 very even is the country that they may be said to 
 have no defined channel and form extensive sheets of 
 water, a few inches deep. The Zak River at 250 
 miles from its source, thus varies in breadth from one 
 to four miles, and further on from Onderste Dooms 
 to Leeuwenkop it widens as much as ten miles. At a 
 locality known as De Kruis, the Zak joins the Haarte- 
 beeste River, which really forms the central drain into 
 the Orange. Along its course is the most valuable 
 part of Great Bushmanland. Water can be obtained 
 in its bed even when dry, and its valley generally 
 affords pasture to cattle during both the winter and 
 summer months. After floods, there are extensive 
 alluvial bottoms on each side of it where agricul- 
 tural products of every kind might be raised. These 
 are now commonly used by the squatters as sowing- 
 lands, but without any labour or trouble beyond 
 scratching in the seed. One overflowing of the soil is 
 sufficient to ensure a crop even although no rain 
 should fall afterwards. The returns are something 
 marvellous. Wheat usually gives one hundred and 
 fifty fold, and Mr. J. Auret, the surveyor, in one of his 
 official reports mentions an instance where on the 
 Zak River 800 muids were raised from thirty-two 
 muids of seed. 
 
 The Zak and Haartebeeste Rivers form the boun- 
 dary between the divisions of Calvinia and Fraser- 
 burg. They may also be said to fix the line of
 
 CARNARVON. 93 
 
 demarkation between the grassveld and the bushveld, 
 which extends eastward. At present, too, for some 
 distance they mark the limits of the unoccupied and 
 occupied lands. On the Calvinia side, the farmers 
 graze promiscuously, live in huts and make no 
 improvements ; on the Fraserburg side, the lands are 
 held on quitrent tenure or convertible lease, and sub- 
 stantial houses, springs, wells, and dams, and occa- 
 sionally gardens and tree plantations are met with. 
 
 Further on, in the adjoining division of Victoria 
 West, wherever the waste lands have been surveyed 
 they have been readily taken up and occupied and a 
 vast extent from which it was supposed at one time 
 that no profitable return could be derived, is now 
 utilized and highly valued as excellent grazing ground. 
 The western portion of this division has quite lately 
 been declared a magisterial district, and earned Car- 
 narvon. The village of Schietfontein is its centre. 
 This was originally a location of Kafirs, Fingoes, and 
 Bastards, among whom a mission was established by 
 the Rhenish Society. The families settled here re- 
 ceived a grant of a piece of ground with sowing land, 
 and grazing for 500 sheep and twenty head of cattle, 
 on condition that they erected a house within twelve 
 months afterwards. A large number fulfilled these 
 conditions and received transfer and title to the land, 
 and were prospering well under the late missionary, the 
 Rev. Mr. Alheit, an energetic man, who gave no coun- 
 tenance to idlers. After his departure, many disposed 
 of their titles and several of the erven fell into the hands 
 of Europeans. The place has since developed into a 
 village, a Dutch Church as well as a Mission Church 
 having been built, and one or two stores, which do a 
 good business with the surrounding farmers. The 
 church and new tenements are creditably white and 
 neat as compared with the old mud houses. The village 
 is situate on a flat, surrounded by low hills ; but it is
 
 94 COAL-FORMATION. 
 
 a pity that it was not built 500 yards lower down 
 where there is a better fountain and water supply. 
 To some extent this may yet be remedied by aban- 
 doning the present gardens and laying out new water 
 erven ; it may then in course of time become one of 
 the finest towns in the inland parts. The principal 
 arable lands are distant about an hour's ride, at a 
 spot named Zaaipoort where a considerable quantity 
 of grain is grown. These present a fine sight, when 
 sown and green, with the waving corn stretching over 
 more than six miles. Sowing facilities are pretty 
 general here in regular seasons, but when drought 
 comes, supplies have to be looked for from elsewhere. 
 
 The mountains of the Kareebergen, whose eastern 
 extremity extend around Schietfontein, are geologically 
 very interesting. They are not high, few of them 
 rising more than 1,500 or 2,000 feet above the plain. 
 There is among them a great preponderance of table- 
 topped hills and a few conical ones, all more or less 
 banded with projecting beds of sandstone. In the 
 higher hills the bands number six or seven. They 
 resemble the bands in the Upper or Stormberg beds, 
 but are hardly so well developed. In the shales about 
 five miles north-east of Schietfontein are plant impres- 
 sions and very large blocks of fossil wood, like that 
 found at Kneehalter's Nek and other places in the 
 Albert district. These facts led Mr, Wyley to regard 
 the Kareebergen as belonging to the upper coal mea- 
 sures or Stormberg series, and it is possible that in some 
 places throughout them serviceable coal may be found. 
 
 Mr. Dunn, who visited the neighbourhood, has 
 also pointed out that near Schietfontein are several 
 interesting localities presenting geological pheno- 
 mena identical with the " New Hush," " De Beers," 
 "Du Toit's Pan," " Bultfontein," and "Jagers- 
 fontein," — the dry diggings, or at present supposed 
 localities in which the diamond has originated, and from
 
 DIAMONDIFEROUS INDICATIONS. 95 
 
 which nearly the whole of the diamonds of Griqualand 
 West have been dug. There are two such places at 
 Klipfontein ( J. Jacob's), two hours from Schietfontein, 
 and one at Blaauwkranz, an hour from Schietfontein, 
 corresponding to the New Rush in appearance of reef 
 soil, pebble, and bort. Mr. Dunn says : — « These 
 localities are easily distinguishable on the surface 
 by an edge of upturned shale surrounding a more 
 or less circular area ; within this boundary is the 
 soft, friable, and apparently decomposed trappean 
 rock, fragments of shale lying in confused order, cores 
 of igneous rock not yet decomposed, small pieces of 
 calc-spar, red spinels, diopside (green) a topaz-like 
 mineral, but much softer — black spinel, &c, in fact 
 every mineral that is met with at the previously men- 
 tioned diggings. It is difficult to form a decision as 
 to the manner of their formation. Considering that 
 they are filled with what is evidently igneous rock in 
 a decomposed state, fragments of shale, &c, being 
 scattered at random through it, that the edges are also 
 invariably in these cases bent upwards as though by 
 the force ot heavy molten matter acting on the edges, 
 it is rendered probable that these were ( pipes ' or 
 chimneys connecting one sheet with another. That 
 the material in them is nothing more than decomposed 
 trap may be clearly seen in some dykes in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Victoria West where material identical 
 with i Dry Diggings ' rock occurs." In the extreme 
 northern part of the division near Prieska a "rush" 
 took place two years ago from the discovery of a few 
 diamonds there, but they proved to be merely surface 
 finds which are not unusual along the OraDge River, — 
 where, for instance, on the Hope Town side the 
 brilliant " Star of South Africa," valued at £30,000, 
 and now in the possession of the Countess of Dudley, 
 was picked up by a native shepherd. 
 
 Prieska has been selected by the Government as the
 
 96 NEW VILLAGES — PRIESKA. 
 
 site of one of the new villages about to be formed 
 along the Orange River. These will be of great 
 advantage as centres for the pastoral population 
 settling on the Crown lands along the border, and are 
 likely to extend trade and civilization amongst the 
 natives beyond it. The river at Prieska flows along in 
 a wide smooth stream bearing on its bosom a large 
 island which has received the name of ff Leibbrandt," 
 after the respected minister of the Dutch Keformed 
 Church of Victoria West, who was one of the earliest 
 to penetrate into and make known the character and 
 capabilities of this part of his parish. The banks on 
 the colonial side are covered with a dense growth of 
 willow, mimosa, and other trees, and the hills adjoining 
 are crowned with blocks of jasper conveniently 
 pointed and of all dimensions, " so truly rectangular 
 with smooth faces/' says Mr. Dunn, " that no mortar is 
 required, every stone will fit exactly." There is a 
 small river named the Prieska, running for some dis- 
 tance, and a good fountain which may be greatly 
 improved and used for irrigating a portion of the 
 village ground. But about six miles higher up, the 
 Orange River itself can be easily led out permanently 
 and so bring a large and fruitful area under cultivation. 
 The plan of the new village provides reserves for 
 church and school purposes and public buildings, with 
 about 150 dry and water erven for municipal purposes 
 in addition to commonage ; and we are glad to notice 
 that there are very stringent regulations for the pre- 
 servation of the wood and bush for some miles along 
 the river banks. Prieska will, of course, take some 
 time to be established, but from its position and natural 
 facilities it is likely to thrive and ultimately take a 
 place among the border towns. It is distant from 
 Victoria West, 121 miles ; from Carnarvon (Schiet- 
 fontein), 127 miles ; from Hope Town, 77 miles; and 
 from Griqua Town, Griqualand West, 66 miles.
 
 WEGDRAAI AND KENHARDT. 97 
 
 Another point chosen by the Government as the 
 site of a new border village is further down the 
 Orange River, at a place bearing the name of TVec- 
 draai. It does not figure on the map (which very 
 imperfectly represents the topography of this part 
 of the Colony), but is situate about sixty miles 
 north-east of Kenhardt. This locality was some 
 time ago recommended by Mr. Jackson, the late 
 Border Magistrate, as suitable for a settlement, 
 and last year it was inspected and favourably 
 reported upon by Mr. Garwood Alston. The 
 Orange River here for a distance of fifteen miles 
 has a mean fall of about two feet six inches. It 
 flows along in short rapids and reaches of comparatively 
 smooth water. At one spot, the Bucchubergen Poort, it 
 is divided by islets into three groups of streams, and 
 there it is proposed to lead out a water-furrow for 
 about twenty-five or thirty miles to "Wegdraai, where 
 some 4,000 or 5,000 acres of rich alluvial soil could be 
 put under irrigation. With no great trouble adjacent 
 lands could also be utilized, and in a few years if an 
 industrious population were placed there it mio-ht 
 prove the granary of the north-west districts. A 
 commonage of 30,000 morgen, extending on the south- 
 west side to the Ezelbergen, is intended to be attached 
 to the village, and other liberal inducements held out 
 to settlers. Mr. Alston says that " politically the 
 advantages would be incalculable, and commercially 
 there is no doubt that the sale of the water-erven 
 would reimburse the Government, provide a con- 
 siderable quitrent, and materially enhance the value 
 of the surrounding Crown lands." Experience must 
 teach what the products of the country will be. It is 
 known that cattle and sheep do very well, and the soil 
 only wants the assistance of water to render it hio-hly 
 productive of every variety of agricultural crop. 
 Trade with the natives of the interior will be greatly 
 
 H
 
 98 THE ORANGE RIVER. 
 
 facilitated, and abundant scope opened for the specu- 
 lations of enterprising individuals. 
 
 The Great Orange Kiver — the " Gariep " of the 
 aborigines and the old colonists — is the most wonderful 
 geographical feature of South Africa. Traversing 
 the continent from east to west over a distance of 
 about 1 5 000 miles, it carries down the waters from the 
 lofty range of the Drakensberg, the plateaux of 
 Basutoland, Free State, and even a portion of the 
 Transvaal, and receives the extensive drainage of 
 Griqualand West, Bushmanland, and Great Namaqua- 
 land. Its stream, which sometimes, as at the Narrows 
 above Colesberg, is compressed between precipitous 
 hills to a channel not more than 100 yards apart, 
 widens in its course to one and a half to two miles, 
 and in full flood to four or five miles — now and then 
 spreading out into translucent lakes, breaking over 
 foaming cataracts, or dividing into numerous channels 
 reticulating from countless grassy and wooded islets. 
 To persons travelling through the bare dry and often 
 desolate central plains, its cool, clear stream and shady 
 banks are a welcome and grateful sight, and all who 
 have visited it speak in enthusiastic terms of its beauty. 
 The river runs in a deep valley, and at many places in 
 approaching it, from the rapid fall of the ground, the 
 mountains alongside have the appearance of beino- 
 in a pit, the upper portions of them alone being seen. 
 The banks are generally covered with trees, such 
 as the willow, accacia, pendoorn, zwartbosch, ebony, 
 capparis, and wild juniper. These grow scattered 
 over the flats or terraces, commonly forming a belt of 
 dense thicket a hundred yards in breadth. Westward, 
 from near the junction of the Haartebeeste to De Nuis, 
 above the Great Waterfall, there is a succession of 
 some twenty or thirty islands (one of them ten miles 
 long by one broad in the middle), with very dense bush 
 on each side, — respecting which the late Sir Walter
 
 THE GREAT WATERFALL. 99 
 
 Currie, in reporting his operations with the police 
 against the Korannas there, said that he used to think 
 the Fish Kiver bush of the Eastern Districts a jungle, 
 but he found it nothing as compared with the water- 
 jungle of the Orange. 
 
 The Great Waterfall at this part of the River, was 
 first described by Mr. G. Thompson in his " Travels " 
 (1827) and more recently by the late Surveyor 
 Moffat (son of the venerable missionary) who visited 
 it in 1856 in the course of his exploration of the river 
 under the auspices of Governor Sir George Grey. Mr. 
 Moffat says : — " The Waterfall is a grand object, and 
 must be grander still with a full river. I did not 
 know whether to consider the fall itself with the 
 beautiful cascade on its left, and the grand boss on 
 the right, or the deep chasms below, with its parallel 
 and precipitous walls and the apparently insignificant 
 stream meandering there, the grander object. The 
 sides of the chasm and the appearance of a group of 
 black conical hills of greenstone about five miles below, 
 on the left bank, testify that a fissure must have 
 existed in which the broad waters of the river found a 
 vent, and that that rock was the subterrane disturbing 
 agent which formed it. Compact gneiss is the rock 
 which the river channels traverse immediately at the 
 waterfall (strike true X. ; dip. say 90° E.) One side 
 of the fissure still remains perfect, and presents, on 
 the left bank of the fall, a gigantic boss of granite, 
 with a perfectly vertical wall over the round top of 
 which the exfoliating masses are gradually becoming 
 displaced. A cascade on the right bank of the fall, at 
 right angles to it, is formed by one of the lateral 
 channels, before described as passing the fall. I could 
 see the polished lips of two others on the edge of the 
 chasms, on the left bank, some way below With 
 difficulty I crossed two of these streams and several 
 dry channels on the north side, to reach my stand- 
 H2
 
 100 TRIBUTARIES AND DRAINAGE SURFACE. 
 
 point, so that there can be no doubt that, at the time 
 of my visit, three cascades were in full operation on 
 the left edge of the chasm, independently of the main 
 fall ; and when the river is full, there must be at least 
 ten beautiful cascades west of the fall in simultaneous 
 operation, all formed by the lateral streams converging 
 to the edge of the chasm, at various intervals, and 
 thus circumventing the main fall ; and the dimensions 
 of the stream precipitated at this must be still grander 
 and terrific. But to see them all at one view would 
 be next to impossible, or even to reach the main fall 
 at such a juncture would be impossible without a pont, 
 and, even with one, dangerous." 
 
 The relative extent of the draining surfaces and 
 distant sources of the main tributaries of the Orange 
 was estimated by Surveyor Moffat as follows : — 
 " Regarding this river, extending from East long. 
 24J degrees to the sea, as the main trunk, it may be 
 said to have five tributaries, viz. : — 
 
 The 'Oup or Fi*h River... 
 
 Aintass River .., 
 
 Haartebeesle River ...... 
 
 Vaal (including the Hart) 
 Black River (commonly 
 
 called the Orange, 
 
 including the Caledon) 28,000 400 „ 
 
 giving a total of 325,000 square miles, as the extent 
 of surface of the hydrographical basin of the Great 
 Orange River. Of these five, the three first-named, 
 though draining three fourths of the basin, are merely 
 occasional rivers, with dry channels, containing here 
 and there standing pools, and the other two permanent 
 streams containing sometimes, in very dry seasons, 
 little more water than a sturdy rivulet. The former 
 are^filled by sudden thunderstorms, and come down 
 
 Draining surface 
 
 in 
 
 Distance of 
 
 square miles, about 
 
 sources. 
 
 52,000 
 
 
 400 miles. 
 
 140,000 
 
 
 400 „ 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 270 „ 
 
 55,000 
 
 
 400 „
 
 FLOODS. 101 
 
 m immense floods sweeping everything before them.* 
 Of the three, perhaps the Haartebeest River, with its 
 broad level bottom which receives the drainage of the 
 Nieuwveld, carries down the greatest quantity of 
 water ; and the two last named (Black and Vaal) 
 coming from the high lands of the Drakensberg in the 
 east, with its fountains, frequent rains and snows, alone 
 cause the channel to remain full for several months 
 and often the whole year." 
 
 The river in its course through Namaqualand, from 
 Pella down to some few miles from its mouth, 
 runs among mountains of from 500 to 2,000 feet high. 
 The stream at its winter level occupies a breadth of 
 from 100 to 300 yards, flowing at the rate of two and 
 a half miles an hour ; during the summer months it 
 rises to a great height quite covering the channel 
 from bank to bank, inundating the trees along its 
 margin, and still more so those in the low islands and 
 periodically dry portions of the bed, for weeks 
 together. But occasionally the river rises much 
 higher even than this, especially when the rainy season 
 up country is excessive. The quantity of water it 
 then brings down is enormous as the speed in the 
 deeper channels is five or six miles an hour. In the 
 flood of this year (1874) it rose thirty feet in five 
 days. Such floods carry off immense quantities of 
 trees which have been uprooted or fallen through 
 natural decay ; some of them are stranded on its 
 banks or near its mouth, but the greater part goes out 
 to sea and is carried by the current along the coast. 
 
 The author of " To the Cape for Diamonds '' 
 
 * On one occasion (Mr. Moffat was informed) in the Fish River 
 Great Namaqualand. so sudden was one of these floods, that a tiger 
 and an antelope, which had come down to different standing pools of 
 its channel to drink, were in succession caught up by it aud carried 
 away, until entrammeled in a tree, where both could be seen terror 
 stricken, gazing at one another !
 
 102 THE MOUTH OF THE KIVER. 
 
 writing of this river says that it might be made use of 
 as a navigable highway up to Hope Town, but in this 
 lie shows ignorance of its character, perhaps excusable 
 when he supposes that no man has traced its course. 
 Notwithstanding the extent of its main artery, and the 
 immense quantity of water which flows along it, its 
 outlet on the West coast is quite unnavigable except 
 for boats ; while the rapids, falls, and islands, to be 
 met with more inland are insuperable barriers to its 
 ascent by any vessels, for purposes of transport, beyond 
 comparatively short distances. Near its mouth it 
 spreads over a delta about three miles wide, in flood 
 forming an imposing sheet of water covered with 
 innumerable flocks of wild fowl, but in the dry season 
 of the year easily fordable. Sir James Alexander 
 who was there in 1838, thus describes the aperture 
 into the sea: "At last we saw a line of breakers 
 assailing the sandy beach with hollow roar, and 
 stretching right across the mouth, which was merely 
 an opening of about one hundred and seventy yards 
 between two points of sands, on which sat a line of 
 penguins and gulls ; outside lay the ocean 
 
 ' Beautiful, sublime, and glorious, 
 Wild, majestic, foaming, free."' 
 
 Mr. P. Fletcher who surveyed it in 1854, says : — " It is 
 interesting to compare the manner in which the three 
 rivers on the west coast of the Colony empty themselves 
 into the sea. For instance the Berg River has a small 
 spit on the north side of its mouth, three quarters of 
 a mile long, and about seventy yards broad, which is 
 comparatively stationary, no doubt modified by St. 
 Helena Bay, situated at its south, and Cape St. 
 Martin due west. The Orange River has a corrres- 
 ponding spit at the north side of its mouth ; but in 
 summer another spit forms from the south side, and 
 towards the end of the dry season, sometimes overtakes
 
 THE BAE. 103 
 
 the retreating northern one, thus closing the mouth 
 entirely up, and remains in this state until the first 
 river-flood. The salt water seldom goes further up 
 the river than four miles. This bar was reckoned (by- 
 parties resident on the spot for some years) to be 
 passable about twelve days in the year, or one a 
 month at an average. The mouths of these rivers 
 have slate formations." A more recent survey, 
 was made in 1872 by the Admiralty Surveyor, 
 Lieut. Archdeacon, but the result only confirmed 
 previous conclusions as to the spasmodic nature of the 
 limited navigation this great river affords.
 
 V. THE SOUTH-EAST COAST DISTRICTS. 
 
 Turning from the West Coast, let us now look at that 
 portion of the Colony lying on the south-east side of 
 the range of Mountains which skirt the Karoo plains, 
 extending from the plateau of the Cold Bokkeveld 
 in the Tulbagh division along the Zwartberg Moun- 
 tains to the Zitzikamma, and embracing the whole of 
 the sea-board from Cape Hanglip eastward to Cape 
 St. Francis. It comprises eleven divisions, namery, 
 Tulbagh, Worcester, Robertson, Caledon, Bredasdorp, 
 Swellendam, Riversdale, Mossel Bay, George, Oudts- 
 hoorn, and Knysna. Its area is over 27,000 square 
 miles and the aggregate population under 100,000 
 souls. 
 
 The particular features of this belt of country are 
 a succession of hills and mountains rising from 200 to 
 3,000 or 4,000 feet, alternating with valleys and plains 
 sloping off to the coast, and in some places thickly- 
 covered with magnificent primeval forests. Sandstone, 
 quartzite, and limestone constitute the formation of 
 the mountains, while clayslates generally underlie the 
 valleys, which everywhere have a thick covering of 
 soil and in favourable seasons are very fertile. Most 
 of these districts have been occupied for a long time 
 past, chiefly by the descendants of the old colonists. 
 There are many towns and hamlets planted throughout 
 them, as well as extensive corn-fields, vineyards, 
 orchards, tobacco plantations, sheep and cattle pas- 
 tures, and ostrich enclosures. Their annual yield of 
 produce is moderately estimated at £1,000,000, but it 
 may easily be doubled as population increases, and the 
 waste lands are occupied and agricultural operations 
 multiplied.
 
 CERES. 105 
 
 Portions of Tulbagh and Worcester are on the 
 elevated terrace bounding the Karoo, and extend for 
 a considerable distance into the plains which bear that 
 name. The Cold Bokkeveld is the highest part, 
 rising from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level ; 
 and forming the watershed of the country, the drainage 
 on one side running to the Oliphant's River and on 
 the other to the Breede River. It extends from the 
 Cedar Mountains to the Witsenberg on the west and 
 to the Hex River Pass on the east. There are some 
 first-class farms there, combining corn, wine, sheep, 
 and cattle. The winter seasons, for two or three 
 months, approach an Alpine character, snow covering 
 the ground and ice the pools of water. Cherries, 
 apples, and other European fruits, grow to great per- 
 fection. Flockmasters, however, are careful to avoid 
 this cold temperature especially about the lambing 
 time, and migrate with their sheep to the milder 
 Karoo plains. The pastures thus occupied by them 
 have been known as " leg-plekken " (lay-places) and 
 until lately were all held under annual licences, but 
 portions of them have now been surveyed and leased, 
 and many of the lessees have made application to 
 convert their leases into quitrent tenure, finding that 
 by opening up springs, making dams, and planting 
 trees they can change what was considered a " howling 
 desert *? into valuable farms. 
 
 Ceres is the district town of Tulbagh. From the 
 Worcester Valley railway it is approached by the 
 mountain road of Mitchell's Pass, a scene of great 
 boldness and picturesque beauty. At the eastern 
 summit of the Pass, 1,700 feet above the sea, the 
 little town, — a creation of the last fifteen years, — is 
 seen stretched out on the circular undulating plain of the 
 Warm Bokkeveld. A great deal of the trade to the 
 Interior passes through it and it receives all the 
 traffic from Calvinia and the north-west districts,
 
 106 bain's pass- 
 
 which is likely to be largely increased by the opening 
 up of a new road to Fraserburg through the Verlaten 
 Kloof. The mountains surrounding it especially to 
 the eastward have lately been prospected for gold, of 
 which traces have been found in several places, from 
 near Verkeerdevlei — a sheet of water a mile and a half 
 long and three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and the 
 source of a small stream known as the Touw River — 
 on to the Draai, Constabel, and Kragga. At the latter 
 spot a nugget weighing about two ounces was picked 
 up in 1855. The geological formation is interesting 
 also from the quantity of fossils (mollusca and 
 Crustacea, identified chiefly as Devonian) found in the 
 shales and sandstones of the Grydow, Karoo Poort, and 
 Hex River. 
 
 The finest part of these districts, however, is the 
 beautiful and fertile basin where the towns of Tulbagh 
 and Worcester are situate. This is a valley some 
 seven or eight hundred feet lower than the Warm 
 Bokkeveld ; it extends for about thirty miles in a line 
 from west to east, and is well watered by the Breede 
 River and other streams from the mountains enclosing 
 it on either side. The direct route to it from Cape 
 Town has hitherto been by Bain's Pass — a mag- 
 nificent mountain road constructed through a kloof in 
 the Drakenstein range for eighteen miles, and for a 
 good deal of the distance scarped out of the face of 
 nearly perpendicular cliffs, or carried over abyss-like 
 gaps and fissures which have been built up with 
 retaining and parapet walls from 100 to 300 feet high 
 Immense hanging blocks of sandstone are perched 
 upon the slopes in various fantastic shapes and forms. 
 Here and there small trees, shrubs, heaths, wild 
 flowers, and ferns shoot up among the rocks. And 
 after heavy rains there are numerous sprays, cascades, 
 and waterfalls leaping from ledge and precipice down 
 to the torrent at the bottom of the kloof, presenting
 
 WORCESTER. 107 
 
 altogether a scene of unusually grand character. 
 Further on in the same mountain range there is 
 another and much easier Pass, known as the New 
 Kloof; through this, the railway from Cape Town 
 to Tulbagh and Worcester has now been carried, and 
 will be completed and opened for traffic towards the 
 close of the present year. Tulbagh is a small village 
 lying in a hollow of the valley, a mile or two from the 
 railway, and not likely to be largely increased by its 
 proximity, although the rich agricultural farms around 
 it will be materially benefited by the new facilities of 
 transport. 
 
 Worcester on the other hand is most advantageously 
 situated for the purposes of trade and traffic, and pos- 
 sesses all the elements of progress. The town was 
 laid out about 1820,— its admirable site, in the middle 
 of the broadest part of the valley watered by the 
 Breede River, having been chosen by Lord Charles 
 Somerset when he visited the district in 1817. Its 
 wide and regular streets lined with trees, hedges, and 
 running streams, — its palatial u Drostdy " and public 
 offices with its adjoining gardens, the type of what 
 country magistrate's quarters should be, — its town-hall 
 and market-square, its handsome churches and model 
 schools, — its well-built, commodious houses, mostly of 
 modern style interspersed with orchards and vine- 
 yards, and its surroundings on each side of picturesque 
 mountains, in winter white with snow and in summer 
 flushed with mellow evening tints, — all contribute to 
 form what is at present without exception the prettiest 
 township in South Africa. Connected with the 
 Metropolis by railway, it will be the principal inland 
 terminus for the central and south-east districts for 
 the next five or six years, and even after the Midland 
 line is extended to Beaufort West, will continue as 
 the entrepot of a very productive portion of the Colony. 
 The large and at present comparatively-unoccupied
 
 108 BRANDVLEI. 
 
 plain around it is particularly fertile, and there is 
 sufficient command of water to bring every acre of it 
 under cultivation. Capital, enterprise, and industry 
 are all that are wanting to develope its manifold 
 resources and turn them to profitable account. 
 
 The thermal spring of Brandvlei (Fire Lake) is 
 about an hour's drive from Worcester and well worth 
 a visit. This spring is remarkable both for its tem- 
 perature and the great volume of water it pours forth. 
 It rises near the junction of the mountains and the 
 flat, in a large pool about thirty yards long by ten 
 broad, over most of which space it is constantly 
 bubbling up through a sandy bottom and throwing a 
 cloud of vapour. The heat of the water is from 150 to 
 160 degrees ; but it is entirely devoid of medicinal taste 
 or smell and when cool is not distinguishable from the 
 purest spring water, being quite sweet and forming 
 no deposit. At one side of the pool an artificial 
 embankment has been made for the division of the 
 water on the property, where it is used for irrigation, 
 and it runs off in a rapid stream of sufficient volume 
 to turn a mill. Vegetation is luxuriant on its border 
 and along its course where it gradually cools. The 
 water is often used for culinary purposes, such as 
 cleaning fowls, scalding pigs, and cooking eggs ; and 
 the spring is sometimes resorted to by persons who 
 believe in its curative virtues, especially in cutaneous 
 affections. 
 
 There is another spring of lower temperature 
 more generally frequented by invalids, in the field- 
 cornetcy of Goudini. This is a valley on the west 
 side of Worcester adjacent to the mountains of Du 
 Toit's Kloof ; it is about twelve miles long and of the 
 same breadth, and most of it very fertile. Raisins and 
 brandy are largely manufactured here; of the former 
 as many as 5,000 bags (each 250 lb.) are produced in 
 a season. On the eastern side of Worcester, again,
 
 GOUDINI AND HEX EIVEK. 109 
 
 there is the Hex River Valley through which the 
 railway to Beaufort West will enter the Karoo. This 
 locality impresses every one who sees it with its beauty 
 and capabilities. Its soil is rich Karoo, plentifully 
 watered and very productive. The corn lands give a 
 usual increase of fifty to sixty fold and in some cases 
 it reaches 105 fold. Besides grain crops, peas, potatoes, 
 &c, the vine grows well, 1,000 vine stocks which 
 elsewhere only give an average of one legger of wine 
 here produce as much as three and four leggers. In 
 this as in other parts of the district flocks of merino 
 sheep running up to about 5,000, as well as goats and 
 ostriches, are pastured. Cattle are bred and reared 
 both for draught and slaughter purposes, and there is 
 a considerable amount of dairy stock, the irrio-able 
 meadows along the rivers maintaining them in o-ood 
 condition throughout the driest seasons. Horse- 
 breeding was once pretty general but at present those 
 engaged in it are few and far between, although most 
 of the farmers still delight in keeping spirited and 
 well appointed teams for their own use. Farms are 
 of various extent and value, according to position and 
 extent of improvement, and ranging in worth from 
 £2,000 or £3,000 to £15,000. Among the finest may 
 be mentioned those of De Vos and Meiring in the 
 Hex River Valley, De Wet's at Brandvlei, and the 
 Naude Brother's, Klopper's, and Du Toit's on the Hex 
 River flats. The latter (Du Toit's) was a few years ago 
 occupied by only one family where now there are ten. 
 This division and sub-division of properties is yearly 
 becoming more common, what was formerly grazing 
 ground being converted into corn-fields and vineyards 
 or irrigated enclosures for cattle or ostriches ; but 
 there is space enough for all and for numbers yet to 
 come, as the productiveness of the soil is such as will 
 allow of the realization of Goldsmith's prosrjerous 
 State, 
 
 " Where every rood of land maintains its man."
 
 HO ROBERTSON. 
 
 At the limits of the Worcester division, and once 
 forming part of it and Swellendam, is the district of 
 Robertson. Its extent is roughly estimated at seventy- 
 two miles from north to south and eighty-four miles 
 from west to east. The chief villages are Robertson 
 alone- the course of the Breede River, Montagu 
 lyino- behind the range of mountains of Cogman's 
 Kloof, and Lady Grey in the Boschesveld. Robert- 
 son was at one time celebrated for its potatoe 
 crops ; in I860 the quantity grown was 15,000 bushels, 
 but lately they have been abandoned for grain 
 and wine. The yield of the vineyards is something 
 wonderful ; in Montagu three to five leggers (equal to 
 from 378 to 630 imperial gallons) from 1,000 vines is the 
 ordinary return, and there are many instances of even 
 six ledgers. The grapes are very superior, and large 
 quantities are made into raisins of excellent quality. 
 Hitherto the impracticability of getting heavy bulky 
 produce to a market has led to, the manufacture 
 of spirits and raisins generally, but now that the 
 railway is brought close by, superior wines may 
 be made and exported. It is considered that the 
 wines of Worcester and this district are much stronger- 
 bodied and preferable to those from the Paarl and 
 Stellenbosch valleys. The produce of one small vine- 
 yard (Mr. Hugo's) on the slope of the Hex River 
 Mountains beyond Darling Bridge has_ been highly 
 reputed for years as equal to Madeira, and has 
 always commanded even in the lowest state of the 
 market a uniformly high price. The quantity made 
 is only about twenty-five leggers, although any extent 
 of equally good soil is lying idle around. The present 
 yield of the vineyards of Tulbagh, Worcester, and 
 Robertson, however, is greatly in excess of what it 
 was at the last census. Then the number of vines 
 was 7,738,887, yielding about 500,000 gallons of wine 
 and 75 000 gallons brandy, besides raisins. Now, 
 Worcester alone gives 1,000 to 1,500 leggers of brandy
 
 CALEDON, SWELLENDAM, AND RIVERSDALE. Ill 
 
 yearly. The dried fruits of the three districts then 
 amounted to nearly 1,200,000 lb. ; the wheat was 
 over 100,000 bushels, and barley 58,000 bushels, 
 besides rye, oats, maize, tobacco, and other produce, 
 aud the returns now will probably be as much again. 
 From Robertson we pass by the Boschesveld and 
 the little hamlet of Villiersdorp, into the sheep walks 
 of Caledon, Bredasdorp, Swellendam, and Riversdale, 
 formerly one division under the name of Swellendam, 
 but now divided into four districts. A great part of 
 this forms the best grazing ground in the Colony, 
 carrying large flocks of sheep besides a good number 
 of cattle and horses. There is also a considerable 
 breadth of land under corn. The finest sheep farms 
 are along the strandveld near to Cape L'Agulhas, in 
 Bredasdorp, where there is excellent pasturage on the 
 flats and limestone hills, the latter aboundino* in a 
 variety of grasses, herbs, and heather, out of which the 
 sheep can suit their particular tastes. It was here on 
 the fine estate of Zoetendal's Valley that the breeding 
 of the Spanish Merino was commenced in 1812 by 
 Mr. J. F. Reitz, who was afterwards joined by Mr. 
 M. van Breda, and whose stock supplied a great part 
 of the country with these animals. Year by year, 
 since then, pastoral pursuits have been engaged in by 
 men of marked intelligence, enterprise, and wealth, 
 who by valuable importations have improved their 
 flocks both in size and fineness of fleece ; and the 
 uniform care bestowed upon the preparation of the 
 wool produced here has deservedly obtained for it a 
 foremost name in the home market. Many of the 
 properties are of considerable extent, ranging from 
 10,000 to 30,000 morgen. On some of them the plan 
 of enclosing pastures has been adopted, and proved to 
 be infinitely preferable to the general kraaling system. 
 At Zoetendal's Valley and Duinefontein, there are 
 parks of 7,000 morgen or 14,000 acres, and on Mr. A.
 
 112 HORSE-BREEDING. 
 
 Van der Byl's estate, Nachtwacht, there is a stretch 
 of seven miles of camp where the stock-flock of sheep 
 and troops of blood-mares, as well as domesticated 
 ostriches and herds of wild antelopes (chiefly bon- 
 teboks) are grazed. The largest flocks of fine woolled 
 sheep were possessed by Mr. J. A. Van der Byl of 
 Fairfield, who had as many as 20,000, the charge of 
 which has now devolved upon his sons. The total 
 number of merino sheep in these four districts in 
 1865 was 744,388 and the clip of wool was returned 
 at nearly one million and a half pounds. 
 
 Horse-breeding was for years very spiritedly and 
 successfully carried on here, and although it received 
 a severe check from the epidemic which swept over 
 the Colony in 1855, it is still pretty well maintained. 
 This branch of farming has been particularly indebted 
 for progress and improvement to the late Mr, T. B. 
 Bayley, formerly of the Bengal Civil Service, who 
 from 1844 to 1856 occupied the fine estate of " The 
 Oaks," River Zonder End (now the property of Mr. 
 Chiappini) and spent a good deal of money on the 
 introduction of thoroughbred horses from England. 
 From his stud and that of Mr. A. Van der Byl, young 
 stock have been sent out which have defied all com- 
 petition at the turf-gatherings throughout the whole 
 Colony. But numbers of the ordinary, active, and 
 hardy Cape horses are also still bred in Caledon. 
 Swellendam, and Biversdale. Lady Duff Gordon 
 truly describes them as " valiant little beasts who, 
 ungroomed, half-fed, seldom stabled, and having nothing 
 but a roll in the dust to refresh themselves withal, 
 will carry a six and a half foot rider sixty miles a day, 
 day after day, at a shuffling easy canter six miles an 
 hour." 
 
 The food supplies of these divisions are very con- 
 siderable, but might be much greater, as wide wastes 
 are covered with the rhenoster bush, the index of a
 
 MISSION STATIONS. 113 
 
 soil well adapted for cultivation. Grain of all kinds, 
 is raised on every farm in excess of local consumption. 
 In 1865, the crop of wheat was 170,873 bushels, 
 barley, 66,000 bushels, and oats 74,358, besides other 
 cereals. Wine and fruits are also generally produced, 
 and a large quantity of tobacco is grown, especially 
 about Heidelberg and Riversdale. Aloes and 
 bucchu, as well as many varieties of bush known 
 as the Cape " tea " plant, and now in common 
 use as such, grow wild on the flats and mountain 
 slopes, and their collection and preparation give 
 employment to the Hottentots and other natives. 
 
 Several mission-stations have been established 
 here and form valuable depots or centres around 
 which the coloured class are gathered. At one of these, 
 Genadendal, under the charge of the Moravian 
 Brethren, there is a population of about 4,000, many 
 hundreds of whom go out as labourers among the 
 farmers over the country, during the harvest and 
 wine-pressing seasons, the remainder of the year being 
 passed in comparative ease and listlessness at their 
 homes. The expediency of continuing the natives 
 under this state of mission pupilage has long been a 
 vexed question amongst colonists ; but the solution 
 of it suggested by the late Colonial Secretary, Mr. 
 Montagu, seems the best way in which any change 
 can be made. " Instead of treating the natives 
 as mere machines, obtaining from them the greatest 
 amount of work at the smallest possible cost, without 
 caring aught for their temporal or spiritual welfare or 
 the comfort of their families, and thus driving them to 
 the mission institutions, where these are provided, let 
 the farmers hold out inducements to them to establish 
 themselves as permanent instead of casual labourers of 
 the land, and a new and improved condition of their 
 social relationship will soon follow." 
 
 There are a number of towns and villages through- 
 I
 
 114 TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 
 
 out these districts. The first is Caledon (seventy 
 miles distant from Cape Town) noted for its hot baths, 
 which are considered efficacious in cutaneous and 
 rheumatic disorders Near the sea are Bredas- 
 dorp and Napier. Inland along the Langebergen is 
 the pretty bustling town of Swellendam, a welcome 
 sight to all who travel over the undulating ruggens 
 and scrubby rhenoster-bush valleys approaching it. It 
 has a thoroughly prosperous, business appearance, 
 and is the centre of a considerable amount of trade. 
 Formerly there was a great deal of export from here 
 by the Breede River, which is navigable for vessels of 
 twelve feet draught of water for forty miles from its 
 mouth ; and now the recent opening of the new road 
 over Southey's Pass has made a very fertile tract of 
 country accessible and within reach of the coast. 
 This is known as the Tradouw, an extensive Karoo 
 valley behind the Langebergen, where the villages of 
 Zoar, Amalienstein, and Laclismith are situate, and 
 reaching as far as the Zwarteberg range, through 
 which there is an outlet to the Great Karoo by the 
 Seven Week's Poort. The Crown lands here were 
 formerly leased annually for a trifling sum, but since 
 the Pass has been opened they have realized high 
 prices, and last year about 72,000 morgen were con- 
 verted into purchased property for a cash payment of 
 £9,000 and an annual quitrent of £90 per annum. 
 The other towns further on are Heidelberg on the 
 Duivenhoek's River, and Riversdale, on the Kafir- 
 kuil's River, both progressive centres of the agricul- 
 tural and pastoral country around them. Beyond 
 Riversdale the Gouritz Hiver passes on to the sea. Its 
 source is in the Nieuwveld hills, above Beaufort West, 
 where it is known as the Gamka ; as such it receives 
 the thunder showers of the Karoo and after coming 
 through the Zwarteberg range is again fed by the 
 Oliphant's River, so that it becomes at times a most
 
 GEORGE AND OUDTSHOORN. 115 
 
 formidable and dangerous stream, as yet unbridged. 
 This part of the country is beyond the climatic region 
 visited by the wintry north-west winds, and is depen- 
 dent for rains upon the showers brought by the 
 " south-easters," generally as early as September, 
 but in seasons of drought not until much later in 
 the year, when the pastures become miserably dry. 
 
 Crossing the Gouritz, we enter the old division of 
 George, now forming four sub-divisions, George, 
 Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay, and Knysna, with an area 
 of 6,000 square miles, and a population of fully 30,000. 
 It is pastoral as well as agricultural, and the cbp of 
 wool in 1865 was returned as 413,499 lb. The district 
 of Oudtshoorn is the most inland, reaching to the 
 Zwartebergen. It consists of several valleys, all 
 well watered or capable of being irrigated from per- 
 manent streams. The Oliphant's River, Wynand's 
 River, Grobbelaar's River, and the Cango are cele- 
 brated for their productiveness, yielding two crops, 
 first of wheat or oats, and then of beans, mealies, or 
 tobacco, in ordinary seasons. In 1865 this district 
 alone gave 172,000 bushels of wheat, 50,000 bushels 
 of barley and oats, 17,000 hundred pounds of oathay, 
 7,000 bushels of maize, 966,641 lb. of tobacco, 
 300,000 lb. dried fruits, 22,000 gallons of wine and 
 55,000 gallons of brandy. Most of the produce is 
 raised by irrigation, in fact without it scarcely a 
 cabbage or a potato could be brought to perfection. 
 The abundance of water, however, is mainly owino* 
 to the darning up of the rivers, which is done to a 
 considerable extent between Oudtshoorn and Cano-o. 
 This prevents the rush of water to the sea, and allows 
 of the ground for a considerable distance being 
 fertilised by it. Land so irrigated sells for extraor- 
 dinary high prices, while otherwise, as dry Karoo, it 
 is worth very little. The farms generally are divided 
 and sub-divided in fractional parts according to their 
 12
 
 116 OUDTSHOORN. 
 
 arable and irrigable capabilities. Their average 
 value now may be stated at £50 per morgen for 
 arable, and £l for pastures. The one-thirty-sixth 
 part of one farm of 3,000 morgen has been sold for as 
 much as £2,250. The one-eighth part of another 
 (also of 3,000 morgen, 200 morgen being arable and 
 the remainder pasture), recently sold for £5,500 ; one- 
 thirty-second of a property of like extent lately changed 
 hands for £600; and for one-twenty-eighth of another 
 £600 was offered and declined. The vineyards here 
 are very rich, — yielding one legger of brandy of 
 superior quality from each 1,000 vines. There are 
 also extensive tobacco plantations, ordinarily bearing 
 15,000 plants, others having 50,000, and some even 
 100,000 ; but the manner of preparation of the leaf 
 is still very primitive and might be greatly improved, 
 as well as new qualities introduced. The annual crop 
 now is estimated about 2,000,000 lb. These and various 
 other articles, the produce of the district, are often 
 taken by the growers themselves to a market in the 
 inland or eastern towns, sometimes even as far 
 as the city of Graham's Town. Prior to 1858 
 there was little interchange between them and 
 the interior towns, as the only means of communi- 
 cation was by tedious roundabout routes, which 
 it took months to travel. Since then a road 
 has been carried through a rift or chasm in the 
 Zwartberg range, known as Meiring's Poort, which 
 opens into Beaufort West and the Midlands. The 
 Poort is nearly sixteen miles in length and the road 
 is constructed along the bed of a stream winding 
 through the magnificent gorge amid massive walls of 
 rocky cliffs whose peaks appear to pierce the sky. 
 
 Near Oudtshoorn there have been found some beds 
 of lignite, a few inches in thickness, similar to what 
 occurs in the " Enon conglomerate " at the Sunday's 
 and Bushman's Rivers in Albany. Beneath the con-
 
 CANGO CAVERNS. — LANGEKLOOF. 117 
 
 glomerate, there is an extensive sandstone formation 
 giving a superior freestone, ot which the churches in 
 Oudtshoorn have been constructed, — one of them, the 
 Dutch Reformed Church, although not yet completed, 
 presenting a very handsome appearance Here, too, 
 aloDg the base of the Zwarteberg, in the Cango Valley, 
 are the celebrated caverns or stalactite grottoes of that 
 name, described and illustrated in Mr. Gr. Thompson's 
 " Travels." They were visited last year by Sir 
 Henry Barkly, who was accompanied by nearly 300 
 of the neighbouring residents. The large cave, which 
 is the principal object of interest, is many hundred feet 
 square and fifty or sixty feet high, and decorated with 
 great columns of strangely-moulded stalactite. Three 
 hundred candles scarcely afforded sufficient light 
 throughout it, serving more to make the darkness 
 visible, while the crowd moving about in the dim 
 glare looked very strange and weird. These caves 
 have never been explored to the end although persons 
 have penetrated for more than a mile, and at that 
 distance a subterraneous river is heard rushing under 
 foot. It is said to be very easy to lose oneself in the 
 attempt to penetrate far, but it does not appear that 
 at the farthest point yet reached the air has become 
 pestilential. The inner recesses still remain as a field 
 of adventure for anyone ambitious of going where 
 man has never gone before. 
 
 Adjoining; Oudtshoorn, but separated from it by the 
 Kamnasie Mountains, is the fine valley of Langekloof, 
 nearly 120 miles in length, and enclosed on the coast 
 side by the range of Outeniqua or the Langebergen. 
 It is studded with valuable farms, which are ^enerallv 
 well-suited for cattle and sheep-breeding and a 
 good deal of produce is raided there when the seasons 
 are favourable. No vineyards are cultivated owing 
 to the frosts, the winter being very cold, particularly 
 in the more distant and elevated parts. The Crown
 
 118 GEORGE TOWN. 
 
 lands in this direction are not numerous being mostly 
 small pieces on the slopes of the mountains between 
 the several farms. 
 
 George Town itself is pleasantly situated on the 
 south-east side of the mountains and about seven miles 
 from the sea. It has a population of 2,000. Its 
 spacious streets arranged rectangularly, well watered 
 and shaded with trees, cover an area of at least a 
 square mile. There is a Dutch Reformed Church, 
 and Roman Catholic Church with mission churches 
 attached, and an English Church in charge of the 
 Archdeacon of the Province. There is also a 
 Grammar school, whose headmaster is the first 
 colonial M. A. ; besides several mission schools, and 
 about three miles from the town an old established 
 missionary institution, Pacaltsdorp. Although natur- 
 ally one of the most favourably situated spots in the 
 Colony, George has not progressed equally with other 
 places. A recent visitor to it after some years' 
 absence could not help being struck with its com- 
 paratively stationary appearance and asked, "was it 
 the shadow of the mountain, or the rank luxuriance of 
 the herbage, or the granite subsoil, or the proximity 
 of the forests and their temptation to see-saw idleness, 
 that offered an explanation of it ? " Wagon-making 
 was at one time extensively carried on, but there are 
 few workmen employed in it now. A tobacco manufac- 
 tory flourished formerly, but was given up owing to 
 the method of making good " cavendish " not being 
 properly understood. Butter and garden produce 
 used to be sent in quantities 300 miles to a Cape 
 Town market, now they are oftentimes scarcely 
 to be had for local consumption. Leather manufacture 
 to a limited extent is still engaged in, valuable tanning 
 barks being easily obtainable from the forests, and a 
 large establishment for the extension of this industry, 
 combined with that of machine boot and shoemaking,
 
 COAST AXD FOREST LANDS. 119 
 
 is contemplated at Blanco, two miles from the town. 
 The domestication and breeding of the ostrich, it 
 appears, has lately been the most successful occupation, 
 there being from 630 to 1,000 birds kept in enclosures 
 or herded in the open pastures like sheep. In the 
 other neighbouring districts there are also large 
 numbers, and the " ostrich feather market " is quite a 
 feature at the produce sales at the adjoining port of 
 Mossel Bay. 
 
 For small farmers with limited capital, the George 
 coast lands offer a very good prospect. The average 
 price may be considered about £l per morgen. The 
 land, is well suited for oats, barley, rye, Indian corn, 
 tobacco, and garden produce of every kind. Occasion- 
 ally good crops of wheat have been raised, but on 
 account of the superior quality of that which is grown 
 in the adjoining district of Oudtshoorn few farmers at 
 present like to sow any. There is still a good quantity 
 of Crown lands under the mountains, chiefly forest 
 ground that has been partly cleared of timber, either 
 by the woodman's axe or, worse, owing to the fires 
 which occasionally do so much damage. The soil in 
 these places is excellent, but people, for some cause or 
 other do not occupy it, consequently it is overrun 
 with thorns and briars of luxuriant growth. The 
 Commissioners of the George Municipality have 
 offered to let out for a term of years a large piece on 
 condition of its being cleared and cultivated, but no 
 one takes kindly to the tempting bait. \Vhether this 
 is to be attributed to the more profitable employment 
 of the labouring population, or want of faith in the 
 productiveness of the soil we know not. At all events 
 it proves there is abundance of room for more hands. 
 About twenty-five years ago, sheep-breeding was at- 
 tempted but with little success, for although the flocks 
 increased one year the following reduced them. Per- 
 severance and attention on the part of a few enter-
 
 120 KNYSNA FOEESTS. 
 
 prising men and the introduction of stock adapted to 
 the country have since overcome these early difficulties. 
 The veldt is now greatly improved, and southdown, 
 cheviot, and even merino sheep thrive here and at the 
 Knysna, and other localities along the coast, to an 
 extent that old residents could hardly have expected. 
 During the summer months and in times of drought 
 when the upper Karoo affords little or no herbage, 
 large numbers of cattle are sent to these grass lands 
 and the mountain slopes, where even in the driest 
 seasons good pasture is found. 
 
 All around George the country presents a pleasing 
 contrast to the brown heath and bare parched lands 
 of the Droogeveld or Karoo. The first English settlers 
 who made it their home were wont to say that " it 
 was very much like England — only more so." The 
 climate is delightful. Frost is unknown on the coast, 
 and during the hot summer months there are gentle 
 south-east winds and genial showers. The pastures 
 are refreshingly green, and fine streams run from the 
 mountains to the sea. Both here and in the neigh- 
 bouring district of Knysna there is that combination 
 of mountain, forest, and lake scenery so seldom met 
 in South Africa. Such is the view at the Lakes, a 
 short distance from George ; and again from the hills 
 overlooking the basin in which the village of Knysna 
 lies, where the placid waters, the verdant meadows of 
 the islands, the variegated hues of the woods, and the 
 bluff " heads " all combine to form a most charming 
 picture. And besides these, there are the dark 
 glossy evergreen forests, with their giant yellowwood 
 and other trees festooned with rope-like creepers 
 and hoary lichens, and surrounded by tangled brakes 
 or open flowery glades, rising range above range to 
 the distant highlands in the background. 
 
 These forests extend along the whole coast line from 
 George to the Zitzikamma, near Humansdorp, for a
 
 WOOD TEADE. 121 
 
 distance of 170 miles, with a varying depth of from 
 ten to twenty miles. Within the limits of the settled 
 portions of George and Knysna they run about sixty 
 miles, reaching to Plettenberg's Bay. Some portions 
 of this tract are private property, having been sold by 
 Government in 1846 at an upset price of 5s. to 15s. 
 an acre, but the greater extent belong to the Crown 
 and contain an inexhaustible supply of timber. They 
 afford constant employment to a hardy race of wood- 
 cutters, whose labours are by no means light, owing 
 to the difficulties of bad roads, and getting the trees 
 out of the hill slopes and hollows. A load of timber 
 has often in consequence of this to be conveyed over 
 a part of the country in two portions, the first half 
 being left on the road till the remainder is brought 
 out, when the full load is taken to the Knysna village 
 or to the surrounding district for sale. Some of the 
 smaller farmers are in the habit of taking out a licence 
 to cut down wood during the time their seed is in the 
 ground, and in this manner make up for limited crops ; 
 but all kinds of produce having risen so much in price 
 during the last year or two, and the demand for trans- 
 port into the Interior being on the increase and highly 
 remunerative, there has been less resource to the 
 forests than formerly. For some years to come, 
 however, they will be capable of employing in a 
 variety of ways a considerable population. Persons 
 desirous of embarking in the wood trade will find no 
 difficulty in obtaining forest lands at about 15s. or 
 20s„ per morgen, according to situation and other 
 circumstances. 
 
 The system hitherto adopted of working the Crown 
 forests has in the opinion of many been very unsatis- 
 factory, entailing waste and loss, and yielding less 
 advantage to the country than if they were in private 
 hands. " A Parliamentary committee inquired into 
 and reported upon the subject last year. They recom-
 
 122 duke of Edinburgh's elephant hunt. 
 
 mended that the portions of the forest lands now 
 being surveyed for sale (chiefly between the George 
 and the Touw River and some pieces adjacent to 
 private property) should be put up at an upset price 
 of 10s. per morgen. That the woodcutting licences 
 should be reduced from £l 10s. to £l, and that a 
 period of not less than six weeks be allowed for 
 working out a licence. That the forests be open the 
 whole year ; that the several forest rangers be 
 directed to make themselves acquainted with the 
 proper seasons for felling the several kinds of trees, 
 and that no tree be felled until it has been previously 
 marked by a ranger. 1 hey also proposed that villages 
 be laid out for wood-cutters at suitable places, such as 
 " The Poort," midway between Plettenberg's Bay and 
 the Knysna, at Yzernek, on the new line of road from 
 the Knysna to the Interior at " Hoogekraal," and on 
 the western bank of that river between George and the 
 Knysna. The village lots are to be let at a small 
 annual quitrent for a term of twenty-one years, and 
 to consist of about three morgen, with the right to 
 graze twenty head of cattle on the adjoining land. 
 
 The Knysna forest w T as the scene of the Duke of 
 Edinburgh's memorable elephant hunt in 1867, and 
 the published volume of the " Cruise of the Galatea 7 
 contains a graphic account from the Duke's own pen 
 of his encounter with JElephans Africanus, which, 
 he says, looked " a huge monster towering above us, 
 coming on at a tremendous pace, his ears (three times 
 as large as those of the Ceylon elephant) spread out 
 square, like a ship with studding sails on both sides." 
 Mr. Brierly, the artist, who accompanied His Royal 
 Highness, took a great fancy to the beautiful country 
 lying waste here, and considered it a most suitable 
 place for the operations of a land and colonization 
 company with capital. On the return of the Galatea 
 from her cruise, Mr. Brierly opened a correspondence
 
 BRIERLY SCHEME. 123 
 
 with Mr. Thos. Bain, the Government inspector of 
 roads on the subject, obtaining full details as to the 
 qualities of the native woods and the capabilities of 
 the district, and shortly afterwards instructed that 
 gentleman to purchase provisionally as much land as 
 he could secure at a refusal of six or nine months, the 
 time required to establish a company. Mr. Bain 
 succeeded in securing about 80,000 acres of private 
 property which embraced some of the finest farms in 
 the district, at an average price of 7s. per acre and 
 was in treaty with the Government for about 100,000 
 acres more of forest and grazing laDd. A company 
 was provisionally formed among Mr. Brierly's friends, 
 — Mr. Webb of Xewstead Abbey, and other wealthy 
 and influential gentlemen being associated with and 
 taking agreatinterest in it. Before proceeding further, 
 they waited to receive specimens of the different 
 woods which they had ordered, and which were 
 promptly forwarded by Mr. Bain from the Knysna to 
 Cape Town with instructions to be sent on at once by 
 first mail-steamer. Month after month passed and 
 letters came from England to say that the woods had 
 not arrived, and it was not until the following February 
 that after inquiry the box containing the specimens 
 was discovered stowed away in a warehouse at the 
 Table Bay Docks. When at length the specimens 
 reached England they were, after a thorough test, 
 highly approved of, and instructions came out from the 
 Company to get an extension of time from the different 
 owners of land. Unfortunately in the meanwhile land 
 in the Colony advanced and some evil-disposed people 
 advised the parties with whom Mr. Bain had to deal 
 not to extend the time at any price, and this they 
 foolishly adhered to. Mr. Brierly's Company was 
 consequently deprived of the opportunity of carrying- 
 out a scheme, which not only might have been pro- 
 fitable to the shareholders, but of incalculable benefit
 
 124 VIRGIN FORESTS. — LARGE GAME. 
 
 to the Colony. The intention of the Company, we 
 believe, was to have the land subdivided into a series 
 of hamlets or small ten and five acre farms giving 
 each proprietor a certain portion of forest besides. 
 These lands were to have been sold in England to 
 small capitalists and artisans. Machines for working 
 the timber were to have been found by the Company 
 who arranged to send out portable saw-mills, planing 
 machines, and all sorts of appliances to work the wood 
 in a proper and systematic manner. There are few 
 parts-of the Colony where such an enterprise could 
 be carried out with so great a prospect of perfect 
 success as at the Knysna. Land is pretty well at its 
 old value again, so that if these pages chance to meet 
 the eye of any of the gentlemen who took such an 
 interest in the matter a few years ago, the scheme 
 may possibly be revived. 
 
 Between Plettenberg's Bay and Zitzikamma there 
 is a tract of magnificent virgin forest extending for 
 fifty-six miles where not an axe has been laid upon a 
 tree. This was explored for the first time in 1868, 
 by Mr. T. Bain and Mr. Harrison, the Crown conser- 
 vator. They started from Forest Hall, the property 
 of Mr. Newdegate, at Plettenberg's Bay, accom- 
 panied by native servants and wood-cutters to enable 
 them to clear their way through the bush. They met 
 with numbers of large game, elephants, buffaloes, 
 boar, panthers, bush and other bucks; and the wild 
 character of the jungle and its denizens at some parts 
 so alarmed the native' retainers that it was only by 
 threats they could be induced to go on. They found 
 the country beautifully diversified with forests and 
 glades, abundantly supplied with good grass, and 
 watered by no fewer than twelve rivers. The first of 
 these, the Salt River, is navigable for some distance 
 up for small craft of thirty tons, and might be turned 
 to good account as a place for shipping timber. Many
 
 ZITZIKAMMA. 125 
 
 of the others could be led out over the adjacent lands. 
 They abound in fish of various kinds, and at their 
 mouths and on the coast there are quantities of 
 oysters. The number of elephants among the forests 
 cannot be less than 200, and there are large herds of 
 buffaloes, especially in the " fynbosch " between the 
 Groot and Platbosch Rivers. 
 
 Messrs. Bain and Harrison made their way through 
 to the Zitzikamma, and reported that it was impossible 
 to speak too highly of the climate, condition, and 
 resources of the country they had seen, and which, by 
 the path they had cut, and the numerous elephants' 
 tracks, is now tolerably accessible. They strongly 
 urged the construction of a road from Plettenbero-'s 
 Bay towards Humansdorp, which they estimated could 
 be easily made in three years, with a working party 
 of 350 men, and an average of £800 per annum for 
 plant, gunpowder, and working expenses for the gang. 
 This road, they say, would open up about "three 
 hundred and fifty square miles of fine Crown land, 
 upon which there are extensive forests of mao-rnficent 
 timber, and large open flats of excellent soil, capable 
 of being cultivated and irrigated to a great extent 
 from the Coldstream, Harison's, Duthie's, Jerlino;'s, 
 Witklip, and Sanddrift Rivers, which are fine perma- 
 nent streams, running at high levels, with low banks, 
 and emptying themselves into the sea by a series of 
 cascades, — a feature very different from the character- 
 istic of the Knysna rivers, which invariably have 
 high, precipitous approaches, . and very little fall 
 between the sources and their mouths, thus rendering 
 them almost useless for irrigation purposes. By the 
 aid of these streams, most of the timber in the forests 
 could be worked by means of saw-mills and other 
 machinery, which ought to add to the value of those 
 particular localities. Mr. Bain remarks : K In a 
 commercial point of view, if the Government would
 
 126 SEA-BOARD — PORT OF MOSSEL BAY. 
 
 spend £20,000 in having the proposed road cut 
 through, the ground rendered accessible by the road 
 is of such a very rich nature, and partly covered with 
 such valuable timber, that I have no hesitation in 
 saying that it would realize at least £100,000 if laid 
 out in farms and small villages." 
 
 The coast along the whole of these south-east dis- 
 tricts has several available harbours and roadsteads. 
 The Caledon sea-board has such indents as Struy's 
 Bay, Standford's Cove, and Bot River Mouth. 
 Swell endam has Port Beaufort, and the Breede River 
 navigable for upwards of forty miles ; George has 
 the safe anchorage of Mossel Bay, besides one or two 
 coves for small craft ; and the Knysna (where several 
 vessels have been built) has its own " Feather-bed " 
 harbour, sheltered by its heads, in addition to the 
 roadstead of Plettenberg's Bay. The principal 
 shipping port, however, is that of Mossel Bay, where 
 there is a good lighthouse, an excellent harbour, 
 jetties, warehouses, and other facilities for landing 
 and loading cargoes. It is a regular place of call for 
 the coasting steamers, and has also a considerable 
 direct shipping trade. The statistics of the port 
 show remarkable progress, especially since the moun- 
 tain-road through Meiring's Poort was opened. In 
 1858, the total exports were valued at £55,000. In 
 1873, they amounted to £136,940 ; while the imports 
 were £129,761, and the customs duties received, 
 £16,227. In 1858, the quantity of wool shipped was 
 601,981 lb,, and in 1873, it reached 2,004,528 lb.
 
 VL THE MIDLAND KAROO DISTRICTS. 
 
 The long range of the Zwartebergen, as already 
 mentioned^ forms part of the elevated terrace which 
 encloses the central Karoo districts. This terrace runs 
 like a well-defined boundary line trending in a horse- 
 shoe shape from the Bokkeveld Mountains in the 
 west on to the Zuurbergen and almost up to the Great 
 Winterbergen, in the east, Extensive plains stretch 
 inland from it towards the higher plateau of the 
 Nieuwveld and Sneeuwberg range, the main water- 
 shed of the Colony, and beyond there again they 
 slope away to the basin of the Orange River. This 
 portion of the country may be termed the Midland 
 territory. Its total area is estimated at about 80,000 
 square miles, and it is divided into twelve districts, 
 namely, Beaufort, the settled parts of Fraserburg and 
 Victoria, Prince Albert, Willowmoore, Jansenville, 
 Graaff-Reinet, Murraysburo, Richmond, Hope Town, 
 Colesberg, Middelburg, and Cradock. The total 
 population is returned at 80,000 or little more than 
 one individual to the square mile. Some of the 
 largest and finest flocks in the Colony are pastured 
 here: in 1865 there were as many as 3,617,082 
 woolled sheep, 940,000 African sheep, 60,000 Angora 
 goats, and 743,000 common goats, besides horses and 
 cattle. The clip of wool at that time was 10,000,000 
 lb. and has since nearly doubled. 
 
 The southern part of this tract has still the same 
 characteristics of soil and vegetation and rarity of 
 permanent waters which made the " Karoo " seem to 
 the early colonists and travellers a sterile wilderness. 
 From its appearance one readily adopts the conclu- 
 sion that its original condition was an inland sea or
 
 128 THE GREAT KAROO. 
 
 lake, which by the upheaval of the country age after 
 age, became drained off through the cracks and 
 fissures in its south-eastern rim, where now the Gou- 
 ritz, Gamtoos, and Sunday Rivers flow. The sub- 
 stratum consists of clays, marls, shales, and sandstone, 
 full of fossil reptilia, and denominated by geologists 
 the Dicynodon rocks of the Mesozoic period. It 
 has a surface of dry and often baked red soil on 
 which grow small shrubs or plants of salsolaceous, 
 alkaline and aromatic character, chiefly belonging to 
 the orders Ficoidea? and Composite. This herbage 
 constitutes what is considered the prime sheep-walks, 
 and the soil when fertilised by water is of the most 
 productive quality. Herein lies the future riches of 
 the Colony. 
 
 The first view of the plains to be had on emerging 
 from the Karoo Poort, beyond Ceres or Hex River, is 
 not very attractive. It is a dreary flat shut in on 
 two sides by mountains, and peppered over with ant 
 hills and small round bushes,— according to Wyley, 
 " bearing a ridiculous resemblance to the scattered 
 tufts of wool upon the head of a Hottentot, which no 
 effort of imagination can convert into a sublime or 
 beautiful object," Further on the plain has more of 
 an undulating billowy character ; the surface being 
 diversified by slaty hills and eminences, some of which 
 would appear considerable but for the lofty mountains 
 surrounding them. Throughout this tract, for near 
 200 miles, there are only a few solitary farms situate 
 at long distances apart. The ground ^is very stony 
 and there is no great depth of soil. Water, whether 
 from rain or springs is scarce, and the rivers for the 
 greater part of the year, except after thunderstorms, 
 are " dry " or furnish only a few brackish pools. 
 These river-beds, however, are fringed with mimosas 
 and other trees, many of them bearing a parasitical 
 leafless shrub allied to the European mistletoe.
 
 BEAUFORT WEST 129 
 
 In the early spring, or after a rainfall, travel- 
 ling over the Karoo and sleeping beneath its starry 
 and dewless skies, is delightful enough, but in 
 the warm months of January or February, when the 
 temperature is ordinarily over 100°, the heat and 
 aridity in the day-time are very trying. Then 
 "barren and brown stretch the stony plains; no 
 sounds of life disturb their sullen solitude ; no patch 
 of verdure yields a joy to wearied eyes ; no leafy tree 
 its refreshing shade, only the stunted bush or prickly 
 cacti rear their ashy coloured forms as if in mockery 
 of animal wants." This dreary monotonous character 
 of these wastes made a journey over them a few years 
 ago appear a formidable affair. But the establish- 
 ment of regular and rapid conveyances, by the Inland 
 Transport Company, has lately removed those un- 
 favourable impressions, and now a trip across them is 
 quite an ordinary occurrence. A few years hence 
 there will be a much greater change. The Beaufort 
 Railway will be driven through them, — clearing away 
 the impediments of distance, risk, and expense which 
 now limit traffic with the interior divisions, — supplying 
 articles and wants their inhabitants have hitherto been 
 debarred from, —tapping the rich pastoral wealth in 
 which they abound, and introducing population and 
 stimulating industry to develope resources which are 
 as yet scarcely touched. 
 
 Beaufort West, near where the Gamka River 
 comes down from the Nieuwveld hills, is at present 
 the first town of any importance in the Karoo. It 
 presents a pleasant appearance on the plain, with its 
 broad main street lined with shady, fruit-laden trees. 
 It has a handsome town-hall ornamented by a clock 
 and belfry, which chimes the passing hours. There are 
 English, Dutch, and Mission Churches, a banking 
 establishment, a public library, and excellent schools.. 
 The mercantile stores are not very numerous, but they 
 
 K
 
 130 BEAUFORT WEST. 
 
 transact a very profitable business. Four of the lead- 
 ing firms during 1873, received 857,000 lb. weight of 
 merchandise from the seaports and sent away 942,8791b. 
 of wool and other produce, entailing a transport 
 charge amounting to over £7,912. The division of 
 Beaufort West was formerly an extensive one; it included 
 Fraserburg and Victoria West, Prince Albert, and 
 part of Willowmoore, of which it has been dismem- 
 bered by the formation of these places into separate 
 magisterial districts. It has still an area of about 
 10,000 square miles, and contains some 219 quitrent 
 and apportioned quitrent farms, and a large extent of 
 Crown lands, of which thirty-two lots are held under 
 annual leases and thirty-three under Act No. 19 of 
 1864. When it first attracted notice as a pastoral 
 region some thirty years ago, the scarcity of water 
 was found to be the great drawback and in many 
 localities it still continues so, the farms being supplied 
 only by small springs and periodical pools. Several 
 enterprising proprietors, however, set to work to 
 remedy this, and constructed large reservoirs capable 
 of retaining the rainfall, which has no stated season 
 here and is dependant chiefly on the thunderstorms 
 in summer. By such means, places which were formerly 
 useless, or at best only available for a month or six 
 weeks, are now become valuable farms, with permanent 
 stations and comfortable homesteads surrounded by 
 trees and gardens. A great deal of improvement in 
 the same direction may still be effected. There are 
 many so-called " dry rivers " which could be partially 
 dammed up, either at their heads or at their feeders, 
 so as to prevent the water which fills them in rainy 
 seasons from escaping to the sea ; and not only rivers 
 but "leegtes," or hollows, which are full of water 
 after rains, and where by damming up a small " poort " 
 or kloof in a suitable situation, large tracts of land 
 could be brought under cultivation. All the irrigation
 
 THE KAROO SHEEP WALKS. 131 
 
 •works hitherto undertaken have been promoted by 
 individuals or municipalities and many of them without 
 any qualified professional assistance. The boldest local 
 effort of any kind was the large dam above the town 
 of Beaufort, which, owing to defective construction 
 and want of proper provision for the escape of flood 
 water, burst its embankment and caused considerable 
 damage to property. It is now in course of re-con 
 struction on plans furnished to the Beaufort Munici- 
 pality by a scientific engineer, Mr. Shaw, who had 
 experience of such works in India. Its superficial area 
 when full will be 137 acres; the gathering ground 
 is sixty square miles ; the length of the embankments 
 500 yards ; and it is calculated to contain 500,000,000 
 gallons. 
 
 The sheep-walks of some parts of Beaufort West are 
 considered equal to any in the Colony. The appear- 
 ance of the pasturage, however, at first sight would 
 puzzle a stranger as to what the flocks feed upon. It is 
 such as might naturally invite the remark of the 
 sarcastic Yankee, that "ground so bad should be 
 fenced in to keep the animals from starving on it." 
 Yet it is surprising to see with what relish the sheep 
 browse and how well they thrive on the succulent 
 shoots of the small shrubs (in appearance something 
 like English thyme or some varieties of heather) 
 which form the herbage of the plains. The schaap 
 bosch or sheep bush (Pentzia Virgata, Less.), an 
 aromatic much-branched rigid little bush, one or two 
 feet high, is the principal and most valuable plant. 
 We observe that it has lately been reproduced in 
 South Australia. Dr. Schombergh, of Adelaide, in 
 one of his recent publication says he received some 
 seed of it from Dr. Hooker with the remark that it 
 was " the most valuable sheep fodder for dry climates," 
 and he has raised about twenty plants which have 
 done remarkably well, proving that the climate there 
 K 2
 
 132 THE KAEOO SHEEP WALKS. 
 
 is well adapted for its growth. The shrub is easily 
 propagated from cuttings, every one of which will 
 grow if planted when the first rains begin to fall. 
 This and other bushes, such as the aar-bosch, 
 ghanna, dagga, and gwarrie, which chiefly form 
 the Karooveldt, will stand a great deal of dry 
 weather and long after the grasses, which are abundant 
 after rain, disappear, they are as wholesome and 
 nutritious as ever. Their roots penetrate the soil 
 to a great depth (fifteen feet or more in some 
 instances) so that they obtain a supply of moisture 
 when the surface is parched with drought. They will 
 also grow and shoot at any season of the year should 
 there be rain, and at times, when the ground becomes 
 thoroughly moistened, it is marvellous to see the trans- 
 formation effected, — what was a parched brown stubble, 
 " sapless as a worn-out broom," in a few days rushes 
 into vegetation with a rapidity that looks like enchant- 
 ment, and the surface of the country becomes a beau- 
 tiful carpet of heath and flowers of every colour and 
 hue. This ability to stand the drought and the 
 operation of the law of "the survivor of the fittest " 
 has established the dominion of the Karoo, and given 
 it its peculiarity of aspect and resources. Many of 
 the shrubs sheep and cattle will consume, even after 
 they are apparently nothing but dried-up twigs, and 
 if there is a good supply of water large flocks of sheep 
 will live on and even do well, long after, to anyone 
 unacquainted with the nature of the veldt, it would 
 be deemed improbable that they could exist. It is 
 for this among other reasons that the storage of water 
 is of such supreme importance here. 
 
 The size of the farms throughout the division vary 
 considerably, some measuring as much as 20,000 
 morgen ; but the largest as a rule are not the best. 
 Those in the East and West Kieuwveld range from 
 4,000 to 6,000 morgen, with one or two exceptions of
 
 SIZE AND VALUE OF FARMS. 133 
 
 10,000 to 13,000 morgen; in the other parts they 
 average from 8,000 to 10,000. The value of farms in 
 the Nieuwveld, eastward of the Zak River and near 
 the Salt River, which are partly agricultural as well 
 as pastoral may be stated at from 2s. 6d. to 10s. or 20s. 
 per morgen, dependent upon the permanent supply of 
 water ; while in the Meuwveld, westward of the Zak 
 River, they vary from 2s. to 15s. ; in the eastern Gouph 
 they are about 5s. to 10s. ; in the western Gouph 
 under the Meuwveld Mountains, from 7s. to 10s. ; and 
 on the Flats, from 4s. to 7s per morgen. The estimate 
 of the capability of these pastures for carrying sheep, 
 taking seasons of drought into account, is, on the East 
 and West Meuwveld, from one to two morgen for one 
 sheep ; on the East Gouph from two to three morgen ; 
 and on the West Gouph from three to five morgen. 
 Stock thrive well, the dry climate and aromatic 
 herbage being very favourable for them. The increase 
 of lambs when properly cared for appears to be about 
 seventy per cent. The fleeces are of fair weight and 
 good quality. On some places, particularly on the loose 
 dusty ground below and eastward of the Meuwveld, 
 sheep yield ten lb. of unwashed wool, but on the 
 Nieuwveld where it is hard and stony not more than 
 six lb., and in other parts from five to seven lb. The 
 entire yield is about 5,000 bales per annum. 
 
 Some of the largest flockmasters in the Colony are 
 in Beaufort West, one of them being the present 
 Premier, the Hon. Mr. Molteno. The number of 
 woolled sheep on his properties and owned by himself 
 and partners is about 35,000. Mr. D. de Villiers, a 
 neighbouring proprietor, has a flock of 20,000. The 
 flocks generally range from that number down to 
 1,500. The homesteads are very substantial buildings, 
 occasionally surrounded with cultivated grounds, and 
 as a rule provided with every convenience for carrying 
 on pastoral operations. There are washing pools,
 
 134 THE NIEUWVELD MOUNTAINS. 
 
 dipping tanks, pens, and roomy clean sheds where 
 the wool is shorn and sorted according to its several 
 qualities or descriptions. Great attention is paid to 
 the getting up of the fleece ; and there is none of that 
 admixture of (f lamb's wool, dung-locks, and pieces " 
 sometimes tumbled together and packed in a dirty- 
 kraal, which is too common among many of the back- 
 country growers. At suitable places throughout the 
 sheep-runs reservoirs have been made, where the 
 flocks are watered without having any distance to 
 travel, and at each of them there are small houses or 
 stations where the superintendents or stockmen with 
 their herds live for weeks together visiting the head 
 station only at intervals, as occasion may require. 
 These superintendents in many cases are young men 
 of good families, who thus acquire a practical know- 
 ledge of pastoral pursuits and in a few years are 
 qualified to take the charge of other farms or lease 
 lands on their own account. The rearing of cattle is 
 not much followed in the district, as it is mainly 
 occupied by sheep, but there are some good horses 
 and mules bred, especially on the West Nieuwveld, 
 where an old resident, Mr. Rose, has for many years 
 past reared some valuable stock. Angora goats have 
 been tried, and there are now some thousands pas- 
 tured, but the veldt being found more suitable for 
 merinos, the former are being discontinued. The 
 ordinary Cape goats thrive everywhere and are most 
 prolific. 
 
 Behind Beaufort, the Nieuwveld Mountains present 
 a bold escarpment, distinctly showing the horizontal 
 strata of sandstone and shale, sometimes capped by 
 sheets of trap or basalt, whose debris enriches 
 the soil of the adjacent plains. These mountains 
 are considered to correspond with the coal-bearing 
 rocks of the Stormbergen in the Border districts, 
 and thin layers of coal have been found in them,
 
 COAL — QUICKSILVER — BUILDING STONES. 135 
 
 at the farm of Mr. Vivvier, Leeuiw River, and other 
 places between there and Fraserburg. Hitherto 
 the seams have not been of sufficient thickness to be 
 of use, and the quality chiefly anthracitic, probably 
 owing to the proximity of the greenstone dykes which 
 are very numerous. But westward towards the 
 Komsberg, where these dykes are not so common, 
 workable coal is reported to exist, and as the country 
 becomes occupied favourable spots may be opened up 
 which may prove of permanent value. Two or three 
 years ago, the civil commissioner of Beaufort for- 
 warded to Government some samples of quicksilver 
 said to have been found in a fountain known as 
 Winder agers Fontein, on the Karoo Flats below the 
 West Nieuwveld. The opinion of some scientific men 
 who examined the samples was that the mercury had 
 been extracted from a barometer or obtained from a 
 chemist's shop. On application for further specimens 
 it was ascertained that the owner of the place had at 
 the suggestion of some person blasted the rock through 
 which it was supposed the mercury came, and after- 
 wards no trace of it could be detected. The property 
 however, was lately purchased by a Port Elizabeth 
 firm who are now endeavouring to ascertain its 
 mineral character. The fountain, or fountains, for 
 there are three or four of them within a radius of a 
 few miles, are highly charged with sulphuretted 
 hydrogen bubbling up as bright metallic-looking 
 drops in the water. A miner who was for some 
 months past at work opening up the ground behind 
 one of these springs, found the formation to be that of 
 the ordinary Karoo dicynoclon beds with layers of 
 argillaceous shale and crystallized calcareous spar ; but 
 there was no trace of cinnabar; and his further 
 operations were stopped by the augmented flow of 
 water which of itself, however, has added considerably 
 to the value of the farm for ordinary agricultural
 
 136 FRASERBURG. 
 
 purposes. Some of the sandstones of the Nieuwveld 
 and Roggeveld form excellent building materials, and 
 are frequently used as such. Their great value arises 
 from their points being exactly at right angles to each 
 other and to the planes of the flags. As these stones 
 occur of all dimensions they require no dressing, but 
 can be laid down just as they are taken from the 
 quarry. 
 
 On the plateau of the Nieuwveld, 100 miles distant 
 from Beaufort West, the town of Fraserburg is situated. 
 It has a great many neat and comfortable dwellings, 
 a well-built Dutch Church, spacious public offices, 
 and a town-house ; and a commencement has been 
 made with tree-planting which in course of time will 
 add considerably to its appearance. In the portion of 
 the district known as the Boggeveld, there is also a 
 small church village, named Sutherland, and to the 
 north-west again, near the Zak River, there is a 
 Hhenish Mission village, Amandelboom, where a 
 mixed body of natives, Hottentots, Bushmen, and 
 Bastards, have cultivated grounds and extensive com- 
 monage lands granted to them by Government. At 
 both these places in fair seasons grain crops are raised 
 but the other parts of the district are wholly pastoral. 
 The census of 1865 showed that the sheep in possession 
 of the farmers was almost universally of the old fat 
 tail breed. There were upwards of 400,000 Cape and 
 only 81,432 merino, and the quantity of wool pro- 
 duced was returned at 213,000 lb. Since then there 
 has been a great advance in wool-growing, the clip of 
 1873 having increased to fully 3,000 bales or 1,500,000 
 lb. The production, however, is still in its infancy 
 as compared with the capabilities of the district which 
 has millions of acres unoccupied and unalienated. As 
 fast as surveys have been completed these lands have 
 been readily leased for long periods, or at once con- 
 verted into quitrent properties ; and where formerly
 
 SUB-SURFACE WATER-COURSES. 137 
 
 there were only nomadic squatters, there are now 
 numbers of comfortable homesteads along the various 
 springs or wells. The periodic droughts which occur, 
 — such as the one of last year \v T hen for twelve months 
 or more no rain fell, — make a permanent water supply 
 almost indispensable. Fortunately the formation of 
 the country in many places is such as to render this 
 practicable. The stony ridges which intersect the 
 flats or level plains along Fraserburg and Victoria 
 are naturally suited for blocking up and retaining 
 water. These ridges are mostly trap dykes, often 
 resembling walls or rows of beacons of loosely-piled 
 boulders. They cross the horizontal beds of sand and 
 shale vertically or nearly so, acting as so many drains. 
 In some instances a number of smaller dykes are 
 crossed by one large one. When this large one has 
 been cut through, a spring occurs. Generally by sink- 
 ing alongside these dykes, even when there is no 
 indication on the surface, water is obtained. Some of 
 them drain very extensive areas, and the springs and 
 water over many arid portions of the Colony may be 
 traced to their immediate influence. Mr. Dunn, in 
 his geological notes, has called attention to the water 
 bearing influences of these dykes, and says: — "The 
 water usually met with by sinking on these ( drains ' 
 and in the springs, is of good quality, though 
 frequently hard, from the presence of lime. Brackish 
 or saline springs are not common. Nature has also 
 made it easy to follow the course of the dykes, for the 
 larger are frequently marked by a low ridge of dark 
 colour traversing the country, while the smaller ones 
 and those covered with soil are rendered conspicuous 
 by the i Karree Doom ' and other tall bushes growing 
 along their course. It has been found that by opening 
 out a drain from the dykes at a lower level than that 
 at which the water is known to stand, a permanent 
 small stream may sometimes be obtained." Many of
 
 138 DAMS AND "WELLS. 
 
 these sub-surface water-courses are known to the 
 farmers as " aars " or arteries, and from the vegetation 
 above them are almost as legible as footpaths, and 
 Bushmen and other natives say they <e can trace where 
 they are by the burrowing of the king ant-eater (aard- 
 vaark), the ineercat, or even the field mouse." Mr. 
 Alston, a resident in this part of the country, recently 
 gave to the public his opinion that the too free 
 opening of these wells and springs will ultimately 
 tend towards an exhaustive system of sub-drainage 
 which must aifect the character of the grazing ground, 
 and render large tracts of it worthless. He observes : — 
 " We have in these high districts no surplus moisture 
 in the soil, and our aim should be rather to increase 
 than to diminish the quantity, and to keep what we 
 can as near the surface as possible, both for the sus- 
 tenance of the herbage and the certain effect it would 
 have in inducing a greater rainfall. By adopting the 
 system of supplying our wants by storing surplus 
 water in good reservoirs — and to the making of these 
 dams, time being given, there is no practical limit — it 
 would be found that sheep and cattle would be kept 
 in better condition by the use of the fresh water, and 
 by its being accessible at all times, that the labour of 
 the flockmaster would be greatly lessened, and that 
 the cost of the work would not be more than the 
 capital represented by the present yearly outlay 
 incurred in the drawing of water from the wells. 
 Respecting the labour of the flockmaster, I will 
 endeavour to illustrate my meaning by considering 
 what may be effected by changing the direction of a 
 given amount of labour. During two months of the 
 present year I had occasion to supply 500 sheep and 
 forty-five oxen with water drawn from a well ten feet 
 deep, and found that an average of ten tons per day 
 was wanted. I will assume, however, that it is 
 required to lift fifteen tons of water to a height of six
 
 VICTORIA WEST. 
 
 feet, that this must be repeated for fifty days in each 
 year, and take the accumulation of five years' labour. 
 The result is 3,750 tons of water lifted to a height of 
 six feet, and the equivalent to this in lifting earth into 
 a dam wall would provide for the collection of 100,000 
 tons of water, or about twenty-seven times as much as 
 would be lifted from wells at the assumed rate during 
 the five years. Allowing a very ample margin for 
 evaporation, infiltration, and the possibility of not 
 always getting suitable sites for storage, I am of 
 opinion that in all cases farmers would find dams more 
 economical than wells in the matter of labour alone ; 
 and that with respect to improvement in the producing 
 power of their farms there is no plan that offers such 
 certain advantages as the keeping possession of sur- 
 face water, whether it be stored in dams for future 
 use or forced into the ground where it falls." 
 
 Victoria West is distant about 100 miles north 
 from Beaufort. The town is alongside one of the 
 hilly ridges, which there, even more than in Eraser- 
 burg, diversify the plains. It has a commodious and 
 well-built Dutch Church, a Mission Chapel, a pretty 
 Episcopalian Church, and the foundations of a Roman 
 Catholic one, and, what is not often seen in the country, 
 a neatly kept, enclosed, and planted cemetry, laid out 
 by the Dutch Church minister. The houses are sub- 
 stantial and many of them, such as the parsonage with 
 its trim garden, appear very comfortable. There is a 
 bank, a public library, schools, hotel, and some 
 nine business establishments, indicating a pretty 
 extensive and prosperous trade. The population 
 scarcely 'number 1,000, black and white ; but the 
 place has quite a bustling appearance when the sur- 
 rounding farmers visit the town, which they usually 
 do for the stated religious services held there. Few 
 districts have made more marked progress than this. 
 It was only formed in 1857 and the first sale of crown
 
 140 VICTORIA WEST. 
 
 lands took place in 1859. Then there were only one 
 or two hundred bales of wool brought into the town. 
 In 1865 the production was 1,000,000 lb. ; now it is 
 4,000,000 lb., or above 10,000 bales per annum, and 
 other produce of the division has likewise increased. 
 The number of farms then occupied was 149 ; nOw 
 the number is 350, and large tracts of land still 
 remain to be surveyed and leased. The revenue to 
 the Crown rose at the same time from £6,000 in 1865 
 to £16,000 in 1870. In the condition of the people 
 there has been a noticeable improvement materially 
 and intellectually, the comforts and luxuries of life 
 being enjoyed and education fairly appreciated. The 
 farms are generally of large extent, ranging from 4,000 
 to as many as 30,000 morgen, owing to the distance 
 apart of the permanent waters. The opening of 
 springs and construction of dams have greatly increased 
 their capabilities. On an average there are at least 
 three or four reservoirs on each farm, the value of 
 each of them averaging from £100 to £200. Some 
 places have fountains which never fail and are often 
 strengthened by the dams above them ; the farmers in 
 such cases are enabled to raise crops, and from 100 to 
 600 bushels of grain are annually obtained. The 
 value of superior land now may be stated at 10s. to 
 15s. per morgen, and inferior spots may be had as low 
 as Is. or Is. 6d. a morgen. Flocks of sheep range from 
 500 to 8,000. but there are instances of larger ones being 
 pastured, as at the farm Pampoenkraal, purchased 
 from Government a couple of years ago for £10,000, 
 where as many as fifteen or sixteen thousand sheep are 
 grazed, besides 150 oxen and 200 or 300 mules and 
 horses. Generally the pasture is excellent, carrying 
 one sheep to the morgen ; yet here as in other places, 
 it is said, overstocking is beginning to tell upon its 
 condition, the sweet grasses and shrubs which were 
 once high and plentiful being dwarfed or giving place
 
 PRINCE ALBERT. 141 
 
 to bush of inferior description. In the northern part 
 of the division, which is now being gradually occupied, 
 the pasturage is as good as can be desired, and new 
 comers who have settled there are doing well, especially 
 when improvements have been made. One portion 
 lying between Carnarvon and Prieska, and extending 
 about fifty miles in diameter, presents a peculiar appear- 
 ance, which has obtained for it the name of the " Kaijan 
 bult." Its surface is red Karoo soil, resting upon a 
 calcareous crust, in which boulders, rocks, and pebbles 
 of various shapes and kinds, including agates, jaspers, 
 chalcedony, cats-eye, white and coloured quartz, 
 and porphyry, are embedded. This is the formation 
 which Mr. Dunn in his geological map of the Colony 
 has described as a "glacial conglomerate." There is 
 an extension of it, he says, a few miles north-east of 
 Beaufort and at different places westward as far as the 
 Haartebeeste River. 
 
 The wise and liberal policy of the Land Leasing 
 Act of 1864 has been strikingly exhibited in these 
 three districts of Beaufort, Fraserburg, and Victoria. 
 Since 1867 over 3,000,000 of morgen, or about 10,000 
 square miles, have been leased for periods of twenty- 
 one years, to the direct and very material benefit of 
 the country as well as of the general and divisional 
 revenues The extent of ground thus leased from 
 1867 to 1872 was :•— In Fraserburg, 1,383,890 morgen 
 at a total yearly rental of £6,614 ; in Victoria West, 
 1,077,326 morgen, giving a rental of £5,471 ; and in 
 Beaufort West, 856,654 morgen, at a rental of £3,574. 
 
 The district of Prince Albert lies to the right of 
 Beaufort West, along the base of the Zwarteberg range. 
 It covers an area of about 4,000 square miles. A great 
 part of it forms what is known as the " Gouph," 
 commonly presenting a dry baked surface strewn with 
 stones, but when well-watered deserving its Hottentot 
 synonym — " fat " or " rich." This is seen in the great
 
 142 PRINCE ALBERT. 
 
 productiveness of the Zwarteberg ward, where the 
 farms are irrigated, and yield wheat and grain of all 
 sorts, wine of excellent quality, brandy, tobacco, 
 raisins, walnuts, oranges, apples, pears, and figs. So 
 also, in the town of Prince Albert, which is plentifully 
 watered, land sells as high as at any town near the 
 metropolis, while the average value of the outlying 
 portions of the district, where there are no streams, is 
 very low. These latter localities, however, are good 
 for ostrich-farming, providing a wide range for the 
 birds, who require little attention save in watching 
 occasionally where the female chooses her nest, and 
 while the process of incubation goes on. At the present 
 time there are over 800 birds domesticated in this 
 district, two or three farms alone having about 100 
 birds each, and scarcely a single one being without a 
 pair or more of them. There are also many birds in 
 their wild state still roaming in some parts, and these 
 often form the object of considerable emulation between 
 farmers, each one striving to vie with his neighbour in 
 the number running on his property, and especially the 
 number of broods taken ; for although the Legislature 
 has wisely discountenanced, by heavy penalties, the 
 destruction of wild ostriches, it does not prohibit the 
 taking of young birds when found by the owner on 
 his land. The time was when this part of the country 
 was overrun by ostriches, when flocks of fifty or sixty 
 could be seen scampering with distended wings over 
 the vast plains, on the approach of the traveller ; and 
 men scarcely fifty years old relate how in their youth 
 they found nests of fifty or more^ eggs, (accumulated 
 through several females fraternizing together), which 
 they carried home in bags strung across pack-horses. 
 But at that time the value of the eggs for artificial 
 hatching was not known, and it continued to be 
 o-enerally believed that the ostrich was incapable of 
 beino- domesticated until the late Mr. Kinnear, of
 
 PRINCE ALBERT. 143 
 
 Beaufort, demonstrated the contrary, and showed by 
 the number of young birds he so successfully reared 
 that ostrich-farming could be turned to a very pro- 
 fitable account. The principal part of the district 
 however is pastoral, numerous flocks of sheep and 
 goats running on the various farms, and wool is at 
 present the staple article of export. A wool-washing 
 establishment has been in operation for some time at 
 Klaarstroom, at the northern entrance of Meiring's 
 Poort. The average quantity washed has been 200 
 bales a month, dependent upon the water supply, 
 but steam machinery is now being erected there for 
 the purpose of carrying on the industry on a larger 
 scale. 
 
 The town of Prince Albert is situate along the 
 Zwarteberg, at the end of a deep valley formed by a 
 break in the range. It enjoys a delicious climate at 
 all seasons of the year. In summer it is almost per- 
 petually fanned by a cool south-easter which, rising 
 from the sea on the south-east coast comes sweeping- 
 over the mountain ridges as a moderate invigorating 
 breeze. In winter the temperature is far from severe 
 and while rain falls freely on the mountains, under 
 which the town shelters, it enjoys clear sunshine and 
 bracing air. At the same time from its comparative 
 elevation, it commands a wide view over the broad 
 flats bounded only in the north-east by the Blue 
 Nieuwveld range, some eighty miles distant. A 
 strong stream of the coolest and purest water descend- 
 ing the valley runs through the town and makes it 
 wear that green and fresh appearance which delights 
 the traveller after crossing the dry Karoo. The 
 salubriousness of the climate, little known hitherto 
 on account of the remoteness of the place, needs only 
 to be brought into public notice in order to render it, 
 when once a railway shall have been established, a 
 general resort for those in search of health.
 
 144 THE GOUPH— WILLOWMOOKE. 
 
 The inland position of the district and its isolation 
 from the high road and channels of traffic have hitherto 
 proved a great disadvantage to it. Intercourse with 
 more advanced districts has thereby been checked and 
 education and social improvements retarded. The 
 consequence of this state of things is seen in the 
 more than ordinary ignorance that prevails among the 
 people, and the total absence of anything like comfort 
 in the dwellings of the farmers, often little better than 
 mud huts. The inhabitants of the Gouph especially, 
 born and bred in a region destitute of vegetation and 
 accustomed to the privations endured by several 
 o-enerations, seem to have grown callous with regard 
 to the comforts of life. The increased transport to 
 the up-country and the Diamond-fields has lately 
 however effected a marked change and improvement 
 amongst some of them. Not only has it opened a 
 lucrative market for produce of all kinds, but as 
 travelling is no longer confined to the " smouse " or 
 (i fcogtganger," it has begun to bring the isolated farmer 
 in contact with better informed classes, affording him 
 the opportunity of inquiring and learning about other 
 matters than those that within his limited sphere 
 engross his attention. 
 
 The new district of Willowmoore adjoins Prince 
 Albert to the eastward. The seat of magistracy is a 
 small but rising village along the Groot River. It is 
 on one of the main lines of communication from 
 Swellendam, Riversdale, and George to Graaff-Reinet 
 and the Free State ; through it also passes the road 
 from Prince Albert and Meiring's Poort to Port 
 Elizabeth ; and from Oudtshoorn and the Oliphant's 
 River Valley to Somerset East. It is equi-distant 
 from Georo-e, Oudtshoorn, and Beaufort, about 100 
 miles, from Graaff-Reinet 110 miles, and from Port 
 Elizabeth 160 miles. The Groot River rises in the 
 plateau beyond Murraysburg, where it is known as
 
 WILLOWMOORE. 145 
 
 the Buffel River ; afterwards it receives the name of 
 the Kareiga, forming the boundary of Beaufort and 
 Graaff-Reinet ; about eighteen miles from Willow- 
 moore it changes to the Groot River and as such 
 passes through the Winterhoek range about five 
 or six miles west of the Cockscomb Mountain, after 
 which it is joined by the Kouga, and is known as the 
 Gamtoos, entering the sea in St. Francis Bay. Several 
 fish resembling the grey mullet are found in this, as 
 well as in many of the river-beds of the Karoo, 
 occupying the " zekoegatten " or permanent water 
 holes in the driest season. 
 
 Many of the farms in the Willowmoore district are 
 agricultural, those lying near the Zwarteberg range, 
 along the Groot River, and in the Baviaan's Kloof 
 producing corn, wine, and fruit of every description. 
 The two last mentioned places are worthy of special 
 notice. A few years back there was nothing to be 
 seen along the course of the Groot River save innu- 
 merable mimosas ; but now by the energy and industry 
 of a few men, dams have been constructed, and large 
 fields (one of them producing upwards of 3,000 bushels 
 of grain) are irrigated by water which previously was 
 allowed to run unused to the sea. The Baviaan's 
 Kloof is a very fertile valley about fifty miles in 
 length ; it is occupied by twelve farms, and is entirely 
 surrounded by mountains, a continuation of the 
 Great Winterhoek range. At the western end and 
 throughout it there is an accessible road, but at the 
 eastern extremity the outlet is very difficult, and 
 those who are bold enough to attempt it have to per- 
 form acrobatic feats which would astonish anyone 
 uninitiated in ox-wagon travelling. The greater part 
 of the district, however, is pastoral, being good Karoo 
 veldt, not of the ordinary interminable flat character, 
 but broken by mountains and small hills. Since the 
 leasing of the Crown lands for long periods, great 
 
 L
 
 146 JANSEXVILLE. 
 
 improvements have been going on, water being stored 
 and wells opened, and several farmers have gone to 
 the expense of erecting pumps driven by wind to raise 
 water for their flocks, and these are found to answer 
 well. Willowmoore is a Dutch Reformed Church 
 centre and an excellent place for trade, a large quan- 
 tity of wool and other produce changing hands in the 
 village and being then forwarded to Port Elizabeth, 
 the only sea-port with which it has trade communi- 
 cation, for although Mossel Bay is quite as near, the 
 road to it is much heavier, and the market there is not 
 considered so good. When the Port Elizabeth and 
 GraafF-Reinet railway is completed, this section of 
 the country will be an important feeder to it. 
 
 Eastward of "Willowmoore we come to the new 
 district of Jansenville on the Sunday's River. It is 
 in the centre of the country known as the Ruggens, 
 lying between Uitenhage, Somerset, and Graaff- 
 Reinet. Its extent is about 1,500 square miles. 
 It comprises twelve freehold farms, in extent 15,947 
 moreen; 118 quitrent farms, in extent 297,563 
 morgen ; thirty-one pieces of land, leased under Act 
 19 of 1864, in extent 23,827 morgen ; and twenty-nine 
 pieces of Crown land, leased annually, in extent 97,370 
 moreen. To the north there is good grazing for all 
 kinds of stock on the undulating Karoo flats ; on the 
 east, there is a low range of hills, through which the 
 Riei and Vogel Rivers flow, where a good deal of the 
 prickly euphorbia or norsedoorn is intermixed with the 
 herbacre ; on the south it is bounded by the Klein 
 Winterhoek range, covered with bush and grass well 
 adapted for cattle. There are not many farms with 
 permanent springs, but most of them have large dams. 
 The principal sheep-farmers are Messrs. Hobson, 
 Biggs, and Berrington, whose flocks are large, noted 
 for purity of breed, and free from disease. Their 
 farms adjoin each other, on the property originally 

 
 GRAAFF-REINET. 147 
 
 belonging to the late Mr. TV. C. Hobson, and together 
 form a very extensive sheep-walk. Towards the 
 Zuurberg, Messrs. A. C. Stewart, & Co. have fine 
 lands where angora and also ostrich-farming is con- 
 ducted under the management of Mr. Featherstone. 
 A good amount of cultivation is carried on along the 
 Sunday's River, the soil being deep and rich, pro- 
 ducing abundant crops of wheat, maize, and forage — 
 one farm alone yielding sixty-three tons of oathay, 
 and 1,500 bushels of mealies. Vineyards and orchards 
 when planted also do well. Many of the farmers, 
 however, have lately engaged in the transport trade 
 between Port Elizabeth and Graaff-Reinet, which has 
 been for a time more immediately remunerative. The 
 village of Jansenville at present consists of only a 
 few houses, but a large extent of arable land has been 
 laid out in erven fenced with quince hedges and 
 planted with trees. The presence of a magistrate and 
 his establishment, the opening of a second-class school 
 and a public library, and the services of a Dutch 
 Church already established here, is likely to attract 
 more population and effect a great improvement in 
 the place, while the completion of the new bridge 
 across the Sunday's River will in a few months bring 
 the inland traffic (about 100 wagons a day) directly 
 through the village and give a considerable impetus 
 to trade. 
 
 North of this tract of country, we have the division 
 of Graaff-Reinet stretching up to the heights of the 
 Camdeboo and Sneeuwberg Mountain range. It is 
 the oldest of the inland divisions, having been first 
 occupied by the early colonists about a century ago. 
 Its area then was fully 50,000 square miles, but it has 
 been reduced by the creation of new districts on all 
 sides around it, until now it scarcely comprises 6,000 
 miles with a population of about 15,000. It has always 
 been celebrated as an agricultural as well as a pastoral 
 L 2
 
 148 GRAAFF-PwEINET. 
 
 region, ai though latterly, owing to the profitable 
 return of the pursuit, special attention has been given 
 to the improvement and increase of fine woolled sheep. 
 The clip of wool in 1865 was 1,233,325 lb. The 
 extent of ground then under cultivation was a 
 little over 6,000 acres, and yielded 44,000 bushels 
 of wheat besides other grain ; of dried fruits 
 115,000 lb.; of wine 20,000 gallons and an equal 
 quantity of brandy, The pasturage is greatly diver- 
 sified and suitable for all descriptions of stock, 
 the highlands abounding with grass, and the valleys 
 or o-lens rich in "gebroken veld" and alluvial soil 
 capable of growing anything, while the plains are 
 covered with Karoo bush, ghanna, spek-boom, wild 
 oranaat, gwarrie, and other shrubs, suitable as food 
 for sheep and goats. Formerly and before land 
 became as valuable as it now is, it was the custom of 
 most well-to-do farmers to possess at least one summer 
 and one winter farm. The horses and cattle were 
 Generally kept in the " grass plaats " all the year 
 round, to which in summer were sent all the small 
 stock or " klein vee," which thrive better by being kept 
 durino- the winter months in the lower warm Karoo 
 farms. Some of the more successful and wealthy still 
 possess such an extent of land and suitable con- 
 veniences, but by far the greater part of the farmers 
 have now single farms only. These vary in size from 
 2,000 morgen to 10,C00. The largest extent of land 
 held by any one proprietor is about 60,000 morgen, 
 while a few hold grants of 20,000 morgen. 
 
 Up to 1838, the division was peopled almost entirely 
 by the early colonists of Dutch, French, and German 
 extraction, who bred Cape sheep, horses, and cattle. 
 The only parties who had introduced merino rams to 
 their flocks up to that time were the late Win. Smit, 
 who then lived on the Bhenosterberg, near where 
 Middelburg now is, and the late Barend Burger, of
 
 GEAAFF-REINET. 149 
 
 Achter Sneeuwberg, now Murraysburg. Not more 
 than 10,000 or 15,000 lb. of wool was then pro- 
 duced in the whole wide-spread district. For a 
 short time previous there had been a considerable 
 exodus of the old inhabitants to beyond the Orange 
 River. These in some instances abandoned their 
 farms entirely ; others sold them for whatever they 
 could obtain for them. Many a farm was then 
 parted with for a wagon or span of oxen, and in one 
 instance a place worth more than £5,000 was sold for 
 an old bull which died a few days after. Tempted 
 by the low price at which land was procurable, the 
 families of the Southeys and Rubidges, together 
 with their numerous family connections, from Albany, 
 made extensive purchases of farms and settled in this 
 division, while the late Mr. Fred. Leisching, and Mr. 
 Watermeyer from the neighbourhood of Cape Town 
 did the same. These brought with them numerous 
 flocks of merino sheep of the best kind which they 
 greatly improved from year to year by importations 
 from Europe. The older inhabitants seeing the new 
 comers successful followed their example until now the 
 merino sheep, being found infinitely more profitable 
 than either the Cape sheep, or horses or cattle, has 
 nearly displaced them all. 
 
 The value of a farm here depends much upon the 
 quality of its herbage, the strength and permanency 
 of its fountains, the nature of the improvements that 
 have been made upon it in the form of dams, buildings, 
 homestead, &c, as well as its extent of arable land 
 and proximity to a market. The best farms are 
 worth at present from 20s. to 30s. a morgen and 
 others from 10s. to 20s. per morgen. Among the 
 most noticeable properties may be mentioned those 
 of Messrs. Parkes Brothers, " Wheatlands," in the 
 lower part of the division, where the desert has 
 been turned into a fruitful garden, yielding wine,
 
 150 GRAAFF-REINET. 
 
 brandy, and grain, as well as handsome returns in 
 wool and increase of stock. Another example of the 
 successful application of industry and intelligence is 
 " Wellwood," the sheep-farming establishment of Mr. 
 Charles Rubidge, who has by many years of un- 
 remitting care and attention and the judicious selection 
 of rams from the best European flocks succeeded in 
 bringing his sheep to great perfection, and obtained 
 quite a colonial reputation as a breeder.* Mr. Alfred 
 Rubidge's farm "Portlock" and Mr. Watermeyer's 
 " Colonies Plaats " as well as "Bloemhoff," now o^ned 
 by Messrs. Southey, Mr. le Koux's, Mr. Niekerk's, 
 Mr. Brook's " Goliath's Kraal," Mr. A. Watermeyer's 
 "Letskraal" and Mrs. Meintjes', Fontein Plaats, near 
 Tantjesberg, may also be mentioned as among the 
 most superior farms. The land as well as the stock 
 is chiefly owned by the occupiers. There is very 
 little tenant occupation. Arable lands are some- 
 times given on the halves, as it is called, the owner 
 giving only the land and taking half the crops, but 
 this is not done to any great extent. The yield of 
 the soil as a rule is very abundant, varying from 
 twenty to 120 fold, or even more with irrigation. The 
 storing of water for this purpose has had some but 
 far from sufficient attention paid to it. The Messrs. 
 Parkes, at Wheatlands, and a few others have con- 
 structed large reservoirs, but there are many 
 other suitable spots in the division where by an outlay 
 of a few thousand pounds great bodies cf water could 
 be conserved, and small lakes formed which might be 
 used to irrigate extensive tracts of arable land. Such 
 spots may be found immediately above the town of 
 GraaiF-Reinet and at Mr. Booysen's farm, a little 
 lower down the Sunday's River. These works,. 
 
 * Mr. Rubidge drafts from his ordinary flock all ewes that do not 
 yield at least ten lb. of wool. In his better flock a yield of twelve 
 lb. is the test for admittance. One animal on his place gave the 
 exceptional yield of twenty-five lb. of wool.
 
 GRAAFF-REINET. 151 
 
 however, are hardly likely to be undertaken by single 
 capitalists, but would richly repay a Company if 
 judiciously carried out. Numbers of the ordinary 
 dams or reservoirs have been constructed by the 
 farmers themselves. The dams are simply earth 
 embankments thrown up across shallow valleys, the 
 earth being taken from the inner side, thus scarping 
 a hollow for the water to be stored in. The length 
 of the embankments vary from twenty or thirty yards 
 to 1,000 yards, with a height of from four to twenty- 
 four feet, giving as much as twenty feet depth of 
 water in the largest. 
 
 A great deal of attention has lately been paid to 
 the breeding of angora goats. They thrive admirably 
 everywhere, but the most suitable part for them is the 
 lower Zwart Ruggens. Spekboom and other shrubs 
 which aoats thrive best on are there found in the orreat- 
 est abundance, and are of such a succulent nature that 
 the stock can do well without water for a week at a time. 
 Messrs. Evans and Rex, of Riet Fontein, have by far 
 the largest flocks of these beautiful creatures of any- 
 one in the district. Mr. Rabie, of Camdeboo, Mr. 
 Walter Rubidge, of Roodeberg, Mr. Biom, and Mr. 
 Ziervogel have also given attention to them with 
 successful results. 
 
 The town of Graaff-Reinet is the oldest and one of 
 the largest in the inland districts. It is situate at the 
 base of the hilly range where the Sunday's River 
 leaves the Sneeuwberg Mountains for the plains. 
 These hills rise behind it to a height of 1,000 or 
 1,500 feet. r l he summit of one of them, the Spandeau 
 Kop, has a rough resemblance to a haystack, and 
 adjoining it there is a ridge of looeely-piled trap rock 
 with pillars of columnar basalt, standing out in bold 
 reliet to the height of 300 or 400 feet, having a very 
 picturesque effect. This spot is known by the 
 name of the Vallev of Desolation. At the foot
 
 152 GRAAFF-REINET. 
 
 of these hills the river sweeps round and forms 
 a bend about a mile across, and in this bend the 
 town is laid out, an abundant supply of water being 
 distributed through it by several channels from the 
 bed of the stream. The streets are wide and many of 
 them are planted with rows of trees on each side. 
 Formerly oranges and lemons were the principal trees, 
 and their evergreen foliage and golden fruit were a 
 peculiar feature of the town, but most of them suc- 
 cumbedto a scaly disease, which a few years agoattacked 
 orange trees everywhere in the Colony, and now their 
 place is supplied by rosy oleanders, accacias, blue- 
 gums, cypresses, and Kafirbooms. The principal 
 buildings are the Dutch Reformed Church, with its 
 clock tower and spire, a handsome English Church, 
 the Government Offices now in course of reconstruction, 
 the town-hall, the college, masonic lodge, the Free 
 Protestant Church, and the Public Library. Three 
 well conducted newspapers are published in the town ; 
 three banks are in full operation, and its market is 
 second only to Port Elizabeth. There are several large, 
 and comfortable private buildings and stores of modern 
 style, but the houses generally are of the old-fashioned 
 type, with thatched roofs, gables and stoeps, or raised 
 terraces, the usual form of dwelling of the old colonists. 
 Nearly all have vineyards, gardens, or orchards, or 
 some spot of greenery attached to them. These give 
 the town a very pleasing appearance, and its marked 
 antithesis to the surrounding arid Karoo plains obtained 
 for it long ago the appropriate title of the " Gem of 
 the Desert." A quantity of fruit and brandy is 
 raised by the possessors of the vineyards and gardens ; 
 and there are several steam and water-mills and other 
 local industries ; but the trade of the place is prin- 
 cipally maintained by its being the commercial centre 
 for many of the surroundings districts. The traffic 
 between it and the port of Algoa Bay (160 miles
 
 GUAAFF-REINET — ABERDEEN. 153 
 
 distant") is very considerable. A year or two ago, it 
 was estimated at 20,000,000 lb of produce dispatched, 
 and 18,000,000 lb. of goods received. This gives 
 employment to a great number of carriers, but often- 
 times the means of transport has proved quite inade- 
 quate to the traffic. The necessity of obtaining 
 railway communication with Algoa Bay was mooted 
 long ago, and a strenuous effort in its behalf was made 
 in Parliament by Mr. Probart and others in 1858, 
 but it was only last year that the Legislature finally 
 authorized the construction of this midland line, at an 
 estimated cost of £940,000. 
 
 On the plain close to Graaff-Reinet there is a spring- 
 known as Kruidfontein, issuing out of the horizontal 
 sandy shale, and impregnated with hydrosulphuric 
 acid gas. An excellent hotel and bath-rooms have 
 been erected on the spot, and it is a favourite place of 
 recreation for the inhabitants. On some of the farms 
 on this plain, the cactus or prickly pear is becoming a 
 source of trouble, the plants springing up so thickly 
 together that nothing else can grow between them. 
 One variety commonly known as the " Kaalblad " has 
 few thorns on its leaves and during drought cattle 
 thrive well upon it ; but generally the innumerable 
 thorns of the ordinary kind lodge in the mouths 
 of the animals and cause such injuries that many 
 die therefrom. When the plant has not too great a 
 hold on the soil it may be eradicrated, as has been 
 done by Mr. Walter Rubidge, Mr. Booysen, and some 
 others at a cost of several hundred pounds to each. 
 
 The town of Aberdeen is situated about thirty-six 
 miles westward from Graaff-Reinet, in the flat country 
 at the foot of the Camdeboo range of mountains. It 
 is a thriving place and has a considerable trade with 
 the wealthy farmers of the Camdeboo, and supplies 
 the wants of those occupying the low country of the 
 Zwart Ruggens and Kariega. A periodical court is
 
 154 MTTRRAYSBURG. 
 
 held there monthly by the magistrate of Graaff- 
 Reinet. Until lately there were vast tracts of Crown 
 land in the neighbourhood most of which, however, are 
 now leased, though there is a considerable extent still 
 available for the same purpose. The features of the 
 country and the nature of the soil are both favourable 
 for the construction of dams, and all this Government 
 land at present yielding nothing will ere long be 
 occupied and made richly productive, as when pro- 
 vided with water it is a most excellent sheep pasture. 
 Ostrich-breeding is very successfully carried on, 
 especially by Mr. Rabie, of Camdeboo, and Mr. 
 Gardner, of Aberdeen, as well as Mr. Jan Booysen, 
 of Klipdriit. 
 
 On the north-western spurs of the Sneeuwberg, 
 about fifty miles distant from Graaff-Reinet, is the 
 division of Murraysburg, formed out of portions of 
 Graaff-Reinet, Richmond, and Beaufort. The village 
 from which it takes its name was commenced in 1855, 
 by the purchase of a farm and the sale therefrom of 
 building lots for the purpose of raising funds for the 
 erection of a church. It is another of the many 
 instances which may be given showing the possibility 
 of transforming the desert into a smiling garden. 
 Where formerly there was only the Boer farm-house 
 of old fashioned type, there is now a very pretty 
 country village with luxuriant orchards and cozy 
 cottages, neat houses and stores, a handsome church 
 and a most comfortable hotel. The extreme length of 
 the district is about sixty-six miles, the breadth about 
 forty-five ; and there are many rich sheep and cattle 
 farms throughout it, the pasturage being generally 
 sweet Karoo. Many of the homesteads are equal in 
 appearance to any in the western districts, having 
 large comfortable nouses and out-buildings surrounded 
 by fruit trees and magnificent oaks, with running 
 streams of water and extensive corn lands. The
 
 SPITZKOP OR COMPASSBEKG. 155 
 
 sheep kraals are generally on the sloping ground, 
 adjoining the homestead, and are universally enclosed 
 by walls of dried cattle manure, cut in squares and 
 built up in the same way as turf or peat. The fine 
 farm of " Vleiplaats," the property of the Hon. Mr. 
 Burger, within half an hour's ride of Murraysburg is 
 one of these places well worth a visit. Mr. Burger's 
 merino sheep number over 20,000, of which there 
 are always ten to twelve thousand under his own 
 observation on this farm. He is also a horse- 
 breeder, and has now a considerable stud, including 
 some excellent stock recently acquired from the 
 Berg Biver and Caledon breeders in the West. 
 
 The plateau of the Sneeuwbergen consists of a 
 series of mountains known as the Oudeberg, Goliath's 
 Kraal, Amandel Hoogte, Naudesberg, Zuurfontein, 
 and other heights extending for nearly fifty miles 
 behind Graafl-Beinet. Its highest point is the Spitz- 
 kop, or Compassberg, on the water-shed dividing the 
 feeders of the Sunday's Biver, running south-east, and 
 the Zekoe running north. Its height is given by Wyley 
 as 7,800, although Hall and others have put it down at 
 8,500. The view from the summit is remarkably fine 
 and for extent there is scarcely anything to compare 
 with it in the Colony as its sharp peak overlaps the 
 neighbouring mountains nearly 1,000 feet. Mr. Wyley 
 says : — " The ascent of the peaked portion is a 
 little difficult. The south-western face is a vertical 
 wall. The north-east side which is formed by a 
 large greenstone dyke intersects this at an angle 
 of about 50°. The intersection is a sharp edge 
 the lowest portion of which is to the north-west, 
 the side on which the mountain is ascended. To 
 make matters worse, this sharp edge has been shat- 
 tered into large fragments for a depth of several 
 yards so that the ascent is as it were on the top of 
 a dyke or wall of loose stones, said stones, however,
 
 156 RICHMOND. 
 
 being often a yard or two in diameter and so poised 
 on each other touching only at the angles that they 
 would appear as if a strong breeze would send them 
 down by the run. The upper part forming the moun- 
 tain is solid and is several yards in breadth. On its 
 highest point a small pile of stones is erected." 
 
 Passing the Sneeuwbergen we are in the undulating 
 country extending to the banks of the Orange River. 
 This is divided into the districts of Richmond, Hope 
 Town, and Colesberg. Throughout it greenstone 
 dykes dispute the ground with the shale and sand- 
 stone ; the herbage still continuing of the Karoo 
 character, but mixed with varieties of sweet grass in 
 greater or less profusion. Richmond lies about 
 seventy-five miles north from GraafF-Reinet ; the 
 town which was established in 1843 is now one of 
 considerable size and importance, and there is a good 
 deal of trade in the products of the district, chiefly 
 wool, mohair, skins, and ostrich feathers. It is next 
 to GraafF-Reinet as an inland centre. There is a 
 large Dutch Reformed and Mission Church, a very 
 successful school, a library, bank, masonic lodge, a 
 newspaper office, and hotels. The houses are inter- 
 spersed with gardens and there are a number of trees 
 planted about the place. The total number of farms 
 in the division is 400, averaging from 8,000 to 12,000 
 morgen, although there are some of 20,000 morgen 
 and upwards. Of these only about 100 possess arable 
 lands worth mentioning, having about 1,600 to 1,700 
 morgen, or about 3,400 acres under cultivation. The 
 other 300 farms cannot bring under cultivation more 
 than a few acres each, and everywhere irrigation has 
 to be adopted. Wheat, barley, and oats are the chief 
 crops, and the average yield is from thirty to thirty- 
 five fold. The best agricultural places are in the 
 wards of Uitvlugt and Middle Wyk, and with a few 
 exceptions in South Winterveld. The division con-
 
 RICHMOND 157 
 
 tains some very good sheepwalks, many of those along 
 the branches of the Zekoe River having extensive 
 vleys which are covered with short sweet grass, even 
 during severe droughts. Luipard's Vley, formerly 
 Mr. Mellersh's farm and now Mr. Perie's, is one of 
 these, and the fine property of Messrs. Sieberhagen is 
 another. The number of woolled sheep in 1865 was 
 returned as 420,400 and of Cape sheep 97,000. The 
 clip of wool then was 1,316,899 lb. ; but its production 
 has greatly increased, being now estimated at 6,000 or 
 7,000 bales. The flocks generally range from 1,500 
 to 8,000 ; and the fleeces give about 4 lb. The largest 
 land owners are the Messrs. Kock, whose flocks of 
 sheep number fully 20,000 ; W. C, P. and J. van de 
 Merwe, N. J. S. van de Merwe, J. H. Viljoen, J. H. 
 Visser, J. J. van Zyl, D. P. van der Merwe, E.. 
 Botha, Eckard, and Pirie. No great complaints are 
 made of the pasturage wearing out, although many 
 farms are said to be overstocked, and in some places 
 the * bitter bush " has displaced the sweeter Karoo 
 varieties. The latter circumstance, however, is not 
 regarded as very objectionable by many farmers, as 
 there are instances where sheep becoming accustomed 
 to the bush are in as good condition as on the sweeter 
 pastures. Cattle and horse-breeding have for some 
 years past been comparatively neglected, but a few 
 residents are again resuming stud-keeping, and high 
 prices have been paid for imported entire horses. 
 Large troops of goats are still found, and ostriches 
 are common. The inhabitants of the division are, as 
 a rule, an intelligent, opulent class. This may be seen 
 in their comfortable residences and the superior 
 character of their flocks and appliances for getting up 
 their clips of wool, as well as in the many well-built 
 reservoirs which are to met with. The population of 
 the town and division is estimated at i 0,000 white 
 and coloured.
 
 158 HOPE TOWN, 
 
 The next division, Hope Town, is the most northerly 
 in the Colony, and although created in 1858 is still 
 very sparsely occupied. Its features are flat country 
 with a few hills and occasional patches of camel thorn 
 trees. To the eastward it is covered with short Karoo 
 bush, affording good pastures ; while to the north and 
 west there are plains of red sand abounding in grass, 
 mixed up with small shrubs chiefly the capoc or cotton 
 bush. After rain the country has a most luxuriant 
 appearance ; but the annual fall is very small and 
 uncertain, and periodical droughts of long duration 
 are frequent. The water supply is principally from 
 dams and wells, there being few fountains. The best 
 farms have only about a morgen of ground under 
 cultivation, and they are few. In consequence of this 
 the inhabitants are dependent upon the lower districts 
 for most of the necessaries of life, and as transport is 
 costly, provisions of all kinds are generally high priced. 
 There is a good deal of cattle-breeding, but sheep- 
 farming is the principal occupation, the leading men 
 being Messrs. H. du Plessis, J. W. Vermulen, J. du 
 ToiC J. Bredenkamp, and G. Swegers. The average 
 size of the farms is 4,000 morgen and their value 
 about 2s. 6d. per morgen. Flocks of sheep generally 
 range about 1,500. In 1865 the district had 278,000 
 merinos and 58,000 Cape sheep, and the clip of wool 
 was 870,622 lb. Until within a few years ago, there 
 was a great deal of squatting on the , waste Crown 
 lands, a poor inferior class of fanners living in tents 
 and moving about from spot to spot as in the " Trek- 
 veld." Now a large extent of these Crown lands has 
 been leased. Since 1866, the quantity leased was over 
 a million morgen, at prices giving a yearly rental of 
 £8 000. On a great part of the lands, improvements 
 are beino* made, especially in the construction of dams 
 and the°opening of wells. The capabilities of the 
 district are in this manner being gradually developed.
 
 COLESBERG, 159 
 
 Its great drawback is drought, which careful men pro- 
 vide against either by storing water or removing and 
 reducing their stock on the approach of an adverse 
 season. Hope Town is situated in a small valley or 
 basin adjoining the Orange River. Its population is 
 about 700 white and coloured. It contains a large 
 Dutch Church, many well-built houses and stores, and 
 has a considerable business, particularly in connection 
 with persons trading over the boundary, who purchase 
 merchandise, which they barter with the natives or 
 settlers beyond, and bring in return ivory, skins, 
 feathers, and other produce from the Interior. A little 
 time ago, the value of the goods which passed through 
 Hope Town for the Interior was £50,000, and the 
 produce brought out was about £75,000. Diamonds 
 of the first water have been found on farms in the 
 district, at various places far apart from each other, 
 as well as along the banks of the Orange River, from 
 near where the Vaal joins it. These have all been 
 picked up on the surface soil, generally by most 
 ignorant people, and without any systematic search 
 having been made. The spots where they have been 
 found are known as Proberfontein, Rittlemahoo, 
 Swemkuil, Remhoogte, Muishook, and other places. 
 On some of them there are deposits of ts river drift " 
 as at Pniel and Hebron, while others have areas of 
 soil corresponding to Bultfontein and Du Toit's Pan, 
 and at twenty feet deep there is ground very similar 
 to the Kirnberley mine, in the adjoining territory of 
 Griqualand West. 
 
 Colesberg adjoins Hope Town on the eastern side. 
 It is a fine pastoral division. In 1865 it had upwards 
 of half a million woolled sheep and yielded 1,592,702 
 lb. of wool, thus standing first in the production of 
 that staple ; Richmond being second, Cradock third, 
 and Graaff-Reinet fourth. It embraces an area of 
 about 6,000 square miles, comprising between 300 and
 
 160 COLESBERG. 
 
 400 granted farms, averaging 4,000 morgen, and a 
 good extent of Crown lands held under lease. The 
 pasturage formerly was grassy, but now bush has 
 spread in every direction, either entirely taking the 
 place of the grasses, or forming the mixed herbage 
 known as gebroken veld. This change is greatly 
 attributed to the numerous flocks of sheep wandering 
 about, making paths, in which when rain falls water 
 flows as in so many little channels washing away the 
 earth and destroying the grass roots. Inferior shrubs 
 such as the " bitter-bush " are establishing themselves 
 in these places, and may in course of time become 
 predominant, although by a little care and trouble 
 more nutritious varieties, such as the ec schaap-bosch " 
 might easily be propagated and maintained. Some of 
 the farms have great capabilities, and large prices are 
 paid for them. One property, Mr. Theunissen's, 
 Oorlog's Poort, changed hands some years ago for as 
 much" as £15,000. The estates of Mr. Van Zyl, 
 Buflel's Vley, and of Mr. Thos. Bedford, and of Mr. 
 Maltitz, are also very superior, and in every respect 
 well-equipped, all of them having extensive sheds for 
 the protection of the sheep in winter, which in these 
 northern parts is bitterly cold with keen frosts and 
 snow. The district is watered by the Zekoe and 
 Oorloo- Kivers, both affluents of the Orange; but 
 dams are constructed on most farms, and many have 
 several of them. About two or three thousand morgen 
 of land are brought under cultivation, and a con- 
 siderable quantity of wheat, barley, mealies, oat- 
 sheaves, and some wines and dried fruit produced. 
 The crops, however, are frequently subject to injury 
 from hail-storms, late frosts, and the ravages of locust. 
 In the field-cornetcy of the Hantam, on the eastern 
 side, horse-breeding is largely carried on, although 
 frequently losses are sustained from the horse-sickness, 
 which appears in an epidemic form from March until
 
 COLESBERG. 161 
 
 May. The principal breeders are Messrs. Pienaar 
 and Hermanns Van Zyl, whose studs supply many of 
 the neighbouring districts. The value of farms, 
 including buildings, averages about 12s. 6d. per 
 morgen throughout the division. Crown lands occa- 
 sionally adjoin private properties and some of them 
 are hired at comparatively high rates from the con 
 venience they afford of additional grazing or change 
 of pasture. It is no uncommon thing too for flocks of 
 sheep to be hired by young beginners, possessors of 
 these lands. Such flocks sometimes range up to several 
 thousands, and are classed according to their ages — 
 one, two, or three years — the lessee returning the 
 same number and class at the end of the term of lease, 
 and paying an annual rent for them, usually at the 
 rate of Is. 6d. per head. Ostrich-breeding has been 
 pursued very successfully for a long time past, some 
 of the farmers, such as Messrs. Murray, Sluiter, 
 Heathcote, and Maltitz, having enclosures of many 
 miles in extent for their birds. 
 
 The town of Colesberg is about an hour's ride from 
 the Orange River, near the base of a high conical hill, 
 known as Coleskop. The locality is said to have been 
 originally the site of a Bushman kraal. The streets 
 and houses are crowded together in a narrow valley 
 quite enclosed by the greenstone ridges which surround 
 it. This gives it a very hot and arid look which is 
 not belied by the reality. The Dutch Reformed 
 Church of this place is a novelty in ecclesiastical 
 architecture, being externally of octagonal form. In 
 its present unfinished state, and wanting the fine spire 
 of 150 feet high, originally designed to ornament it, it 
 has rather a nondescript appearance. It has cost 
 about £20,000 and more funds are required to com- 
 plete it. The separatists from the Dutch Church, 
 known as the " Doppers " have a very simple sub- 
 stantial church in the immediate neighbourhood. There 
 
 M
 
 162 MIDDELBURG. 
 
 is also a Wesleyan Church, and an English Church, 
 adapted in point of size to its small congregation. 
 The houses and business-places of the town are pretty 
 numerous, and there is a considerable amount of trade 
 transactions with the adjacent farms, as well as with 
 the people of the Free State, beyond the Orange River. 
 At present this river is only passable by pontoons, one 
 of which is situated on the direct road from Colesberg 
 at Mr. Roos's farm, and another higher up at Mr. 
 Norvall's ; but funds have been granted by Parliament 
 for the construction of a bridge across it, and plans 
 have been prepared for erecting an iron structure of 
 nine spans of 100 feet each. The spot selected for its 
 site is half a mile above the first-mentioned pontoon. 
 The extent of traffic here may be estimated Irom the 
 fact that more than 3,000 wagons alone have crossed 
 the river at this place during twelve months. There 
 are two other townships in the Colesberg division, — 
 Hanover to the south-west, near the boundary of Rich- 
 mond, and Philip's Town to the west, and both of them 
 bid fair at no very distant date to rival the chief town. 
 The district of Middelburg was formerly part of 
 Colesberg and is still associated with it as an electoral 
 division. It is situate between Colesberg and Cradock. 
 Some years back when the notable Nimrod, Roualeyn 
 Gordon Cumming, was at the Cape, this part of the 
 country was in undisputed possession of springboks 
 and wildebeestes, and was the scene of his first hunting 
 exploits. Now it is dotted with flocks of wool-bearing 
 sheep, farmers' dwellings, cattle enclosures, corn-mills, 
 vineyards, and gardens, and numbers of reservoirs of 
 water. On the estate of Mr. Distin, Tafelberg Hall, 
 which comprises about 12,000 morgen, there is a very 
 capacious dam utilised for driving a mill, and other 
 purposes, as well as irrigating a large extent of arable 
 land, vineyard, &c. This and the neighbouring proper- 
 ties of Messrs. Southey, Collet, Smit, and others are
 
 MIDDELBURG. 163 
 
 all well-stocked with merino sheep, cattle, horses, 
 mules, and ostriches. As a rule they are provided 
 with sheds for lambing stock, dipping tanks, and every 
 appliance for pastoral purposes. There are also two 
 or three farms about 20,000 morgen in extent, the 
 property of Messrs. J. 0. Smith & Co., who have 
 very fine flocks, including some from stock imported 
 from Australia, under the excellent management of 
 Mr. Yigne. In this district, too, there are many 
 agricultural farmers, the lands along the Little Brakke 
 River being capable of irrigation, and a very fair 
 amount of grain is raised in ordinary seasons. The 
 average value of land may be stated at £l per moreen. 
 The town of Middelburg is well watered by a furrow 
 led out from the river, and there are fine gardens con- 
 tiguous to the dwellings. It is not a large place, but 
 there are a number of stores which do a very profitable 
 business, principally with the farmers. Many of the 
 latter are " doppers," — a section of the community, in 
 appearance and manners somewhat of the old Puritan 
 stamp, who regard the use of "hymns" in church service 
 as very objectionable. They have a large place of 
 worship, presided over by one of themselves, in oppo- 
 sition to the Dutch Reformed Church which has also 
 a considerable following. Here, as in most of the inland 
 towns, the church services draw 7 together great num 
 bers of the families from the surrounding country. It 
 is creditable to the South African farmers that they 
 consider their attendance on religious worship an 
 imperative duty and they will travel many miles to 
 perform it. The administration of the sacrament or 
 " Xachtmaal " is the special occasion when they most 
 assemble ; then the towns are as crowded and lively as 
 during a fair. Their solemn religious duties once dis- 
 charged, a visit to the general stores and shops follow, 
 affording them an opportunity of laying in a quantity 
 of household supplies, and a very considerable and 
 m 2
 
 164 CRADOCK. 
 
 lucrative business is carried on by the various mer- 
 chants and dealers. 
 
 Next to Middelburg, is the important division 
 of Cradock. Westward it is divided from GraaiF- 
 Reinet by the Wagenpadsberg, and other minor ranges 
 of the Sneeuwberg ; northwards it stretches to the 
 higher plateau of the Bamboes and Stormbergen, and 
 eastward it extends along the spurs of the Great 
 Winterberg. Although the general aspect of the 
 division is dry and sterile, yet for grazing it is excellent, 
 and large flocks are depastured throughout it. The 
 herbage is chiefly of the ordinary Karoo character, and 
 in the hilly parts mixed with nutritious grasses. In 1865 
 the number of merino sheep was over 600,000, and the 
 clip of wool 1,277,757 lb a The capability of the 
 pasture is an average of one sheep per morgen. The 
 soil throughout the district is deep and extremely 
 fertile, suitable alike for grain, vines, or fruit, and 
 only requires irrigation to yield abundantly. The 
 vineyards in some instances are extensive, and quan- 
 tities of brandy and raisins have been manufactured 
 and sold in the district. There are numbers of reser- 
 voirs, and many powerful springs on some farms. These 
 properties generally command very high prices ; from 
 £5,000 to £7,000, for a farm varying from 3,000 
 morgen and upwards is not uncommon, and there are 
 many old established estates which could not be 
 purchased for double these sums. The ordinary price 
 of land, however, may be stated at 30s. a morgen, 
 Among the largest holders are Mr. J. Trollope, Mr, 
 John Collet, and Messrs. Mechau. The two first named 
 have properties of from 25,000 to 27,000 morgen in 
 extent. Mr. Collet's flocks number about 10,000, and 
 are all first-class stock ; his clip of wool, as well as 
 that of Mr. Vermaak's, realizes exceptional rates. 
 [Formerly on several farms there were numbers 
 of good horses, and as many as 120 have been pur-
 
 CRADOCK. 165 
 
 chased out of an enclosure in one day ; at present 
 the only regular breeders are Messrs. Mechau and 
 Louw van Heerden, although most of the farmers still 
 keep from thirty to fifty horses each. Troops of 
 cattle range from 100 to 200 head. The angora 
 goat, which has lately been introduced, and ostriches, 
 are becoming common, — flocks of the latter, numbering 
 eighty to 100 being an ordinary occurrence, and lately 
 as much as £100 to £150 has been given for full- 
 grown birds, £40 for birds of fifteen months and £15 
 for three months' birds. 
 
 The town of Cradock is a large and thriving place. 
 It is on the main trunk line from Port Elizabeth and 
 Graham's Town to the northern districts and the Free 
 State, and has recently been fixed upon as the 
 terminus of the northern line of railway, now in course 
 of construction from Port Elizabeth. At present it 
 has by far the finest ecclesiastical building in the 
 Colony. This is the Dutch Reformed Church, designed 
 with handsome facade and steeple after the style 
 of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, and constructed entirely 
 of a beautifully dressed free-stone found close to 
 the town. The clear dry climate of the district 
 serves to keep the stone clean and unspotted as 
 when first cut, and the finished character of the 
 building renders it, in contrast with its surround- 
 ings, " a thing of beauty " as well as " a joy for 
 ever." The church cost about £30,000, raised almost 
 entirely amongst the farmers of the district, who also 
 gratuitously contributed their labour in carting the 
 stone from the quarry whilst it was in course of 
 erection. Besides this building there is a neatly- 
 finished English Church, Wesleyan and Independent 
 Churches, schools, a library, and reading-room, stores, 
 banks, newspaper office, hotels, and other institutions. 
 The town is well supplied with water obtained out of 
 the Fish River, some distance above, and brought in
 
 166 FISH RIVER, 
 
 by a water furrow protected by mimosa trees. This 
 enables many of the houses, especially in the lower 
 part to have excellent gardens and many trees with, 
 an abundant supply of fruit. 
 
 The Fish River has its source sixty miles higher 
 up than Cradock at a place named Quagga's 
 Hoek, 4,200 feet above the sea. In its course 
 to the coast it drains an area estimated at 12,000 
 square miles, being fed by several considerable 
 tributaries and in the rainy season it is a most formid- 
 able mud-charged torrent rushing along its rocky 
 tortuous channel with a volume and impetuosity that 
 render any attempt to ford it extremely hazardous, 
 and at times altogether impracticable. Above Cradock, 
 however, it is a comparatively narrow stream, capable 
 as already stated of being led out for purposes of 
 irrigation, and it has often been proposed to utilise it 
 on a more extensive scale by the construction of a 
 series of clams and furrows forming a chain of reser- 
 voirs at intervals from its source, and so effectually 
 affording a check to the entire current. Works of 
 such a character if carried out successfully would com- 
 pletely change the appearance of the country and 
 largely multiply its productive and exportable capa- 
 bilities. 
 
 In several parts of the district, there are valuable 
 saltpans, yielding many thousand bags of salt each 
 year. About two miles from the town are what are 
 termed the " Baths," — springs of splendidly clear 
 water, strongly impregnated with sulphur. The water 
 here is soft and admirably adapted for wool-washing, 
 and there are establishments for that purpose in 
 operation, belonging to Messrs. Flemmer, Cawood, 
 and others. 
 
 The distance from Cradock to some of the outlying 
 portions of the division is very considerable, in some 
 directions being: as much as twelve or fourteen hours'
 
 TARKASTAD. 167 
 
 ride on horseback. This has lately led to the estab- 
 lishment of new villages, and to the creation of a 
 separate magisterial district under the name of Tar- 
 kastad. The new villages are Steynsburg and Marais- 
 berg. The former was commenced in 1873 by the sale 
 in erven of a property near to Mr. Louw Pretorius', 
 on the flats between Middleburg and Burghers- 
 dorp, and near Kneehalter's Nek. In less than a year 
 there were upwards of 130 dwelling houses and stores 
 built, a church for one of the Dutch Reformed con- 
 gregations completed and another in progress, and 
 the business-places in twelve months, amongst other 
 produce, received wool to the value of £26,000. 
 The other village, Maraisberg, also on the plains, is 
 about seven hours from Cradock, an equal distance 
 from Middelburg, and nine hours from Burghersdorp. 
 It is a central point for the farmers from Doom Hoek, 
 Bamboesberg, and Ylekpoort. 
 
 Tarkastad is situated north-east of Cradock, near 
 to the Tarka River and the peculiar mountain peaks 
 known as the Twee Tafels (Two Tables). It embraces 
 the fine agricultural and pastoral district from the 
 northern slopes of the Great Winterberg to the boun- 
 daries of Queen's Town and Albert. The township 
 although as yet a small one numbers many substantial 
 houses, hotel, stores, public offices, a commodious 
 parsonage, and a new Dutch Reformed Church in 
 progress. It is some distance from the Tarka River, 
 but has a good supply of water from a strong and 
 never-failing fountain. The farmers in the neigh- 
 bourhood, like those of Cradock, are generally descen- 
 dants of the old colonists, but latterly a number of 
 English have settled amongst them. They have large 
 flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. The wool pur- 
 chased by the local storekeepers is now about 4,003 
 bales per annum.
 
 VII. THE EASTERN DISTRICTS. 
 
 T\ r e leave the Karoo, as we cress the outliers 
 of the Great Winterberg, and returning to the sea- 
 ward side, enter upon what is by far the most beau- 
 tiful part of the Colony — the Eastern Districts. These 
 may be said to commence with the coast districts of 
 Humansdorp and Uitenhage, stretch inland over the 
 lower end of the Zuurberg up to Somerset, and thence 
 extend in a line eastward parallel with the Winter- 
 berg, Katberg, and Chumie Mountains, to the old 
 frontier boundary, where the Keiskamma River runs 
 down to the Indian Ocean. The area of this territory- 
 is estimated at a little under 19,000 square miles, and 
 it includes no less than twelve divisions, namely, 
 Humansdorp, Uitenhage, Port Elizabeth, Alexandria, 
 Bathurst, Albany, Somerset, Bedford, Fort Beaufort, 
 Stockenstrom, Victoria East, and Peddie. In 1865 it 
 contained a population of 130,500 souls. The confor- 
 mation of the country is highly pleasing, and often 
 very picturesque. Along the seaboard there are 
 grassy hills and dales variegated with luxuriant copse 
 or clumps of natural shrubbery ; gradually rising 
 above these, are bold krantzes or ridges, and undulating 
 flats, occasionally covered with dense bush, reaching 
 up to the mountain ranges, which are verdant and 
 wood-fringed to their rocky crests. The soil in 
 most places is adapted for agriculture, but the 
 large extent of sweet grassy pasture, forming the 
 richest sheepwalks, has naturally enough made 
 wool-growing and cattle farming the favourite and 
 most profitable pursuits. The clip of wool in these 
 divisions in 1865 was 4,000,000 lb., and there were
 
 ALGOA BAY. 169 
 
 depastured — of woolled sheep 2,022,483 ; African 
 sheep, 13,600 ; Angora goats, 39,850 ; common goats, 
 759,323, besides horses and cattle. The ground under 
 cultivation was 84,410 acres, and the yield of wheat 
 (exclusive of other cereals), 128,000 bushels, of which 
 Humansdorp, Uitenhage, Alexandria, and Bathurst 
 alone raised 100,000 bushels. 
 
 The chief port for these districts as well as for 
 most of the midland territory, the Free State, and the 
 Interior, is the indentation of the coast beyond Cape 
 Recife, forming what is known as the harbour of 
 Algoa Bay. Here, on what was a ridge of barren 
 sand-hills there has grown up the town of Port 
 Elizabeth, whose rise and progress conspicuously 
 represent what colonization has accomplished and is 
 accomplishing in South Africa. Fifty-four years 
 ago, a small fortification and a few huts occupied by 
 two or three traders and fishermen were the only 
 evidences of life — a mere dot of civilization on the 
 margin of a savage wilderness. Then came the flow 
 of British immigration, dispersing over the country 
 and developing production and creating Commerce, 
 of which this, as the principal seaport eastward of the 
 Cape, became " the golden gate." Anyone now 
 arriving in Algoa Bay will find before him all the 
 evidences of an enterprising, prosperous, and populous 
 place. For two or three miles along the water-side 
 and up the sloping hill ascending from it, and on the 
 brow of the height above, there rise in succession 
 warehouses, stores, manufactories, shops, offices, 
 dwelling houses, churches, schools, hospitals, villas, 
 and other buildings, of every description and variety 
 of architecture. 
 
 The harbour is an open but safe roadstead, 
 with good holding ground, and the loading and 
 discharging of steamers and ships are very expe- 
 ditiously done by means of lighters and surf-boats,
 
 170 PORT ELIZABETH. 
 
 and large gangs of Fingoes and Kafir labourers. 
 
 ©no o # 
 
 There are two landing jetties, where passengers 
 may reach terra firma without the discomfort and 
 danger which formerly attended debarkation, when 
 the alternative was a leap into the surf or being carried 
 in the embrace of nude aborigines. Close to the 
 principal landing-place, in Jetty-street, is the Eastern 
 Districts' Railway Station, and along the sea wall 
 skirting the water's edge the lines of rail are laid 
 which will shortly connect Uitenhage and the Mid- 
 lands as well as Cradock and the Northern Districts 
 with the port. Immediately above this is the central 
 and business part of the town, forming what is known 
 as the Main-street, extending from Market-square 
 through Queen's-street, and Prince's-street to the 
 Prison-buildings at the North-end. Nowhere in the 
 Colony is there a livelier, busier scene than here, 
 especially during the wool season, when the huge 
 transport wagons, carrying from 6,000 to 10,000 lb. 
 come in laden with bales of wool, skins, or ivory, to 
 load up again with merchandise for the Interior towns 
 and villages, as far even as the limits of the Free State 
 and the Transvaal Republic. 
 
 Some idea of its aspect may be formed from the 
 accompanying illustration, representing the Market- 
 square, crowded with groups of dealers, vehicles, and 
 animals, the produce wagons with their long teams of 
 oxen being a prominent feature. The large building 
 on the left hand is the Town-hall, of which Port 
 Elizabeth is justly proud. It is a stately and com- 
 modious structure somewhat in the Italian style, but 
 with a portico of Corinthian columns, and is said to 
 have cost £25,000. The Borough Council Offices 
 are there, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the 
 public reading-room and Library, and a small Museum ; 
 and there is a magnificent hall about eighty feet 
 long by forty broad — undoubtedly the finest in South
 
 ^ 
 
 •!^? 
 
 IE? El£3 • ! Ok~. 
 
 ._ _> ■—
 
 PORT ELIZABETH. 171 
 
 Africa— for public assemblies and entertainments. 
 On the terraced ground above, there is St. Augus- 
 tine's Roman Catholic Cathedral, of graceful gothic 
 order, with tower and spire. To the right again 
 are the offices of the agents of the Union * Mail 
 Service (Messrs. TV. Anderson & Co.), and adjoin- 
 ing them the Magistrate's Court-room ; while on 
 the opposite side of the square are the Tele- 
 graph Office, the Post-office, and the large and 
 well-conducted Phcenix Hotel. Along Main-street 
 there are several very handsomely -finished edifices 
 used for business purposes, which would be creditable 
 to any English city. The Guardian Insurance 
 Buildings, the warehouses of Dunell, Ebden, & Co., 
 TV. Dunn & Co.'s, Mosenthal's, Deare and Deitz, 
 Taylor & Co., Kettle's Emporium, and the new offices 
 of the London and South African Bank, built of 
 dressed free-stone, quarried from near the Zwartkop's 
 River, are among the most imposing and ornamental. 
 The immense stocks and the amount of business 
 transacted in some of these mercantile establishments 
 unmistakably indicate the commercial enterprise and 
 wealth of the Bay merchants. One of the largest stores 
 is that recently completed by the old colonial firm of 
 Messrs. Blaine & Co. Their premises have a frontage 
 to Jetty-street, of over 200 feet, with a depth of 190 
 feet down Damant-street on one side and nearly 300 
 down Commerce-street on the other, and are three 
 stories in height with cellarage below. The Jetty- 
 street frontage is divided into three compartments, 
 one being the counting-house, 104 feet by forty-three, 
 fitted up with every convenience ; another being the 
 forwarding room, 120 feet by sixty -five feet, and the 
 remainder being occupied as bonding stores, wool- 
 pressing and engine rooms. The upper stories are 
 apportioned for the different departments of the 
 business, — one comprising building materials, such as
 
 172 PORT ELIZABETH. 
 
 galvanized iron, deals, slates, and all kinds of fittings ; 
 a second provisions and oilman's stores ; a third agri- 
 cultural implements and general ironmongery ; and a 
 fourth Manchester and all sorts of soft goods, &c. In 
 these departments, again, there is a sub-division of 
 various articles, and the visitor may see in one, for 
 instance, hundreds of ploughs, which are now greatly 
 in demand by the frontier Fingoes and Kafirs ; or in 
 another, a large array of musical instruments, from 
 which as many as 100 harmoniums and fifty pianos are 
 sold off within a month or two. In the wool stores 
 there is accommodation for 6,000 bales of wool, the 
 average quantity in store during the season being 
 4,000 bales. Four double presses are constantly at 
 work, and can press as many as 800 bales a day, the 
 presses and machinery being worked by steam power, 
 and hydraulic pressure in the form of an " accumu- 
 lator," weighing thirty-two tons. There are also lifts 
 and weighing machines, circular and upright saws, 
 and lathes, and other appliances for repairing or 
 making machinery for the wool-washing and other 
 establishments. The machinery and buildings on the 
 property are insured for about £40,000 and the stock 
 for £80,000. Besides Messrs. Blaine's, there are other 
 warehouses which, although not quite so extensive nor 
 so well arranged, have equally valuable stocks, and 
 whose branch establishments are spread throughout 
 every district northwards and eastwards. 
 
 The population of the town is estimated at about 
 15,000, and the value of fixed property assessed at 
 upwards of £1,200,000. Land and buildings in the 
 Main-street and its neighbourhood have of late years 
 increased in price to an unprecedented degree. The 
 extent of ground available for business stands being 
 restricted, sites which formerly sold for a few pounds 
 now realize as many hundreds and in some instances 
 thousands. The original erf or allotments at the
 
 PORT ELIZABETH. 173 
 
 corner of Main and Jetty-streets exchanged hands 
 prior to 1834-5 for a small cask of wine. Last vear 
 a tenth part of this block, having a frontage of about 
 fifty feet, was secured by the London and South 
 African Bank, as the site of their new offices, for 
 £5,000. Another site more recently purchased by the 
 Standard Bank, with about thirty-five feet frontage in 
 the Main-street, also cost a like amount. In the 
 adjoining thoroughfare of Strand-street, the inferior 
 tenements which formerly existed are giving place to 
 large goods' stores, and other buildings, and the Town 
 Council have in contemplation further improvements 
 in that locality. 
 
 The residences of the principal inhabitants, however, 
 are on what is termed the " Hill," — in contradistinction 
 to the " town below." This is a flat table-land, on 
 the terraced ground above the Main-street, the ascent 
 of which is rather trying to the obese pedestrian on a 
 hot day. Its aspect and surroundings are very 
 pleasant and enjoyable, as the height is generally 
 fanned by fresh cool breezes from the sea. Scattered 
 irregularly over it are many fine mansions and pretty 
 villa residences. There are also one or two handsome 
 churches, such as the Scottish Presbyterian and Trinity 
 Church;* an admirably managed hospital; a well 
 endowed collegiate establishment, the Grey Institute ; 
 and a well regulated Club, where, after the labours of 
 the day, the mercantile class usually congregate for 
 relaxation, and courteously extend their hospitalities 
 to visitors. On the open flat beyond the Hill, there is 
 the attractive St. George's Park, laid out and planted 
 by the corporation of the town some ten years ago and 
 
 * The Churches in Port Elizabeth number no less than sixteen, 
 embracing Church of England, Wesleyan, Independent, Presbyterian, 
 Baptist, and Roman Catholic places of worship ; there is also a 
 building used as a Jewish Synagogue, and a very tastefully designed 
 Malay Mosque.
 
 174 PORT ELIZABETH. 
 
 maintained by an annual vote of £500 from the local 
 rates. It has most agreeable walks through avenues of 
 trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, and is ornamented 
 with a fine conservatory, rock-work, water basins, and 
 grassy plots. The Park, like the Grey Institute, the 
 Hospital, and the Town-hall, was originally created 
 chiefly by the aid of the revenues accruing from the waste 
 lands with which Port Elizabeth was liberally endowed 
 during the Governorship of Sir George Grey. Part 
 of these lands were some time ago sold in allotments 
 for building purposes, yielding an annual quitrent 
 revenue available for the maintenance of the local 
 institutions. A portion of the park lands still remain 
 unsold and as the town progresses their value will be 
 greatly enhanced. There are at present no suburbs 
 corresponding to Pondebosch or Wynberg, where the 
 inhabitants can resort, although some localities such 
 as Walmer, Emerald Hill, and the woody coast lands 
 towards the Van Staden's River might easily be ren- 
 dered very attractive in these respects. In their 
 neighbourhood, are to be found many pleasant verdant 
 slopes and patches of bush and clumps of trees, with 
 cool freshening breezes from the sea, which naturally 
 suggest a pleasant retreat from the " weariness, the 
 fever, and the fret " of the Bayonian's incessantly 
 hard-working life. 
 
 Port Elizabeth has been truly described by one of 
 its writers as " a place of business — not of pleasure. 
 The man who goes to reside there, presuming he goes 
 for the reason which attracts nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine out of every thousand, to get a living, must make 
 up his mind not only to work but to work hard. A 
 drone receives no mercy, be his status in society what 
 it may. If he be a man of independent means people 
 write him down as an ass for selecting such a spot for 
 the enjoyment of dignity or ease. If he be dependent 
 upon his physical or mental resources to earn his daily
 
 TJITENHAGE. 175 
 
 bread, he soon discovers to his cost that sloth and 
 apathy find no ready response there. If he be sober 
 and industrious, and willing to work there is work of 
 all kinds for him to do, and plenty of it if he goes the 
 proper way to look for it." The amount of business 
 done and the extent to which it has progressed may be 
 gathered from the statistics of the port. These show 
 that while forty years ago, the goods imported were 
 only valued at £20,288, they amounted in 1872 to 
 £2,447,280. The exports of produce in 1835 were 
 valued at £33,000, and in 1872 they reached 
 £3,137,400. Of the articles of colonial export con- 
 tributing to this large increase, the principal one is the 
 staple of wool. In 1835 the quantity shipped from this 
 port alone was 79,848 lb. In ten years it increased to 
 more than 2,000,000 lb. In 1855 it exceeded 9,500,000 
 lb. In 1865 it extended to nearly 30,000,000 lb. ; and 
 in 1872 it swelled to 39,396,927 lb. 
 
 Although, with the exceptions mentioned, the country 
 about Port Elizabeth is very uninviting, stretchino- 
 for miles over the dry plains known as the Bay flat? 
 the adjoining divisions abound in beautiful vegetation 
 and picturesque scenery. Uitenhage is only eio-hteen 
 miles distant, and will shortly be almost within an 
 hours' reach by railway. The town was described 
 many years ago as " a pretty secluded spot, well laid 
 out, and supplied with water from a spring in 
 the Winterhoek Mountains, which gives 2,512,632 
 gallons in twenty-four hours. The cousequence of 
 this in conjunction with the salubrious climate and 
 rich soil of the locality, is a profusion of fruits, trees 
 and flowers of the most luxuriant growth, addino- 
 considerably to the beauty of this part of the country." 
 It occupies an area of one square mile, the streets are 
 each a mile long, very wide and run at right an cries 
 with each other ; the footpaths on either side are 
 separated from the road by watercourses, and in most
 
 176 UITENHAGE. 
 
 places shaded by oaks which here attain a large and 
 luxuriant growth. Originally each house had two 
 acres or about a morgen of garden ground attached to 
 it ; but in the business centres, where the value of 
 land has increased, the erven have been sub-divided 
 many times. Caledon-street, now the chief street in 
 the town, contains about thirty stores or offices, many 
 of which are large handsome buildings, and are 
 occupied by wholesale merchants and importers, who do 
 a considerable trade with the farmers of the exten- 
 sive district. In the same street are also the Standard 
 Bank, Oriental Bank, Dutch Reformed Church, 
 Anglican Church, Native Church and school-room, 
 Malay Mosque, Public Library, Dutch Reformed 
 Church school, Government school, Native Govern- 
 ment school, town offices, gaol, court-house, Drosdty, 
 three hotels, and several smaller shops, private 
 residences, &c. This comparative concentration of 
 trade to one street has caused the less populous parts 
 of the town to fall into neglect ; so that in winter it 
 presents a rather dilapidated appearance ; but in 
 spring, when the numerous trees burst forth into leaf 
 and blossom, and the hedges are covered with roses, 
 the aspect of the place fully merits the description we 
 have quoted, and the appellation " Garden of the 
 Eastern Province " by which it was long known. A 
 few years ago Uitenhage was famed for its two 
 Botanical Gardens, then the property of Mr. Brehm 
 and Mr. Dobson. These have been neglected lately, 
 but that known as " Belham's " still possesses some of 
 the rarest and most valuable plants, native and foreign, 
 to be found in the Colony ; the exotics having been 
 imported by the late Mr. Brehm with a lavishness of 
 money and trouble characteristic of an enthusiast. 
 
 Besides the churches already mentioned, there are 
 two Native Churches under the London Missionary 
 Society, two Wesleyan Native Churches, a Roman
 
 UITENHAGE — WOOL-WASHING. 177 
 
 Catholic Church, and an English Wesley an Chapel, 
 the latter a very handsome and commodious gothic 
 building. In addition to the educational institutions 
 already mentioned there is the first-class aided unde- 
 nominational school and several boarding seminaries 
 for young ladies. A sale of land granted by Govern- 
 ment in aid of a building fund for the undenomina- 
 tional school took place recently, twenty acres selling 
 for £2,500 and subject to a perpetual quitrent of £48 
 per annum. This money will be applied to the 
 purpose of erecting spacious school buildings, masters' 
 residence, &c. A water service is in course of con- 
 struction for which the municipality are authorized by 
 Act of Parliament to borrow £12,500. 
 
 Among the public institutions, &c , of the place are 
 a Ladies' Benevolent Society, a Choral Society of 
 nearly fifty members, two Good Templar Lodges, two 
 Benefit Societies, Board of Executors, and a Library 
 and Reading-room. Two newspapers are published, 
 one in English, the other in Dutch. 
 
 During the last twelve years an important industry 
 has sprung up in Uitenhage, viz., wool-washing. 
 There are now ten establishments in the river Zwart- 
 kops, the soft and alkaline property of whose water 
 render it peculiarly adapted for the purpose. The 
 steam-machinery at these places is of the most costly 
 and perfect description. From statistics recently 
 collected we ascertain that £200,000 capital is invested 
 in these establishments. The quantity of wool washed 
 is about 200,000 bales per annum, the carriage of 
 which to and from Port Elizabeth will form a con- 
 siderable item in the traffic returns of the Port 
 Elizabeth and Uitenhage railway, now nearly com- 
 pleted. These establishments employ, in addition to 
 the extensive machinery, a great number of Kafirs and 
 other natives at high wages. The result of this is 
 that labour is very scarce and dear in Uitenhage, and 
 
 N
 
 178 UITENHAGE DIVISION. 
 
 the business of the numerous canteen-keepers very- 
 prosperous. 
 
 There are two extensive saltpans near Uitenhage, 
 one at Bethelsdorp, worked by the natives of the 
 London Society mission station, the other at Coega, 
 the private property of Mr. John Hitzeroth. The 
 salt produced by the latter is of the very first quality ; 
 and the quantity appears inexhaustible, for although 
 40,000 muids per annum are taken out, there is no 
 apparent diminution of yield. 
 
 The division of Uitenhage comprises an extensive 
 area. It is broken by mountains — the Coega, Elands- 
 berg, and Winterhoek, formed of Devonian sandstones 
 and slates, rising one after the other; but the lofty peak 
 of the Winterhoek, known as the Cockscomb, stands high 
 above the rest, its summit commanding a glorious pano- 
 ramic view northward even as far as the Sneeuwbergen. 
 Along the coast and in the valleys, some of which are 
 well-watered, there are good agricultural lands, while 
 the mountain slopes are excellent for cattle-grazing. The 
 number of draught oxen and other cattle maintained 
 here in i860 was upwards of 43,000 head. There were 
 also 337,000 sheep depastured, and the clip of wool 
 was 767,789 lb. The best sheep farms, however, are 
 in the more inland parts of the district which have 
 sweet grasses and Karoo herbage. The norsedoorn 
 or euphorbia is at times found to be of value in some 
 localities. There are several varieties of it, one the 
 w bok-norse " being used for small stock and the " kars- 
 norse " for all kinds. In seasons of drought it is fired, 
 and from the long grass between it, readily burns. 
 The plant is thus partially roasted and the thorns 
 cleaned off. It is then greedily devoured by goats 
 and cattle which not only thrive but fatten on it. The 
 'vinger-pol" is another succulent plant in use ; it has 
 great fleshy fingers growing out of a crown a foot in 
 diameter. This is regarded as a nourishing food for
 
 HUMANSDORP. 179 
 
 oxen and is used by carriers and others for that pur- 
 pose, especially when the pastures are dried up. Aloes 
 are plentiful and many of the natives find employment 
 in the preparation of the drug, 40,000 lb. having 
 been produced in 1865. The division has lately 
 made great progress. The rateable property, which in 
 1870 was valued at £483,769, advanced in 1874 to 
 £1,607,543. This includes the magisterial district of 
 Jansenville. The increase is due chiefly to the great 
 quantity of Crown land leased, and now bringing in a 
 rental to Government ; and also to improvements in 
 the shape of homesteads, dams, &o, that have been 
 made on many of the farms. Since 1869 the waste 
 lands of Uitenhage surveyed and leased amount to 
 upwards of 487,969 morgen, giving an aggregate 
 rental of £9,447 per annum. There still remains a 
 considerable extent unappropriated. 
 
 To the west of Uitenhage is the neighbouring 
 division of Humansdorp, which is also agricultural 
 and pastoral and contains some fine estates, one of the 
 best of them being that of Zuurbron, the property of 
 Mr. Metelerkamp. The township, distant about fifty 
 miles from Port Elizabeth, is situated on a sloping 
 plain overlooking the coast. About nine miles from 
 it is Jeffrey's Bay, a safe but unfrequented harbour 
 in the Bight of St. Francis, at a point nearly equi- 
 distant from the mouths of the Kromme and Gamtoos 
 Bivers. Fish and oysters are plentiful there. 
 
 Near to Humansdorp is the Moravian mission of 
 Clarkson, and the stations of Kruisfonteinand Hankey, 
 belonging to the London Missionary Society. The 
 latter is one of the best establishments of the kind, 
 kept in excellent order, and bearing evidence of indus- 
 trial improvement. Several hundred morgen of land 
 are under cultivation and irrigated by the waters of 
 the Gamtoos River by means of a tunnel carried through 
 the spur of a mountain at an expense of one or two thou- 
 N 2
 
 180 FORESTS. 
 
 sand pounds. Like other mission institutions, Hankey 
 was originally formed as a sort of " city of lefuge " 
 where the natives could be gathered together, educated, 
 and protected when necessary ; but now they have 
 arrived at that state that they can hold their own, and 
 the Society with the sanction of the Legislature has 
 arranged to divide and sell the lands in freehold lots 
 to the most orderly amongst them, the condition being 
 made in some cases that their lands shall not be 
 alienated for ten years after their receiving title. This 
 plan is regarded as certain to have a permanently 
 beneficial result, as the best of the people may by the 
 acquisition of property rise to a position of indepen 
 dence. Many of the natives both here and in Uiten- 
 hage are very well-conducted, possessing flocks of goats 
 and horned cattle, and hiring lands from farmers and 
 lessees of Crown lands on which to depasture their stock. 
 There are valuable forests in this tract of country, 
 viz., the dense " Zitzikamma " and " New Forests," 
 which are finely watered, and contain every descrip- 
 tion of colonial timber ; " Klein River," situated at 
 the back of Hankey and in detached kloofs along the 
 Gamtoos River ; and the " Oliphant's Hoek " Alexan- 
 dria, covering an area of thirty-five miles long by two 
 and three in breadth, but where with the exception of 
 " sneezewood " the timber is inferior and water is very 
 scarce. There is also " Van Stadens River " which 
 supplies Port Elizabeth with firewood, but has no 
 large timber left, and the wooded kloofs of the " Zuur- 
 bers;." A fearful conflagration occurred through- 
 out" these districts in 1869. A destructive bush- 
 fire, said to have originated from the barbarous system 
 of " veld-burning " extended far and wide, even into 
 the adjacent division of the Knysna, consuming home- 
 steads, farm-stock, crops, forest game, and everything 
 in its course. The damage to property was estimated 
 at upwards of £16,000 exclusive of the forest burnt.
 
 THE ZUURBERG PASS. 181 
 
 Eastward from Uitenhage the elevated belt of tlie 
 Zuurberg Mountains run in an almost unbroken line 
 towards Graham's Town. They consist of three or 
 four separate ranges of hills, of rounded or gently- 
 undulating contour, with deep wooded valleys inter- 
 vening. Across this a splendid road is constructed 
 which has of late been the great thoroughfare for 
 wagon traffic between the northern districts and Port 
 Elizabeth. As a work of art it is magnificent, and 
 the beauty of the scenery throughout it is unequalled 
 in the Colony. The course of this road is over the 
 several hilly ridges or " neks " which are separated 
 by valleys and kloofs, and its length following all the 
 zig-zags of the ridges is fully twenty-four miles, 
 although the distance from one side to the other as a 
 bird flies would be scarcely more than eight. It is in 
 crossing these "neks" or ridges that the peculiar 
 character of the Zuurberg scenery is realized and seen 
 to advantage. The poet Pringle was as strikingly 
 impressed with it forty years ago as any vistor may 
 be now. He describes it as far surpassing anything 
 of the kind he had witnessed elsewhere, or formed a 
 conception of from the accounts of others. " A 
 billowy chaos of naked mountains, rocks, precipices, 
 and yawning abysses, that looked as if hurled together 
 by some prodigious convulsion of nature, while over 
 the lower declivities and deep sunk dells, a dark 
 impenetrable forest spreads its shaggy skirts and adds 
 to the whole a still more wild and savage sublimity." 
 The forest or rather jungle along the base of the range 
 on the south-east side is known as the Addo (or 
 K'Addow) bush ; there are still throughout it a 
 number of elephants and buffaloes, but their haunts 
 are now being invaded by the shrill whistle of the 
 railway, which runs along there between the Com- 
 mando Kraal and Bushman's River stations. 
 
 Alexandria is on the seaward side of the Zuurberg,
 
 182 ALEXANDRIA AND LOWER ALBANY. 
 
 between the Sunday's River and the Bushman's 
 River. The township and seat of magistracy is incon- 
 veniently seated far away from the main road to 
 Graham's Town, at the extreme south-east corner of 
 the district, about eighteen miles from the mouth of 
 the Bushman's River. A great deal of land is under 
 cultivation — this neighbourhood being known as the 
 " granary " of the East, and large quantities of cereals 
 are raised, supplying the markets of Port Elizabeth 
 and Graham's Town. The adjoining country, forming 
 the districts of Albany andBathurst, from theBushman's 
 River to the Fish River, is of much the same character. 
 To the eye it has a most pleasing appearance, its hills 
 and valleys richly grassy and covered with patches of 
 shrubbery, far surpassing any ornamental parks. The 
 principal produce is oats, either as hay or grain. 
 Wheat and barley are also grown, but the crops are 
 precarious, "rust" being common near the coast, 
 although of late years an hybridised variety of wheat 
 of a hard and flinty kind has been found to withstand the 
 disease and answer admirably. Cotton has been tried, 
 with favourable results, if labour could only be relied 
 upon, and Indian corn, vegetables, and fruits can be 
 raised to any extent. The pasturage everywhere is 
 most luxuriant, often presenting the appearance of 
 fields of hay, but, owing to its sour characteristic, it 
 is generally only suitable for cattle, which attain to 
 magnificent condition, many of the finest oxen em- 
 ployed for transport riding being grazed and supplied 
 from this quarter. Small flocks of sheep are pas- 
 tured, where formerly it was supposed they would 
 not live, and although the increase has not been great, 
 they have done tolerably well, and with proper selec- 
 tion and care they answer to a considerable extent. 
 The hamlets of Bathurst, Clumber, Salem, and Sid- 
 bury, mark the locations of many of the early British 
 settlers, while the village of Riebeek is the only one
 
 THE KOWIE AND POET ALFRED. 183 
 
 representing the old colonists, and still maintaining its 
 Dutch Reformed Church. 
 
 These districts are watered by several streams, and 
 at the mouth of one of them, the Kowie, is the harbour of 
 Port Alfred, where extensive works have been carried 
 on for many years, to deepen the channel of the 
 river and render it available for vessels of moderate 
 draught and burthen. Originally the river debouched 
 on the eastern side, and as far back as 1820, when 
 the English immigrants were located in the neigh- 
 bourhood, a brig of war sailed across the bar and 
 anchored there, while parties of the settlers, with 
 their wagons, passed over the ground on the western 
 side, where at the present day vessels of eleven feet 
 draught may float. The river was many years after- 
 wards altogether diverted to the western bank by Mr. 
 Cock, the proprietor of the land on that side, assisted 
 by a number of settlers, who cut a trench through 
 the sands and led out the stream, blocking up the 
 old channel by sand bags and bush. Its suitability 
 for a port was most enthusiastically urged upon the 
 Government by Mr. Cock and his friends, who formed 
 a company and contributed £25,000 for the purpose 
 of carrying out the necessary works. The late 
 eminent engineer, Mr. Rendell, was consulted and 
 furnished plans for the construction of walls along 
 the river to confine its course and increase the force 
 of its current, so as to clear the bar at its mouth. 
 The cost of these improvements, as carried on by 
 the Kowie Harbour Company up to 1868, was over 
 £100,000. Since then the Government have taken 
 over the whole concern, the few original subscribers 
 remaining having agreed to forfeit their shares, and 
 now the works are being executed according to 
 designs more recently furnished by Sir John Coode. 
 The usefulness of the port has already been amply 
 demonstrated by its trade, which is steadily increasing.
 
 184 POET ALFRED. 
 
 The number of vessels entered inwards in 1871 was 
 twenty-two, and the imports £23,93 6, while in 1874 the 
 vessels increased to fifty, and the imports to £131,450.. 
 The exports also advanced from £49,933 in 1871, to 
 £101,191 in 1872, being double the amount of the 
 previous year, and in 1873 they were £92,940. There 
 is no doubt the trade will be greatly enlarged as soon 
 as the coasting steamers make it a port of call. 
 
 At Port Alfred there is excellent holding ground 
 for ships of the largest size at the outer anchorage, 
 and it is never a lee shore, the prevalent winds being 
 up or down the coast, enabling vessels to slip and put 
 to sea at any time. There is a steam tug of twenty- 
 five horse-power, and lighters, for loading and dis- 
 charging at the outer anchorage, or for bringing 
 vessels of moderate draught (nine to ten feet) into 
 the river, to the wharves, a mile from the entrance, 
 where stores, a bonding warehouse, and Custom- 
 house have been already erected, and there is every 
 facility for landing and shipping as in a dock. The 
 large reach above the present wharves, — a basin three 
 quarters of a mile in length — will, when dredged out 
 to its original depth (thirty feet), make an excellent 
 and commodious dock, which it is proposed to call "The 
 Marie Dock." The river itself is navigable for small 
 vessels for eight or ten miles, and for boats for up- 
 wards of sixteen miles, the scenery being exceedingly 
 beautiful and picturesque, the banks wooded to the 
 water's edge, varied in the upper reaches above the 
 Mansfield with grassy slopes and high precipitious 
 cliffs. The country, as far as Graham's Town, has 
 lately been surveyed for a railway, and has been very 
 favourably reported upon. There is every likelihood 
 that if the desired improvement of the port is suc- 
 cessfully carried out, the traffic will amply cover the 
 interest on the cost of construction, as well as the 
 working expenses of such a line.
 
 Graham's town. 185 
 
 Graham's Town, the chief town of Albany and 
 the metropolis of the Eastern Districts, is about 
 forty miles inland. It is situate in the basin of the 
 hills, forming the extreme spurs of the Zuurberg, 
 where the Kowie has its rise. Originally a Boer's 
 farm, considered so poor as hardly to afford the means 
 of existence to its occupant, and so badly supplied 
 with water as to render it requisite to remove the 
 stock at certain periods of the year, it was selected 
 in 1812 as the site of a military cantonment for the 
 English troops, — being named in recognition of the 
 services of Col. Graham, then Commander of the 
 Forces — and afterwards, in 1820, on the arrival of 
 the English immigrants, it was chosen as the capital 
 of what was termed the " Albany Settlement." 
 From a sketch (preserved in the Albany Library), 
 taken just before the arrival of the immigrants, in 
 which every house is marked down and named, it 
 appears that there were then not more than a dozen 
 houses in addition to the military barracks. In the half 
 century that has since elapsed both houses and popu- 
 lation have increased many hundredfold, and other 
 towns and settlements have been established as 
 offshots by the Pilgrim Fathers of Albany. 
 
 Their history from the first is a story of trial and 
 suffering, heroically borne and crowned with success. 
 Placed on the extreme frontier, in close contact with 
 a war-like race of savages occupying a country so densely 
 wooded as to defy detection and elude pursuit — totally 
 unacquainted with the climatic peculiarities and the 
 varying character of herbage and soil — reverses came 
 and succeeded each other with startling rapidity. 
 The rust blighted all their corn, floods washed away 
 their corn lands and cottages, and Kafirs murdered 
 their herds and swept off their stock, till at length, 
 after years of patient endurance, the whole settlement 
 was overrun and every homestead burnt down and
 
 186 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 
 
 destroyed, Graham's Town only escaping the uni- 
 versal ruin. Becoming thus suddenly the home of 
 hundreds of settlers, the centre of a large war ex- 
 penditure, and afterwards the head-quarters of the 
 military and civil expenditure of the Province, its 
 increase was steady and rapid. In a few years it 
 formed the emporium of the frontier trade, sending 
 off other towns and settlements in advance of it which 
 contributed in turn to its own prosperity. In this 
 way Fort Beaufort, King William's Town, Queen's 
 Town, &c, were established. 
 
 " There's Graham's Town's calf " was the significant 
 remark of a Kafir chief to his followers as they were 
 travelling onwards at the close of one of the wars and 
 King William's Town suddenly came in sight. 
 
 The frontier trade with the natives first began as 
 "barter " at periodical fairs held soon after the settlers' 
 arrival, first at the Claypits in Lower Albany, and 
 afterwards at Fort Wiltshire — red clay, beads, and 
 brass wire being the medium of exchange. This 
 soon led to the issue of licences to cross the border 
 and into the Interior, and to a settled trade at 
 Graham's Town, the extent and importance of which 
 may be estimated by the rapid increase of the com- 
 merce of Port Elizabeth, which was for a long time the 
 only port of the Province. Direct trade with Europe 
 which may be said to have commenced in 1830, 
 doubled itself every five years for thirty years, until 
 at the end of forty years it had increased forty fold, 
 the returns in the first five years being £340,000, and 
 during the last five upwards of £14,000,000 sterling. 
 This steady advance in prosperity was not attained 
 without numerous drawbacks and difficulties — the 
 settlers' misfortunes and " grievances " also increasing 
 steadily. Besides rust, floods, locusts, drought, 
 perennial plunder, and periodical wars, there were 
 other causes of chronic discontent, — the remoteness of
 
 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 187 
 
 the seat of Government, and the absurdly small size of 
 their locations, out of all proportion to the more 
 inland farms, 100 acres being deemed ample for the 
 newly-arrived immigrant to live on, and 6,000 acres not 
 too much for the old colonists. Many left their loca- 
 tions in utter despair. Their press had been seized to 
 prevent remonstrance or outcry, and appeals for relief 
 and redress were made in vain. At length war unex- 
 pectedly broke out with great fury in December, 1834, 
 lasting two years ; and after another interval of pseudo- 
 peace, during which the same causes were gradually 
 ripening, was followed by another and fiercer outbreak 
 in 1846 ; and a third, still more disastrous and costly, 
 in 1852. Thrice has Graham's Town been virtually in 
 a state of siege, its streets barricaded, its churches 
 turned into places of refuge for the women and chil- 
 dren, its whole population on Government rations, 
 their flocks swept off by the enemy or appropriated 
 by the Commissariat without compensation under 
 martial law ; and the citizens, who from age or infirmity 
 were declared unfit for service in the field, doing 
 duty as sentries or outlying pickets by night and 
 patrols by day. Each Kafir war had its own specific 
 panacea, which was warranted to prevent all future 
 wars. The reprisal system — the soothing system — the 
 subsidising system — each was tried in turn with the 
 same result. All failed. The Kafirs were Kafirs still. 
 Having no right of property themselves, all being 
 vested in their chief, how could they be expected to 
 respect the rights of property in others ? Theft was 
 a tribal virtue and chronic war the normal state of the 
 nation — their only pastime in fact. The war of 1836 
 cost £300,000; that of 1846, near £1,000,000, and the 
 last £2,000,000 sterling ; and the losses of stock, &c, 
 nearly £1,000,000 more, for which no compensation 
 was ever granted. Yet Graham's Town prospered 
 notwithstanding. From a mere military post with
 
 188 geaham's town. 
 
 barracks and a dozen houses in 1820, it had a popu- 
 lation of 3,800 English in 1834, and of 8,000 in 1865. 
 
 Next to the environs of Cape Town, Graham's 
 Town is now beyond question the most pleasant place 
 of residence in the Colony. The approach from 
 Prince Alfred's road, on the Kowie side, affords the 
 best and prettiest view of its features, of which occasional 
 glimpses are caught for several miles as the road 
 winds round the spurs of the mountain. Suddenly 
 above Fort England, the eastern half of the city starts 
 into view — a picture quite English in its pleasing 
 contrast of dark tree avenues, white buildings, neat 
 gardens, and straggling cottages, with the soft green 
 hues of the grassy hills. 
 
 From the Algoa Bay road, the first glimpse 
 after emerging from " Howison's Poort " through 
 the toll, is also striking and picturesque, espe- 
 cially in the early morning, — the sunlit town opening 
 out slowly like an unfolding panorama as one 
 winds round the edge of Goodwin's Kloof, 
 covered with aloes, geraniums, cressulas, and other 
 bright flowers, amid festoons of evergreens hanging 
 from clefts in the rocks by the roadside, and the ver- 
 tical cliff, over which a waterfall tumbles or trickles 
 through mosses and maiden hair fern, just as the season 
 will let it, into the kloof below, where the abandoned 
 Cape Corps' camp is seen, with its lake-dam gleaming 
 in the sunshine close to the dense mass of foliage 
 known as " The Oaks," the old residence of Robert 
 Graham, late magistrate, and son of the founder of 
 the city. Beyond on the left, stretch the villa and 
 gardens of Westhill and Oatlands, and St. Andrew's 
 College, and Bishopsbourne, and the Oatlands Park, 
 with its beautiful church and tall tapering spire, quite 
 a gem of colonial church architecture. Near it St. 
 Aidan's Seminary and astronomical tower, with the 
 wooded " Lynx Kop " or sugar loaf, bounding the
 
 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 189 
 
 distant view. Next come the Cathedral tower and 
 central parts of the town, as you drive down the hill 
 through the winding avenue of trees into Prince 
 Alfred-street, past the Drosdty and barracks, to Wood's 
 Hotel. 
 
 From the Queen's road, on the east, a more distant 
 but most comprehensive view is obtained. The city 
 is seen extending for a couple of miles along the 
 lateral spurs of the mountain ; its broad streets lined 
 with trees, its houses interspersed with gardens ; the 
 Drosdty and Government-house, Botanic Gardens, and 
 cemeteries conspicuous. The Cemeteries are the most 
 ornamental and the most carefully kept in the Colony 
 and the mortuary chapel erected over the grave of 
 Armstrong, first Bishop of Graham's Town, the only 
 one of its kind for burial services at the Cape. In 
 this Cemetery, and on the Cathedral walls too, are monu- 
 ments to the various persons of note, military and 
 civil, who have lost their lives in the several frontier 
 wars. 
 
 The main road from Kafirland, again, leads past 
 the native locations, Kafir, Fingoe, and Hottentot, 
 with their gardens of mullet and maize, and the native 
 industrial institution and Kafir church. 
 
 There are 1,200 houses in Graham's Town, and 
 twenty miles of streets well kept and gravelled, and 
 250 houses and huts in the suburbs. The principal 
 streets are from 100 feet to 140 feet wide, with side 
 walks lined with trees. The houses are of stone or 
 brick, roofed with slate or iron, thatch being prohibited 
 in all new structures. The principal buildings are of 
 grey quartzose sandstone, easily worked and of 
 excellent quality, hardening on exposure in some 
 quarries almost to a quartzite. A valuable freestone 
 for ornamental building is obtained from Bathurst 
 and Southwell, whence also most of the lime is pro- 
 cured, from the tuffaceous crust overlying the tertiary
 
 190 graham's town. 
 
 limestone. A plentiful supply of pure water is 
 derived from the spurs of the Zuurberg close to the 
 town, whence the Kowie springs issue, which, stored 
 up in three reservoirs, holding 24,000,000 of gallons, is 
 distributed over the streets through twelve miles of 
 iron mains, supplying 600 service pipes or private 
 leadings. In addition there are several public dams, 
 private tanks, and a copious well-supply available in 
 the lower parts of the city, where the rainfall per- 
 colating through the gravel to the retentive clay 
 beneath is dammed up by the trap-rock of the valley* 
 The natural facilities for drainage, lateral gullies, 
 gravelly subsoil, and the steep incline of the valley 
 and consequent absence of swampy ground effectually 
 prevent miasma, and the sewage is nightly removed 
 two miles to the leeward, and deodorised in pits with 
 alternate layers of earth. Hence there are no endemic 
 diseases, no fevers, save an occasional sporadic case 
 from the neglect of the ordinary '? anitory rules, none 
 in fact but preventable causes of disease. 
 
 The military statistics prove it to be one of the 
 healthiest stations of the British army ; and the civil 
 hospital returns give incontrovertible evidence of the 
 same facts. Elevated a third of a mile (1,760 feet) 
 above the sea, and distant from it about twenty-five 
 miles in a direct line, the ozone-laden breeze from 
 the coast reaches the mountain-top daily about three 
 p.m., flowing imperceptibly over the Graham's Town 
 valley. At one spot (called from the circumstance 
 " Waai Neck "), at the top of the Howison's Poort, a 
 perfect syphon-system of ventilation, a diurnal in- 
 draught from the sea is thus carried on in the calmest 
 weather, the heated air rising from the plains below 
 through the Poort over Goodwin's Kloof, the wooded 
 seaward slopes of the mountain cooling it before it 
 reaches the city. Thus the climate of Graham's 
 Town is cooler, drier, and more temperate than that of
 
 Graham's town. 191 
 
 the coast-belt, where the heated current from the 
 tropics sweeping round the L'Agulhas bank keeps up 
 a higher and more equable temperature all the year 
 round, just as the Gulf stream modulates the climate 
 of Devonshire and the south coast of Ireland. One 
 of the chief advantages of Graham's Town as a 
 sanatorium, in addition to its elevated site, fine climate, 
 pure air, and the absence of all local sources of 
 disease, is the facility with which invalids can remove 
 to a higher or lower level, to a moister or drier 
 climate, as taste or the varying phases of disease 
 may render desirable — to the soft warm balmy air 
 of the coast, where no frosts are known, or the keen 
 dry mountain air of the Katberg or Winterberg, 5,000 
 to 7,000 feet above the sea. When the railways are 
 opened, the coast, or the elevated plateau above 
 Cradock where chest diseases are scarcely known, 
 may be reached in a few hours. 
 
 A suburban village,with extensive commonage rights, 
 has been laid out and built upon along the mountain 
 top above the city, which oifers peculiar advantages in 
 the treatment of chest affections and chronic diseases. 
 Placed on the summit of the range, 2,100 feet above 
 the sea, in the pure free air and bright sunshine, and 
 sheltered by a belt of firs and eucalyptus trees from 
 the prevalent winds, it commands an extensive view 
 on all sides. On the north and east the blue Amatola 
 Mountains, the "Luheri" of Pringle, the Tabindoda, 
 and the Great Winterberg peak, bound the horizon. 
 On the south and west the sea line is plainly visible 
 from the Fish to the Bushman's Eiver, interrupted 
 only at intervals, while below, a thousand feet down, 
 stretch the wooded undulating plains of Lower 
 Albany. Adjoining Graham's Town, and on the main 
 road to Port Alfred, it is thus within easy reach of the 
 comforts and luxuries as well as the necessities of 
 civilized life, and the pleasures of English society —
 
 192 
 
 advantages most important yet too often overlooked 
 or disregarded in the choice of a suitable residence 
 for invalids. Of what avail to the unhappy consump- 
 tive with body and mind out of gear, is a healthful 
 climate if shut out from the world and society, and 
 from all sources of mental and physical enjoyment, 
 in some Free State town or lone farm in the 
 Karoo. Here pleasurable occupation and amuse- 
 ment suited to every taste, with sufficient inducement 
 for out-door exercise — often as essential as medical 
 treatment or pure air in cases of lingering diseases — are 
 readily obtainable. To the sportsman the deep wooded 
 kloofs of the neighbourhood offer abundant excitement. 
 Antelopes of various kinds, the rhebok, blauwbok, 
 and boschbok, with hares, pheasants, partridges are 
 found close by; herds of buffaloes still haunt the 
 tangled thickets of the "Rooms" and the Kowie 
 bush ; the stately koodoo is still to be seen in the 
 Fish River bush ; the duyker and oribie on the grassy 
 flats near Bathurst, and the graceful gazelle of the 
 Cape (the springbok), with korhaan and guinea-fowl 
 on the plains towards Bedford and Somerset. To the 
 angler the deep shady pools of the Kareiga, within a 
 few miles, offer tempting attractions, and to lovers of 
 the picturesque, those enjoyable picnic and boating 
 excursions to the different watering places — the 
 Kowie, Kasouga, and Kleinemont — afford in all sea- 
 sons pleasing change and variety. Whilst to those of 
 intellectual habits and literary taste, the various insti- 
 tutions of the city, its reading-rooms, circulating 
 library, museum, and botanical gardens, are at all 
 times accessible. By those fond of gaiety, no doubt 
 the Assembly-rooms and spacious Albany Hall, with 
 its balls, concerts, orations, lectures, and theatrical 
 entertainments will be frequently patronised ; as also 
 the very attractive "riding parties," gallops, and 
 carriage drives across the extensive flats near the
 
 Graham's town. 193 
 
 town. The city club and the various other clubs and 
 societies for mutual improvement, and the cricket 
 ground and commodious swimming-bath below the 
 reservoirs, must also be mentioned. Invalids who have 
 experienced the effects of both climates, assert that 
 there is no comparison between the clear, dry, invi- 
 gorating climate of this part of the Colony, and the 
 warm, moist, relaxing heat of Madeira, which has 
 hitherto enjoyed the monopoly of a sanitorium for 
 chest complaints. Already the voyage from England 
 has been reduced by steamer to three or four weeks, and 
 when the wonderful curative effect of the Cape climate in 
 such affections is more generally known, the claims of 
 Graham's Town and its neighbourhood will no doubt 
 be duly appreciated. By the telegraph wire and 
 postal service, it is already in communication with every 
 part of the Colony, and within a year it is hoped the 
 submarine cable will give instantaneous communion 
 with Europe and India as well. Then the pulse of 
 the patient here may be felt at his home, 6,000 miles 
 off, and the eager inquiries of anxious friends o-et 
 Immediate reply. This will remove much of the 
 natural reluctance of the sickly and delicate to leaving 
 " Home " and risking the imaginary horrors of even a 
 temporary banishment to a distant and unknown 
 clime. 
 
 In reference to religious matters, a point of impor- 
 tance in considering the status of social communities, 
 every sect in the Eastern Districts has its head- 
 quarters in Graham's Town, excepting the Dutch 
 Church, the community being exclusively Enoiish. 
 It is the residence both of the Anglican and Roman 
 Catholic Bisho23S, having in addition to St. Georo-e's 
 Cathedral, four churches connected with the Church 
 of England (St. Bartholomew's, St. Andrew's, St. 
 Philip's, and Christchurch) ; one Roman Catholic 
 Church (St. Patrick's), three Wesleyan, one Baptist, 
 o
 
 194 GRAHAM'S TOWN. 
 
 and two Independent places of worship. There are 
 about 1,000 scholars under education in the various 
 schools and colleges, public and private, comprising 
 the St. Andrew's College, St. Bart's and St. George's 
 Grammar schools, a large undenominational school, 
 the Kafir College, the Convent Free School and 
 boarding school for girls, and numerous other private 
 educational establishments. Amongst the charitable 
 institutions of the city may be mentioned the Albany 
 Brethren Society and Club house, the Foresters and 
 Odd-Fellows' Societies, Two Masonic Lodges, and a 
 Ladies' Benevolent Society . The Albany General 
 Hospital, situated on an elevated site with extensive 
 garden grounds, and capable of accommodating fifty 
 beds, has a neat building attached for the treatment 
 of mental diseases, and an extensive Provincial 
 lunatic asylum is in process of erection on the site of 
 the Fort England barracks. The two military hos- 
 pitals and extensive military barracks, and Engineer, 
 Ordinance, and Artillery buildings and officers' quarters 
 are being gradually appropriated to other public uses. 
 For ten years past, too, the city has been the seat 
 of the Eastern Districts' Court, with attendant 
 Judges, Solicitor-General, and a numerous bar. 
 There aref three local banks, the Oriental, Standard, 
 and London and South African — all branches of 
 English establishments, a Saving's Bank, several 
 assurance and investment companies, and a Chamber 
 of Commerce recently established. There is a Natural 
 History Society connected with the Albany Museum, 
 a Public Library containing between 6,000 and 7,000 
 volumes, with reading-rooms, in which most of the 
 English periodicals and colonial newspapers are 
 regularly taken. The Graham's Town newspapers in 
 point of circulation and influence bear the same 
 relation to the rest of the Province as does the metro- 
 politan press to the English provincial press.
 
 Graham's town. 195 
 
 The soil of the Graham's Town basin is a rich clay 
 loam derived from the trap rock debris, shales, and 
 sandstones, and is highly productive ; trees thrive 
 everywhere by the roadside and in the streets, 
 including the oak, fir, blackwood, gum-trees, and 
 various indigenous trees. The public Gardens are 
 picturesquely grouped on the slopes of the rocky 
 hill below the reservoirs, the well-kept grass lawns 
 and flower beds, shady avenues of oaks and hand- 
 some conservatory, being a favourite place of resort, 
 and its nurseries and hot houses supplying most 
 of the up-country homesteads and towns. The market 
 gardens are numerous, and most English and tropical 
 fruits thrive well; the orange, vine, guava, lime, 
 loquat, peach, apricot, cherry, and strawberry grow 
 luxuriantly, as do vegetables of all kinds. The Flora 
 of the neighbourhood is particularly rich and exten- 
 sive, comprising both the Zuurveldt and forest vege- 
 tation with that of the grassy plains and Karoo — a fine 
 field for the botanist. Extensive surface deposits of 
 valuable iron ore exist within three miles of the city 
 on Woest Hill, unworkecl from the want of labour,trans- 
 port, and fuel: although a careful examination of 
 several tons, sent home to Bessimer for analysis and 
 report, proves it to be equal to any ore known, for the 
 purposes of conversion into steel. There is also an 
 extensive deposit of hematite or "Kafir clay" a few 
 miles down the valley, supplying national paint to the 
 "red" Kafir in the "blanket" or "'toga" stage of 
 civilization. Fine ochres of various tints have been 
 made from the Graham's Town shales ; and the white 
 clay used for fire bricks, tiles, and drain pipes at the 
 brick kilns is a pure kaolin, equal to the best China 
 porcelain clay, — biscuit porcelain and long-stemmed 
 tobacco pipes of excellent quality having been made 
 from it. Want of labour alone prevents successful 
 competition with the imported article. Formerly 
 O 2
 
 196 THE FISH RIVER VALLEY — PEDDIE. 
 
 Graham's Town, too, had its cloth factory and hat 
 factory, but it was found cheaper to import than to work 
 up wool. A brass and iron foundry, steam mill and 
 lathe, several tanneries, soap and candle manufactories, 
 and coach and wagon establishments turning out 300 to 
 400 new wagons yearly, may also be mentioned. 
 
 Beyond Graham's Town, the country is broken by 
 the valley of the Great Fish JRiver, whose course is 
 marked by the sombre ridge known as the " Kandt," 
 gradually falling away as it runs down to the level of 
 the sea at Waterloo Bay. Although grassy pastures 
 generally extend on each side, a narrow slip along the 
 river is quite of a Karoo character, and upon it are 
 some very fine sheep farms, the properties of Messrs. 
 Currie, Bowker, G. Wood, Lombard, Nel, and others. 
 Some portions, again, are covered with almost impervi- 
 ous bush, consisting of euphorbia, spekboom, and other 
 succulent thorny plants, which in the by-gone war 
 times were occupied by the Kafirs as a natural strong- 
 hold, whence they could surprise their objects of 
 attack, or elude their pursuers. The Kcca Pass 
 leads through this bush, forming one of the most 
 romantic of frontier roads. 
 
 Towards the coast from the Fish River to the 
 Keiskamma is the district of Peddie, which is con- 
 sidered as rather indifferent for grazing, and very dry 
 even for agricultural purposes ; but it is filled with a 
 great number of natives, who cultivate Indian and 
 Kafir corn, and garden produce. This is looked upon 
 as a most suitable locality for the growth of cotton — 
 the large population (about twenty-seven individuals to 
 the square mile) offering facilities for gathering the 
 crop, and it is possible that the natives themselves 
 may, by the force of example, be induced to try and 
 continue its cultivation. These natives are mostly 
 Pingoes — the remnants of a scattered race, who were 
 held in bondage by the Kafirs, but after the war of
 
 VICTORIA EAST — ALICE — ABERDEEN. 197 
 
 1836 released and located in the Colony by the 
 Government, since which time they have proved 
 faithful subjects. They show much more aptitude 
 than the Kafir to adopt European customs, and have 
 already made considerable advance in civilization — 
 many of them purchasing farms, owning wagons and 
 cattle, engaged in transport riding, improving their 
 flocks of sheep, using ploughs and other implements 
 of husbandry, and raising wheat and oat-hay, besides 
 the ordinary native crops. 
 
 The upper or more inland part of the country is 
 the division of Victoria East — an undulating grassy 
 tract, studded with mimosa bush, and very productive 
 as well as particularly healthy for sheep and cattle. 
 It extends up the Chumie Basin to the Hogsback 
 Mountain on the ridge of the Amatolas, and includes 
 the town of Alice, the Industrial Mission Station of 
 Lovedale, and the small church-village of Aberdeen. A 
 few farms in this district were sold for the first time in 
 1848 ; they averaged each about 1,000 acres in extent, 
 and only realised the upset price of two shillings an 
 acre. Afterwards, the contiguous lands were parcelled 
 out, and granted to adventurous frontier men, on con- 
 dition of permanent occupation. Now they have 
 immensely increased in value. Here, also, there are 
 several populous locations, where the Fingoes are 
 making marked progress, and living on very good 
 terms with their European neighbours. The number 
 of native residents is roughly estimated at 8,000, and 
 the live-stock owned by them is over 3,000 head of 
 cattle, 10,000 sheep, 6,000 goats, besides horses and 
 wagons. 
 
 To the left of Victoria East are the districts 
 of Fort Beaufort and Stockenstrom, which, in 
 respect of picturesque scenery, as well as of fertility 
 and capability of production, are unsurpassed in the 
 Colony. The heights of Gaikas Kop, Menzie's Berg
 
 198 STOCKENSTROM AND KAT RIVER. 
 
 the Elandsberg, and Katberg form a bold back-ground, 
 from which minor hills run out, enclosing charmingly- 
 beautiful valleys, verdant, wooded, and well watered. 
 One of these, named Lushingtou, extends from 
 PefFer's Kop to near Elands Post, the seat of magis- 
 tracy for Stocken strom. Another, and the most 
 important, is that known as the Kat River Settlement, 
 embracing an area of about twenty-five miles north 
 and south, by about twenty miles east and west. This 
 was once the home of the Chief Macomo and his 
 tribe ; and, after their expulsion for treason and dis- 
 order, it was set apart for the location of the abori- 
 ginal Hottentots, who were scattered about the 
 country. It was mapped out into villages, named 
 Hertzog, Balfour, Ebenezer, Philiptown, Buxton, and 
 Fairbairn, and occupied by nearly four or five thou- 
 sand Hottentots, with a few white inhabitants scat- 
 tered amongst them. Although there were many 
 individual instances of industry and progress encou- 
 raging to the philanthropic friends of the aborigines, 
 still the district, as a whole, was never a prosperous 
 one, and the part taken by many of the people in the 
 rebellion of 1851 led to the breaking up of its exclu- 
 siveness as a national settlement. The forfeited 
 properties, about 130 in number, were given to 
 English and Dutch farmers, each having an allotment 
 of arable land, varying from five to twenty acres, 
 with grazing rights on surrounding blocks of com- 
 monage land. By this means a more well-to-do and 
 energetic class have been introduced, supplying the 
 place of masters and labour employers, which it would 
 have been a wise policy to have adopted on the first 
 distribution of the land. It is of this district the late 
 Sir George Cathcart said, " There is no country in 
 the world where a man with a family could thrive 
 better if given an erf of half an acre, or one acre at 
 most, with sufficient commonage for his cows, goats,
 
 KATBERG PASS — FORT BEAUFORT. 199 
 
 and pigs." There are also several forests along the 
 mountains filled with timber of large size, and of the 
 most useful description, open to the industry of any 
 one for a trifling amount of license-money. 
 
 The mountain pass across the Katberg, and leading 
 to the Queen's Town division, is very grand and 
 picturesque. The road winds up along a shoulder of 
 the mountain to an elevation of 3,000 or 4,000 feet, 
 passing across emerald-green slopes, through bush and 
 forest and rocky krantzes, and over water-falls and 
 deep gullies, which make one marvel at the intrepidity 
 and skill of the engineer who laid it out — the late 
 Mr. A. G. Bain. At some points nothing can be 
 more striking than to gaze upwards to the forest- 
 crowned heights, and then to glance down into the 
 yawning depths of still grander forests beneath. From 
 the summit a magnificent outlook is to be had, and, 
 according to the season of the year or the state of 
 the weather, it changes from the picturesque to the 
 wild and fantastical. We have visited it on a bright, 
 clear summer's day ; but it may be seen under different 
 circumstances — such as in winter, when snow enwraps 
 the heights in its white wreaths ; or in dark storm, 
 when loud thunders echo over the rocky peaks, and 
 vivid lightnings illumine the yawning precipices 
 arcund ; and at other times, when the spreading vales 
 below are covered with a sea of silvery mist, out of 
 which the tops of the hills rise up like solitary islands 
 on an expanse of ocean. 
 
 The Kat Eiver, which waters these valleys, flows 
 through a succession of beautiful glens to the open 
 plain where Fort Beaufort lies, in an ampitheatre of 
 hills. From a mere military post Fort Beaufort has 
 become a town of considerable interest and import- 
 ance, containing a number of handsome and substan- 
 tial dwelling-houses and stores, and extensive barracks 
 buildings. The streets are lined with the Indian lilac,
 
 200 THE WINTEEBEKG — ADELAIDE. 
 
 or syringa-tree, and there is a central public garden, 
 worthy of imitation in every village in South Africa. 
 The " Grove," as the garden is termed, was the work of the 
 late magistrate, Mr. Meurant, who, with local convict 
 labour, converted a dry, baked, naked piece of waste 
 ground into an ornamental public square and pleasant 
 promenade. It shows how easily, and at little cost, 
 an indifferent soil and situation may be clothed with; 
 timber trees, which in time become a source of wealth, 
 improve the appearance of the country, and add to 
 the comfort of its inhabitants. Around Fort Beau- 
 fort are numerous valuable sheep walks and cattle and 
 grain farms, — the properties of Messrs. Ayliff, Ogilvie, 
 Blakeway, Godlonton, Stokes, and Gilbert. In the 
 summer season the whole district is richly beautiful, 
 extending in every direction in ridges or meadows, 
 bright with verdure and dappled with the fragrant 
 flowering mimosa, or clumps of other evergreens. 
 The pasturage in average seasons carries a sheep to 
 an acre, besides cattle and horses, all the year through, 
 but in times of protracted drought, which periodically 
 occur, the grass withers rapidly, and stock has to be 
 reduced or removed elsewhere for food. 
 
 North-westward from Fort Beaufort are the wood- 
 crested heights known as the KrommeKange,which em- 
 brace the Waterkloof, Fuller's Hoek, Blinkwater, and 
 other forest fastnesses occupied by the Kafirs in past 
 wars. Beyond them is the Didima, and high above, at an 
 altitude of 7,800 feet, is the Great Winterberg, com- 
 manding a magnificent view of all the eastern districts 
 as well as of Cradock, Queen's Town, and even part 
 of Kafirland. This is almost an Alpine region, the 
 mountain summits in winter being covered with snow. 
 It contains fine agricultural, as well as sheep and 
 cattle farms. Many streams, which have their 
 sources at a considerable elevation, are easily led out 
 for the purposes of irrigation, and artificial water-
 
 BEDFORD. 201 
 
 courses have been constructed at comparatively small 
 expense, from which large gardens, orchards, and 
 corn-lands below them are easily cultivated, and yield 
 most abundantly. These streams lower down form 
 the Koonap River, which after leaving the mountains 
 passes through the village of Adelaide, and thence on 
 until it unites with the Great Fish River. Adelaide 
 has a large Dutch Reformed Church, built of stone at 
 a cost of from £20,000 to £30,000, chiefly contributed 
 by the surrounding farmers. The village is only 
 of recent creation, and the population is small, but 
 the progress already made in the formation of the 
 several streets, the establishment of a school, a bank, a 
 wool-wash, and a local newspaper, indicate the activity 
 and enterprise of its inhabitants. 
 
 Crossing the Koonap, we enter the division of 
 Bedford whose township is situated in a pretty nook 
 under the wood-crested ridge of the Kagaberg. The 
 estate " Maastrom," belonging to the Stockenstrom 
 family, and the fine grazing lands and flocks of the 
 Messrs. King, are close to Bedford, while in the upper- 
 part of the district, formerly known as the Baviaan's 
 River, there are many very superior agricultural and 
 pastoral farms. It was there that the Scotch party 
 led by the poet, Thomas Pringle, were settled in 
 1820. The condition of the country at the time of 
 their arrival, and the incidents attendant upon the 
 new settlers' life, are graphically described in Pringle's 
 " Narrative." Indeed his sketches and his lyrics have 
 made this neighbourhood classic ground. Few who 
 are acquainted with either will fail to feel an interest 
 in the spot where the emigrant-band pitched their 
 tents fifty years ago — 
 
 " When first these mountains heard the Sabbath song." 
 
 The Scotch appellation of Glen Lynden was then given 
 to it, and such it is still named. The locality was
 
 202 GLEN LYNDEN. 
 
 well-chosen — " a fertile basin or valley," Pringle 
 says, " spreading out in verdant meadows, sheltered 
 and embellished without being encumbered with 
 groves of mimosa trees, among which in the distance 
 were herds of wild animals, antelopes and quaggas, 
 pasturing in undisturbed quietude." The beauty of 
 these valleys or glens have been sung by the poet in 
 his " Captive of Camalu: " 
 
 " Camalu — green Camalu ! 
 
 'Twas there I fed my father's flock, 
 Beside the mount where cedars threw 
 
 At dawn their shadows from the rock ; 
 There tended I my father's flock 
 
 Along the grassy-margined rills, 
 Or chased the bounding bontebok 
 
 With hound and spear among the hills." 
 
 And still more sweetly in his " Evening Rambles " — 
 so descriptive of this Arcadian life, — when 
 
 " The sultry summer noon is past ; 
 And mellow evening comes at last, 
 "With a low and languid breeze 
 Fanning the mimosa trees, 
 That cluster o'er the yellow vale, 
 And oft perfume the panting gale 
 With fragrance faint : it seems to tel 
 Of primrose-tuft in Scottish dell, 
 Peeping forth in tender spring 
 When the blithe lark begins to sing." 
 
 " Sae that's the lot o' our inheritance then ? " quoth 
 one of the party- — says the Narrative — as they came in 
 view of the location, "Aweel, now that we've really got 
 till 't, I maun say the place looks no sae mickle amiss, and 
 may suit our purpose no that ill, provided thae haughs 
 turn out to be gude deep land for the pleugh, and we 
 can but contrive to find a decent road out o' this 
 queer hieland glen into the lowlands." 
 
 With courageous hopeful hearts they settled down 
 in the wild domain, and at once applied themselves to
 
 SOMERSET EAST. 203 
 
 the task of teaching u the waste to yield them daily 
 bread." After the first difficulties were surmounted 
 and they became familiarised to the country and its 
 various inhabitants, they prospered exceedingly well. 
 Houses were built, crops were reaped, gardens and 
 orchards were stocked, and flocks and herds accumu- 
 lated. Pringle had the satisfaction of witnessing this 
 success, and thanked God for the good providence 
 which had directed their course to the wilds of South 
 Africa. His relatives still flourish here, the chief of 
 them now surviving being Mr. Dodds Pringle of 
 " Glen Thorn," who is conspicuous for his activity and 
 enterprise in his agricultural and pastoral pursuits, 
 vieing with his neighbours for the possession of the 
 best imported stock or the most improved reaping 
 and thrashing machines, cultivators and other modern 
 labour-saving appliances of good farming. 
 
 The division of Somerset East adjoins Bedford — the 
 Great Fish River, which comes down from Cradock, 
 forming the boundary between them. The town like 
 that of Bedford, is situate at the foot of a charming 
 wood-fringed hill, the Boschberg. It is of consider- 
 able size, with well-laid out-streets, and many gardens 
 and trees. English, Dutch, TVesleyan, Presbyterian, 
 and Mission Churches show the religious necessities 
 of the people are well attended to. There are two 
 excellent hotels. The stores and banks do a pros- 
 perous business. A weekly newspaper is published, 
 and there is a college with some able professors 
 attached which has been endowed by the liberality of 
 a colonist, Dr. Gill, formerly a resident of the town, 
 who bequeathed for this purpose the bulk of his 
 property valued at the time at £24,000. The hand- 
 some buildings occupied by the college were erected 
 from funds raised among the inhabitants of the 
 district, and cost about £6,000. 
 
 The Somerset division is chiefly pastoral. In
 
 204 SOMERSET EAST. 
 
 1865 it carried over 500,000 woolled sheep, the clip 
 of wool being valued at 914,997 lb.; 11,000 angora 
 and 171,000 common goats ; 7,624 draught oxen, and 
 13,000 other cattle, and about 5,500 horses. The 
 increase since then has been considerable. The pas- 
 tures, up to last year's drought, were considered over- 
 stocked, carrying about two sheep and goats to each 
 morgen. The average at present is one and a quarter. 
 Sheep with few exceptions are shorn twice a year, — in. 
 October and November, and during April and May. 
 The average weight of fleece is 2£ lb. in the grease. 
 The farmers living on the Fish River wash their sheep 
 before shearing, running them three or four times 
 through the pools of water, by which means the loose 
 dust is got rid of. The lambing season varies, some- 
 times being in March, but mostly in April and June, 
 much depending upon the condition of the ewes, which 
 is affected by the state of the pasture. The herds of 
 cattle which were common in former years have been 
 reduced, partly by lung-sickness which still breaks 
 out occasionally, although never severely, but chiefly 
 owing to the grazing lands being everywhere occu- 
 pied by sheep. On a few farms there are valuable 
 cows, but the quantity of butter produced is very 
 inconsiderable although the market is good. Horse- 
 breeding is also a thing of the past. The late Sir A. 
 Stockenstrom had a stud farm at Zwager's Hoek; Mr. 
 Botha and Mr. Bolleurs had similar establishments 
 in Vogel River, and many horses were bred for the 
 remount of the Indian Army and the Cape Corps ; 
 but of late years this business has died out, and no 
 one has as yet succeeded Bolleurs, the last of the 
 breeders, although the increasing demand for good 
 horses is such as to make it worth while to revive this 
 branch of farming. 
 
 There are only a few grain farms, the principal 
 being Glenavon and Prinsloo, adjoining Somerset and
 
 SOMERSET EAST. 205 
 
 enjoying the water of the Naude's River, flowing 
 from the Boschberg ; the Groot Plaats, which has 
 a dam in the Little Fish River below Somerset ; the 
 adjoining farm, Muis Vlakte, similarly watered, and 
 two other farms lower down the River. BufFel's-font 
 at the entrance of Zwager's Hoek is a splendid agri- 
 cultural farm, and is supplied with water from the 
 Boschberg. Doornbosch, in Zwager's Hoek and 
 Stockdale and Upsal, at the sources of the little Fish 
 River, are also excellent, the latter being the most 
 important grain farm in the division. Along the Voo-el 
 River there are the farms Vredenburg and Sunday's 
 River, and on the plains near Pearston the farm 
 Galj en-Bosch, of the late Mr. Bolleurs, which is 
 irrigated from an immense dam resembling a small 
 lake. There are orchards on most of the farms and 
 on several orange-groves and vineyards. 
 
 A valuation, for ratable purposes, of the immovable 
 properties of the division was made in 1874, after a 
 most severe drought, succeeded by the ravages 
 of locusts. The standard for freehold land per 
 morgen, was 15s. 6d. ; for quitrent land, 13s. Id. ; for 
 leased land, 5s. 5d. ; and the average of all lauds in 
 the division, 12s. 8d. The valuator, Mr. W. W. 
 Maskew, for many years officially and iutimately 
 
 acquainted with every part of the district says : 
 
 " The late drought, more than any other, has brought 
 to the test the real capabilities of the different localities 
 of this division, consequently the farms in the field- 
 cornetcies of Boschberg and Zwager's Hoek with 
 their grassy mountains and valleys, and never failino- 
 waters, and those a little less happily situated on the 
 slopes and summits of Zuurberg have been appraised 
 somewhat higher, whilst a considerable reduction has 
 been made in the value of the farms in Brak and 
 Vogel Rivers, where the arid Karoo plains have 
 caused so much loss of stock. AVe are fast approach-
 
 206 SOMERSET EAST. 
 
 ing the limits at which grazing farms will be sold, 
 until we have a revolution in stock-farming ; whereas 
 the prices which have and are likely to be given for 
 produce, for a long time to come, will continue to 
 increase the value of all farms where extensive agri- 
 cultural operations are practicable." 
 
 The climate may be considered mild and healthy. 
 In a normal season spring opens with a few light 
 showers in September. Heavy rain in October from 
 the south-west ; heavier in November, with occasional 
 thunder-storms and showers of hail. Thunder showers 
 in December and January. February, in a good 
 season is also a wet month, south-east winds still pre- 
 vailing. March dry. April showery (ploughing 
 time). May to August dry, with sharp frosts. As a 
 rule the winters are dry and summers wet. 
 
 Winter days are delightful. Bright snow falls 
 occasionally on the Boschberg and Zwager's Hoek 
 Mountains, the heaviest being on the Coetzee's Berg, 
 and remains unmelted for a week. Frost is very 
 sharp in the valleys and uplands. The greatest heat 
 is during January and February.
 
 VIII.— THE BORDER DISTRICTS. 
 
 Eastward of the Keiskamma, and extending from 
 it to the mouth of the Great Kei River, a distance of 
 some eighty miles, we have the sea-board of the 
 Border districts, — an exceedingly beautiful tract of 
 country, highly favoured by nature in regard to its 
 fertility, its resources, and its capability of improve- 
 ment. The area of this territory is about 15,400 
 square miles, and it embraces the divisions of East 
 London, King William's Town, Queen's Town,TVode- 
 house, Albert, Aliwal North, and Herschel, each 
 rising in successive steppes from the coast to the 
 highlands of the Stormbergen and Quathlamba. 
 According to the census of 1865 the aggregate popu- 
 lation was 146,534, of which upwards of 100,000 were 
 native Kafirs ; the ground under cultivation was near 
 to 50,000 acres, producing wheat, maize, and other 
 cereals : the yield of wool was 3,000,000 lb., and the 
 stock depastured included 1,522,670 woolled sheep, 
 10,000 Cape, 3,400 Angora goats, 142,147 common 
 goats, about 50,000 horses, and 140,000 cattle. 
 
 Most of this country was first permanently occupied 
 by European settlers only twenty years ago. After the 
 last war in 1853, Sir George Cathcart, andhis successor, 
 Sir George Grey, adopted the policy of removing the 
 most noted rebellious Kafirs beyond the border line ; 
 their places being partly occupied by chiefs and people of 
 proved loyalty, who were thusrewardedfor their fidelity 
 to Government, while the remainder of the forfeited 
 and vacant territory was filled up with enterprising 
 burgher colonists. The latter received free grants of 
 farms of from 1,000 to 4,000 acres, on condition of 
 erecting a defensible homestead, to be occupied per-
 
 208 BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 
 
 sonally, or by one or more retainers, well armed, and 
 prepared to stand by each other for mutual support. 
 These "grantees," as they were termed, formed the 
 advance-guard of colonization, but so rapid and 
 marked was their progress in settled prosperity and 
 security, that the conditions of personal occupation and 
 armed retainers were dispensed with several years 
 since, and the properties are now held on the ordinary 
 quit-rent tenure. At the same time ample provision 
 was made for the accommodation of the numerous 
 native population, who in all respects are treated with 
 justice and consideration. Throughout the whole 
 frontier, large tracts of the very richest lands have 
 been expressly set apart for them under the name of 
 " reserves " and si locations/' and at most of these 
 places European superintendents or missionaries are 
 stationed with them to advise and instruct in every- 
 thing tending to their advancement in civilization. 
 The greater body of them live in those locations, many 
 having individual titles to the land ; and, as a whole, 
 they are now enjoying far greater comfort and pros- 
 perity than ever they had any experience of in their 
 former days of barbaric independence and perpetually 
 recurring tribal wars. 
 
 The districts of East London and King William's 
 Town formed what was known as the province of British 
 Kafir aria up till 1865, when by Imperial as well as 
 colonial legislation they were annexed to the Colony. 
 This tract is bounded on its inland side by the Ama- 
 tolas, — a continuation of the Katberg and Chumie 
 mountains running eastward from near Gaika's Kop. 
 These are intersected by deep rocky kloofs, clothed 
 with forests of large trees, and opening out into rich 
 and fertile valleys, presenting very attractive scenery. 
 Erom the base of the range, an undulating country, 
 sometimes rising into high ridges, falls away to the 
 sea ; it is generally covered with rich grass, varied
 
 HOW COLONIZED. 209 
 
 with clumps and woods of mimosa bush, and in everv 
 direction is traversed by rivers or small streams. 
 
 The coast-lands from the Keiskamma to the Gonubie 
 Mouth, and extending twenty miles inland, are 
 most excellent for cattle grazing ; the pasture, which 
 reaches to the water's edge, being very luxuriant and 
 suffering but little from drought. With the exception 
 of this belt (in which sheep do not do so well) the 
 remaining portion is admirably adapted for sheep and 
 all kinds of stock, which are gradually increasing 
 in number. In every part, however, the soil is fertile, 
 and suited for agricultural purposes. Along the 
 coast, coffee, pine-apple, bananas, and sugar-cane are 
 grown ; the hilly slopes and mountain sides, especially 
 in the Amatola Basin, are extensively cultivated by 
 the natives, who raise large quantities of maize ; 
 while every variety of grain, vegetable, and fruit is 
 supplied to the local markets by the German settlers. 
 
 These districts are the most recently colonised part 
 of the Colony. There were few Europeans here 
 prior to the Imperial Government arranging for the 
 settlement of the disbanded German Legion, after the 
 Crimean war. About two thousand of them were 
 landed, and intended to be located in villages chosen 
 with a view to the defence of the country, but many 
 of their number soon after left to offer their services 
 in India at the time of the Sepoy mutiny. Then 
 some hundreds of able-bodied inhabitants of the 
 Eastern and Western Provinces were granted 1,5? (? 
 acre farms, on condition of personal occupation for 
 three years and the requirement that they had suffi- 
 cient capital to stock their lands. At the same time 
 upwards of two thousand immigrants of the agricul- 
 tural class were introduced from Germany as cultiva- 
 tors of the soil, to whom small grants of land were 
 also made under easy conditions of repayment. The 
 various elements thus brought together, and added to 
 p
 
 210 THE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS. 
 
 by enterprising families from other districts of the 
 Colony, served to constitute a community which in a 
 very few years rapidly attained a marked degree 
 of prosperity. The farming population generally are 
 flourishing; their productions are increasing in 
 quantity and value, and their properties have risen 
 considerably. Land, which even three or four years 
 ao-o could be got for 2s. 6d. or 5s. an acre, has now 
 risen to 15s. and 20s.; and several farms then sold for 
 £500 and £800, are now changiDg hands for £1,500 
 and £2,000. 
 
 But the progress of the German immigrants espe- 
 cially show that a selection of men more suited to the 
 requirements of the country could scarcely have been 
 made. They were settled upon their lands without 
 any means of subsistence beyond the ration of bread 
 and meat provided by Government for them ; but they 
 at once adapted themselves to their position. They 
 lived in the rudest dwellings, and were most frugal in 
 their habits. Men, women, and children laboured 
 industriously on their small plots of ground ; and 
 shortly afterwards it was no uncommon sight to see 
 the women carrying vegetables, or literally harnessed- 
 in to their rude wooden trucks, laden with farm pro- 
 duce, and dragging these to the market. This was their 
 position after their arrival in 1859 and 1860. They 
 have since become a thriving, well-to-do class. They 
 have brought their lands to a high state of cultivation — 
 in many instances by purchase have added considerably 
 to their original grants — and accumulated a quantity of 
 live-stock. The rude huts they first dwelt in have 
 been superseded by comfortable homesteads, with 
 stabling and other conveniences. In some cases they 
 have been able to pay £500 and £1,000 in cash for 
 property ; and substantial stone buildings, with iron 
 roofs, are to be seen studded over the country, all the 
 result of their frugality and industry. While they
 
 king William's town. 211 
 
 have thus prospered materially, their moral and social 
 habits have not been neglected. Their churches and 
 schools, and faithful, painstaking clergy, bear testi- 
 mony to the liberality of the people, and their desire 
 to foster and promote education and morality ; and as a 
 result, on any festive or holiday occasion, there are to be 
 seen at the various villages groups of young people com- 
 fortably and neatly clad, who would be a credit to any 
 peasantry in the world. Many of these Germans are 
 engaged in the transport service, others have trading 
 stations ; the sons frequently join the Mounted 
 Police for a time, and return with their earnings and 
 the military experience gained, to farming pursuits ; 
 and some of the daughters go out as household ser- 
 vants, and are sought after from all parts. While 
 these immigrants have thus benefited by their settle- 
 ment in the Colony, they have greatly contributed to 
 the advancement of the country generally. They 
 are large producers of farm produce — tons of potatoes 
 and other articles are supplied by them to the markets, 
 and by careful cultivation and the judicious selection 
 of seed, good varieties of wheat are being raised by 
 them. They have thus proved that even with variable 
 seasons, every inch of the agricultural lands of 
 Kaifraria can be made to yield a fair return for the 
 labour spent upon them, and that the country is ca- 
 pable of maintaining a very dense population. 
 
 King William's Town, or "King," as it is 
 sometimes curtly termed, now ranks as the fourth in 
 size and importance of all the colonial towns. It is well 
 situated for the purposes of commerce, being on the 
 highway from the harbour of East London to the 
 interior, and from the eastern districts to the Transkei 
 and Kafirland. A considerable part of the trade from 
 Cape Town to the Free State and Griqualand passes 
 through it, via East London, and in seasons of drought 
 goods from Algoa Bay are forwarded in this direction, 
 P 2
 
 212 king William's town. 
 
 owing to the superiority of pasturage for draught 
 cattle. Besides these advantages it has the chief 
 command of the native trade, extending beyond the 
 border and north to Basutoland. The town itself is 
 pleasantly situated, stretching along the banks of the 
 Buffalo River, which is spanned by an elegant iron 
 bridge. At the western end is the native location, 
 the spot on which the first Christian missionary in 
 Kaffraria, the late Rev. J. Brownlee, established his 
 station half a century ago. Next comes the military 
 barracks and officers' quarters, where a handful of 
 English troops serve to maintain the prestige of Her 
 Majesty's arms among the tribes of South Africa. 
 Then there is the business part of the town with its 
 public buildings, churches, clubs, stores, and private 
 residences ; while more to the eastward is the German 
 town, and its thatched verandahed cottages ; and 
 beyond that the camp and head quarters of the 
 Frontier Armed and Mounted Police — the nucleus of 
 our colonial defensive force. The Town-hall is a 
 large and capacious building, reflecting credit on the 
 place. Between it and the river is the Botanic Gar- 
 den, with an area of about fourteen acres of alluvial 
 soil of the richest description, where everything 
 grows in the greatest luxuriance. On a rise to the 
 north, again, is the handsome and imposing edifice 
 erected by Sir George Grey (and known as the Grey 
 Hospital) for the purpose of breaking the belief of 
 the natives in witch doctors, by placing skilful medical 
 treatment and maintenance within their reach, free of 
 charge. Close to this spot the new public offices are 
 about to be erected. The population of the town is 
 about 4,000 souls, of which 1,000 are natives. The 
 value of landed property for local purposes is £133,000, 
 while its actual value must be at least over £160,000.. 
 Its rapidly increasing commercial importance is indi- 
 cated by the demand for property, there not being a
 
 THE KAFIRS — BOXTEBOK FLATS. 213 
 
 single dwelling unoccupied, and new stores and build- 
 ings of various sorts are being erected in every 
 direction. 
 
 The native population of the district, it may- 
 be said, are in a transition state. Many of them 
 are acquiring stock, and turning attention to the 
 usages and habits of civilized life ; but there are 
 numbers who adhere to their aboriginal ways and 
 customs, and are adding to that the vice of drunken- 
 ness. The Kafir tribe of Sandilli (the Gaikas) are 
 amongst the most numerous, and, it may be added, 
 the most savage. They occupy a location above 
 King William's Town, adjoining the Stutterheim and 
 the Upper Kabousie Crown Reserve ; its extent is 
 estimated at 800 square miles ; the population is 
 about 25,000, and, according to the last returns, their 
 stock consists of 1,200 horses, 14,000 cattle, 25,000 
 sheep, 30,000 goats, and 300 ploughs. There are 
 twenty-five trading stations among them, doing a fair 
 business in wool and skins. No ff canteens " are per- 
 mitted by Government within their boundaries, 
 but there are several in the neighbourhood, where the 
 annual consumption of brandy by the tribe is com- 
 puted at 25,000 or 30,000 gallons. 
 
 Between King William's Town and Queen's Town, 
 on the northern spurs of the Amatola range, at an 
 elevation of 3,000 or 4,000 feet, there is a stretch of 
 comparatively unoccupied ground, known as the 
 Bontebok Flats. This is a succession of rolling 
 downs, grassy as a rule but different in their aspect 
 from the green pastures of Kaffraria. During the 
 last few summers they have been covered with thou- 
 sands of sheep, who have found good grazing there 
 when their usual homes on the Fish River Valley, or 
 the Eastern grass veldt, were suffering from drought. 
 These lands are adapted for agriculture, too, being well 
 watered, and having more than the average rainfall.
 
 214 queen's town. 
 
 Lately the portions surveyed have been readily leased 
 or purchased by Eastern district farmers, some of 
 whom are now permanently settling there, erecting 
 homesteads, and constructing sheds for the protection 
 of stock in winter, which is severely cold, especially 
 during continued snow-storms. 
 
 From here we pass into the division of Queen's 
 Town — a succession of beautiful plains or basins 
 surrounded by hills of singularly picturesque shape* 
 Some of these basins are quite clear of bush, except 
 near the sides of the mountain ; others have not even 
 these towards the north. The soil generally is of a 
 fruitful character, and the grass cannot be surpassed 
 as pasture for horses, sheep, and cattle, although it is 
 sometimes subject to severe drought, The best part for 
 pastoral purposes is the block of farms on the Upper 
 Zwart Kei, adjoining what was originally the Cradock 
 division, now the district of Tarkastadt. The farms 
 Mapassas, Leven, Bower's, and some others at the 
 Zwart Kei Poort, abutting on Kafirland, are of 
 the same character. For agricultural purposes 
 the Klip Plaat Valley has abundance of water 
 and good soil, as well as the basin of the Bongolo, 
 which has also the advantage of being close to 
 Queen's Town. Most of the farms have a river 
 frontage, and the others are supplied with springs, 
 and nearly all the arable lands are brought under 
 water. There are no large stock holders: the 
 properties as originally laid out, in 1,500 morgen lots, 
 being too small to allow of that; but many adjoining 
 places have been bought up by one proprietor, forming 
 blocks of three or four farms. Mr. William Hart, of 
 Thorn Eiver, and Mr. John Frost, of Thibet Park, 
 have each about 4,000 woolled sheep, with 200 head 
 of cattle, and 100 horses ; Mr. Jas. Phillips owns 
 more large stock — about 300 head of cattle and 200 
 horses, and perhaps 3,000 small stock — and Mr. van
 
 queen's town. 215 
 
 de Vyfen also has a considerable number of the latter. 
 The pastures of the district as a rule bear one sheep 
 to every morgen, with fifty head of cattle and twenty 
 horses for a farm of 1,500 morgen ; but overstocking 
 has taken place in some cases, and the losses during 
 drought, such as occurred last year, have been heavy. 
 The average fleece of wool in the grease is three-and- 
 a-half to four lb. Wheat yields from ten to twelve 
 bushels per acre, and oathay about 25,000 lb. per acre. 
 The natives raise maize and Kafir corn in large quan- 
 tities, and at Kamastone a good deal of wheat is 
 grown ; but the grain crops would be greatly increased 
 if the natives were more encouraged to occupy and 
 cultivate the land by the sub-division of the locations, 
 and the issue of freehold titles among them. The 
 locations at Kamastone, Oxkraal, and Lesseyton are 
 peopled chiefly by Fingoes, and that at the Bolotwa by 
 Tambookie Kafirs. The latter contains about 20,000 
 inhabitants. It is divided into 104 farms of from 
 1,500 to 2,000 morgen each ; of these eleven have 
 been granted from time to time to the former chiefs of 
 the tribes or their sons, or to other Tambookies who 
 have by exceptional services deserved well of the 
 Government. The other farms are in charge of headmen, 
 appointed by the Government. Besides the headmen 
 of farms, some senior headmen have been appointed, to 
 whom the others are subordinate, and who receive 
 their instructions directly from the magistrate. These 
 people are all but universally heathens, believing in 
 witchcraft and the wild customs of their forefathers. 
 The use of European clothing and agricultural imple- 
 ments is, however, more common amongst them than 
 formerly, and they are beginning to understand the 
 value of woolled sheep, a considerable amount of wool 
 being now produced upon their locations. 
 
 Queen's Town, the capital of the division, is situated 
 in the centre of it, on the Komani or Bush River,
 
 216 QUEEN'S TOWN — TYLDEN AND WHITTLESEA. 
 
 Twenty-two years ago antelopes were coursing over 
 the grounds where now stands one of the most flourish- 
 ing places in the Colony. The number of inhabitants 
 is about 1,200. There are Dutch, Anglican, Congre- 
 gationalist, and Wesleyan Churches, a town-hall and 
 library, a masonic lodge, botanic gardens, two banks, 
 two newspapers, and many large stores, all indicating 
 the prosperity and commercial activity of the people. 
 The houses are comfortable and substantial, and many 
 of them even elegant in style, with gardens attached, 
 and all the streets are lined with willow trees. It differs 
 from other colonial towns, which are mostly of rect- 
 angular or parallelogramic form, inasmuch as it was laid 
 out according to a '*' strategetic plan," approved by 
 General Cathcart, who may be said to have been its 
 founder. The central square, used as a market place, 
 is of hexagonal shape, with broad streets radiating from 
 it in six several directions It was originally intended 
 to have had a fortified building in this hexagon, to 
 serve as a rallying place for the grantees, whence any 
 advancing foe might be swept off at once, no matter 
 what quarter they came from Now that the country 
 has been peaceably settled, and the town enlarged, 
 the strategetic arrangement is not considered the most 
 convenient for ordinary business purposes. Visitors 
 who find themselves for the first time in the place 
 realize what has been termed " the puzzling intricacies 
 of a maze," so ramified are the obtuse and acute 
 angles of the cross streets and blocks of houses, 
 although converging to a common point. 
 
 There are two small villages in the district, one 
 named Whittlesea and the other Tylden. The former 
 was the scene of an heroic defence by the burghers 
 during the last war ; and the latter was. named in 
 honour of a gallant officer, Colonel Tylden, who with 
 a small number of volunteers, drawn up in line like 
 the " thin red line " of the Highlanders at Balaklava,
 
 THE STORMBERG COAL-BEDS. 217 
 
 met and defeated hordes of Kafirs led by the Chief 
 Kreli, on the open flats of the Imvani. The burghers 
 of Queen's Town are notably the flower and chivalry 
 of border farmers, both Dutch and English. They 
 are active, intelligent, and enterprising. To this is 
 greatly attributable the rapid advancement of the 
 division, which is certain to attain to still greater 
 importance when the railway between it and the 
 nearest port, East London, is constructed. 
 
 Above Queen's Town, the plateau of the Storm- 
 bergen rises to a height of over 6,000 feet, forming 
 the watershed of the country, the rivers from one 
 side flowing into the Orange River, and those on the 
 other falling seawards. To the north-westward they 
 are called the Bamboosbergen, while the continuation 
 of the chain to the north-east is known as the AVitte- 
 bergen and Drakensberg, or Quathlamba Mountains. 
 They are flat-topped or conical, and singularly uni- 
 form in character ; the horizontal beds of sandstone 
 and shale, of which they are built, cropping out in 
 parallel tiers all round their sides. The harder beds 
 of sandstone, sometimes seven or eight in number, 
 stand out in bold relief, while the softer shales usually 
 form grassy slopes between, and here and there they 
 are traversed by greenstone or trap rock, occasionally 
 forming horizontal cappings. It is in these mountains 
 that the Mesozoic carboniferous seams occur. At 
 Bushman's Hoek, half-way between Queen's Town 
 and Burghersdorp, the coal has been worked for some 
 time past, and many hundred tons are used for local 
 consumption, within a radius of eighty miles from the 
 pit's mouth ; beyond that distance the cost of carriage 
 is at present prohibitive. In Albert, Aliwal, and 
 Wodehouse, as in many of the Midland districts, fuel 
 is very scarce, and that ordinarily used is disagreeable 
 and expensive, being principally dried manure obtained 
 from sheep kraals, or mimosa sticks. The presence
 
 218 ALBERT — BURGHERSDORP. 
 
 of coal is therefore of vital consequence. At present 
 it is employed and answers well, at Queen's Town 
 and other places, for steam flour mills, steam wool- 
 washes, and ordinary domestic purposes. Last year 
 it was very successfully tested by the Government 
 engineer at the East London harbour works, when it 
 was found to give sixty pounds of steam in thirty 
 minutes, and after working all day, using 500 lb., of 
 coal, there were no clinkers, but a good deal of ash. 
 On the next day a trial was made with Welsh and 
 Tanfield coal, producing exactly similar results ; so 
 that the 500 lb. of Stormberg coal proved to be as 
 good as that imported. The largest workings of these 
 mines hitherto has been at Mr. Vice's, near the newly 
 formed village of " Molteno," but there are many 
 other seams all the way from within a few miles of 
 Burghersdorp, eastward beyond Dordrecht; and 
 there are indications of further deposits extending 
 northward and eastward in Basutoland and Kaffraria, 
 as well as Natal. 
 
 From the Stormbergen the country gradually 
 descends towards the Orange River, the coal-bearing 
 rocks being left behind near Burghersdorp, and the 
 Upper Karoo, or dicynodon beds, similar to those of the 
 Cradock and Queen's Town basins, again entered upon. 
 Here are situate the north-eastern border districts of 
 Albert, Aliwal North, Herschel, and Wodehouse, the 
 greater portion of w T hich was declared part of the 
 Colony in 1848. 
 
 The first of these, the district of Albert, is almost 
 entirely pastoral in its nature. The farms are large 
 and well adapted for sheep, cattle, and horses. Nearly 
 all the farmers are Dutch, and although education 
 has not as yet done much for them, they are wealthy, 
 contented, and essentially conservative in their notions. 
 Agriculture answers well where irrigation can be 
 carried out by means of reservoirs, but owing to the
 
 ALIWAL NORTH, 219 
 
 cost of carriage to the sea port, the raising of grain 
 for export has never yet been attempted. The Storm- 
 berg Spruit is the only river of any size in the district . 
 
 Burghersdorp is the town and seat of magistracy, 
 and is a well laid out and regularly built place. Most 
 of the inhabitants are English, with a considerable 
 number of Germans. There are several public build- 
 ings, of which the chief are the Dutch Reformed 
 Church, the church of those who have separated 
 themselves from that body, the " Doppers," the 
 Church of England, a dissenting place of worship, 
 town-hall, academy, masonic lodge, &c. In all the 
 towns of these districts a large number of houses 
 belong to the farming population, who inhabit them 
 only from Saturday to Monday, when they come in 
 to attend service. On such occasions the towns pre- 
 sent a comparatively crowded appearance, very 
 different from the other days of the week. The 
 Bethulie drift, beyond Burghersdorp, crosses the 
 Orange River on the direct route to Bloemfontein, 
 Free State, and is an important route for wagon 
 traffic from Port Elizabeth. 
 
 The district of Aliwal North is similar to that of 
 Albert, except towards the north-east, where it is 
 extremely mountainous, and in parts inaccessible for 
 vehicles. The latter portion forms a separate ward, or 
 field-cornetcy, called New England, and differs from 
 the rest of the district by being a rich grain-producing 
 country. The soil is exceedingly fertile, and the 
 rainfall sufficiently steady to admit of cultivation 
 without irrigation. Wheat, maize, oats, potatoes, &c, 
 are raised to a large extent, and find a ready market, 
 chiefly at the Diamond-fields. Pastoral farming, 
 however, is not neglected, and is increasing ; the 
 obstacles at present are the too great richness of the 
 herbage, and to a less extent the wetness of the 
 country. This part of the district was formally
 
 220 ALIWAL NORTH. 
 
 settled in 1866, upon the same terms of occupa- 
 tion as the Queen's Town grantees before mentioned. 
 This servitude has, however, been since removed, and 
 has caused a great impetus to farming. Ground 
 which was originally sold for £100 would now find a 
 ready sale at £1,000, and in many cases much more. 
 
 With a very few exceptions, all land in this district 
 is held in freehold, subject to an annual quitrent of a 
 few pounds ; the average size of farms may be 4,000 
 acres. Fully three-fourths of the district form part 
 of the watershed of the Kraai River, a large and 
 important feeder of the Orange River, with which it 
 unites near the town of Aliwal North. The Kraai 
 (or Crow) River has an average breadth of about 120 
 feet, and varies in depth from a few feet in winter to 
 some fifteen in summer, when it becomes a dangerous 
 torrent, bringing down trees and debris, with which the 
 banks are lined everywhere. Considerable use is 
 made of this river for irrigation purposes and for 
 driving mills. In times of severe drought the water 
 is invaluable, since, owing to its sources being in the 
 Drakensberg, or Quathlamba Mountains, at an altitude 
 of some 7,500 feet above the sea, this is one of the 
 few South African rivers which has never been known 
 entirely to " dry up," and its use for watering stock 
 becomes of great importance when every other source 
 of supply has ceased to flow. 
 
 The climate of this district is peculiar. Owing to 
 the great difference of altitude of from about 6,500 
 feet in New England to some 4,500 in the lower parts 
 there is considerable variation. In the higher parts 
 the cold is very severe, and frosts may occur in any 
 month of the year, except, perhaps, January and 
 February. At the town of Aliwal North, which is 
 about the lowest part above the sea, the greatest 
 temperature registered in the shade is 106° Fahr., and 
 lowest, 11° to 21° below freezing point. Frosts may
 
 ALIWAL NOPwTH. 221 
 
 be expected from April to August. In summer, 
 although the heat is great, the nights are never 
 oppressive, which is not the case in the lower districts 
 of the Colony. In winter the nights are exceedingly 
 cold, but the days are generally bright and genial. 
 The mean annual rainfall (according to observations 
 made from 1866 to 1874) was 25*31 inches, extending 
 over ninety-five rainy days. 
 
 The average value of land throughout the district 
 may be taken at 10s. per acre, including whatever 
 homesteads, buildings, or improvements are on each 
 farm. 
 
 The chief town is Aliwal North, situate on the 
 Orange River. It contains about 900 inhabitants, of 
 whom 800 are Europeans and the remainder coloured, 
 chiefly Basutos and Hottentots. The town is not 
 well laid out, but the streets are wide, and gardens 
 are numerous and well kept. The township is irri- 
 gated by water from two mineral springs, led into the 
 town by a furrow about two miles long The supply 
 is constant, and is unaffected by rain or drought. 
 This water, although not the best for vegetation, is 
 useful for some crops. The cereals all flourish on it, 
 but leguminous plants, and indeed most others, do not 
 thrive well, although they are kept from perishing 
 during drought until rain falls. At the source where 
 the fountains well-out with much force, the water has 
 a constant temperature of 98° Fahr., and possesses a 
 disodour, of which visitors are unpleasantly aware, 
 but which one ceases to perceive after a while. By 
 the time the water reaches the town the smell disap- 
 pears, and the temperature is reduced to that of the air. 
 These springs should be better known than is the 
 case, as their healing properties for cutaneous and 
 rheumatic affections have been established beyond 
 doubt. The inhabitants make considerable use of the 
 waters, and occasionally strangers come and pitch
 
 222 ALIWAL NORTH. 
 
 their tents alongside to obtain benefit from a course 
 of bathing. 
 
 Aliwal North possesses no less than five churches ; 
 that of the Dutch Reformed Church and the recently 
 erected one of the Primitive Methodists (the only one 
 in the Cape) have some pretensions to architectural 
 design. There is a public library, and also a literary 
 society. The Magistrate's and Civil Commis- 
 sioner's offices, and the post office, are spacious and 
 convenient, but will shortly be surpassed by some fine 
 buildings about to be erected by Government at a 
 cost of some £5,000. The bank is a flourishing insti- 
 tution, and trade generally appears to be carried on 
 with energy and profit. The town is fast increasing 
 in size and importance, and is regarded as one of the 
 most flourishing of border settlements. It was founded 
 in 1848 by Sir Harry Smith — the hero of Aliwal. 
 
 The Orange River has here one of the best fords to 
 be found. The river is some 900 feet broad, and 
 when the stream is full, which may be from November 
 to March, the traffic is ferried across on pontoons 
 sufficiently large and strong to bear a loaded wagon 
 and sixteen oxen ; and as there are several of these 
 structures working close together, a very animated 
 scene occurs after a flood, or any detention which 
 causes wagons to accumulate. The traffic is very 
 extensive, this being the chief route between the sea 
 ports and the Free State and Diamond-fields, as well 
 as Basutoland. Provision has been made by Govern- 
 ment for the construction of an iron bridge over the 
 river at a cost of £40,000. 
 
 About four miles distant, on the Kraai River, 
 which, as before mentioned, joins the Orange River 
 near the town, is a large and important wool-washing 
 establishment, where this most necessary operation is 
 carried on in a vigorous and extensive manner, and on 
 a scale far beyond most places of the kind, except
 
 LADY GREY — HERSCHEL. 223 
 
 Uitenhage. The importance of wool being washed 
 near the spot where it is grown will be apparent when 
 it is borne in mind that one of the greatest, and in 
 some cases, the only* drawback to some of the Cape 
 exports is the cost of land carriage. On wool this is 
 about l^d. per lb., of which half the weight is grease 
 and dirt, costiug this sum to the sea port. As the 
 wool must be washed previous to use, it is evidently 
 a gain to do this before incurring the cost of carriage. 
 The risk of erecting mill works on the Kraai, or 
 indeed any South African river, is, however, very 
 great, owing to sudden and devastating floods. In 
 the present instance the works have twice been swept 
 away in recent years. 
 
 Lady Grey is the second town of importance in the 
 district, and is situated at the base of the Lady Grey 
 hills, about thirty miles south-east of Aliwal North. 
 As the town does not yet possess a " through " road, and 
 is inaccessible from but one direction, the place cannot 
 well progress, to any extent, until the back country of 
 New England be communicated with. The origin 
 of this town was a church which the farmers attended 
 when the Kraai Eiver was impassable, or the distance 
 was felt to be too great to attend Aliwal North. The 
 leaders of the congregation bought the farm, laid out 
 a township, sold the erven upon a quit-rent, and thus 
 secured an income for their church. Some shops of 
 importance have since been opened, and although not 
 an increasing place, the trade is of a healthy character, 
 and competes with Aliwal North. 
 
 Until recently the district of Herschel formed part 
 of that of Aliwal North ; it is now separated for all 
 but electoral purposes . — together they send two 
 members to the House of Assembly. Herschel, for- 
 
 For instance, maize is sold in London at about 28s. per sack; here 
 it eosts os. to 7s. 6d., but the land carriage to nearest seaport increases 
 it to 35s. per bag. If this were 15s. it -would answer to export.
 
 224 HERSCHEL. 
 
 merly known as the Wittebergen Reserve, is unlike 
 other districts, inasmuch as the land is not divided 
 into farms, but the whole extent is reserved for the 
 use of native tribes. These are located in different 
 parts, under the direction of the resident magistrate. 
 Although the ground has not been sub-divided in any 
 manner, the inhabitants are nevertheless disposed of 
 in regular native villages under the care of a " head- 
 man," who is made responsible to the magistrate for 
 the good conduct of those under his charge. The 
 sites of such collections of huts are chosen for reasons 
 which make them suitable for village purposes, — as, for 
 instance, nearness to good grazing ground, arable 
 land, good water, &c. There are about 25,000 
 coloured inhabitants, and a few hundred Europeans, 
 mostly traders who set up business near to native 
 villages, or wherever natives can be got together. 
 There are almost forty such shops in the district. 
 The gross revenue, chiefly derivable from a tax which 
 natives pay for each hut they build, amounts to 
 £3,000, of which Government expends £700 in 
 keeping up the magistrate's establishment. No Euro- 
 pean is allowed to own soil in this district, and indeed 
 can only open business upon sufferance, for which 
 Government sanction must first be obtained. The 
 natives consisting chiefly of Basutos, Eingoes, and 
 Bastards, raise immense quantities of maize, wheat, 
 &c, and, like the farmers of the ward of New Eng- 
 land, which they adjoin, supply the country for a 
 considerable distance, as far as the Diamond-fields. 
 About 35,000 sacks of grain is estimated to be the 
 annual amount raised. This is the country to which 
 natives retire after a time of successful service down 
 in the Colony, and to which they are continually 
 returning, generally laden with stock as the reward 
 of service. Stock thus accumulates to a great extent ; 
 in fact, the whole district is fully grazed, and flocks
 
 WODEHOUSE. 225 
 
 require to be sent away from time to time to new 
 pasturage in Basutoland or elsewhere. The country 
 generally is exceedingly beautiful, and the scenery 
 grand ; the mountains are imposing, and there is 
 nothing of Nature on a small scale. All water flows 
 direct into the Orange River, which bounds the dis- 
 trict on the north side. In most respects the country 
 is identical with New England, before described. It 
 forms, in fact, one range of mountains, of which the 
 highest ridge is taken as the separating line. Except 
 on horseback, these mountains cannot be crossed, and 
 no communication between Herschel and New Eng- 
 land can be effected but by an enormous detour, 
 twice the direct distance. 
 
 The district of "Wodehouse was created as recently 
 as 1872, by portions being taken out of the sur- 
 rounding districts of Queen's Town, Albert, and 
 Aliwal North, the last-named contributing more than 
 two-thirds of the whole extent. Probably this is 
 the coldest district, as it is the most elevated, in the 
 whole Colony. The Stormbergen range crosses it 
 and divides the watershed of the rivers which flow 
 eastward into the Indian Ocean, such as the Indwe 
 and Kei, and those which feed the Orange River flow- 
 ing westward. 
 
 Wodehouse differs from Aliwal North chiefly in its 
 possessing more of mountain country, similar to New 
 England, which it adjoins, the Kraai River being 
 the boundary. This tract has but recently been, 
 added to the surveyed portion of the Colony, 
 and had been known for many years previously under 
 the general name of Waschbank lands. It ex- 
 tends to the ridge of the Drakensberg or Quathlamba, 
 from which one can see across Nomanslaud even to 
 the Indian Ocean. This portion of the district of 
 Wodehouse is farmed at the disadvantage of possess- 
 ing no "brak soil," without which stock cannot thrive 
 Q
 
 226 BARKLY. 
 
 or even exist long. Hence farmers must purchase 
 salt to a large extent; and the evil of dear and ineffi- 
 cient land carriage is forcibly shown by increasing 
 this necessary article from 7s. 6d. a bag at Port Eliza- 
 beth to 50s. before it reaches the consumer. 
 
 A township has been laid out sixty miles to the north- 
 east of Dordrecht in the Lange Kloof, and named after 
 the present Governor, (i Barkly." It is expected to 
 succeed, as Dordrecht, the capital of the district, is 
 too far distant to be often visited. The neighbour- 
 hood is supplied with shops, which are scattered all 
 over the country, and a Dutch Reformed Church has 
 been nourishing for some years. In all likelihood 
 there is no part of the Colony where farms are so 
 mountainous as in these highlands. One is lost in the 
 deep kloofs and gorges, and a plain is altogether 
 unknown. As might be expected, the country is well 
 supplied with rain, and crops can be cultivated to any 
 extent. No storing of water in dams or reservoirs is 
 necessary, nor would such structures stand against 
 the torrents which rush down when heavy storms 
 occur, fc'tock is farmed at a disadvantage, however, 
 owino- to the extreme cold in winter, snow falling 
 from April to August or September: and farming is not 
 yet sufficiently advanced to provide shelter during the 
 severe weather, and still less to raise crops for use in 
 such seasons. Hence great numbers of sheep, horses, 
 and cattle succumb at times, and flocks do not in- 
 crease as fast as in other parts of the district. Grain 
 could be sent away in great quantities but for the bad 
 state of the roads, which at present are barely pas- 
 sable, and at times not even that; matters are, however, 
 mending in this respect. The inhabitants have 
 pioneered a new route to the sea coast across the 
 Drakensberg, which, if properly opened up, may 
 prove of great use. This road proceeds from Barkly 
 alono- the^Langekloof to the summit of the Drakens-
 
 DORDRECHT. 227 
 
 berg, where it descends abruptly some thousand feet 
 near the sources of the T'Somo, a tributary of the 
 Great Kei, and joins the main road through Kafir- 
 land, having communication with East London and 
 Natal on one hand, and King William's Town on the 
 other. 
 
 Dordrecht, the seat of magistracy, distant forty- 
 eight miles from Queen's Town, has the same history 
 as to origin and progress as Lady Grey. It has, 
 however, gone far beyond the latter place in material 
 prosperity, since it is fed by traffic and business from 
 all directions, and has steadily advanced in size and 
 importance for some years past. The site in itself, 
 however, is bad in nearly all respects, and little can 
 be done to make the place attractive, except for 
 business purposes. The usual buildings in a country 
 town of this size have been erected, such as public 
 offices and town-hall, Dutch Reformed Church, bank, 
 public library, &c. Close by the town is a kloof, form- 
 ing in some parts natural and picturesque grottos, which 
 abound in old drawings of Bushmen. These drawings 
 are found in caves, or on smooth pieces of rocks, and 
 in general the subjects are either animals or something 
 of a war-like character. Most of the representations 
 are in colour, and, remembering they must have been 
 done many years ago by a race now nearly extinct, 
 they have a peculiar interest attached to them. There 
 are many specimens in other parts of the district, 
 and they are naturally cherished by those to whom 
 they now belong. It is a matter of regret that time 
 is slowly effacing all these ingenious works of Bush- 
 men, and that probably in another half century not 
 one will remain. Fac-similies have been preserved by 
 Mr. G ,W. Stow and others, but real specimens for 
 museums can seldom, if ever, be detached from the 
 massive rocks on which the drawings are invariably 
 made. 
 Q 2
 
 228 THE BORDER SEAPORTS. 
 
 As in Albert and Aliwal North, the wealth of 
 Wodehouse is derived from pastoral pursuits, wool 
 being the chief product. The present prohibitive land 
 carriage discourages the raising of corn beyond the 
 immediate requirements of the inhabitants. The 
 value of lands here, however, has increased from the 
 upset price of 7s. 6d. per morgen, fixed by Govern- 
 ment in 1872, to 15s. to 25s. per morgen, according 
 to the improvements made. The country generally 
 is treeless, although towards Nomansland the yellow- 
 wood grows, and its timber is of value ; for purposes 
 where sun and moisture are excluded it answers well, 
 but when exposed it warps and twists in an extraor- 
 dinary manner, 
 
 A large portion of the Tambookie location is 
 enclosed within the division of Wodehouse on the 
 north-eastern side, and though the population is not 
 so dense as in the adjoining part (in the division of 
 Queen's Town) it may be estimated at 10,000, includ- 
 ing Fingoes and Basutos. The resident magistrate, 
 as the representative of Government, is looked upon 
 as "the chief" by these natives, the mass of whom 
 are heathen, not attached to the Government by any 
 warm feeling of loyalty, but by self-interest in the 
 security of property, impartial administration of jus- 
 tice, and facilities of accumulating wealth. About 
 400 bales of wool are yearly produced in the location, 
 and almost every native has a horse, cows, and sheep, 
 or goats ; some have wagons, and agriculture is greatly 
 extending amongst them. 
 
 The nearest sea-port for these north-eastern Border 
 districts is the Buffalo River mouth, at East London, 
 about 130 miles from Aliwal North via Queen's 
 Town and King "William's Town. But Port Eliza- 
 beth, although 330 miles distant, is at present the 
 place through which the greater part of the imports 
 are made, — the usual mode of carriage being the
 
 EAST LONDON HARBOUR. 229 
 
 lumbering ox-wagon, which, when drawn by sixteen 
 oxen, carries about four tons at a rate of about 
 twelve or fifteen miles per day. To remedy the 
 disadvantage of such expensive and tedious transport, 
 works designed to improve the harbour of East 
 London, and a railway from there to near the foot of 
 the Stormbergen, have been authorised by Parliament, 
 and are now in course of construction. The railway 
 as far as Queen's Town will be 150 miles in length, and 
 is calculated, with stock, to cost £1,069,000. Already 
 the earthworks have been made up to King William's 
 Town, and in another year the first portion may be 
 opened for traffic. The importance of the under- 
 taking in its immediate benefit to trade, as well as in 
 its indirect influences upon the civilization of the native 
 races, cannot be too highly estimated. The country 
 traversed by it is one of the richest and fairest parts 
 of the Colony, capable of supporting a dense popula- 
 tion, and producing agricultural and pastoral products 
 almost to an unlimited extent, while adjacent to it 
 are the territories of Kaffraria, Basutoland, the Free 
 JState, &c. 
 
 The success of the harbour improvements at East 
 London will likewise have an important bearing on 
 these districts and territories. If the a bar " at the 
 Buffalo River mouth can be removed, the broad 
 deep reaches inside will form the most commodious 
 natural docks possible, with water acreage and 
 quayage sufficient to accommodate several hundred 
 ships or steamers. Every other year the floods or 
 freshets in the river serve to clear the bar to a depth 
 of seventeen feet, and vessels are then able to pass 
 inside and discharge cargo without the use of surf- 
 boats or the delays and risk attendant upon lying at 
 an open anchorage outside ; but usually after these 
 floods the bar is liable to silt up again. The works 
 now in progress, under the direction of Sir John
 
 230 THE BORDER TRADE. 
 
 Coode, are intended to keep the passage permanently 
 clear. Training walls, which will form quays, are 
 being built inside the river so as to narrow the channel 
 and thereby increase the scour, and a breakwater of 
 concrete blocks, like that of Portland, is being built 
 in the form of an arm outside, to prevent the sea from 
 checking the action of the river and driving the sand 
 back upon the bar. Notwithstanding the disadvan- 
 tage of uncertainty which the port has hitherto 
 laboured under, its trade has made remarkable pro- 
 gress. The value of direct imports has advanced 
 from £51,000 in 1872 to £527,521 in 1874; while the 
 exports, which in 1870 were £33,000, amounted to 
 £96,985 in 1874. The quantity of wool shipped in 
 this last year was 1,340,579 lb., but in 1872 it was 
 higher, viz, 2,060,067 lb. It should be borne in 
 mind, as already stated, that in addition to this a large 
 portion of the Border trade still finds its way through 
 Port Elizabeth. 
 
 The Border trade comprises a very extensive busi- 
 ness with the native Kafirs, Fingoes, and Basutos. 
 King William's Town and Queen's Town are the 
 centres where this branch of commerce is especially 
 studied and developed, hundreds of shops and out- 
 stations having been established by them through- 
 out the several locations, as far as St. John's River 
 and its tributaries, and over the mountains into 
 Basutoland, supplying native wants. For the "red 
 Kafirs," or heathens, there are varieties of beads, 
 brass-wire, chains, and red clay, of which they are 
 large consumers. For those in a transition state 
 there are imported ornaments such as arm-rings 5 
 bracelets, ear-rings, &c. ; but the chief item is the 
 woollen blanket, — it is generally in use, and at least 
 60,000 change hands at King William's Town in the 
 course of a year. Cotton blankets and sheets are 
 also in request. The demand for European clothing
 
 NATIVE PRODUCE. 231 
 
 as well as for agricultural implements is greatly on 
 the increase. The purchasing power of the natives 
 for these and other articles is at present estimated at 
 not less than £400,000 a year, and their productions 
 — such as wool, Angora hair, hides, horns, goat and 
 sheep skins, tobacco, and grain, and cattle — are 
 valued at three-quarters of a million sterling per 
 annum. The amount of native produce purchased 
 by one firm alone in King William's Town we know 
 to have been over £58,000, from January to 
 December, 1873. Wool forms the chief staple among 
 the Fingoes and Kafirs, but in the district of 
 Herschel a great deal of grain is raised, and Basuto- 
 land last year supplied 300,000 bushels to the Free 
 State and Diamond-fields. Leaf tobacco is produced 
 in considerable quantities by the Gralekas and Pondas; 
 and the natives near St. John's River do a large 
 trade in cattle, taking blankets and other articles in 
 exchange. 
 
 This industrial progress of the natives, so observ- 
 able in many directions, is very hopeful of promise for 
 the future. The increasing desire to possess property, 
 as evidenced by the eagerness with which they com- 
 pete at the Government sales of land or leases, — their 
 demand for ploughs, of which more have been sold 
 within the last two years than during the ten years 
 before, — for wagons, saddles, tools, and household 
 requisites, and clothing, — all show that they are rapidly 
 acquiring wants which will induce amongst them a 
 spirit of work and labour as opposed to the spirit of 
 idleness hitherto characteristic of their race. Another 
 favourable indication is the willingness with which 
 they now pay for the education of their children, 
 whereas formerly they considered they conferred a 
 favour by sending them to free institutions. At 
 the Lovedale Industrial Seminary last year, about 
 £1,000 was paid by natives ; and the Rev. Mr. Mullins,
 
 232 NATIVE PROGRESS. 
 
 principal of the Kafir Institution at Graham's Town, 
 says "it is quite cheering to witness the readiness 
 with which they pay for education now as compared 
 with a few years ago." In Fingoland £1,500 has 
 been subscribed by the people themselves for an 
 industrial institution similar to Lovedale, and although 
 some may have contributed to please others over 
 them, there is little doubt the work has originated 
 from an honest desire on the part of a great many to 
 place educational advantages within the reach of 
 their children. There are a few colonists who may 
 not regard these movements very favourably, and are 
 occasionally loud in denouncing the thousands of 
 "niggers wallowing in idleness, pampered by mis- 
 sionaries and other philanthropists," while their fields 
 and flocks are without labourers or herds. The 
 Kafirs and Fingoes take all such vapouring very 
 philosophically, seeing no reason why they should 
 work for the farmers' benefit. But civilize them, 
 increase their wants, show them the value of labour 
 to themselves, and the result will be very different. 
 This is what the missionaries in Kafirland are labour- 
 ing to accomplish ; and much of the progress the 
 natives have hitherto made is due to them.
 
 SFASONS AND CLIMATE. 
 
 To many persons the clear sky and brilliant atmos- 
 phere of the Cape are an attraction in themselves, 
 apart from more material considerations the colony 
 may present. Being situate in the temperate zone, 
 it possesses the mildness and salubrity so congenial 
 to invalids, or those of delicate frame ; and yet one 
 may select within its borders, according to the locality 
 and the time of the year chosen, whatever tempera- 
 ture or weather may be thought desirable for enjoy- 
 ment — whether pleasant, fine, and dry, or wet and in- 
 clement — extreme heat, or bracing frost and snow — 
 such are the transitions obtainable as at the different 
 seasons the coast is exchanged for the inland plains 
 or the high mountain lands. 
 
 The seasons come in reverse order to what they do 
 in the northern hemisphere, and may be thus defined : 
 
 AT THE CAPE 
 
 December-.. . 
 January ... 
 February ... . 
 
 March 
 April 
 May ... . 
 
 June... 
 July,.. ., 
 August .. 
 
 September 
 October ., 
 November 
 
 1 
 J 
 
 =} 
 
 Summer. 
 
 Autumn. 
 
 Winter. 
 
 Spring. 
 
 { 
 
 Iff EUROPE. 
 June, 
 July, 
 
 August. 
 
 C September, 
 
 < October, 
 
 ( November. 
 
 C December, 
 
 < January, 
 ( February, 
 
 f March, 
 \ April, 
 (May.
 
 234 CLIMATE. 
 
 There is, however, some difference in the period of 
 the commencement, as well as in the character, of the 
 seasons in the south-western and north-eastern por- 
 tions of the Colony. In the west the seasons are 
 generally a month earlier than in the east. The 
 north-west winds prevail during the winter of the 
 west, carrying regular and copious supplies of rain 
 to the first boundary of the Karoo plains; whilst in the 
 east, during the spring and summer, the north-eastern 
 winds, laden with moisture from the ocean, scatter 
 refreshing and fertilizing showers. In the central 
 basin of the Colony, again, the rain fall is more 
 irregular and limited, being greatly dependant upon 
 the electrical conditions of the atmosphere. 
 
 The Colony, generally speaking, is not a hot 
 country. The greatest heat of calm summer days is 
 not more than in the hottest parts of Europe ; and 
 these are extraordinary, and last but for a short time. 
 The prevailing winds and the dry atmosphere temper 
 such excesses, rendering the warmest day quite sup- 
 portable ; and the balmy coolness of the nights are 
 surpassingly agreeable and enjoyable. Nearly all 
 the old travellers and visitors testify to the beauty of 
 the climate, and in the statistics of the Army Medical 
 Department it stands as one of the healthiest in the 
 world. This has led to its being highly recommended 
 as a sanitarium for European invalids, especially 
 those suffering from the various forms of pulmonary 
 diseases. The researches of Major Tulloch and Dr. 
 Balfour show that the low ratio of mortality among 
 the troops stationed here in their time was greatly 
 attributable to the extreme rarity of diseases of the 
 lungs ; and Dr. Ross, the health officer of Cape 
 Town, has shown from the books of Somerset 
 Hospital that, out of 2,722 patients sent there for 
 treatment of all types of diseases, not more than 84 
 have died of lung complications in five years. These
 
 SANITARIUM. 235 
 
 facts, as well as the remarkable exemption from 
 cholera, fevers, nepatic, and other affections which 
 colonists have hitherto enjoyed, are set forth by Dr. 
 Ross in an interesting paper on i( Our Climate,"* 
 published in 1869, in which he says: — u Here, then, 
 in South Africa, we can offer a home to the delicate 
 which, within a moderate radius from Cape Town, 
 affords several distinct climates for those whose lungs, 
 livers, or joints are painfully out of gear. These 
 atmospheric differences are as distinctly marked by 
 local peculiarities and characteristics as are Torquay, 
 Bournemouth, Hastings, or the Isle of Wight, and 
 are all within the soothing influences of sea breezes 
 and the sandy beaches of our numerous bays. It is 
 partly owing to the shelter of woods, and partly to 
 the proximity of mountain peaks, that there is such a 
 very pleasant difference to be found in the qualities 
 of the air and the degrees of temperature along our 
 coast, both of the eastern and western provinces. 
 The intervention, too, of hills, and the existence of 
 well-wooded ravines, are not confined to a few favoured 
 spots, but form a feature of the colony, which, in con- 
 nection with elevation above level of the sea, and the 
 direction and velocity of local winds, makes all the 
 difference between the Frontier, Seaboard, and Karoo 
 districts, and which are, on the question of residence, 
 a fit subject for medical advice. . . . The best 
 period for arrival is towards the end of August. A 
 long sea voyage by sailing vessel is an admirable 
 introduction to the lovely scenes which September, at 
 the Cape, yearly produces. The fields are then 
 covered with verdure : the hills and plains are brilliant 
 with patches of bulbs and heather in full bloom ; and 
 all nature is gay with the surpassing freshness and 
 variety of spring. The air is then truly intoxicating ; 
 while the purity and transparency of the atmosphere 
 
 * Vide " The Cape and its People." Juta & Co., Cape Town.
 
 236 THE CAPE WINTER. 
 
 is such as literally to stagger the minds of many who 
 have been only accustomed to judge of distances 
 through the medium of haze, and cannot be brought 
 to realise the fact that mountains fifty miles off are 
 as plainly visible as if within half-an -hour's walk, and 
 to the naked eye as minutely traceable as by aid of 
 telescope. ... It is, however, in winter months 
 that Cape Town forms the most pleasant of residences 
 for invalids. Being well sheltered by mountains, 
 there is always plenty of calm, clear weather, and 
 even in the stormiest season of the year, as in May, 
 when the north-west gales are tossing enormous 
 breakers against our iron-bound coast, and but for 
 breakwater works would be making wild havoc among 
 the shipping of our bays, a night of destruction will 
 be followed by perfectly heavenly weather, lasting 
 perhaps for five or six clays. During this period of 
 exquisitely calm and temperate days, we are always 
 blessed with Italian skies, and with air so cool, so soft, 
 so dry, so grateful to the lungs, that it is a positive 
 source of happiness to feel oneself to be alive." " No 
 climate in the world," says Dr. Stovell, " could be 
 more agreeable to the feelings — and very few more 
 beneficial for the usual class of Indian invalids — than 
 a Cape winter. There is an invigorating freshness 
 about this season equally delightful and beneficial ; 
 the moment the rain ceases the clouds rapidly clear 
 away, and the sky remains bright for several days." 
 
 More recently, in the Lancet for 1873, a valuable 
 series of papers have been contributed by a lay corres- 
 pondent who has had personal experience of the country 
 as an invalid, and who declares that, "taking the 
 whole of the colony into consideration, there are few 
 better climates in the world than can be found here." 
 
 Meteorological observations have been, and are 
 still being carried on in various divisions of the 
 Colony, under the auspices of a commission appointed
 
 HIGHEST AND LOWEST TEMPERATURE. 
 
 237 
 
 by Government, and the tabulated results obtained 
 generally published in the official Blue-book. But at 
 the Royal Observatory, in the neighbourhood of Cape 
 Town, there has been a systematic register kept for 
 many years, which shows as a result that the mean 
 temperature of the air throughout the year is about 
 61° 26' Fahr., in the shade, the hottest days being in 
 January, with an average ^temperature of 68° 92', the 
 coldest about July, with an average temperature of 
 54° 03'. Elsewhere the observations have not been 
 extended over anylong period, but they are sufficiently 
 reliable to serve as an index to the climate. For 
 instance, we have the extreme limits of temperature 
 at the following points : — 
 
 
 
 HIGHER 
 
 T. 
 
 
 
 LOWEST 
 
 
 
 Graaff - Reinet 
 
 1865 
 
 December 20 
 
 
 
 105-0 
 
 1864 
 
 June 
 
 24 
 
 o 
 28-0 
 
 Worcester 
 
 1868 
 
 January 
 
 10 
 
 106-5 
 
 ("1862 
 1 1863 
 
 May 
 June 
 
 30) 
 28/ 
 
 29-5 
 
 Moss el Bay ... 
 
 1862 
 
 March 
 
 24 
 
 97-0 
 
 1862 
 
 July 
 
 17 
 
 39-0 
 
 Port Elizabeth 
 
 1867 
 
 January 
 
 31 
 
 92-0 
 
 1868 
 
 August 
 
 22 
 
 41-0 
 
 Simon's Town 
 
 1865 
 
 March 
 
 11 
 
 95-0 
 
 1862 
 
 September 25 
 
 42-0 
 
 *Amalienstein 
 
 1868 
 
 January 
 
 11 
 
 110-7 
 
 1fte ^fJuue 17 
 186 'iJuly 
 
 ■£} 
 
 27-5 
 
 Royal Obser- \ 
 vatory J 
 
 1864 
 
 March 
 
 18 
 
 99-5 
 
 1864 
 
 June 
 
 8 
 
 39-8 
 
 Graham's Town 
 
 1858 
 
 February 
 
 6 
 
 106-5 
 
 1856 
 
 August 
 
 8 
 
 32-5 
 
 Aliwal North... 
 
 1867 
 
 December 24 
 
 93-0 
 
 1867 
 
 June 
 
 21 
 
 20-0 
 
 * This is still less than ia South Australia, where, during the hot 
 months of January, February, and March, the temperature of the 
 air on the plains about Adelaide exceeds 100 deg. for several days 
 together, and rises to 115 deg.
 
 238 
 
 THE EASTERN COAST. 
 
 The general observations made at Graham's Town, 
 Graaff-Reinet, and Worcester are also very noticeable. 
 
 Graaff-Reinet,... 
 Worcester 
 
 Graham's Town 
 
 Height 
 
 above 
 
 sea level. 
 
 Mean 
 Temper- 
 ature. 
 
 Mean 
 daily 
 range. 
 
 Rainfall. 
 
 Feet, 
 2,517 
 
 64-41 
 
 24-52 
 
 13-196 
 
 77G 
 
 62-88 
 
 24-91 
 
 1J-795 
 
 1,750 
 
 62-65 
 
 18.59 
 
 32-591 
 
 Humid- 
 ity. 
 
 55-98 
 54-99 
 70'30 
 
 We have here in evidence the high and great range 
 of temperature, the small amount of rainfall, and 
 humidity of the air at Graaff-Reinet. At Worcester 
 the annual temperature is 1*5 degrees lower, yet the 
 ranges, humidity, and rainfall are pretty nearly the 
 same. At Graham's Town the mean temperature is 
 2 decrees lower than at Graaff-Reinet, but the diurnal 
 rano-e is 6 degrees less, and the rainfall 32^ inches, or 
 2^ times more abundant. The times of obser- 
 vation are not coincident, but the intervals are 
 of sufficient length to establish the relative 
 types. 
 
 On the western coast, north to Namaqu aland and 
 Bushmanland — a tract of country particularly dry — 
 there are marked extremes of heat and cold, which 
 Mr. Wyley, in his observations on the climate there, 
 attributes to the great evaporation caused by the dry 
 winds which sweep over it. 
 
 On the eastern side of the Colony, up to the 
 boundary of the Great Kei River, and n earing the 
 tropic of Capricorn, there is an approach to a semi- 
 tropical climate ; but the winds from the Ocean, 
 and the elevated formation of the country proceeding
 
 EAINFALL. 239 
 
 inland, considerably modify the effect of decreasing 
 latitude. The land rises in a series of steppes 
 from the sea to the interior, and the higher country 
 has a most bracing atmosphere. The air is dry, 
 and in summer warm, but never, or only for a 
 short time, oppressively so, owing to its dryness. 
 During winter, again, on the coast, the warm ocean 
 current coming down from the tropics moderates the 
 temperature ; and during the season, if there are any 
 frosts, they are not sufficient to kill, or even damage, 
 any sub-tropical plants that may be under cultivation 
 But in the Midland and Border districts thick ice is 
 formed on the water, and there are sometimes very 
 heavy snowstorms ; and on the mountain ranges the 
 snow lies for several days together. In the south- 
 western districts, as a rule, fires are only used in the 
 dwelling-houses for cooking purposes ; but in the 
 highlands of the midland and north-eastern parts, the 
 cold is such as to require the old familiar comforts 
 of "home." 
 
 The rainfall in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, 
 and over a considerable part of the Colony, is equal 
 during the year to the average fall at Greenwich or 
 Edinburgh. During twenty years of observation 
 recorded at the Royal Observatory, the mean quan- 
 tity was upwards of 24 inches---the lowest being 18*8 
 inches in 1844, and the highest 36*7 inches in 1859. 
 But the impression of a wet or dry year sometimes 
 depends less on the quantity than on the number of 
 days on which rain falls, so as seasonably to promote 
 the germination and growth of vegetable productions. 
 We have a guide to this in the following table, showing 
 the number of days on which rain fell in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Cape Town in the years 1752, 1858, 
 1859, and 1862 ; and any departure from this average 
 is exceptional. The first is extracted from the 
 journals of the French astronomer, La Caille (who was
 
 240 
 
 RAINFALL, 
 
 herein 1752), and the others are given by Sir Thomas 
 Maclear : — 
 
 5^ 
 1 
 
 CS 
 
 Pi 
 
 CO 
 
 t-5 
 
 3 
 a) 
 
 p 
 
 03 
 
 < 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 S3 
 
 1-5 
 
 
 -4-3 
 CO 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 a) 
 
 W. 
 
 M 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 <L> 
 
 a 
 
 0) 
 
 o 
 
 n 
 
 J* 
 
 03 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 O "08 
 
 a- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 days days 
 
 days 
 
 days 
 
 dys 
 
 dys 
 
 days 
 
 in. 
 
 1752 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 8 
 
 103 
 
 ... 
 
 1858 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 93 
 
 24-1 
 
 1859 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 105 
 
 36-7 
 
 1862 
 
 4 
 
 G 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 105 
 
 32-0 
 
 The rainfall of the country districts occurs in a very 
 singular way. Generally, beyond the first range of 
 mountains the supply of moisture diminishes, and some 
 tracts will be for many months without even a passing 
 shower. From the registers, we find the fall at 
 Bishop's Court and Wynberg, along Table Mountain, 
 as high as 44 and 39 inches per annum respectively ; 
 while at Worcester it is only 1 1 inches ; at Bredas- 
 dor'p (Caledon Coast), 14 inches ; at Amalienstein, 
 31 inches ; at Concordia, Namaqualand, about 9 
 inches ; at Lower Nels Point (Beaufort West), 9J 
 inches ; Goliath's Kraal, near Graaff-Reniet, 13 J 
 inches ; at Port Elizabeth, 26 inches ; at Graaff-Eeinet, 
 14 inches : and at A'liwal North* about 25 inches. It 
 
 * From observations taken byR. Dowling, Esq., from 1866 to 1874 
 the mean rainfall at Aliwal North was deduced as follows — Rainfall 
 for January is 3*775 inches, with 24 rainy days; February, 4*89 
 inches, with 11 # 5 rainy days ; March, 3-32 inches, with 12-5 rainy 
 days ; April, 1-83 inches, with 8 rainy days ; May, I'll inches, with 
 7 rainy days ; June, '56 inches, with 2 rainy days ; July, -47 inches, 
 with 3 rainy days ; August, -51 inches, with 4 rainy days ; September, 
 •77 inches, with 6 rainy days ; October, 2-04 inches, with 8 rainy 
 days ; November, 2;87 inches, with 9 rainy days ; December, 2*99 
 inches, with 10 rainy days— giving a mean annual fall of 25-31 inches, 
 extending over 95 rainy dsys.
 
 THE "SOUTH-EASTER" TABLECLOTH. 241 
 
 increases towards Kaffraria, and on to Natal, where 
 the rains are inter-tropical. However, even the driest 
 districts of the Colony at times are visited by deluging 
 thunderstorms, and every year the rivers tumble into 
 the sea as much water as might convert the whole 
 country into corn-fields, vineyards, orchards, and rich 
 pastures, if only proper measures were taken for 
 using it — 
 
 If we could but stay the streams 
 Which past us flow, while we, too slow, 
 
 Stand wrapt on the bank in dreams. 
 
 The winds which generally prevail at the Cape, as 
 already stated, are the north-west and south-east ; 
 others only last a short time, and frequently are 
 merely transitions from the north-west to south-east 
 and vice versa. There is a notable phenomena attend- 
 ing one of these winds — the "south-easter" or the 
 " Cape doctor " as it has been termed, which blows 
 most frequently from November to March. Then 
 appears the cloud on Table Mountain known as the 
 (( Table Cloth," which to a stranger has a singular 
 effect, and in certain conditions is to every observer 
 of Nature, no matter how often he may have seen it, 
 a truly magnificent sight. The wind charged with 
 vapour rises from the sea south-east of the Cape in 
 masses of white fleecy cloud which steal over the 
 mountain until they cover the highest summit with a 
 dense white sheet, the upper surface of which usually 
 assumes a well-defined outline, and appears to remain 
 stationary, — a veritable table cloth, — while the lower 
 part condensed by contact with the heated rock dis- 
 appears in light woolly flakes as soon as it has fallen 
 a few yards ; or at other times rolls like a mighty 
 cataract, a perfect Niagara of vapour, over the pre- 
 cipitous sides of the mountain, until it becomes 
 invisible and blows with tempestuous force over the 
 valley and city, raising whirlwinds of dust and drying 
 up the ground and gardens. 
 B
 
 242 HAIL AND THUNDER-STORMS. 
 
 Hot winds are experienced occasionally during 
 summer in some of the Eastern Districts. They blow 
 from the north-west, carrying with them waves of 
 heated air from the central plains, and raising the 
 temperature to 118° and 120°. Fortunately, they 
 are not of long duration, for they are most objection- 
 able and uncomfortable. 
 
 Hail storms are not very common in the south-west, 
 but in the Northern and Border districts they occur 
 with such violence as to cause considerable damage to 
 vegetation and stock. 
 
 Thunderstorms are also comparatively rare in the 
 neighbourhood of Cape Town, but more inland and 
 along the Northern and Eastern border they are fre- 
 quent and at times very fearful and grand. The 
 ordinary indications of their approach are snowy 
 clouds rising on the horizon, and swelling and darken- 
 ing until the lightning flashes along them and the 
 thunder peals out with prolonged and increas- 
 ing reverberation. It is then a magnificent sight 
 to watch the brilliant colours and forms of the 
 electric discharges and their varied track against the 
 inky black sky — now forked, now straight, now 
 zig-zagged, now in quivering rays and horizontal 
 flashes, appearing and disappearing rapidly, in the 
 twinkling of an eye. Such striking exhibitions of 
 Nature's elements, however, do not last very long ; 
 after them the rain ceases, clouds roll up and disperse, 
 and a delicious and exhilarating cool atmosphere 
 succeeds.
 
 LAND TENURE AND LAND LAWS- 
 
 Although the greater portion of the most valuable 
 land within the old settled parts of the Colony has 
 already been alienated and become the property of 
 private individuals, there are still many eligible spots 
 in the coast districts, and large tracts in the Midland 
 and Northern territories, which belong to the Govern- 
 ment. These are approximately estimated at 50,000,000 
 acres. This colonial domain embraces dry pastoral 
 plains, rich forest lands, and well-watered mountain 
 slopes, capable of yielding varied productions. Until 
 lately no effort was made to turn these possessions to 
 account, and they were allowed to lie waste and 
 unoccupied. The exigencies of Government, how- 
 ever, enforced attention to them a few years since, 
 and the result has been the enactment of land laws 
 offering facilities for lease and purchase to all classes 
 of people, which are gradually bringing the whole 
 country under occupation and developing a rich mine 
 of wealth in the expanding rent-roll of the Colony. 
 
 Before stating what these laws are, we may briefly 
 glance at the systems under which lands were ^ranted 
 in the " good old times." The early settlers, after 
 the first occupation of the Cape by Van Eiebeek, had 
 small freeholds given to them along the skirts of 
 Table Mountain ; these did not exceed twenty acres, 
 and were burdened with the payment of tithes and 
 other servitudes — to one of which, the planting of trees, 
 the vicinity of Cape Town is still indebted for its 
 present embellishment. In addition to this, tracts of 
 land adjoining those freeholds, or in other parts, were 
 granted under the name of "loan places." The 
 tenure of these was at the will of Government. Anv- 
 il 2
 
 244 LOAN-PLACES. 
 
 one desiring a loan farm selected the spot he deemed 
 suitable, planted his mark and put down his name for 
 it for a while to make trial of it, or to see if any one 
 had ground of objection ; if not, he got it on loan or 
 annual lease, renewable on payment of the rent fixed 
 by the Government — generally an assessment of one- 
 tenth of the stock the ground was estimated to main- 
 tain, or a nominal value of £4 16s. per annum. No 
 legal title was issued, nor survey made ; the position 
 of the land being defined by a central point, which 
 was generally a local feature, as a spring of water or 
 conspicuous rock, and often a beacon was placed 
 when no local feature existed. From this central 
 point commonly known as the " ordinantie," the right 
 of the lessee extended no further than a walk of half 
 an hour direct, which was considered to be, and 
 adopted as the radius of a circle containing 3,000 
 morgen (over 6,000 acres). The uncertainty of the 
 ({ loan " tenure does not seem to have prevented the fre- 
 quent transfer of those places by sale, and although the 
 buildings and improvements were the only property 
 that was ostensibly sold, the value of the land was- 
 allowed to be indirectly included in the consideration ; 
 and a transfer duty (the " heerenrecht ") was levied 
 upon this, as well as upon all other lands and houses 
 which exchanged hands, from as early a date as 1686. 
 These " freehold " and " loan " tenures and some 
 short " quitrent leases " were the terms on which 
 lands were held up to the time of the cession of the 
 Colony to England. Then in October, 1812, a pro- 
 clamation was issued expressing the "intention of 
 Government to grant land on perpetual quitrent," 
 and in the following year it was determined to allow 
 the holders of all lands on loan who might regularly 
 apply for the same, to convert their places into per- 
 petual quitrent properties, and to hold the same 
 hereditarily for the annual payment of a sum to be
 
 QUITRENT TENURE. 245 
 
 prescribed according to the situation, fertility, and 
 other circumstances of the ground, but in no case to 
 exceed 250 rix-dollars (£18 15s.) per annum. The 
 object of this was, as Governor Sir John Cradock's 
 proclamation states, a paternal desire on the part of 
 Government to give to the farmers the security of 
 title to their land without any claim to resumption, so 
 that they might be encouraged to " improve and extend 
 agriculture by having the right to dispose of their 
 places as they chose, by dividing the same among 
 their children, letting, selling, or otherwise alienating 
 it, and cultivating it in the prospect of remote benefit 
 by the planting of timber, $-c." Thua began the per- 
 petual quitrent tenure, a small annual payment 
 dependent on the value and circumstances of the land, 
 which continues in force as an essential feature of the 
 laws at the present time. In all cases, however, the 
 Government made a reservation of its rights on those 
 lands to precious stones, gold and silver, as well as of 
 making and repairing roads, and raising material for 
 that purpose. 
 
 During the period up to 1830, the disposal of 
 colonial lands was the prerogative of the Crown, exer- 
 cised by the Governor, and there are many stories 
 told of the manner in which the colonists in these 
 early days secured farms by favour or interest. This 
 system, however, was set aside by instructions from 
 the Secretary of State in May, 1838, and the rule 
 laid down that lands in future were not to be alienated 
 except by public sale, and that no further applications 
 for loan or " request places " would be received. A 
 few years later, in 1843, the redemption of quitrent 
 and the converson of the tenure into freehold on the 
 payment of fifteen year's purchase was sanctioned as 
 a temporary measure, in order to replenish the 
 colonial exchequer. At the first sales which 
 were held at that time (1844), the upset price
 
 246 PRESENT LAND LAWS. 
 
 was by rule fixed at 2s. per acre, and many ex- 
 tensive and valuable areas got into the hands of 
 speculators, who retained them in many cases un- 
 occupied until a favourable opportunity occurred of 
 disposing of them. In a short period the proprietors 
 saw their estates growing more valuable every year, 
 independently of labour, industry, or skill ; while in 
 cases where these were exercised, a certain competence 
 and largely increased wealth was ensured. The advan- 
 tage to the Government, however, was not so evident, 
 and an apprehension that the continuance of the system 
 would lead to results similar to those which followed 
 the destruction of the goose that laid the golden eggs 
 caused a stop to be put to it. 
 
 A special exception to the general rule in the dis- 
 posal of land, was made after the last war, when Sir 
 George Cathcart, and subsequently Sir George Grey, 
 gave grants of farms on the frontier and in Kaffraria, 
 on conditions of military service or defensive occupa- 
 tion ; but these conditions being found no longer neces- 
 sary, have since been relaxed, and the occupants con- 
 tinued in possession on the general quitrent tenure. 
 
 The Land Law of the Colony now in force is con- 
 tained in the Act No. 2 of 1860, which provides for 
 the sale of all Government lands on perpetual quit- 
 rent by public auction, excepting grants made for 
 public purposes with the concurrence of the Legis- 
 lature. A subsequent enactment (Act 19 of 1864) 
 authorises lands to be leased by public auction for 
 periods of from two to twenty-one years ; and another 
 (Act 5 of 1870) gives the lessees permission with the 
 consent of Government at any time during the con- 
 tinuation of their twenty-one years' leases to purchase 
 the land at a sum not less than the rent capitalised at 
 six per cent., and a quitrent of £1 per cent. For the 
 encouragement of small agriculturists a further Act 
 was passed (No. 4 of 1870) making provision for the
 
 HOW TO SECURE LAND. 247 
 
 disposal of agricultural areas in allotments of not 
 more than 500 acres ; the terms, for conditional pur- 
 chase, being an annual rental of one shilling per acre ; 
 and of absolute purchase, the payment in advance of 
 ten years' annual rent, and the expenses of survey 
 and title. Extents of Crown land not yet surveyed 
 are let by the civil commissioners from year to year 
 by auction, without reserve, the various lots being 
 roughly defined by description only, published in the 
 Government Gazette. 
 
 To acquire land under the Act of 1860, the first 
 step is to make application for its purchase to the 
 Colonial Secretary, or to the Divisional Council of 
 the district in which it is situate, setting forth as far 
 as practicable the position, boundaries, and extent of 
 the land referred to. This application is referred to 
 the Surveyor-General and also to the Divisonal 
 Council as a local land board, who may make an 
 inspection and report as to any circumstances con- 
 nected with it, and give instructions as to survey, 
 diagram, &c, being prepared, the amount of cost of 
 which the applicant may be called upon at once to 
 deposit. These reports being favourable, the Sur- 
 veyor-General takes steps for fixing a day for the sale 
 of the land, which, after being duly advertised, is held 
 by public auction at the office of the civil commissioner 
 of the division. It is usual to name an upset price 
 which will cover at least the expenses of inspection, 
 survey, erection of beacons, and title-deed, and then 
 it is disposed of to the highest bidder. The conditions 
 as to payment of the purchase-money are, that the 
 survey expenses be paid on the day of sale, and one 
 fourth of the balance within three months after, failing 
 which the sale lapses. When the sale is effected the 
 purchaser has the option of discharging the whole or 
 any portion of the remaining three-fourths of the 
 purchase amount at once, or by passing the necessary
 
 248 THE LEASING SYSTEM. 
 
 bond to mortgage the land for the balance, payable in 
 three instalments at five, six, and seven years respec- 
 tively, with interest at 6 per cent, per annum. 
 
 Parties wishing to secure small pieces of Govern- 
 ment land adjacent to their own properties, and 
 within the watershed, may make application for the 
 same, and according to the recommendation of the 
 Divisional Council or the Surveyor-General, such 
 ground may be so allotted or divided amongst two or 
 more farms as may be deemed just and expedient, at 
 a reasonable and equitable price to be fixed by the 
 Council and approved of by the Governor not being 
 less than the expenses of survey, deed, &c, and sub- 
 ject to a quitrent. 
 
 Of late years, the Land Law of 1860 has not been 
 so largely availed of as previously, excepting for the 
 purposes last mentioned of securing particular lots of 
 land. 
 
 The Act of 1870, which enables lease-holders to 
 convert their leases into perpetual quitrent tenure, is 
 now more generally taken advantage of by those who 
 are desirous of making purchases of extensive tracts of 
 the waste lands. The mode of leasing is regulated by 
 Act 19 of 1864 and Act 4 of 1867, which empower 
 the Governor, with the advice of the Divisional 
 Council, to offer lands for lease at public auction for 
 a term not exceeding twenty-one years, to the bidder 
 of the highest annual rent, not being less than an 
 upset price fixed according to the average value of 
 the land. The lands offered for lease, and the terms 
 and conditions of lease are advertised from time to 
 time in the Government Gazette, and the local papers. 
 The rent is to be paid annually, and payment for the 
 first three years is to be secured by sufficient securities, 
 but a payment of two years' rent in advance may be 
 made in lieu of giving such securities. The lease is 
 not transferable, nor to be sublet, either wholly or in
 
 THE OPTION OF PURCHASE. 249 
 
 part, without the previous sanction of the Govern- 
 ment, but the latter has the right at any time of 
 resuming the whole or part of the land so leased on 
 giving compensation to the lessee or remitting portion 
 of the rent as may be agreed upon by arbitration. 
 When a lease has not been sold for the upset price at 
 auction, the Governor may dispose of it by tender or 
 private contract, at any rent exceeding the highest 
 offered at the sale, but only for a term of twelve 
 months, when it has again to be put up to public sale, 
 and if a higher bid than the private offer should then 
 be made, and proper security given, Government is 
 bound to grant the lease to such highest bidder. 
 
 The liberty of purchase of the property so leased is 
 provided for by Act No. 5 of 1870, which gives to the 
 Government the option of selling, but requires that 
 the sum received shall not be less than that which, 
 capitalized or reckoned as a principal sum at six per 
 cent, would produce a yearly rent equal to the rent 
 reserved on such lease ; and in the event of the 
 amount demanded by Government being greater than 
 euch principal sum, the matter may be referred to 
 arbitration. The land is also subject to a perpetual 
 quitrent of one per cent, on the purchase-money. As 
 soon as the price is agreed upon, the amount may be 
 paid at once, when title will be immediately granted, 
 or the purchaser may pay it in three instalments, the 
 first forthwith, and the other two at intervals of one 
 year respectively ; but until the entire sum is paid 
 the terms of the subsisting lease continue. 
 
 The progress of the occupation of land under the 
 leasing Act of 1864 has been very marked. During 
 1866 the quantity of land leased was 605,118 morgen; 
 in 1867, it was 731,372 morgen ; in 1868 it was 137,345 
 morgen; in 1869, 1,154,759 morgen; in 1871, 
 1,730,729 morgen ; in 1872, 2,051,354 morgen; and 
 in 1873, 1,625,159 morgen. The rents paid vary 
 according to locality and circumstances. In 1867 the
 
 250 RENTS OF LANDS. 
 
 average yearly rent realised -per 100 morgen was in 
 Albany, £2 4s. ; in Cradock, £2 5s. 4d. ; in Hope 
 Town, 16s. 8d. ; in Colesberg, £1 10s. 3d.; inFraser- 
 burg, 13s. 8d. ; in Biversdale, 3s/ 3d. ; in Worcester 
 (Karoo), Is. 6d. ; in Eichmond, £l Os. 8d. ; in 
 Malmesbury, £2 ; and (in 1868) at GraanvReinet, 
 19s. 9d. ; Murraysburg, £l Is.; Victoria West, 8s. 
 2d. ; Namaqualand, lis.; Hope Town, 18s. Id. ; and 
 Cradock, £l 3s. 9d. In 1873, the rents per 100 
 morgen were: — At Humansdorp, 12s.; Clanwilliam, 
 3s. ; Uitenhage, £2 9s. ; Robertson, ~4s. ; Victoria 
 West, £1 3s. ; Beaufort West, £2 5s. ; Queen's 
 Town, £4 ; Cradock, £3 18s. ; Prince Albert, 
 15s.; Fraserburg, 18s. The rate for King William's 
 Town division was £16 14s. per 100 morgen, but 
 this is exceptional, being principally for Kabousie 
 allotments with commonage rights, and otherwise for 
 comparatively small sections of good land. The rate 
 of rents for the whole Colony for 1873 was £1 6s., 
 and excluding King William's Town, £1 3s. per 100 
 morgen. 
 
 The increase of the rent-roll of the Colony is shown 
 by the following returns of the land revenue from 
 1870:— 
 
 
 
 1870. 
 
 1871. 
 
 1872. 
 
 1873. 
 
 Quitrent ... ... 
 
 
 £24,726 
 
 £25,807 
 
 £27,127 
 
 £25,725 
 
 Lease Kent under Act 19 of 
 
 
 
 
 
 1864 
 
 ... 
 
 19,797 
 
 28,683 
 
 46,582 
 
 62,429 
 
 Do. other Leases ... 
 
 ... 
 
 8,999 
 
 10,297 
 
 15,523 
 
 9,306 
 
 Hut Tax ... 
 
 ... 
 
 8,384 
 
 11,052 
 
 10,656 
 
 12,275 
 
 Islands 
 
 mm 
 
 1,636 
 
 1,246 
 
 1,548 
 
 983 
 
 Timber Licences ... 
 
 ... 
 
 662 
 
 1,120 
 
 1,530 
 
 2,549 
 
 Fishing do. 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 .. 
 
 ... 
 
 63 
 
 Mineral Leases 
 
 •>. 
 
 43 
 
 51 
 
 152 
 
 86 
 
 Licences to Grazing 
 
 Cattle 
 
 1,116 
 
 1,513 
 
 932 
 
 577 
 
 Do. remove 
 
 Guano 
 
 
 
 
 
 and Sale ... 
 
 542 
 
 623 
 
 209 
 
 333 
 
 Do. cut Firewood 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 Sundry Receipts ... 
 
 +•9 
 
 38 
 
 15 
 
 21 
 
 39 
 
 Total ...£65,935 £80,407 £104,280 £114,365
 
 AVERAGE PRICE OF LAND. 
 
 
 From the preceding, it will be seen that the rents 
 received in 1873 for waste lands leased under Act 
 19 of 1864 amounted to £62,429. _ This at six per 
 cent, (the minimum rate of conversion) would give 
 upwards of £1,000,000 as representing the value of 
 the lands then surveyed and leased if realised under 
 the provisions of Act No. 5 of 1870. The survey of 
 many more millions of morgen of these waste lands is 
 still proceeding, and from time to time these are put 
 up to public competition. 
 
 The purchase-amount of the lands sold under the Act 
 5 of 1870, up to the end of 1873 approached near to 
 £300,000 besides yielding a perpetual quitrent of one 
 per cent, per annum. The whole of this capital sum 
 was until lately placed to the credit of the sinking fund, 
 set apart for the liquidation of the Colonial debt; 
 but now it is included in the general revenue available 
 for carrying on railway and other works. A sinking 
 fund for the repayment of the colonial debt has been 
 specially provided by the Consolidated Public Debts 
 Act of 1870, which will secure the extinction of the 
 whole debt in thirty-seven years. 
 
 The following figures showing the extent of the 
 lots of Crown lands sold, and the average value per 
 morgen* paid for them in 1873, will inform the reader 
 of the price at which these lands may be acquired in 
 the Cape Colony: — 
 
 Amount and Value of Crown Lands sold in 1873. 
 
 Division. 
 
 Extent of Lots. 
 
 Rate 
 
 r 
 
 Morgen. 
 
 ! q ds. Mor s en - 
 
 Sqr. Morgen. 
 Rds. 
 
 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Aliwal North . . 
 Albert .. 
 Albany... •. 
 
 705 
 1,221 
 1,186 
 
 20 
 
 ... 12 9 
 .. 10 
 .. 16 2 
 
 * A morgen may be assumed as equal to 2.11651016 imperial acres.
 
 252 
 
 PRICE OF LAND. 
 
 
 
 
 Exi 
 
 :ent op Lot& 
 
 
 Eate 
 
 "Dtvtrtov 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 n-c-D 
 
 XJ X V -LQi-V *> • 
 
 
 Morgen. 
 
 Sqr. 
 Eds. 
 
 Morgen. 
 
 Sqr. 
 Eds. 
 
 MOEGEN, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Beaufort West. . 
 
 • . 
 
 from 
 
 I 367 
 
 300 
 
 to 11,607 
 
 516 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 Bedford • . 
 
 • • 
 
 j> 
 
 674 
 
 . . 
 
 5, 1,721 
 
 213 
 
 
 
 8 4 
 
 Bathurst «• 
 
 • • 
 
 n 
 
 1,077 
 
 477 
 
 
 , . 
 
 
 
 7 6 
 
 Cradock • • 
 
 .. 
 
 jj 
 
 295 
 
 201 
 
 „ 3*205 
 
 252 
 
 
 
 7 O 
 
 Colesberg 
 
 .. 
 
 55 
 
 556 
 
 174 
 
 5, 7,284 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 2 8 
 
 Calvinia • . 
 
 • • 
 
 55 
 
 1,317 
 
 359 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 Cape 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 275 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 20 
 
 O 
 
 Clanwilliam . . 
 
 • . 
 
 55 
 
 2,433 
 
 398 
 
 "„ 2,635 
 
 133 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 East London . . 
 
 • • 
 
 55 
 
 559 
 
 30 
 
 m . 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 3 10 
 
 Fraserberg 
 
 • . 
 
 55 
 
 1,007 
 
 235 
 
 „ 14,362 
 
 280 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 Graaff-Reinet •• 
 
 • . 
 
 55 
 
 134 
 
 230 
 
 „ 10,200 
 
 450 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Hope Town • ■ 
 
 .. 
 
 55 
 
 136 
 
 6 
 
 „ 10,866 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 5 10 
 
 King William's Town . . 
 
 55 
 
 26 
 
 240 
 
 885 
 
 85 
 
 1 
 
 2 1 
 
 Mossel Bay . • 
 
 .. 
 
 55 
 
 1,060 
 
 240 
 
 • • 
 
 # . 
 
 
 
 5 6 
 
 Prince Albert . . 
 
 .. 
 
 55 
 
 507 
 
 96 
 
 „ 5,214 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 1 5 
 
 Queen's Town . . 
 
 • . 
 
 55 
 
 228 
 
 34 
 
 ., 6,420 
 
 526 
 
 
 
 9 6 
 
 Robertson 
 
 • . 
 
 5i 
 
 397 
 
 280 
 
 5, 4,628 
 
 531 
 
 
 
 2 1 
 
 Richmond 
 
 • • 
 
 55 
 
 1,878 
 
 569 
 
 „ 13,034 
 
 208 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 Swellendam • . 
 
 • • 
 
 55 
 
 525 
 
 425 
 
 „ 72,714 
 
 381 
 
 
 
 2 6 
 
 Somerset East.. 
 
 .. 
 
 •J 
 
 564 
 
 330 
 
 „ 2,239 
 
 384 
 
 10 1 
 
 Tulbagh 
 
 • . 
 
 55 
 
 3,618 
 
 5 
 
 „ 8,362 
 
 270 
 
 
 
 1 3 
 
 Uitennage 
 
 • . 
 
 >t 
 
 282 
 
 444 
 
 „ 5,358 
 
 253 
 
 
 
 5 1 
 
 Victoria West . . 
 
 . . 
 
 55 
 
 134 
 
 350 
 
 „ 28,989 
 
 270 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 Worcester 
 
 . # 
 
 5) 
 
 3,634 
 
 304 
 
 „ 17,997 
 
 512 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 Wodehouse • . 
 
 • • 
 
 55 
 
 837 
 
 565 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 
 
 6
 
 PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL 
 RESOURCES. 
 
 The Colony in its varied aspects and conditions, as 
 already described, gives scope for every kind of pas- 
 toral and agricultural occupation. Numerous flocks of 
 sheep and goats, and herds of cattle and horses, feed 
 entirely on the natural plants and grasses ; wheat, 
 and all sorts of grain, give astonishing returns from 
 the soil ; and most of the products of the temperate or 
 semi-tropical zone may with moderate ease and 
 trouble be successfully cultivated. Farming here is 
 accordingly, in judicious and industrious hands, a pro- 
 fitable as well as an independent employment. 
 
 It should be understood, however, by persons who 
 are desirous of pushing their fortunes in this direc 
 tion, that an initiation into the colonial peculiarities 
 of climate, seasons, soil, pasture, management of stock, 
 and,it may be added, native labour, as well as vernacular 
 Dutch, the spoken language of the country, will be of 
 very essential service. A new-comer would therefore 
 do well to take up his residence for a time, or even to 
 seek an engagement for a short period, with a good 
 colonial farmer, whence he would soon acquire a 
 knowledge and an experience that would be invaluable, 
 and which with energy and enterprise would ensure 
 success. 
 
 The conditions of life upon a Cape farm are much 
 dependent upon the locality and character of the 
 place. In the old settled districts — especially Stellen- 
 bosch, Drakenstein, and the Paarl — there are many 
 magnificent estates, the possession of which one would 
 be loth to exchange for all the attractions of a Con-
 
 254 CAPE FARMS. 
 
 tinental principality. Situate on the hillsides, or 
 nestling in the valleys, the homesteads are surrounded 
 by trimly-kept vineyards and corn lands, or embowered 
 among trees, orangeries, or orchards. They are large, 
 substantial, white-washed, thatch-roofed dwellings, 
 built of stone or brick, with a paved stoep or terrace 
 along the front, and an ornamental central gable rising 
 over the doorway to the level of the ridge of the roof, 
 in the old Flemish < style. The rooms are usually 
 lofty, cool, and spacious, with polished boarded floors 
 and ceiling, formed of the colonial yellow-wood. In 
 many of these houses will be found every finished com- 
 fort of home life — music, pictures, books, and flowers, 
 Indicating the culture and tastes of the family ; and 
 the visitor who is introduced to them is invariably 
 treated and cared for, during all the time of his stay, 
 with unbounded hospitality. On the front and rear 
 of the main dwellings there are long ranges of out- 
 buildings, forming the wine cellars, grain stores, 
 stables, and servants' quarters. Then there is gene- 
 rally an enclosure for cows and heifers, a kraal for sheep 
 or goats, or a camp for ostriches. There is also an open 
 square, termed the "werf," where three or four horses may 
 be picking leisurely at the grass, while knee-haltered 
 
 that is, the head attached to the fore leg by a thong, 
 
 tied in a peculiar knot below the knee. Or, standing 
 under the trees on one side, there will be a Cape cart — 
 something like an English spring dogcart, but covered 
 with a tent of white canvas, supported on a light 
 wooden frame-work. Or, failing the cart, there will 
 be the genuine Cape ox wagon, with its glistening 
 white canvas tilt, the heavy "reimschoen" beneath 
 and the long " trektow " with its yokes attached, 
 coiled neatly together and lying against the head of 
 the pole or " disselboom," and the great bamboo whip- 
 stick and thong of plaited hide laid carefully along the 
 side.
 
 CAPE FAPwMS. 255 
 
 Within a radius of about a hundred miles from 
 Cape Town, homesteads with surroundings of such a 
 description may be seen at short intervals, almost 
 within sight of each other ; but after crossing the 
 mountains and entering the Karoo they are few and 
 far apart. The dwellings then met with are of a more 
 primitive fashion — small houses of stone, or soft brick, 
 thatched with straw or reeds, the rooms only three or 
 four in number, and the floors of earth, or clay, 
 or smeared with cattle manure — while adjacent to them 
 are the sheep kraals, and a few huts or "pondoks" 
 (the native shepherds' quarters), where ebony-coloured 
 urchins are rolling about in company of goats, fowls, 
 or tame springboks. The picture may be relieved by 
 some weather-beaten thorn or fig trees, or a clump of 
 poplars, with a little bit of garden and cultivated 
 ground ; but usually it is bare and desolate enough. 
 Many occupiers of such places are for several months 
 of the year on the "trek,"— moving away with their 
 flocks for change of pasture, and they and their families 
 enjoying the healthy air of the plains, and living for 
 weeks together in wagons or tents, or reed huts 
 known as " haartebeeste houses " — only returning to 
 their homes after the rains have fallen, when the fresh 
 young grass has sprung up, or the aromatic bushes are 
 flowering, and the country to the grazier's eye is 
 " supremely beautiful." 
 
 The residences of the principal flock-masters in the 
 Midland districts are, however, very comfortable 
 quarters. Many of them, indeed, are big establish- 
 ments, sometimes approaching to little villages, and 
 embracing trading places which supply the general 
 wants of themselves and neighbours, who may be far 
 distant from a township. The stores at such stations 
 combine everything for which a demand is likely to 
 arise — produce as frequently as money being taken in 
 exchange for the merchandise. There may also be a
 
 256 SHEEP-FAKMING. 
 
 smith's or a wagon maker's shop, a mill, or a wayside 
 hotel, all carried on by the same energetic individual, 
 uniting the superintendence of these matters with 
 the ordinary avocation of sheep, cattle, or ostrich 
 farming. This business versatility is, however, more 
 generally met with as one proceeds northward and 
 eastward. In the Eastern and Border districts, too, the 
 farmhouses are of the square, brick-built English 
 style, sometimes having thatch, or tile, but generally 
 flat, or corrugated iron roofs, with cosy, comfortable 
 interiors. Along the undulating slopes of Lower 
 Albany, and over the mound-shaped hills of British 
 Kaffraria, more than anywhere else, these settlers' 
 homes approach in appearance to those of the rural 
 districts of the old country. 
 
 Sheep and wool form the chief pastoral produc- 
 tions of the Colony, affording occupation to the 
 greater part of its inhabitants, and contributing the 
 principal amount to its exports. The origin of this 
 industry dates back about eighty years. A Colonel 
 Gordon, who was then (1790) in the Dutch service, 
 received some thoroughbred Spanish rams from 
 Europe. A few of these he parted with to the 
 Van Been en family, who made a commencement 
 with them among ewes of the Cape hairy sheep, and in 
 nine years afterwards 150 of these half-bred sheep 
 gave them 3,300 head, carrying a good fleece. After 
 Colonel Gordon's death several of his pure flock were 
 taken by the captain of a merchant vessel from the 
 Cape to New South "Wales, where they fell into the 
 hands of Captain McArthur, and formed the original 
 stock of the merino sheep in that part of Australia. 
 
 Prior to this, the old colonists had the hairy, fat- 
 tailed sheep of the country, which made very good 
 mutton, and was prized for cooking purposes — the 
 heavy tail taking the place of lard, while the skin was 
 highly valued for tanning for home-made shoes,
 
 SHEEP-FARMING. 257 
 
 jackets, and even breeches, familiarly known as 
 " velbrooken." The farmers were very slow to appre 
 ciate the advantage of the wool-bearing animals. 
 Apathy, and the prejudice proverbially ascribed to 
 pastoral inhabitants in all countries ; also the want of 
 ready money to pay for rams, and the suggested 
 difficulty of getting the fleece washed on the sheep's 
 back — in those days considered a sine qua non — all 
 contributed to impede the new enterprise. Still, in 
 1804, a merchant in Cape Town, Mr. McDonald, was 
 able to purchase from one grower 4,000 lb. of wool 
 for exportation. Another grower, who had been pre 
 sented by a mercantile firm with a merino ram, came 
 up from the Graaff-Reinet district to market with his 
 usual supply of butter, skins, &c, and about 50 lb. or 
 100 lb. of wool from the first cross. After disposing 
 of his load, he exhibited his small bag of wool, and 
 several merchants purposely ran it up to a fictitious 
 price — the astonished Boer receiving as much for it 
 as for his whole load of butter. He returned home 
 with his wagon full of rams, and the story of his 
 wool sale did more than any argument, entreaty, or 
 arbitrary order of the Government could have done to 
 make what was then known as the country around the 
 Sneeuwberg a wool-producing district. 
 
 At a later period, flocks of pure-bred sheep, similar 
 to Lord Western's stock, were imported by Governor 
 Lord Charles Somerset, and kept at the Government 
 farm at Groote Post ; and several others were intro 
 duced by the English settlers of 1820. Once the in- 
 dustry was fairly set in motion, a spirit of rivalry 
 amongst those engaged in it was soon evoked. Messrs. 
 Reitz and Breda, in Swellendam ; Mr. Van Reenen, 
 of Ganze Kraal; Mr. Eksteen, of Platte Kloof; and 
 Mr. Proctor, of Drooge Vley, in the west ; and Lieut. 
 Daniell and Mr. T. White, in the district of Albany, 
 Mr. Dalgairns, of Uitenhage, and others in the east, 
 S
 
 258 SHEEP FARMING. 
 
 entered actively into it, and in 1830 the shipment of 
 wool rose to 33,000 lb. During the time that has 
 since elapsed it has multiplied and increased with 
 wonderful rapidity, the export now advancing close upon 
 fifty million pounds — equalling, if not actually sur- 
 passing, that of New South Wales and of New Zea- 
 land, and only eclipsed by the colony of Victoria. 
 
 Of late years our more intelligent sheep farmers 
 have fully realised the advantages of pure blood, and 
 have imported and bred pure merino flocks, by which 
 means the general average of the quality of our wool 
 is greatly improved. They have also eschewed the 
 introduction of any kind of English long-wool sheep 
 into their flocks, but endeavoured to perfect the 
 quality of the pure merino by judicious breeding and 
 selection. By this means several very fine flocks have 
 been established here, and we shall in a few years, if 
 the same sensible course is preserved, be able success- 
 fully to compete, as to quality, with the finest clips in 
 the London wool markets.* 
 
 Sheep farms are of various sizes. The general 
 average is somewhere above 3,000 morgen, or 6,000 
 acres. There are some, however, that are four 
 or five times this extent ; but then on these, as 
 on even the smaller ones, there are out-stations, 
 or divisions of both flocks and farm, under the 
 care of separate herds. The old and still most 
 common practice of farming is to graze the flocks 
 by day, under the care of a herd, who guides 
 their depasturing over the part of the farm allotted to 
 the special flock under his charge, and at evening time 
 
 . .. [Si^HjJ 
 * The Bamfcouillet breed have recently been greatly in favour. 
 Mr. Van der Byl, of Kachtwacht, Caledon, has had from one ram 
 and four ewes, imported five years ago, a progeny of 69 ; and of these 
 he has sold several rams, a few months old, to neighbouring farmers 
 for about £30 a-piece. The weight of fleece in the grease from these 
 sheep is 16 lb.
 
 SHEEP-FARMING. 259 
 
 drives them home to the kraal, where they are kept 
 all night. The kraal, or fold, is made of various 
 materials, the commonest fences being a high, thick 
 hedge of thorny bushes, or an enclosure built with 
 blocks cut out of the accumulated dung and debris of 
 the old kraal. Stone walls are erected in many places 
 where stones are handy, and in some of the more 
 exposed situations, where the farmer has the enter- 
 prise and the ability, the stone walls are converted 
 into sheds. The coming home of the flocks at night 
 is a pretty sight, and gives the full opportunity to the 
 owners to count them, look to their health, and other 
 matters of management, as well as to check depreda 
 tions both human and brute. But whatever may have 
 been, or is still, the necessity of the case, this kraaling 
 has no doubt an injurious etfect both on the farm and 
 the flocks, injuring the wool and the health of the 
 sheep, collecting the manure and strength of the land 
 into great useless heaps many feet deep, and wear- 
 ing out the pasture by the constant treading of the 
 ever-moving animals. Arrangements are being made 
 by some of the eastern and western farmers by which 
 the sheep can run night and day, and feed and rest at 
 their leisure in the open veldt, and many miles of 
 fences for this purpose have already been put up. 
 
 One of the chief diseases to which the sheep are 
 subject is the scab ; this, though not fatal, or only so 
 as it reduces the strength and condition of the sheep 
 and renders them unable to bear bad weather, is a 
 great trouble to the farmer. The "gal zeickte," 
 or gall sickness is also a common disease, and the 
 chief barrier to the rearing and grazing of sheep 
 in the Zuurveldt. There are a few other diseases, 
 such as the geel, tongue, and various forms of fever, 
 which in some parts of the country are occasionally 
 fatal. Another of them is the " fluke," the cause of 
 the rot, so well known in England. This scourge is 
 S 2
 
 260 SHEEP-FARMING. 
 
 confined to certain localities, and, though it causes 
 the loss of numbers of sheep now and then, is not so 
 destructive as in the old countries of Europe. All 
 over the sheep-farming districts there are large 
 spaces of ground which are saltish, known as " brak ;" 
 and though the ordinary herbage of the surrounding 
 veldt will not grow on these brak patches, salt 
 bushes flourish there, and this, with the ground itself, 
 which the sheep lick, will be, or rather is, found a 
 remedy or preventative to the spread of this parasite. 
 We have heard of no cases of fluke in the Karoo. 
 As the salt bush in Australia prevents or cures fluke, 
 so the bitter and saline plants of the Karoo are a 
 preventative. 
 
 There are some farms that used to carry sheep well 
 which do not now answer for them at all. This deterio- 
 ration has been brought about by one or two more 
 prominent causes. The first is overstocking when the 
 food gets scarce, as in time of drought the sheep eat all 
 the good plants down into the quick, and they die, and 
 as a consequence the inferior, useless, and unwhole- 
 some kind get an advantage and increase. The next 
 most obvious cause is the constant treading of 
 the sheep, by which the finer particles of the 
 soil get loosened, and in heavy rains washed away. 
 The remedy proposed is fencing-in these farms, and 
 giving them rest ; and under such treatment there is 
 hope they will in some degree recover, especially if 
 some little trouble is taken to extirpate useless weeds 
 and encourage the growth of grasses and other good 
 and nutritious plants. Some of the frontier farmers 
 are adopting the old plan of occupying two farms — one 
 suitable to the summer, and another for the winter. 
 This, when it can be carried out, is obviously 
 of considerable advantage, and in times of drought 
 will be found specially useful. While the lands at 
 the ordinary level maybe scorched and dried up, there
 
 SHEEP-FARMING. 261 
 
 is usually some rain, and consequently grass, on the 
 mountain ranges which constitute the summer farms. 
 
 Since the discovery of the Diamond-fields the 
 prices of all kinds of sheep have greatly increased. 
 Three or four years ago one could buy good "hamels" 
 (wethers) for 8s. 6d. each ; they are now, if fat, worth 
 fully double as much, and well-bred stock ewes 
 about the same price, or ordinary ones, about 10s. or 
 15s. each. Of course such prices make the increase, 
 or surplus, which is one of the sources of profit on 
 sheep farming, a very considerable item. 
 
 The average clip of wool in the twelve months from 
 the very best flocks in good seasons is about 8 lb. of 
 grease wool per sheep ; if this wool fetches 8d., which 
 some of it does, we have the annual return per head of 
 5s. 4d. But then, as already stated, the increase is 
 also a large item of profit in good years. A ewe flock 
 is supposed to raise 75 per cent, of its lambs, so that, 
 if there is an equal number of ewes and wethers in a 
 flock, we may predicate its doubling itself in four 
 years. Of course we are here speaking of a good 
 well-bred flock, with good management, in a fair 
 season.* 
 
 Some flocks there are that 1 do not return 51b. of 
 wool, and the wool scarcely fetches over 5d. per lb., 
 and the increase is nothing at all — either on account 
 of bad management, or being on a poor, worked-out 
 farm. In times of severe drought the best flocks and 
 the best farms cannot yield, of course, but a compara- 
 tively poor return. The last two years were very trying 
 ones to the flockmasters, there being a great drought 
 over some of the finest districts, so that the total wool 
 export for 1873 was only 40,000,0001b., and for 1874 
 43,000,0001b., against 48,000,000 lb. for 1872, which 
 was the largest hitherto known. 
 
 * We know of an instance in which 1,300 mixed sheep increased to 
 4,000 in less than four years.
 
 262 CAPE AND ANGORA GOATS. 
 
 Very many of our sheep farmers have flocks of 
 goats — in most cases the common goat of the country, 
 but often mixed with various grades of Angora blood. 
 These original goats are a very hardy race of animals, 
 and live where sheep cannot, and supply meat which, 
 though not equal to Southdown wether mutton, is 
 quite passable, and very useful on a farm. They 
 breed and increase very fast, having as many as five 
 kids at a birth, and seldom less than two, and are, 
 altogether, a useful animal, yielding a famous and 
 valuable skin.* We hardly think a goat farm would 
 pay by itself; yet a number of these animals are 
 useful, and not at all, or but very little, in the way of 
 the sheep. 
 
 Angoras are comparatively a recent introduction. 
 The first were brought to the Cape by a Colonel 
 Henderson in 1836, and the stock obtained from them 
 found its way to Caledon, Swellendam, Graaff- 
 Beniet, and Richmond. Messrs. Mosenthal Brothers, 
 who appreciated the value and importance of a fleece- 
 bearing goat as next to a wool-bearing sheep, tried to 
 obtain some pure-bred animals from Angora, and, in 
 1856, succeeded in doing so. About the same time 
 Dr. White obtained some fine stock, through Sir Titus 
 Salt, and since then several importations have been 
 effected by other private individuals and mercantile 
 firms. Unfortunately the same process of bastardisa- 
 tion was perpetrated on the imported Angoras as was 
 originally tried on the pure merinos, and, as we believe, 
 to the detriment of both. In the case of Angoras, we 
 had better have stuck to the pure blood, and depended 
 alone on the Datural increase for the extension of this 
 
 * The Cape goat skin is unequalled for the manufacture of superior 
 leathers. Between 300,000 and 400,000 of these are sold annually in 
 the London market, ■where they have realised as high as 95s. the 
 dozen. They are tanned in bark for the manufacture of black leather, 
 and in shumac for that of coloured leather, called morocco. — Vide 
 " Eobinson's Report on Vienna Exhibition, 1873."
 
 ANGORA GOATS 263 
 
 industry, than have filled the country with cross bred 
 nondescripts, that give neither profit nor satisfaction to 
 their owners. So much is the disadvantage of such a 
 method of breeding that many farmers are saying 
 Angoras won't pay, and returning to the old hairy 
 sort. Several of the larger breeders, however, are 
 fully aware of the value of pure blood, and are raising 
 flocks of true and uncrossed animals, although it will 
 take a little longer to get a large flock. Amongst these 
 breeders of pure stock we may mention Mr. J. B. 
 Evans, in the Zwaart Ruggens, whose clip of 5,0001b. 
 was sold the other day at Port Elizabeth for 3s. per 
 lb. Softness and fineness and lustre are the prime 
 qualities desired by the manufacturers in mohair, and 
 some samples sent out from the Chamber of Commerce 
 at Bradford well illustrated this fact ; for while one 
 sample was valued by these gentlemen at the metro- 
 polis of the mohair trade at 6s. per lb., others, and all 
 from Asia Minor, were valued at 3s. 6d. It is alone 
 a study of samples of mohair, under the guidance and 
 counsel of the manufacturers, that will enable a farmer 
 to understand what quality is most valued and more 
 valuable ; and it is the want of this knowledge that 
 has misled so many in the matter of crossing. 
 
 Angoras are the prettiest and merriest of our 
 domestic animals, and to see them coming home 
 through the veldt and bushes in the evening is a sight 
 any lover of animals would delight in. They look 
 like animated streams of pure milk flowing on towards 
 the homestead ; while their gambols and pranks — very 
 much like practical jokes, which they play off on each 
 other — are very amusing. Owing to their being all 
 white, and to the circumstance of their generally 
 lambing at the same time (as many as 100 kids being 
 •dropped at Mr. Evans's in one day), they require a 
 great deal of care in the lambing season. Th.e animals 
 themselves seem to be puzzled to recognise their
 
 264 THE MOHAIR TRADE. 
 
 young, and for a day or two the kids have to be given 
 to them. A time of drought, when the poor crea- 
 tures have little milk, is also very trying to the 
 farmer. The fleece is generally in perfection in July, 
 and it must then be taken from the animal, as other- 
 wise it begins to shed the best hair, and the growth of 
 the short summer hair begins to push its way amongst 
 the long, greatly to the depreciation in value of the 
 latter. July being one of the coldest months, there is 
 much danger of losing one's whole flock if a cold rain 
 should set in, as with their coats off they cannot stand 
 any inclement weather. Sheds are therefore indis- 
 pensable to shelter the goats for a fortnight or so after 
 shearing. In Asia Minor it is said that three drops of 
 rain falling on a goat after it is shorn is enough to kill it. 
 The advantage of breeding Angoras is that they 
 scarcely interfere with the pasture of the sheep flocks, 
 and will often live on herbage the latter discard ; 
 whilst the fleece, if improved, commands a high price, 
 and is an important addition to the exportable products 
 of the country. Although mohair only began to 
 figure on our exports in 1862, the quantity then 
 being 1,036 lb., in 1871 it increased to 536,2921b., 
 valued at £43,000, and it advanced in 1874 to over 
 1,000,0001b., valued at £107,139. This production 
 now nearly equals that of the vilayet or province of 
 Angora itself — for the consular reports from there 
 for 1873 give the export of mohair (best and fair 
 average qualities) at 902,8001b., valued at £124,000. 
 The vilayet of Kistamboul also produces largely, and 
 the total quantity of all sorts exported from Turkey 
 in 1873 was 5,120,000 lb., obtaining an average price 
 in England of 2s. lOd. per lb. The British consul at 
 Constantinople says that, exceptionally severe weather 
 coming at the time of kidding, has lately (in 1873) 
 caused disastrous losses in the Angora and other dis- 
 tricts — the losses at a moderate estimate being set
 
 OSTRICH-FARMING. 265 
 
 down at 70 per cent, of the stock — which cannot but 
 have a considerable effect upon the production for 
 several future years. 
 
 Another new branch of farming which has now 
 become a very important one, is the domestication and 
 breeding of ostriches. One of the first, to try it in the 
 Colony was the late Mr. Kinnear, of Beaufort West. 
 He commenced about 1860, and his success inbreed- 
 ing and rearing these birds was such as to induce 
 many persons, far and wide, to enter upon what has 
 since proved to be a very interesting and highly 
 remunerative pursuit. On an eight-acre garden plot, 
 attached to his residence in the town of Beaufort 
 West, he had at the time of our visit, in 1870, a flock 
 of thirty birds, and several broods of young ones. A 
 portion of the eight acres was divided by hedges into 
 paddocks, sown with lucerne; the remainder was 
 formed into kraals, or small enclosures, where the 
 birds were pairing, the male and female sitting alter- 
 nately on the nests in carrying on the natural process 
 of incubation. Adjoining the spot there were one or 
 two outhouses and sheds, where the young birds were 
 sheltered in cold weather, and where the old ones 
 were penned up at the time of feather-gathering, to 
 be relieved of their valuable plumage. Mr. Kinnear's 
 observations on the management and habits of the 
 birds were communicated by him at that time in the 
 following memorandum: — 
 
 The number of birds that can be kept on a given area of 
 pasture depends entirely on its quality. A full-grown ostrich 
 will consume 201b. of chopped lucerne, a sheep 121b., and a 
 horse of 14 hands 701b. The birds do not like grass, or green 
 forage ; they prefer cabbage leaves, fruit, grain, &c, but for 
 permanent food there is nothing equal to lucerne, or clover. 
 
 As far as my experience has gone, they do not lay in general 
 until they are 4 years old or upwards ; a very few lay at 3, more 
 at 4, and some not till 5. Out of 6 cocks I had, but one was 
 capable of pairing at 3 years old, four at 4 years, and one not 
 until 5.
 
 266 OSTRICH-FARMING. 
 
 In a wild state, there are sometimes as many as five hens to 
 one cock. I think there should always be two ; but then there 
 should be an incubator for the surplus eggs, which cannot be 
 covered. If, however, there are equal numbers of cocks and hens, 
 I separate them into pairs. The cock should not, I think, be 
 separated from any of the hens after pairing. The birds for the 
 most part begin to lay about the beginning of August, and con- 
 tinue for about six weeks, when they commence hatching. In 
 about a month or six weeks after they have done hatching (at 
 least if the young birds have been removed) they begin to lay 
 agairj, and continue a month or five weeks. At the first laying 
 they lay from 15 to 20 eggs, and at the second from 12 to 16. 
 
 Incubation lasts from six to seven weeks from the time the 
 bird begins to sit. I take the young ones away when they are so 
 strong that they leave the nest, which is in a day or two. Some 
 persons leave them with the hen, and often give several broods 
 to one hen, in which case they are driven into a shed at night, or 
 during wet weather, as they are very sensible to cold or wet. 
 The hen with the chicks is kept apart from the others. The 
 chicks get for food chopped lncerne, cut as young as possible, as 
 they do not like the stalks, and some grains of wheat may be 
 scattered about for them to pick up, and also maize, as they get 
 older. Clover would do as well as lucerne, and perhaps vetches. 
 I also give them sand, earth, and crushed quartz and bones, and 
 as much water as they please. They like to bathe, and roll in 
 the dust. If taken away from the hen, they should be kept 
 warm, especially at night. I put mine into a high box, with a 
 woolly sheepskin to lie on, and the top covered so as to retain 
 the warmth, but taking care there is sufficient air. In very cold 
 weather I heat the room, and don't allow the birds to get out 
 until the weather gets warm again. 
 
 The above observations are general, and from my own experi- 
 ence. There are, of course, exceptions. For instance, I have 
 heard that a hen has hatched at 1\ years old ; and I had last year 
 one hen of 10 years old, which laid only three eggs at the first 
 laying, and did not sit or lay any more at all, although she fre- 
 quently paired. I had also a pair of three-year- old birds which 
 laid at both layings, but did not sit. The male sat now and then 
 for a day or two, but the hen would not. The following year 
 they hatched two birds. I had another pair which did not lay 
 till they were 4£ years old* The hen is sitting now, but the cock 
 not. Another pair, now nearly five years old, has not yet laid. 
 Last year I had a pair of eight years old, which hatched the 
 first brood ; but at the second laying the hen did not sit. although 
 the cock sat ofi: and on f o a week.
 
 OSTRICH-FARMING. 267 
 
 Previous to this, the artificial incubation of ostrich 
 eggs occupied the attention of others who had 
 followed Mr. Kinnear's example in domesticating the 
 birds. Dr. Atherstone, of Graham's Town, was one 
 of the first to suggest the process, and his suggestion 
 was taken up by Mr. A. Douglas, of Hilton, near 
 Graham's Town, who afterwards patented an improved 
 apparatus made by himself. Similar appliances, with 
 modifications, by Dr. Lawrence, of George, and others, 
 are now in use all over the country. Mr. Douglas's 
 success has, however, been as notable as any. In 1872, 
 from six breeding birds — four hens and two cocks — he 
 reared a progeny of 130. In the following year the 
 season was not so favourable, owing to severe drought, 
 the increase being but 120 from 20 breeding birds, 
 and last year the number hatched was 140 birds. 
 Considering that the value of an ostrich a week old is 
 now about £10, and that its value increases rapidly as 
 it grows older, it will be apparent that ostrich breeding 
 at present pays remarkably well. 
 
 In some parts of the Colony, where there are con- 
 siderable flocks, the birds have extensive runs, and are 
 depastured and driven something like sheep ; but 
 generally they are enclosed in camps, within fences or 
 rough stone walls. "When paired and breeding, they are 
 allotted small paddocks, fenced in with wire and bush, 
 as the male birds at such a time are vicious and danger- 
 ous to approach. The eggs, which are laid in a hole 
 slightly scooped in the ground, are collected and taken 
 away, to be placed in the incubator, one or two being 
 left, or artificial ones placed in their stead, till, perhaps 
 at the end of the season, one or both hens are allowed 
 to sit. In this way the birds, if kept in good condi- 
 tion, continue to lay for a longer time, and there is no 
 injury to their feathers from sitting. The artificial 
 hatching has proved quite a success. Mr. J. M. 
 Beyers, of Nooitgedacht, near Stellenbosch, has seve-
 
 268 INCUBATION. 
 
 ral of these machines at work, and out of every dozen 
 eggs deposited in them it is seldom that more than 
 one of the number fails to generate. The incubator 
 consists of a wooden box about three feet square, 
 opened from above, and capable of containing 25 eggs* 
 It rests upon a copper or zinc pan, or cistern, three 
 inches deep, and equal to the size of the box. This is filled 
 with hot water, and has four or five openings through 
 which the vapour ascends into the box. The warm 
 temperature of the water is maintained by a paraffin 
 lamp, kept burning underneath the pan ; but in some 
 cases this has been found objectionable, as the fumes 
 of the lamp affect the young chicks as they leave the 
 egg, and it is an improvement to have the lamp burn- 
 ing in an adjoining apartment, — an extension of the 
 cistern or pan about a foot wide, being carried 
 through the partition, or wall, and the lamp placed 
 under it. The heat can be regulated as necessary, 
 thermometers being constantly in use. The tempera- 
 ture of the box where the eggs are placed is 102° 
 Fahr. when they are first put in ; after two weeks it 
 is gradually reduced to 100°, and in two weeks more 
 to 98°. The period of incubation is 42 days. The eggs 
 are turned and aired, by opening the box and blanket- 
 covering once or twice a day. A fortnight before the 
 expiry of the time, they are held up against the light 
 to examine their condition, and a week after are 
 slightly, but carefully, punctured near the top with a 
 sharp pointed steel, to enable any of the chicks in 
 weak condition the more readily to break the shell. 
 When hatched they are turned out, kept warm, and 
 fed with cut lucerne, and allowed to run about their 
 enclosures like ordinary fowls. Last year Mr. Beyers 
 had 24 birds breeding — 8 males and 16 females — and 
 he has turned out a brood of upwards of 100 chickens. 
 The large birds are fed on grain of all sorts — 5 lb. of 
 food per day keeping them in excellent condition,
 
 OSTRICH-FARMING. 269 
 
 varied with lucerne, bones, crushed granite, and shells 
 from the neighbouring beach. The young birds that 
 are not old enough to breed run in troops of forty or 
 fifty together, and make up a comical and very docile 
 lot of domestic fowls. They live principally on grass 
 and other herbage, but readily eat Indian corn. 
 
 In some of the inland divisions there are still num- 
 bers of ostriches running wild ; these are now care- 
 fully preserved by the owners of the land on which 
 they live. In the breeding season their nests are 
 watched from a distance by a man placed on some 
 eminence commanding a view, who every now and 
 then visits the nests. As the time approaches for the 
 chicks to break the egg, a very close watch is kept 
 upon the birds, and the young caught and removed 
 before they are more than a day or two old. On 
 the occasion of the leasing of some of the waste lands 
 of George and Beaufort lately, the Civil Commis- 
 sioners were astonished at the keen competition for 
 some arid spots, which fetched prices far above the 
 valuation officially set upon them ; but it was after- 
 wards ascertained that this arose solely from the fact 
 of these localities being frequented by wild ostriches, 
 whose nests would become the property of the lessees, 
 and yield them a handsome return. 
 
 The feathers, of course, are the produce for which 
 the birds are bred. The plucking of each adult bird 
 gives as much as from £10 to £18 — prime white 
 feathers fetching from £35 to £45 per lb , while others 
 of the wing and tail are also very profitable. There 
 is little likelihood of this beautiful article of dress or 
 ornament becoming out of fashion. With increased 
 production prices may rule lower ; but there is a very 
 wide margin, and it will be some years before ostrich 
 breeders need fear the effects of over production, or 
 that they will be farming at a loss. 
 
 Horse-breeding was formerly a favourite pursuit,
 
 270 HORSE-BREEDING. 
 
 and the requirements for the remount of the army, 
 and the sporting tastes of Indian visitors, made it both 
 pleasant and profitable. But the horse sickness which 
 spread over the greater part of the Colony in an 
 epidemic form, in 1853-4, sweeping away no less than 
 70,000, shattered many of the breeding establishments; 
 in many instances, indeed, parties relinquished them 
 altogether for sheep and other stock. An official 
 inquiry was made into the origin, progress, and effects 
 of the malady which had so disastrous an effect, and 
 the results were published in a pamphlet by the late 
 Mr. T. B. Bay ley — himself one of the leading horse- 
 breeders, and a loser by the scourge. The facts estab- 
 lished were that the sickness is produced by exposure 
 to the night air in a season of malaria, arising from 
 causes not clearly known ; that horses stabled before 
 sunset, and not turned out to graze before the dew is 
 off the grass, are safe from its attacks, though excep- 
 tional cases may occur ; and that relatively high and 
 dry elevations are comparatively free from it. Not- 
 withstanding the diminished number of breeders, the 
 demand for horses at the time of the occurrence of the 
 Indian Mutiny, in 1858-9, served to show the capabi- 
 lities of the Colony were still very considerable. 
 Upwards of 5,600 horses and 100 mules were shipped 
 from here by the Indian remount agents, — the average 
 cost of each horse sent, including shipping and all 
 charges, which were naturally high at a time of such 
 emergency, being about £65. 
 
 The wonderfully hardy and enduring qualities of 
 the Cape horses have been acknowledged by all who 
 know them. Staff Veterinary-Surgeon Thacker, in 
 his report on the horse trade in the colonies in 1874, 
 says that while he was serving "in the Cape and 
 Kafirland, sixty and eighty miles a day were fre 
 quently accomplished, the horse having no other food 
 than grass ;" and Colonel Apperley, the late remount
 
 HORSE-BREEDING. 271 
 
 agent at the Cape, writes : " Cape horses are peculiar 
 animals. I admit they are not handsome ; but they 
 surpass any horse I have seen out of Europe in their 
 untiring and unflinching endurance during the longest 
 and hottest days of the year." The original stock 
 came from South America ; they were afterwards im- 
 proved by pure Arabs, who gave them their character- 
 istic of good constitution and indomitable pluck ; and 
 they have since had a large infusion of English 
 thoroughbred blood. During the past fifty years, from 
 Lord Charles Somerset's time to the present, upwards 
 of 200 sires, many of whose names are distinguished in 
 the stud book, were imported and have done good 
 service to our horse-breeders as well as contributed to 
 the race courses of the Colony, Mauritius, and India, 
 sons and daughters worthy of their lineage. Among 
 other introductions for stud purposes were Mr. Mar- 
 tin, Gorhambury, Sponge, Evenus, Rococco, Sara- 
 band, Student, Bismarck, Brian Boru, Nugget, Bel- 
 ladrum by Stockwell, and Robin by North Lincoln, 
 while more recently there have been Gladiator, Min- 
 strel, St. George, Commissioner, Belfast by Stockwell, 
 Prince by Daniel O'Rourke, Bossington by Camerino, 
 Catalpa by Maccaroni, Ivanhoe by Broomielaw, and 
 the Maid Marian colt by King Tom out of 
 Maid Marian. Several dams have also been brought 
 out, more attention being given to the character 
 of the brood mares than formerly. The number 
 of breeding establishments, however, is very small, 
 several of those who delighted in this branch of 
 farming having lately passed away. The principal 
 studs in the West are those of Mr. A. Van der 
 By), Nachtwacht; Mr. C. Barry, Mr. Manuel, 
 Mr. Melck, and Mr. Kotze. The increased demand 
 for good horses is such, however, as to encourage 
 others to enter upon breeding, and in some of the 
 midland and eastern districts there are indications of a
 
 272 CATTLE. 
 
 reaction in favour of this line of business. Last season 
 thoroughbred colts sold at prices ranging from £150 
 to £300 for one to three year olds, and the other day- 
 one only a fortnight old was purchased for £100. 
 Most of them are secured by up-country buyers, and 
 in a little time afterwards change hands for double and 
 treble the amount in the Eastern and Northern dis- 
 tricts and the Free State. 
 
 Horned cattle were found in tolerable abundance 
 when the Dutch first settled at the Cape, and for brass 
 beads and buttons, tobacco, and tinder-boxes, the abori- 
 ginal Ottentoos were always willing to supply the 
 shipping and the garrison. In time, as the Colony 
 became occupied by Europeans, the Dutch breed was 
 introduced to cross with, and although the thorough 
 native species have well-nigh become extinct, a dash 
 of the long-horned Hottentot breed is not discarded 
 when long journeys on bad roads and often starvation 
 allowance as to grass are required. The cattle now 
 met are made up of contributions from nearly every 
 breed known in England and Holland ; and it would 
 appear that the only idea of improving their cattle 
 many breeders have had was to cross them with some 
 other breed, no matter what, so that they could obtain 
 a cross. Some of our more intelligent men, however, 
 now see the advantages of pure blood, and have been 
 selecting their herds for some time past, and some good 
 short-horned bulls of undoubted pedigree have been 
 got direct from the first breeders in England. 
 
 A good extent of pasturage along the coast, and in 
 the Eastern and Northern districts, are well adapted 
 for cattle, more especially the Zuurveld. In these 
 places, of late, cattle-breeding must have been a very 
 remunerative occupation. Many, or nearly all, of the 
 farmers in the Zuurberg district are not only cattle 
 breeders but "Kurveyors" (transport riders), and 
 have always some wagons on the road. A span con-
 
 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMS. 273 
 
 sists of 16 oxen, so that a few wagons take a hundred 
 head, counting supernumaries. Some men we know 
 have thus employed more than 500 oxen. The Kur- 
 veyors who were provided with oxen of their own 
 breeding, or bought them before the great rise, and 
 engaged pretty largely in the traffic to the Diamond- 
 fields and other parts of the Colony, made very hand- 
 some profits, and accumulated pretty good sums of 
 money. Oxen bred for transport purposes were sellino- 
 a few years ago at £5 to £6 each ; now £16 is a com- 
 mon price, with every likelihood of their becoming 
 dearer. Beef has also risen in price, and sells at 
 almost English rates. 
 
 Closely connected with cattle breeding is dairying, 
 a branch of farming that we think it would pay any- 
 one who well understands English dairy work to em- 
 bark in, as not only does butter fetch good prices, but 
 good colonial cheese would find a ready sale. 
 English cheese sells at Is. 6d. to Is. 9d.per lb. Of course 
 it is at this price a luxury ; but there is no doubt a 
 good colonial cheese would sell readily and in con- 
 siderable quantity at Is. per lb„ if it could be made to 
 approach the English in quality. The yield of milk 
 very much depends upon the quantity of food the cows 
 can get; and as they are entirely dependent upon the 
 natural veldt, unless there is a good season the share 
 of milk that comes to the dairy is but small. By-and- 
 bye, the raising of artificial food, to be used in scarce 
 times, will come into use, not only to aid the dairy, but 
 also to fatten cattle and produce a better quality of 
 beef. Allied to the dairy in England is the produc- 
 tion of pork and bacon. This is also a kind of farming 
 that we believe may be very largely extended. The 
 price of colonial bacon of first quality is always high ; 
 for some time it has been above Is. per lb., and 
 the average is scarcely ever below 8d. per lb. 
 
 We now turn to Agriculture proper, in regard to 
 
 T
 
 274 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 which we may say the capabilities of the Colony have 
 been as yet very imperfectly developed. The cultiva- 
 tion of corn was always considered essential to the 
 prosperity of the people, and the directors of the Dutch 
 East India Company declared, a century-and-a-half 
 ao-o, that the country which failed to produce its own 
 food-supply was scarcely worthy of a name. But in 
 those " good old times" one of the laws in force at the 
 Cape was that the exportation of corn should be regu- 
 lated by the views entertained by the Government of 
 the sufficiency of the supply. Under the British 
 authorities the same restriction upon free trade con- 
 tinued, and it was declared in 1818 that "the Governor's 
 license would not be available at the Custom-house 
 for the export of wheat when the market price should 
 exceed 130 rix- dollars per load of 10 muids, or some- 
 thing more than 48s. 9d. per quarter." No doubt this 
 tended to check the exertions of the farmers, confining 
 the ordinary extent of their industry to domestic 
 supplv ; and it is only of late years that they have 
 been stimulated by the spirit of commercial enterprise 
 and competition to cultivate and produce more. 
 
 Every part of the Colony seems adapted for the 
 crowing of grain crops, the only impediments being 
 want of moisture during some seasons in certain 
 localities, the effect of blight in others, and the dis- 
 tance difficulty, and expense of transport to a market. 
 These drawbacks, however, never prevail over the 
 whole country at the same time, and it is noticeable 
 that althouo-h one part may suffer in diminished or 
 blighted crops, other places yield abundant harvests. 
 When favourable seasons prevail everywhere, the pro- 
 duction is more than enough for home consumption; 
 and yet when droughts set in, supplies have to be ob- 
 tained from Australia, Chili, or California. The 
 periodical occurrence of these cycles of drought and 
 short crops may be observed from the Import and Ex-
 
 YEAPwS OP SCARCITY AND PLENTY. 275 
 
 port Returns atthe end of this chapter. Intheyear 1863, 
 — which will be remembered as the culmination of a dry 
 season, — the importation of flour and wheat was over 
 36,000,000 lb. In 1874, also memorable for the extended 
 drought in the preceding year along the frontier and 
 inland districts, the importations went up to a higher 
 maximum — the amount of flour and wheat imported 
 being over 41,000,000 lb. Favourable seasons 
 happily intervened between these periods, and 
 particularly from 1868 to 1872, during which the 
 necessity for heavy importations gradually dimin- 
 ished, and more grain was produced than was 
 actually required for consumption. The Colony was 
 then, in fact, able to send its surplus to a foreign 
 market, the quantity of wheat and flour exported in 
 1871 being no less than 9,000,000 lb , and in 1872 
 5,700,000 lb. The expenditure of the Colony for 
 flour imported during the five years of scarcity ended 
 in 1868 was £560,000, while in the five years of plenty 
 ended in 1873 it was not more than £141,000 — thus 
 effecting a saving by the consumption of Colonial 
 bread-stuffs of over £400,000. In the years 1871-2, 
 about 30,000 muids (900,000 bushels) of Cape wheat 
 were sent to the London market, and realised the 
 extreme market rates for the finest wheat imported 
 there. Among the Cape Town shippers were Messrs. 
 Goodliffe, Smart, & Searle, who have furnished us 
 with the following memorandum of the prices realised 
 by them : — 
 
 D IX LOXDOX— 
 
 
 s. 
 
 d. s. d. 
 
 In July. 1871, 219 qrs 
 
 of 496 lb. 
 
 at 61 
 
 per qr. 
 to 65 „ 
 
 In Oct, & Nov., „ 444 ., 
 
 
 63 
 
 In January, 1872, 382 „ 
 
 35 
 
 65 
 
 „ 65 6 
 
 In March, ., 1,516 ., 
 
 
 63 
 
 „ 65 „ 
 
 In April, .', 623 ., 
 
 
 61 
 
 „ 65 ., 
 
 In June, „ 493 „ 
 
 
 (io 
 
 o „ 64 o :. 
 
 In July to Nov. „ 2,343 „ 
 
 5J 
 
 (65 
 
 74 ., 
 
 " in Sept. & Oct 
 
 6,050 quarters of 49G lb t each. 
 T 2
 
 276 CORN-GROWING. 
 
 The above quantity (Messrs. GoodlifFe, Smart, & 
 Searle state) consisted almost solely of two descriptions 
 — viz., " Baard " and " du Toit's," and was pronounced 
 by the London brokers and millers to be equal in 
 quality to the finest Dantzic, and the prices realised 
 were quite as high as those ruling for the latter de- 
 scription. Since then repeated applications have been 
 made for more, the wheat being used by biscuit-bakers 
 for their finest quality of biscuits. 
 
 The portions of the Colony most favourably situated 
 for the production of wheat are those regularly visited 
 by copious rains, and where artificial irrigation is un- 
 necessary. The coast districts, especially those contigu- 
 ous to Cape Town, possess this advantage, and form the 
 principal granary. The tracts known as Koeberg and 
 Malmesbury mainly consist of corn farms, — some of the 
 largest and best worked being Eaton's, Drooge Vlei ; 
 Hauman's, Kersenbosch; Louw, Tweekuil; those of the 
 Steyns, Smuts, Gous, and Albertyns, in the vicinity of 
 Riebeek's Kasteel ; Messrs. Kotze, Melck, and Breda 
 on the Berg River, and the farm Vogel Vlei, Picket- 
 berg. In the neighbourhood of Saldanha Bay there 
 are also some fine farms ; and near Darling the farms 
 Ganzekraal, Groote Post, Klavervlei, and Conterberg, 
 as well as those of W. F. and F. Duckett, Karnmelk 
 Fontein and Orange Fontein, are justly valued for 
 their general capabilities. There is still in that area 
 a good deal of virgin soil which can be successfully 
 cultivated. What the farmers want is cheap and regu- 
 lar communication with the market. One of Thom- 
 son's road steamers was imported by themselves to 
 meet this want, but was found unsuited to the purpose ; 
 and now the Government has obtained the sanction of 
 the Legislature for the construction of a line of rail- 
 way, which will shortly be commenced. The future 
 prospects of these parts, therefore, are good ; for when 
 grain can be transported more easily, greater attention
 
 CORN-GROWING. 277 
 
 will be devoted to home improvements, and, with a 
 moderate supply of manure, the land retains its 
 fertility. Wheat and oats yield from 15 to 30 fold, 
 according to the season ; barley, from 50 to 100 fold ; 
 and rye, from 20 to 40 fold. All kinds of grain are 
 sown thin ; otherwise, owing to their quick growth 
 under a cape sun, if sown too full, they are 
 liable to run to straw. The yield of wheat per 
 acre, under good cultivation and free from rust, may 
 be taken at an average of 15 bushels to the 
 acre — i.e., at the rate of 10 to the acre at 15-fold, and 
 20 to the acre at 30-fold. Oats and rye give about the 
 same; but barley generally yields, on new land, in a 
 good season, 50 bushels the acre. The weight of 
 wheat, per three bushel sack, is from 205 lb. to 
 2081b. 
 
 A decided improvement has taken place of late in 
 the mode of cultivation. The Howard plough and 
 harrow is extensively used on stiff land, and the 
 Swedish plough along the sea board and on sandy 
 fields. Manure is more carefully harboured and judi- 
 ciously applied, The old-fashioned way of harvesting 
 is also being superseded. The "tramp floor," where 
 the grain used to be trodden out by horses, is giving 
 place to the steam-thrashing-machine, which itinerates 
 about the districts, doing all the thrashing at the rate 
 of Is. a muid, the farmer supplying fuel and labour. 
 The oat and barley crops are in many cases mowed 
 down by the cradle scythe, in preference to the sickle, 
 for which purpose a straight-handled scythe, made on the 
 farm of Mr. Eaton, Drooge Vlei, is much used, 
 although other experienced mowers choose the crooked 
 handle, with adjustible cradle, of English or American 
 make. In some instances reaping machines are in 
 operation, and effect a great saving in labour and 
 wages. Recently, too, Ridley's Australian "stripper" 
 has been tried, and found to answer admirably, when
 
 278 CORN-GROWING. 
 
 the crops can become sufficiently ripe, and the straw 
 and chaff are of no consideration to the farmer. 
 
 The Clanwilliam, Tulbagb, and Worcester divisions, 
 and the south-east coast districts, from Caledon to 
 George, yield considerable grain crops in average 
 seasons ; while all over the Karoo, with irrigation, 
 almost fabulous returns, from a hundred fold upwards, 
 may be obtained. 
 
 In the East, the most extensive arable lands are 
 those in the Zuurveld districts of Lower Albany and 
 Oliphant's Hoek 5 and next to them in the Queen's Town 
 and other border districts. In these upper districts 
 wheat is usually sown after the turn of the winter, in 
 June or July : and on the coast lands as late as Sep- 
 tember. Since the country was first settled 
 this grain has been more or less liable to be 
 damaged by " rust," and only the hardy, or flinty 
 kinds, are sown with any chance of a crop. The 
 return in Lower Albany, when not so affected, is from 
 30 to 35 bags for one sown, if sown early — about ten 
 acres being covered with a three-bushel sack (or muid) 
 of seed. Barley, or bere, returns from 10 to 15 bushels 
 per acre on an average, but on well-cultivated clean 
 land, has given as much as 20 bushels per acre. Oats 
 are largely grown for forage, when nearly or quite 
 ripe being cut and made into sheaves — forming the 
 staple horse food of the country. It is usually sold 
 by the 100 lb., and though in good years it is as low 
 as 2s. 6d. per 100 lb., for some time past it has ranged 
 at from 5s. to 8s. The best variety sown is the white 
 side, or Tartar oat, which, though occasionally slightly 
 affected, withstands the rust better than any other sort 
 which has been tried. The average yield of oat hay 
 is from 2,0C0 lb. to 3,000 lb. per acre, but as 
 much as 6,000 lb. has been reaped off an acre. The 
 return of grain is from 35 to 49 per cent. A bag of 
 good side oats (3 bushels) usually weighs 160 lb.;
 
 INDIAN AND KAFIR CORN. 279 
 
 but since rust has commenced its ravages, the average 
 is not more than 130 lb. Wheat averages, in full three 
 bushel sacks, as high as 230 lb. Barley (5-rowed), if 
 thrashed soon after being reaped, 180 lb. to 200 lb. 
 per sack; and English, or 2-rowed barley, 210 lb. to 
 220 lb. The divisions of Albany and Bathurst and 
 Alexandria on-ow a great deal more wheat now than 
 formerly, and some of it is of very excellent quality. 
 With more labour, and easy access to a market, 
 they could produce any amount of food supplies; 
 and no doubt, in course of time, they will be very 
 valuable. 
 
 Indian corn or maize, known under the name of 
 "mealies," is grown all over the country, and yields 
 most abundant crops of good food, both for man and 
 beast. Along the frontier especially it is largely 
 cultivated. This grain possesses the advantage of 
 coming to perfection in a shorter time than most other 
 cereals, and thus, as was the case in 1873, it can be 
 sown when all chance of a crop of wheat is lost. It 
 requires but little care in cultivation, and is not 
 affected by rust, or any other disease of any import- 
 ance. It grows almost on any soil ; but when severe 
 frost prevails it has to be sown early enough to be 
 ripe before being touched by it. 
 
 Kafir corn or millet, is chiefly raised by the natives, 
 being largely used by them, either boiled for food or 
 malted as beer. There are several varieties — one of 
 them being the Sorghum Saccharatum, the shoots of 
 which are rich in saccharine juice.* The late Dr. 
 Pappe, who in 1860 made a report on the various kinds 
 grown in the Colony, says : — " Imphee, or Sorghum, 
 may be sown at different times, so as to have it for 
 
 * The Hon. S. Cawood, of Graham's Town, has introduced from the 
 United States a mill and apparatus for crushing the stems, or canes, 
 of this plant, and boiling the juice for sugar— an operation which is 
 carried on a large scale in America.
 
 280 THE VINEYARDS. 
 
 consumption several months. The stalks, leaves, and 
 j)anicles of all kinds furnish a highly valuable and 
 nutritive material for stall-feeding, and may be given, 
 both green or dry, to horses, cattle, sheep, or pigs, 
 &c., all of which are not only exceedingly fond of this 
 fodder, but thrive upon it remarkably well. It may 
 be raised on lands that have grown oats or barley, 
 and yield an invaluable crop of green food to dairy 
 farmers from December to March, without any irriga- 
 tion whatever." 
 
 Potatoes, and all kinds of European garden vege- 
 tables and pot-herbs, do well, and can be grown all the 
 year round. Sweet potatoes, pumpkins and melons are 
 produced and supplied in wagon loads. Beet is raised 
 extensively, and from some trials that have been made 
 to test the quality of sugar it contained, it is found 
 equal in this respect to any samples of the plant grown 
 in France, Belgium, or elsewhere. The kindred plant, 
 mangel wurzel, when tried, has likewise proved a satis- 
 factory crop, as have also swede turnips in the Queen's 
 Town district. Comparatively little artificial food for 
 stock has as yet been attempted to be reduced ; but 
 there is every reason to believe it would pay well, and 
 the increase of both milk and beef would amply com- 
 pensate for the trouble of cultivating and storing. 
 
 Let us next turn to the vineyards, and wine-making. 
 The culture of the vine has been followed at the Cape 
 for ujDwards of two centuries. It was originally intro- 
 duced by the Dutch in the time of Van Riebeek, who 
 in his *'* Journal" (1662) reports to his successor the 
 " flourishing state of the vineyards." The French 
 Protestant refugees who arrived in 1685 gave an 
 impetus to this cultivation ; and by 1710 the increase 
 was so great that, according to a return furnished by 
 the Governor of the Colony, Louis Van Assenburg, 
 to the Governor-General of Netherlands India, Johan 
 Van Hoorn, the vines planted amounted to 2,729,300,
 
 THE WINE TRADE. 281 
 
 and the expected produce, although in a bad season, 
 was 1,190 leggers. Considerable quantities were then 
 shipped by the company to Java, and even to Europe. 
 After the cession of the Colony to England, great 
 inducements were held out to the colonists to develope 
 this trade, the " most constant support and patronage 
 on the part of Government " being assured by pro- 
 clamation, as well as premiums offered to those who 
 planted most extensively. Such encouragement, 
 together with the advantage of differential duties then in 
 force, enabled colonial wines to compete in England with 
 importations from the nearer Continental countries, 
 and for a time wine-growing was a most lucrative 
 industry. This protection, however, was not long 
 afterwards partially withdrawn, entailing severe loss 
 upon many who had embarked all their means in the 
 enterprise. And later, in January, 1860, when the 
 commercial treaty with France was entered into, 
 establishing the alcoholic scale of duty, which is still 
 maintained, the Cape was actually placed at a disad- 
 vantage as compared with the Continental wine- 
 growers. The bulk of the wines produced here, like 
 those of Australia, when prepared to arrive home in good 
 condition, require a greater spirit strength than 26° 
 (the quantity produced by natural fermentation), in 
 consequence of the warm latitudes they have to pass 
 on the voyage to England. The strength of 26° is the 
 limit of the Is. duty, and everything beyond is sub- 
 ject to 2s. 6d. per gallon, which therefore acts upon 
 colonial wines in a prohibitory manner. The Cape 
 growers have repeatedly made representations to the 
 Home Government on this subject, requesting that in 
 case of a revision of the Imperial tariff wines not 
 exceeding 33 degrees of alcoholic strength should be 
 imported at the lower rate of duty ; but hitherto their 
 appeals have been ineffectual, as the Imperial Treasury 
 officers advise that such an alteration would interfere
 
 282 CAPE WINES. 
 
 with the home spirit tax. Meanwhile the operation of 
 the existing tariff has been to diminish the annual 
 export of our wines from 1,000,000 gallons, valued at 
 £153,000, in 1859, to 79,000 gallons, valued at 
 £17,000, in 1S74. 
 
 Cape wines, unfortunately, have got a bad name in 
 England. They were never fairly brought into gene- 
 ral consumption there, but used for supplementing and 
 mixing purposes, when European wines were scarce 
 and dear. This was especially the case between 1854 
 and 1859, when the Continental vintages were short, 
 owing to the ravages of the vine disease; and the prices 
 then obtainable led to a most objectionable practice by 
 some exporters of shipping young and raw liquids 
 under the name of wine, which justified general abhor- 
 ence. Hence Punch's severe satire upon, and con- 
 demnation of, our colonial product. Yet, as is well 
 known, there are Cape wines, such as the 
 famed Constantias, Paarl Pontacs and Hocks, 
 Drakenstein Lachryma Christi, and Worcester 
 and Montagu Sherries, which, when genuine and of 
 good quality, are as excellent as can be produced in 
 any wine-growing country. It is this class of wines 
 which, notwithstanding an excessive rate of duty, are 
 still in yearly demand by old visitors to the Colony 
 and connoisseurs settled in Europe, including many 
 even in the famous wine districts of Germany and of 
 France. 
 
 Within the Colony the people show a most decided 
 preference for their own produce. It is commonly 
 used, not only because it is considered pure and 
 wholesome, but also because it is cheap. The produc- 
 tion, which ten years ago could not find an outlet 
 abroad, has now a very profitable home consumption ; 
 and, although that production is greater than ever it 
 was at any former time, the growers get as good a 
 price as they did in the palmy days of the export
 
 WINE-MAKING. 283 
 
 trade. The digging population of Griqualand West 
 and the gold-fields of Transvaal,and the increasing faci- 
 lities of transport throughout the country and on the 
 Borders, have created a new and continued demand 
 for it, or its alternative form — spirit. Our wine- 
 growers, consequently, are at present very prosperous, 
 and rapidly acquiring wealth, which it is hoped will 
 be applied to the improvement of their particular 
 industry. No doubt there is great room for it. 
 Amongst the mass of the growers the method of 
 making wine is still of the most primitive character. 
 The grapes are often cut at random, without distinc- 
 tion of colour, quality, or degree of maturity; they 
 are gathered in the hottest weather, thrown into tubs 
 trodden by labourers, and fermentation is allowed to 
 go on in cellars crowded with wagons, harness, skins, 
 and other musty articles — little regard being paid to 
 the condition of atmosphere, or anything else. Quan- 
 tity, not quality, is most frequently the object cared 
 for ; although on some large estates, it is true, the 
 want of labour to secure the vintage properly often 
 prevents sufficient pains being taken with it. In 
 past years, too, growers found little encouragement from 
 the merchants to make superior wines. A difference 
 of £l or £2 a legger in the value of the best and of 
 the worst quality produced was not sufficient to induce 
 them to depart from the old customs of their fore- 
 fathers, or take any trouble with the manufacture. 
 But the more intelligent and better class of vineyard 
 proprietors have of late found it to their advantage to 
 apply the lessons of modern practical knowledge and 
 skill to their business. The perfect or imperfect state 
 of ripeness of the grape, the kind of grape, the situa- 
 tion of the wine cellars, the condition of temperature 
 during the process of fermentation, and the preserva- 
 tion of the pure aroma, or bouquet, untouched by 
 spirit, are all matters which are receiving more atten-
 
 284 CONSTANTLY. 
 
 tion, and undoubtedly contributing to raise the 
 character as well as the profits upon the manufactured 
 article. To those who are laying out new vineyards 
 the mode of planting and the sites chosen should also 
 be matters of importance. As a rule, the vines are 
 planted too closely, and all varieties are generally 
 grown in the same space, although some should have 
 double that allotted to others. The soil, too, has much 
 to do with the quality of the wine produced. It is 
 well known that there are spots in the Colony where 
 on the same farm — as at Johannisberg on the Rhine — 
 within a few yards from each other, two vineyards 
 will produce wines differing from each other a hundred 
 per cent in value. Connoisseurs readily perceive that 
 there is a material difference in the wines produced in 
 the several districts about Cape Town. It is for this 
 reason desirable that the growers who are endeavouring 
 to improve their products should observe their best 
 wines, give specific names to them, or brand the name 
 of their farms on their casks. The superior wines 
 would thereby soon become known, and their value 
 accordingly appreciated. These and other matters 
 connected with the cultivation, management, and 
 manufacture of Cape wines open up a promising field 
 for intelligence and enterprise. 
 
 The famous Constantia vineyards — whose produce 
 still maintains a European reputation for excellence — 
 have a history dating backwards to the year 1685, 
 The traditional story is that at that time Governor 
 Simon Van der Stell, who devoted much attention to 
 agriculture, resolved to find out the soil most suitable 
 to the cultivation of the vine, and had specimens from 
 Kondebosch, Boscheuvel, Tygerberg, and Constantia 
 forwarded to Holland, to undergo analysis and com- 
 parison with the soils of France and the Rhine. The 
 result was so decidedly in favour of the soil from Con- 
 stantia, that he availed himself of the presence of the
 
 CONSTANTLY. 285 
 
 Dutch Company's Commissioner, Baron Van Eheede 
 Van Drakenstein (after whom the district of Draken- 
 stein has derived its name), to obtain a formal grant 
 of lands, comprising the whole of what are now known 
 as the estates of Great and Little Constantia, Witte- 
 boom, Bergvleit, and other properties. He spared no 
 trouble to procure vines of the choicest qualities, 
 which he planted, and the first vintage from the blue 
 muscadel or Catalonia grape as it was called estab- 
 lished the character of Constantia wines, which soon 
 obtained great repute abroad. Van der Stell, the 
 elder, in 1699, handed over the cares of Government 
 to his son, and retired to this place to enjoy his 
 otium cum dignitate until his death. But the political 
 troubles which arose in 1700, from the arbitrary 
 system of taxation, and other restrictions put upon the 
 colonists, led to the younger Van der Stell's recall, 
 and the issue of an order from Holland in October, 
 1706, that the lands of both father and son should be 
 disposed of, and that civil functionaries should in 
 future be disqualified from carrying on farming opera- 
 tions. This circumstance led to the sale of the Con- 
 stantia estate in 1715, — the property on which Van der 
 Stell had planted his vineyards and erected a princely 
 mansion, retaining the original title deeds and name 
 of Great and Hope Constantia. Great Constantia 
 first fell into the possession of a Mr. Oloff Bero-h ; 
 then into that of a Mr. J. Serrurier, and in the year 
 1778 into that of Mr. H. Cloete, in whose family it 
 still continues. Hope Constantia again became the 
 property of the family Colyn, now extinct, and is at 
 present owned by Mr. Harwood. But the early pro- 
 prietors of Great Constantia had, in common with the 
 other colonists of those days, to submit to the tithes 
 and restrictions imposed by the Dutch East India 
 Company, who rigidly required an annual quantity of 
 wine to be delivered, at what they considered " a
 
 286 CONSTANTIA. 
 
 reasonable price,"* and which they forwarded to their 
 public sales at Amsterdam, from whence every court 
 on the Continent was supplied. A similar practice 
 was continued even after the cession of the Colony to 
 England — the Government laying claim to what was 
 termed the rights and privileges of the old Company, 
 and a functionary known as the " Fiscal," and some 
 members of the Court of Justice, used yearly to 
 repair to Constantia to taste and select the wines, some 
 of which, it is said, were sent away as presents, " to 
 soften the temper of Ministers, and to sweeten the 
 lips of Royalty itself." But after 1826, when the 
 Imperial Commissioners of Inquiry visited the Colony, 
 and investigation was made into the matter, the 
 system was discontinued. Prior to this time, an intel- 
 ligent and enterprising colonist, Mr. Sebastian Yan 
 Reenen, obtained possession of Witteboom, adjoining 
 Constantia ; and convinced by reflection that the 
 boundary which divided the two estates had not altered 
 the nature of the soil or the climate, he planted exten- 
 sive vineyards, which have been continued in the 
 family, and are now equally as well known as the 
 original Constantia. 
 
 These magnificent estates are a prominent attrac- 
 tion to passengers spending a few days at Cape Town. 
 Situate about twelve miles from the city, and three or 
 four from the Wynberg railway terminus, they are 
 easily accessible, and in the course of each year are 
 visited by many persons from every quarter of 
 the globe, who all receive a courteous and hospit- 
 able welcome. Mr. Van Reenen's property, which is 
 maintained in a high state of culture and perfect 
 order, is nearest to Cape Town, and more generally 
 
 * While the public price of the Constantia wines was 80 rix-dollars 
 per legger, the Company gave a '•' reasonable price " of only 25 rix- 
 dollars ptr legger.
 
 CONSTANTIA WINES. 287 
 
 visited ; but the senior establishment of Mr. Cloete, 
 Great Constantia, retains its famous wine producing 
 reputation, and has in addition the charms of old historic 
 associations, with its quaint Dutch mansion, grand aven- 
 ues, and vineclad hills, all bearing evidence of the mu- 
 nificent taste of its original founder. 
 
 There are no less than seven descriptions of Con- 
 stantia wines produced there. The grapes from which 
 the genuine sweet Constantias are made are the 
 frontignac, red and white muscadels, and the pontac, 
 or tenturer of France. The vineyards are situate 
 on a slope of the Table Mountain facing south-east, 
 where, from elevation and exposure to the sea breeze, 
 the temperature is cooler in summer and milder in 
 winter than other parts of the Cape peninsula, The 
 vines are planted in rows four feet apart. The ground 
 around them is dug from May to July and August — 
 trenches, 13 inches deep and 9 inches broad, being made 
 in each alternate row, and bone manure, in the pro- 
 portion of 1 lb. to every vine, laid at the bottom, with 
 farmyard manure, in the proportion of one bushel for 
 eight vines, spread over it. The vines are pruned in 
 August. About the 15th of February the leaves sur- 
 rounding the grapes on those vines intended for sweet 
 Constantia are stripped off, so as to expose each bunch 
 to the sun to ensure their equal ripeness ; the 
 gatherings indeed, is commonly done twice, to secure as 
 nearly as possible the uniform maturity of all the fruit. 
 The vintage generally extends from the 1st to 
 the 20th March. The grapes are first slightly tramped 
 in a double pressing tub, the inner one being perforated 
 with holes, through which the juice flows; they are 
 then sifted or sorted on a platform or mat, and the 
 husks separated from the stalks, the husks beino* ao-ain 
 tramped until all are crushed. The husks and mice 
 are afterwards put in a fermenting vat together and 
 when the first fermentation subsides, which is known
 
 288 CONSTANTIA WINES. 
 
 by the crust formed on the top cracking and also 
 breaking loose from the sides of the vat, the juice or 
 cc must " is racked off from the bottom and put into 
 casks of about 150 gallons, filled up three or four 
 times a day, and allowed to ferment ten days. About 
 twenty gallons of this must is taken off and put into 
 clean casks, and sulphured and shaken, and then the 
 former quantity (130 gallons) is added to it, which 
 has the effect of checking fermentation. The wines 
 so prepared remain sweet, but are always kept for 
 four years before being exported. Their natural 
 strength seldom exceeds 24 per cent, of spirit — the 
 crucial test of genuine sweet Constantia. The dry 
 white Constantia is made from the fruit of the vines 
 known as the small Steen and ruyhaar Steen, in equal 
 proportions, the grapes used being thoroughly, but 
 not over-ripe. To this wine 2 per cent, of spirit is 
 added, and it is sold when three years old. The dry 
 red Constantia is prepared in the same way, but from 
 the pontac grape. The hock is made from the Steen 
 grape, and from the pure juice alone. Mr. Cloete has 
 of late added a new wine to the productions of his 
 Estate. This is a Constantia Lafitte, manufac- 
 tured from grapes raised from vines imported 
 from the Lafitte vineyards of France. This 
 wine still retains the Lafitte bouquet and flavour 
 modified by the Constantia; but whereas the 
 genuine Lafitte wines contain only 13 to 15 per cent, 
 of spirit, the produce of the grape from the Con- 
 stantia soil gives 22 per cent. As the per centage of 
 spirit in the genuine Constantia wine, above given, 
 is from the mean of several years' experience, it can 
 easily be ascertained by analysis whether spirits have 
 been added to the qualities sold as "real Con- 
 stantias." 
 
 By most of the wine-growers a quantity of raisins 
 are annually produced. They are chiefly made in
 
 DRIED FRUITS. 289 
 
 the districts beyond the first range of mountains, 
 — Worcester, Robertson, and Montagu, — the vintage 
 seasonstherebeinghotanddry. The large fleshy haane- 
 poot grape is generally used for manufacture — being; 
 prepared either by cutting the stalk of the bunches half 
 through when nearly ripe, and leaving them suspended 
 on the vine till the watery part is evaporated and the 
 sun dries and candies them; or when fully ripe, they are 
 gathered in baskets, and dipped in a lye prepared 
 from the "ganna" ash (common to the country), and 
 then laid out in single bunches, on cane mats, or 
 stones, to dry in the sun. Currants are made from the 
 small-berried Corinth vine, which grows well, although it 
 is much neglected, as it does not bear so plentifully as 
 others ; yet its produce is much more valued. The 
 currants, too, require less trouble in making, no boiled 
 lye being used, as for raisins. The bunches, when 
 properly ripe, are gathered, and placed on mats, where 
 they are exposed for two or three days to the heat of 
 the sun, and during the night are either covered over 
 with mats or brought inside ; they are afterwards 
 shaken from the bunches, and packed in boxes, jars, 
 or bags. Raisin-making does not require the large 
 capital in fustage and cellars necessary to wine 
 making, and if care is taken to use the right kind of 
 grape, and to produce the best qualities, remunerative 
 prices are readily procurable. The Malaga and stone 
 less Sultana grape should be more extensively culti- 
 vated for the purpose. The latter was introduced from 
 Greece about ten years ago by Mr. M'Gibbon, of the 
 Botanic Gardens, who says, "they succeed well in 
 our vineyards, and bear moderately. The bunches are 
 large, the berries oval; when ripe, of a beautiful amber 
 colour, and about the size of a water haanepoot ; the 
 flavour, a combination of the frontignac and haanepoot, 
 and very delicious ; and the raisins from them realise 
 a high price." Sun-dried dessert raisins of these varie- 
 u
 
 290 CANNED GOODS — TOBACCO. 
 
 ties, with the bloom upon the berries, will always be 
 in good demand.* 
 
 The preparation of other dried fruits also gives 
 occupation to those farmers who have extensive 
 orchards. Apricots, peaches, pear.-, figs, plums, apples, 
 walnuts, almonds — indeed every kind of fruit — is avail- 
 able in any quantity for this purpose. The preserves 
 of the Cape — gooseberry, nartje, orange, lime, guava, 
 quince, melon, citron, peach, fig, apricot, and other 
 varieties — surpass any of the English manufactured 
 fruits. Many of these colonial preserved fruits, as well 
 as vegetables, are now being made and putupinher- 
 n-eticaliy-sealed tin cans lor wholesale exportation. 
 This industry has been started within the past year by 
 Mr. John Merriman, in Gape Town. Th^ process of 
 preserving is conducted by skilled workmen, who have 
 been trained in the English establishments, and the 
 articles produced are beautiful in appearance and to 
 the taste far purer than any imported, while their cost 
 is much less. 
 
 Tobacco is in cultivation in several o' the coa^t dis- 
 tricts — Heidelbercr. Riversdale, and Oudtshoorn, as 
 well a* parts of Kafir aria, producing a large quantity. 
 There is a considerable home consumption for this pro- 
 duct, some of it, under the name of " Boer's," being 
 
 * In California, raisin-making is now an established and promising 
 industry. In making raisins they wait until the grape is fully ripe, 
 and then carefully cut iff the branches, and lay them either on a hard 
 clay floor, formed in t' e open air, or on brown paper laid between the 
 vine rows The bunches require from 18 to 24 days of exposure in 
 the sun to be cured. During that time they are gently turned from 
 time to time, and such as are earliest cured are at once removed to a 
 raisin house. This is fitted with shelves, on which the raisi- s are laid 
 about a foot thick, and h^re they are allowed to sweat a little. If 
 thev sweat too much, the sugar candies on the outside, and this 
 deteriorates the quality r,f the rai-in. It is an object to keep the 
 bio m on the berries. They are kept in the raisin house, I was told, 
 5 or 6 weeks, when they are ready to box.— Vide " Nordhoff s Cali- 
 fornia,' 1 &c.
 
 COTTON — COFFEE AND TEA. 291 
 
 used for smoking ; the general demand, however, is for 
 sheep-washing purposes. The soil in many parts seems 
 well adapted to the plant ; but in the process of curino- 
 and preparing the leaf for export there is room for much 
 improvement. 
 
 Cotton-growing has been tried with some success on 
 the coast lands of Albany, Peddie, and East London, 
 and if the natives can only be induced to engage in its 
 cultivation it may become a valuable export in course 
 of time.* 
 
 The average yield of the crops raised is estimated 
 at about 2401b. of clean or ginned cotton per acre. 
 Mr Wright, of Bathurst, has obtained a return of from 
 5001b. to 9001b. per acre in seed, Sea Island sample; 
 and some lands have yielded as high as 1,2001b. Mr. 
 Young, lately of Peddie, who has grown New Orleans, 
 reckons the average yield to be about 5001b. to 6001b. 
 of seed cotton per acre. But this, in the present state 
 of our labour market, and with ginned cotton at 8d. per 
 lb. in the English market, does not pay. The expenses 
 to England are about 3d. per lb., leaving the ©rower 
 only 5d, The export of cotton from the Colony in 1873 
 amounted to 49,376 lb., valued at £2,055; and in 1874, 
 was only 15,117 lb., valued at £257. 
 
 Coffee is grown along the Buffalo River, as well as 
 at the Kowie. Mr. Dredge, of East London district, 
 has produced not only enough to supply his own table, 
 but has had some little to sell, his crop last year 
 being about 3001b. Below Graham's Town, in the 
 sheltered valleys of the Zuurberg, and in various other 
 places about the country, coffee trees bear abundantly. 
 There are also some tea plants, which, it is said, will 
 stand the winds and the frosts even better than the 
 coffee. 
 
 * Messrs. Cawood Brothers,, of Graham's Town, have lately imported 
 some table and sheeting, manufactured to their order from Cape- 
 grown cotton. 
 U2
 
 292 NEW PRODUCTS. 
 
 There are numbers of other undeveloped products and 
 resources in the Colony offering a profitable field to 
 persons competent to enter upon them; although at pre- 
 sent the ordinary occupations are sufficiently remuner- 
 ative to most people without trying new openings. Seri- 
 culture has been mooted for years, and Dr. Hid- 
 dingh, of Newlands, and Mr. Kennelly, of Gra- 
 ham's Town, and others, have endeavoured to set the 
 industry a foot, but there has been no continued effort 
 on the part of the public to maintain it. Olive cultiv- 
 ation, which was first tried by one of the early Dutch 
 Governors, has been strongly recommended, and 
 European plants have been introduced, but few of the 
 farmers have made any experiment with them. Yet in 
 the Botanic Gardens there are rows of olives in full 
 growth and bearing, showing that this valuable tree 
 would answer, if planted on what are at present mere 
 waste lands. Linseed also will do well, the yield of 
 both seed and fibre being excellent. Mr. M. J. Louw, 
 of Cape Town, who has erected machinery for manu- 
 facturing the oil and the oilcake, is prepared to take any 
 quantity that may be raised ; and if produced' largely, 
 the article would be invaluable for the feeding of 
 stock. Lands that can be irrigated in summer, like 
 those of Worcester, answer best tor a crop, as by being 
 sown late, say in September or October, it escapes the 
 caterpillar, the chief enemy it has to contend with. 
 The cultivation of chicory, ot the sunflower, and of 
 numerous other products, might also be undertaken. 
 In fact, there is scarcely a valuable plant but can be 
 crrown here, except just such as are specially tropical, 
 and even these are not altogether beyond our reach. 
 There are localities in the Colony where anything will 
 grow, if it gets plenty of water ; and with water we 
 may grow anything if we have labour. These are the 
 great requirements of the country. 
 
 The ordinary labourers are for the most part natives,
 
 LABOUR. 293 
 
 — either Hottentot, Kafir, or Basuto, or some other of 
 the aborigines or of the tribes immediately beyond us. 
 They make careful herds, and pretty good ploughmen, 
 and quickly master the long wagon whip of the " kur- 
 veyor," and so get employed on the roads as leaders 
 and drivers of wagons. There is, however, a very 
 scanty supply of field labourers ; not but that there are 
 plenty of men in the country, but the larger part of 
 them being raw savages do not care to work, for their 
 wants are lew and easily supplied. In the Western 
 districts permanent agricultural labourers of the coloured 
 class receive about 15s. to 20s. per month, with food 
 and quarters, and garden lands to cultivate all the year 
 round ; and occasional labourers, during the harvest 
 and vintage season, get as high as 3s. 6d. a day, 
 besides an allowance of wine. In the Eastern 
 districts the wages to natives at the harvest time is from 
 Is. to 2s. a day, with rations. European servants are 
 much better paid,generally occupying the places of over- 
 seers ; and in most instances, if they are steady, active, 
 and prudent men, they speedily rise to the position of 
 masters and employers of labour. 
 
 New-comers will find that there are continually farms 
 to be sold by private owners, at from os. to 20s. per acre, 
 and in some parts of the Colony large landowners let out 
 lands on " halves" — if pastoral, stocking them and 
 charging a rent, and dividing the increase and yield ; 
 if arable, finding the land, and perhaps the seed and 
 some parts of the necessary teams, the tenant supplying 
 the labour, and the crops raised being equally divided. 
 Many colonists who began the world in this manner 
 have done very well, and have now good farms of their 
 own. The plan may suit men coming into the country 
 possessed of little capital, but with a will to work — for 
 here, as elsewhere all over the world, industry, pluck, 
 and perseverance are the keys to success.
 
 COMMEBOIAL AND INDUSTRIAL 
 PROGRESS. 
 
 Governor Sir Henry Barkly, in one of his recent 
 despatches to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 remarks that " it would scarcely be much exaggera- 
 tion to say that the rapidity of the progress of South 
 Africa during the last three or four years is paralleled 
 only by that of Australia after the discovery of gold." 
 
 No doubt the opening up of the diamond-producing 
 country on the northern border, in Griqualand West, 
 with the consequent influx and migration of popula- 
 tion there, deriving their chief supplies from the coast, 
 largely stimulated trade transactions and also diffused 
 a great deal of wealth, which has been applied to the 
 development of new resources and industries. But, 
 independently of these adventitious circumstances, the 
 commerce of the Cape Colony and the yield of its 
 staple productions have of late years been advancing 
 in so marked a degree as to give every assurance of 
 continued and permanent prosperity. 
 
 The retrospect of mercantile transactions shown in 
 the annexed tables of imports and exports, prepared 
 from returns furnished by the Hon. K. Graham, the 
 Collector of Customs, proves the remarkable expansion 
 of business in every direction,— -and this, too, notwith- 
 standing the drawbacks of drought at one time, of 
 floods at another, of uncertain and inadequate labour, 
 and of insufficient means of transport. Ten years ago 
 the colonial produce raised and exported was valued at 
 £2,395,673. Last year the produce shipped was con 
 siderably over £4,138,000, after supplying the colonial 
 markets, a largely-increased population, and numerous 
 vessels. The period of great mercantile activity
 
 296 COMMERCIAL PROGRESS. 
 
 may, however, be said to date from 1870, and the pro- 
 gress since will be seen from the following comparison 
 of the imports and exports for the last four years: — 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 
 
 £ £ £> £ 
 
 Specie 522,540 1,800,515 321,862 167,197 
 
 Merchandise 2,585.298 1,388,728 5,130,065 5,558,215 
 
 Total £3,107,838 £6,189,243 £5,451,927 £5,725,412 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 1871, 1872. 1873. 1874. 
 
 £ £ £ £ 
 
 Specie 54,387 72,095 103,416 235,186 
 
 Produce 3,531,609 4,757,494 3,907,911 4,138,838 
 
 Total £3,585,996 £4,829.589 £4,011,327 £4,374,024 
 
 These returns of produce exported include but an 
 infinitesimal portion of the value of diamonds sent 
 away, inasmuch as they were forwarded chiefly by 
 registered letter through the Post-office, or by private 
 hand, and not declared through the Customs. The 
 official statement only accounted,in 1871, for £403,349'; 
 in 1872, for £306,041 ; in 1873, for £25,285 ; and in 
 1874, for £8,148 ; while there is good reason for be- 
 lieving that during these four years at least £4,000,000 
 worth of diamonds, in addition to the above, were 
 sent away. If this estimate be correct, the dis- 
 crepancy between the amount of imports and exports 
 is approximately accounted for — a small difference 
 always occurring, from the geographical position of 
 the Colony as a place of call for shipping, and the 
 supply of the military and naval establishments. 
 
 It is worthy of note, too, that the total imports of 
 specie from 1871 to 1874 amounted to £2,812,114; 
 while the exports of specie for the same period 
 was only £465,084, leaving a balance of over two 
 millions and a quarter in the Colony.
 
 COMMERCIAL PROGRESS, 297 
 
 The most gratifying feature, however, is the satis- 
 factory progress indicated by the multiplication of 
 colonial articles exported—some of which, of course, 
 include the produce of the Free State, Griqualand 
 West, and part of the Interior, The following items 
 show a great increase over the maximum of three or 
 four years ago : — 
 
 Copper has advanced from 
 
 £ 
 160,000 in 1871 to 
 
 £ 
 321,42-4 in 
 
 1874. 
 
 Ostrich feathers 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 87,000 „ 1870 „ 
 
 205,640 
 
 55 
 
 Hair (Angora) 
 
 55 
 
 '5 
 
 43,000 „ 1871 „ 
 
 107,139 
 
 55 
 
 Fish, cured 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 18,837 „ 1871 „ 
 
 34,339 
 
 5J 
 
 Hides 
 
 5> 
 
 >5 
 
 29,000 „ 1871 „ 
 
 49,425 
 
 5) 
 
 Ivory 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 13,000 ., 1870 „ 
 
 26,667 
 
 55 
 
 Skins (goat) 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 172,000 „ 1871 „ 
 
 194,324 
 
 55 
 
 Skins (sheep) 
 
 55 
 
 „ 
 
 87,000 „ 1870 „ 
 
 144,538 
 
 
 Wool; 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 1,669.518 „ 1870 „ 
 
 2,948,571 
 
 
 During the present year gold will be added to the 
 list of exports — the first shipment of South African 
 gold officially entered* having already been made at 
 Port Elizabeth, consisting of gold dust, £5,735, and 
 quartz and nuggets £880; total, £6,615 — a small 
 item, but one of important signification in regard to 
 the future of this country. 
 
 The greater part of the Colonial productions, it 
 will be seen consists of raw materials, which are sent 
 to the home markets for manufacture ; but there are 
 many of them which in their preparation, or in their 
 conversion into articles of domestic consumption, em- 
 ploy a great deal of local capital and labour. In 
 Cape Town and its suburbs the manipulation of 
 wines, the distilling of brandy, and the brewing of 
 beer are industries of large proportions. There are 
 also many extensive steam milling establishments for 
 
 * The exports of gold, as of diamonds, cannot be accurately ascer- 
 tained, as it is not required to be entered as regular cargo, and is, 
 therefore, never declared, although carried by passengers in their 
 luggage or on their person.
 
 298 COLONIAL MANUFACTURES. 
 
 converting wheat into flour of several descriptions, 
 and for the manufacture of biscuits of first-class 
 quality. The workshops of the harbour and railway 
 departments are capable of executing any mechanical 
 requirements. Boat building, foundries, and smiths' 
 works are also carried on by private individuals. 
 Coachbuilding and wagon making give continual occu- 
 pation to many workmen; and besides these, there are 
 the ordinary trades of cabinet making, building, plumb- 
 ing, watchmaking, printing, bookbinding, saddlery and 
 harness making, painting, shoemaking, tailoring, &c. 
 
 Leather manufacture has been in operation for 
 some years, and there are several large tanneries, 
 both in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Graham's 
 Town. The raw staple and the very best materials 
 for preparing it are to be had in any quantity ; yet 
 the import tables show there is a colonial demand for 
 the article far beyond anything hitherto supplied. The 
 Cape goatskin is unsurpassed for conversion into the 
 first quality of leather, and the Cape sheepskin sup- 
 plies very superior kid gloves. There are numbers of 
 indigenous plants which yield tannin, and some of them 
 such as kreuppelboom, wagenboom, kliphout, wild 
 plum,* assegai, and saffran as well as the mimosa and 
 oak, are unequalled for tanning purposes. Fellmon- 
 gering has lately been commenced, and many 
 skins, formerly little valued, are bought up 
 here, and by this process have the wool upon them 
 
 * The leaves of the wild plum, when ground and properly prepared, 
 are quite equal to the Sicilian shumac, and used chiefly for tanning 
 buck and sheep skins. The shrub from which they are gathered is 
 locally known as the wild pruimen or t'kaamabesjes, and is found in 
 many places in the Cape district,— such as Hout's Bay, Muizenberg, 
 and Zandvleit, as well as at Saldanha Bay, and also in some of the 
 Eastern Districts, and in Katirland. The article might be made a 
 considerable and valuable <. xport. It is collected, in the green state, 
 for about £6 per ton, and can be ground to powder for an additional 
 £ 1 ; while the Sicilian costs fully double as much.
 
 WOOL-WASHING. 299 
 
 turned to account, as well as the felt preserved. 
 Soap making has also been established, and the 
 colonial article is supplanting the imported one. 
 
 Woollen manufactures have not hitherto been tried, 
 although a beginning is now being made by a colonial 
 benefactor (W. W.Dickson, Esq.), who is constructing 
 a large establishment on the Breede River, Mitchell's 
 Pass, Tulbagh district, for wool washing and fell- 
 mongering, and where also, ere long, blankets and 
 broad-cloths from our principal staple may be 
 supplied. 
 
 Wool-washing, however, is an extensive business, 
 carried on all over the country. From Cape Town, 
 where Messrs. Marquard and Co. have their steam 
 manufactory, on to Mr. Tudhope's, at Aliwal North, 
 nearly every division has one or more at work. But 
 the chief centre of this industry is on the Zwartkops 
 River, at Uitenhage, and the extent to which it has 
 been developed, as well as the contrast between the 
 process of wool washing now and in former times, 
 merits a brief description. 
 
 Twelve years ago, there were only three wool- 
 washers on the Zwartkops River, and their 
 manner of washing was of the most primitive 
 character. The dirty wool was put into tubs of 
 water, and stirred about with forked sticks or poles, 
 till a great deal of dirt was separated from it, although 
 it was very many shades darker than the present 
 " Uitenhage snow white," so eagerly sought after by 
 home buyers. A long stride towards perfection was 
 made when square tanks, with bottoms of perforated 
 zinc, were introduced. The clean water was made to 
 flow into these tanks from sluices in a wooden water 
 Si shoot," and the dirty water escaped through the 
 perforated bottoms of the tanks. In each of these 
 tanks two Kafirs, men or women, stood, and kicked 
 the wool about with their feet until it was sufficiently
 
 300 WOOL-WASHING. 
 
 clean. This was called " cold water foot-washing," 
 although the wool was soaked in hot water previous 
 to its being thrown into the tanks ; it was then carried 
 into the drying grounds, where it was tossed about 
 with forked sticks, and spread out in the sun, over a 
 floor of river pebbles, until sufficiently dried and 
 bleached. This process raised the reputation of 
 Uitenhage washing considerably ; and it was by it 
 that the first "snow whites" were produced. But 
 this was soon to give way to cheaper, more perfect, 
 and more expeditious steam washing, and foot-washing 
 is no longer employed. 
 
 The machinery employed at these establishments 
 vary in some minor particulars, but the general prin- 
 ciple adopted is the same in all ; and although 
 visitors with a taste for machinery would find some- 
 thing fresh to interest them at each establishment, a 
 general description of one establishment will serve for 
 the present purpose. The establishment we select 
 for description is that of Messrs. F. and P. Lange. 
 A well-designed and substantially-built building, 150 
 feet long by 60 feet wide, contains the washing 
 machinery. In the centre of this building is an engine 
 of 25-horse power, which drives a shaft 145 feet long, 
 setting in motion all the machinery, i.e., "devils," 
 "washers," " hydro -extractors," packing machines, 
 pressing machines, centrifugal pumps, turning lathes, 
 circular saws, &c. The first process to which the 
 wool is submitted is " devilling." The " devil" is a 
 closed circular box of about six feet diameter, inside 
 of which revolve, with great rapidity, a spindle, from 
 which radiate long metal teeth. The wool is so shaken 
 and loosened by this process that a great deal of the 
 dirt is thus extracted. This dirt falls through the 
 bottom part of the " devil," which is made of perfo- 
 rated zinc. The wool is next put into tanks of hot 
 water, varying in temperature from 100° to 170°,
 
 WOOL-WASHING. 301 
 
 according to the quality of the wool. It is next passed 
 into the u washers," which work in cemented tanks 
 35 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet deep. There are 
 six of these washers and tanks at Messrs. Lange's 
 establishment. Each of the tanks is the channel for a 
 powerful stream of cold water, which is admitted at 
 the front of the tank through a sluice in an under- 
 ground culvert, which runs the whole length of the 
 building. The wool, as it passes through the machine, 
 is worked up by the machinery against the current, 
 and, as all the dirt is driven to the lower end of the 
 stream, the progress of the wool is into purer water. 
 "When the wool is thrown into the washer from the 
 soaking tank, it is first drawn into a box, or drum, 
 similar in construction to the "devil" already 
 described, the difference being that this works in the 
 water, and, by a spiral arrangement of the teeth in the 
 spindle, the wool is thrown out when sufficiently 
 whirled about. It is then raked forward by a series 
 of forks against the stream, and deposited in a second 
 drum, from which it is taken by a second series of 
 forks, and ultimately raised out of the further end of 
 the tank by a beautiful mechanical contrivance called 
 the " Belgian lift," and deposited on a perforated 
 platform, where it drains, until placed on small 
 wagons, which run on a tramway to what are called 
 the " hydro-extractors," where nearly all the water 
 is taken out of it by centrifugal force. It is then 
 taken to the drying grounds, where it is bleached and 
 dried. The packing and pressing is also performed 
 by steam, and immensely powerful racks and cog- 
 wheels are employed in that process. The bag is 
 placed in a strong square box the size of a bale ; the 
 sides of this box all open on hinges at the bottom, and 
 when the bag is being filled with wool they are closed 
 with strong iron catches Above this box is a square 
 wooden tube about 10 feet long, corresponding in its
 
 302 WOODS AND TREE-PLANTING. 
 
 other dimensions with the wool bale in the box beneath. 
 Into this tube the wool is thrown from the warehouse 
 above, and tramped down by a Kafir. When the 
 whole, box and tube, are as full as the Kafir can 
 tread them, the rack is applied, and squeezes the mass 
 of wool into a nearly solid block the size of the bag, 
 which is then sown up, branded, and rolled out ready 
 for loading. The various plans employed for hoisting 
 the bales on to the wagons are ingenious, but would 
 make our description too long. The quantity of wool 
 washed in the 24 hours at this establishment is 100 
 bales, and the quantity of water required for that 
 number 500,000 gallons. 
 
 It would be unjust to conclude this notice of the 
 Uitenhage establishments without making mention of 
 that of Mr. Niven, which is as large, if not larger, 
 than that we have described, and where many most 
 ingenious contrivances are used for accomplishing by 
 machinery what at other places is done by hand. Mr. 
 Niven may be called the father of wool-washing by 
 machinery, as he was the first to employ machinery ; 
 and all the processes now in use are more or less modi- 
 fications of his inventions. 
 
 The woods of the Colony comprise upwards of a 
 hundred different kinds; and many of them are exten- 
 sively used for economic purposes, such as house 
 building wagon making, furniture, and cabinet work. 
 The forests, however, are chiefly along the coast line, 
 and the expense of transporting timber to the more 
 inland parts is great. But there is no district where 
 trees cannot be grown if irrigated and fenced in for 
 the first few years. Some private individuals have 
 found it to be very profitable to lay out young plan- 
 tations of quick-growing timber like the blue gum and 
 blackwood ; and the same course might be profitably 
 followed by Government with a good deal of the 
 waste lands. Dr. Brown, the late Colonial Botanist,
 
 MINERALS— PRECIOUS STONES. 303 
 
 strongly urged this matter upon public attention. 
 His counsel was, plant any tree — any kind of tree 
 which will grow, or any kind of tree for which there 
 may be a fancy — oak, fir, poplar, blue gum, beef- 
 wood, blackwood — anything. Every tree that grows 
 tends to prepare the climate for the growth of others, 
 and we have yet to learn where is a district in which 
 it would be vain to try the experiment. While dur- 
 ing their growth they would contribute to increase 
 the humidity of the climate, the revenue obtained 
 from the sale of them, when fit to be cut as timber, 
 would supply means of still more extensively carrying 
 out the enterprise. 
 
 The mineral resources of the Colony are being more 
 and more developed every year. Copper is the most 
 important mining industry, and at present there 
 appears no limit to the production — the old mines of 
 Namaqualand yielding handsomely, and the new ones, 
 near the Orange River, promising to be still richer in 
 quantity and quality of ore. Coal, equal to some of 
 the English varieties as a source of heat, exists over a 
 large area in the Border districts, and may be found 
 in other parts, as the country becomes more occupied. 
 Diamonds have been picked up on the surface of the 
 country, at various places along the basin of the 
 Orange Kiver, and there is a probability that spots 
 may yet be hit upon containing marvellous treasures 
 corresponding to the Kimberley mine. Besides dia- 
 monds, in the category of ornamental stones may also be 
 included various coloured agates, garnets, amethysts, 
 rose quartz, fibrous quartz, tourmaline, chalcedony, 
 heliotrope or bloodstone, red and yellow jasper, steatite, 
 &c., found along the north-western border from Hope 
 Town to the Great Waterfall. Lead ore, manganese, 
 hematite, and other iron ore, and similar valuable 
 products likewise occur in many different localities 
 Building stone is abundant all over the country, and
 
 304 OTHER RESOURCES. 
 
 also beds of clay, some of which could be used for the 
 finest pottery. There are several qualities of free- 
 stone, some being suitable for mill and grinding stones, 
 as well as for architectural purposes. Marbles of 
 different colours are found in many places — in 
 Namaqualand, Clanwilliam, Tulbagh, Worcester, 
 Oudtshoorn ; and limestones of various ages occur 
 along most of the coast districts, and on the Orange 
 River below Hope Town. Numerous other sub- 
 stances of economic value may still be discovered, 
 if a systematic examination of the country is made — 
 for it is true of the Colony, as of Africa generally, 
 that it is always rewarding search with something 
 new. 
 
 Those who have followed us in this review of the 
 industrial and productive capabilities of the Cape 
 may be surprised that, with such natural resources, it 
 has hitherto attracted so little attention as a field for 
 immigration. Some of the causes may be briefly 
 referred to. When Great Britain took over the Colony 
 from the Batavian Republic, the districts beyond the 
 range of mountains near the coast were almost shut out 
 from communication with the world — rugged kloofs 
 and rocky terraces presented obstacles which seemed 
 too difficult to be encountered — and the inhabitants of 
 those isolated parts were forced to a life of inaction. 
 The Government made little effort to improve this con- 
 dition of things, and for many years afterwards 
 appeared quite contented with holding the extremity of 
 the Cape peninsula and the south-eastern littoral line. 
 Their experiment of planting the settlers of 1820 in the 
 Albany district, where for a time they had to 
 encounter a barbarous foe as well as the difficulties of 
 a new and strange country, did not seem satisfac- 
 tory enough to be repeated, — although in later years 
 the results proved eminently successful. A barren 
 promontory, a sterile desert, and a sparse population
 
 PROGRESS AtfD PROSPERITY. 305 
 
 surrounded by savages, and subject to recurring Kafir 
 wars, then formed and until a very recent period, the 
 ordinary English conception of South Africa. Even 
 Lord (now Earl) Russell, in his instructions to the Land 
 and Emigration Commissioners when they were first 
 appointed, after dwelling on the advantages of other 
 colonies, like Canada and Australia, passed over the 
 Cape of Good Hope, with the remark that little land 
 offered itself there; and yet, at that time, more than 
 now, millions of acres were available, but unsurveyed 
 and uncared for. The resources of the Colony were 
 thus sealed up and lying dormant, and its compara- 
 tively thinly-scattered inhabitants idle spectators, 
 during the great movements of labour and capital 
 from the Old World to the New. 
 
 In course of time, however, efforts were made 
 within the country itself to promote its advance- 
 ment and prosperity. The construction of main 
 lines of communication, devised and inaugurated 
 by the late Mr. Montagu and Colonel Mitchell, 
 removed the chief internal barriers to pro- 
 gress and civilisation. The " desert wilds" were 
 opened up, and utilised by a progressive population. 
 Towns and villages were multiplied, and there was 
 increased production and industry, The people, under 
 the influence of education, diffused by means of 
 churches, schools, and a free press, and, trained in some 
 degree by experience in the management of their own 
 local affairs, acquired habits of self-help, self-reliance, 
 and self-government. In 1854, the privileges of an 
 elective Parliament were granted to them, and an era 
 of unruffled peace and active progress entered upon. 
 Public works were undertaken with an energy un- 
 known before. Roads and bridges were constructed, 
 harbours were improved, railways and telegraphs 
 were introduced, the public lands were thrown 
 open to public competition, and immigration en- 
 x
 
 306 PKOSPECTS. 
 
 couraged. In a few years the action of the Legis- 
 lature did more for the Colony than it would have 
 been possible for the old Government to have accom- 
 plished in fifty. There have been temporary checks 
 occasionally felt, arising from seasons of drought and 
 low markets ; but the spirit of progress and improve- 
 ment has not slackened since. The past year, again, has 
 witnessed the sanction by Parliament of several 
 important undertakings — including the construction 
 of lines of railway in various directions, extending 
 in the aggregate over nearly 800 miles, and 
 involving an eventual outlay of about five millions 
 sterling. This large expenditure is fully justified 
 by the flourishing condition of the revenue — now 
 approaching to a million and a half sterling per 
 annum — and by the consideration that such works will 
 necessarily augment the value of public and private 
 property, will materially diminish the burdens entailed 
 on all classes by the present tedious and expensive mode 
 of transport, and will also greatly contribute, by the 
 introduction of European skill and labour, to the 
 better occupation and development of the country. 
 
 Sir Henry Barkly, in the despatches already alluded 
 to, truly observes : " It would be idle, of course, to 
 attempt to predict the future destinies of the Colony ; 
 but nothing assuredly can be more apparently pro- 
 mising than its prospects at this moment. With un- 
 bounded stores of mineral wealth, and with a range of 
 climate that fits it for the growth of most of the agri- 
 cultural productions of the tropical as well as tem- 
 perate zone, the natural resources of South Africa 
 can hardly be surpassed by those of any other portion 
 of the globe."
 
 PiC-Cnlatto 
 
 OroJ>? 
 Kosi R. 
 
 ■ 
 
 i 
 
 i
 
 THE CENSUS OF 1875- 
 
 The first Census of the Cape Colony was taken in 
 I860, and the statistical information deduced there- 
 from has been embodied in the preceding pages. A 
 second Census was taken at the end of the decennial 
 period, in March of the present year 1875, and 
 although the full details will not be published until 
 the compilation of all the voluminous and complicated 
 returns is completed by the Government statistician, 
 we are enabled to give the principal results, as sum- 
 marised from the reports of the official enumerators 
 of each Division. 
 
 As compared with the previous Census, the popula- 
 tion, property, and realised wealth of the colonists have 
 made a considerable advance The time at which the 
 Census was taken, however, was most unfavourable for 
 a representation of its agricultural and pastoral re- 
 sources. The drought of 1873-1- in some parts, and 
 the heavy floods at the close of 1874 in others, cau-ed 
 a diminution of produce as well as a reduction of stock. 
 The returns therefore do not present in any way an 
 exaggerated view of the industry of the people. 
 
 The Divisions are here arranged under the several 
 "Provinces " into which the Colony is now divided by 
 the Constitution Ordinance Amendment Act 18 of 
 1874, for the election of Members of the Legislative 
 Council. The stock and produce embrace the principal 
 articles contributing to our colonial productions ; but 
 for some of the Divisions these are omitted, as the results 
 are as yet imperfectly ascertained. The population 
 shows the number of inhabitants in the towns and 
 villages, and in the rural parts of each District. The 
 total population of the Colony now is 720,000, beino* 
 an increase of 24 per cent, on the returns of 1865. 
 x2
 
 308 THE CENSUS OF 1875, 
 
 1. WESTERN PROVINCE. 
 
 Cope Town. — Population, Municipality, 32,907 ; Greenpoint.— 
 1,426 ; Mobben Island, 552. Total 34,885. 
 
 Cape Division. — Papendorp, Liesbeek, Rondebosch, Newlands, 
 Wynberff, and Constantia, 12,076 ; Simon's Town, 2,554 ; 
 Durban,^ ; Other Rural Wards, 7,358. Total, 22,859. Wheat, 
 75,330 bushels ; Barley, 24,838 bushels ; Oats, 17,896 ; Vine 
 Stocks, 3,204,645 ; Wine, 1,853 leggers ; Brandy, 288 leggers. 
 
 Stellenbosch and Somerset West— Population, Urban 4,017 ; 
 Rural 6,524. 
 
 Horses, 1,394; Mules and Asses, 692 ; Draught Oxen, 1,757 
 Other Cattle, 3,337 ; Wooled Sheep, 17,669 ; Other Sheep, 758 
 Angora Goats, 4,333 ; Common Goats, 3,942 ; Ostriches, 205 
 Wool, 40,422 lbs. ; Wheat, 17,868 bushels ; Barley, 8,806 bushels 
 Oats, 12,461 bushels ; Vines, 15,887,610 ; Wine, 10,048 leggers 
 Brandy, 1,017 leggers. 
 
 Paarl and Wellington.— Population, Urban 7,989 ; Rural 10,125. 
 
 Horses, 2,654 ; Mules and Asses, 1,628 ; Draught Oxen, 3,043 
 Other Cattle, 5,027 ; Wooled Sheep, 26,753 ; Other Sheep, 1,630 
 Angora Goats, 1,991 ; Common Goats, 10,491 ; Ostriches, 502 
 Wool, 28,896 lbs.; Wheat, 49,830 bushels; Barley, 13.766 
 bushels ; Oats, 66,812 bushels ; Vines, 25,548,175 ; Wine, 16,853 
 leggers ; Brandy, 1,362 leggers. 
 
 2. NORTH WESTERN PROVINCE. 
 Malmesbury.— Population, Urban 4,302 ; Rural 13,912. 
 
 Horses, 8,977 ; Mules and Asses, 3,649 ; Draught Oxen, 8,547 ; 
 Other Cattle, 21,170 ; Wooled Sheep, 162,117 ; Other Sheep, 
 15,670 ; Angora Goats, 1.305 ; Common Goats, 44,536 ; Ostriches 
 111; Wool, 1 82,228 lbs. ; Vines, 1,896,000. Agricultural re- 
 turns imperfect. 
 
 Piquetberg.— Population, Urban 1,500 ; Rural 6,718. 
 
 Horses, 3,312 ; Mules and Asses, 774 ; Draught Oxen, 5,125 ; 
 Other Cattle, 11,277 ; Wooled Sheep, 56 467 ; Other Sheep, 
 11,797 ; Angora Goats, 80 ; Common Goats, 40,564 ; Ostriches, 
 230. 
 
 Worcester.— Population, Urban 3,863 ; Rural 5,938. 
 
 Horses, 2,950 ; Mules and Asses. 856 ; Draught Oxen. 4,858 ; 
 Other Cattle, 9,237; Wooled Sheep, 115,150 ; Other Sheep, 25,894 ;
 
 THE CENSUS OF 1875. 309 
 
 Angora Goats, 3,557 ; Common Goats, 37,944 ; Ostriches, 390 ; 
 Wool, 631,444 lbs. ; Wheat, 20,923 bushels ; Barley, 26,137 
 bushels ; oats, 2,473 bushels ; Vine stocks, 5,414,526 ; Wine, 
 1,380 leggers ; Brandy, 1,155 leggers. 
 
 Tulbagli.— Population, Urban 3,589 ; Rural 6,354. 
 
 Horses, 3,794 ; Mules and Asses, 1,033 ; Draught Oxen, 3,797 ; 
 Other Cattle, 7.913 ; Wooled Sheep, 103,808 ; Other Sheep, 
 8,184 ; Angora Goats, 3, 142 ; Common Goats, 28,378 ; Ostriches 
 117. 
 
 Glamci Ham. — Population, Urban 1,607 ; Rural 6,797. 
 
 Horses, 3,193 ; Mules and Asses, 656; Draught Oxen, 5.313 ; 
 Other Cattle, 11,662 ; Wooled Sheep, 28,196 ; Other Sheep, 
 42,018 ; Angora Goats, 675 ; Common Goats, 60,775 ; Ostriches, 
 358, 
 
 Calvinia.— Population, Urban 439 ; Rural 7,013. 
 
 Horses, 3,681 ; Mules and Asses, 942 ; Draught Oxen, 4,302 
 Other Cattle, 9,443 ; Wooled Sheep, 79,972 ; Other Sheep, 167,066 
 Angora Goats, 303 ; Common Goats, 66,765 ; Ostriches, 1,148 
 AVool, 227,377 lbs. 
 
 Namaqualand. — Population, Urban 5,703 ; Rural 6,648. 
 
 Horses, 3,507 ; Mules and Asses, 799 ; Draught Oxen, 5 539 ; 
 Other Cattle, 8,323 ; Wooled Sheep, 4,546 ; Other Sheep, 111,458 ; 
 Angora Goats, 956 ; Common Goats, 81,210 ; Ostriches, 73. 
 
 3. SOUTH WESTERN PROVINCE. 
 
 Caledon. — Population, Urban 1,362 ; Rural 9,941. 
 
 Horses, 3,522 ; Mules and Asses, 910 ; Draught Oxen, 4,974 
 Other Cattle, 3,264 ; Wooled Sheep, 259,621 ; Other Sheep, 1,002 
 Angora Goats, 510 ; Common Goats, 10,107 ; Ostriches, 310 
 Wool, 539,951 lbs. ; Wheat, 102,058 bushels ; Barley, 25,183 
 bushels ; Oats, 67,188 bushels ; Wine, 1,149 leggers ; Brandy, 
 144 leggers. 
 
 Bredasdorp.— Population, Urban 2,184 ; Rural 2,101. 
 
 Horses, 1,526 ; Mules and Asses, 343 ; Draught Oxen, 783 
 Other Cattle, 649 ; Wooled Sheep, 127,090 ; Other Sheep, 436 
 Angora Goats, 1,058; Common Goats, 6,171; Ostriches, 86 
 Wool, 321,000 lbs. ; Wheat, 14,851 bushels ; Barley, 13,262 
 bushels ; Oats, 5,974 bushels.
 
 310 THE CENSUS OF 1875. 
 
 Swellcndam. — Population, Urban 3,521 ; Rural 6,484. 
 
 Horses, 4,100; Mules and Asses, 511 ; Draught Oxen, 5,456 
 Other Cattle, 7,332 ; Wooled Sheep, 214,557 ; Other Sheep, 3,615 
 Angora Goats, 10,751 ; Common Goats, 44,410 ; Ostriches, 820 
 Wool, 484,413 lbs. ; Wheat, 26,301 bushels ; Barley, 28,000 
 bushels; Oats, 37,876 bushels ; Wine, 78 leggers ; Brandy, 34 
 leggers. 
 
 Robertson. - Population, Urban 2,601 ; Rural 5,385. 
 Horses, 1,843 ; Mules and Asses, 1,048 ; Draught Oxen, 2,764 
 Other Cattle, 5,138 ; Wooled Sheep, 26,697 ; Other Sheep, 2,502 
 Angora Goats, 3,270 ; Common Goats, 53.885 ; Ostriches, 133 
 Wool, 56,000 lbs. ; wheat, 29,674 bushels ; barley, 35,997 bushels 
 Oats, 2,547 bushels ; Vine stocks, 4,527,603 ; Wine, 1,173 leggers 
 Brandy, 721 leggers. 
 
 Biv&rsdah.— Population, Urban, 2,896 ; Rural, 9,829. 
 
 Horses, 4,004 ; Mules and Asses, 804 ; Draught Oxen, 7,707 
 Other Cattle, 14,766 ; Wooled Sheep, 105,859 ; Other Sheep, 4,177 
 Angora Goats, 6,415; Common Goats, 86,221 ; Ostriches, 2,892 
 Wool, 159,117 lbs. ; Wheat, 35,898 bushels ; Barley, 21,491 
 bushels ; Oats, 1,477 bushels ; Wine, 189 leggers ; Brandy, 655 
 leggers. 
 
 Oudtshoorn. — Population, Urban, 1,780 ; Rural, 13,349 ; 
 Horses, 2,881 ; Mules and Asses, 1,726 ; Draught Oxen, 
 10,226 ; Other Cattle, 6,227 ; Wooled Sheep, 11,078 ; Other Sheep, 
 5,905 ; Angora Goats, 4,699 ; Common Goats, 84,082 ; Ostriches, 
 2,519 ; Wool, 20,760 lbs. ; Wheat, 100,721 bushels ; Bailey, 
 16,420 bushels ; Oats, 5,900 bushels ; Vine stocks, 6,042,174 ; 
 Wine, 418 leggers ; Brandy, 1,237 leggers. 
 
 George. — Population, Urban, 1,915 ; Rural, 9,851. 
 
 Horses, 3,141 ; Mules and Asses, 690 ; Draught Oxen, 9,816 
 Other Cattle, 9,050 ; Wooled Sheep, 96,139 ; Other Sheep, 5,640 
 Angora Goats, 14,867 ; Common Goats, 44,217 ; Ostriches, 1,802 
 Wool, 214,000 lbs. ; Wheat, 57,864 bushels ; Barley, 24,418 
 bushels ; Oats, 19.937 bushels ; Wine, 23 leggers ; Brandy, 64 
 leggers. 
 
 Mossel Bay. -Population, Urban, 1,352 ; Rural, 3,707. 
 Horses, 1,442 ; Mules and Asses, 154 ; Draught Oxen, 3,599 
 Other Cattle, 4,538 ; Wooled Sheep, 88,762 ; Other Sheep, 56 
 Angora Goats, 3,471 ; Common Goats, 14,267 ; Ostriches, 1,015 
 Wool, 154,487 lbs. ; Wheat, 16,975 bushels ; Barley, 12,456 
 bushels ; Oats, 649 bushels.
 
 THE CEXSUS OF 1875. 311 
 
 Knyma. — Population, Urban, 529 : Rural, 2,659. 
 Horses, 495: Mules and Asses, 33; Draught Oxen, 2.683 ; 
 Other Cattle, 3,157 ; Wooled Sheep, 18.802; Other Sheep, 23 ; 
 Angora Goats, 1,411 ; Common Goats, 1,245 ; Ostriches, 158. 
 
 4. MIDLAND PROVINCE. 
 
 Beaufort West.— Population, Urban. 1,575 ; Rural, 6,739. 
 Horses, 3,744 ; Mules and Asses, 1,264 ; Draught Oxen, 3,502 
 Other Cattle, 4.715 ; Wooled Sheep, 482,607 ; Other Sheep, 18.632 
 Angora Goats. 15 290; Common Goats, 102,995 ; Ostriches, 477 
 Clip of Wool, 1,629,799 lbs. 
 
 Prince Albert. — Population, Urban, 907 ; Rural, 5,035. 
 
 Willowmore. — Population. 245. 
 Horses, 1.637 ; Mules and Asses, 686 ; Draught Oxen, 3.405 ; 
 Other Cattle, 2,782 : Wooled Sheep, 163,420 : Other Sheep, 12,434; 
 Angora Goats. 10,601 ; Common Goats, 69.671 ; Ostriches, 1,053; 
 Wool, 144,256 lbs. ; Wheat, 17,036 bushels ; Barley, 10,691 
 bushels; Oats, 1.659 bushels ; Vine stocks, 911,603 ; Wine, 244 
 leggers ; Brandy, 298 leggers. 
 
 Victoria West— Population, Urban, 1,445 ; Rural, 11,806. 
 Horses, 6,829 ; Mules and Asses, 1,792 ; Draught Oxen. 6.778 
 Other Cattle, 8.588 ; Wooled Sheep, 874,635 ; Other Sheep. 89,284 
 Angora Goats, 15.629; Common Goats, 118,762; Ostriches, 339 
 Clip of Wool, 2,095 164 lbs. 
 
 Fraserburg. — Population, Urban, 873 ; Rural, 8,123. 
 Horses, 5,087 ; Mules and Asses, 966 : Draught Oxen, 4,357 , 
 Other Cattle. 9.125 ; Wooled Sheep, 349,563 ; Other Sheep, 
 213,719 ; Angora Goats, 4.633; Common Soars, 121,177; Ostriches 
 598 , Wool, 1,057,722 lbs. 
 
 Richmond. — Population, Urban, 990 ; Rnral, 6.017. 
 Horses, 5.092 ; Mules and Asses, 915 ; Draught Oxen, 3.555 ; 
 Other Cattle, 5,110; Wooled Sheep, 473,166; Other Sheep, 
 56,498 ; Angora Goats, 11,494 ; Common Goats, 58,443 
 Ostriches, 439 ; Wool, 1,823 128 lbs. ; Wheat, 17,018 bushels. 
 
 Hope Town. — Population, Urban, 491 ; Rural, 5,653. 
 Horses, 4,348 ; Mules and Asses, 186 ; Draught Oxen, 5,080 ; 
 Other Cattle, 8,400; Wooled Sheep, 345,290; Other Sheep, 
 15,641 ; Angora Goats, 10,790 ; Common Goats, 36,386 ; 
 Ostriches, 30"; Wool, 1,065,000 lbs.
 
 312 THE CENSUS OP 1875. 
 
 Murray sburg.— Population, Urban, G99 ; Rural, 3,079. 
 
 Horses, 2,507 ; Mules and Asses, 699 ; Draught Oxen, 1,568 
 Other Cattle, 4,258 ; Wooled Sheep, 148,526; Other Sheep, 21,398 
 Angora Goats, 28,142 : Common Goats, 20,392 ; Ostriches, 438 
 Wool 605.779 lbs.; Wheat, 10,689 bushels; Barley, 8,138 bushels. 
 
 Graoff-RcineL— Population, Urban, 5,322 ; Rural, 11,452. 
 
 Horses, 5,629 ; Mules and Asses, 841 : Draught Oxen, 13,795 ; 
 Other Cattle, 14,116 ; Wooled Mieep, ' 399,715 ; Other Sheep, 
 13,680 ; Angora Goats, 150,251 ; Common Goats, 78,975 ; 
 Ostriches, 1,032. 
 
 5. SOUTH EASTERN PROVINCE. 
 
 Graham's Town.— Population, Urban, 6,912.^ 
 
 Albany. — Population, Rural, 9,529. 
 
 Horses, 2,408 ; Mules and Asses, 92 ; Draught Oxen, 17,489 ; 
 Other Cattle, 17,189 ; Wooled Sheep, 151,394 ; Other Sheep, 
 1,889 ; Angora Goats, 33,596 ; Common Goats, 22,881 ; 
 Ostriches, 637 ; Wool, 411,073 lbs. ; Wheat, 5,619 bushels ; 
 Barley, 1,916 bushels ; Oats, 966 bushels. 
 
 Bathurst— Population, Urban, 1,411 ; Rural, 4,392. 
 
 Horses, 365 ; Mules and Asses, 13 ; Draught Oxen, 8,780 
 Other Cattle, 7,482 ; Wooled Sheep, 2,660 ; Other Sheep, 27 
 Angora Goats, 80 ; Common Goats, 1,721 ; Wool, 18,250 lbs. 
 Wheat, 16,090 bushels ; Barley, 7,267 bushels ; Oats, 46,601 
 bushels. 
 
 Fort Elizabeth.— Population, Urban, 12,974 ; Rural, 1,476. 
 
 Horses, 818; Mules and Asses, 111; Draught Oxen, 2,291 ; 
 Other Cattle, 2,051 ; Wooled Sheep, 1,559; Other Sheep, 3,068 ; 
 Angora Goats, 206 ; Common Goats, 432 ; Ostriches, 10. 
 
 Uitenhage.— Population, Urban, 4,102 ; Rural, 17,365. 
 
 Horses, 3,500 ; Mules and Asses, 580; Draught Oxen, 24,657 
 Other Cattle, 25,202 ; Wooled Sheep, 249,683 ;Other Sheep, 6,930 
 Angora Goats, 59,808 ; Common Goats, 260,709 ; Ostriches, 976 
 Wool, 625,040 lbs.; Wheat, 17,464 bushels; Vines, 344,684. 
 
 Humansdorjp. — Population, Urban, 377 ; Rural, 6,921. 
 
 Horses, 1,434 ; Mules and Asses, 181; Draught Oxen, 5,778; 
 Other Cattle, 9,672; Wooled Sheep, 121,946; Other Sheep, 
 1,241 ; Angora Goats, 663; Common Goats, 12,721; Ostriches,
 
 THE CENSUS OF 1875. 313 
 
 196 ; Wool, 264,670 lbs. : Wheat, 30,2-43 bushels ; Barley, 10,481 
 bushels ; Oats, 1,258 bushels. 
 
 Alexandria — Population, Urban, 351 ; Eural, 5,669. 
 
 Horses, 772 ; Mules and Asses, 9 ; Draught Oxen, 13,440 
 Other Cattle, 11,079 ; Wooled Sheep, 13,823 ; OtherSheep, 2,479 
 Angora Goats, 946 ; Common Goats, 3,776 ; Wool, 31 426 lbs. 
 Wheat, 38 998 bushels; Barley, 10,872 bushels; Oats, 15,925 
 bushels ; Ostriches, 81. 
 
 Victoria East. — Population, Urban, 1,284 ; Rural, 6,686. 
 
 Horses, 869 ; Mules and Asses, nil ; Draught Oxen, 6,989 ; 
 Other Cattle, 10,039 ; Wooled bheep, 52,421 ; Other Sheep, nil ; 
 Angora Goats, 12,330 ; Common Goats, nil ; Ostriches, nil; Wool, 
 201.578 lbs. 
 
 Peddle. — Population, Urban, 516 ; Eural, 16,022. 
 
 Horses, 573 ; Mules and Asses, 10 : Draught Oxen, 11,885 ; 
 Other Cattle, 24,283 ; Wooled Sheep, 25,413 ; Other Sheep, 839 ; 
 Angora Goats, 2,228 ; Common Goats, 17,936. 
 
 6. NORTH EASTERN PROVINCE. 
 
 Fori Beaufort— Population, Urban, 3,936 ; Eural, 11,721. 
 
 Horses, 1,827 ; Mules and Asses, 14 ; Draught Oxen, 9,158 
 Other Cattle, 15,507; Wooled Sheep, 151,102; Other fcheep, 811 
 Angora Goats, 17,574; Common Goats, 19.012 ; Ostriches, 13 
 Wool, 430,244 lbs. ; Wheat, 23,587 bushels ; Barley, 2,025 
 bushels ; Oats, 1,190 bushels. 
 
 Stochenstrom. — Population, Urban, 232 ; Eural, 6,267. 
 Horses, 772 ; Mules and Asses, 24 ; Draught Oxen, 5,528 ; 
 Other Cattle, 4,229; Wooled Sheep, 63,713; Other Sheep, 5; 
 Angora Goats, 8,861 ; Common Goats, 8,512 ; Wool, 147,675 
 lbs. ; Wheat, 11,000 bushels. 
 
 Somerset East. —Population, Urban, 2,444 ; Eural, 8,414. 
 Horses, 3,591 ; Mules and Asses, 121; Draught Oxen, 9,433; 
 Other Cattle, 10,513 ; Wooled Sheep, 315,762; Other Sheep, 4,926; 
 Angora Goats, 131,500; Common Goats, 66,596 ; Ostriches, 219 
 Wool, 688,342 lbs. : Wheat, 7,842 bushels ; Barley, 6,391 bushels 
 Oats, 27,726 bushels. 
 
 Bedford.— Population, Urban, 814 ; Rural, 7,822. 
 Horses. 2,135 ; Mules and Asses, 34; Draught Oxen, 7,321 
 Other Cattle, 11.739 ;Wooled Sheep, 217,765; OtherSheep, 1,071 
 Angora Goats, 59,229 ; Common Goats, 14,586 ; Ostriches, 169 
 Wool, 747,829 lbs.; Wheat, 21.140 bushels.
 
 314 THE CENSUS OF 1875. 
 
 Cradock.-- Population, Urban, 1,696 ; Rural, 9,617. 
 
 Horses, 9,617 ; Mules and Asses, 520 ; Draught Oxen, 9,467 ; 
 Other Cattle, 19,316; Wooled Sheep, 475,399; Other Sheep, 
 16,204; Angora Goats, 95,783; Common Goats, 36,648; Ostriches 
 1,045; Wool, 1,141,560 lbs.; Wheat, 28,311 bushels ; Barley, 
 6.067 bushels; Oats, 1,238 bushels. 
 
 Albert— Population, Urban, 1,526 ; Rural, 9,996. 
 
 Horses, 14,356 ; Mules and Asses, 297 ; Draught Oxen, 9,267 ; 
 Other Cattle, 30,745 ; Wooled Sheep, 468,482 ; Other Sheep, 
 26,072 : Angora Goats, 25,186 ; Common Goals, 33,016 ; Ostriches, 
 49. 
 
 MddUlurg.— Population, Urban, 1,135 ; Rural, 4,803. 
 
 Horses, 5,158; Mules and Asses, 170; Draught Oxen, 4.258; 
 Other Cattle, 9,752 ; Wooled Sheep, 223,388; Other Sheep, 6,917; 
 Angora Goats, 11,487 ; Common Goats, 23,299 ; Ostriches, 
 339; Wool, 679,588 lbs. ; Wheat, 17.505 bushels ; Barley, 5,046 
 bushels ; Oats, 1,386 bushels. 
 
 tolesberg.— Population, Urban, 2,240 ; Rural, 7,947. 
 Horses, 9,308 ; Mules and Asses, 506 ; Draught Oxen, 6,624 ; 
 Other Cattle, 16,593 ; Wooled Sheep, 496,141 ; Other Sheep, 
 15,063 ; Angora Goats, 20,600 ; Common Goats, 42,387 ; Ostriches, 
 893; Woof, 2,372,366 lbs.; Wheat, 32,114 bushels; Barley, 
 5.270 ; Oats, 4,591 bushels. 
 
 7. EASTERN PROVINCE. 
 
 East London.— Population, Urban, 2,818 ; Rural, 12,648. 
 
 Horses, 1,014 ; Mules and Asses, nil; Draught Oxen, 14,539 ; 
 Other Cattle, 22,442 ; Wooled Sheep, 80,607 ; Other Sheep, nil ; 
 Angora Goats, 10,557. 
 
 King William's Toivn.— Population, Urban, 3,533 ; Rural, 104,508. 
 
 Horses, 9,984 ; Mules and Asses, 24 ; Draught Oxen, 33,975 ; 
 Other Cattle, 102,626 ; Wooled Sheep, 441,714 ; Other Sheep, 
 323 ; Angora Goats, 9,739 ; Common Goats, 115,941 ; Ostriches, 
 57. 
 
 Queens Town.— Population, Urban, 3,067 ; Rural, 47,644. 
 
 Horses, 14,789 ; Mules and Asses, 70 ; Draught Oxen, 28,670 ; 
 Other Cattle, 52,749 ; Wooled Sheep, 698,154 ; Other Sheep, 
 2,145 ; Angora Goats, 41,810 ; Common Goats, 85,965 ; 
 Ostriches, 161 ; Wool, 2,713,325 lbs. ; Wheat, 58,841 bushels ; 
 Barley, 4,325 bnshels ; Oats, 1,449 bushels.
 
 THE CENSUS OF 1875. 
 
 315 
 
 Aliwal North.— Population, Urban, 1,237 ; Rural, 6,870. 
 Horses, 12,761 ; Mules and Asses, 87 ; Draught Oxen, 16,760 ; 
 Other Cattle, 47,556 ; Wooled Sheep, 433,365 ; Other Sheep, 
 4,240 ; Angora Goats, 42,486 ; Common Goats, 23,903. 
 
 Wode7wuse.— Population, Urban, 656 ; Rural, 7469 ; Tambookie 
 Location, 18,445. 
 
 Horses, 15,971 ; Mules, 97 ; Draught Oxen, 16,834 ; Other 
 Cattle, 42,621 ; Sheep, 569,332 ; Goats, 77,273. 
 
 Herschel— Population, 22,664. 
 
 Horses, 6,747 ; Draught Oxen, 10,549 ; Other Cattle, 30,966 ; 
 Sheep, 58,065 ; Goats, 28,709 ; Wheat, 16,436 bushels ; Maize, 
 48.000 bushels ; Wool, 151,212 lbs. 
 
 Comparison of Total Stock in the Colony 
 in 1865 and 1875. 
 
 
 1865. 
 
 1875. 
 
 Horses 
 
 228,465 
 
 207,318 
 
 Mules and Asses .. 
 
 24,267 
 
 29,517 
 
 Draught Oxen 
 
 249,291 
 
 398,825 
 
 Other Cattle 
 
 443,004 
 
 698,681 
 
 Wooled Sheep 
 
 8,426,619 
 
 10,064,289 
 
 Other Sheep 
 
 1,465.883 
 
 944,050 
 
 Angora Goats 
 
 121,432 
 
 972,733 
 
 Common Goats .. 
 
 2,147,807 
 
 2,122,808 
 
 Pigs 
 
 78,578 
 
 110,489 
 
 Ostriches 
 
 80 
 
 22,257
 
 INDEX OP CONTENTS, 
 
 Physical Features page 1 
 
 Maps of the Colony ; Trigonometrical and Hydrographical 
 Surveys ; Mountains ; Pavers ; Harbours ; Lighthouses : 
 Geographical Nomenclature. 
 
 PAST Histoey page 13 
 
 Early Settlers ; Dutch East India Company's Colonial Policy ; 
 The Huguenots ; "Trekking" into the Desert; Extension 
 of the Colony ; Cession to England : Political Condition ; 
 The British Settlers ; Their Success ; Kafir Wars ; Twenty 
 Years' Peace ; Exodus of Emigrant Farmers ; Fifty 
 Years' Ketrospect ; Material Progress ; Social Advance- 
 ment ; Future Destiny. 
 
 Present Aspect and Condition page 30 
 
 I. — Cape Town and its Surroundings ; Table Bay, Breakwater 
 and Docks : Trade of the Port ; Cape Town. — Buildings, 
 Churches, Public Library and Museum, Grey Statue, 
 Gardens, Government House, Castle, Town House ; The 
 Suburbs,— Sea Point, Kondebosch, and Wynberg ; Popula- 
 tion ; Colonial Characteristics ; Local Institutions. 
 
 II. — The Old Settled Cape Districts page 47 
 
 Simon's Town ; Cape Point ; The Flats : The Wine Districts ; 
 Somerset West ; Stellenbosch ; Drakenstein and French 
 Hoek ; Paarl ; Cape Wines ; Manganese Mine ; Welling- 
 ton ; The Corn Districts,— Malmesbury, Saldanha Bay ; 
 Berg Kiver Farms ; Navigation of the Berg River ; Piquet- 
 berg ; Porterville ; Fisheries ; Saltpans. 
 
 III.— T7ie West Coast Districts page 67 
 
 Clanwilliam ; The Oliphant's River; "Nile*' Lands; Social 
 Condition ; Partner Farms ; Irrigation : Change for the 
 Better ; Calvinia ; Roggeveld and Hantam ; Trekveld 
 and Achterveld: Namaqualand ; Springbok; Mission 
 Villages ; The O'okeip Mine ; Transport ; The Narrow- 
 Gauge Railway ; Farms and Missions ; Poit Nolloth.
 
 INDEX OF CONTENTS. 
 
 IV. — Tlie North West Districts and the Orange Ri her . . page 88 
 
 Bushmanland; <; Twaa " or Bushman Grass; Saltpans and 
 Lakes : " Yloors ! ' and Eiver Beds ; Carnarvon ; Coal 
 Formation ; Diamondiferous Indications ; New Villages, 
 Prieska, Wegdraai, and Kenhardt ; The Orange Eiver : 
 The Great Waterfall ; Tributaries and Drainage Surface ; 
 Floods ; The Mouth of the Eiver. 
 
 V.— The South-East Coast Districts page 101 
 
 Ceres, Tulbagk, Bain's Pas?, Worcester, Brandvlei, Goudini, and 
 Hex River ; Eobertson, Caledon, Swellendam, and Eivers- 
 dale ; Towns, Villages, and Mission Stations ; George and 
 Oudtshoorn; Cango Caverns; Langekloof; George Town; 
 Coast and Forest Lands ; Wood Trade ; Knysna ; Elephant 
 Hunt; The Brierly Scheme; Virgin Forests and Large 
 Game of the Zitz'ikamma ; Sea-board; Port of Mossel 
 Bay. 
 
 VI. — The Midland Karoo Districts page 127 
 
 The Great Karoo ; Beaufort West ; The Karoo Sheepwalks ; 
 Size and Value of Farms ; The Nieuwveld Mountains ; 
 Coal ; Quicksilver ; Building Stones ; Fraserburg ; Sub- 
 Surface Watercourses; Dams and Wells; Victoria West 
 Land Leasing ; Prince Albert, Willowmore, Jansenville, 
 Graaff-Beinet, Aberdeen, Murray sburg, The Spitzkop or 
 Compassberg, Eicbmond, Hope town, Colesberg, Middel- 
 burg, Cradock, Fish Eiver, Steynsburg, Maraisburg, 
 Tarkastad. 
 
 VII. — The Eastern Districts page 168 
 
 Algoa Bay ; Port Elizabeth (with illustration) ; Litenhage ; 
 Wool-washing ; Salt-pans ; Humansdorp ; Hankey and 
 other Mission Stations ; Forests ; Bush-fires ; Zuurberg 
 Pass and Addo Bush, Alexandria, Lower Albany and 
 Bathurst, The Kosvie, Port Alfred, Graham's Town, Fish 
 Eiver Valley, Peddie. Victoria East, Alice, Stockenstrom, 
 Kat Eiver, Katberg Pass, Fort Beaufort, Adelaide, Bedford, 
 Glen Lyndem Somerset East. 
 
 VIII.— The Border Districts page 207 
 
 British Kaffraria ; How Colonized ; The German Immigrants ; 
 East London ; King William's Town; The Kafirs; Bonte- 
 bok Flats, Queen's Town, Tylden, and Whittlesea ; The 
 Stormberg Coal Beds : Albert, Burghersdorp, Aliwal North, 
 Lady Grey. Herschel, Wodehouse, Barkly, Dordrecht ; East 
 London Harbour ; Border Native Trade.
 
 INDEX OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Seasons axd Climate page 233 
 
 The Cape as a Sanitarium ; Highest and Lowest Temperature ; 
 Eainfall ; The South-easter ' ; Table Cloth ;" Hail and 
 Thunderstorms. 
 
 Land Tenure axd Land Laws page 243 
 
 The Loan and Quitrent Tenures ; Present Land Laws, and 
 how to acquire. Land ; The Leasing System ; The option 
 of Purchase ; Eents of Lands, and average price per 
 morgen of Crown Lands in each District. 
 
 Pastoral axd Agricultural FiEsources . . . . page 253 
 
 Cape Farms ; Sheep-farming ; Cape and Angora Goats ; 
 Mohair Trade ; Ostrich-farming ; Incubation : Horse- 
 breeding ; Cattle and Dairy Farms ; Agriculture ; Corn- 
 growing ; Years of Scarcity and Plenty ; Indian and Kafir 
 Corn ; The Vineyards and Wine-making : Constantia and 
 its Wines ; Raisins and other Dried Fruits ; Canned 
 Goods ; Tobacco ; Cotton, Coffee, and Tea, and other 
 Products ; Labour. 
 
 Tables of Trade— from I860 to 1871 .. .. page 291 
 
 Commercial axd Industrial Progress . . • . -page 295 
 
 Mercantile Transactions ; Increase of Exports ; Colonial 
 Industries and Manufactures ; Wool-washing ; Woods 
 and Tree Planting ; Minerals, and other Piesources ; 
 Prospects of the Colony. 
 
 The Census of 1875 page 307
 
 HOPE.-TKADE BETF 
 
 le I.— Exports. 
 
 lac 
 ai 
 
 Showing the Minir nc i pa l and other Articles, the 
 ity and Value Exported in tt 
 
 antity and value 
 the ten years ended 
 
 EXPORTS.- ART mber ' 1871 ' 
 
 Aloes 
 
 Argol (wine stone) 
 
 Copper Ore 
 
 Corn, Grain, nnd Meal 
 
 Barley 
 
 Beans and Peas 
 
 Bran 
 
 Flour 
 
 Maize 
 
 Oats 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Cotton .. 
 
 Diamonds 
 Feathers (ostrich) 
 Fish, cured 
 Fruit, dried 
 Hair, Angora 
 Hides, Ox and Cow 
 
 Horns 
 
 Horses 
 
 Ivory 
 
 Skins, Goat 
 
 „ Sheep 
 Spirits, Brandy ... 
 
 Wine, Constantia 
 „ Ordinary ... 
 
 Wool 
 
 Other Articles ... 
 
 Value. 
 
 £9,481 
 
 4,530 
 
 160,956 
 
 4,317 
 
 2,188 
 
 4.384 
 
 37.190 
 
 3.252 
 
 7.541 
 
 29^06 
 
 Nil 
 
 403,319 
 
 87,074 
 
 25,976 
 
 24,424 
 
 43.059 
 
 29,943 
 
 2,198 
 
 7,450 
 
 13,746 
 
 172,055 
 
 87.240 
 
 12.566 
 
 1,693 
 
 46,054 
 
 2,191,233 
 
 (1870) 210 196 
 
 Quantity and valu 
 in 1872. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 lbe. 
 
 tons 
 
 lbs. 
 
 No. 
 lbs. 
 
 No. 
 
 lbs. 
 No. 
 
 galls 
 
 lbs. 
 
 484,532 
 
 133,189 
 
 13,240 
 
 285.921 
 
 107.948 
 
 1.342.332 
 
 1.108:324 
 
 179J05 
 
 1.868;228 
 
 4,422.651 
 
 Nil 
 
 45,830 
 
 26,695 
 
 3.248.241 
 
 695.343 
 
 871,891 
 
 72.937 
 
 136.775 
 
 109 
 
 87.389 
 
 1,351,918 
 
 1,436,857 
 
 660 
 
 371 
 
 77,599 
 
 48,822,562
 
 CAPE OP GOOD HOPE.-TRADE RETURNS. 
 
 Table I.— Exports. 
 
 Showing the Minimum and Maximum Quantities and Values of the Principal and other Articles, the Produce of this Colony, Exported during the Ten Years 
 ended 31st December, 1871, and also the Quantity and Value Exported in the Years 1872, 1873, and 1874, 
 
 
 
 Minimum quantity and value 
 exported during the ten years ended 
 
 Maximum qua 
 
 he«n n t>rs aI e°nded 
 
 Quantity and value exported 
 
 Quantity and val 
 
 e exported 
 
 Quantity and value exported 
 
 EXPORTS.-ARTICLES. 
 
 31st December, 1871. 
 
 31at December, 1871. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Vaiuc. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Aloe, 
 
 lbs. 
 
 (1862) 289,682 
 
 £3,218 
 
 
 £9,481 
 
 lb. 
 
 484,532 
 
 £3,221 
 
 lbs. 
 
 230,351 
 
 £1,628 
 
 lbs 
 
 614,272 
 
 £5,526 
 
 Copper Ore 
 
 Corn. Grain, end Meal : 
 
 
 
 
 (1162) 121.461 
 
 1,530 
 
 
 133,119 
 
 3,633 
 
 
 
 1,666 
 
 
 75,598 
 
 2,201 
 
 tons 
 
 $,800 
 
 60,985 
 
 (1871) 7,351 
 
 160,966 
 
 tone 
 
 13,240 
 
 328,458 
 
 tons 
 
 
 312,221 
 
 torn 
 
 13,016 
 
 321,434 
 
 S/andPca, ... 
 
 lbs. 
 
 (1802) 264,240 
 
 1,7<1 
 
 (1868) 1,553,079 
 
 4,317 
 
 
 
 896 
 
 
 88,960 
 
 
 
 148,200 
 
 747 
 
 
 
 
 (18701 580,083 
 
 
 
 107.911 
 
 
 
 39,044 
 
 197 
 
 
 70,443 
 
 469 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,314 
 
 
 1,517,533 
 
 3,752 
 
 
 
 
 
 94,500 
 
 620 
 
 Mime 
 
 
 
 
 1,899,724 
 
 37.190 
 
 
 l.ms.224 
 
 
 
 2s:...'.3o 
 
 2,930 
 
 
 21,3 877 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3,252 
 
 
 179,1115 
 
 724 
 
 
 
 
 
 710.706 
 
 2,197 
 
 Wheat" 
 
 
 
 
 (1871) 8,598,866 
 
 
 
 1 B0K.22K 
 
 
 
 1,2111.1193 
 
 
 
 079.590 
 
 5,337 
 
 
 
 
 
 29,1)116 
 
 
 4.122.6M 
 
 20,101 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Diamonds 
 
 Feather, (ostrich) 
 
 Fi-!i, .- i: ..1 
 
 
 
 Bides, Ox and Cow 
 
 - number. 
 
 Nil 
 
 Nil 
 
 85,169 
 
 403,349 
 
 
 45,830 
 
 
 tfn 
 
 n'i'io 
 
 2,055 
 
 
 15,117 
 
 257 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 151.1124 
 
 
 
 
 
 36,828 
 
 205.010 
 
 
 (1866) 021,037 
 
 
 
 26,976 
 24,424 
 
 " 
 
 
 YI'll 
 
 
 .1.867.7 13 
 
 28.157 
 
 
 4,872.814 
 
 1..7767 
 
 34,339 
 5,078 
 
 '.'.'. number. 
 
 (1885) 14,08! 
 
 9,784 '" '.:'', 
 
 29,943 
 
 *, 
 
 72,937 
 
 58,457 
 
 * 
 
 705,719 
 
 45,913 
 
 rfn 
 
 1,1180,5711 
 08,158 
 
 107,139 
 49,425 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 136.775 
 
 1,912 
 
 
 139.703 
 
 
 
 131,154 
 
 1,900 
 
 ::: &.. 
 
 ... number. 
 
 
 
 
 7,450 
 
 
 109 
 
 6,200 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Spirits, ferandy 
 
 460,247 
 
 (1102) 827,804 
 
 (1870) 304 
 (1105) nil 
 
 (1871) 203 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 23,976 
 
 
 90,s72 
 
 32,339 
 
 
 73,747 
 
 20,00, 
 
 6,929 
 
 (1863) ' 43^451 
 
 87,240 
 12,666 
 
 gift 
 
 060 
 
 140,011 
 137 
 
 Ralls. 
 
 1, 373.771 
 
 1,481,035 
 
 1,046 
 
 111,170 
 
 
 1,107. j,; 
 
 1 1 l'.5.1S 
 215 
 
 Wine, Coristanti* 
 
 
 192 
 
 (1866) 3,201 
 
 1,693 
 
 
 371 
 
 
 
 778 
 
 
 
 
 
 wool ...;;; z 
 
 '.'.'. value of 
 
 (1867) 20,0381218 
 
 1,276,642 
 (1865) 24,988 
 
 (1163) 319,146 
 (1871)46,279,639 
 
 46,054 
 
 2,191,233 
 
 (1870) 210196 
 
 lb'=. 
 
 77,199 
 
 41,122,562 
 
 3.275J6II 
 44,925 
 
 lbs. 
 
 75,199 
 
 •111,393,,- 16 
 
 14,486 
 
 2,716,181 
 
 30,306 
 
 lb, 
 
 77,107 
 42,020,111 
 
 15,876 
 
 2,9 18,571 
 
 Table II.— Imports. 
 
 Showing the Minimum and Maximum Quantities and Values of the principal Articles of Merchandize 
 imported into this Colony during the Ten Years ended 31st December, 1871 ; and also the Quantity or 
 Value imported in the Years 1872, 1873, and 1874. 
 
 
 i and Ironmongery 
 
 Tea ... .." 
 
 Tobacco, not re 
 
 Wine 
 
 Wood, unmanufactured 
 
 Mint, iiirn quantity or value 
 imported during lue tun years 
 
 ,7,1, .131,! II, r,iul,er. 1871, 
 
 I (I860) 
 
 . ! 1.-05) 
 
 „ (1863) 180,360 
 
 11805) 17,808,740 
 
 ., (1803) 644,893 
 So. (1862) 5,917,450 
 
 ■ 
 
 06,1.599 
 
 270,810 
 
 30,1811 
 
 366 !,„ 
 
 21,275 
 
 3110, '91, 
 79,279 
 
 9511 "95 
 
 83.211 
 
 191,17.1 
 
 17,300 
 
 2,912,106 
 
 1,1,915 
 
 164,870 
 
 10,655 
 
 51,1,57:, 
 1110,377 
 
 1.598,6 1:, 
 
 £ 38,178 
 
 rail . 611.7,6 
 
 £ 7923,30 
 
 lb.. 7,969,478 
 
 5„,«:,3 
 ■717.314 
 18,7,-7 
 
 21, ',1,115 
 703,134
 
 ~1 
 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 Al QL OCT 1 9 199( 
 m RtC'D LD-URL 
 
 Fo] 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY o^ pat IFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 f 
 
 3 1158 00318 2085 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 581 160 9
 
 WBOk