The World and Its People Part 25

About the middle of the present century Cape Colony comprised all the land between the Orange River on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and British Kaffraria and the rivers Indwe and Tees on the east. During recent years the greater portion of the territory between the Indwe and Kei Rivers on one side, and Natal on the other, has been annexed to Cape Colony; but in some respects it is still regarded as a dependency.

The annexed territory is described as a very beautiful and fertile tract of land. It bears, as we shall see, a resemblance to Natal. The temperature along the coast is not, however, quite so high.

Just below the Drachenberg Mountains lies an elevated tract of country, where the nights are extremely cold, too cold, in fact, for the Bantu tribes; hence, no tribes except the Bushmen have ever resided there permanently until within a short time.

There are fine forests on the lower terraces. Rain is abundant and the drainage perfect, the rivers, on account of their rapid fall, speedily carrying off all superfluous moisture. The climate is on this account exceedingly healthy, though the gra.s.s is so rich and other vegetation so luxuriant that, had the land been more nearly level, fever would probably be common.

South Africa abounds in waterfalls, of which the most celebrated are the great falls of the Orange, the Tugela's leap of sixteen hundred feet over the face of the Drachenberg, and the fall of the Nmgeni, a few miles from Maritzburg; but the most imposing of all, perhaps, is in the Tsitsa in the annexed territory.

Ordinarily this stream tumbles over the precipice in three or four rills, but in times of flood a volume of water from four to five hundred feet wide drops nearly four hundred feet into a narrow chasm.

Various sections have from time to time been annexed to Cape Colony.

These sections had become involved in native feuds and wars, with such disastrous results that the chiefs gladly placed their lands under the protection of the British rule. Thus, in 1879, eight districts were formally annexed.

Along the coast of Great Namaqualand there are several small rocky islands upon which sea birds congregate in vast flocks; and as there is but little rain in that region, the guano is of considerable value.

These islands became dependencies of Cape Colony a good many years ago.

The men employed to gather the guano are their only inhabitants.

Farther north on the same coast is Walfish Bay, the only port through which access can be had to Great Namaqualand and Damaraland. The country around it is a dreary waste of sand, and a more uninviting spot can hardly be imagined. It became a dependency of Cape Colony in 1884.

On this little strip of land some six or seven hundred Hottentots of a very degraded type are living. The only other inhabitants are the colonial magistrate, with his staff of police, a missionary family, and a few traders and forwarders of goods into the interior.

Basutoland, which was annexed to Cape Colony in 1871, contains at the present time about two hundred and twenty-five thousand Bantu and six hundred Europeans. The white people consist of officials, missionaries, and traders. None other are permitted to settle within its borders, for by the annexation of the territory Cape Colony became responsible for the welfare and good order of the land.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI.

ANOTHER VIEW OF CAPE COLONY.

Cape Colony has now a population of three hundred and sixty-six thousand Europeans and seven hundred and fifty-five thousand colored people. This does not include the people occupying the various annexed territories.

The colored population includes several native tribes, more than half of which are Bantu, and various mixed races of Asiatics, descendants of freed slaves and Hottentots.

The missionaries have been laboring for many years among the Bantu.

Taken as a whole, the results of their labors are discouraging, though a portion of the people have made a considerable advance in civilization.

Great efforts have been made to give them a good education.

The system of public schools is excellent. Those of the first and second cla.s.s are attended almost exclusively by white children. There are several colleges where the higher branches of education are taught, and many private schools of excellent standing are maintained by the various religious societies. There is also a university, but with rather limited advantages. The towns and villages are well supplied with public libraries; these are aided by the government. There is scarcely a town or a village that has not two or three churches, banks, insurance offices, newspaper printing offices, and various benevolent inst.i.tutions.

Good roads have been made throughout the colony, even in the wildest sections. The rivers, on the princ.i.p.al routes, have been bridged.

Scarcely a hamlet can be found that is not connected by postal service and telegraph wire with all parts of South Africa.

The railway lines form an important feature in the colony. One from Cape Town pa.s.ses through the Orange Free State to Pretoria in the South African Republic, while lines from Cape Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and East London connect these ports with important towns in both of the above sections. These lines were all constructed by the government, under very liberal conditions and terms.

Numerous improvements have been made in the harbors, particularly in Table Bay. Here, a long time ago, the beach, after winter storms, was frequently strewn with the wrecks of costly fleets; now s.h.i.+ps lie in a dock in perfect safety, and are protected by a magnificent breakwater.

On the coast are many lighthouses, which stand as sentinels to warn seamen of danger by night, and the ancient terror of stormy seas off the Cape of Good Hope has long since been forgotten.

The colony is connected with Europe by two submarine cables; so that everything of importance that occurs there one day is known in England through the newspapers on the next. Splendid steams.h.i.+ps, carrying mails and pa.s.sengers, arrive from, and leave for, England weekly. They make the run of six thousand miles in less than fifteen days; and the pa.s.sage is certainly one of the pleasantest in the world.

Cape Town, the capital of Cape Colony, has a pleasant situation on the south side of Table Bay. It is a flouris.h.i.+ng city of forty-five thousand inhabitants. It has many fine buildings and pretty villas, lighted by gas.

Tramways and railways pour into it the rich agricultural products of the adjacent countries. There is little, indeed, to remind the visitor that he is in a colonial capital founded, and for a long time inhabited, solely by Dutch settlers.

Cape Town is, in many respects, very unlike any city seen in Europe. No two houses can be found of the same size or architecture. The finest stores and other buildings stand in close proximity to the humblest and poorest homes and shanties of galvanized iron. Here the shedlike shop of a grocer or provision dealer stands side by side with the almost palatial building which shelters the display of a wealthy jeweler.

Here may be seen Kaffirs clothed in the rags of a uniform; Chinamen in their clean blue frocks; lanky Boers in brown velveteens, with their wives in black gowns, with thick black veils and huge poke bonnets; merchants in gray silk coats and white hats; officers in uniform; Pa.r.s.ee washerwomen; Moslem Malays, all pa.s.sing, in a quick procession, the hotel door.

Hansoms and two-horse broughams are used here; and in the hotels accommodations can be obtained equal to anything found in towns of the same size in Europe and America.

Cape Town is the point of departure for two lines of railways. The one line runs to Worcester, and is to be extended across the Karroo; the other ends in the center of the Constantia wine district.

The atmosphere of Cape Colony is so clear and dry that objects can be distinctly seen even at great distances. The first object which attracts the attention of the traveler, as he approaches the colony from the sea, is Table Mountain. Its ma.s.sive walls rise to the height of thirty-five hundred feet.

The colonists look with interest upon Table Mountain and watch the clouds as they a.s.sume fantastic shapes about and above it. Sometimes a snowy, fleecy vapor seems to spread over its top. This the colonists, not inappropriately, call the tablecloth. When, under the potent rays of the sun, this vapor disappears, they say, "The tablecloth has been rolled up and put away for some other time."

Here and there on some of the mountain spurs may be seen the remains of the blockhouses of the early colonial days. These were stout structures erected by the early settlers to protect themselves from native tribes with whom they disputed the possession of the soil. But let us return to the capital.

It is of interest to read that early in this century Cape Town contained only about one thousand houses. It had a Dutch castle, a Government House, and a couple of churches, together with a government slave pen; for the colonists were strongly in favor of the sale of slaves.

The town of to-day presents strong contrasts to the old town. The suburbs alone have an extent of some fourteen miles.

There are broad, open streets lined with handsome modern buildings, and various shops, stores, and banks, together with Houses of Parliament, an art museum, and a university, which give a prosperous and modern appearance to the town.

Gas lights the town, cabs rattle over the streets, trams and railways are actively at work. Along the beach stretches a straggling line of buildings. Some of these are used for the drying of skins, the pressing of wool, the curing of fish, and boat building, soap making, and other industries.

The Botanical Gardens are kept in beautiful order. They furnish not only a charming promenade for the people, but serve as a nursery for young plants and trees. On every side the town presents an appearance of thrift and industry.

A walk through the street offers many an attractive picture. The gay and picturesque dress of the people must needs attract the eye of the stranger. Women with faces of every hue, from tawny black to olive brown, may be seen with their headdresses of gayly colored handkerchiefs, while their shoulders are draped with others of still gayer hues, to lend a finish to the stiffly starched, beflowered cotton gown of gorgeous coloring.

On every side st.u.r.dy, healthy children romp about, laughing and displaying their glistening white teeth, as they engage in their various sports.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII.

NATAL.

"In all the world there is not a fairer country than the pleasant land of Natal, stretching in steps from the Drachenberg, which bounds it like a mighty wall, downward to the sh.o.r.e of the Indian Ocean. The coast belt is covered with subtropical vegetation, for it is heated by the warm Mozambique current, which runs southward along it, and gives it a higher temperature than is due to its distance from the equator.

"Each terrace, as the traveler ascends, is cooler than the one below, though it is nowhere cold. It is a well-watered land. Numerous streams, issuing from the Drachenberg and the fronts of the lower terraces, rush along in deep gorges to the sea, and carry off the super-abundant moisture, so that it is also well drained."

Its soil is rich, its forests produce excellent timber, and its grazing valleys resemble meadows. Its climate everywhere is healthy for Europeans.

Compared with Cape Colony, Natal is of slight importance. It is much smaller in size, having an area only about one half that of Scotland.