CAPE COLONY is a large tract of country which forms the most southern part of the continent of Africa, a colony of Great Britain since 1806, named from the Cape of Good Hope, a small promontory on its south-west coast, from the neighbourhood of which the Dutch settlers of 1652 spread out over the land. It lies for the most part between 28º and 34º 50' S. lat., and 16º 30' and 29º 50' E. long. West and south are the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; the Orange River forms the boundary of the colony proper on the north, separating it from Great Namaqua Land, the Kalahari desert, and the Orange River Free State; eastward its limit runs from the Tees River, a headstream of the Orange, along the Storm Berg and down the Kei River from its most easterly source-stream to its mouth, which line separates the colony from Free Kaffre Land, and includes within it the divisions of British Kaffraria added to the colony in 1865. Besides this chief area the colony includes various recently added irregular provinces; these are—the agency of Basuto Land, annexed in 1871, consisting of the high valleys of the source-streams of the Orange River, sloping down inward from the Drakenberg mountains, which separate this territory from the colony of Natal; Herschel, a native district immediately south of Basuto Land; the magistracy of Nomansland, including Griqua Land East, a native territory of northern Kaffraria on the seaward slope of the Drakenberg south-west of Natal; St John’s Territory, or the upper basin of the St John’s or Umzimvubo River on the slopes of the Drakenberg in central Kaffraria; Fingo Land and the Idutywa Reserve, or the Transkeian territories of southern Kaffraria, bounded by the Bashee River; and Tambookie Land, between the Bashee and the Umtata. These latter districts were incorporated with the colony in 1875. Itis certain that in a few years the whole of what is now Free Kaffre Land will become British territory, when the Cape Colonywill be conterminous throughout with Natal on the north-east-; and preliminary steps have already been taken for the extension of the western boundary of the colony to include the immense but thinly inhabited region of Great Namaqua Land, which stretches north of the lower Orange River to Walfisch Bay in 23º S.
The lieutenant-governorship of Griqua Land West, better known as the district of the South African diamond fields, which lies north of the Orange River and west of the Free State, annexed to the British empire in 1871, is strictly a separate dependency of the Crown, but is go intimately connected with the Cape Colony as to be neces-sarily described along with it.
The extreme breadth of the colony from north to south is about 500 miles, and its length from east to west about 800, its area comprising 230,000 square miles.
The country rises from the sea by a series of terraces, of which the supporting walls are nearly parallel chains of rugged mountains, intersected by deep ravines, rising to a central and highest range, which divides the drainage of the coastal streams from that of the inner tributaries of the Orange River in the north. This central range follows a curve almost identical with that of the coast, at a general distance of about 100 miles from the ocean; from the borders of Natal westward it is known in different portions as the Kahlamba. or Drakenberg, the Storm Berg, Zuur Berg, Sueeuw Berg, Winter Berg, Nieuweveld, and Roggeveld. In height its summits appear to average nearly 6000 feet, the highest points being Cathkin peak, 10,300 feet, in the extreme north-east corner of the colony; Compass Berg, in the Sneeuw Berg, 8300 feet; and Bulb-houders Bank, in the Nienweveld Range, which is 7300 feet above the sea. North of this dividing range the inner country slopes gradually to the Orange, River, central Bushmanland being a plateau of from 3000 to 4000 feet above the sea. The numerous outer rangas, which form the margins of the terraces that fall towards the ocean, are separated from the central range throughout the greater part of the colony by the and plateau known as the Great Karroo, nearly 300 miles in length and 60 miles in width north to south, and at an elevation of about 3000 feet above the sea; their general direction is always that of the coast, and they are cut across at intervals by rugged gorges or "kloofs" through which the periodical torrents of the coastal watershed escape to the sea. Two chief ranges may be distinguished, an inner and an outer,—the former having the names of Zwarte Berg, Witte Berg, and Cedar Berg, along a great part of its length, the latter being most prominent in the Outeniqua, Zon-deremde, Drakenstein, and Olifant Bergen, rising from the south and west coasts. Some points of the inner coast range exceed 7000 feet in altitude, and the outer line appears to average about 4000 feet. In Namaqua Land, in the north-west of the colony, the central and outer ranges, approaching one another and decreasing considerably in height, continue in an irregular series of chains to the lower Orange River. Within the central range, in Bushmanland, the most remarkable elevations are the chains of isolated flat-topped hills which rise directly from the plains of the Fraserburg and Victoria west districts, known as the Karree and Praam Bergen. The Tafel Berg or Table Mountain, the well-known landmark of the coast, and the nucleus of the peninsula of the Cape of Good Hope, rises to 3582 feet. Though the mountains of the colony and the plateaus between them present bold and picturesque outlines of sharply-defined ranges and vast level plains, the landscape, excepting in the coastal districts, is bare and uninviting, and deficient in water and tree-growth.
Nearly two-thirds of the surface of Cape Colony consists of vast and plains, covered, however, with shallow beds of the richest soil, which only requires the fertilizing power of water to render it available for pasture or agriculture. Af ter the periodical rains, the plateau of the "Karroo" and the great plains of Bushmanland present the appear-ance of vast fields of grass, but the summer sun reduces them again to a barren and burnt-up aspect. The pastoral lands or "velds," which extend chiefly around the outer slopes and in the east, are distinguished according to the nature of the grass or sedge which they produce as "sweet" or "sour." Shallow sheets of water termed "vleis" accumulate at many places in the flat lands of the interior after rains; and in the dry seasons these spots, where the soil is not excessively saline, are covered with rich grass and afford favourite grazing land for cattle. Only in the extreme southern coastland of the colony is there a soil and moisture supply suited to forest growth, and the first requisite of every settlement in the interior is the formation of a "dam" or reservoir for the collection and saving of a water supply. Out of an area of upwards of 40 millions of acres of occupied lands, according to the census returns of 1865, only 460,000 acres were then under cultivation,
Geological knowledge of the vast territory of the colony is as yet imperfect, though sufficient data have been collected to enable the general features of the structure of the land to be mapped (A. G. Bain, Memoirs on the Geology of the Cape ; Dunn’s Geological Map of the Cape; Griesbach and Stow in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, &c). The following are some of the more striking general features. The whole basis formation of the western province is considered to be granite, lower but more recent than the clay-slate which rests upon it. A remarkable band of porphyritic rock has been traced along the whole of the country between British Kaffraria and the Bokkeveld Mountains in the west, a distance of more than 600 miles. A series of sandstone rocks form the chains of the Zwarte and Lange Bergen. The "Karroo beds," the name given to formations which cover that plateau and the country northward to beyond the Orange River, are believed from the abundance of fossil wood and fresh-water shells to be of lacustrine origin, and contain reptile remains of most remarkable character, unknown elsewhere. In the eastern province, one of the most interesting features of the geology is that of the beds of water-worn pebbles, many hundreds of feet above the present sea-level ; indeed there appears to be no doubt that a process of upheaval is still in progress along the whole South African coast, where modern raised beaches, coral reefs, and oyster banks may everywhere be seen. Slight shocks of earthquake have been experienced at various times in the south-western region of the colony. There are records of these in 1739, 1766, 1809, 1811, and 1844. Namaqua Land, north as well as south of the Orange River, is a region composed of the older rocks, gneiss and schists, and is famous for its copper deposits. These appear to have been known as early as 1683, and have attracted attention at various subsequent periods, but it was not fill 1863 that any well-directed efforts were made for the extraction of the copper; at the present time the famous mine of Ookeip in the district of Springbokfontein yields an average of 7000 tons of ore each year. Copper is also known to exist in the Amapondo country of Kaffraria. Silver has also been discovered in Namaqua Land, but has not yet been successfully worked. Coal seams are known both in the Storm Berg in the extreme east and in the central district of Beaufort, but not in easily workable situations.
The discovery of diamonds north of the Orange River, an event which gave great impetus to all affairs of the colony, was made in 1867, and in the following years people from all parts of the world flocked to the fields. These lie in the eastern portion of the territory known as Griqua Land West, which, as a consequence of the dis-covery, was annexed to the British empire in 1871. The mining has now become a settled industry, with its accompaniment of a fixed population and rapidly-growing towns. The fields extend between the lower Vaal River and its tributary the Modder; in this region the diamond-producing rock is found in fragments mingled with the detritus of other rocks, occupying various depressions known as "pans," or in the deep torrent beds of the rivers. The diggings are thus distinguished as the wet, which lie chiefly along the lower Vaal river, and have been almost abandoned, and the dry mines, about Kimberley, Du Toits pan, and Bulfontein, farther south. One of the largest diamonds at first discovered in this region weighed 83 carats, and realized £11,000; several much larger ones have since been found, one of more than 200 carats. Iron ores, hematite, and magnetite abound also in this region, the deficiency of fuel alone prevents the working of mines of great richness.
We have seen that the great water-parting mountain chain of the colony passes through the centre of the country in a curve parallel to the coast line, from the inner border of Natal to near the western Atlantic coast, forming an outward watershed to the sea of about 100 miles in width, and an inner shed to the Orange River. The streams of the outer shed are constant only in the extreme east of the country; towards the south-west and on the Atlantic coast land their supply is irregular. All partake of the character of mountain torrents—having numerous falls. flowing in deeply-cut channels, and being low and feeble (in some cases dry) for the greater part of the year, but swollen and rapid in rainy weather. From east round to west the chief are the Kei, Great Fish, Zondag, Gamtoos, Gauritz, Breede, Berg, and Olifant; of these only two are navigable for a short distance,—the Breede for small vessels for 30 or 40 miles from its mouth, and the Berg for a few miles from St Helena Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The Orange River, or Gariep, to which the inner shed of the colony drains, rises in the Drakenberg on the border of Natal in the extreme north-cast of the colony, and flows westward for about 900 miles to the Atlantic. Its basin includes an area of upwards of 400,000 square miles, but the greater portion of this belongs to the and deserts of the Kalahari and of Bushmanland. Below its confluence (in about 24º E. long.) with its chief affluent, the Vaal, from the north-east, it has no permanently flowing tributary, receiving only the occasional supplies of the torrent channels which are cut deep in the plateaus and filled only after thunder showers,—so that its volume decreases very much in its passage westward. Its upper valleys are very rugged and have been little explored ; the region about the confluence of the Vaal is low and alluvial; but from this to the sea the river is hemmed in by steep and precipitous cliffs. and broken by immense walls of rock which cause formidable cataracts : of these the fall named Aukurubies (in 20º 40' E. long.), 150 feet in height, is the greatest. The Orange is not navigable excepting for boats for a few miles above its mouth, which is barred.
Lakes are unknown in Cape Colony. Springs are frequent, and in sandstone districts afford excellent water, but in the Karroo country they are generally brackish. Hot or mineral springs occur in several districts.
The southern coastland of the colony is generally bold and rocky, the mountains often approaching the shore ; the Atlantic coast, on the other hand, is for the most part low and sandy. The great ocean currents—viz., the Mozambique current which sweeps down round the south of the Cape Colony, and is deflected there over the great bank of Agulhas, the submarine apex of the continent, and the South Atlantic current flowing northward past the Cape peninsula,—give rise to many local and minor currents in opposing directions close to the coast, forming great obstacles to navigation.
The coast is indented by various bays and inlets; few of these, however, afford convenient harbours, and the only one which is naturally safe in all winds is that of Saldanha Bay on the Atlantic. From eastward round to west, the chief points at which commerce reaches the coast are—the port of East London, at the mouth of the Buffalo River in British Kaffraria, in which extensive harbour works are being constructed; Port Alfred, or the Kowie mouth, which estuary has also been rendered more commodious by engineering operations ; Port Elizabeth, in Algoa Bay, the second port of the colony in point of trade, but with many natural disadvantages; Plettenberg Bay, of importance in coasting trade the Knysna, a land-locked estuary in 23º E.; Mossel Bay; False Bay, a. wide gulf formed by the peninsula of the Cape of Good Hope, and containing within it the well-sheltered naval station of Simon’s Bay; Table Bay, the harbour of Cape Town, which has been rendered safe by the construction of a great breakwater and docks ; Saldanha Bay, little visited, but one of the finest natural harbours in the world; and Port Nolloth, the copper port of Namaqna Land, and the terminus of a railway from the mines. Angra Pequeña Bay, in 26º 40' S., a British pos-session on the barren Atlantic coast north of Cape Colony, was formerly visited in obtaining cattle, while the now nearly exhausted guano deposits of Ichaboe and Possession Islands, north and south of it, were being worked. Walfisch Bay, in 22º 50'S., up to which point it is anticipated that the colonial territory will shortly be extended, is an inlet on a desolate waterless coast, affording secure anchorage, and for-merly much visited byAmerican whaling ships. Lighthouses are maintained at various ports and headlands on the coast.
In general character the climate of the Cape Colony is dry, highly salubrious, and milder than that of England ; the atmosphere is clear and buoyant. So extensive, how-ever, is the country, and so diversified in aspect and eleva-tion, that there are naturally many varieties of climate within its limits. As far as moisture is concerned there is a gradual diminution from east to west across the country; the prevailing winds in the interior are from eastward, and the moisture they draw from the Indian Ocean being expended in great part on the eastern slopes and mountain ranges, the western interior districts are left almost rainless. In the eastern divisions heavy rains and thunderstorms moderate the intense heat of summer, and keep the face of the country fresh and green. The winters are cold, but the air is then clear and agreeable. At Graham’s Town the average annual temperature is 63º, ranging from upwards of 100º to a minimum of 35º, and the annual rainfall is about 33 inches. The south-western margin of the country outside the edge of the great Karroo plateau is for eight months of the year supplied with rain showers by westerly ocean winds. In summer (December, January, February) the dry south-east trade winds blow with great violence. The mean temperature of the year at the Cape of Good Hope is about 62º attaining a maximum of 100º and a minimum of 34º, the average annual rainfall being 24 inches. At Worcester, on the inner border of this region, the yearly rainfall decreases to 12 inches.
The low coast region in the extreme west is subject to great droughts and extreme range of daily temperature; though it seldom rains there, dense fogs arise at dawn. The climate of the great Karroo plateau, which is about 3000 feet above the sea, is also characterized by severe droughts, by excessive heats during the day in summer, by cold nights, and by sharp cold in winter. Within the water-parting mountains the plains stretching to the Orange River, though also subject to long periods of drought, have a salu-brious climate, which is clear and bracing in winter; while in summer the violent thunderstorms, which occur on an average every three or four days along the mountain ranges, render the air cool and pleasant, filling the water-channels and "vleis," and reviving vegetation. Hot, dry winds from the northern deserts sometimes prevail for two or three days at a time in the central and eastern districts of the interior, Snow seldom falls in the coast region, but in the higher mountain tracts it lies for three or four months in the year. The summit of Table Mountain is occasionally sprinkled with snow for a day or two. Hail-storms are rare, but are of great violence after long droughts. The phenomenon of the mirage is common, both on the coast and in the heated plains of the interior.
Ophthalmia and rheumatism are perhaps the only diseases of the colony which are at all prevalent; low fevers are common on the flat western coastlands.
Though much of the land of the colony is dry and barren, the flora of the more fertile portions is remarkable and varied. We have seen that the forests are confined to the outward slopes of the extreme margins of the colony,- the only patches of wood deserving the name being found in the Cedar Berg in the west, on two sides of Table Mountain, on the Outeniqua mountains facing the south coast, on the Olifants Hoek near Port Elizabeth, in the vicinity of King William’s Town in British Kaffraria, and in the district of the Katberg or Stockenstroom farther inland. The inner slopes of Griqua Land East are also wooded. These patches of forest contain a great variety of useful woods, affording excellent timber; among the commonest trees are the yellow wood, which is also one of the largest, belonging to the yew species; black iron wood; heavy, close-grained, and durable stinkhout; melkhout, a white wood used for wheelwork ; niesbout ; and the assegai or Cape lancewood.
In no other country do bulbous plants and heaths exhibit so many beautiful varieties; of the latter several hundred varieties are described, Of pod-bearing plants there are upwards of eighty genera: Cape "everlasting" flowers (gene-rally species of Helichrysum) are in great numbers. Several species of aloe are indigenous to the Cape, and form a con-siderable article of export. The so-called American aloe has also been naturalized. The castor-oil plant and many other plants of great value in medicine are indigenous in great abundance. Among Cape plants which are remarkable in their appearance and structure may be noted the cactu-s-like Euphorbiae or spurge plants, the Stapelia or carrion flower, and the elephant’s foot or Hottentots’ bread, a plant of the same order as the yam. Hooks, thorns, and prickles are characteristic of many South African plants. There are few indigenous fruits; the kei apple, is the fruit of a small tree or shrub found in Kaffraria and the eastern districts, where also the wild and Kaffre plums are common ; hard pears, gourds, water melons, and species of almond, chestnut, and lemon are also native. Almost all the fruits of northern and southern Europe have been introduced, and grow in abundance. It is doubtful whether or not a species of vine is indigenous to the Cape, but the cuttings of French vines introduced by the Huguenots who emigrated to the colony on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, between 1685 and 1688, have given rise to an extensive culture in the south-western divisions of,the colony, the grapes being among the finest in the world. The Cape wines, the export of which has revived of late years, are chiefly those known as Constantia, Pontac, Steen, and Hanepoot.
Of the cereals, wheat is grown throughout the colony, but chiefly in the low marginal division of the south-west and in the eastern midland districts; barley and oats are general. Rye gives its name to the Roggeveld in the west, and is chiefly grown there and in the lower hills of Namaqua Land; maize and millet are cultivated in all moist situations of the north-east of the colony. Rice might be extensively cultivated, and flourishes on the inundated banks of the Olifants River in the west; the growth of potatoes has been much extended; melons, cucumbers, beans, and pease are grown universally where there is water. Cotton has been introduced experimentally in some districts; the cultivation of tobacco is wide spread, that of the division of George, grown in the valley of the eastern Olifants River, being most reputed.
The larger and more important of the wild animals which once gave the Cape Colony the character of the great hunting ground of the world have retreated before advancing civilization, and few are now found within the frontier. The lion is only to be met with now in the northern districts of Bushmanland and in the extreme north-eastern portion of the colony, and rarely in British Kaffraria. The elephant, which also abounded at the time of the first Dutch settlement, is now almost extinct in the colony, a few only existing in the forests between Kaysna and the Zondag River in the extreme south. The rhino-ceros and giraffe have been driven far outside the fron-tier. Hippopotami are only found in the coast rivers of British Kaffraria, and in the lower Orange River. The buffalo remains only perhaps in the Knysna forests and in the thickets of Great Fish River. The Cape leopard, the hyena, the aard wolf or Proteles, and the jackal alone keep their ground, and are still common in the colony. Quaggas and zebras are met with in large herds in the plains of the Vaal, and sometimes extend into the colony ,as far as the divisions of Cradock and Graaf Reinet, where the gnu, hartsbeeste, and brindled gnu are also seen. Of the many varieties of South African antelope the larger kinds—the eland, koodoo, and sable and roan antelopes—are now banished from the colony, though the smaller varieties are found along the coast region, and migratory herds of springbok invade the plains of Bushmanland and Little Namaqua Land at certain seasons. Ostriches, once numerous, are still thinly scattered over the colony, though the supply of feathers is now mainly derived from regions north of the Orange River. Ostrich farming and artificial incubation, carried on in the northern, western, and eastern divisions, have, however, become of late years one of the most profitable industries of the Cape,—the feathers being worth from £30 to £60 per 1b.
Birds of prey, including the bearded vulture, aasvogel, and several varieties of eagles, hawks, and falcons, are nume-rous ; cranes, stocks, flamingoes, and pelicans are iu large variety; partridges and pheasants, guinea fowl, and quails abound. The bustard is found in several kinds, as well as ducks,, wild geese, and plovers.
Upwards of forty varieties of edible fishes are caught in the seas surrounding the Cape Colony, the waters of which also teem with whales, seals, and sharks. Reptiles are exceedingly numerous; among the venomous snakes are the cobra di capello and the puff adder; large toads and frogs are also common, as are scorpions, tarantula spiders, hornets, and stinging ants.
Sheep, cattle, and dogs of an inferior breed were possessed by the natives on the discovery of the country. Horses, asses, goats, and cattle, introduced by the earlier colonists, were found to thrive well. The merino breed of sheep is now rapidly taking the place of the big-tailed sheep of the Dutch settlers ; and some of the central divisions have immense sheep farms, producing the wool which is the great staple of the country’s export trade. The angora goat is now extensively farmed, the hair being largely exported. Cows of the finest breeds have also been imported; the introduction of the English horse does not, however, appear to have been successful, the older, heavier Spanish breed being better adapted to the wants of the country.
The numbers of live stock in the Cape Colony and its native districts are estimated thus for 1875:—
Sheep…………………11,500,000
Draught Oxen……….. 500,000
Other horned Cattle…..900,000
Horses…………………257,000
Mules and Asses……….29.500
Angora Goats…………..1,000,000
Common Goats…………2,300,000
Pigs…………………….120,000
Ostriches……………….22,250
The Cape of Good Hope was discovered by Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese navigator, in 1486. He first landed at Algoa Bay, having, after exploring the west coast, been driven out to sea by a storm. Thus accidentally doubling the Cape, he saw it on his way back, and gave it the name of the Cape of Storms (Cabo Tormentoso).
The king of Portugal, however, gave it the more auspicious name it now bears, as its discovery afforded a hope of a new and easier way of reaching India, the great object of all the maritime expeditions of that age.
The great navigator Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape, in 1497, and carried the Portuguese flag into the Indian seas. His countrymen, however, attracted by the riches of the East, made no permanent settlement at the Cape, although they frequently touched there on the voyage to India. But the Dutch, who, on the decline of the Portu-guese power, established themselves in the East, early saw the importance of the place as a station where their vessels. might take in water and provisions. They did not, how-ever, colonize it till 1652, when the Dutch East India. Company directed Jan Van Riebeeck, with a small party of colonists, to form a settlement there. The country was, at that time inhabited by a people called Quaequae, but -to whom the Dutch seem to have given the name of Hottentots. The Riebeeck settlers had at first great difficulties and hardships to endure, and their territory did not extend beyond a few miles round the site of the present Cape Town, where they first fixed their abode. They gradually, however, extended their limits, by driving the natives back or reducing them to serfdom. These colonists, although under Dutch authority, were not wholly of that nation, but consisted partly of persons of various nations, especially Germans and Flemings, with a few Poles and Portuguese. They were for the most part people of low station or indifferent character ; there was, however, a small number of a higher class, from whom was selected a council to assist the governor. About the year 1686 the European population was increased by a number of the French refugees who left their country on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Our limits forbid our attempting to trace the history of the Cape Colony during the lengthened period it remained under the Dutch Government. We may, however, mention some of its prominent incidents, the, effects of which are visible in the colony to this hour.
1st, The Dutch, partly by so-called contracts, partly by force, gradually deprived the Hottentots of their country. 2d, They reduced to slavery a large part of that unfor-tunate people whom they did not destroy. 3d,They intro-duced a number of Malays and negroes as slaves. 4th, They established that narrow and tyrannical system of policy which they adopted in other colonies, prescrib-ing to the farmers the nature of the crops they were to grow, demanding from them a large part of their produce, and harassing them with other exactions tending to dis-courage industry and eaterprize. There is no doubt that to this mischievous policy is due the origin of those un-settled habits, that dislike to orderly government, and that desire to escape from its control, which characterize a considerable part of the so-called Dutch boers of the present day,—qualities utterly at variance with the character of the Dutch in their native country, which were strongly manifested at the Cape, long before they came under British rule and under those influences to which some exclusively attribute the insubordination of those men. The attempts of the boers to escape from the Dutch power, and so form an independent government beyond the borders of the colony, especially in the district since called Graaf-Reinet, are strikingly similar to their proceedings at a later date under the British Government. 5th, The Gamtoos River formed the boundary between the Hottentot and Kaffre races, and was early adopted by the Dutch as their eastern limit, but about the year 1740 they began to pass this river, and came into collision with the Kaffres, and in 1780 they extended their frontier to the Great Fish River.
In 1795 the colonists, having imbibed the revolutionary principles then pievailing in Europe, attempted to throw off the yoke of the Dutch, upon which the British sent a fleet to support the authority of the Prince of Orange, and took possession of the country in his name. As, however, it was evident that Holland would not be able to hold it, and that at a general peace it would be made over to England, it was ruled by British governors till the year 1802, when, at the peace of Amiens, it was again restored to Holland. In 1806, on the renewal of the war, it was again taken by the British under Sir David Baird, and has since remained in their possession, having been finally ceded by the king of the Netherlands at the peace of 1815. At this time the limit of the colony was formed by the Great Fish River and the line of the mountains south of Bush-manland to the Buffels River and the Atlantic, the area being about 120,000 square miles, and the population little over 60,000. A summary may be given of the chief events which have taken place since 1806
1st, The Kaffre Wars.—The first of these wars took place in 1811--12, and the second in 1819, when the boundary of the colony was extended to the Keiskamina. The third occurred in 1835, under Sir Benjamin D’Urban, when the boundary was advanced to the Kei; but on the recall of that officer the country between the Kei and Keiskamma rivers was restored to the Kaffres,. The fourth Kaffre war took place in 1846, and after being conducted by governors Maitland and Pottinger, it was terminated by Sir Harry Smith in 1848. The fifth war broke out at the end of 1850, and after being for some time carried on by Governor Sir H. Smith, it was conducted in 1852 by Governor Cathcart, and brought to a conclusion only in March 1853. During its progress an armed police had been organized for the pro-tection of the froatier, and British Kaffraria was subsequently formed into a Crown colony, reserved at first for occupation by Kaffres. A somewhat more detailed account of these wars will be found under the heading KIFFRARIA.
2d, In 1820, British emigrants, to the number of 5000, arrived at Algoa Bay, and laid the foundation of the settlements on the eastern frontier which have since become the most thriving part of the colony, including the important towns of Graham’s Town and Port Elizabeth.
3d,, In 1834 the great measure of slave-emancipation took effect in the Cape Colony. It has been of immense service in raising the character and condition of the Hottentots and other races before held in bondage, though many of the vices begotten by the state of slavery still adhere to them. This measure gave great offence to the Dutch boers of the colony, and completed their already existing disaffection to the British rule.
In 1835-6 a large number of these people resolved to free them-selves from the British Government by removing with their families beyond the limits of the colony. With this object they sold their farms, mostly at a great sacrifice, and crossed the Orange River into territories inhabited chiefly by tribes of the Kaffre race. After meeting with great hardships and varied success in their contests with the natives, a part of their number, under one Peter Retief crossed the Drakenberg Mountains and took possession of the district of Natal, where they established a republican government, and maintained their ground against powerful nations of Zulu Kaffres till 1842, when they were forced to yield to the authority of the British Government, which took possession of Natal.
The boers beyond the Orange River and west of the Drakenberg still, however, retained a sort of independence till 1848, when, in consequence of the lawless state of the country, and the solicitation of part of the inhabitants, the governor, Sir Harry Smith, declared the supremacy of the Crown over the territory, which was thenceforth called the Orange River Sovereignty. Shortly after this, in conse-quence, it was alleged, of certain acts of the Britisli Government in Natal, Andrew Pretorius, an intelligent boer of that district, crossed the Drakenberg Mountains with his followers, and after being joined on the western side by large numbers of disaffected boers, raised the standard of rebellion. Upon this the governor, Sir H. Smith, crossed the Orange River at the head of a detachment of troops, and encountered and defeated the rebels in a short but brilliant skirmish at Boem Plaats. After this Pretorius and the most disaffected part of the boers retreated to beyond the Vaal River (the northern limit of the sovereignty), where they established a government of their own. They were subsequently, in 1852, absolved from their allegirance to the British Crown by treaty with the governors and her Majesty’s commissioners for settling frontier affairs.
In 1853-54, in consequence of the troubled state of the Orange River Sovereignty, and the difficulty of maintaining with becoming dignity the authority of her Majesty there, it was resolved to aban-don the country to the settlers, mostly Dutch boers. This was carried into effect by a special commissioner, Sir George Clerk, sent from England for the purpose ; and the country, under the name of the Orange Free State, is constituted a republic, with a president at its head, assisted or controlled by an assembly called the Volksraad (people’s council), elected by nearly universal suffrage.
4th, The Convict Agitation.—After the British Government had felt itself compelled to discontinue the sending of convicts to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, the subject of transportation became one of great difficulty, the more so that an unusually large number of prisoners was then on its hands in consequence of the pro-secutions arising out of the disturbed state of Ireland. Under these cir-cumstances an Order in Council was passed in 1848, under authority of the Act of 5 Geo. IV., authorizing the secretary of state to send certain convicts to such colonies as he might think proper. A cir-cular was sent by Earl Grey, then colonial secretary, to the governor of the Cape (among other colonial governors), requesting him to ascertain the feelings of the colonists regarding the reception of a certain class of convicts. Unfortunately, owing to some misunder-standing, a vessel, the "Neptune," was despatched to the Cape before the opinion of the colonists had been received, having on board 289 convicts, among whom were John Mitchell, the Irish rebel, and his colleagues. When the news reached the Cape that this vessel was on her way, the people of the colony became violently excited; and goaded to fury by the inflammatory articles in the local newspapers, and guided by a few demagogues, they established what was called the Anti-Convict Association, by which they bound themselves by a pledge to cease from all intercourse of every kind with persons in any way connected "with the landing, supplying, or employing convicts." On the 19th of September 1849, the "Neptune" arrived in Simon’s Bay; and when the intelligence reached Cape Town, the people assembled in masses, and their behavionr was violent and outrageous in the extreme. The governor, after adopting several resolutions, and again abandoning them under the pressure of popu-lar agitation, agreed not to land the convicts, but to keep them on board ship in Simon’s Bay till he received orders to send them else-where. Even this concession did not satisfy any but a small num-ber of more moderate men. The mass of the population, under the guidance or domination of a few agitators, continued to do all in their power to prevent the convicts and all the officers of the Govern-ment from obtaining supplies. When the Home Governmant be-came aware of the state of affairs it immediately sent orders direct-ing the "Neptune" to proceed to Van Diemen’s Land, and the agitation ceased. This agitation did not, however, pass away with-out important results, since it led to another movement, the object of which was to obtain a free representative government for the colony. This concession, which had been previously promised by Lord Grey, was granted by her Majesty’s Government, and, in 1853, a constitution was established of almost unexampled liberality.
5th, In 1857 an almost incredible delusion arose in the Amaxosa tribe of British Kaffraria. It was predicted among them that, on condition of a complete sacrifice of their lives and property, a resurrection would take place on a certain day, in which all the dead warriors and great men of the nation would arise in new strength; and acting upon this faith nearly a third of the tribe, or about 50,000, perished in a national suicide. The tracts thus depopulated were afterwards peopled by European settlers, among whom were many of the German legion which had served with the English army in the Crimea, and a body of upwards of 2000 industrious North German emigrants, who proved to be a valuable acquisition to the colony.
6th, Public works in the colony marked an era in the opening, in November 1863, of the railway from Cape Town to Wellington, begun in 1859, and, in 1860, of the great breakwater in Table Bay, long needed on that perilous coast. In 1865 the province of British Kaffraria was incorporated with the colony, under the title of the Electoral Divisions of King William’s Town and East London. In the same year several important modifications of the constitution were adopted.
7th, The discovery of diamonds in the districts north of the Orange River in 1867 drew the attention of the whole world to the colony, and gave new life and impetus to every branch of industry, leading to the annexation of the large territory of Griqua Land West to the British Crown. The Basutos, a division of the Bechwana Kaffres, occupying the upper valleys of the Orange River, had subsisted under a semi-protectorate of the British Government from 1848 to 1854 ; but having been left to their own resources on the abandonment of the Orange Sovereignty, they fell into a long exhaus-tive warfare with the boers of the Free State. On the urgent petition of their chief Moshesh, they were proclaimed British subjects in 1868, and their territory became part of the colony by Act of Government of 1871.
8th, More recently, in 1874 and 1875, large areas of southern and northern Kaffraria, the Transkei territories of the Fingo and Tam-bookie tribes, and the territory of Griqua Land East on the southern border of Natal, have also come under British rule by the free con-sent of their inhabitants. At the present moment attention is strongly directed towards the consolidation of the European states of South Africa, and the introduction of greater unity in their hitherto conflicting systems of government, with a view to the more complete development of their great natural resources.
A sum of five millions sterling voted by the Government is now (1876) being expended in the construction of four trunk lines of raiIway:—on extending the already existing line from Cape Town, two from Port Elizabeth, and one from East London, The tele-graphic wire now connects Cape Town with Port Elizabeth, Grahams-town, King William’s Town, East London, Queenstown, Beaufort West, Graaf Reinet, Cradock, Colesberg, and Kimberley in the diamond fields. Five steamers now run between England and the Cape each month.
Until the year 1873, the colony was divided for the purposes of administration and election of members for the Legislative Council into two provinces, a western and an eastern; but with the growth of the colony these were found to be inconveniently large, and by an Act of Government, which became law in 1874, the country was portioned. out into seven provinces; at about the same tinae some new divisions were formed within them by the reduction of those already. existing. Space does not admit of a special description of each of these divisions; the following table, however, shows their approximate area and the increase of their population from the date of the first census in 1865 to that of 1875. The native districts recently added to the eastern side of the colony are governed by Government agents and resident magistrates, who are under the direction of the secretary for native affairs in Cape Town.
TABLE
The returns of population classified according to race have not yet been received for the census of 1875. In 1865 the Europeans of the colony numbered 187,400 or about 33 per cent. of the whole. The white or dominant population is composed of colonial Dutch, who are most numerous in the western divisions ; of Anglo-Saxons, who
FOOTNOTES (page 46)
(1) The areas of tne divisions are adapted from those calculated at Gotha for Dr Behm’s Bevölkecrung der Erde, which are nearer the truth than the approximation given by the Cape surveyor-general. The areas of the native districts have been specially ascertained from a map supplied by the secretary for native affairs in 1875.
(2) Formerly British Kaffraria.
(3) Including 18,445 Tambookies of the "location" in Wodehouse and North-Eastern Queenstown.
(4) Griqua Land East (1875), pop. 31,901 : country west of Griquas, pop. 8407.
(5) Including emigrant Tambookies now in colony.
are in a majority in the east; and, in smaller proportions, of Germans, descendants of French emigrants, and Portuguese. English, which is the language of the legislation, is used in the seaports and eastern border towns, but Dutch is still commonly used in many parts of the western and midland provinces. Of thirty newspapers published in the colony twenty-five are English.
The major part of the population of the colony, how-ever, consists of Hottentots, Malays, Negroes, and Kaffres. The aborigines with whom the first settlers at the Cape came in contact had originally the generic name of Quaequae, and received the name of Hottentots from the Dutch. Owing to intermarriages with Malays, Negroes, and others, and illicit intercourse with the whites during the period of slavery, the race has lost much of its distinctive character. In 1865 the number of people distin-guished as Hottentots was 82,000, nearly two-thirds of whom were found in the western division. The Malays were introduced by the Dutch as slaves; their descendants still retain the Mahometan religion, and most of the dis-tinctive habits and customs of their race. We have no means of ascertaining their number, but it cannot be large. They are found chiefly resident in the seaports. The negroes are mostly from the eastern coasts of Africa. Griquas or Bastaards are a mixed race sprung from the intercourse of the Dutch boers or farmers with their Hottentot slaves. A great number of them migrated from the colony in the early part of this century with the boers, and settled between the Orange River and the Vaal under the chiefs Waterboer and Adam Kok, in part of the territory now known as Griqua Land West, In 1852 Kok’s people (about 15,000 in number) separated from the others, and inigrated to the district called Nomansland south of Natal, which had been depopulated by the strifes of the Amapondo and Amabaca Kaffres, forming there the settle-ment called Griqua Land East or New Griqua Land.
The line of division between the native Hottentot (or Bushman) and Kaffre races of South Africa passes south through the Cape Colony in about 26º E. long. The Kaffres now resident within the colony proper are chiefly of the tribe of the Amaxosa, with whom the colonists first came in contact at the line of the Great Fish River in 1778, and the Fingoes, who originally came from Natal and its vici-nity; driven thence early in the present century by Chaka, a warlike chief of the Zulu Kaffres, they took refuge with the tribes on the border of Cape Colony. There they were reduced to a state of serfdom, from which they were liberated by Sir Benjamin D’Urban after the third Kaffre war of 1835, when a body of 16,000 of them came into the colony and settled in what is now the division of Peddie. From this, again, the greater part of the Fingoes have moved to the district now called Fingo Land, east of the River Kei, recently joined to the colony. In 1865 the number of Kaffres within the limits of the colony was not less than 164,500. The Kaffres of the native districts which have come under British rule during the last three years are—
(1) The Basutos, sometimes called Mountain Bechwanas, the frag-ments of several broken tribes of the Bechwana Kaffres which became united under the rule of Chief Moshesh. Besides the inhabited dis-tricts of Basuto Land, they now occupy the portion of Nomansland which lies between Griqua Land East and the range of the Draken-berg. (2.) The Ama-baca, who appear to be divided,—one portion of the tribe inhabiting the eastern third of Nomansland on the borders of Natal; the other, under Chief Makaula, the nortlo-eastern portion of St John’s Territory. (3.) The Ama-xesibi, under Chief Jojo, in the country immediately south of Griqua Land East. (4.) The Poudomisi, under the chiefs Umhlonhlo and Umditchwa, occupy-ing the southern portion of St John’s Territory. (5.) The Lehana, Zibi and Lebenya, small mountain tribes along the north-west side of St John’s Territory, (5.) The Tambookies, one of the most numer-ous and powerful of the Kaffre tribes, located in part within the colony proper, in the south-east of the division of Wodehouse and the north-east of Queenstown, and in part occupying the adjoining basin of the Tsomo, a tributary of the Kei River, in the districts of their chiefs Gecelo, Stockwe, Matanzima, and Darala. The Tam-bookies under Gangelizwe occupy the tract between the Bashee and the Umtata.
All these are now directly under British rule. The following tribes of Kaffraria, enclosed by British territory, still retain their indepen-dence. (1.) The Ama-pondo, the largest tribe between the Cape Colony and Natal. These were also formerly driven from a more northerly region by the Zulu Kaffres, and now occupy the country on each side of the lower St John’s River, under their paramount chief Umquikela Faku, his brother Damas ruling a smaller southern division of the tribe; their numbers are estimated by missionaries resident among them at not less than 160,000. (2.) The G’calecas and Bom-Vanas (Ama-boravane), on the coast-land between the Kei and the Umtata Rivers, of whom Kreli is paramount chief, Moni the chief of the Bom-Vanas acknowledging his supremacy.
Prior to 1827 there existed in the several districts of the colony an institution established by the Dutch called the Board of Landrost and Heemraaden. The landrost was the chief magistrate of the district, appointed and paid by the Government. The heemraaden was a council to assist him, composed of respectable inhabitants appointed by the governor, on the recommendation of the landrost. These boards not only had the administration of the local affairs usually entrusted to municipal bodies, but they also possessed extensive judicial authority. In consequence of abuses, more especially in the exercise of the latter func-tions, these institutions were abolished in 1827.
Prior to 1837 the whole authority of the general Govern-ment was vested in the governor, assisted by a small council of officials. In that year a legislative council was established, consisting of certain Government officials, and five persons nominated by the Crown. An executive council was also established to assist the governor in executive matters, consisting of certain high officers of Government. Such was the form of government till 1853, when the legislative council as thus established was abolished, and a new constitution introduced. Under this the legislature consists of the governor, appointed by the colonial office for a term of six years, and two chambers, called the legislative council and the house of assembly, both elected by the people. The former body was latterly composed of eleven members for the western and ten for the eastern province, chosen by the whole body of electors. But in 1873 a bill was introduced for dividing the country into seven electoral provinces, to give a more equable distri-bation of political influence, and to do away with the separa-tion of the colony into two parts; and by this arrangement each of the new divisions is to return three members to the upper chamber. This bill became law in 1871, but does not come into execution until the dissolution of the existing council by expiration of the time of its session. To qualify a man to be elected for this chamber, he must possess property in land worth £2000, clear of charges, or £4000 in landed and personal property together ; he must be thirty years of age, and must have been invited to become a candidate by written requisition, signed by not less than twenty-five electors. The voting in this election is cumulative,—that is, any elector may give all his votes (as many as there are members to be chosen) to one candidate, or he may distribute them among the candidates as he pleases. The council is elected for ten years, but so that half its number, as near as may be, go out every five years.
The legislative assembly is chosen by the electors of the towns and other electoral districts into which the colony is divided. The candidates have to be proposed and seconded at the hustings. There is no property qualification required of the candidates. The assembly consists of sixty-eight members, and is elected for five years.
The qualification of electors of both houses is the same, namely, the occupation of fixed property worth £25, or the receipt of wages of not less than £50 a year. The ministry under the governor includes a colonial secretary or premier, a commissioner of crown lands and public works, an attorney-general, a treasurer-general, and a secretary for native affairs. Since 1872 the ministry holds office, like the English cabinet, at the pleasure of the Parliament.
The governor may dissolve both houses, or he may dissolve the house of assembly without dissolving the council. He may give or refuse his assent to bills in the Queen’s name, or he may reserve them for the decision of her Majesty. The Queen may disallow any bill assented to by the governor at any time within two years of its receipt. It is further provided, that all bills appropriating any part of the revenues must be recommended to the house of assembly by the governor.
The administration of justice is presided over by a supreme court of five judges—a chief justice and four puisne judges. The chief justice with two judges holds the supreme court in Cape Town; two other judges of the supreme court form the "court of the eastern districts" held at Graham’s Town. The jurisdiction of the court of Cape Town extends over the whole colony; that of Graham’s Town has a concurrent jurisdiction over the eastern divisions. Circuit courts are held throughout the colony twice yearly. Each division has a salaried magistrate who is also civil commissioner, and the magisterial courts have a limited jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. The civil commissioner presides over the "divisional council" of his district, an elected body charged with the super-intendence of roads, boundaries, and other interests of the division. The Roman or civil law, as received in Holland before the introduction of the Code Napoleon there in 1811, was in force in Cape Colony at the time of its cession to Britain, and remains authoritative, though a few modifica-tions have been sanctioned by Parliament.
The Cape Colony possesses important British military and naval stations, and the establishment maintained by the Home Government has always been very considerable. This was especially the case during the Kaffre wars. In recent years, however, a gradual reduction of the number of imperial troops in the colony has taken place. In 1873 two British infantry regiments, with detachments of the Royal Artillery and Engineers, were quartered in the colony; but these are kept at the Cape rather for the purposes of the Home Government than for the domestic defence of the colony. A force named the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police was organized for the latter purpose in 1853, and has been specially serviceable in quelling disturbances on the interior borders of the country. This force is divided into seven troops, and numbers 750 men. Small volunteer corpa of rifles and cavalry have been organized at various points of the eastern and western divisions.
The greater number of the Protestant denominations of the United Kingdom, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, are represented in Cape Colony. The Dutch Reformed Church, as might be anticipated from the early history of the country, is by far the most numerous community. In form of government and in order of service it closely resembles the Church of Scotland, to which country a considerable number of its ministers belong. The Church of England has, perhaps, the next smaller number of adherents. In 1847 a bishop of Cape Town was appointed to preside over this church, whose diocese extended not only over Cape Colony and Natal, but also over the island of St Helena, Later, however, separate bishops were appointed for the eastern province (with the seat at Graham’s Town) and for Natal. Wesleyan Metho-dists nearly equal the Anglicans in number, and have a larger proportion of coloured people in their body than any other sect. The Congregationalists, including Independents and Baptists, are an important body. Lutherans, Presby-terians, and other Protestant communities, such as the Moravians, are in smaller numbers. The Roman Catholics have bishops in Cape Town and Graham’s Town, but are comparatively few. Government provides an annual grant for ecclesiastical purposes, which is distributed among the various religious bodies, the Congregationalists alone declin-ing to receive aid from the state. According, however, to the provisions of the "Voluntary Act," recently passed, the grants in aid are to be continued only to present incumbents. There are besides several foreign missions in the colony, the most important being the Moravian, London, and Rhenish missionary societies. The Moravians have been established there since 1732, and have laboured hard to convert the native races.
As early as 1839 a scheme of public schools, drawn up by Sir John Herschel, came into operation, which was well adapted to the condition and circumstances of the colony at that time. The Education Act of 1865, now in operation, is an advance on this system, and provides three orders of schools adapted to the wants of the main grades of the population, the Europeans, mixed races, and pure natives. These orders comprise—(1) Undenoininational public schools in each division of the colony in three classes, subject to the inspection of a superintendent-general of education, and having teachers whose salaries are guaran-teed; (2) Schools established by missionary societies to which Government, aid is granted under certain con-ditions for secular education; (3) Day schools and industrial institutions for the civilization of the aborigines on the frontiers of the colony. For higher education there are several colleges. The South African college in Cape Town was founded in 1829, and in its higher classes prepares for the European universities and for colonial examinations; the college has a grant of £400 annually from Government. Graaf Reinet College, on the same plan, has a similar subsidy. The Grey Institute, in Port Elizabeth ; Gill College, in Somerset East; the Diocesan College, under the bishop of Cape Town, the first of the institutions of a purely denominational character; the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church at Stellenbosch; and four educational institutions of the Roman Catholic Church, are the other schools of higher education which are chiefly worthy of note. A public university, founded on the plan of that of London, arose out of and superseded the Board, of Public Examiners (which bad been constituted in 1858), and stands at the head of the educational system of the colony; it was established by Act of Parliament in 1872. Liberal bursaries and scholarships have since been attached to it, enabling students to continue their studies in Britain. The hospital of Cape Town is so far recognized as a medical school by the Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians, that students are allowed to spend two years of their course there in qualifying for their degrees.
The leading public institutions of the Cape Colony—the Royal Observatory, the South African Public Library and Museum, and the Botanic Garden and Government Herbarium—kare noticed under CAPE TOWN below. The Albany or Graham’s Town Museum, the chief of the provincial institutions of this kind, perhaps surpasses that of the capital in its collections and classification of the natural products of Southern Africa. A colonial medical committee, appointed by Government and presided over by a Government inspector of hospitals, is at the head of the curative institutions of the colony, the chief of which are the hospitals of Cape Town, the infirmary at Robben Island, and those of Port Elizabeth, Graham’s Town, and King William’s Town, with the numerous gaol hospitals throughout the country.
The first newspaper of the colony, written in Dutch and English, was published in 1824, and its appearance marked an era not only in the literary but in the political history of the colony, since it drew to a crisis the dis-putes which had arisen between the colonists and the somewhat arrogant governor, Lord Charles Somerset, who had issued a tyrannical decree prohibiting all persons from convening or attending public meetings. Its criticisms on public affairs soon led to its suppression by the governor, and a memorial from the colonists to the king petitioning for a free press was the result. This boon was secured to the colony in 1828, and the press soon became a powerful agent, characterized in an especial manner by public spirit and literary ability. There are now about fifty newspapers and periodicals in English and Dutch, published in the Cape Colony and Natal.
The following table, giving the value of imports and exports and the tonnage of shipping in several years, taken at intervals, exhibits the progress of the commerce of the colony:—
TABLE
In the order of the amount and value of their commerce the ports of the Cape Colony rank thus:—Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, East London, Mossel. Bay, Port Alfred (Kowie mouth), and Simon’s Town—the value of the trade of Port Elizabeth being more than double that of Cape Town,
The following table gives the quantities and values of the chief articles, the produce
during 1874:—
TABLE
The most important item of export is wool, and the following table shows the progress of the trade in this product, which is now almost monopolized by the eastern ports:—
TABLE
The number and value of the diamonds exported cannot be judged by the figures in the above table, since but few parcels of them are entered as freight. The whole declared value of the diamonds exported from the year of their discovery till 1874 was £743,000, but it is believed that diamonds to the value of upwards of X10,000,000 have been taken from the mines of Griqua Land West.
The copper ore of the Cape Colony is derived from the mines in Namaqua Land. Since 1863, when this branch of mining became a settled industry, and the Cape Copper Mining Company was formed, the exports of ore have risen steadily from an annual total of 2900 tons to upwards of 13,000 tons. Wine was at one time the staple export, and was imported in large quantity by England; falling into disrepute there, the industry remained in a depressed state for many years, but revived on the impulse given by the discovery of diamonds, and besides acquir-ing an increased consumption in the colony is again rising as an export.
The imports of the colony consist mainly of manufactured goods, cloths and hardwares, sugar and tobacco. The revenue of the colony is derived chiefly from an ad valorem tax on all goods imported (with the exception of agricultural machinery, animals, bullion, books, and un manufactured African products), and on land sales and rents, and from a tax called transfer-dues on the purchase money of all landed property sold, stamp-duties, and, postages. The expenditure is for payment of salaries of officials and support of government. The colony incurs the expense of the regiments of Cape mounted riflemen and police, but the British troops in the colony are maintained by the Imperial Government at an annual cost of about £200,000. The subjoined table shows the progress of the revenue and expenditure of the colony:—
TABLE
The revenue of 1873 was abnormally increased by the raising of a loan of £860,000, included in the statement, while the increased expenditure was caused by outlay on public works. The revenue of 1874 was increased by a loan of £369,400. The colony has a public debt, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent., dating from 1859. The debt had reached the amount of £1,723,000 in 1874.
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See Cape of Good Hope Blue Books; H. Hall, South African Geography; J. Fleming, Southern Africa; Handbook for South Africa; Glanville, Guide to South Africa; Noble, Descriptive Handbook of Cape Calony. (K. J).