ANNEXATIONS TO CAPE COLONY.
About the middle of the present century Cape Colony comprised all the
land between the Orange River on the north, the Indian Ocean on the
south, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and British Kaffraria and the
rivers Indwe and Tees on the east. During recent years the greater
portion of the territory between the Indwe and Kei Rivers on one side,
and Natal on the other, has been annexed to Cape Colony; but in some
respects it is still regarded as a dependency.
The annexed territory is described as a very beautiful and fertile tract
of land. It bears, as we shall see, a resemblance to Natal. The
temperature along the coast is not, however, quite so high.
Just below the Drachenberg Mountains lies an elevated tract of country,
where the nights are extremely cold, too cold, in fact, for the Bantu
tribes; hence, no tribes except the Bushmen have ever resided there
permanently until within a short time.
There are fine forests on the lower terraces. Rain is abundant and the
drainage perfect, the rivers, on account of their rapid fall, speedily
carrying off all superfluous moisture. The climate is on this account
exceedingly healthy, though the grass is so rich and other vegetation so
luxuriant that, had the land been more nearly level, fever would
probably be common.
South Africa abounds in waterfalls, of which the most celebrated are the
great falls of the Orange, the Tugela's leap of sixteen hundred feet
over the face of the Drachenberg, and the fall of the Nmgeni, a few
miles from Maritzburg; but the most imposing of all, perhaps, is in the
Tsitsa in the annexed territory.
Ordinarily this stream tumbles over the precipice in three or four
rills, but in times of flood a volume of water from four to five hundred
feet wide drops nearly four hundred feet into a narrow chasm.
Various sections have from time to time been annexed to Cape Colony.
These sections had become involved in native feuds and wars, with such
disastrous results that the chiefs gladly placed their lands under the
protection of the British rule. Thus, in 1879, eight districts were
formally annexed.
Along the coast of Great Namaqualand there are several small rocky
islands upon which sea birds congregate in vast flocks; and as there is
but little rain in that region, the guano is of considerable value.
These islands became dependencies of Cape Colony a good many years ago.
The men employed to gather the guano are their only inhabitants.
Farther north on the same coast is Walfish Bay, the only port through
which access can be had to Great Namaqualand and Damaraland. The country
around it is a dreary waste of sand, and a more uninviting spot can
hardly be imagined. It became a dependency of Cape Colony in 1884.
On this little strip of land some six or seven hundred Hottentots of a
very degraded type are living. 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.