OTHER SECTIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA.
British Bechuanaland consists of vast tracts which have been set apart
for the Bechuana clans, large sections occupied by European farmers, and
a great extent of country still unoccupied.
The country is well adapted for grazing grounds, or cattle runs.
Agriculture is a success only in limited localities, owing to the
scarcity of surface water. With the exception of salt, no mineral wealth
has been discovered, hence there is nothing to attract the fortune
seeker or adventurer to the country.
The climate of Bechuanaland is exceedingly healthy, though the midsummer
days are unpleasantly warm. The nights are always enjoyable, for they
are invariably cool and pleasant.
Under the British rule order is well preserved in Bechuanaland. There
are said to be over five thousand Europeans in the country.
Vayling is the seat of government. It is connected by rail with the
ports of Cape Colony. This line is now being continued to Mafeking on
the northern border. As this is along the great trade route to the
interior of the country, it thus brings a large area under the
protection of the British flag.
At a distance considerably north of Bechuanaland lies a tract under
British protection, and named, not inappropriately, the British
Protectorate.
All white people within its borders are under the guidance of
magistrates appointed by the high commissioner. The native tribes, in
their relations to each other, are all under the control of the same
government; yet the rule of each chief over his tribe is seldom, if
ever, subject to interference.
A large portion of this territory is without surface water. The country
is thinly inhabited by Bushmen and wandering Bechuana. These were
formerly held in slavery by various clans in the neighborhood of the
Springs. Although the circumstances of these people have improved much
of late years, yet their lives are still characterized by want and
misery, for they are largely dependent upon the caprices of their
masters.
Order is Heaven's first law, and it is a recognized factor within this
territory, for it is enforced by a strong body of mounted police
selected from among the Europeans.
The British Chartered Company's Territory is another division of South
Africa. It is situated beyond the protectorate, and is a vast territory
containing fully half a million square miles. This territory was opened
by the British South African Company under a royal charter granted in
1889.
The country has often been called Rhodesia, from the originator of the
company, and who is still its chief manager.
The native chiefs of this section have given the company proprietary
rights to immense tracts of fertile land and to extensive areas of
gold-bearing quartz reefs. In some places there are shafts and tunnels
to indicate that at some unknown period in the past the mines were
worked, and ruins of buildings far superior to the skill of the Bantu
give evidence that the land was not always occupied exclusively by
Europeans.
The country does not lack modern ways and means of communication with
the adjoining ones; for there is a telegraphic connection and a postal
service between all the forts and Cape Colony, and a railway is fast
being constructed inland from Port Beira. This will give easy access to
the northeastern portion, while the northwestern portion can be reached
without much difficulty from the terminus of the Cape Town Mafeking
line.
Such is the march of progress that many appliances of modern times, as
printing presses, etc., can be found to-day in a region which a few
years ago was known only to a few explorers and hunters.
The German Protectorate, as its name indicates, is under the protection
of the German government. The territory, which, since 1884, has been
thus protected, occupies the southwest coast of Africa and extends from
Cape Frio on the north to the Orange River on the south; from the
Atlantic Ocean on the west to an irregular line running from the head
waters of the Zambesi to the twentieth meridian from Greenwich on the
east.
From this vast territory we must exclude the only port on the coast,
Walfish Bay, which with a little tract of land around it belongs to Cape
Colony.
The southern part of the country is almost rainless. There are but few
fountains, but towards the north the moisture increases. Still no part
of this extent of territory is capable of supporting an agricultural
population. Notwithstanding this, the land is well adapted for cattle
raising.
The mineral wealth of the country is not fully determined. Copper is
known to exist in large quantities, and it is generally believed that
there are other minerals.
As far north as Walfish Bay the population consists of Hottentots, and
beyond here the Bantu are found. The Europeans are chiefly missionaries
and a few prospectors.
Thus far the natives have had no trouble with the authorities, except
that when one clan refused to acknowledge the German rule, war was
imminent; but it was happily averted before the country became involved
in a struggle which would have been ruinous to both sides.
Early in the sixteenth century the Portuguese established forts along
the principal harbors of the southeastern coast of Africa, but did not
attempt to plant colonies.
They at one time occupied a small fort in the magnificent harbor of
Delagoa Bay; but, as little trade could be commanded on that part of the
coast, the fort was often left abandoned for many years at a time.
Mozambique became a resting place for the royal fleets to and from the
east, and was of considerable importance. The other Portuguese stations
were mere outlying trading posts.
The Portuguese never had any well-defined boundary to their territory;
in fact, none was needed, since they had no European rival.
Though they planted no colonies during their days of glory and
prosperity, they exerted themselves to open the country to the
missionaries, who were zealous to convert the natives. These worthy men
penetrated far into the interior, and even established themselves in the
deadly localities along the coast.
The traders who crossed the continent from Angola to Mozambique brought
vast quantities of gold and ivory and many slaves to the chief ports, to
be shipped to Brazil and Europe.
When the Dutch wrested India from Portugal, they cared little for its
possessions along the East African coast. True, they occupied Delagoa
Bay for some years in the eighteenth century, but did not remain long.
The Portuguese continued to hold their old stations in a state of decay,
and had a slight claim over the interior lands.
Some years after the South African Republic was established, the Lebombo
Mountains became the boundary line between it and the Portuguese
possessions. The British Chartered Company took possession of the
interior plateau farther north. A dispute arose, but the boundary
finally agreed upon is not yet marked off.
Many improvements are noticeable. From Delagoa Bay a railroad is being
constructed to Pretoria. From Port Beira at the Pungwe River a railway
is being constructed inland, which will reach a large portion of the
British Chartered Company's possessions. Thus all these apparently
inaccessible portions of the continent are being rapidly brought into
easy communication with one another. Swaziland is a tract of country
inclosed on three sides by the South African Republic, and on the
remaining side by the Lebombo mountain ranges.
The country contains valuable gold fields, and is characterized by
fertile, well-watered sections. The climate is generally healthy.
The Swazis are regarded as the bravest of all the Bantu tribes, and were
the stanch friends of the early emigrant farmers.
They number at the present time about sixty or seventy thousand. Their
chief, who died a number of years ago, granted to different white men so
many concessions of all kinds--to extract metals, to till ground, to
graze cattle--that he left few possessions or rights to his followers.
This state of affairs led to the establishment of a mixed government,
whereby the Europeans, acting under the approval of the chief, were to
rule the country.
At the present time the reigning chief of the Swazis, acting in harmony
with the ruling powers in Great Britain and in the South African
Republic, has established a form of government which is recognized and
upheld by the Europeans of the territory.