Port St. Lucia—Zulu Country—Panda—Delagoa Bay—Its
Unhealthiness; Causes Examined—Lourenço Marques—Dutch
Fort—Tembe and Iniack—British Territory—Fecundity of Boer
Females—Products—Transvaal Republic—Mineral Wealth—Future of
the Country.
After leaving the limits of the Colony of Natal, in proceeding to the
northward, the first port which attracts attention is that of Port St.
Lucia, in latitude 28° 26′ S., and longitude 32° 26′ E.
This port is admirably adapted for throwing supplies of ammunition, and
also useful commodities, into the Zulu country, from which they are
carried into the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal Republic, thereby
eluding the custom’s dues payable at the Cape of Good Hope and Natal.
A considerable trade of this description is already established by
several mercantile houses at the Cape of Good Hope; and, this fact having
become known in London and Liverpool, merchants are naturally inquiring
what articles of trade are suitable for a port where no duties whatever
are levied, and where the returns of ivory, hides, horns, and hoofs are
immediate.[1]
As the colony of the Cape of Good Hope pays annually to the Boers
5,000_l._ (five thousand pounds sterling) as a compensation for the
duties levied on commodities passing through that colony to the Orange
Free State and Transvaal Republic, it is natural to expect that the
revenue of that colony should be protected by obtaining possession of
a port at present belonging to no country, and which offers a sore
temptation to the Boers, ever on the look-out for an outlet for their
productions, without passing through and enriching a country from which
they _trecked_, in consequence of real or imagined wrongs.
From Port St. Lucia, proceeding northwards, we pass a line of coast, of
which we absolutely know nothing, until we arrive at Cape Colatto, in
latitude 26° 4′ S., and longitude 33° 1′ E.
The whole of this coast is low, and washed by the gulf stream; and is,
for the reasons already given in the previous chapter, well adapted for
the growth of cotton. Doubtless, some of the Kaffirs of Natal, seeing the
great care devoted to the production of this staple of our manufactures
in that thriving and industrious little colony, will communicate the
intelligence to their countrymen, and eventually it may be brought to
the notice of their chiefs. If Panda, the great chief of the Zulus, was
once convinced of the benefits which would arise to his people by the
cultivation of this plant, we should hear no more of bloody wars and
wholesale massacres in his dominions; for he would soon learn that the
increase of his people would be an increase of his own wealth and power.
It would be well to try the experiment by presenting Panda with
a certain number of pounds of cotton-seed, holding out some great
inducement for him to return, at the proper season, a proportionate
amount of seed-cotton, which might be easily ginned in the colony.
A trade of this sort, once established, would tend greatly to the
civilization of the whole Zulu Kaffir race, by which they would, under
their own chiefs, be turned to agricultural occupations, affording
eventually to Natal a large and immediate supply of labour for the
soil, which is all that Natal requires to become the great nucleus of
civilization in South Eastern Africa.
On Friday, the 10th of July, 1857, the “Hermes” steamed into Delagoa Bay,
known in the history of Eastern Africa as one of the most unhealthy parts
of that coast. As we propose investigating the causes of this reported
unhealthiness, it will be necessary to describe the bay, and then to
examine whether the locality or the visitors are to be most blamed for
the great fatality which has taken place amongst those who have visited
it.
The Bay of Delagoa, formerly called Formosa Bay, from the security of
the anchorage and beauty of the scenery, is a deep inlet of the Indian
Ocean, formed by the stream, known in the Atlantic as the Gulf Stream,
constantly setting to the southward along the east coast of Africa.
The abrading influence of this current has been arrested in the south
part of the bay by the firmer and loftier formation of the country,
assisted by the continual deposits brought down to their mouths by the
Mapoota and English rivers, which flow into the south side of the bay.
The current having been deflected thus from the mainland, in its easterly
set, while returning to the ocean, has formed for itself a channel, by
separating a lofty headland from the main and forming of it the island
now called Iniack.
The bay thus forms an arc, on the chord of which may be found large
shoals, and even islands, formed by the action of this great stream, and
the natural deposits of two large rivers, which discharge themselves into
the upper or north-western portion of the bay, called respectively the
Magaia or Esperito Santo, and the King George’s or Manakusi.
The anchorage of the bay lies mainly in the mouth of the English River,
which there runs due east and west, and it may, therefore, be imagined
how secure is this anchorage, land-locked from all winds, and protected
from the sea by a number of islands and shoals placed as natural
breakwaters.
Nature could not well have formed a bay more admirably adapted for the
purpose of holding communication with the interior of the adjoining
country.
To seaward, open on all sides to this bay and the Indian Ocean, forming
the southern arm of Delagoa Bay, is Iniack Island, which is 240 feet
in height, and shows no indication of a sickly climate; but, on the
contrary, has been always used by the natives of the adjoining low
country of Tembe (which forms the south side of the bay) as a sanitarium.
Inland, on the north bank of the English River, is a lofty cliff, called
Point Rubin, gradually declining into the interior to the banks of the
adjoining rivers. This would be almost as healthy a locality as the
former, although, of course, it would not have the advantage of the pure
and bracing breezes from the Indian Ocean.
The remainder of the bay may be pronounced a dead flat, extending into
the interior for many miles; and, in viewing the bay, the simplest
idea of self-preservation, which, we are told, is the first law of
nature, would at once suggest that in such a locality there were only
the two above named places for the erection of a town. To make this
matter plainer, we have only further to observe that the lowness of the
surrounding extent of country, the humid atmosphere arising from the
surface of a bay wherein the great Gulf Stream constantly circulates,
and the malaria which must naturally arise from the mouths of four
considerable rivers discharging the drainage of large tracts of country,
and, before disemboguing themselves, traversing flat districts where
their streams are sluggish and overcharged with masses of decayed and
decaying substances, must naturally lead to a state of the atmosphere,
in the bay tending to generate, with the heat of the climate, those
virulent forms of fever known under the name of marsh and putrid.
With the above description of this lovely bay, it will only be necessary
to state that the most unhealthy spot has been chosen for the erection of
a town; which will at once explain the reason of the unhealthiness of the
Portuguese settlement of Lourenço Marques.
This town derives its name from a Portuguese, who first established
the ivory trade, at this place, with the natives of the country. It
is situated on the north bank of the English River, almost at the
foot of the high red cliff which forms the south and eastern face of
Point Rubin; consequently, all the heat and glare from this cliff is
reflected on the unhappily-situated settlement from sunrise until three
o’clock in the afternoon. Between the town and the river there is a high
sand-bank, which effectually cuts off the sea-breeze. In the rear of the
town there is a swamp, or marsh, which is at once the destruction and
salvation of the settlement, for, while its pestiferous breath pollutes
the atmosphere, and causes all in its neighbourhood to breathe the
air of death, its slimy nature, depth, and treacherous bottom prevent
the onslaught of the natives, with which the Portuguese are constantly
threatened; for which reason the only two field-pieces which the garrison
possesses are pointed towards this, their best friend and worst foe.
The town consists of a miserable square of squalid-looking houses,
surrounded by huts containing the natives whom the occupants of the
ruinous-looking habitations have enslaved. This miserable place is
protected by a structure, to which is applied the name of a fort,
having a large flag-staff, displaying the flag of Portugal, and a few
honey-combed guns, which cannot be fired.
The town is filthy in every sense; even the Governor’s quarters being so
surrounded with filth and dirt of all sorts, that none but Portuguese and
Natives, acclimatized by long usage to the pestilential atmosphere of
the place, can approach it without being attacked with fits of vomiting.
It is impossible for any one to see the town of Lourenço Marques without
being struck with the idea how it is possible for human beings to live
there.
I suppose, on the Portuguese first settling in Delagoa Bay, they erected
a temporary location on the bank of the river, opposite to where their
vessels were at anchor; intending at an early date to remove to the
adjoining highland, but that those who were left behind, on their vessels
sailing to form the new settlements along the coast, were overtaken by
the effects of the malaria of the position which they had first chosen,
and that many of them must have fallen victims to this want of foresight
in the Commander of the expedition; while the survivors found themselves
too enfeebled to undertake the formation of another town in a more
healthy locality; and getting gradually acclimatized to the atmosphere of
the place, they decided upon remaining where they were.
After the above description of Lourenço Marques, the reader will not
be surprised at the unhealthiness of the place, and will seek for its
cause, not in the climate of this portion of Africa, but in the locality
chosen for this Portuguese settlement. There is a slimy mud bank between
Waterloo and Southwark Bridges on the Thames; the occupant of a hut built
on that mud bank would, in the height of our summer, be nearly as liable
to marsh or putrid fever as the inhabitants of Lourenço Marques.
When the Dutch made their appearance on the East Coast of Africa,
they built a Fort on English River, opposite to Lourenço Marques;
having only one object in view, namely, the wresting of the valuable
commerce, then established, from the Portuguese. To place themselves in
communication with the natives, and cut them off from Lourenço Marques,
their settlement was opposite to that of the Portuguese, and therefore,
was like wise unhealthy. The first Dutch Factory was destroyed by the
Natives, who were instigated to this by the Portuguese, at a time when
the Dutch were disappointed of reinforcements, and demoralized and
enfeebled by the pestilential atmosphere of the malaria district, which
circumstances somewhat compelled them to choose, in order that they might
break up the monopoly of the ivory trade enjoyed by the Portuguese.
The second Factory of the Dutch was built in the same place as the former
one; and this they abandoned on the appearance of the English in these
waters.
On the Dutch again becoming masters of the Cape of Good Hope, they
found that they could not compete with the English, whose superior
manufactures, brought by the Banyans from Bombay to Lourenço Marques,
had established a trade with which they could not interfere. That trade
has been carried on ever since, but has now dwindled down into utter
insignificance, in consequence of the difficulties thrown in the way
by the Portuguese officials abandoned to the Slave trade. They obtain
sufficient American goods for the ivory trade with the Natives; whilst,
by excluding the English, they are enabled to carry on the Slave Trade
in complicity with the neighbouring chief who may be paramount at the
time; and who, being the victor, has more prisoners to supply the odious
traffic by which alone the Portuguese Official may hope to make the means
of retiring to his own country.
The Portuguese claims to territory on the East Coast of Africa begin at
Lourenço Marques, which is the most southern point on the coast where the
Portuguese flag is permitted to fly.
Formerly, the authorities of Lourenço Marques claimed the whole of
Delagoa Bay; but the southern portion of the bay, comprehending Tembe and
its dependency, Iniack Island, having been ceded to Captain W. F. Owen,
R.N., by King Keppel, in 1823, we have been in possession of a tract of
country which affords us access to the Zulu country by way of the British
river Mapoota, while the English River gives us access into the interior,
even, it is believed (for this country is very little known), to the
Transvaal Republic.
The Boer States of the Orange Free State and Transvaal Republic have no
port, and consequently no outlet for their commerce. Their products have,
therefore, to find their way to the ocean by the harbours of the Cape
Colony, or that of Port Natal. To avoid the transit dues of import and
export, they have turned their attention to Port St. Lucia, as already
stated; but this not altogether suiting their purpose, and being on a
line of coast in close proximity to Natal, where they may expect to be
checkmated by Great Britain extending her authority to Cape Colatto, they
have turned their thoughts more directly to Delagoa Bay; which, from its
receiving four large navigable rivers, communicating with the interior
and their own States, offers every facility for extending their commerce
to the richest portion of Africa. These Boers are very prolific, many of
the women bearing upwards of twenty children. I am personally acquainted
with three such mothers; and, after a careful calculation, I am inclined
to believe that the average of the Boer families is sixteen; and, I may
almost say, never less than twelve. It may well be imagined that a people
who increase so rapidly, and with whom the south part of Africa is known
to agree remarkably, require only an outport to become a mighty nation.
While residing at the Cape of Good Hope, I was informed that the Boers
contemplated the purchase of Delagoa Bay; and I am now in a position to
state that I know, from undoubted authority, that this arrangement was
far advanced.
In the execution of what I conceived my duty to my country, I brought
this matter under the notice of Her Majesty’s late Government, recalling
the cession of Tembe and Iniack Island, and pointing out the advantages
of establishing a Factory for the purposes of trade, and also a
Lighthouse for steam-postal communication on the last named place, which,
from the salubrity of its climate and central position, would soon become
an emporium for trade. And I am glad to think that I have been thus far
successful in upholding the rights of my country and frustrating the
Portuguese intentions of selling, and those of the Boers of buying,
British Territory.
The Tembe country abounds in Orchella weeds, which were first discovered
by a British subject, not more than three years ago.
It may be recollected that, when at Natal, I stated that Mr. G. W. Duncan
handed me a letter relative to slaving transactions going on at Delagoa
Bay. During the visit of Mr. Duncan to this place, he discovered that
the Orchella weed was to be had in enormous quantities on the South,
or British, side of the bay. He persuaded the natives to collect some
for him, so as to take it down to Natal as a specimen. On his return to
Delagoa Bay, wishing to obtain a cargo of this valuable weed from the
Zulus living on the British side of the bay, he commenced operations
for that purpose; but the Portuguese Governor, Muchado, of the small
settlement of Lourenço Marques, built on the opposite side of English
River, informed him that such traffic with the natives was forbidden.
In the meanwhile, during his stay at Lourenço Marques, a large vessel
was filled up with Orchella weeds and ivory, obtained from the Zulus of
Tembe. This vessel had been sent for to Mozambique, by Governor Muchado,
when informed of the discovery made by the enterprising Englishman from
Natal.
Mr. Duncan had the mortification to see his discovery not only seized
upon by the Portuguese, but, at the same time that Governor Muchado
forbade him to trade with Tembe, he saw a vessel under the Portuguese
flag obtaining the weed which he had discovered in British territory.
Truth is stranger than fiction. What Mr. Duncan did at Delagoa Bay on a
small scale, Dr. Livingstone has done on a grand scale in the interior;
both endeavoring to make discoveries for the benefit of the natives of
Africa, and the commerce of their own much-loved country, and—mark the
sequel—both with the same results.
Dr. Livingstone has opened the Luavo mouths of the Zambesi to commerce.
These mouths were known to the Portuguese before, but they were always
reported to be impassable; the object of this being that, while the
Portuguese Officials kept our Cruisers at anchor off the Killimane
mouth of the river, the Slavers might come in and go out by the Luavo
mouths. As soon as Dr. Livingstone had pointed out that these mouths
were navigable, and proved it by entering the river by one of those
mouths, the Portuguese Government immediately decided upon establishing
Customhouses on the river. Thus are we prevented from trading with the
natives of the country, and from benefiting by the enterprise of our
countrymen.
This digression was somewhat necessary, to show how our valuable
possession of Tembe has been trifled with by the Portuguese in Delagoa
Bay.
The Orchella weed is gathered in bags, and a number of these are placed
together under a screw press (with which all vessels in this trade are
provided), and formed into bales.
As many of my readers are, doubtless, unacquainted with the properties of
this valuable weed, the following brief account of it and its habitat may
not be unacceptable:—
Dyer’s Orchella Weed.—This is one of the most valuable of the vegetable
products of Eastern Africa, and may be found, in greater or less
quantity, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Red Sea.
There are several species or varieties of this lichen; and it has been
used, from the most ancient times, for the purpose of supplying a
colouring matter.
Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and Pliny mention a plant which grew near
the ground on the rocks of Crete, and was used for dying purple; the
last named of these three ancient writers calls this plant _phycos
thalassion_; while Dioscorides says that some persons imagine that the
paint used by women was made from this plant; but he adds that it was a
root bearing this name.
The _phycos thalassion_ of the ancients has been usually assumed to be
the _Rocilla tinctoria_; and Bory de St. Vincent even thinks that the
ancients made their celebrated purple dye, brought from the isles of
Elishah, with the _R. tinctoria_, which he therefore calls _R. purpura
antiquorum_.
In the fourteenth century, a nobleman, named Ferro, or Fredrigo, of
German extraction, while travelling in the Levant, discovered that the
colour might be extracted from this plant by the action of urine: in
the Levant, this plant was called _respio_ or _respo_, and in Spain,
_orciglia_. Proceeding to Florence, where his family were settled, he
made known his discovery, and it was applied to the dyeing of wool. His
family was ennobled for this discovery, under the name of Oricellarii,
altered to Rucellai, and became greatly enriched in consequence of
the monopoly of the importation of this weed, which they had for some
generations. From the name Rucellai, the generic term Rocella is supposed
to be derived.
All species and varieties of Rocella found in commerce bear the general
appellation of Orchella weed; but they are distinguished by the name of
the country from which they are exported.
The commercial kinds of Orchella weed may be conveniently arranged in two
divisions.
1st. Orchella weeds having a cylindrical tapering thallus—_Rocella
tinctoria_.
Found in the Canary Islands; Western Islands; Cape de Verde Islands; some
parts of the coast of Barbary; South America, and the Cape of Good Hope.
2nd. Orchella weeds having a flat (plane) or compressed thallus. These
consist of _R. fuciformis_, and perhaps _R. Montagnei_.
Found in Angola (Portuguese Province on the West Coast of Africa);
Madagascar; the Portuguese Province of Mozambique, from Cape Delgado to
Delagoa Bay, on the East Coast of Africa; South America; and Pondicherry
in India.
There is certainly a third description in commerce, known as mixed
Orchella weeds, and consisting of varieties of the foregoing, mixed
irregularly.
The second division of these Orchella weeds, _R. fuciformis_, is the
more valuable, and is known in commerce, in its various forms, under the
denomination of the country, as already stated, from which it is imported.
Angola Orchella weed; _R. fuciformis_. _Thallus_ very flat, seldom
exceeding an inch and a-half, or two inches, in length; in breadth
(except at the fork or division) rarely more than one-sixth of an inch;
colour greenish, or yellowish grey. As a dye stuff, it is the most
valuable of all the Orchella weeds.
The above is Dr. Pereira’s description of the Angola Orchella weed, and
the Mozambique Orchella weed is exactly the same; the Madagascar being
smaller, but in other respects similar to the Angola and Mozambique.
Although the Portuguese have had possessions of immense territorial
extent, both on the West and East Coasts of Africa, for more than three
centuries, in regions where this weed of the most superior quality
abounds, it is only within the last twenty or thirty years that they
have brought it into the European market; and, from what I could learn
at Mozambique, it is only since the Slave Trade was partially checked in
that Province, that the Mozambique people began to export this valuable
commodity, viz., subsequent to 1850. It abounds in such quantities along
the whole of this coast, that literally fleets may be loaded with it.
As this work is written for practical purposes, I offer no apology for
inserting what may hereafter be useful in developing the Resources of
Eastern Africa.
Mode of extracting the colorific principles for transport. Dr. Stenhouse
suggests the following method:—
Cut the lichens into small pieces, macerate them, in wooden vats,
with milk of lime, and saturate the solution either with hydrochloric
or acetic acid. The gelatinous precipitate is then to be collected
on cloths, and dried by a gentle heat. In this way almost the whole
colorific matter can be easily extracted, and the dried extract
transported, at a small expense, from the most distant inland localities,
such as the Andes or Himalayas. Lime along the whole East Coast of Africa
may be made from shells and coral.
The Angola, Mozambique, and Madagascar Orchella weeds, being all of the
same variety, _R. fuciformis_, are found growing on both trees and rocks;
while in other places they are found only on trees, or on rocks.
The country surrounding the magnificent Bay of Delagoa abounds in cattle.
In the waters of the bay the sperm whale is to be found; and here
American whalers generally call, not only for the purpose of fishing the
whale, but also of obtaining some of the far famed ivory which finds
an outlet from the interior by means of this bay. The rivers abound
with hypopotami; and the natives kill them, either by means of pits,
which they dig on the banks of the rivers, or by means of large stakes
of wood attached to the branches of trees. These stakes are sometimes
pointed with the barb of a large iron arrow, or the head of an assigay;
and to make them heavy, so as to penetrate the skin of the hypopotamus,
the stakes are loaded with stones, which are attached to them. One of
the numerous creeping or climbing plants, found in abundance, are used
to suspend the stake thus prepared, while the end of the cord or plant
is led across the path where the hypopotamus is expected to pass. The
natives are aware that the animal does not lift his feet off the ground,
and therefore avail themselves of this peculiarity to make him his own
executioner. The foot of the beast coming in contact with the cord or
creeper, laid across his path, disconnects the loaded stake with its
poisoned barb; it enters the back of the hypopotamus, and his fate is
sealed.
On other occasions, the Natives in their canoes approach the hypopotamus,
and lance their poisoned arrows and assigays at the monster, while
sporting in the river. The river horses, feeling themselves wounded, dive
to the deepest holes in the river; but they are not lost to the eye of
the vigilant savage. To the arrow or lance, firmly imbedded in the body
of the monster, a long line is attached, which has on the end of it an
inflated bladder, this buoys the spot where the hypopotamus is breathing
his last; and in twenty-four hours, or less, according to the potency
of the poison used, and the vulnerability of the place struck, the huge
carcase floats; when the Natives tow it to the shore, and enjoy the rich
repast which their industry and ingenuity has provided for them. The
teeth of these monsters are very good ivory. I endeavoured to obtain both
here, and also at Killimane, the skeleton of one, pointing out to the
Portuguese that the ants would soon clean the bones, if they would pack
them up, and send them to me at Mozambique. I even offered a handsome
amount for a fœtus, which might often be obtained from the females which
they kill, intending to forward it to my friend, Professor Owen. But the
truth is, the Portuguese all laughed at the idea of troubling themselves
with any specimens in natural history beneath the dignity of man. Of man
in all his varieties, male and female, and of all ages, from lisping
infancy to decrepid age, I could have had any number at my own price;
frequently for two dollars per specimen, and sometimes even for half that
price.
Rice, Indian corn, or mealies, milho (small grain for the use of the
slaves), simsim seed, yams, cassava, &c., and nearly all the European
vegetables, will grow well and abundantly, if sown in a shady place,
under lofty trees, and well watered. Potatoes, when a foot above the
ground, ought to have the plant broken, not off, but so that it will lie
on the ground; this will promote the growth of the bulb; otherwise the
plant would grow to a great height at the expense of the root. English
and Mapoota Rivers are both said to take their rise in the Transvaal
Republic, the following brief notice of which may not be unacceptable to
the reader anxious to obtain an insight into the riches of a hitherto
unknown country.
The Transvaal Republic is divided into six principal divisions, viz.:—
1. Potchefstroom, or Mooi River Drop, which is the capital of the
Transvaal Republic, said to be a village of some extent, but as yet
thinly built upon. It is watered by the Mooi River, a narrow and rapid
stream, said to take its rise about fifteen miles above the town, and to
flow into the Vaal River, about twenty miles after passing the town. This
district is not reported as being very inviting to emigrants.
2. Pretoria Philadelphica, situated on the south side of the
Magaliesberg, or Eushan Mountains, contains only seven houses, and yet
is said to have as numerous a population as any other district in the
Republic. It is spoken of as the most salubrious, picturesque, and
productive of the Transvaal districts.
3. Rustenberg is situated on the north of the Magaliesberg, and lies
about seventy miles west by north from Pretoria Philadelphica. This is a
most fruitful district, but like most of those situated to the northward
of the Magaliesberg Mountains, it is excessively hot in the summer
season; very trying to adults, and although not fatal to children, yet
during the hot season there is much sickness among them.
4. Zoutpansberg is the northern boundary of the Transvaal country.
The southern side of the mountain has a climate similar to that of
Rustenberg, but to the northward of the mountain the climate is said to
be bad. Persons crossing it, in the summer months, have been frequently
attacked with fever of a very pernicious character; and, it is said, have
brought yellow fever into the small village of Schoemansdel, which lies
under the mountain. In consequence of this a law has been passed that no
one shall cross the mountain between the months of October and May. This
district seems principally inhabited by ivory hunters, who have not as
yet been compelled to turn their attention to the soil.
5. Waterberg is situated between Pretoria and Zoutpansberg, at a distance
of about seventy miles from the former, in a northerly direction. It is
said to be very beautiful, more especially the more mountainous portions
of it. The climate is similar to that of Rustenberg.
In this district, horse sickness, which is at times so destructive at the
Cape and Natal, appears to be very prevalent. To the Boers, who may be
said to be always in the saddle, this is very distressing, and a great
drawback to the other advantages of the district. Even horses which have
had the sickness at Natal, and are therefore considered proof against
it, and are termed “salted horses,” here suffer as if they had not been
seasoned. But those which have been “salted” in the neighbouring Orange
Free State are said to be proof against the horse sickness in this
district.
A horse, which at Natal might be purchased for from ten to twelve pounds
sterling, will consequently bring from sixty to eighty pounds if properly
salted.
6. Zuiker Bosch Rand is a hilly district, lying about twenty miles north
of the Vaal River. It is said to be the highest land in the Transvaal
country, and therefore one will not be surprised to hear that it is the
most healthy. Sheep do here remarkably well, and some quantity of wool
is produced; while horses are as healthy on the highest portions of the
district as at Natal.
The Transvaal country has been long celebrated for abundance of game;
but here, as in the other portions of South Africa, it is rapidly
disappearing, and, before the end of this century, will probably be one
of those things which have been.
In the more southerly or cooler districts, that is to say, in
Potchefstroom, or Mooi River Drop, and Zuiker Bosch Rand, the
white-tailed gnu, blesbok, sprigbok, hartebeest, are still numerous;
whilst toward the source of the Vaal River elands and the common quagga
are met with.
North of the Magaliesberg the roybok or pallah, the brindled gnu,
springboks, zebras, giraffes, rynosters, hartebeest, bastard hartebeest,
khooder, waterbuck, gemsbuck, the harris, or zwart wit-pens buck, the
striped eland, discovered by Livingstone on the Shesheke, the buffalo and
the elephant, are still to be found within the Transvaal territory.
The government, foreseeing the rapid disappearance of the game, has
passed a law forbidding any one to waste the flesh of any wild animal,
under a penalty ranging from three to fifteen pounds for each offence,
according to the size of the animal. It is hoped that this will check the
indiscriminate slaughter carried on to obtain the skins of the animals.
Immediately to the north of the Transvaal country, the elephant is
found in plenty. During the summer months, Tetse fly and yellow fever
take up their abode in the northern side of the Zoutpansberg; but about
the middle of May, when the fever has disappeared, the hunters of the
Transvaal set out on foot, accompanied by Kaffirs to carry their guns,
ammunition, and provisions, and to bring in the ivory and rhinoceros’
horns.
Boers, from the age of fourteen to that of even seventy, may be seen
engaged in the hunt; and it is said that one William Fitzgerald, an
Englishman, carries off the palm as being the most fearless hunter in
the Transvaal country. It is stated that last year he remained in the
veldt without cover for nearly three months, during which time he was
accompanied by two half-castes in his employ. These three are said to
have killed, during that period, seventy elephants, the tusks of which
weighed upwards of 3,000 lbs. This man has, during twelve years as a
hunter, encountered as marvellous adventures as Gordon Cumming, which
some day he may communicate to the world.
In the Transvaal, wheat and other cereals thrive well. Tobacco is
produced in large quantities. All the fruits of the temperate zone are
said to be abundant; while, in the Magaliesberg district, oranges,
lemons, grapes, figs, peaches, apples, pears, apricots, with musk and
water melons, may be had in any quantity.
A Boer, of the name of Roos, has been growing the sugar-cane to the north
of the Magaliesberg, and has succeeded in making sugar.
The country is reported to be almost as well watered as Natal; and that,
we know, has a stream about every four miles.
The much-disputed source of the Limpopo is now said to be in the Web
Water Rond, a range of hills running parallel to Magaliesberg; Elephant
River is stated to run into the Maputa, or English River, both of which
discharge themselves on the south side of Delagoa Bay.
Apies River and Pienaars River are reported as running into the Limpopo,
near the boundary of the district of Rustenberg, on the confines of the
Transvaal; while the Limpopo is thought to be the Manakusi, or King
George’s River, running into the north part of Delagoa Bay.
The country of the Transvaal is rich in mineral productions. The rocks
are primary, with but here and there a superstratum of lime-stone. A
German miner, Dr. Dousterswivel (?), has succeeded in persuading the
Government that he can make a lead mine pay, and is working it for the
benefit of the state. Copper and plumbago are to be found there in
great quantity, and also in close proximity to Delagoa Bay. Already the
Transvaal republic supplies the Orange Free State, and also Natal, with
grain; and, when well governed, its destiny, whether as an independent
state, or one of the future federated South African states, under British
protection and rule, must be great.
The recent expedition of the British cutter, “Herald,” up the Manakusi
river, has shown its capabilities for navigation and commercial
intercourse with the interior; and, if it should be proved that this
is the outlet of the Limpopo, it is not the miserable hybrids at the
Portuguese factory of Lourenço Marques who will prevent British traders
establishing themselves on some healthy elevation in Delagoa Bay.
The value of the exports of these industrious Boers, in a few years, when
they have settled themselves, and turned their attention to the riches
of the soil, both on the surface and below it, may be estimated from
the fact that, last year, in the short space of three months, the ivory
obtained by the Boers, in Zoutpansberg alone, was computed at 60,000
pounds weight Dutch, or nearly thirty tons.