2l8 ECONOMICS OF EAST COAST FEVER. 



cattle. Nor was the absence of money the only disal)ilii^ which 

 affected trade, for, as we have already indicated, the-, whole 

 trans])ort system was comj)letely disorganised. Restrictions on 

 the movement of cattle, in conjunction with the extraordinary 

 drought of 1912, which caused scarcity of pasturage, and the 

 actual death of cattle due to the scourge, all combined to dis- 

 organise transport. And so, just at a time when people had 

 least to spend, the traders were compelled to pay higher freight 

 for their goods, and therefore to charge higher prices. The 

 cost of living rose appreciably. 



Thus do we appreciate the serious condition brought about 

 in this wav upon the security, tlie tra<le, and the transport of 

 the Transkei. 



2. On Aj/rifiiltwc. — Hie effect of ;i broken transport service 

 upon agriculture was no less than its effect upon trade. In the 

 first ])lace. diffictilty was experienced in the supply of improved 

 instriuuents for use in the fields ; and in the second place, those 

 wlio wished to make use of the manure in their kraaU for fer- 

 tilising their fields were unable to carry the manure from the 

 kraal to the field, and in any case the -^npply w;is automatically 

 cut off' by the dying of the cattle. Another and most serious 

 effect was that in many locations there were few, if any. cattle 

 left to do the ploughing, and owing to the higii freights, those 

 which survived could be more i)rofitably employed in transport 

 work. Conse(|uentl\- many fields were left unploughed which 

 in normal years were used to produce food for the community, 

 and in other cases cultivation was only possible by a return to 

 the primitive hoe in the hands of the women of the location. A 

 third meth(jd became widely used in certain distriet>. where 

 white traders and others sent teams of oxen out on hire. It 

 was (|uite usual to charge 5s. per acre for the use of the oxen, 

 and as a last resort the native was compelled to accept these 

 services or leave his field unjiloughed. The overseer who was 

 in charge of the oxen naturally wished to do as much ploughing 

 as he could in order to earn as much money as possible, and 

 the result in too many cases was a mere scratching of the 

 ground, a failure in the crops when the drought came — and the 

 native tightened his l)elt. in a literal sense. ;ind hoped for a 

 better season next year! 



It woidd have been surj)rising if. in these circinn--tances, 

 there was a margin left for selling, ]>u{ the native is often so 

 improvident as to sell in order to secure money for immediate 

 needs, and then, at a later stage, b.e is com]iel1ed to buy back 

 at a higher price the very me;dies he had himself sold. There- 

 fore, at the end of all his troul)lcs, and on account of the trans- 

 port difficultie>. he had no market for his crops except the local 

 market, and the inducements lliere were reall\- very meagre. 



3. ();/ Health. — The cultivation of fewer fields in itself was 

 sufficient to mean less food.; but, to add to the difficulties of the 

 situation, droughts supervened for three successive year-> ( 1912 



