THE TRANSVAAL. 1 95 



and bush being distasteful, and in many districts 

 even poisonous, to the live stock. These remarks 

 do not apply to some of the Karroo districts, where 

 the herbage, although very sparse, is fairly good 

 for sheep. 



At the present moment, although the revenue 

 shows well, thousands of natives and hundreds of 

 white people are dying of fever and famine in 

 various directions, and but little notice is taken of 

 these horrors and the end is not yet. To an 

 English reader this state of things seems para- 

 doxical, but is explained by the fact that the 

 Government coffers are filled by the rush of trade 

 to the diamond and gold centres over Govern- 

 ment lines of rail ; by customs dues and the like 

 on goods in transit. These goods are paid for in 

 gold and gems, and the profits become the property 

 of foreign or English shareholders and speculators ; 

 only the fraction of a small percentage remains 

 in the country to benefit the Colonist, who, as a 

 rule, lives in a hand-to-mouth fashion perforce. 



If the country could pay for its imports in wool 

 or other pastoral products, naturally all surplus 

 profits would be enjoyed by the inhabitants of 

 the land, but as these products are only worth 



