CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



133 



a vessel is actually engaged in fishing within 

 the limits; that under the treaty of 1818 

 American fishermen have the privilege of 

 going into Canadian ports without vexatious 

 custom-house formalities, which privilege is 

 distinct from the general right of American 

 vessels to trade in open Canadian ports under 

 the usual custom-house restrictions ; that cus- 

 tom-house regulations must be enforced in a 

 friendly, not in a hostile, spirit ; and that ex- 

 cessive fines must not be imposed. Congress 

 passed an amendment to a shipping bill then 

 being discussed, which authorized the Presi- 

 dent to issue a proclamation at any time, de- 

 nying commercial privileges in American ports 

 to the vessels of any foreign country denying 

 commercial privileges in its ports to American 

 vessels. In August three seal ing- vessels be- 

 longing to Victoria, B. C., were seized in Be- 

 ring Sea by the United States revenue cutter 

 " Corwin." The question involved in this 

 seizure is that of the territorial rights of the 

 United States in Bering Sea, the vessels having 

 been seized while within sixty miles of Alaska. 



The Dominion Parliament passed the fol- 

 lowing amendment to the act respecting fish- 

 ing by foreign vessels in Canadian waters : 



Any one of the officers or persons hereinbefore 

 mentioned may bring any ship, vessel, or boat, being 

 within any harbor in Canada ? or hovering in British 

 waters within three marine miles of any of the coasts, 

 bays, creeks, or harbors in Canada, into port ana 

 search her cargo, and may also examine the master 

 upon oath touching the cargo and voyage ; and if the 

 master or person in command does not truly answer 

 the questions put to him, in such examinations, he 

 shall incur a penalty of $400. And if such ship, 

 vessel, or boat is foreign, or not navigated accord- 

 ing to the laws of the United Kingdom or of Can- 

 ada, and (a) has been found fishing or preparing to 

 fish, or to have been fishing, in British waters within 

 three marine miles of any of the coa?ts ; bays, creeks, 

 or harbors of Canada, included within the above- 

 mentioned limits, without a license, or after the expi- 

 ration of the term named in the last license granted 

 to such ship, vessel, or boat, under the first section of 

 this act ; or (6) has entered such waters for any pur- 

 pose not permitted by the law of nations, or by treaty 

 or by convention or by any law of the United King- 

 dom or of Canada, for the time being in force, such 

 ship ; vessel, or boat, and the tackle, rigging, apparel, 

 furniture, stores, and cargo thereof shall be forfeited. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, a British colony in 

 South Africa. The legislative authority is 

 vested in a House of Assembly, consisting of 

 seventy-four members, elected by limited suf- 

 frage for five years. The Governor is Sir Her- 

 cules G. B. Robinson, who is also High Com- 

 missioner for South Africa. The Premier is Sir 

 Gordon Sprigg. 



Area and Population. The area of Cape Colony 

 proper is 199,406 square miles ; the population 

 is about 895,000, comprising 315,000 persons 

 of European origin, of whom 140,000 are of 

 English and 175,000 of Dutch and French Hu- 

 guenot descent, and 580,000 natives of different 

 tribes. The annexed district of Griqualand 

 West has an area of 17,800 square miles, 16,927 

 white inabitants, and 32,174 others. Other 

 districts under the administration of the Cape 



Government are a part of the Transkei, 14,230 

 square miles in extent, with a native popula- 

 tion of 84,115 souls; Griqualand East, with 

 78,352 native inhabitants; and Tembuland, 

 with 98,530. Basutolaud, with an area of 

 10,293 square miles, and 127,707 indigenous 

 inhabitants, and 469 resident whites, is now ad- 

 ministered by a resident commissioner under 

 the direction of the High Commissioner of 

 South Africa. Including Basutoland the pop- 

 ulation of Cape Colony and its dependencies 

 numbers 287,121 Europeans and 962,603 others. 



Commerce. The declared value of the ex- 

 ports in 1884 was 3,938,981. The exports of 

 gold and diamonds, not included in this sum, 

 bring the total value of the exports up to 6,- 

 945,674. The imports, which two years be- 

 fore amounted to 9,372,019, were in 1884 

 5,249,000. The value of diamonds exported 

 in the regular way in 1884 was 2,807,329, 

 making the total product of the mines since 

 1867, 29,772,576. The export of wool fell off 

 from 2,062,180 in 1882 to 1,745,193 in 

 1884 ; of ostrich-feathers, from 1,093,989 to 

 966,479 ; of Angora hair, from 253,128 to 

 239,573. The export of hides and skins in- 

 creased from 403,357 to 438,365 ; of copper- 

 ore, from 394,032 to 405,415 ; of wine, from 

 11,658 to 17,701. 



Agriculture and Industry. Cape Colony has 

 passed through a period of depression since 

 1878, owing partly to the colonial wars waged 

 against the Galekas and Basutos ; partly to the 

 expulsion of natives from lands which they 

 tilled, by the Cape Dutch, who converted the 

 land into pasture, and the consequent extinc- 

 tion of native markets; partly to over- specu- 

 lation in the production of diamonds, Angora 

 hair, and ostrich-feathers, and the fall in the 

 prices of those articles and of wool. The dia- 

 mond industry, the most important one in the 

 country, is believed to have reached a point 

 where the cost of production is nearly equal to 

 the value of the product. It has been very 

 beneficial in teaching the natives to work for 

 wages, and will give employment to a large 

 population for at least a hundred years. The 

 new gold industry is capable of indefinite ex- 

 pansion. Besides the rich quartz-ledges in the 

 Transvaal, the exploitation of which has only 

 begun, there have been promising discoveries 

 in Tongaland, and far in the interior, in north- 

 ern Bechuanaland, near the Zambesi ; and in 

 other regions farther north there are areas 

 where alluvial gold has long been known to 

 exist. The copper-mines of Namaqualand, 

 worked by an English company, is an impor- 

 tant industry. Coal exists in large quantities 

 in the colony, but the mines are not developed. 

 The agricultural development of South Africa 

 has not yet begun, though the soil in many 

 places is well adapted to the growth of crops. 

 The Dutch farmers, who have held nearly all 

 the land hitherto, are exclusively pastoral. 

 They raise large quantities of wool, but, owing 

 to careless breeding and shepherding, the prac- 



