134 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



tice of shearing twice in the year, and that of 

 mixing fleeces of different qualities and colors 

 in the same bale, the prices are much lower 

 than are obtained by Australian wool-growers. 

 The Cape wool has deteriorated in quality, and 

 the production per acre has decreased, because 

 the wars and the newly-developed industries 

 have diverted the attention of farmers to other 

 occupations, especially the profitable carrying 

 business. The land is capable of feeding a sheep 

 to the acre, instead of one to four acres, as at 

 present. The farmers have begun to fence 

 their lands, and some of them to irrigate by 

 means of wells and windmills. Irrigation is 

 necessary for grain-crops. Of the 200,000 

 square miles of territory in the colony, not over 

 850 are under cultivation. A large part of the 

 farms are heavily mortgaged to English and 

 German money-lenders. The Dutch farmers 

 will, therefore, probably be compelled to de- 

 vote themselves more to agriculture, or make 

 way for other occupants. Grapes constitute 

 one of the chief crops at present. There are 

 15,000 acres in vineyards. The vine flourishes 

 exceedingly, and some of the vine-growers pro- 

 duce excellent wine at a cost of less than 

 twenty cents a gallon ; but most of the wine 

 and brandy is of such poor condition that there 

 is no demand for them abroad, and only at the 

 Cape on account of the prohibitive tariff. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. In September, 1885, 

 the Government railroads had a total length of 

 1,523 miles; their capital cost was 13,229,- 

 218; their gross earnings in 1884 were 964,- 

 903 ; their net earnings, 327,462. 



The telegraph lines at the close of 1884 had 

 a total length of 4,219 miles. The number of 

 messages in 1884 was 740,791. 



Finances. The revenue receipts in 1884- 1 85 

 amounted to 3,321,958. The estimated ex- 

 penditure was 3,502,601. Owing to the fall- 

 ing off of the revenue, during a period of de- 

 pression, the Government has been compelled 

 to resort to retrenchments in the expenditures. 

 A bill abolishing excise duties, passed in June, 

 reduces the revenue by 100,000. The colony 

 had a debt, in 1885, of 20,804,000. 



Gold -Fields. The gold-mining industry in 

 South Africa has sprung up within two years, 

 having received its first impetus from the dis- 

 covery of rich fields in the Eastern Transvaal 

 and the adjoining native territories. In the 

 early fall new discoveries in the De Kaap and 

 Witwaterrsr and districts attracted streams of 

 diggers from all parts of South Africa. The 

 population of Barberton quickly doubled. 

 There was a total capital invested by mining 

 companies in South Africa of about $10,000,- 

 000, while the shares were worth double that 

 amount in the market. Some of the com- 

 panies engaged in quartz-mining possessed the 

 necessary machinery, and were making large 

 profits, while many others had not begun to 

 develop their properties. The Sheba Reef 

 Company, which has obtained 7 ounces, 6 pen- 

 nyweights, 9 grains from every ton of quartz, 



after the first six months' operations reported 

 a gross profit of 20,031, with 3,175 of total 

 expenses, giving a net profit exceeding the paid- 

 up capital of 15,000. In this mine the au- 

 riferous rock is simply quarried. The "Wit- 

 watersrand field lies between Pretoria and 

 Heidelberg, in the Transvaal. Many mining 

 claims in this district have been secured by 

 Kimberley capitalists. On one farm four con- 

 secutive conglomerate gold-bearing reefs of an 

 average thickness of 23 feet, and 3J miles in 

 length, have been discovered 100 feet below 

 the surface. Many other reefs have been 

 found in the neighborhood. The yield here is 

 about 1 ounce per ton, paying between four and 

 five times the cost of extraction. The aurifer- 

 ous formation in the Transvaal runs entirely 

 across the country, almost along the parallel of 

 26 south, from the Limbobo mountains in the 

 east to the border of British Bechuanaland in 

 the west. A valuable reef has been found on 

 the Malrnani river, 14 miles from Mafeking. 

 Gold-bearing quartz-veins exist in the Knysna, 

 within the Cape Colony, but it has not been 

 determined whether they are rich enough to 



Eay for working. Experiments with quartz 

 3und in the Zulu Reserve did not prove al- 

 together satisfactory. 



lifchnaiiabind. The protectorate of Bechua- 

 naland was proclaimed on Jan. 27, 1885. The 

 area, including the new district of Stellaland, 

 is about 180,000 square miles, the population 

 478,000. The Imperial Government proposed 

 to hand over the administration to the Cape 

 Government, but the latter, in July, 1885, in- 

 sisted that the cost of the mounted police 

 should be borne by the Imperial Government, 

 which, therefore, undertook the administration. 

 A constabulary of 500 men was organized. 

 The cost of the annexation was about 1,- 

 000,000. For the first year's civil administra- 

 tion the British Parliament voted 75,000, be- 

 sides the sum required for the subsequently 

 annexed district of Stellaland, which was first 

 organized as a republic, and then taken into 

 the British protectorate, on the condition that 

 land-titles acquired from the natives should be 

 respected. A land commission was appointed 

 on Oct. 1, 1885, with S. G. A. Shippard, who 

 was also appointed political administrator, as 

 chief commissioner. The Government prohib- 

 ited sales of liquor to the natives ; yet they ob- 

 tained it surreptitiously from the traders at 

 Vryburg, in Stellaland, in such quantities that 

 drunkenness began to prevail among the chiefs 

 and people, except in the territories of the 

 Chief Montsioa, who was able to control his 

 subjects. While the land courts were sitting, 

 in January, 1886, Mr. Shippard issued a proc- 

 lamation declaring that meetings held to influ- 

 ence their decision would be punished as con- 

 tempt of court. The inhabitants of Rooi Grond 

 were incensed at the decisions of the land court, 

 which denied their claims to farms in Mosh- 

 ette's territory. 

 Upingtonia. A new republic, called Upingto- 



