CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



ed Oct. 20, 1889, the right to administer and ex- 

 ploit the region south of the Zambesi and north 

 <>f the South African Republic declared to be 

 within the Mritish sphere of influence in 1888, 

 comprising Matubeleland and Mashonaland. The 

 company was formed for the purpose of working 

 mining and other concessions and developing 

 the commercial resources of Zambesia, and it 

 undertook to extend northward from Bechuana- 

 laml the railroad and telegraph systems of Cape 

 Colony, and to encourage immigration and colo- 

 ni/ation and promote trade and commerce. 

 When by the Anglo-German agreement of 1890 

 and the Anglo-Portuguese agreement of June 

 11, 1891, all the regions east of the twentieth de- 

 gree of longitude, except a small part conceded 

 to Germany, and west of the possessions of Por- 

 tugal on the east coast were included in the 

 British sphere of influence, the company under- 

 took the task of developing, and was granted 

 sovereign rights over the whole of South and 

 Central Africa north of the Transvaal and Brit- 

 ish Bechuanaland and south of the Congo Free 

 State and German East Africa, except Nyassa- 

 land. This vast region is known popularly as 

 Zambesia, and is divided by the river Zambesi 

 into Northern and Southern Zambesia. Except 

 a strip along the Zambesi extending as far as 

 their settlement at Zumbo, the Portuguese are 

 precluded from claiming territory south of 

 the Zambesi west of longitude 32 30' east of 

 Greenwich, or the English territory east of longi- 

 tude 33, the line following that meridian and, 

 farther south, the slope of the Manica plateau, 

 with a deflection that leaves to the Portuguese 

 their station of Massa-Kessi, but gives to the 

 English Mutassa. 



It was the great natural wealth of the part of 

 their territory that here borders on the Portu- 

 guese possessions, especially the gold reefs of 

 Mashonaland and Matabeleland, that attracted 

 the capital and enterprise of the South Africa 

 Company. The company extended the railroad 

 from Kimberley to Vryburg, a distance of 126 

 miles, and then transferred this section, which 

 is in British Bechuanaland, to the Cape Govern- 

 ment, and proceeded to extend it 98 miles far- 

 ther to Mafeking. This section also will prob- 

 ably be taken over by the Cape, with a view to 

 the eventual incorporation of British Bechuana- 

 land in the colony. For the extension beyond 

 Mafeking the Imperial Government has agreed 

 to contribute, on condition that no competing 

 line shall be allowed, 10,000 a year for ten years 

 toward the extension to Gaberones, and an equal 

 amount for the section between that point and 

 Palapye. The telegraph was extended from 

 Mafeking 800 miles to Fort Salisbury in Mashona- 

 land along the route on which a road was built 

 by the pioneer expedition, which reached Mount 

 Hampden on Sept. 12, 1890. The expedition 

 numbered 1.500 able-bodied men, including the 

 police who accompanied the expedition and were 

 disbanded on reaching the gold-fields. Stations 

 were established at Mafeking, Ramutsa, Palapye, 

 Maclutse. Tuli. Tati, Lunde, Charter, Victoria, 

 and Salisbury, and forts were built in Matabe- 

 leland and Mashonaland at Tuli, Charter, Vic- 

 toria, and Salisbury. A mail and passenger serv- 

 ice was established which brought Salisbury 

 within eight weeks' communication with Eng- 



land, which will be made much shorter when a 

 railroad is built through Portuguese territory to 

 connect Mashonaland with the port of Beira. A 

 company was organized for the construction of 

 this railroad, which is provided for in the Anglo- 

 Portuguese agreement, and the first section of 75 

 miles, crossing the belt infested with the tsetse 

 fly, was built oefore the summer of 1893. After 

 arriving in Mashonaland the pioneers disbanded 

 and set to work prospecting and staking out 

 mining claims under the concession obtained 

 from Lobengula, the Matabele king, who was 

 recognized as the native sovereign by right of 

 conquest of the countries of the Mashonas and 

 Makalakas surrounding Matabeleland. Before 

 March, 1893, the pioneers had discovered 5 dif- 

 ferent gold-fields and registered 15,500 mining 

 claims, in 2,000 of which shafts had been sunk. 

 The gold ledges were found to extend over 400 

 miles. Claims were entered also for mines of 

 copper, silver, zinc, tin, antimony, arsenic, and 

 lead, and deposits of nitrate of potassium and of 

 plumbago were discovered. The country was 

 found to be a remarkably promising region for 

 grazing and agriculture. Townships were sur- 

 veyed at Salisbury, Victoria, Hartley Hill, and 

 Umtali, and a trek of Boer farmers was per- 

 mitted to enter from the Orange Free State, to 

 whom the company allotted farms. A town was 

 built at Fort Salisbury, with a bank, hotels, 

 churches, and a hospital. A government for the 

 civil administration of the whole country was 

 organized, and revenues were collected from 

 licenses of traders, miners, and professional men, 

 from the postal and telegraph services, and from 

 sales of lots in the towns. There were 3,000 white 

 settlers in the country in the spring of 1893. 



Farms representing a total area of 2.000,000 

 acres had been granted, and the demands had so 

 increased in number that a price of 9d. an acre 

 was asked in addition to the annual quitrent of 

 3 for a farm of 3.000 acres. 



War with the Matabele. The Matabele are 

 an offshoot of the Zulu race who conquered the 

 rich grazing-country which they call their own, 

 and have been accustomed to dominate and 

 plunder the neighboring tribes and live by rob- 

 bery and the labor of captured slaves. Though 

 they are a composite race, the product of inter- 

 marriages with captive women or boys adopted 

 into the tribe, and nave not more than 5.000 pure 

 Zulus among their 200,000 of people, they are 

 the equals of the old Zulus in physical strength 

 and vigor and in the love of battle and proud 

 confidence in their martial prowess. They have 

 the old skill with the assegai, and having never 

 found a foe that could stand before their battle 

 rush, they believe one Matabele to be a match 

 for four Englishmen, and that their native weap- 

 ons in their hands are superior to machine guns 

 and repeating rifles handled by whites, who nave 

 been known to retreat, whereas they have faced 

 firearms and won the day, and never have been 

 beaten. They preserve the Zulu military sys- 

 tem, the whole nation being a territorially organ- 

 ized army, having four divisions corresponding 

 to the districts, in each of which one of the chief 

 indunas is both commandant and magistrate, 

 while the kraals are nothing but regimental 

 camps, which have one, two, or three indunas 

 over them, according to their size. A hut in 



