CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



when hard times set in they applied to the Char- 

 tered Company for assistance. When the Char- 

 tered Company repudiated all responsibility the 

 authorities of the Transvaal oll'ered them farms, 

 and a large number were settled on the lands 

 which the Boers had just before taken away 

 from the Makatese after defeating the chief 

 Mpefu and his followers. 



The number of mining claims registered on 

 Sept. 30. 1898, was 130,000, spread over a coun- 

 try 500 miles long by 200 miles broad. The Char- 

 tered Company receives half the vender's scrip 

 for each mine that is floated. The companies 

 that were crushing ore in 1898, when there were 

 4 batteries at work, obtained an average of 14i 

 pennyweight to the ton, without cyanide, which 

 would give about 4 pennyweight more, making 

 the ore nearly twice as rich as that of the Wit- 

 watersrand. There are veins 40 feet broad, and 

 in the ancient mines, which were abandoned on 

 account of water, the reefs run equally wide and 

 quite as rich. 



The revenue of the Chartered Company falls 

 far short of the expenditure, which in 1898 

 amounted to 783,985, while the receipts were 

 258,786. The white police force numbers 1,200 

 men, and costs 259,000 a year. The new Coun- 

 cil of Rhodesia, which met for the first time in 

 May, 1899, sanctioned taxes on luxuries, the 

 colonists heretofore having been free from all 

 taxation. Machinery and foodstuffs were ex- 

 empted, though food imported in tins and most 

 articles in common use are taxed at even a high- 

 er rate than such luxuries as plate and jewelry. 

 The people and their elected representatives ob- 

 jected to this mode of taxation, by which the 

 poorer classes pay most and the rich companies, 

 including the Chartered Company, are quite ex- 

 empt. The settlers called upon the elected mem- 

 bers of the Council to resign as a protest against 

 being taxed by a private commercial company. 



British Central Africa. The area of British 

 Central Africa, or Northern Rhodesia, is esti- 

 mated at 251,000 square miles, with a population 

 of about 650,000. The resident Europeans num- 

 ber 350. Experiments are being made in coffee 

 growing. Gold is found in the south. The Ste- 

 venson road connecting the Nyassa and Tangan- 

 yika lakes has been repaired. The British South 

 Africa Company, which has undertaken the de- 

 velopment of the region, intends to establish a 

 station on the Tanganyika plateau, which is 

 believed to be healthful, but its representative, 

 Robert E. Codrington, has hitherto remained at 

 Blantyre, in Nyassaland. The telegraph line from 

 the Cape through the British South Africa terri- 

 tory, Portuguese East Africa, and Nyassaland 

 has been continued from Zomba northward to 

 the end of Lake Nyassa, and thence to the south 

 end of Lake Tanganyika. , 



In the country of the Barotse, on the west side 

 of British Central Africa, the British South Africa 

 Company is represented at the king's capital by 

 Major R. T. Coryndon, as Resident Commis- 

 sioner. The region between Lakes Nyassa, Tan- 

 ganyika, Mweru, and Bangweolo is divided into 

 the districts Chambezi, Tanganyika, M\veru, 

 Luapala, and Loangwa. The Europeans are en- 

 gaged mostly in planting or trading, but the 

 smaller branches of trade are carried on by 

 Banyans. The imports for the year ending 

 March 31, 1897, amounted to 114,000, includ- 

 ing 14,000 of specie. The exports were valued 

 at 40,000, showing an increase of 10,000 over 

 1898. The chief articles were coffee for 24,000, 

 rubber for 10,000, and ivory for 3,000. The 

 coffee brings the highest price of any that is sold 



in the London market. Rice and mealies are 

 grown and tobacco cultivation has been begun. 

 The rubber export was nearly ten times as great 

 as in 1898. Revenue increased as well as trade. 

 The hut tax yielded 50 per cent, more than in the 

 previous year. The armed force consists of 1,000 

 natives, instructed by Sikhs and commanded by 

 British officers of the regular army. The An- 

 gonis, who were formerly troublesome, have set- 

 tled down to peaceful occupations, and laborers 

 for the plantations are obtained without hin- 

 drance. A strong garrison is kept in a fort on 

 their plateau. Many hundreds of natives of the 

 lake districts have gone south to work in the 

 mines of Southern Rhodesia. Toward the end 

 of June, 1899, the troops of the protectorate were 

 sent out to punish Angura and Yao chiefs south- 

 east of Lake Nyassa, on the Portuguese border. 

 The Portuguese of Mozambique joined in an 

 expedition against the chief Mataka, who har- 

 bored the chiefs Makanjira and Grafi after they 

 were driven over the border, and assisted them 

 in raiding British territory. 



British Central African Protectorate. The 

 district of Nyassaland, declared a British pro- 

 tectorate on May 14, 1891, is administered by a 

 Royal Commissioner, Alfred Sharpe, under in- 

 structions from the Foreign Office in London, 

 and the expenses in excess of the local revenue 

 are defrayed by means of a grant in aid from 

 the Imperial Government. The area is 42,217 

 square miles. The population in 1897 was 844,995 

 natives, 300 Europeans, and 293 Banyan traders 

 from India. Blantyre, the chief town, has a popu- 

 lation of 6,000 natives and 100 Europeans. The 

 local revenue in 1897 was 24,538, of which 

 8,966 were derived from customs. The expendi- 

 ture was 65,715. The imports in 1898 were 

 valued at 86,428, against 78,655 in 1897; ex- 

 ports, 27,437, against 23,299. The principal 

 imports are cotton cloth, machinery, agricultural 

 implements, provisions, and hardware. The ex- 

 ports of coffee in 1898 were 22,402 in value. 

 Ivory is the only other important export. Rice, 

 wheat, oats, and barley are grown. A military 

 force of 185 Sikhs and 800 native soldiers is main- 

 tained for the suppression of the slave trade. 

 There is also a police force of 200 men. Gun- 

 boats are kept on the Zambesi and Shire rivers 

 and on Lake Nyassa. 



Portuguese East Africa. The Portuguese 

 possessions, now confined to the east coast north 

 and south of the Zambesi, are divided into the 

 provinces of Mozambique, Zambesia, and Lou- 

 rengo Marques, the military district of Gaza, 

 and the districts of Inhambane, Manica, and 

 Sofala. The total area is estimated at 301,000 

 square miles; the total population at 3,120,000. 

 The boundary between Portuguese and British 

 Manica w r as arbitrated, and early in 1899 the 

 commissioners of the two governments agreed 

 on a rectification of the proposed line, conces- 

 sions being made on both sides to suit the re- 

 spective interests. The Mozambique Company, 

 possessing sovereign rights under a royal char- 

 ter for fifty years from 1891, administers the two 

 last-named districts, and the Nyassa Company 

 has like authority in the region between the 

 Rovuma, the Lurio, and Lake Nyassa. The Gov- 

 ernment maintains a military force of 4,888 men, 

 of whom 3,246 are natives. The revenue for 

 1898 was estimated at 4,232,326 milreis, the ex- 

 penditure at 3,945,765 milreis. The imports at 

 the port of Mozambique in 1897 were valued at 

 151,823, and exports at 160,571; at Beira the 

 imports were 578,500 in value, and the exports 

 35,460; at Loui'engo Marques the imports were 



