CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 



1167 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 



at a cost of $195,000. For its size the city has 

 exceptional educational advantages. Besides 

 its public schools it has one of Missouri's five 

 state normal schools, with six buildings and a 

 campus of fifty-five acres (see MISSOURI, sub- 

 head Education), the Loretto Convent,^ a 

 library, Saint Vincent's College for men and 

 Saint Vincent's Convent, the last two being 

 the oldest Roman Catholic schools west of the 

 Mississippi River. 



Cape Girardeau was settled by the French 

 in 1765, and named for Ensign Girardot, com- 

 mander of the first military post on the Mis- 

 sissippi River. This was the first settlement 

 of English-speaking people in the upper terri- 

 tory of what was afterwards known as the 

 Louisiana Purchase. The home of Don Louis 

 Lorimier, the Spanish commandant who issued 

 many grants, is still standing. FJ.M. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, PROVINCE OF THE, 

 the oldest of the federated provinces now 

 forming the Union of South Africa, occupying 

 the southern extremity of the African conti- 

 nent. In 1910, when the Union was formed, 



LOCATION MAP 

 Area in black shows the Province of the Cape 

 of Good Hope and Natal. 

 (a) German Southwest Africa, captured by the 



British in 1915 

 (6) Bechuanaland Protectorate 



(c) Transvaal 



(d) Orange Free State 



(e) Basutoland 



the province was known as Cape Colony. It 

 is bounded on all sides by British possessions, 

 consisting of Natal, Orange Free State, Bechu- 

 analand, the Transvaal and German Southwest 

 Africa, the latter annexed in 1915, after its 

 capture by the British in the War of the Na- 



tions. The area of the province is about 277,- 

 000 square miles, or 12,000 miles larger than 

 the area of Texas and slightly more than that 

 of the great Canadian province of Alberta. 



The surface of the country consists for the 

 most part of undulating prairie, or veldt, as it 

 is called, with many wide stretches of flat, 

 barren desert. In parts, however, there are 

 mountainous regions, the ground rising in 

 plateaus from the sea until it culminates in 

 the Drakensberg range of mountains. For a 

 considerable part of the year the highest peaks 

 of these mountains, which attain a height of 

 nearly 10,000 feet, are covered by snow. The 

 coast is rugged and bare, with few natural 

 harbors. Algoa Bay, Mossel Bay, Table Bay 

 and False Bay are the most important inden- 

 tations on the south and west shores. On the 

 east the coast line is almost unbroken. The 

 only important river is the Orange River, which 

 forms part of the northern boundary of the 

 province (see ORANGE RIVER). There are nu- 

 merous small streams, many of which are dry 

 in the summer. 



Climate. The climate of the Cape of Good 

 Hope is exceptionally pleasant and healthful. 

 Rains are more abundant in the east than in 

 the western portions, which are sandy and arid. 

 The variation in temperature is slight. In 

 the higher inland regions the nights are cold, 

 frost is frequent, and snow falls occasionally, 

 but from sunrise to sunset the heat is intense. 

 The average annual temperature in Cape 

 Town, the capital, is over 62 F. Darkness 

 succeeds sunset very rapidly, the change in 

 temperature at that time being more marked 

 than at any other. The benefit of the general 

 climate to those suffering from pulmonary 

 complaints is becoming more apparent. 



Agriculture. Like all South African coun- 

 tries, the Cape of Good Hope suffers from 

 lack of water. The soil is fertile and will pro- 

 duce large crops of cereals, fruit and flowers 

 when water is plentiful. So unreliable is the 

 water supply, however, that agriculture is not 

 as important an industry as it would be under 

 more favorable circumstances. Corn, called 

 mealies throughout South Africa, is extensively 

 grown, and in a good season will yield 100 

 bags for every bag sown. Fruit is grown near 

 cities and wherever irrigation is possible. 

 Grapes are grown in many parts and the wine 

 of the country was formerly famous, but care- 

 less cultivation and lack of attention to the 

 vines have reduced the quality of the grapes 

 and the wine produced is now of poor quality. 



