200 Recollections of Adventures 



" I consider that the Transvaal has only been 

 scratched, and that the mining industry of the 

 Transvaal is only in its infancy but the whole 

 question of mining in the Transvaal hinges upon the 

 words " labour, capital, and credit." Given labour 

 at a reasonable price there is practically no limit to 

 the possibilities of the country ; but the Transvaal 

 differs in this respect as far as we know at present 

 from other countries, that, though the minerals 

 discovered are generally in very large quantities, 

 practically inexhaustible, yet at the same time there 

 is no part of the country that has ever proved so 

 rich locally, as for instance, Bendigo or Ballarat in 

 Australia. The Transvaal is not so patchy, and 

 not so rich ; but nine-tenths of the mines in the 

 Transvaal will pay, given strictly economical con- 

 ditions. Very few will pay if you have to employ 

 excessively expensive or unreliable labour. The tin 

 industry of the Transvaal is in its infancy. This 

 industry unfortunately has had a set-baek owing to 

 the nefarious dealing of certain unscrupulous people 

 in "booming" it on paper, before legitimate work 

 was done. I am convinced judging from what I 

 have seen and I have visited the tin mines, and I 

 know the country rock of most parts of the Trans- 

 vaal, that tin exists in large quantities in different 

 parts of the country, widely separated, so that one 

 is justified in assuming that there is a large supply of 

 tin available. With regard to other base metals, I 

 am aware that there is magnetic, hematite and 

 chrome iron, and iron of every possible description in 

 inexhaustible quantities. Whether that is of value 

 so far in the interior remains to be seen. Whereas 

 in America, you have got to cart your coal to your 

 iron, or vice-versa, here you have very rich iron, 

 coal, and lime, all within a short distance of each 

 other. I am of the opinion that for some years to 



