26 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



and of the weaker and still more easily-controlled 

 [Portuguese, but also of such j^owerful rivals as 

 France and Germany ; any failure on our part 

 ettectively to develop Matabeleland, to preserve 

 l)eace, order, and security in those ^'ast regions, 

 and to combine in the work the entire British 

 African community, would result in a loss Avhicli, 

 from a national and from a commercial point of view, 

 can onlv be described as immeasurable. But the 

 com]jination of the British African community for 

 effective executive purposes is a task which ma}' 

 almost exhaust the resources of statesmanship). 

 From the Zambesi to the Cape of Good Hope, a 

 region occupying some two thousand miles of land 

 in length, inhabited by about half a million whites 

 and by over four millions of natives, every form 

 of go\'ernment known to liistory is to be found in 

 existence and at work : in the Cape Colonv a re- 

 presentative JAirliament elected on the Avidest 

 native and European suffrage, with responsible 

 Ministers and almost complete independence of the 

 Home Government ; in Xatal a more restricted re- 

 presentative body, with Ministers not directly 

 responsible to that Ijody, a sort of Prussian ad- 

 ministration ; in Zululand the personal and direct 

 government of the Governor of Natal ; in the 

 Transvaal an independent republic, but mmble to 

 conclude treaties with foreio-n States without the 



o 



approval of the British Government ; with a pi-e- 

 sident, executive, and two chambers elected by 

 Dutch burghers, but with many thousands of 

 E uropean population possessing no political rights ; 



