So Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



an early age, with hardly a penny at his disposal, 

 finds himself at the age of twenty-five in possession 

 of what may be accurately termed a fortune. 

 Now, probably, is the moment for an emigrant. 

 In two years' time or so a railroad communication 

 between Johannesl^urg and the coast will have 

 been established, and although by the establish- 

 ment of such communication, all vested interests 

 from the highest to the lowest, corporate and 

 individual alike, will be enormously increased in 

 value, the labour market will become more fully 

 stocked, and the comj)etition for existence pro- 

 portionately harder. It can hardly be a matter 

 for doubt that the gold-fields of Johannesburg- 

 are destined to attract and support a population 

 which will ultimately dominate and rule the 

 Transvaal. Xot only is it certain that there is 

 gold ore practically in sight sufficient to occupy 

 the energies of a mining plant far larger than that 

 which now exists for one or two generations, but 

 the many wants of a mining population where 

 wealth is easily and largely gained, and where 

 luxury and free expenditure become a habit, offer 

 to every variety of commercial enterprise promis- 

 ing prospects. The mere feeding of such a popu- 

 lation will be a work of great ^^rofit. All over 

 the Transvaal, and especially around Johannesburg, 

 the well-watered and yet easily-drained valleys 

 j)ossess a soil of astonishing fertility, which with 

 ordinary skiU and care could produce abundant 

 crops of almost every grain, every vegetable, and 

 every fruit. Whether for housebuilding, for use 



