Fort Victoria. 189 



Fort Victoria througli a pass in the hills pomp- 

 ously designated " Providence Gorge. " We had 

 all expected to find in this awfully-named passage 

 lieetling cliffs, sheer ^^recipices, foaming cataracts, 

 a journev of incident and even peril — in short, all 

 the features of the high xllps or Apennines. Bnt 

 " Providence Gorge " is nothing more than a long- 

 valley between two low ranges of hills, gradaally 

 and slowly ascending some six or seven hundred 

 feet from Fern Spruit to the plain on which lies 

 Fort Victoria. This plain is of great extent, 

 destitute almost of tree or bush, the horizon broken 

 here and there by isolated hills, at the foot of one 

 of which is situated the fort. The fresh and 

 bracing air of this vast expanse made the change 

 from the low to the high veldt perceptible, and 

 very pleasant. The country stretching away to 

 the north appeared to be fair and attractive, but 

 on closer acquaintance this apjDearance turned out 

 to be most delusive. 



There is nothing veiy remarkable about Fort 

 Victoria. A small square enclosure, protected by 

 a mound, a ditch, a Maxim gun, surrounded by a 

 cluster of huts built of mud, reeds, and grass, marks 

 the rule of the British South Africa Chartered 

 Company, and the site of what may one day be a 

 populous and prosperous township. The Com- 

 pany at present maintain here a force of sixty-five 

 jDolice, commanded by Captain Turner. I learnt 

 that the natives around had orown somewhat bold 

 in their depredations, and had made off with cattle 

 grazing in the vicinity of the fort. An ex^Dedition 



