456 



* KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



Svrbirtod. 



THE FAllM IN TlIK KAROO.* 



OUR object Kiiii; to ilisseminnte knowledge, we cannot 

 fail to reoomuiiiiJ to our readers the liook before us, 

 for although written ostensibly for Iwvs, it is full of infor- 

 mation about S)uth Afrioii. its ]ili_vsiail features, natural 

 productions, its j>eop!e, l>otli British, Dutch, and native, 

 with their mode of life and various industries, such as 

 ostrich - farming, the mode of inoculating cattle against 

 cattle plague, ice, Ac, all of which will be read with 

 pleasure b_v those desirous of knowing something of life at 

 •' the Cape ; '' nor is the antiquary and anthropologist 

 forgotten, as the following quotation, descriptive of the 

 i-ave {laintings of the Bushmen, will show :^ 



A long walk linugtit tlinii at lust to the cave, or feiii-s of s^iiiiill 

 cavities in tli.j niMnntoin side, nnd liere on the rocks liad bcfii 

 p«int«d by tli<- Itushmen vari.ius fipur<>8 of animals. 



" Those fL-llon s crincod u wonderful talent for drawing," cx- 

 claimrd Morsion. " Jqbi look at that pig. I louldn't linvc 

 sketched it better myself. A bluo pig and a red liippopotainus. 

 And what is this fignre ? Something of tho deer species." 



■• With only one horn I " said Fred. " It reminds one of the 

 anicom." 



" I always thought that that Kghting animal was a niylh," 

 rejoined llarston ; " but there ho is, sure enough." 



■■ Vex ; that fij.Tare has lx>cn often put forward na the original 

 of th.- unicorn ; but my father considers it is intended for a 

 gemsbock, an animal which has very straight horns, and the liiish- 

 mcn, talcing merely the profile, have delineated but one," said 

 GeoHK'. 



•• What are they stippofcd t^) have used for paint ': " asked 

 Charley. 



" For the red, no doubt they sometimes used the red clny which 

 the Kaffirs rub on their bodies and blankets; but they also used 

 brown'cubes of iron pyrites, or |ieroxido of iron. ] "don't know 

 what'lhey made use of for tho blue ; probably copper ore." 



" Ixwk here ! " exclaimed Mnrston. " What arc tliese ? " 



" Those are arrow-heads," said Fred. '" I am so glad yon saw 

 them. This has evidently been one of their workBhoi)s, i'or here 

 tney arc in all st-iges of manufacture." 



" And," exclaimed Frank, " just look at that great lump of black 

 basaltic rock. It mnst have U-cn brought from a long distance, for 

 there are no rocks like it in this neighbourhood. 1 have often found 

 these stoni' knives and arrow points on tho plains, anil have a few 

 very good ones at home." 



'• I must take some of these with me," said Fred, putting several 

 into his pocket. " May I have them ? " 



" Take as many aa yon like," George replied, " for these things 

 are not accounted treasures in this country. I took some doivn to 

 Dr. Ather^tone, of Grahamstown, who is a very great connoisseur 

 "f such thinirs, and is als-j on excellent geijlogist, to whose o|>inion 

 we always difer. When any stone or metal new to us is found we 

 •end it to him. It was he who i)rononnced a none from the 

 Transvaal to U- a diamond, an<l thus opene<i up the diamond lieiils. 

 Hcfore that time the mf<«t brilliant stones had been passed by with 

 |)erliai - :i m. r.' f ir.ark as to their being prettier crystals than lhos« 



' M. do you find hero:'" said Marston. 



.ind sometimes jasper, I believe. Mv fatlicr 

 ■" 'I the banks of the Vaal River, picked up a 



'■'' '■'• rivalled tho 'Star of South Africa.' lie 



''■ nuarti of a very beautiful shape, and much 



" ■ 'I, s<j he carried it in his waistcoat pocket for 



J" ■"' carried his gun-caps there, and whenevtT 



"' ' f-r a cap tho stone came in his wav ; so one 



''•■' ' hard after a herd of gnoos, he was so annoyed 



''J " into a bush, not dreaming that his bright 



"What a go: ■ aaid Marxfni ; "didn't ho over tn- to llnd it 

 again ? " 



■' Yes, he did, for he thrraghl he could remcml«r the very H|>ot ; 

 and some time after all the stir was made about the diamonds, 

 be wont up to so.' tlw digging., and hunted aljout, but to no 



" It would have been 



■'How provoking!" said Marston. 

 rioos to find it after all that time." 



Th, Farm in »A< Karoo. By Mrs. Cabtt-Hoiwoji. 



" Is not this a grinding appai-atus !' " inrniireil Charley ; " I have 

 seen round stones like it in collections of stone implements ni 

 home." 



" A muUer ; so it is ! " answered George ; " and, you see, here 

 is full evidence of what I told you, as to what tho little folk used 

 for paint. Cubes of pero.\ido of iron, some of them still whole, 

 others broken nnd ground up. This rock seems to liavo been 

 slightly hollowed so as to hold water. (Jenernlly speaking, the 

 ^'rinding-Etones are quite Hat. The Hottentots still use them. They 

 grind the coarse salt with them, also coffee, and even their snufl'. 

 No doubt Knatjo has one with her, upon which she grinds our 

 coffee after having roasted it." 



We believe that all who read will sec at once that the 

 author writes from personal knowledge of the country, and 

 indeed, she informs us in the i)reface that she has resided 

 for more than a quarter of a century in the colony, and she 

 very evidently has not put her eyes in her pocket during 

 that time. She also vouches for the truth of the wonderful 

 adventures with snakes and wild beasts which she relates, 

 which will certainly add zest to their perusal. 



New South Wki.sh Coal. — The output of coal in New 

 South Wales in 1880 reached 1,100,180 tons. In 1830 

 tho amount of coal raised in the colony was, in round 

 figures, 40,000 tons ; in 1810, JiO.li.'iti' tons ; in 1850, 

 7"i, 216 tons; in ISGO, ;!C8,8G2 tons ; in 1870, 868,564 tons; 

 and in 1880 as above, showing a \ery great expansion 

 during tho last 30 years. 



AxfiLo-AMEKicwN Bitrsii Electkk Li'.iiT Corporation. 

 — The following is a copy of a resolution passed by the 

 Board of the above Company on Nov. 2'J : — " Resolved, 

 that a call of £3 per share bo made on the £i paid shares 

 of the Corporation, to meet the cost of extension of works 

 and machinery, and manufacture of stock, the same to b<^ 

 payable in instalments of .£1 each on Jan. 1, Feb. 1, and 

 March 1, 1883." 



Biitijs AND TELEfiRAPii WiUES. — At a recent meeting 

 of the Electrotcchnic Society of Berlin, Ilcrr Massmann 

 read a paper on some observations which he had made on 

 the Imperial telegraph lines at the instance of the Secru 

 tary of thi! Post Otlice. JIi^ found that in districts where 

 there are no trees, the smaller birds of prey, such as crows 

 and magpies, are very fond of roosting on telegraph poles, 

 while .sparrows, starlings, and swallows frequently alight 

 on them in great numbers. This leads to a fouling of tho 

 wires with e.xcrement until they look as if they were 

 pla'.tered. The soil has, however, no damaging efFcct, as 

 the rain washes it off, unless, indeed, the acid excrement 

 tends to the decay of the wooden poles. Swallows like to 

 build under the eaves where wires run into telegraph offices, 

 and sometimes cause an "earth" contact. Contacts between 

 wire and wire are frequently caused Ijy large birds, such a,s 

 bustards, storks, swans, and wild ducks. They cause tho 

 wires to swing, and sometimes to lireak. Accidents of this 

 kind were frequent when the wires ran Ijy high-road.s, along 

 which young geese were driven to their pastures. Small<M- 

 birds, even partridges, are generally killed by the shock of 

 striking the wires. Tliey do not cause much damage to 

 the lines. Holes are often pecked through the poles by 

 woodpeckers (the /'iran mnrtinn, or black woodpecker, tho 

 /'. ririili«, or green woodpecker, and the /', rruijor, or pie- 

 bald woodp<xk<tr). Tlit^se birds spare no kind of wood, 

 unprepared ]>ine and oak poles, as well as poles treated 

 with sulphate of cofqiei-, chloride of zinc, or sublimate of 

 mercury. Some even state that they will attack creosoteil 

 poles. The theory that the birds mistake the vibration of 

 the wires in the polo for insects humming is doubted by 

 Herr Massmann, who declares that tli"y often find insects 

 in the dry poles. 



