CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



the possession of Great Britain during the Na- 

 poleonic wars. It has had a responsible gov- 

 ernment since 1872. The Parliament consists 

 of a Legislative Council of 21 and a House of 

 Assembly of 68 members, both elected by vot- 

 ers qualified by a certain amount of income. 

 The Governor is Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, 

 appointed in 1880. The Prime Minister is T. 

 0. Scanlen. 



Area and Population. The area of Cape Colony 

 proper is estimated at 199,950 square miles. 

 Its population in 1875- was 720,984, of whom 

 236,873 were of European origin. The great 

 majority of the European population are de- 

 scendants of the original Dutch, French, and 

 German settlers. The colored population con- 

 sists chiefly of Kaffirs and Hottentots. The 

 rest are half-breeds and imported Malay labor- 

 ers. Cape Colony includes a large extent of 

 annexed native districts, some parts of which 

 contain a considerable white population. In- 

 cluding Basutoland, which was placed under 

 the administration of the colonial authorities 

 in 1875, but again detached in 1883, the total 

 area of Cape Colony was 441,750 square miles, 

 and its total population 1,618,211. These 

 dependencies and annexed districts comprise 

 Griqualand West with an area of 17,800 square 

 miles and a population of 45,277 ; the Trans- 

 gariep, or Damara and Namaqua Lands, having 

 an area of 200,000 square miles, and a popula- 

 tion of about 250,000 ; and the Transkeian dis- 

 tricts, otherwise called Kaffirland proper, with 

 an area of 17,000 square miles, and a popula- 

 tion of 475,000. The area of Basutoland is 

 7,000 square miles, and its population 127,000. 



Commerce. The commerce of Cape Colony 

 in 1881 consisted of exports to the value of 

 4,220,706, and imports to the value of 9,227,- 

 171. Wool is the only important export arti- 

 cle, constituting nearly nine tenths of the total 

 exports. Minor articles of export are copper- 

 ore, ostrich-feathers, and sheep-skins. The 

 quantity of wool shipped to England in 1881 was 

 47,165,019 pounds. The number of sheep in 

 the colony in 1875 was 9,836,065. There were 

 961 miles of railway open on the 1st of Janu- 

 ary, 1882. 



Finance. The revenue of the colony in 1881 

 was 4,835,189, including money borrowed ; 

 the expenditure, 5,472,263. There was a 

 debt in 1882 of 15,441,700. 



Natal. Natal, formerly a part of the colony 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, was detached and 

 made a crown colony in 1856, administered by 

 a Governor with the assistance of an Execu- 

 tive Council and a Legislative Council, the lat- 

 ter consisting, since 1879, of 13 official and 15 

 elective members. The area is estimated to be 

 21,150 square miles. The population in 1881 

 was computed to be 408,280, comprising 25,271 

 of European descent, mostly English, 362,477 

 natives, and 20,536 coolies. There was a de- 

 crease in both the white and native population 

 since 1877. The exports in 1881, chiefly wool, 

 amounted to 474,934 ; the imports to 1,194,- 



992. The revenue of the colony amounted in 

 1881 to 518,924 ; the expenditure to 492,- 

 338; the public debt to 1,631,701. The Gov- 

 ernor is Sir Henry Ernest Bulwer. 



Transvaal State. The Transvaal State, or South 

 African Republic, independent since 1852, was 

 annexed to the British crown in 1877. After 

 the Transvaal war complete autonomy was re- 

 stored by the convention of Aug. 3, 1881, but 

 suzerain rights were preserved with respect 

 to foreign affairs, giving the British Govern- 

 ment supreme control over the relations of the 

 republic with the native races. The area is 

 110,183 square miles. The white population 

 is from 40,000 to 45,000, descendants of the 

 original Dutch and Huguenot settlers of the 

 Cape. The native population numbered, in 

 1879, 774,930. A triumvirate, composed of 

 S. J. P. Kruger, M. W. Pretorius, and P. J. 

 Joubert, was elected, Dec. 13, 1880, and in- 

 vested with extraordinary powers. Kruger 

 was elected regular President in 1883. 



Orange River Republic. The Orange Free State 

 achieved independence in 1854. It has an area 

 of 41,320 square miles. The white population, 

 according to the census of March 31, 1880, was 

 61,022 ; the native population, 72,496. The 

 Orange Republic has no debt, but possesses a 

 considerable estate in lands, buildings, and ac- 

 cumulated funds. The imports in 1 88 1 amount- 

 ed to 2,583,738, the exports to 4,001,658. 

 Wool is the chief product ; the quantity ex- 

 ported in 1881 was 30,353,025 pounds. 



Separation of Basntolaud from Cape Colony. The 

 principal question of the year at the Cape of 

 Good Hope was the rearrangement of the af- 

 fairs of Basutoland. The Basutos are a tribe 

 of the Bechuana race which inhabits the east- 

 ern part of the South .African elevation. In 

 the beginning of the century they possessed, 

 besides the present Basutoland, a large part of 

 what is now the Orange Free State. There 

 Mosele, with his Matabele warriors, fell upon 

 them and annihilated the whole tribe, except 

 those who escaped to the inaccessible region 

 in which the Orange river takes its rise. The 

 Boers moved into the deserted plains in the 

 third decade of the century, broke the power 

 of the Matabeles, and formed a bulwark for 

 the Basutos, behind which they grew again 

 into a numerous people. They were reminded 

 by the needs of their now redundant popula- 

 tion that the Free State Boers were settled 

 upon lands which had once been their own. 

 The circumstance that no boundary had ever 

 been agreed to between the Free State and 

 Basutoland left the way open for disputes. The 

 Basutos began an aggressive course, as usual, 

 by cattle- stealing. The Boers retaliated, and 

 a long border war followed, in which forays 

 for the capture of cattle and the destruction 

 of crops, rather than the taking of life, were 

 the distinguishing feature. The Basutos, under 

 the tuition of French missionaries, had made 

 astonishing progress in civilization, and pos- 

 sessed in their chief, Moses, a leader of char- 



