E.— GEOGRAPHY. 117 



survey had similar unfortunate results. Forty miles of the line had to 

 be reconstructed, at a cost which, for construction alone, would have pro- 

 vided an adequate survey of a large portion of Kenya Colony. 



The present situation with regard to topography in the Dominion is 

 as follows : There is a good topographical survey (1 : 125,000 scale) of the 

 Orange Free State, with an extension for a short way into the Transvaal. 

 There is a 1 : 250,000 survey of Basutoland and of the northern part of the 

 Cape Province. The latter is classed as a ' reconnaissance ' survey ; it 

 is useful, but in Cape Colony at any rate hardly adequate to the needs 

 of the Dominion. Of the remainder — about half of the Cape Province, 

 almost the whole of Natal and the great bulk of the Transvaal — no topo- 

 graphical map exists. It will be seen that a vast amount remains to 

 be done in the way of topography. 



It is true that a start has been made with topographical survey of 

 the country. The Director of the Trigonometrical Survey has been 

 charged with this duty, and a sum of money has been allotted for it. 

 The sum seems to an outsider, considering the immense amount of work 

 which has to be done, to be extraordinarily small. It is something that 

 the principle has been recognised, but no adequate progress will be made 

 until a much larger sum is allotted. The question is also bound up to 

 a large extent with that of staff. So far as I am aware the Director of 

 Trigonometrical Survey has no permanent stafi for field work, and very 

 little for work in the office. This is to be regretted. In my view a 

 Government Survey ought to have a regular permanent staff ; otherwise 

 it is Uable to have fluctuations in the quality and quantity of its work 

 which are most undesirable. It may of course be convenient, and usually 

 is in the early stages of a survey, to have in addition a certain number 

 on a temporary basis. The same observations apply to the staffs of 

 the Surveyors-General. In all cases there should in my opinion be a 

 stafi of permanent Government employees. All experience goes to 

 support this view. The example of Canada may be quoted. Cadastral 

 surveys there used to be put out to contract, but this was dropped in 

 1915 and I am informed that all surveyors are now Civil Servants. It is 

 to be noted that the Survey Commission laid particular stress on this 

 point, especially in the case of the trigonometrical and topographical 

 surveys. 



The most satisfactory feature in South African survey is perhaps the 

 triangulation ; it is all of good quality, and is being pushed on as fast 

 as funds will allow ; but there is undoubtedly a great need of extension 

 in the second and particularly in the third order triangulation. Some 

 levelling has been done, but nothing as yet in the way of closed circuits ; 

 so that levels are at present, to use a common expression, hanging in the 

 air. All surveyors know that it is impossible to check the accuracy of 

 any levelling, and to distribute the errors, until the work has been closed 

 on the starting point. 



South Africa has a great survey tradition behind it. Some of the 

 greatest survey schemes were started in this country ; some of the finest 

 survey work in the world has been done in it ; and some of the best 

 surveyors of the Empire have been trained here. South Africa ought 

 not to be content to lag behind other nations in this matter. She ought 



