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ZOOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN THE TRANSVAAL. 
By W. L. Distant. 
Barberton.—To leave the high veld as seen around Pretoria 
and Johannesburg, respectively 4500 ft. and 5600 ft. above sea- 
level, and to travel to Barberton with its altitude of only 3000 ft., 
backed by thickly wooded hills, is a great treat for a naturalist. 
Formerly, as when I first visited the State, the journey consisted 
of a long and weary coach-ride, but in 1895 I covered the distance 
in twenty-four hours, thanks to a combination of rail and coach, 
though long since then the passenger travels the whole distance 
by rail. ‘The scenery becomes very fine after the descent is made 
into the Crocodile River valley, but this grand stream now con- 
tains, or did at the time of my visit, comparatively few fish. The 
reason is soon told. During the construction of the railway, 
which in parts almost follows the course of the river, it was found 
cheaper to give the Kafirs a couple of dynamite cartridges, with 
which they could obtain a fish diet, than to supply them with the 
usual allowance of “‘ mealies.” The completion of this railway 
was a very slow process, and the river thus became almost 
depopulated. The contractor who gave me this information, and 
who had himself constructed that part of the line, related an 
instance of Kafir ignorance or stupidity in using these cartridges. 
An individual, fresh to the work, lighted the fuse of both cart- 
ridges, one of which he held in his hand, while he watched the 
effect of the other he had thrown in the water, with a result that 
is unnecessary to describe. But it will be long before the Croco- 
dile River is again well stocked with fish ; the use of the dynamite 
cartridge is somewhat prevalent in Transvaal rivers, and if the 
vast railway enterprise only now commencing in Africa is con- 
ducted on similar lines, ichthyologists will soon have to record a 
vast diminution in specimens, if not in species. 
At Crocodile Poort, where rail was exchanged for coach, anda 
_$ix or seven hours’ drive to Barberton was then a necessity, a 
