NATAL: THE GARDEN COLONY 



287 



center of the Boer farming district, and 

 the falls of the Umgeni River, at which 

 point the water is dashed over a preci- 

 pice 360 feet in height, are all points of 

 great interest. 



'Natal is administered by a governor, 

 appointed by the King of England; a 

 ministry, composed of 6 members ; a 

 legislative council, composed of 13 mem- 

 bers, appointed for ten years by the gov- 

 pernor, with the advice of the ministry, 

 and a legislative assembly, composed of 

 43 members, elected by voters having a 

 property qualification of £50, or paying 

 rental at the rate of £10 per' annum, or 

 having an annual income of £96. For 

 local government there are municipal 

 corporations at Durban, Pietermaritz- 

 burg, Newcastle, Ladysmith, and Dun- 

 dee, and local boards at Verulam and 

 Greytown. 



The colony, covering an area of over 

 36,000 square miles, may be correctly 

 divided into three districts, as follows: 

 The coast district, extending inland for a 

 distance of 15 miles, which is of a semi- 

 tropical nature, and where coffee, sugar, 

 tea, maize, arrow-root, and tobacco are 

 raised ; the midland district, where cereals 

 and fruits are grown, and the upper dis- 

 trict, where stock-raising is carried on, 

 and where coal, lime, iron, copper, and 

 gold are found. All the soil is of a 

 highly fertile variety, and easily adapted 

 to almost any kind of fruit or agricul- 

 tural product. 



The population of Natal (1906) is 

 given as 1,151,907, including 94,370 

 whites, 112,126 Indians and Asiatics, 

 6939 mixed races, and 938,472 natives. 



Religion is well provided for by de- 

 nominational bodies, but there is no aid 

 rendered by the State. Missionary sta- 

 tions, representing nearly every nation 

 and religious denomination, are estab- 

 lished in many districts throughout the 

 colony, and are doing much good work 

 among the natives. 



There are 34 government primary 

 schools, and a large number of other 

 primary and secondary schools for both 

 European and native children, which are 

 aided and inspected by the government. 



Schools are also conducted by the mis- 

 sionaries, and largely attended. 



Many of the natives live apart in loca- 

 tions provided for them by the govern- 

 ment, about 2,250,000 acres of land being 

 vested for this purpose in the native 

 trust. A native high court administers 

 civil justice and deals with all the polit- 

 ical crimes and crimes arising out of na- 

 tive law and custom — ordinary crimes 

 falling under the ordinary criminal law. 

 Natives can acquire the franchise under 

 certain conditions. When brought be- 

 fore a native court, in tribal matters, a 

 native practically pleads his own case be- 

 fore his chief, having no defense, with 

 the exception of his own statements, and 

 accepting such penalty as might be im- 

 posed by the court without further ap- 

 peal. 



It has been broadly but erroneously 

 asserted that the native girls are bought 

 and sold in marriage, and this impres- 

 sion should be corrected at once. When 

 a Zulu boy has found his affinity, or 

 rather one of many of them, he declares 

 himself to the girl's father, and is in- 

 formed how much "lobola" is necessary 

 to effect a legal marriage arrangement. 

 "Lobola" consists in nothing more than 

 a gift of a certain number of cattle, 

 usually 10 to 20, as a guarantee of good 

 faith and evidence that the prospective 

 husband is able to provide. The title to 

 the cattle and their offspring does not 

 pass to the father of the girl, although 

 he receives and holds possession of them, 

 but to the children, for whose benefit the 

 "lobola" is held in trust. Should there 

 be no children, and in the event of the 

 death or divorce of the wife, the cattle 

 are returned to the husband, provided 

 that he has been kind and faithful. If, 

 however, he has been found guilty of 

 any cruelty to his wife, in case of divorce 

 all rights to the cattle are forfeited by 

 the husband and they are held for the 

 benefit of the divorced wife. 



Many strange customs and laws ob- 

 tain in Zululand, but there is no moral 

 code in all the world more rigidly ob- 

 served than that of the Zulus. Women 

 do practically all of the agricultural work 



