Cape Colony

Cape Colony, officially COLONY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, is a British colony situated at the southern extremity of the African continent. It is bounded on the NW. by Great Namaqualand; on the N. by British Bechuanaland, the Orange Free State, and British Basutoland; on the S. by the Southern Ocean; on the E. by Pondoland and Natal; and on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean. The total area of the Cape Colony is estimated to be 231,276 sq. m.

The Cape Colony is deficient in navigable rivers, and in gulfs or arms of the sea stretching inland. Generally speaking, the bays have wide mouths and not much depth of water. Perhaps the best and safest natural harbour on the colonial coast is afforded by Saldanha Bay; but at present the country in its neighbourhood is nearly unoccupied, the supply of water being deficient. St Helena Bay, Lambert's Bay, and Donkin's Bay are places on the west coast where vessels occasionally call. Port Nolloth, on the north-west coast, is where most of the copper ore is shipped from the mines of Little Namaqualand. Table Bay is the principal colonial harbour. It is naturally much exposed on the north-west; but the Table Bay Harbour Board, which was formed in 1860, has shown great energy and ability in erecting a break-water, and in constructing docks for large shipping, including graving-docks (see CAPETOWN). False Bay, lying to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, includes Simon's Bay on its western side, which is the imperial naval station. This is a safe anchorage, and there is a slip for the repair of vessels; but trade, of course, leads merchantmen to Table Bay. The necessary railway communication between Capetown and Simon's Town is completed as far as Kalk Bay. Her Majesty's government and the government of the colony are co-operating in the works of defence which are at present in progress at these important imperial possessions, which, on account of their situation are of so much consequence to the naval and mercantile interests of the British empire. At Mossel Bay there is a good anchorage for ships, and there are jetties, steam-cranes, and other conveniences for landing and loading cargoes. There is a local Harbour Board, but no extensive works have been as yet undertaken. Farther east, at the mouth of the Knysna River, there is a large lagoon, the southern extremity of which is connected with the ocean. The entrance is only 180 yards in width, and is between very high headlands, so that a sailing-vessel could not enter unless the wind was blowing in, except, of course, by the aid of a steam-tug. There are 18 feet of water on the bar in its shallowest part, so that large vessels can enter. Algoa Bay, with Port Elizabeth on its western shore, has been the scene of great energy and enterprise since the founding of the town, after the arrival in the colony of the English settlers in 1820 (see PORT ELIZABETH). At Port Alfred and at East London considerable sums of public money have been spent with the view to improve the harbours. The works are still in progress. St John's River is a port in Pondoland purchased in 1878 from the Pondo chief, and annexed to the colony in 1884.

Running parallel to the coast-line of the Cape Colony, and at an average distance from it of about 150 miles, there is a range of mountains which forms the watershed of the country. This is known as the Stormberg, the Sneeberg, the Nieuwveld Mountains, the Roggeveld Mountains, and Kamiesberg, as it stretches across the colony in south-westerly, westerly, and north-westerly direction. The Eastern Province of the colony, along with the Cape peninsula, is on the whole better watered than the interior portion of the Western Province. Grassy plains, well-wooded river-courses, and mountain glens are to be found throughout the eastern part of the colony, while in the western and part of the midland district the country is covered with the Karroo bush, and the flat-topped hills stand out grim and bare, without kindly tree or bush to cover their rugged outlines. These Karroo bushes, although yielding a dreary enough prospect to the traveller, are of great value to the sheep-farmer; and where you suppose you are passing through a wilderness, you are in reality surrounded by large sheep-farms. The southern part of the colony presents some beautiful scenery; but it will be conceded that the Stockenstrom, Bedford, and other eastern districts are more beautiful still.

Climate.—The climate of the Cape Colony and of the interior of Southern Africa generally is one of the finest in the world, and eminently suited for Europeans. As a health-resort the Cape has long been favourably known; and increased attention has been given to it in recent years. The climate for a certain number of miles inland along the coast is more or less affected by the moisture from the ocean. Here irrigation of the ground by farmers, as a rule, is not necessary. The climate on the coast is superior to that of England. But it is after the traveller leaves this well-watered belt, where chest complaint, although infrequent, is nevertheless occasionally found among the natives, and when he ascends the higher inland plateau, that he finds himself in a rare and yet balmy atmosphere which is exhilarating to the healthy, and most beneficial to those subject to lung-complaints, especially if they have arrived in the country at a sufficiently early stage. Even when organic disease had set in, there have been well-authenticated cases in which it has been arrested. Members of families hereditarily inclined to this disease, who take up their abode in South Africa, have healthy children. In physique the European has lost nothing by residence in South Africa for two hundred years.

The following table shows the temperature, &c., on the coast, at Wynberg, near Capetown, and at

Port Elizabeth ; at a midland town, Grahamstown ; and at two stations on the higher plateau—Aliwal

North and Colesberg Bridge, on the Orange River :

Population.—In 1891 the total population of the colony, with Griqualand West and East, Tembuland, and the Transkei, was 1,527,224, of whom 376,987 are of European stock. In 1885 the population of the whole colony was—whites, 340,000; natives, 912,347; total, 1,252,347. Unlike the aborigines of some other parts of the world, the natives of the Cape Colony are steadily increasing. For instance, the Hottentots at the commencement of the present century did not number 15,000, according to contemporary estimate. In 1836 they were estimated at 32,000; in the census of 1865 they were found to number 81,961; and in 1875 they numbered 98,561. Guided by comparative philology we find that within the Cape Colony, as well as beyond its borders, there are two families of natives—the yellow-coloured and oblique-eyed Gariepine people; and the darker, and far more numerous Bantu family. The Gariepine family includes Hottentots, Korannas, Namaquas, and Bushmen. The Gariepine languages abound in 'clicks,' and are suffix-changing. The meaning of certain words is changed by the tone at which it is spoken, as in Chinese. In their pastoral and nomadic habits the Gariepine race resembled the Tartars or Mongolians. Their women and girls were the milkmaids of the family; whereas among the Bantu people no woman might enter a cattle-pen while the cattle were in it; and if she did so, the pen had become impure and unsafe, and had to be cleansed by the priest. The Bantu languages are prefix-changing, a point in which they resemble some of the languages of Polynesia. The Bantus are subdivided into numerous tribes or clans, known to Europeans as Kaffirs, Zulus, Basuto, Bechuana, Matebele, Mashona, &c. The Bantu family occupies the African continent northward, up to and beyond the equator. In 1875, according to the colonial census, the proportion of races found in the colony was as follows: Whites, 32.84 per cent.; Malay, 1.50 per cent.; Gariepine (Hottentot), 13.67 per cent.; Bantu (including Fingo, Kaffir, and Bechuana), 39.89 per cent.; mixed and other races, 12.10 per cent. The white population of the Cape Colony is made up as follows: The earliest settlers were from various countries in North Europe, being the hired servants of the Dutch East India Company. To these were added 150 Huguenot refugees in 1688. In 1820 English and Scotch settlers were placed by government on land in the Eastern Province. Under the auspices of the late Prince Consort, the German Legion, after the Crimean war, were settled on land on what is now the King Williamstown district of the colony. The discovery of diamonds led to a rush of European population to what is now the northern part of the colony—Griqualand West. Between 1873 and 1884, 23,337 immigrants were introduced into the colony under government auspices; but this work has been in abeyance since 1884. The Eastern Province of the colony is, roughly speaking, an English country, agriculture and commerce being alike in English colonists' hands. The western part is mainly occupied by Dutch-speaking descendants of the early settlers. In the Eastern Province we find a Dutch-speaking minority living happily among the English; and in the Western Province there is a corresponding minority of English farmers living among their Dutch-speaking neighbours. The business of the colony has always required a higher education than, until recently, was within the reach of the Cape colonist, and was thus almost entirely in the hands of 'inlanders' or foreigners—Europeans. There is, however, an increasing minority of Dutch-speaking colonists now in business, both on the sea-board and in the interior of the colony.

Irrigation, Railways, &c.—Beyond the belt of country skirting the sea-coast agriculture can only be successful where there is a supply of water for irrigation. The colonial government in 1877 passed an act which made provision for the constitution of Irrigation Boards for carrying out irrigation works; and in 1879 the provisions of the act were extended to municipal bodies. In connection with these acts money can be borrowed on reasonable terms for the purpose of irrigation, provided the scheme in question has the support of an engineer approved by government. Van Wyk's Vley, in the dry division of Carnarvon, is by far the most important irrigation work which has been constructed in South Africa. The reservoir drains 460 sq. m.; but so scanty is the rainfall that in 1883 and 1884 it did not exceed 4 inches per annum. The reservoir when full will hold 35,000 million gallons, and the extent of the water-surface will be 19 sq. m., with an average depth of over 10 feet. The total cost of the work, exclusive of land, has been over £23,000. An extensive fertile country close to the reservoir is now capable of cultivation. Elsewhere in the colony similar operations have been carried on; but this work is still in its infancy, and is destined to change the face of the country.

Road-making was begun at an early date by the English governors of the Cape, superseding the wagon-tracks which were then the only roads. It is computed that there are now 4100 miles of constructed main-road throughout the colony. Four bridges erected by the colonial government span the Orange River at different places, so that trade with the interior is no longer liable to the annual interruption caused by the flooding of a river which drains some 400,000 sq. m. of country. The bridge at Hopetown is 1480 feet long, and cost £114,260; that at Colesberg is 1339 feet long, and cost £108,726. At Bathulie the bridge is 1350 feet