Augustus Henry Keane

“ North of these lies Brecknock Peninsula, the westernmost extension of East Fuegia, cutting off South Fuegia from Clarence Island and Desolation Land, which with Dawson Island and numerous rocks and islets constitute West Fuegia. Desolation Land, so named by Cook, who supposed it to form a continuous mass stretching from the western entrance of Magellan Strait to Cockburn Channel, really consists of at least three, and possibly more islands, separated from each other by very narrow channels flowing between the Pacific and the western branch of Magellan Strait. ”

“ The Boers and other settlers have hitherto occupied themselves chiefly with stock-breeding (sheep, cattle, and horses) , but there can be no doubt that much of the country is eminently suited for the cultivation of cereals, yielding two annual crops and producing some of the finest wheat in the world. Tobacco, the vine, and most European fruits and vegetables also thrive well, while semi-tropical products, such as cotton, sugar, and coffee, might be raised in the warmer northern districts. ”

“ Their mental qualities are on the same low level, as is indicated by the almost total absence of clothing under such inclement skies, by the brutal treatment of their women, who when old and useless are often eaten, by the lack of human affections or love of offspring, who in rough weather are thrown overboard (Dr Fenton) , either as a peace offering to the spirits of the storm or to lighten the canoe, and by many repulsive practices connected with their food and social habits. ”

“ TIERRA DEL FUEGO, a large archipelago at the southern extremity of South America, from which it is separated by Magellan Strait, at the Narrows and other points scarcely a mile wide. The group lies between 52° 40' and 55° 59' S. lat. and 63° 30' and 74° 35' W. long. stretching nearly in a line with the Patagonian Andes for over 400 miles north-west and south-east, between Capes Pillar and Horn, and for about 270 miles west and east from Cape Pillar to Cape Espiritu Santo (Catherine Point) in the north ”

“ All these animals still exist, but in greatly reduced numbers, being now largely replaced by the domestic animals—cattle, sheep, and horses—introduced by the white settlers. All the large rivers are in habited by the hippopotamus and crocodile, the latter giving an alternative name to the Limpopo; the buffalo, gnu, eland, spring bok, wildbeeste, baboon, and several other members of the ape family are also frequently met with. The country is occasionally swept by destructive flights of locusts ”

“ Iron ores are also widely distributed, and the Yzerberg ("Iron Mountain") near Marabastad (24° S., 30° E.) consists of an enormous mass of rich iron ore, which the natives have worked for ages. Diamonds are chiefly confined to the Bloemhoff district on the Vaal above the great diamantiferous region of Kimberley in Griqualand West. Coal abounds in the south-eastern districts (Wakkerstroom, Utrecht) , and also farther north in Middelburg (Nazareth) and Lydenburg. In some places seams 7 or 8 feet thick lie so near the surface that they are quarried and the coal carted away by the natives. ”

“ But some of the low-lying moist tracts along the Limpopo and other river valleys, close to or within the torrid zone, are extremely insalubrious, fever of the general African type being here endemic, and its prevalence usually marked by the presence of the destructive tsetse fly. The route from Delagoa Bay to the interior also traverses a fever -stricken coast district between the sea and the Libomba escarpment, dangerous especially in the rainy summer season. ”

“ All the rest are natives, belonging mainly to the Basuto and Bechuana branches of the Bantu family, and consequently allied in speech and to a large extent in physique to their Zulu-Kaffre neighbours. A considerable number of these natives have abandoned the tribal state and taken service, either freely or by compulsion, with the whites as farm labourers in the rural districts, and as domestic servants in the towns, and are now also largely employed in mining operations. ”

“ A tsetse belt 40 miles wide along the whole course of the Limpopo still bars the spread of European settlements beyond Transvaal in the direction of the Zambesi.
Inhabitants.—Of the population not more than 50,000 are whites, mostly Boers (descendants of the early Dutch, French, and German immigrants to the Cape) , with a large and increasing percentage of British settlers, attracted in recent years especially to the Lydenburg and other mining districts. ”

“ In the southern part of Lydenburg lies the somewhat detached district of New Scotland, comprising some 500,000 acres selected by the late Mr M'Corkindale as a Scotch pastoral and agricultural settlement. It is a healthy prosperous country, lying on the slopes of the Drakenberg, within 310 miles of Durban, Natal. ”

“ Administration and Statistics.—Transvaal enjoys representative institutions, with a volksraad or parliament of forty-four members elected for four years, one-half retiring every two years, the executive being entrusted to a president elected for five years by the whole body of electors, assisted by a council of four, the ex-officio vice-president and the state secretary, with two others appointed by the volksraad. ”

“ Throughout its whole course it receives numerous affluents on both sides, such as the Shasha and Nuanetsi from the north, the Marico, Nyl, Limvuba, Lipalule, and others from Transvaal, of which region it drains fully 95,000 square miles. With the exception of a few tracts watered by the headstreams of the Buffalo (Tugela) , Mvolozi, Usutu, and Umcomati (King George) , flowing in independent channels eastwards to the Indian Ocean, all the rest of Transvaal is drained by the Vaal westwards to the Orange and Atlantic. ”

“ Owing to the dryness of the air, due to the proximity of the Kalahari desert, the western and central districts are specially favourable to persons suffering from consumption and other chest complaints. ”

“ But elsewhere the characteristic features are grasslands, downs, hill slopes, flats, and even many parts of the higher uplands being covered with savannahs generally affording good pasturage and fodder for cattle. ”

“ These last are in exclusive gissession of South Fuegia, and also occupy the north side of eagle Channel about Mount Darwin and further west. To them alone missionary enterprise has hitherto been extended, and the English station of Ushiwaya on Beagle Channel has for some years been the only centre of civilizing influences in the archipelago. As Lieutenant Bove of the Italian Antarctic expedition has made a special study of this branch, [2] they are much better known than either of the neighbouring races. ”

“ Natural and Political Divisions.—Transvaal has been divided into three more or less distinct natural regions, determined chiefly by the relief of the land, and its climatic and economic conditions. These are— (1) the Hooge veld, or uplands, comprising the southern districts drained by the Vaal and the Drakenberg highlands as far north as the Lipalule, about 35,000 square miles altogether, with an altitude ranging from 4000 to 7000 feet ”