William Eveleigh

“ The lover of natural scenery will find little to attract him in such parts of the country as the Namib, Great Namaqualand, or the eastern steppes, for over large areas the aspects of nature are so consistently uniform as to become painfully monotonous, and this uniformity, combined with the absence of foliage and verdure and lakes and running streams, is very depressing to the traveller. But the country is not the [Pg 31] wilderness many have been led to believe. When once the desert belt is crossed and the mountain plateaux are reached, some bold and striking mountain scenery meets the eye. ”

“ There are people who have lived at Luderitzbucht, one of the driest parts of the Namib, continuously for eight or ten years, and they are exceedingly active and healthy, while [Pg 48] at Windhoek strong and sturdy children are developing a splendid physique in the pure, bracing air of the plateau. Malarial fever, which hangs like a death cloud over many parts of Africa, is sometimes found in the north and north-west of the country, but it prevails in a mild form. ”

“ The mineral wealth is the most considerable source of prosperity, and is likely to exercise a most important influence on the immediate future of the colony. The diamond fields will not be exhausted, perhaps, for another twenty years; and should there be a considerable restriction of the output on resuming operations, as is likely, the fields may be a source of wealth for a much longer period. Development work in the existing copper mines has greatly improved the prospects of the mining companies, since the continuity of the ore to greater depths has been definitely proved. ”

“ The Hereros migrated from the north or north-east, and for some time they occupied the territory north of the Namaquas, living in communities under the government of chiefs. Their riches consisted of cattle, and they have always shown a great reluctance to part with any of their animals. Among early travellers they won an unenviable notoriety on account of their cruelty, filthy habits, and degenerate tastes. In their conflicts with the German forces they revealed remarkable and unexpected powers of resistance. About 15,000 to 20,000 of these people are found in the country at present. ”

“ It has not been found south of the Kuisip district.
The curious Naras, Acanthosicyos horrida, has been well termed the “Wonder of the Waste,” for this shrubby, leafless member of the order Cucurbitacea spreads over the sand dunes in dense straggling masses, defying all the sandstorms that threaten to bury it. Instead of tendrils it bears sharp thorns, while the main root may be as thick as a man’s arm, with a length of 20 to 40 feet. The fruit is about the size of a very big orange, and the skin encloses a yellow pulp of a rich flavour and a number of seeds similar in taste to almonds. ”

“ Experience has shown that no scheme of colonisation has much chance of success by which men are bribed to become settlers: it is only by making it worth their while to settle, by affording encouragement to energy, initiative and resource, that the right stamp of men are attracted.
To sum up the facts then and state our conclusions; South-West Africa is a country rich in mineral wealth, that needs exploitation; it is a fine grazing country that will carry hundreds of thousands of cattle; it is a comparatively poor agricultural land, whose principal need is irrigation ”

“ As the gems are found along the coast and on the islands off the coast, it is not unreasonable to infer that they lie in the sand of the sea-bed, unless they have been dropped from the clouds. Here is an opportunity for an enterprising syndicate. Then it must be remembered that the war has seriously affected the diamond trade. The market will take years to recover. Even when conditions swing back to normal it will be some time before the market will be able to absorb the existing stock of stones. ”

“ There are no very large towns in existence, but the few small towns and villages compare very favourably with those of similar size in the Union of South African, while several of them are considerably in advance as regards public [Pg 175] buildings and modern improvements. The principal towns are Windhoek, Swakopmund, Luderitzbucht, and Keetmanshoop. Windhoek has a picturesque situation in the best part of the territory, 180 miles from Swakopmund in a direct line. As the seat of Government and the military headquarters, it has long been the most important town in the country. ”

“ It is significant that owing to drought the crops of 1913 were a total failure, with the exception—and the exception is important—of those under irrigation. There should be no great difficulty in the way of developing the water supply, since the country seems to have a good supply of underground water. Even in the Kalahari nine artesian wells were struck last year by boring in the valley of the Auob River. Fresh boreholes have developed an ample supply for the town of Windhoek, with more than sufficient to meet the need for an underground drainage system. ”

“ There are five to ten, or even more, leaves to each plant, but nothing appears at the surface except these windows; they peep out of the sand like the eyes of the sand-lizard or sand-vipers, which often hide themselves in a similar way. ”

“ The use of force as the method of civilisation has had its inevitable result on the natives. In some districts it is not safe for a German to venture to-day, and no German settler who valued his life would presume to make a home anywhere near these areas without the protection afforded by the presence of armed soldiers. There [Pg 145] has also been a steady exodus of Hereros into British territory for many years, for, as one of the Hereros wrote to his kinsmen, “the land of the English is a good land.” ”

“ The only use of war, says a cynical writer, is to teach geography. Certainly there are many people in South Africa who a few months ago would have been sorely puzzled to locate Luderitz Bay on the map of Africa. ”

“ There can hardly be a more dreary place on earth than the strip of desert land that borders the coast of South-West Africa, and it is hardly a matter for surprise that geologists tramped leisurely over the [Pg 198] wind-blown sand dunes, making careful note of the geological features of the country, without for a moment suspecting that the gravel beneath their feet was thickly studded with the hard and brilliant little “stones of fire” known as diamonds. Somehow or other it is not the lot of the geologist to discover gems and gold in South Africa. ”

“ Walvis Bay is comparatively near to Europe, and with a direct steamship service to British ports, it will be possible to establish a lucrative industry in slaughtered cattle and sheep. Germany was hoping to profit considerably by the [Pg 239] development of the pastoral lands of the territory, but the stream will now be diverted to Great Britain and the Union of South Africa.
The third source of wealth is the agricultural lands. As already stated, there are only 13,000 acres under cultivation, and this fact is explained by the dryness of the climate. ”

“ Several of the mining properties are linked up to Luderitzbucht by light railways, and the companies in the vicinity of the town draw their electric power for the machinery from the well-equipped power-station at Luderitz Bay. Oil engines are in use on the distant claims. The entire coastal belt is practically a desert, and the little water found here and there in the [Pg 212] wells that have been sunk is too brackish for human consumption; so water, both for drinking and diamond-washing purposes, is derived from the sea. Large condensers have been erected on the coast ”

“ After thorough examination of the territory Dr. Rohrbach estimated that the grazing land was equal in area to that of the German Empire in Europe, and capable of carrying 3,000,000 head of cattle and 2,000,000 sheep and goats.
But although large areas may be suitable for live stock it must be remembered that [Pg 236] this does not by any means imply a large population. The pasturage is thin, droughts are frequent, and small farms are practically useless. A farm capable of giving any adequate return should be at least 20,000 acres in extent. ”

“ Great Namaqualand, the country that stretches from the south of Damaraland to the Orange River, is a land of rugged hills, stony kopjes, and boundless plains. In the Karas Mountains, the main ridge rises again to a height of 6,600 feet above the sea, and the plateaux have a north to south direction. The boundless plains, really extended tablelands, are a principal feature of the country, and they are invariably sandy. ”

“ The Windhoek region has an average annual rainfall of 15 inches. Whirlwinds often herald the approach of the rain. In the warmer north and north-east 24 inches is often registered in a year. Great Namaqualand is much drier, 6 or 7 inches being about the average. The rain comes almost invariably in the form of violent thunderstorms which sweep along in a limited area. It is a common experience to travel over a stretch of dry and barren land to enter suddenly a tract of vivid green where the vegetation is in full activity, so local is the distribution of the rain. ”

“ Lions were a constant source of trouble to travellers even long after the middle of the last century. Elephants roamed the country in big herds, and for some years, in the ’seventies and ’eighties, the trade in ivory from Damaraland was considerable, many thousands of pounds worth being brought to the coast for export each year. The black rhinoceros was common. The rare animal known as the white rhinoceros, [Pg 72] R. simus, was also found. As stated in a previous chapter, the first giraffe’s skin ever sent to Europe from South Africa came from Great Namaqualand in 1763. ”

“ Centres so far distant from each other as Bethanien, in the south-west, Omaruru, north-east of Walvis Bay, and Gobabis, east of Windhoek, on the Kalahari border, also have their springs.
Water may generally be obtained even in the dry season by digging beneath the alluvium of a river bed, especially where a ledge of rocks crosses the watercourse. In some places, notably on the borders of the Namib and in the eastern areas, the water found by boring is brackish, and often unfit for human consumption. After the rainstorms water often lies for long periods in the natural depressions or vleís ”

“ The reptile world is represented by a number of exceedingly venomous snakes, but fortunately they are not numerous, and deaths from snake-bite are of rare occurrence. There is the ferocious cobra, one of the most deadly snakes in South Africa, of which there are several species. Anchietas cobra, Naia Anchietæ, attains to an average length of 5 feet, and the well-known Cape cobra, Naia Flava, is about the same length. These reptiles are as active as they are venomous. ”

“ That a Pan-German propaganda has been carried on in South Africa for some time is now evident, and, as recent events have made abundantly clear, the seduction of men of “Low German descent” from their [Pg 153] allegiance to the Union Government, was a main part of the propaganda. Happily, the majority of the Dutch Africanders were too wise to attach any importance to the specious promises of a Republic, and with their fellow citizens of British extraction they have played an honourable part in the breaking up of the German rule in South-West Africa. ”

“ The peculiar problems of the country have been most diligently studied, and maps dealing with geological features, rainfall, vegetation, distribution of wild animals, etc., have been compiled with great skill and most careful attention to detail.
On the whole Germany is able to give a fairly good account of her stewardship so far as the development of the colony is concerned. Thirty years is a short period in which to look for broad and beneficial results in a land that has many natural disadvantages; that so much has been achieved is a tribute to the patience and persistence of the settlers. ”

“ The Kolmanskop Company is registered in the Cape Province, and they have a valuable holding of about 10,000 acres, 6 miles from Luderitzbucht.
The first stage in exploitation is rather picturesque, from the spectator’s point of view. You plod up the side of a sand dune and, on gaining the top, look down into the depression below and see, perhaps, a dozen natives crawling about the sand [Pg 209] on all fours as if in search of coins or gems which some one has dropped. You watch them. One man is using the flat of his hand as a scoop, running it slowly through the sand ”

“ In South Africa it is only because he dries up the soil so terribly that the traveller wishes to have less of him.” [4]
The extreme dryness of the air on the plateaux enables Europeans to endure heat that would be unbearable in London or New York. A shade temperature of 108 °F. in either of these cities would be responsible for many a collapse, but it would pass at Windhoek without anyone being the worse for it. Even on the Namib some compensation would be afforded by the sea breezes. ”

“ The rainfall is too scanty, and the soil of too sandy a nature, to permit of extensive cultivation without artificial aids. Much might be done by the introduction of improved methods of farming and by means of irrigation, since the soil is amazingly fertile. Dr. Rohrbach maintains that the land is much better and more fertile than most parts of Cape Colony.
The rich silt lands of the Kuisip River, and the alluvial loams of the Kuisip Valley, for instance, wait for exploitation by the [Pg 240] man who will tap the underground stores of water and send them out over the fertile tracts. ”

“ A country in which Afrikanders have fallen in war and have been buried will have more than a material value in the eyes of Africa’s sons. For the first time in history British and Dutch have fought side by side on African soil to overthrow the common enemy, and the land won amid such conditions will always have peculiar value to those who have made sacrifices to secure it. No: South-West Africa must drop into its natural place as an integral part of the Union of South Africa. ”

“ On South-West Africa, in annual subsidies, administrative expenses, and warlike operations, it is estimated that Germany has spent nearly £50,000,000.
Officialism has been the bane of the country; the whole system of government has been altogether too elaborate and costly. At one time every third male adult was an official, and, apparently, the main occupation of these men was the compilation of voluminous records of all that pertained to the life of the civilians. ”

“ In many parts of the Union of South Africa the farmers are confronted with a similar difficulty.
Will South-West Africa ever become a manufacturing country? Certainly there is no prospect of it at present. The requisites for producing manufactured articles, such as a big market, cheap sources of mechanical power, and cheap and efficient labour, are all wanting, and they are not likely to be available, at any rate in the present generation. Such demand for manufactured goods as there is can easily be met by importation from Europe. ”

“ Every blade of grass, every leaf, [Pg 235] every shoot possesses unusual nourishing properties. This is proved by the fat, good condition and strength of cattle, mules, horses, etc., fed on this dry but extraordinarily nourishing fodder, even after a ten months’ drought. One district is best for cattle breeding, another for small stock, and yet another for horse raising, but cattle can be bred everywhere, and even the most desolate, desert-like districts can be turned to account by grazing the cattle over a large area. ”

“ The Windhoek district has the largest population, as it claims 2,871 people; Luderitzbucht is second with 1,616; Swakopmund third with 1,463; Karibib has the fourth place with 1,170; while Keetmanshoop is not far behind with 1,155.
The nationality of the population was, of course, largely German; there were only 272 Englishmen, but there were 1,630 “other British subjects.” The percentage of other nationalities to the population was very small.
There has been a slow but steady increase in population since the close of the native wars in 1906 ”

“ The progress of the country has been [Pg 242] retarded by a shortage of native labour. Some farmers affirm that they can make no progress whatever owing to the scarcity and unreliability of native workmen, but, as the ex-Consul shrewdly observes in his last Report on the Trade of German South-West Africa (1913) , “As a rule a farmer who knows how to manage his servants and understands their limitations has no difficulty in getting his work done. ”

“ While many and grievous mistakes have been made, it must be remembered that success in the difficult sphere of colonial enterprise rarely, if ever, comes save with experience. To provide in South-West Africa a home for German emigrants and a [Pg 174] market for German trade, considerable effort and large sums of money have been expended, and that success is not more marked is partly due to the fact that so much energy has been devoted to warlike operations rather than to the task of colonisation. ”

“ Until wells are dug, dams made, large irrigation works executed, and markets for produce opened up, agriculture will play only a subordinate part in South-West African industry, and the energies of the whites will be devoted to the exploitation of the mineral wealth and the raising of cattle and sheep. ”

“ As a stock-raising country South-West Africa has great possibilities. Dr. Rohrbach writes: “In spite of the varied nature of the land, from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene in the north, and from the Namib in the west to the Kalahari in the east, its vegetation and conformation are those of a sub-tropical steppe and grazing country, which is marked out by Nature herself for cattle raising.” Herr Hermann, in “Viehzucht und Bodenkultur in Deutsch Süd-West Africa” (1914) , confirms this estimate, and states that “the whole country is open to cattle breeders. ”

“ For a dry country South-West Africa is fairly rich in vegetation, and it may be useful to give some slight impression of the part which the vegetation plays in the landscape and in the economic conditions of the country, cursory though our examination must be. ”

“ Swarms of the migratory locust cause much damage when they descend upon the vegetation. Among the smaller but not less troublesome creatures are the many beetles, spiders, ticks, and mites.
In the coast waters the ungainly seals have their home, and off Cape Cross they are found in very large numbers. Whales are not so numerous as in former years, but several whaling stations are in existence along the shore. Altogether, South-West Africa has an uncommon variety of individuals in the animal world. ”