1891-2 the vote has increased to £147,092. With regard to Coast defence it will be seen that, although the Cape Colony is a Maritime State, nearly the whole cost falls upon England. Within very recent times the harbour of Simon's Bay and the batteries in the vicinity of Table Bay have been greatly strengthened, and positions which were once at the mercy of a strong fleet made tolerably secure. The Colonists have taken upon themselves the expense of erecting the batteries and of providing gunners for the artillery, the British Government providing guns and ammunition. At the Colonial Conference in 1887, it was the Dutch leader at the Cape, Mr. J. Hofmeyr, who propounded to the representatives of the Colonies a scheme for Imperial Defence based upon a differential duty levied at the ports of the Empire'. (23) With regard to the general question of defence, it must be remembered that at the Cape, as in Canada, military services are required from every citizen as part of his natural obligations as 'a member of the State.' The old Burgher law was Conscription for all between seventeen and sixty. It was brought about in the first place by the necessity of organising Commandoes under Landdrosts against the native races on the border. This principle is still active in the Dutch Republics, and exists also, although in a somewhat dormant manner, in the Cape Colony. During the Basuto war the late Sir Bartle Frere endeavoured to organise the system more completely, and to bring the three lines of defence into working order. The Governments of South Africa possess a cheap and effective auxiliary to their regular forces in the native levies, corps of guides, and drivers and camp followers, recruited from Hottentots and Kaffirs. In times past 1 Appendix IX. the natives have done good service in our frontier wars. As scouts the natives, from their knowledge of the country, are simply invaluable. Their sight is keen, their hardihood great, and their pluck unquestioned. In the Zulu war loyals were found very useful, and it was well known that Chief Dunn's contingent was of especial service to Lord Chelmsford. Lord Wolseley found the aid of the Swazie Contingent very useful in the Sekukuni Campaign, and on the borders of the Cape Colony itself the Fingoe levies formed a well-known body of auxiliaries. The native forces are capable of development to any extent, as infantry or cavalry, in South Africa. CHAPTER X. Industries, Wealth, Imports and Exports, Revenue, Expenditure, Public Debt, Railways, Telegraph, Post Office, Trade, Shipping, Summary. (1) The development of the wealth and natural resources of the Cape Colony and the adjoining settlements has always taken place in some extraordinary and unexpected manner within the last fifty years; so much so, in fact, that Cape Colonists have in times of financial depression consoled themselves with the well-known Micawber reflection that something would turn up,' and they have not been disappointed. For many years the wealth of South Africa consisted mainly in the flocks and herds 6 of the Boers, in the thousands of wild animals which roamed over its plains, and, nearer the Cape Peninsula, in the fruitful vineyards of the Cape vignerons. Horns and hides, wool and wine, were the usual articles of export to other countries. But just about the forties of the present century this stagnant state of affairs was destined to be changed. In 1843 a most unexpected mine of wealth was discovered on the south-west coast of Africa, which drew attention to the country and led to further developments. A sea-captain, named Morrell, had made known from his observations the existence of a rainless region in this part of the world, where there were some small islands haunted by myriads of sea-fowl. A Liverpool merchant, hearing of it, sent three vessels in search of them, one of which succeeded in chancing upon the Island of Ichaboe, and finding there vast quantities of guano. Up to this point the Peruvian Islands had been the sole source of this wealth, which was then selling at £9 58. per ton in the English market. This Island of Ichaboe, in reality a rock less than a mile in circumference, the highest point of which was less than sixty feet, was found to have a deposit of guano forty feet in depth on one side and ten feet deep on the other. Other islands, also, were discovered, although of less value. The quantity of guano that entered the English market from these deposits was calculated to be 300,000 tons, valued at £2,100,000, at the rate of £7 per ton. Of this extraordinary find it has been said: 'At that time Africa was of the greatest benefit to the shipping interest of England. In 1843 it was most depressed, and ships were lying idle and filling the docks all over the country; but the guano traffic which arose in Africa revived that trade, and thousands of ship-owners were made rich'.' At one time it was said that three hundred vessels were 16 'Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute,' vol, xviii. p. 240. lying at once in the Channel of Ichaboe, and by February, 1845, the whole of the deposit was removed. Such was the strange treasure island that gave to South Africa the first impulse towards prosperity, for, although the wealth of guano was taken away and benefited England, it turned the attention of the world to the Cape, and induced people to examine its resources more narrowly. (2) Facing the guano islands lay a low and, to all appearance, most dry and inhospitable coast-line, the main features of which have been already described. For all purposes of colonisation Namaqualand, both pastoral and agricultural, must have appeared absolutely useless; yet a closer examination proved that the rocks of this waterless land abounded in rich deposits of copper ore. As early as 1683 an old Dutchman named Simon van der Stell had explored Namaqualand for mineral, and left his name cut deep into the hard gneiss rock which formed the entrance to a small shaft; but the attention of Englishmen was not turned seriously to this coast until 1842-3'. At that time ore was taken from Angra Pequena, a small cove which has since fallen into the possession of the Germans. The first systematic search for copper was made at Springbokfontein, and for some time afterwards bubble companies were formed which brought about a certain amount of ruin and disaster in their wake. Presently the industry assumed a settled phase, and fresh mines being discovered at O'okiep near Springbokfontein, a railway was constructed, and communication opened up with the west coast through Port Nolloth, ninety miles distant. The ores are of very rich quality, and, after classification and dressing, they average an assay of about 32 per cent.2 The following is a 1 'Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute,' vol. xviii. p. 240. 2 'Argus Annual,' 1890, p. 485. return showing the export of copper ore in 1864-5, and in (3) The next development was that of the Diamond Fields, an account of which has already been given in the description of Kimberley and the history of Griqualand West. Here, too, a dry and barren wilderness, apparently useful for none of the ordinary uses of mankind, despised by the Colonists, and purchasable for a few oxen or rix-dollars, proved a veritable Eldorado. In addition to the diamond mines already worked there are said to be others discovered recently in the vicinity'. Should this prove to be the case, the prosperity of the trade must be even greater than it is at present. Gold has not been discovered in large or paying quantities in the Cape Colony, the only mines being those of the Knysna Gold Fields at the extreme south of the Colony, near the large forests, and recently Prince Albert. For the year ending December 31, 1888, the output was 448 oz. The Knysna Gold Field is estimated at 42 square miles 2. It would appear that the most paying gold reefs are further north, in the Transvaal, under which heading an account of them is given, and in Mashonaland. The coal seams of the Cape Colony lie at Cyphergat, Molteno, and Fair View in the Albert division, and at Indwe in the Wodehouse division. The produce of these mines in 1890 was 23,021 tons 3. The Indwe coal mine, situated about 60 miles to 1 Appendix X. 26 Proceedings of Royal Colonial Institute,' vol. xviii. |