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RHODESIA

ANCIENT BUILDIXC— ZIMl

RHODESIA

PAST AND PRESENT

S. J. DU TO IT

FOUNDER OF THE AFRIKANDER BUND ; REPRESENTATIVE OF
THE TRANSVAAL TO LONDON CONVENTION, 1883-84

WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN

1897

4) M'SS

3i 'Ml

PREFACE

The reader has probably seldom met with more
heterogeneous elements in one single book. Some
portions were written in our waggon, some under
a tree, on a stone, near an ant-heap, on the brink
of a river, on board ship, on the beach, in an old
mine, amidst ancient ruins; seldom with the pen,
mostly with pencil; sometimes by the glare of a fire,
sometimes by the feeble glimmer of a candle in a
lantern, mostly with the inconvenience of a traveller in
a new country, often in a hurry to avail ourselves of
the scanty chances of postal out-stations; mere fleeting
impressions, incoherent but fresh, in the shape of
letters to friends. On the contrary, other parts were
written in my study, in the midst of a library of
books on the North, dealing with the old diggings
and ruins, and give a resume of much reading and
reflection, coupled with my own investigations and
experience.

Well then, we give it, and let the reader take it for
what it is worth. We always trouble ourselves only
about what we write^ never about what we have

vi PREFACE

ivritten. That is for the reader to judge. What is
written, is written.

One remark only need be added. When we started
for the North, the secretary of the Chartered Company
kindly supplied us with letters of introduction to all
officials of the Company in Mashonaland and Matabe-
leland. Not a single one of these letters did we use.
We brought them all back. Purposely we avoided
coming into contact with the Company's officials as far
as possible ; we wanted to see with our own eyes ;
to judge impartially and unprejudiced. Whatever
deficiencies this book, consequently, may have, of
which we are fully conscious, it is written according
to our own disinterested observation and honest
conviction.

S. J. DU TOIT.

Paarl, September 7, 1895.

CONTENTS

LETTER I
BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY

PAGE

How the Dutch Pioneer opened the Country with his 0.x-
waggon — The English following with Telegraph and
Railway — Praises of the** slow but sure'' Ox and Ox-
waggon — Still indispensable — Difference between former
and present Pioneers — Ox-waggon preceding Railway —
Rhodes the present Pioneer — Africa the Land of the
Future — Why so long unknown — High and healthy —
No Waterways, awaiting the Railway — From Cape to
Cairo — Two Signboards — Co-operation of English and
Dutch I

LETTER II
FROM VRYBURG TO MAFEKING

Bechuanaland's Population increasing — The Trade Route
— Transvaal exclusive Policy — Means of Transport front
Vry burg to Salisbury — ** He is only a Kaffir^^— Trans-
vaal Incredulity — Montsioa — The Friend of Trees —
Mafekingy the trim Border Town — The Railway just
crossing the Border of Civilisation — The increasing
Stream of Malopo 13

• viii CONTENTS

LETTER III
FROM MAFEKING TO PALLA

PAGE

Three hundred miles per Ox-waggon — With the *Bus to
Bulawayo — Bush Country — Game and Birds — Guinea-
fowl Hunting by Night — Pleasures and Sorrows of
Hunters — What are these Trees for? — A Railway
through the Bush Country — Fire continually Burning
— A Fruitful and Habitable Country — Translation of
Kaffir Names 2i

LETTER IV

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE

Another 105 miles through Bush country — *^ Every one
goes to Bulawayo " — Through a " Thirst Land " — The
upper end of the Kalahari — Water and " Veldt'' — Chris-
tianity and Civilisation amongst the Kaffirs — Kaffirs as
Labourers — A Hint for our Labour Commission . . 28

LETTER V
FROM PALAPYE TO TATI

Palapye as Town — Chama as Christian and Ruler — A
Smouldering Fire — The Tropic passed — Hidden Water
— More Lions — Opening for Industry . . . .38

LETTER VI
THE TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PAST

First Gold Discoveries — The " Voortrekkers " here, also
the Pioneers — Salkats and Loben fear the Gold — First
Gold-seekers — The Tati Concession — Why there is no
greater Success • 47

CONTENTS ix

LETTER VII
THE TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT

PAGE

Reality equal to a Novel — Plan of Novel concerning Solo-
mon's Mining Works here — Amongst Game and Beasts
of Prey — Great Mining Works in the far Interior . . 54

LETTER VIII

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER OF THE
MATABELE EMPIRE

The Boundaries of Matabeleland — The Descent of Salkats
— Salkats and Chaka — Salkats and the Boers — Salkats
and the Mashonas, Makalakas, and Baroets — His Death
and Successor — The Poor Mataheles — Their Miserable
State and Humiliation 63

LETTER IX

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER OF THE
MATABELE EMPIRE

Contrast between Salkats and Lobengula — The Weak-
nesses of Lobengula — Lobengula the Victim of English
Policy — Downing Street does what Pretoria refused to do
— Not the Boety but the Englishman acquires the North
— First by Diplomacy j then by Gold Concessions, finally
with the Maxim — The Grobler Murder — '* Bobejaun "
sent to the White Queen — England's Suzerainty acknow-
ledged — ^^ Protection,'' which in Five Years' time annihi-
lated the Empire — His Birthright sold for a Pottage of

X CONTENTS

PAGE

Lentils, or Lobengula^s Concession Policy — Concession
first towards North-east, then South-west — More and
larger Concessions — The Chartered Company with Rights
on One-eleventh of Africa, or One Million square Miles —
Had Rhodes the Right to make War ? — The War com-
menced — Had it been against Salkats! — Assegai or
Rifle — The Entrance Gates not Guarded — What happened
at Manqwe — The Shangani Battle — Two clever Scouts —
Wilson idolised, Forbes censured — The Bembezi Battle —
Night and Dawn in Matabeleland 76

LETTER X
FROM BULAWAYO TO THE QUEEN'S REEF

Further Travelling Plan — The old City of Murder —
The Imbezi Military Kraal — Lobengula's Picked Regiment
— Interview with a few of these Warriors — Umfasi
Matiho — Severe Morality of the Kaffirs — Its Weakening
by Civilisation — Old Mining Works — The Ancients were
good Prospectors — Their lead is now being followed —
The Queen's Reef — In the Paarl Camp . . . .92

LETTER XI
FROM THE QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI

Burning of the ^^ Veldt,'' and Prospector's Tracks through
Matabeleland — With Donkeys and in Grass Huts — The
Trader follows the Gold-seeker — Prices in Matabeleland
— Bees' heads in Sugar — In a forsaken Orchard — The
Subjection of the Matabele — Missions without Success —
Lions — On the Road by which Lobengula fled — Thirteen
days without Whites — Eight without seeing Kaffirs —
What we saw and found along the Shangani — Books and
Papers thrown away — Fishing amongst Crocodiles — Back
from the wrong Road 99

CONTENTS xi

LETTER XII
FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO

PAGE

Stuck in the Forest — Open Roads with eight Tracks ! —
Baobab and Mahogany Trees — Post Pole along the Road
— One Matabele with eight Wives — How the Ancients
crushed the Quartz — Many thousands of Labourers —
Nightly Visitors — A Sunday Dinner — A Wild Boar —
A cheeky Matabele Petty Chief — A Prospector^s Camp
destroyed by a Dynamite Explosion — Important Informa-
tion — Gwelo and its Prospects — The Surroundings of
Gwelo 109

LETTER XIII
ANOTHER 350 MILES PER OX-WAGGON

Retrospect — Thirteen hundred Miles per Ox-waggon —
Back by Three Roads — Why we chose the Beira Route —
The Selukwe Gold-fields — The Paarl also here well repre-
sented — Beautiful Scenery — Forests of wild Loquats —
New Roads in a new Land — The Victoria District suit-
able for Agriculture and Cattle farming — Testimonies of
Farmers from the Colony, Free State, the Transvaal,
and Natal — Fort Victoria — The Country surrounding
Zimbabwe — At the Grave of Wilson and his brave Com-
pany — " Morgenster" the first Mission Station of the
Dutch Reform Church in Rhodesia — Mashona Towns on
Granite Koppies — How the Mashonas cultivate their
lands — Back to Bulawayo 121

xii CONTENTS

LETTER XIV

HOW WILSON AND HIS MEN PERISHED
A Tragical Episode in the Matabele War

PAGE

First and last Fights at the Shangani — Two renowned
American Scouts and their Wonderful Deeds of Recon-
noitring — Meeting and Interview with Burnham — Chief
Adventures of the Expedition which pursued Lohengula —
Burnham' s Account of that memorable Night and Morning
—Close on Lohengula' s Heels — " No European shall cross
the Shangani^' — Reconnoitring with Wilson and twelve
men across the Shangani — Through thousands of Kaffirs
in the Night — The whole Matabele Nation and Army with
Lohengula — Almost surrounded by Kaffirs — Three Men
sent to ask Forbes to cross at once with the whole Force, in
order to attack Lohengula at Daybreak — Seeking in the
Night for three men who had strayed amongst the Kaffirs —
Following tracks on a dark and rainy Night — A II out in
the Night as Spies — The Kaffir impis, being misled, march
past to Forbes — Waiting for Forbes — Burrows arrives
with Twenty Men, without a Maxim— Hopeless Condition
— Consultation : ^^How best to Die " — Wilson's Tactics, a
Bold Move — Directly on the King and his Chief Indunas
— The Waggons empty — Attacked and almost surrounded
by Kaffirs — Shoot straight and waste no Ammunition —
Good Shooting in Danger — Behind a great Ant-heap —
Retreating with closed up Ranks — Where does Forbes
Tarry ? — Burnham, Ingram, and Gooding break through
dense masses of Kaffirs towards Forbes — Mislead the
Kaffirs by Detours — A Race for Life — The last they
heard of Wilson — Swimming the River with tired Horses
— Through the midst of the Enemy to the Laager — Dis-
satisfied with Forbes^ s behaviour — Why Raaff took the

CONTENTS xiii

PAGE

Command — What the Kaffirs relate — Wilson's heroic
Death— A Magician who could not be killed — A Death
song in the midst of Death — Did they Shoot themselves ? —
The Representation by Forbes and his Distortion of Facts
— Burnham well Rewarded ; an energetic Inhabitant of
the Country 133

LETTER XV

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY

How you obtain Travelling Tickets at Bulawayo — Leav-
ing Thirty Hours behind Time — Passing a Night on the
Omnibus between the Baggage — The Twin-Commando
Road — How the two Columns formed Laagers — African-
ders as Post Contractors — Discomforts on the Journey , 151

LETTER XVI

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO

Self-conceit of the Johannesburgers — What a Digger's
Paper dares to say — Full Hotels and Crammed ^Buses
^-The Contractor gives us his own Seat — A Iready Fifty
prosperous Farmers in the District — Amongst them
Men from the Paarlj now our Fellow-Travellers — Build-
ing^ Building, and no ^^To Lets '* — A Town Hall costing
£40,000 — Danger and Loss for Church and Nation^
ality — Journalism in Zambesia — The Twin City—'
Salisbury and Bulawayo — Two Dogs for one Bone-^
According to which Standard to Judge — A big T and a
big Pear 162

xiv CONTENTS

LETTER XVII
FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI

PAGE

/// through Fatigue — A good way through a beautiful
Country — A recently laid-out Farm in a New Country —
" Here I could live'' — Laurencedale — Umtali in a beau-
tiful Valley — Where the Roads divide — A new Highland
— Old Viaducts discovered— Were these the Grain Fields
of the Ancients? — Are these their Catacombs ?— An
interesting Conversation in the evening, during which
the Fatigue of the Journey is forgotten , . . .173

LETTER XVIII
FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA

The Descent from Umtali to the Sea coast — The Height
of Salisbury, Umtali, Chimoio and Fontesvilla — Distances
and Time per Ox-waggon — Railway and River-boat —
The Omnibus with Oxen wins — We descend the Moun-
tains — Tropical Vegetation — How far is this Country
habitable ? — Resembles Lower Egypt — Africa built in
Terraces — Hence no Navigable Rivers, but healthy High-
lands — To be opened by Railways — Open Land for super-
fluous Population of Europe — Railway Termiftus not
Bulawayo, but Cairo — Midnight at Chimoio — £i for
every Five Miles per Ox- waggon — This is due to the
Tsetse Fly — Down the Mountains by Rail — Beautiful
Tree growth — Stately Palm Trees — Game on the Flats —
What the Game teaches us — The White Rhinoceros not
yet extirpated — Protection necessary — List of Game —
Fontesvilla a Village on Poles, sometimes a small Venetia
— Two Days without Food on the Pungwe — Subsisting
on Pisangs (Bananas) — Adventures — Railway versus
River-boat 184

CONTENTS XV

LETTER XIX
THE COMPETING SEAPORTS

PAGE

Beira and Delagoa the best natural Ports of South Africa
— Contrast with Durban and East London — The calum-
niated Portuguese Government defended — Advantages of
the two Portuguese Havens — Beira as Town, Trading
Place, and Haven — Sofala, Solomon's Port — German
Steam Navigation on the East Coast — Delagoa — False
Reports — Durban, including Theatre, ^^to let" — A
Model Tram Service — A good Word for the Coolies in
Natal — Fruit Export to the Cape Colony — Natal not
feared as Competitor in the Trade to the Interior — Beira
the Natural Port of Rhodesia, Delagoa of the Transvaal
— Eloquent and Stubborn Figures — Geographical Facts
— Comparison of the Distances by Land and Sea — Pre^
sent Prices of Transport — Future of Eastern, or Suez
Sea Route — Advantage of having Rhodes as our Premier
at present 199

ILLUSTRATIONS

Paee

Ancient Buildingy Zimbabwe .... Frontispiece

Ant-heap near the Notwani River ....

Mahogany Tree, Palapye

. 36

Remnants of a Banquet, Bulawayo ....

At Bulawayo

On the Shangani

Forest near the Shangani

Store, Hartley Hills

At the Selukwe Gold-fields

104

Native Huts, Zimbabwe

128

Zimbabwe

144

Hut Building, Selukwe

148

Granite Wall, Zimbabwe

160

Ruins at Zimbabwe

168

At Zimbabwe

178

Outer Wall, Zimbabwe

214

RHODESIA

LETTER I
BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY

How the Dutch Pioneer opened the Country with his Ox-
waggon — The English following with Telegraph and
Railway — Praises of the ^^ slow hut sure'' Ox and Ox-
waggon — Still indispensable — Difference between former
and present Pioneers — Ox-waggon preceding Railway —
Rhodes the present Pioneer — Africa the Land of the
Future — Why so long unknown — High and healthy —
No Waterways, awaiting the Railway — From Cape to
Cairo — Two Signboards — Co-operation of English and
Dutch,

Ramoutsa, July 20, 1894.
Dear Friends, — Sketches of our travels once more.
On a former occasion we took you first through
England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy;
from there to Egypt and Palestine ; thence through
Turkey, Austria, France and Belgium, and then via
England back to our beloved fatherland. Afterwards
we gave you an extensive description of our ** Travels
through Bible Lands.'* And on a later occasion we
related our experiences as a member of the Transvaal
Deputation to England, Holland, France, Belgium,

2 RHODESIA

Portugal and Germany, whereby we were enabled to
introduce you to the courts of these various States.

This time we describe our own country. Latterly
the opening up of the Northern regions drew so
much attention, especially those regions between the
Limpopo and the Zambesi, that we decided to go and
see for ourselves and give you a true description of
our own experiences and observations.

Our journey goes in the first place to Bulawayo
via Vryburg and Mafeking. Naturally the first half
is done by rail, as far as Vryburg, the extension to
Mafeking being still under construction. Our light,
but strongly built spring-waggon, with tent affixed,
was forwarded a few days in advance, together with
a good supply of tinned and other provisions, and
Thursday evening, July 5, Mr. G. J. Malherbe and
myself left the Paarl station by rail for Vryburg, where
we arrived on Saturday evening.

Monday afternoon we left Vryburg for Mafeking, a
distance by rail of 102 miles, but with the winding
waggon road about 125 miles. Thus travelling with
the slow ox-waggon, after leaving the train, and along-
side the construction train — spending four days on
the distance traversed by the train in a few hours —
we immediately had time for observation, reflection,
and conversation, of which we give you a glimpse.

What a contrast when you exchange the train for
the bullock-waggon ! The boiling locomotive is so
much faster than the slow ox. From the Paarl to

BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY 3

Vryburg — a distance of 774 miles — it took us 46
hours. We get so accustomed to speed. But it
does not need a very strong memory to recollect
the time when it required good travelling to cover the
distance between the Paarl and the Orange River
in a month.

But we should be guilty of the usual superficialness
of our time (so often condemned by us), if we were
satisfied with this general observation, as if the ox-
waggon were now completely superseded by the train
in South Africa.

The old Dutch pioneer opened up the country with
his ox-waggon, the English now do it with telegraph
and railway. We live in a time of transition from the
ox-waggon to the railway. What can be more suitable
than to reflect for a moment what the ox-waggon
and the railway have respectively done for the opening
of the country and the development of its resources ;
in how far they reciprocally require each other ; and
in how far the Dutch farmer and the Englishman
ought, under the same guidance of providence, to
labour harmoniously together for the development of
our great and good country, this land of the future.

Where is the African poet, who will worthily sing
what the ox and ox-waggon have done for the opening
up and development of our country? Poets have
extolled in song the merits of the good-tempered
camel, that ship of the desert ; poets have painted, in
beautiful images, the virtues of the fleet and noble

4 RHODESIA

horse ; the usefulness of the locomotive has often been
extolled as high as the heavens, in song ; and far be it
from me to deny their virtues and usefulness. But
who will contradict me when I venture to state, that
for the opening and development of South Africa the
'* slow but sure " ox-waggon has done more than
camel, horse, and railway combined ?

The ox-waggon ! It was not only the means of
transport, but also the habitation, the travelling tent,
the altar, the fort of the emigrant. That waggon
contained his furniture, some provisions and ammuni-
tion, and on the top of that his wife and children found
a seat ; in the box-seat was his Bible, and in the tent
of the waggon his gun hung suspended, and with that
he entered the unknown interior I If the lion threatens
him, the gun is ready to hand. If the Kaffirs attack
him, the waggons are quickly drawn close together in
a circle, the openings are firmly closed up with thorn-
bushes and the wheels fastened together with the iron
chains belonging to each waggon (which are used
instead of '* breaks ") and his impregnable " fort " is
ready. When Sunday or a festive day comes round,
the Bible is brought out and the head of the family is
at once prophet and priest, in a thorough patriarchal
manner. So, you see, to him his waggon is everything.

In or alongside that waggon many a promise of
marriage was blushingly given, quite as honestly
meant and as sweet as those given in the most
courtlike halls ; in or alongside that waggon many a

BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY 5

honeymoon was spent quite as pleasant and sweet as
any spent in large hotels and cities. In that waggon
many children first saw daylight, and in that waggon
many a dearly beloved drew the last breath.

Even the first omnibus traffic between the Transvaal
and Mashonaland and now again between Mafeking
and Bulawayo is carried on with oxen. And how shall
our pioneers occupy Matabeleland, Mashonaland and
the region of the lakes, without the ox-waggon ? And
what would the railway do without the ox-waggon,
which has to transport produce and goods to and from
the nearest station ? For proof of this statement just
look at the teams of ox-waggons loading or unload-
ing the trucks of the train.

This proves that the ox is " slow and sure," but
also that he is not too slow. See, in four days we
have travelled about 125 miles from Vryburg to
Mafeking, and in three and a half days — 83 miles — from
Mafeking to Ramoutsa, from which place we write this.

So you see, reader, that there is at present no
urgent necessity to close up our waggon-manufactories.
He must be very superficial and ungrateful, who thinks
that we have already exchanged the ox-waggon for
the train.

For that waggon, the tame, patient, and strong ox
was the only possible animal. The noble horse could
not in that rough and unexplored interior keep up its
reputation, deprived of suitable stable and forage ; and
to crown all it had often to succumb to the very

6 RHODESIA

much feared "horse-sickness;" and the same applies
to the mule. The ox and the ox alone has scaled
those mountains, traversed those valleys and opened
the first roads. Without the ox the opening up of the
interior regions — Natal, the Free State, the Transvaal —
was an impossibility.

Even now we simply can^t do without the ox.* He
remains the true pioneer in the opening up of new
regions. After the ox comes the horse, and after the
horse the train ; this is the order, at least in our
country. However, the man who sticks to his ox-
waggon alone and will have nothing to do with tele-
graph and railway is just as onesided as he who forgets
its merits.

How should we manage to-day with the ox-waggon
alone, if we had not the train to Kimberley, Bloem-
fontein, Johannesburg, and Pretoria? How could the
diamond fields and the gold-fields have been developed
without railways ; and what would the development of
South Africa have been without the diamond and gold
fields ?

Consequently our conclusion is : both are to us in-
dispensable — the ox-waggon precedes and the railway
follows. Yes, the painter who wishes to depict the
development of South Africa will have to commit the

* What a commentary on these reflections does the rinder-
pest now furnish, the transport rates, with mules and donkeys,
having risen from £i to £^ los. between Mafeking and
Bulawayo !

BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY 7

seeming folly of letting the ox-waggon precede the
railway I

But even in this order some change has come. The
emigrant and pioneer opened up Natal, the Free State,
and the Transvaal with the ox-waggon ; but Rhodes
opens up Zambesia with the telegraph and railway.
How much quicker everything is done now ! The de-
velopment of the country now makes greater strides
in a few months than it formerly did in as many years,
during the time of the first **trek." Oh, how the
poor pioneer had to contend with unopened roads and
impassable rivers ; and now you are carried along on
smooth rails and across iron bridges. Formerly they
had a continual fight with lions and savages ; now you
no longer hear the lion's roar, and the power of the last
great heathen empire is broken. Then it took months
to convey any tidings — now this sketch will travel the
1000 miles to the Paarl in five days.

And what has caused this difference ? Then the
Englishman was the strong opponent of emigration
(^trek) and now, in the person of Mr. Rhodes, he
takes the initiative and assists. Then the pioneer's
supply of ammunition was hindered — if not stopped —
and the Kaffirs (sometimes on the sly and often openly)
assisted in their fight against these noble pioneers of
civilisation ; now Rhodes first breaks the tyranny, he
places police everywhere for protection, he has wells
dug all along the route and then invites the **Boer" to
come in and live in these new regions. Then the poor

8 RHODESIA

farmer had no market for his produce ; he could only
breed cattle and exchange or sell them to traders ; now
the railway opens the gold mines and the gold mines
introduce the train, and both combined give the farmer
a market for his produce. The road is ready and the
market waits.

Thus the opening of the interior is done more
rapidly. And still we do not see the end — ah ! who
can tell where it will end ? At first the Berg River
was the boundary of civilisation, afterwards the Orange
River, then the Vaal River, then the Limpopo, then
the Zambesi — but where will it end ? Shall it be at
Uganda or Cairo? .... We must here refer the
reader to what we wrote in ** Africa, the Land of the
Future," written in 1890, from which we cull a few

excerpts :

For long ages our southern hemisphere remained totally
unknown. Ov\y four centuries ago America and South Africa
were discovered, and as regards Africa only during the last
four years has this vast continent drawn the attention of the
civilised world.

Not long ago we visited the " Stanley and African Exhibi-
tion " in London. There were exhibited the maps of Africa
of all centuries, and looking at them you could scarcely with-
hold a laugh. Yes, this was first an unknown, then a dark
continent. Even the most fantastic forms were given to this
land. And of that vast hinterland, what fancy dictated was
marked down : and for the rest all was marked as — a desert !

But now the daylight begins to dawn over this dark con-
tinent, thanks to those intrepid explorers — a Livingstone and
De Chaillu, a Mauch and Holub, a Stanley, an Emin, a Peters
— but where will it end ? Exploring is still in its infancy.

BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY 9

This long unknown and unsought for Africa is now drawing
attention everywhere; it fills the columns of dailies and
periodicals; it opens up a new and strange worid to the
novelist, and a new field of exploit to the trader and
speculator

Even the Powers of Europe are busily engaged dividing
this immense continent between themselves. It is really
remarkable to note how now most of Europe's great Powers
vie with each other to secure the largest share of Africa's
11,000,000 square miles of area. About 5,000,000 of it are
already appropriated, and about 3,000,000 are still put down
as desert. Thus only 2,500,000 remain, and only 1,000,000
of that is still available.

Germany has appropriated to itself 600,000 square miles in
East, and 300,000 in West Africa; France has assumed
500,000 square miles ; the Congo Free State has gradually
absorbed 1,000,000 square miles, and Italy is grasping at
2,000,000

More than once we have questioned ourselves why Euro-
pean nations and States thus vie with each other to secure
the greatest possible share at the apportionment of Africa.
Does this competition arise from an "ahnung" or presenti-
ment that Africa is the land of the future, the field for their
over-population and over-production ?

But here the query arises : Why did this country, now so
eagerly sought after, remain for such a long time unknown
and closed to Europe ? The simple answer is because the
whole hinterland of this vast continent forms one plateau of
3000 to 5000 feet elevation. This is a great disadvantage,
because for this reason Africa's interior has got no waterways^
our rivers not being navigable, as they rush down seawards
over steep declines and rocky cataracts. For that reason the
hinterland remained closed to civilisation, and wherever it
tried to penetrate, it was hampered and obstructed in its
development.

On the other hand, the high elevation is a great advantage,

lo RHODESIA

which thus far has only been too much overlooked. Now
this elevated plateau is extraprdinarily healthy, situated as it
is on both sides of the equator. Now Africa has got all the
advantages of a tropical and sub-tropical climate, coupled
with a fertile soil, and healthy, comparatively temperate
atmosphere. Now we can boast of our Mountains of the
Moon, with eternal snows on their summits, and eternal
springs on their slopes. If Africa were a level country, we
would have had our navigable rivers as waterways, but of
what use would they be in an unhealthy, uninhabitable
country ?

Now we have got a vast, fertile, and healthy continent, only
waiting to be opened up — hy railways. Yes, the iron way and
the locomotive Africa requires more than any country in the
world for its opening up and development, for the very reason
of its high elevation. And already beginnings are made;
firom north, south, east, and west railways are piercing deeper
and deeper into the interior

But however useful these different lines from the different
coasts may be, the trunk line is still wanting, and as yet
nobody seems to think about it. A short time ago, being in
the city of London, and entering No. 5 Throgmorton Avenue,
our attention was drawn to two brazen signboards on two
doors adjoining each other. On the one was engraven,
" Consulate of the South African Republic," and on the
other, " Trans- African Railway Company." On investigation
we found that the railway was only a short Portuguese line
on the west coast, and, as we all know, " the South African
Republic " covers only a very small patch. But are both
titles not prophetic ? A railway or trunk line right across
Africa, from the Cape to Cairo, and a vast South African
Republic — are they the dreams of a heated imagination, or
the realities of the future ? Time will show.

We make one final remark. About twenty ^^ears
ago, we, with our own hand, wrote in the original

BULLOCK-WAGGON VERSUS RAILWAY ii

constitution of the Africander Bond, the motto, "-^
united South Africa under its own flag^

Up to the present we have remained true to that
watchword, with this slight modification, ^^ A united
South Africa under British Coast Protection^ And
even this last not with the remotest idea of driving
out of the country, in a revolutionary manner, the law-
fully established supremacy of England. No ! but we
wish (as has before been said) to grow up to a national
self-existence in a constitutional way and in God*s own
good time.

Let us not ignore the guidance of providence. God
has given us England as a guardian, a more considerate
one than Israel found in Pharoah of old. And we had
need of England, especially of English capital and
English industry. Again, what would the colony have
done with its diamond fields and the Transvaal with its
gold-fields, if England had not provided the millions of
mone\' with which the mines were opened and worked ?

And still we have need of England. The opening
of Mashonaland and Matabeleland has already cost
upwards of a million, and will cost several millions
more before railways and telegraphs are opened, towns
and bridges are built, and the gold-mines are in full
working order. We have not the money for all this.
God has ordained England to educate us as a nation,
and to open up our country for us. We shall gratefully
review all this when the day of our majority dawns.

One more remark with regard to this. Let us draw

12 RHODESIA

a distinction between the English Imperial Government
and the Englishman who has taken our land as his
land. Suppose that England's power in Europe were
broken (which might speedily happen), and that Ger-
many or France would dominate in South Africa, then
should we, Englishman and Africander, be one^ and
soon be free and independent. It is quite natural that
the Englishman, in the fight for our national liberty,
would not only go with us, but what is more, take a
leading part. Therefore, let us all look up to God and
let each one do his duty.

But now we have to break off our reflections so as to
be able to give you in our next sketch some of our
travelling experiences.

LETTER II

FROM VRYBURG TO MAFEKING

Bechuanaland's Population increasing — The Trade Route
— Transvaal exclusive Policy — Means of Transport from
Vry burg to Salisbury — ^^ He is only a Kaffir ^^ — Trans-
vaal Incredulity — Montsioa — The Friend of Trees —
Mafekingf the trim Border Town — The Railway just
crossing the Border of Civilisation — The increasing
Stream of Malopo,

Ramoutsa, July 20, 1894.

We would not like to pass Vryburg, the capital of our
only crown colony in South Africa,* without mention-
ing that it has been considerably extended since we
visited it in 1890, and has been greatly improved by
the abundant supply of good fresh water. Backed by
the fruitfulness of the soil and the energy of the Town
Council, this promises much for the future.

The town has especially advanced since it has
become a railway terminus and trading centre. This,
however, has now an end, the line being extended to
Mafeking. But still the town will continue to progress,
because the population of Bechuanaland daily increases,

♦ At that time, but Bechuanaland has been since annexed
to the Cape Colony.

14 RHODESIA

by the influx of sheep-farmers from the Free State and
the colony, who come in to occupy the vacant farms.
As an instance we may mention that a Mr. Moolman,
an elder of the Dutch Reformed Church at Vryburg
(living at ** Leemospruit "), informed us that the
members of the Dutch Reformed Church at Vryburg
amounted to upwards of looo, that there are per-
haps quite 5CHD who have not yet handed in their
certificates of membership, and that the stream of
immigration still continues. In a fortnight's time three
'* treks " passed his farm, one consisting of sixty-eight
persons all counted. Consequently the farms along
the '^Leeuw River" are rising in value, and as much
as 155. or ;^i are already paid for a morgen, although
these farms are more suitable for cattle than for sheep-
farming;

Almost the whole distance from Vryburg to Mafe-
king we travelled along the Transvaal border, with the
milestones to our right, so you see the road borders
Bechuanaland. This involuntarily reminded us how
in London, as member of the Transvaal Deputation in
1883 and 1884, we took part in a diplomatic battle
lasting nearly five months, in which we tried to extend
the boundaries of the Transvaal more to the west.
But the "Grand Old Man" and Lord Derby were
willing to concede everything and on every point (so
they said from the outset), only upon this point they
could not give in. They would keep the Trade Route
to the north open. To-day we see that they were not

FROM VRYBURG TO MAFEKING 15

fighting for a chimera in taking up that determined
position, having been enlightened by Mr. McKenzie
and others. For we now not only see those trains of
ox-waggons travelling northwards from Vryburg, but
we also feel what the difficulty would be if we, on
passing the Transvaal border, had to open every
carpet-bag and box, and to pay duty on every pipe of
tobacco and every tin of food. But now we also see
how the Transvaal, with its narrow-minded policy, was
the cause that the ** trade route," including the railway,
runs just outside its border, to open up Rhodesia in
the north, whereas otherwise the route would naturally
have gone right through the Transvaal.

At the great pan of Malapoch, whilst we were busy
cooking a wild goose (the first piece of game our driver,
Henry Cloete, had shot), we had a conversation with
one of these transport-riders, an Englishman. He in-
formed us, amongst other things, that he was on his
way from Vryburg to Salisbury with three waggons ;
that he thought of being on the road for three months ;
that each waggon carried p.m. 9000 lb., and that he
was paid at the rate of ;^i 135. per 100 lb.;* that
the road further on was not very heavy ; that the
grazing along the road was not bad, and that there was
no great danger of losing any oxen.

Naturally we cannot give you information about all

♦ For a distance of about 800 miles, whilst after the rinder-
pest £$ los. was to be paid from Mafeking to Bulawayo, for
only 500 miles.

i6 RHODESIA

our conversations along the road, neither of all experi-
ences and observations. Still, it tends to keep up the
relation between our travelling company and the reader
if we communicate a few particulars.

As to our company on the journey only Mr. Malherbe
and myself left the Paarl : a couple of friends who
intended to accompany us were prevented. At Vry-
burg we were joined by our driver, Henry Cloete, a
born Transvaaler, who, as a prospector, had also seen
a good deal of gold-digging, and spoke most of the
Kaffir dialects. There we also had to hire our leader.
Just as we were busy loading our waggon two young
natives appeared on the scene, one a Kaffir and the
other a Koranna; this was the first time they had
come from Bloemhof to earn something. We chose
the Koranna, though he refused to go farther than
Mafeking. And . we were not disappointed in our
choice ; he pleased us, and apparently he was pleased
with us. He had no inclination to leave us when we
arrived at Mafeking, and prefeiTed going with us, but
we had then already made other arrangements.

We had, however, to be taught one lesson by Klaas
before he left us ; for long ago we have made it our
aim to learn a lesson from every person with whom we
come in contact. My travelling companion once asked
him whether the other boy who was with him at
Vryburg was his brother? He indignantly replied,
*^ No, he is only a Kaffir." We looked at each
other, and could not help laughing. But here there is

FROM VRYBURG TO MAFEKING 17

something more than mere amusement. If even the
Koranna is proud of his fast disappearing nationality,
what an eternal disgrace is it then for Afrikanders to
be ashamed of their nationality! Truly, this little
Koranna, with his strong national feeling, stands higher
in our estimation than these unprincipled Afrikanders
who ape the English.

Another small incident. At Maritzani, about noon,
my travelling companion and myself were dozing in
the waggon. I heard a knock on the waggon-chest,
and, on looking out, I saw an elderly woman with her
daughter. She apologised for disturbing us, but she
thought that the writer of this was a missionary, and
consequently that he would have some medicine with
him, for the daughter of her brother-in-law, whose
house was close by, was seriously ill from inflammation.
We told her that we were neither missionary nor
doctor ; however, we took our medicine chest and
accompanied the woman, to see whether we could
render any aid ; this we tried to do as well as we
could.

We relate this specially on account of the conversa-
tion which was carried on between us from our waggon
to the house, which clearly reflects the opinion and
feeling common amongst Transvaalers. When she
heard that we were going to Bulawayo, she began, in
a motherly way, to pity us. ** O dear me," she said,
" still more food for the assegais of the Matabele ! "
However much we tried to convince her that the power

i8 RHODESIA

of the Matabeles was broken, and that Lobengula was
dead, she would not believe us, and was astonished to
find that we were foolish enough to credit it. All the
English who had gone and were still going would only
be food for the assegais of the Matabele. Only a few
days ago Kaffirs had passed there and had told her
everything. She stuck to that statement.

But they lived just within the border of the Trans-
vaal, and naturally participated in the general feeling
of the Transvaal, which thinks that she and she only
could fight the Kaffirs with success.

At Mafeking our travelling company was completed,
for there we were joined by Mr. H. J. le Riche, from
Campbell, and his small Griqua boy, also a " Klaas,"
who came with his double-barrelled shot gun to act as
our leader, and at the same time to shoot small game
for us.

Mafeking is situated on the Malopo, and is the
border town of British Bechuanaland. She is a twin
city, consisting of a great Kaffir city, the city of
Montsioa, notorious for his fights with the " Free-
booters " of Land Gosen, as the English called them,
but Moshette^s ** Volunteers," according to the Trans-
vaal view, and of a flourishing commercial town, with
large stores, which at present has a lively appearance
with the completion of the railway. As, however,
the bridge is not yet finished, the train stops on this
side of the river Malopo, which is the main border
line between Bechuanaland and the Protectorate, or

FROM VRYBURG TO MAFEKING 19

between civilised South Africa and the vast uncivilised
continent to the north.

Few inland towns have made such rapid strides as
Mafeking. The town will advance still more rapidly
for some time to come, at least as long as it remains
a railway terminus, for the transport from here to the
north is something enormous.

At Mafeking we were especially struck by the
beautiful trees along the banks of the Malopo, be-
tween which the Kaffir huts are totally or partially
hidden.

Although we do not admire Montsioa in every re-
spect, in this one we praise him. He has laid it
down as a rule that no branch of a tree, not even a
dead branch, may be broken or cut off. There is, at
least, some principle in this, and to the carrying out
of that principle is to be attributed the fact that
Mafeking, surrounded by the light green of the
"Kareeboom," and the dark green of the wild olive,
is far more beautifully situated on the banks of the
Malopo than most of the Kaffir towns, ay, and also
than most of our towns.

How stately those trees are 1 Our waggon stood
close to one of these " karee " trees from Friday till
Monday, the same tree beneath which we ten years
ago had met Montsioa and his council to conclude a
treaty of peace, in which we, as the Special Commis-
sioner of the Transvaal, appeared as mediator between
the " Freebooters " and Montsioa.

20 RHODESIA

One more particular. The Malopo, which in former
years often had no running water, has now a stream,
like the Orange River, in dry seasons. We found,
from information gathered, that during the last four
years the flow of the river has been continually in-
creasing, so that it has already formed a large lake
below in the Kalahari, where formerly there was no
water. This, however, is not inexplicable, if we bear
in mind that the Malopo is only one of the rivers which
have their origin in the great subterranean river which
crosses the Transvaal from east to west, and from
which spring, amongst others, the Apiesrivier, Kliprivier,
Mooirivier, and Malmani, besides many other copious
springs.

LETTER III
FROM MAFEKING TO PALLA

Three hundred miles per Ox-waggon — With the 'Bus to
Bulawayo — Bush Country — Game and Birds — Guinea-
fowl Hunting by Night — Pleasures and Sorrows of
Hunters — What are these Trees for? — A Railway
through the Bush Country — Fire continually Burning
— A Fruitful and Habitable Country — Translation of
Kaffir Names,

Palla, July 30, 1894.
This time I shall try to give you an idea of the journey
by ox- waggon. We have from Vryburg to here (Palla)
travelled about 300 miles in three weeks* time with this
slow mode of conveyance, and about 300 miles still lie
before us ere we reach Bulawayo. Had any one
told me beforehand that travelling would be so slow,
I would in despair have asked, "How shall we pass
the time ? " and still we did not feel bored for a single
day.

As this mode of travelling will soon belong to the
past, now that the railway is already completed over
the first 100 miles of the road we traversed, and in a
few years no one will travel the 200 miles from

RHODESIA

Mafeking to here per ox-waggon,* as every one would
prefer to be whirled through this limitless bush
country by the train, it is not devoid of interest to give
a cursory description of the manner in which convey-
ance was conducted in this continent in former years.

There is already another mode of conveyance from
Mafeking to Bulawayo — a distance of about 500
miles. In eight days' time the mails and passengers
are carried per omnibus and horses from Mafeking to
Mochudi, from there again (on account of the heavy
sandy roads) with a large cart and oxen to Tati, and
from there again per omnibus and horses up to Bula-
wayo. Also that part which is traversed by ox-cart is
covered in a comparatively short time, as fresh relays
of oxen are got everywhere, and the travelling is done
by day and night. For the same distance a train of
transport waggons takes about two months, the more
so as, on account of the heavy road between Gaberones
and Palla, they have to make use of a circuitous route
along the Mariko and Crocodile Rivers.

With regard to the nature of the country we may
state that from Mafeking you travel through a level
bush country, thrice crossed by low ridges. The
aspect of this bush country is somewhat monotonous,
especially in winter, when the trees are leafless, and
consequently have a black appearance. Still, it is not
quite devoid of variety a ad charm. At first we travel

* This expectation is already verified, as the railway is
completed thus far, and will soon run up to Bulawayo.

FROM MAFEKING TO PALLA 23

all the way along the banks of the Notwani River, into
which the Monopolole discharges itself at Mochudi.
Almost at every outspan you are close to the river,
with its great holes of water, in which crocodiles
probably still live in undisturbed rest, and also full of
fish (we, however, could spare little time for fishing),
and bordered with beautiful high trees, differing in
kind and growth from the rest of the bush veldt, and
consisting mostly of white, black, and yellow mimosas.
Then, again, you have ant-heaps in the most fantastic
forms, some in the shape of chimneys, others like
towers, others like our usual ant-heaps, but many of
them much higher than our waggon. We shall take
photographs of a few.

You also have here a great variety of birds, which
enliven the view and charm the ear with their sweet
song (whilst I am writing this a feathered choir is
singing beautifully in the trees along the river). Some
of these birds have such beautiful colours, that the
Paris ** modiste " would eagerly covet their vari-coloured
plumage. And towards evening you can see the nimble
night apes jumping from branch to branch.

The passionate hunter finds his paradise here in the
abundance of game. Large game, as '^wilde beest,
koedoes,** &c., must be here still in great numbers, at
least judging from the footpaths and footprints going
towards the river. But, naturally, it requires some
time and trouble to hunt them, as they recede from the
great road, and for that we had no time.

24 RHODESIA

But I never thought that I should see so many
pheasants and partridges as I have seen in the last two
weeks. Consequently you need not even climb down
from the waggon to shoot your game for dinner.
Guinea-fowls you find here by thousands. At our last
outspan we bagged fifteen of these wild fowl, as fat as
fattened poultry, apparently on account of the locust
eggs with which their crops were filled.

Shooting these wild fowl in the trees by night is
very romantic. I have often thought, if only our
friends at home who are so fond of hunting were
here ! But then the difficulty arises, they would over-
load our waggon with so much game that we could not
possibly use it, for it is really no pleasure to a hunter
to see game and not to shoot. At present we have
twelve wild fowl, enough to last us for four or five
days, so that we have to curb our inclination for
hunting. Could we send you these birds per telegraph,
we should take pleasure in shooting them.

One great enjoyment is making fire. Every evening
we have an illumination, and I am sure that, though
you travel with oxen for four or five hours at a stretch,
you would find the fire at the last outspan still burning,
when the fire at the next has already boiled our water
to make coffee. Of course there is no necessity to go
hunting for wood, in a few minutes a huge pile of wood
for fuel can be gathered. We several times spoke of
the twofold use these trees could be put to when the
railway was to be built through this part In the first

FROM MAFEKING TO PALLA 25

place, most of the trees that grow here are very durable.
The houses which were built by the pioneers with this
wood are still in existence, and their children are now
living in them ; for instance, Jan Bltgnant in Marico.
Why, then, could these trees not be used as sleepers
to lay the rails of the line on ? Then, again, most
of these trees are unsurpassable as fuel, at all events
better than bad coal. Such a log burns during the
whole night, and when it is entirely consumed leaves
only a little whitish ash, whereas it gives out very
great heat. For the railway, sleepers could be got
everywhere, whilst the wood for fuel is, humanly
speaking, inexhaustible. Besides this, it is a level
country, so that the railway could be surveyed and
built at an exceedingly low expense. Moreover, Kaffir
labour is very cheap all along the road.

Let no one think that there would be no traffic for
the railway through this part of the country. Between
this and Mafeking, from where we started, we did not
see a single strip of land uninhabitable or unfit for
cultivation. For a small part of the road we travelled
in Transvaal territory ; and there along the Notwani
River the farms were situated closely together. The
ground all around is exceedingly fertile. You have only
to look at the great Kaffir towns we passed — Mafeking,
Ramoutsa, Gaberones, and Mochudi. Thousands and
thousands of Kaffirs live there, and have abundance
of grain, even for two or three years in advance.

Machudi is a town having between 100,000 and

26 RHODESIA

.200,000 inhabitants, and in a radius of six miles enough
grain is produced to suffice for the present and the
future. It is now three months since they commenced
reaping, and from the early morning till late in the
evening they are busy carting in their grain with ox-
waggons, with which nearly every Kaffir is supplied
already. In our opinion almost anything would thrive
here, as for instance orange and nartje trees, and pos-
sibly also coffee, tea, and sugar-cane.

As regards the production of grain, at one store at
Pitsani Pitclogo, where you have no Kaffir towns in
the immediate vicinity, we saw some hundreds (possibly
thousands) of bags of grain piled up. Only the railway
must open up the country ; the resources are unlimited.
The Kaffirs inhabit and cultivate only a small portion
of the country. Therefore, if the Chartered Company
should build a railway through here and give out
farms on both sides of the line from Mafeking up to
Bulawayo, a large farming population could thrive
here, whilst the Kaffirs keep their grounds and rights
within the limits of certain locations.

Speaking of Kaffirs, we have understood that there
is some plan of levying hut tax to pay for the protection
of Britain, which they so earnestly desired, and there is
some fear that Lynchwe, amongst others, will refuse to
pay. We do not think that this fear is quite ground-
less. Lynchwe is reported to have 15,000 to 20,000
fighting men, and in his town (Machudi) he has grain
stored up for three years. And his twofold prohibition

FROM MAFEKING TO PALLA 27

creates still more suspicion : (i) his people may not
sell a single bag of grain; (2) they may not keep
fowls and pigs (which, of course, are also fed on grain).
Furthermore, his town is situated in a ridge full of
almost impregnable caves, and his people are said to
be well armed and to be good shots. But his is in fact
the last fastness of barbarity that will have to cave in,
either voluntarily or by force.

Finally we give you a list of a few Kaffir names of
places with the meanings attached :

Ramatlabama = the hand of the father is blessed.

Pitsani Pitclogo = bitter buck.

Palla = redbuck.

Kumana = red.

Mopani = flat.

Maropong = blunt.

Macloutsi = elephant.

Bulawayo* = city of murder.

* Erroneously spelt " Buluwayo," as the name is derived
from &«/«/«—" to kill."

LETTER IV

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE

Another 105 miles through Bush country — ^^ Every one
goes to Bulawayo " — Through a " Thirst Land " — The
upper end of the Kalahari — Water and *' Veldt'' — Chris-
tianity and Civilisation amongst the Kaffirs — Kaffirs as
Labourers — A Hint for our Labour Commission.

Palapye, August 6, 1894.
Once more we must take you through bush country for
quite 105 miles, from Palla to Palapye. This time,
however, not along the banks of the river, but through
a comparative thirst land.

At Palla the Notwani flows into the Crocodile River,
which, at this point, has already a strong stream of
water. Here the great transport road, which at
Gaberones had branched off to the Mariko and Crocodile
Rivers, again joined the shorter but heavier road which
we had travelled with our light waggon. From Palla
to Shashe we travelled only thirteen and a half miles
with the great transport road along the banks of the
Crocodile River. There we again branched off into a
shorter but more heavy way, in order to reach Bula-

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE 29

wayo over Palapye and Tati, whilst the heavy transport
waggons continue to travel along the Crocodile River
for about 100 miles, so as to reach Bulawayo over
Macloutsi camp.

Every one you see along the road is going to Bulawayo,
unless he is returning from there. But very few come
back. The trains of transport waggons have pulverised
the road. They go there heavily laden and return
empty, or laden with skins and grain. The omnibus,
or great post- cart, also goes there well filled, to return
empty. At Palla two of the B.B. police came to
interrogate us, as they do everywhere, to see whether
we were bringing any guns without paying 105. duty
on every barrel. One of them asked us whether we
were going to Bulawayo. On our affirmative reply
the other said, ** Such a question is almost superfluous ;
at present every one goes to Bulawayo."

A little beyond Shashe we turned away from the
Crocodile River, in order to travel to Palapye through
a comparative *Uhirst land" (called by the farmers
** thirst"), which really is the upper part of the Kala-
hari desert. This part has a twofold significance for
us, firstly to experience what it means to travel through
a ** thirst land," but especially to become acquainted
with the nature of the country in case the Chartered
Company allotted farms in that part, and the more so
as the railway and the trade route to Tati and Bulawayo
would unavoidably have to go through this part of the
country.

RHODESIA

»>

»»

With regard to the waters the distances are as

follows :

Miles.

Shashe to Dopperspan . . . .16

From there to Magalapsi River . . t i

„ Wegdrani . .15

Dwarspad .... 6

Mopanipan . . -30

Letjapan .... 7

Palapye .... 6

If you consider that tired oxen cr.n cover only two
miles an hour and cannot be kept in yoke for more
than four hours without outspanning, and then require
from one to three hours to seek their food in the veldt,
you will acktiowledge that under these circumstances
it is no easy matter to travel thirty miles without
water. It takes fifteen hours to cover thirty miles ;
divide this into five journeys of six miles each, then
you have four outspannings of two hours each, and
you will find that the oxen have to go without water
for about twenty-four hours, a whole day and night.
Usually the oxen are allowed some rest before and after
the journey ; the start is made shortly rfter noon and
the march continued through the whole night, so that
the next water is reached the following day about noon.

The water is fairly good. The three above-named
pans (lakes) are not filled with rainwater (there are
many pans in these parts which in summer during the
rainy season have water, but at present are dry), but

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE 31

by strong subterranean wells, emptying themselves in
these hollows, and not flowing out, because the country
is too level. At the last of these natural hollows (or
pans) the fountain is visible, sending out a stream
strong enough to turn a mill, and would give four
times that amount if the eye of the fountain was
properly opened up. Understand, however, that this
pan with its fountain is in a hollow quite a mile long,
and from fifteen to twenty feet deep, and lying lower
than the surface. This shows that, on account of the
level surface of the country, the water cannot discharge
itself in fountains or streams, but also that the water
cannot be very far below the surface. A proof of this
we found in the middle of the ** thirst land," where
(presumably by Kaffirs) a hole about six feet deep had
been dug, which yields beautifully clean water, where
every traveller can get an abundant supply for his own
use, but alas, on account of the small opening, cattle
cannot drink, though the supply seems to be in-
exhaustible.

Consequently there is no reason why wells should
not be dug everywhere and farms laid out. As a rule,
it is not necessary to dig deeper than ten or twelve feet,
and with an ordinary pump there would be sufficient
water not only for cattle, but also for irrigation. For
the ground is exceedingly fertile, as can be seen from
the natural vegetation and the gardens of the Kaffirs.

It is a fine grazing country, for even now in the
worst season the cattle are fat. For sheep and goats

32 RHODESIA

the country is rather too rough, though the sheep and
goats seemed to do fairly well and were fit for
slaughtering.

We, however, saw strips of country as well suited
for sheep-farming as any part of South Africa. For
instance, between Shashe and Dopperpan we passed
through a calcareous strip of country, similar to the
districts of Hopetown, Philipstown, and Griqualand
West, with various kinds of sweet grass and small
shrubs, varied with very good large bush and trees,
as ** knoppiesdoorn," "vaalbrach," " rozyntjes'-bosch,"
"Zwarthaak," ** noem-noem," "quarri," &c.

The Kaffirs in these parts are rich in cattle.
Lynchwe and Chama, the two paramount chiefs, live
about 17s miles apart, but their cattle stations adjoin
each other ; this is especially the case along the Croco-
dile and Notwani Rivers. Still these parts are for the
most part uninhabited. These cattle stations are very
scattered. Around these large pans you find thousands
of cattle girded by a circle of ** kraals." Here you see
their attachment to their chiefs. They go a distance
of several days in the country and remain there for
months, herding the cattle of their chief. We asked
one of Lynchwe*s goat-herds what punishment he got
if he lost one of the goats, to which he replied, " I am
beaten with a * sjambok.' "

We spoke about these two chiefs. There is a great
difference between the two and their respective people,
though both have been baptized and are under the

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE 33

influence of the missionaries. We cannot deny that
formerly we had no very great predilection for Chama,
especially on account of the part he is supposed to have
taken in the murder of Grobler, &c. Still, we must
acknowledge that the influence of Christianity has
penetrated his people far more than any other native
tribe we know in South Africa. We have noticed the
following good peculiarities amongst them :

I . They are very courteous ; every one salutes you
and is willing to render assistance to travellers. For
instance, at the Magelapsi River, which at present is
dry, is a small " kraal." Whilst we were outspanned
there, the petty chief, April, came to our waggon,
dug water for us in the sand of the river, watered our
oxen, and went to fetch water, and had the goats
milked for us (he had no cow-milk, for which we had
asked). On leaving we, of course, gave him some-
thing, saying that we very gratified at the kindness
and readiness to help which Chama's people had shown,
whereupon he answered that those were the orders of
his chief; they had to assist travellers. And oh I how
proud he was when we showed him the portrait of his
chief in a book. Here we see how great is the influence
which the word of the chief exercises over his people.

2. The Bamangwato (Chama's people) in general use
no intoxicating liquor. He has strongly forbidden the
liquor traffic amongst his people. As a result of this
prohibition we were here for the first time asked for
coffee. Now, in principle we are no teetotalers ; but

34 RHODESIA

every one who knows what ruin brandy has wrought
amongst the Kaffirs (especially the brandy they get,
adulterated with pepper, tobacco, &c.) — people who
were accustomed to the nourishing Kaffir beer and
cannot be moderate with brandy — will acknowledge the
blessing brought about by this prohibition. He who
knows how addicted to brandy the Kaffir becomes (and
Chama*s people come in contact with it on the gold
and diamond fields) cannot fail to notice the great
influence he has over his people, inasmuch as he is
able to enforce that law.

3. Another good law is that the people are forbidden
to work or travel on Sundays. This law, as well as
the former, applies also to whites travelling in his
country. He does not allow travellers or transport
riders to enter or leave his town on Sunday. In this
he puts many a Christian government to shame.

4. The acknowledgment of the rights of women
struck us still more as the influence of Christianity.
Here is an instance. A somewhat elderly Kaffir came
to treat with us about exchanging our ten tired oxen
for eight fresh ones. Having seen our oxen, he said
he would now first go and consult his " Missis," and
would then bring us his reply. We asked him : " Is
your wife your ' Missis ? ' " He replied with the
counter-question : "Are your wives not your
* Missis* ? " We replied : " Can you not see that we
exchange our oxen without consulting our wives .>"
" Ah ! " he said : '* that is because your wives are not

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE 35

present, otherwise you would surely consult them."
This Kaffir can teach many a white man a useful
lesson.

5. That these Kaffirs were christianised by English
missionaries is proved by the fact that they are es-
sentially a race of traders. Not one of the people of
Moshete, Montsioa, Magus, or Lynchwe came to offer
us anything for exchange or for sale, but as soon as
we entered Chama's territory, they came with milk,
pumpkins, &c. At Mochudi we could get no oxen in
exchange, here they came to offer them. Otherwise
trading is a characteristic of the Kaffir. But more of
this later on.

6. Chama^s people are good labourers. Many of the
Kaffirs in the service of transport riders or on the
diamond and gold fields come from here. We even
met some going to procure work on the railway exten-
sion to Mafeking.

This made us consider how far the Kaffirs are
already, and may in the future become, the labourers of
our country. The thousands of workmen in our mines
are Kaffirs ; the servants of the transport riders are
mostly Kaffirs ; the hundreds on the railway works are
Kaffirs ; three-fourths of the servants of our cattle
farmers are Kaffirs. What would become of all this if
there were no Kaffirs ? and how would our mining
industry and our farming in the North be developed
without Kaffir labour ? And how the labour of these
thousands of Kaffirs could be extended, if they could

36 RHODESIA

only be subjected and if they were not spoiled by mis-
placed philanthropy and erring civilisation I

This leads us to another remark. The complaint of
scarcity of labour is general in South Africa. Provi-
dence is not to blame for this, for it has provided
millions of labourers, who are accustomed to the
climate, the food, &c. of this country, and consequently
are suited to be our labourers. The mistake must be
sought in our legislation and our government. This
raises the twofold question : (i) What is the mistake?
(2) How can it be remedied ?

That England by wrong interference has greatly
damaged our relation to the natives cannot be denied.
But have we also not taken the matter up quite wrongly ?
The method pursued up till now has been to break the
power of the great chiefs (naturally not without cause),
for instance Kreli, Ketswayo, Sekukuni, Mapoch,
Massona, Lobengula, &c. The policy of the Dutch
and also of the English in India was to use the influ-
ence of the chiefs for their own benefit, by gaining
them to their side, and making them virtually servants
of the State. Such native chiefs have unlimited in-
fluence amongst their people. This policy properly
applied can become a factor for good.

Suppose the chiefs were allowed to retain their influ-
ence over the people, that that influence was confirmed
and strengthened, that a location was given to the
chief large enough for his people to dwell in, which
right he retains as long as he fulfils the following

FROM PALLA TO PALAPYE 37

conditions: (i) pays taxes, and (2) supplies workpeople
according to the extent of the ground he occupies.
For instance, if a chief has 50,chx) morgen allotted to
him, he must pay £$0 per annum as a tax and supply
fifty men as labourers, under supervision and protection
of the government, not only for the service of the
government and public works, but also as farm labourers
within a certain radius. Does this seem to be forced
labour ? Very well, we say again, what we have said
before, without compulsory service, compulsory educa-
tion, of which so much is said nowadays, can never
be carried out. Moreover, when the Dutch and the
English governments in a similar manner got labourers
for the public works in India, was not that ''compulsory
service ? " And that was done not only for public
works, but also for coffee plantation and for private
companies. But this is only a hint written beside our
travelling waggon in my notebook on my knee.

Here at Palachur we leave the low, level bush
country, and begin to climb the higher, more mountain-
ous parts. To this point we have already ascended
about 800 feet from the Crocodile River. Before
leaving the Bushveldt we give the reader a photograph
of one of the giant mahogany trees growing here.

LETTER V

FROM PALAPYE TO TATI

Palapye as Town — Chatna as Christian and Ruler — A
Smouldering Fire — The Tropic passed — Hidden Water
— More Lions — Opening for Industry,

Tati, August II, 1894.

My former sketch I wrote at Letja pan, seven miles
from Palapye. I must now first tell you something
about the renowned chief town of Chama. It is
prettily situated on the north side of a high ridge,
almost as high as Magaliesberg at Pretoria. Nature
all around is very beautiful. The trees, among which
are many kinds of wild fruit, are exceedingly luxu-
riant in their growth. But for seven miles the roads
on both sides are so sandy and rocky that our adverse
judgment of the town is perhaps to be attributed to
that. The town is built on thick sand and stones ; and
then not picturesquely arranged on a slope, but spread
over a large area, in groups of small and dirty huts.
No, as town it cannot be compared to Mochude,
Mafeking, or Ramoutsa, and we cannot see the beauty
which, by some English writers, is ascribed to it.

Perhaps the unfavourable building and laying out of

FROM PALAPYE TO TATI 39

the town is to be attributed to the haste with which it
was founded. Formerly Chama lived at Shoshong.
Owing to the enormous increase of the population the
water supply became insufficient, and a few years ago
the whole town was transplanted. Two years ago the
ravages of the influenza epidemic were so serious, and
so many died, that Chama has again given up a part of
the town and placed it higher on the slopes of the ridge.
The remains of the half-circular walls within which
the huts were built are still to be seen.

Our time was so occupied with writing and other
affairs, that we had no time to pay Chama a visit, which
to us was a great disappointment. We were, however,
compensated for this by the more or less casual ac-
quaintance we made with Mr. Frank Elliott Lochner,
who invited us to supper, and with whom we spent a
few very pleasant hours. Owing to his manifold and
protracted experiences and observations as officer in
the Bechuanaland Border Police, as special deputy to
Barotsiland, when he acquired for the Chartered Com-
pany the extensive region of 225,0CX) square miles
north of the Zambesi, as officer in the expedition
against Lobengula, and as inhabitant of Palapye for
some time, he was able to give us important information,
which he also did with the greatest kindness. We
shall relate part of what he told us. Mr. Lochner really
believes in the Christian principles of Chama, of which he
gave us some important proofs, from his own experience
and that of others. Thirty-five years ago Chama

40 RHODESIA

was baptized, not by an English, but by a German
missionary, and remained steadfastly true to his con-
fession. His prohibition of drink applies not only to
strong liquor, but also to Kaffir beer; and he has
enough influence amongst his people to enforce his
prohibition. He is, moreover, something of a diploma-
tist. For instance, foreseeing that sooner or later a
hut tax would be levied, and that its sudden introduc-
tion might give rise to unpleasantness and difficulties,
he prepared his people for it by levying a tax himself,
making every man pay according to the extent of land
he cultivated.

There is, however, something smouldering between
Chama and Lynchwe, we observed, and in this our
opinion was strengthened by the fact of Chama calling
his people in from the out-stations ; and the very day
we were there (Aug. 6) two regiments (about 5000
mounted men) went out, on a hunting expedition, it
was said. But it is possible that there is something
else behind this. It is just possible that they might
meet a similar expedition of Lynchwe in the hunting
field I

The case is this : Chama lays claim to an immense
tract of country, from the Crocodile or Limpopo River
to the Zambesi, wherein his people live scattered,
divided in three sections: (i) a portion with him at
Palapye, (2) another portion in the Chopong Hills,
sixty miles east of Shoshong, and (3) a third portion
at Selika, on the Limpopo. Towards the Zambesi,

FROM PALAPYE TO TATI 41

however, there are vast uninhabited regions, where
game is still abundant. There Lynchwe^s people go
a-hunting, and the result is constant quarrels ; but the
representative of the Imperial government prevents a
collision. The strain is becoming worse and worse,
and a collision seems almost inevitable.

The one thinks that he is quite a match for the
other. Still we fear that a war would have bad results
for both, as regards their supremacy ; for Britain is
sure to interfere, and then it becomes simply "two
dogs fighting about a bone, whilst the third carries it
off." Well, perhaps that is the best.

From Palapye to Tati we had to pass lOO miles
through another bush country, but not so monotonous.
True, the country remains somewhat level, but still
there is a gradual rise, and everywhere amongst the
woods you find peculiar granite ** koppies " (knolls),
from 50 to 200 feet high, like watch-towers, from the
top of which you have a splendid view all round. One
evening at sundown we ascended one of the highest
of these *^ koppies.'* What a rare sight I A sea of
woods, melting away in the interminable distance, with
innumerable little watch-towers, arising like small
islets out of this sea of verdure.

We said that there is now a gradual rise. That
comes in well, for we have now passed the tropic and
begin to feel the tropical climate. At Gaberones, 303
miles from here, we saw the last frost. In daytime
we have to seek the shade of the trees, of which some

RHODESIA

are already in full bloom, and many a night we cannot
sleep under our " carosses *' (velkombaars). The last
few days and nights have been cooler.

On this side of Palapswe we had again to cross a
''thirstland" ("dorst"), which in former years formed
a good dividing line between the tribes of Lobengula
and Chama, the Matabeles and the Bamangwatos.
Here are the distances to be crossed without water:

Miles

Palapye to Lotsani River

■ ;

From there to Seruli River .

. 20

„ „ Boesmanputten

. 16

„ „ Maropong River

. 12

„ „ Macloutsi River

„ „ Shashi River .

„ „ Tati

. 6

Now, bear in mind that the two last mentioned rivers
are at this time of the year dry sand rivers, in which
you have to dig "gorratjes" (little holes in the sand)
to find water. We find, however, that all over this
flat country water is to be found not very deep below
the surface. There is abundant and beautiful water at
the '* Boesmanputten " (Bushmen's Wells), not more
than six feet below the surface. At the Marapong River,
we saw the dripping of a fountain in the bank of the
river ; the dripping, however, was absorbed by the
sand of the river.

Another instance : about the middle of the twenty

FROM PALAPYE TO TATI 43

miles between Seruli and the Boesmanputten we saw a
little plank nailed up along the road, on which was
written : ** Water one and a half miles east." — Next to
this was written with red pencil : " On this side of the
Koppies," and with black pencil, apparently still later :
'* This side of the two highest koppies." But unfortu-
nately there is a whole ridge with koppies to the east
(the Manani or Mahibi ridge) with two pairs of high
koppies and several smaller koppies between them. One
pair lay south-east and the other north-east — east was
just between them. Two of us went to the north-east
koppies, whither the signboard seemed to point; the
water was, however, found at the south-east koppies —
a distance of about one and a half miles. Consequently
our tired oxen had to be driven a triangle of four and a
half miles, which took us the whole afternoon. There
was a fountain (" wateraar ") dammed up by the Kaffirs.
So far they go for water, which forces itself to the sur-
face, whilst ever3'where there are signs that the water
is immediately below the surface. We saw two or
three places at the same distance where even at this
dry time of the year moisture showed itself on the
surface. What a pity that we had no spade with us,
and that our time was so limited, otherwise we would
have dug a hole for water, as a trial.

We, however, tried to assist other travellers by
refixing the signboard, so that it pointed to the right
koppies and by drawing an arrow on it, and writing
beneath it : '* Follow this direction to the south-east

44 RHODESIA

koppies." But we are almost sure that sufficient water
will be found at various places at the depth of five to ten
feet. It is a good thing that the Chartered Company has
decided to sink wells on the road to the lake country.

The only persons who can here point out the water
are the Kaffirs at the " post stables " (stables where
fresh relays of horses are kept), but these do their best
to hide the water ; they always say that there is no
water, and that they have to water the oxen at a great
distance, forgetting that the very fact of their being
stationed there is sufficient proof that water is close by.

Yesterday we had a proof of this. A transport rider
informed us that between Macloutsi and Shashi, about
twelve miles from the first-mentioned river, was a post
stable, and that about SCX) yards west of the road there
was good water, which, however, the Kaffirs tried to
hide. And this we found to be true. Providence had
opened a spring between large boulders, so that cattle
and game could not close it up by trampling upon it,
and had also formed a kind of natural reservoir for the
water between the rocks, whilst the ants had built an
ant-heap, fifteen feet high, as it were a kind of tower to
indicate where the water was. About six miles from
Macloutsi we found in the same way, on indication, a
little pool of beautiful fresh dripping water at the foot
of a rock. So providence has made provision, but man
has as yet done very little.

The transport service makes a circuit of nearly icx)
miles along the Manrika and Crocodile Rivers, on

FROM PALAPYE TO TATI 45

account of the scarcity of water along the shorter route.
What a blessing it would be if the Chartered Company
would sink wells fifteen miles apart, via Tati to Bula-
wayo, along the road, beginning say from Gaberones,
till where it is intended to build the railway ; for this is
the natural transport road.

We passed through a comparatively desolate part of
the country, uninhabited, but not uninhabitable. This
part of the country will decidedly be inhabited if once
the train passes through it. We did not find a single
Kaffir kraal between Palla and Palapye (100 miles),
nor between Palapye and Tati (also 100 miles).
Consequently there is still much game ; all about we
found the footprints of wilde beesten and koedoes, &c.
A few lions are still found. The day before yesterday,
coming from the Marapong River, we saw the footprints
of a large and small lion (probably a lioness with her cub)
coming along the road in our direction. We also
noticed signs all about of the circles of the fires Kaffirs
had made around their sleeping place to protect them
from the lions ; these circles were plainly to be seen ;
for the ash of the wood is very white, and remains
visible till the rainy season comes.

Being still in the bush country we noticed several
uses to which these trees could be put ; c.g.^ coffee is
made from the roots of the " wilgatboom." Coming
near to Tati we saw the mopani or wild turpentine trees
denuded of their bark. We were informed that a
Mr. Vermack used the bark for tanning, for which

46 RHODESIA

purpose it is very well suited. Looking at the enormous
export of hides from here, and the inexhaustible supply
of this bark (for the country for miles and miles around
is covered with these mopani trees), one begins to
think that with the development of the country a
tannery, connected with a shoe and harness making
business, would answer very well here. Perhaps one
of our enterprising readers may take the hint and make
a greater fortune with this busifltess than with gold
digging.

This brings us to the last observation. We have
now entered Tati, the land of minerals. Yesterday
evening already we passed some old copper mines, pro-
bably worked by the Mashonas in former years. We
da not, however, allow ourselves the time for a closer
investigation, the more so as we intend to spend more
time at Tati in the exploration of the mineral richness
of the land. More anent this in our next commu-
nication.

LETTER VI

THE TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PAST

First Gold Discoveries — The " Voortrekkers *' here, also
the Pioneers — Salkats and Loben fear the Gold — First
Gold-seekers — The Tati Concession — Why there is no
greater Success.

Manque, August i8, 1894.
Before I relate my own observations on the Tati
gold-fields I must give you a short history of this'
concession and of the prospecting for gold in this part
of the country. I trust by doing so to render you
good service, for the Tati gold-fields seem to be one
of those things about which every one seems to know
something^ but no one the exact truth. On most of the
maps of South Africa Tati is noted down, and on the
geological and mineralogical maps it is simply coloured
yellow, as if the whole region was gold bearing. And
it really is our oldest goldfield, and may become our
largest.

And where do we find trustworthy narratives about
them ? One hardly knows which to recommend. The
fullest information, though not always the most trust-
worthy, IS to be found in the works of Mather : "Golden

48 RHODESIA

South Africa " and '* Zambesia." But, however excellent
as compilations of almost everything that has been
written about this subject up to the present time, we
cannot recommend them as altogether accurate. P'or
instance, "The Monarch" is described as a reef of
eighty to ninety feet wide, and gold-bearing all through,
whereas we have convinced ourselves that it is only a reef
of twelve to fifteen feet, ending in a few inches width, and
not gold-bearing throughout. If our object was only to
rouse enthusiasm, then we had simply to take these data
as given by him ; but our object is to acquaint you with
the real state of affairs by personal inspection. Do
not, however, fear that we shall make all your fine
expectations of the northern gold-fields end in smoke.
No, for your assurance we here state that we devoted a
whole week to the Tati gold-fields, and that our belief
with regard to their future was rather strengthened
than otherwise.

The gold-fields of Tati and Mashonaland were simul-
taneously discovered. Our hunters knew of the exist-
ence of these gold-fields long ago. Many a time we
ourselves heard the late Mr. Jan Viljoen, of Mariko,
speaking enthusiastically about them. Every time he
offered to take us to these regions before his death, and
during Lobengula's lifetime, with whom he was well
acquainted, so that we could give a description of them
for the following generation. But for that object he
required two years ; so much time we could never spare,
and till the present day it grieves us that that opportunity

TATI- GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PAST 49

is now passed for ever. We Africanders were not the
first to describe these regions, though also here we were
the pioneers. See what the English writer, Baine,
relates :

We had heard for many years, among the Dutch emigrants,
rumours of gold found beyond the Zoutpausberg, and about
1865 Mr. H. Hartley, while hunting in Matabeleland, observed
groups of ancient diggings, and connecting these with the
current stories, he invited Herr Carl Mauch to accompany
him on his next trip ; and in 1866 the then young and almost
unknown traveller announced the discovery of a gold-field
eighty miles in length by two or three miles in breadth.

That gold was first actually discovered at Tati is to
be ascribed to the strong prohibition of Salkats, and
later of Lobengula to prospect for gold in Matabeleland.
Many of our old hunters have told us how these tyrants,
when they gave permission to hunt, always sent an
escort of their people with them, ostensibly to go and
show them the game, but actually to see that they did
not carry away a stone out of the country. And still
the gold was there, it is discovered, and the white man
is master of the country. That is the reason that the
commencement was at Tati.

The first gold explorations are thus related in
Mathers* " Zambesia," p. 204 :

Various companies, or rather exploring parties, were de-
spatched, one of the first being headed by Captain Beach, and
another of ten men under Captain McNeil, of Durban, Natal,
besides many smaller ones. A party of thirty-four Australians
was equipped in Natal in 1869 and sent up to test the rich-
ness of the reputed gold-field. A party was also sent up

50 RHODESIA

from Port Elizabeth, but it is not on record that it discovered
much at Tati. In 1868 the London and Limpopo Mining
Company, headed by Sir John Swinburne, Bart., and Cap-
tain Arthur Lionel Levert, left England, taking with them an
expensive equipment, including a traction engine, which,
however, was left and subsequently sold in Natal. They
reached the Tati on April 27, 1869, set up their steam engine
and opened a store. Sir John and Mr. Levert proceeded to
Inyati. The former obtained leave to proceed to the
northern gold-fields, the latter returned to Natal, and had a
stamping machine constructed there by Mr. Gavin, of
Durban. About this time quite a little village had arisen
on the west bank of the Tati River, and nine companies
were at work digging for gold. A company of thirty-five
Australians, sent up from Durban, went about thirty-two
miles up the river and located themselves on "Todd*s
Creek.'* Several of the shafts were fifty feet deep; but
though 150 tons of quartz, some of it apparently rich, had
been got out, the crushing machines that had been extem-
porised did not succeed. Nevertheless, specimens had been
sent home, and Messrs. Johnson, Matthey, and Company,
assayers to the Bank of England, certified with others that
over 120 ounces were soon produced. Most of the working
parties being unprovided with funds sufficient for the long
and laborious processes of mining till they reached the gold,
and then requiring to provide machinery to crush it, had
sold out or abandoned their claims, and yielded to the more
brilliant attractions of the diamond fields.

Thus the way was prepared for the " Tati Concession
and Trading Company, Limited," which, as the parent
company here, still continues its work along with the
" Blue Jacket Syndicate," as a subsidiary company.
More of both anon.

The Tati Concession was granted by Lobengula on

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PAST 51

a region practically uninhabited, and situated between
him and Chama. It includes about 2000 square miles,
situated between the Shashie and Ramaquabaun Rivers,
from the origin to the conflux of those two rivers. In
the middle, this region is intersected by the Tati River.

Two series of gold reefs seem to run through the
length of this region : (i) Along the -Tati, partially
explored; (2) along the Ramaquabaun, as yet quite
unexplored. That there are numerous gold-bearing
reefs in both belts, and that some are very rich, as also
that there are many old diggings, cannot be denied ;
concerning these we shall relate more presently.

But then the question arises : If this be so, how is
it to be explained that these gold-fields have not
created greater interest ? To take away all prejudice,
we shall first try to answer this question and give
some of the causes which hindered the success of
these gold-fields ; some of them have already been
removed, and others stand a good chance of being
speedily removed; so that a better future seems to
be in store for Tati. We point out these obstacles
to the earlier success the more readily, because the
Tati Company has thrown open its grounds to gold
seekers, and evidently now carries on its own mining
operations with great energy :

I. The first and principal obstacle to the development
of these gold-fields was, undoubtedly, their geogra-
phical situation, being 1275 miles from Cape Town.
Now, bear in mind, in the early days there was no

52 RHODESIA

railway at all, and what enormous sums of money
the transport of heavy machinery and victuals, and
the carrying on of mining operations at a distance
of 500 miles from the nearest white population, would
cost ; and every one will readily understand that gold-
mining under such circumstances could not pay unless
the reefs were extraordinarily rich. This difficulty is
being gradually done away with, now that the railway
is already completed as far as Mafeking, about 4CX) miles
from here, and a stream of transport passes through
to Bulawayo.*

2. Another obstacle was Lobengula's reign of
terror. He had given a concession to dig here, but
not every digger or capitalist had such implicit con-
fidence as to risk his person and his capital in it. This
obstacle has been removed. Lobengula is no more ; his
kingdom is broken up. Gold digging here is quite as
safe at present as wine-making at the Paarl.

3. Some also were surely kept back by the reports
of the unhealthiness of these parts, on account of the
fever. But although Tati is not as healthy as the
highlands of Matabeleland, and the fever is undeniably
rampant in the summer, still it has now been proved
that the fever is not an insurmountable obstacle, as
the rate of mortality is very low. At any rate, the
country is not more subject to fever than Barberton
was formerly. Regular living and preventive medi-

* And the railway is shortly expected to reach the " Mon-
?Lrch/*

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PAST 53

cines are sufficient ; and if seized by the fever good
treatment will soon cure it. That, at least, is the
experience of the local doctor.

4. Most of the earliest gold-diggers have given it up
for want of capital. Many were under the impression
that gold was to be picked up on the surface ; but to
dig for gold you require gold and steel. Now we
know better.

5. That the parties who had some capital to spend
did not succeed better is mainly to be attributed to
two causes : (i) Bad management, which is not to be
wondered at, the directors and shareholders being so
far away ; and (2) the loss of gold on account of im-
perfect machinery, and more or less incapable amalga-
mators. It will appear later on that there is now
improvement in both.

6. The discovery of the diamond fields cooled the
ardour of the first gold seekers here and lured many
away. This cannot be denied.

But enough. In our next we hope to inform you
about the work that is being done here at present, and
also about the prospects of these gold-fields, besides
relating our experiences. Time is up, and writing in a
travelling waggon is anything but comfortable.

LETTER VII
THE TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT

Reality equal to a Novel — Plan of Novel concerning Solo-
mon* s Mining Works here — Amongst Game and Beasts
of Prey — Great Mining Works in the far Interior,

Paarl Camp, August 27, 1894.
In our last sketch we wrote about the past of the Tati
gold-fields ; we must now, according to promise, acquaint
you with the work that is done there at present and
with its results.

In order to see as much as possible of the gold-fields
and their present opening up, we did not go straight
through the Tati territory, with the main road from
Palapye to Bulawayo, as most travellers do. No ; the
road crosses the Tati River just at the original settle-
ment (Tati Settlement), where you have a post and
telegraph office, police-station, and a well-supplied
store, right in the middle of the '* Blue Jacket Syndi-
cate's " holdings. But thirty-six miles out of the road,
in a north-westerly direction, you find the centre of
the real Tati Company^s operations, and the renowned
reef " the Monarch." We took this circuitous road,
and came again to the main road with a slanting road

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT 55

about thirty-six miles long, thus forming a more or less
rectangular triangle, and crossing quite seventy-two
miles of the Tati territory, including both series of the
reefs.

Our experiences on this circuitous road were so
romantic that we are afraid that, if we described them
literally, you would involuntarily come under the impres-
sion that you were reading a novel. For this reason,
and because I find that I am getting behindhand with
my sketches, I shall wait with a description of this part
of our journey, so rich in adventures, till I am safely
back, when I shall try to write a romance about the
working of these old mines in the time of Solomon,
when the Queen of Sheba reigned here. I am now busy
collecting material for that novel. I shall at present
only mention that it took us a week to make this round ;
that, guided by two Makalakas, we had to travel through
bush country for about three days on two almost invisible
waggon-tracks, which we lost about fifty times, when
we all had to seek for them, sometimes almost half an
hour before finding any indication, and this through a
bush country where the mopani and other trees form
quite a forest, and through sprints and rivers, one of
which, the dry bed of the Ramakwabaun, for instance,
is 2CK) yards broad, with no sign of a ford, whilst we
had neither pick nor spade to make a ford ; that we saw
no human being during those three days, not even a
sign of a Kaffir habitation, while the veldt was trodden
down by big game : wildebeesten, koedoes, kwaggas,

56 RHODESIA

elands, &c. (of the last-mentioned Henry shot two in
one day), but also we saw the clear proofs that they
were still pursued by their natural enemies, for we
found many footprints of lions and tigers. At a hole of
water in a dry river we could plainly see in the sand
how a tiger had shortly before caught a buck which had
come there to slake its thirst. On another occasion we
saw three wild dogs chasing a buck past our waggon at
about fifty yards. Even elephants and ostriches are
still to be found here ; of the last we often saw the foot-
prints, and the feeding-places of the first-mentioned,
where they had broken down the branches of the mopani
trees. Add to all this the interesting conversation
with the Kaffirs (for Henry Cloete is a good interpreter)
about the old mining works, and the last war, &c., and
you will see that we were able on this journey to collect
a good deal of material for a novel.

More of this later on. At present the *' Tati Mining
and Trading Company, Limited," the mother company,
works on the Tati fields, as does also its daughter, the
"Blue Jacket Syndicate,*' established more for the
purpose of exploration ; for the greater part, however,
both belong to the same shareholders.

As already mentioned, we visited first the ** Blue
Jacket Syndicate's " diggings in the vicinity of the Tati
Settlement, where the main road crosses the Tati River.
The Syndicate works on seven reefs, the principal of
which are the *'Blue Jacket " and *'New Zealand " reefs,
both of which we visited.

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT 57

One can plainly see that the formation is changed
here. You will remember that we wrote about those
thousands of granite " koppies " (knolls). This is now
quite changed. The koppies and ridges are now mostly
of sandstone, while between is slate formation, inter-
sected by quartz reefs ; the surface, however, is very
much broken up, so that loose pieces of quartz are
scattered all over the surface.

Of the New Zealand we could not see much, as they
were busy pumping the water out of the shaft, showing
that it was intended to recommence the work, although
we were informed this pumping had been going on for
some time already, and would still go on for a long
while. From this we were confirmed in our conclusion
that there is much water in these parts beneath the
surface. Unhappily the manager of these works was
ill at the time, and, besides, he had no instructions to
show us over the mines, so we had to be content with
what we could see for ourselves.

At the " Blue Jacket," about three miles from there,
we were more fortunate. The pumping-shaft is sepa-
rate and deeper than the level which is now being
opened at a depth of ninety feet. The breadth of this
reef varies, but it is evidently in quality and quantity
considered to be payable.

But what interested us most were the old mining-
works of former ages, with which we here became
acquainted for the first time. This reef was discovered,
as is the case almost everywhere in Matabeleland, by

58 RHODESIA

the old open mining-places on the surface. These, how-
ever, had fallen in everywhere. But when the main
shaft was sunk to intersect the reef, which runs in a
slanting direction, it was found that the ancients had
been down to the same depth beforehand and had taken
out the best quartz ; these excavations below were open
still. We went in for some distance with candles.
These ancients have taken out the quartz in a very
irregular manner, sometimes at a width of seven to
eight feet, then again at only two feet, so that it gave
some trouble to pass through them ; whether they left
parts of the reef because the quartz was poorer, or
because they wanted them as supports, or props, to
prevent the falling in, or for both reasons, is diffi-
cult to determine ; most likely the last-mentioned was
the case.

Recently an old mining place was discovered not far
from there, which had also fallen in, and in it were dis-
covered some stone implements, indicating how very
ancient these mines are, and also, on the other hand,
some pieces of mopani wood (a very durable wood), in
which the indents made by axes are still visible. A skull
was also found, evidently of a bushman. This confirmed
us in our opinion that at these old mines a superior race
ruled, which used better implements, whilst the native
slaves used their primitive stone implements.

At the Blue Jacket we met an Africander family
that had been living in Matabeleland for the last twenty-
one years, and were now busy building a dwelling-

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT 59

house here — viz., Mr. P. Oosthinzen, with his two
sons-in-law Mr. J. Engelbrecht and Mr. Elliott. They
gave us some valuable information.

After little more than one day's travelling we reached
the centre of the operations of the Tati Company,
on the celebrated "Monarch*' reef. This is a small
village in the veldt, consisting of about twenty or thirty
little houses, and built very regularly on an elevation,
between the Tati and one of her tributaries.

The general manager had died just a month before.
But the acting general manager, Mr. Edwards, showed
us extreme kindness, took us all over the works, and
' gave us all required information. Here active mining
operations are carried on day and night ; real work is
done, and the mine properly developed.

We shall not give a detailed description of these
mining works. Most of our readers know what such
mining works are like, on the Rand and elsewhere, so
that they will be able, from the few facts we shall men-
tion, to judge of what has been done and is still being
done here ; only they must bear in mind what difficulties
work in the interior has to contend with.

The " Monarch " is, indeed, the king amongst the
known gold reefs, and has been worked for the past five
years. At first the quartz was taken out by means of
"open works." A hole, icxDfeet long and 15 feet broad,
is still to be seen, from which the quartz was taken that,
with an old-fashioned stamping machine (now taken
over by the Blue Jacket Syndicate) yielded gold to the

6o RHODESIA

value of £7000f whilst (according to Mathers, in his
" Zambesia ") about 90 per cent, was lost.

Now, however, the Tati Company has a complete
battery with thirty stamps and all the requisites in an
immense building, wherein another thirty stamps can be
put up if necessary. Along with this they have a com-
plete apparatus to pump the water out of the Tati River
for about a thousand yards. At the river two boilers
are placed, where a shaft 60 feet deep has been sunk,
with a tunnel 180 feet long below the bed of the river,
out of which an abundant supply of clean water can be
pumped.

As yet this machine does not work, for here they have
the same experience which so many companies on the
Rand have had, that the machine was ready before the
mines were sufficiently opened. The manager is hard
at work opening this mine with two shifts of workmen,
working day and night.

He has a main shaft 140 feet deep, at which level he
makes a drive to another shaft about 400 yards from
there ; both works are nearly completed. As soon as
both shafts are connected they will begin to stope the
140 feet quartz to the surface.

The reef itself runs perpendicularly down, and is of
regular formation, from twelve to fifteen feet broad.
From the first-mentioned shaft the reef is also opened
westward with a drive at a depth of 140 feet, but there
it ends with a width of about one inch.

With regard to the quartz at the last-mentioned

TATI GOLD-FIELDS OF THE PRESENT 6i

south-eastern shaft, where the open works are, it is
very rich in free gold, and the deeper you go the richer
it becomes ; but at the north-western shaft, from where
the drive is now being made, the quartz contains little
free gold, but is full of refractory gold, which, however,
cannot be obtained in the usual way on plates. Some
thousand tons of this quartz were lying near the
machine, and we look forward with great interest to
the crushing, which will be commenced in a few months*
time. In any case, we have good expectations of the
" Monarch."

The company is hard at work with twenty whites
and lOO natives. Besides the ** Monarch," the com-
pany is also opening up the *'New Prospect," about
four miles to the south-west of the ** Monarch," where
a depth of lOO feet has been reached, also on old
workings, and a good reef of two feet width has been
struck. In our former sketches we wrote about the
state of health and other difficulties. We can only add
to this that there are peculiar facilities here ; for instance,
an abundant supply of fuel for the machines and for
timber in the mines, is close at hand. Th^n the com-
pany has an advantage here in that it has the monopoly
of the trade, by which it makes immense gains. The
ground rights, which will be very valuable when the
railway passes through the place, also belong to the
Company.

Finally, we have to refrain from again expressing our
gratitude for the kindness shown us by the acting

62 RHODESIA

manager and all the officials of the company. We
wish the company success. It has still large tracks
quite unexplored, of which, judging from the surface
indications we have seen, we have the highest expec-
tations.

LETTER VIII

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER OF THE MATABELE

EMPIRE

The Boundaries of Mataheleland — The Descent of Salkats
— Salkats and Chaka — Salkats and the Boers — Salkats
and the Mashonas, Makalakas, and Baroets — His Death
and Successor — The Poor Mataheles — Their Miserable
State and Humiliation,

Queen's Reef, 30 Miles N.E. of Bulawayo,

August 30, 1894.

Returning from Tati we came again in the main road
at the Manialula Hills, a habitable and apparently
healthy region, well provided with water ; at least imme-
diately before coming into the road we saw, at the foot
of the " koppies," two fairly strong fountains which,
even in this dry season, formed a small morass. Nature
hereabouts is picturesque, with those beautiful knolls
and luxuriant vegetation ; and the trees do not form
here an impenetrable barrier of shrubs of "hauk-
doorns," as is mostly the case in the bush country ; no,
high trees with good grass below, and now and then an
open grass flat.

Here our two guides took their leave, after we had

64 RHODESIA

given them small presents, and especially enriched with
the game we had shot along the road, and which we
could not use ; they had hidden it to take along with
them on returning. "Who will leave meat?*' our
old Makalaka had asked us. Upon our remark : " But
the meat will become old," he answered : ** We are
accustomed to eat meat that smells." When at our
parting we asked the old man about the water supply
further on along the road he answered naifvely : " Why
do you ask so much about the water ? Do you not see
the appearance of the country, it is full of water every-
where." And so it proved. We now entered a more
undulating country, with many rivers, rivulets, and
brooks, and in almost all of them there was water, even
in this dry season of the year. It is a ** land of foun-
tains and water courses," this Matabeleland, which we
have now fairly entered.

The real Matabeleland extends from the Macloutsi
River on the south to about sixty miles from the Zam-
besi to the north, and from Muzilasland (or the Sabi
River) on the east to the Nata River and the Makari-
Kari salt pans to the west, whilst the Zambesi forms
the north-western boundary from the Victoria Water-
falls to the Zambe. The territory over which Loben-
gula reigned is more than i6o,ocx) square miles in
extent ; in the centre of this territory Bulawayo (the
city of murder) is situated.

The distance from Cape Town is : up to Vryburg
775 miles, from there to Mafeking 102 miles, from there,

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 65

taken by cyclometer, to Gaberones icx) miles, from there
to Palla 104 miles, from there to Palapye 33 miles, from
there to Tati 94 miles, from there to Bulawayo 120
miles, altogether about 1385 miles; about the half of-
this we travelled by ox- waggon, viz., from Vryburg to
Bulawayo, 611 miles. We left Vryburg on July 9,
and arrived at Bulawayo on August 23. Deduct one
week for our little excursion trip in Tati, then it appears
that we did not spend quite a month on this part of the
journey, which is considered to be very good. Add to
this that not one of our oxen was even ill, whilst other
travellers lose about one-third of their oxen, and you
must acknowledge that we have cause for gratitude that
our journey had been so prosperous.

We have now already passed Bulawayo, and I am
writing at the Queen's Reef, in the Bembezi gold belt,
thirty miles north-east of Bulawayo. But before I offer
any opinion on this country and its suitableness for
agriculture and cattle breeding, or on its mineral riches,
we shall proceed higher up through the Bembezi gold belt
to Gwelo, about 1 20 miles ; from there over Gwelo to the
southern gold belt, to return by that route to Bulawayo.

Meanwhile we can keep you profitably employed by
giving you some information about the Matabele nation,
the old mining works and ruins, and what the latest
historians relate about them.

Matchobana, the father of Umsiligaze (better known
amongst us as Moselikatse, or abbreviated, " Salkats "),
was an independent chief, whose territory lay to the

66 RHODESIA

north-east of Natal. He was conquered by a neigh-
bouring tribe, and fled with the remnant of his people
to Chaka, the valiant Zulu king, and was taken up
amongst Chaka's people.

About the year 1827, when the bloodhound Chaka
had reached the summit of his glory, Matchobana's son,
Salkats, served as induna, or commander of a regiment of
the Zulu king. Though young, he proved himself a cou-
rageous commander, and was placed by Chaka at the head
of one of his best regiments, which, however, for the
greater part consisted of men of Salkats* tribe. On one of
his pillaging excursions to the north, Salkats captured a
vast numberof cattle, and retained a considerable part for
himself and his people. Thereupon Chaka sent an impi
(a regiment) against him to defeat him and to capture the
cattle. A desperate fight followed. Salkats was beaten,
and fled north-east with his people, ** eating up" all the
small tribes in that direction. He proceeded as far as the
great Mariko River, where he established himself. The
peaceful Bahuroetsi and Abahathi tribes were conquered
by him, and he established himself there, having his
chief town to the north of Zeerust. He speedily became
so strong that he was the terror of all the surrounding
tribes, and was able to repel the repeated attacks of
Dingaan, Chaka's successor.

For about ten years he continued strengthening his
army and exterminating the surrounding tribes. Then
he heard of the emigrant farmers, who had advanced
clo§e to the Vaal River, and at once sent an army of

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 67

SOOO of his best warriors to exterminate these farmers
also.

At the first unexpected attack twenty-eight whites
were killed, almost all their cattle captured, and even
some women and children carried away. How the Boers
took revenge and drove Salkats to the north is well
known. Salkats, with his people, disappeared into the
unknown north.

Later it became known that he marched as far as the
Zambesi, but had to return because he could not cross
it with his followers. He conquered the Matabele high-
lands, then inhabited by the Makalakas and Mashonas,
and established himself at Bulawayo, that being a
healthy part.

The eye of Salkats was, however, constantly turned
to the north of the Zambesi. It is related that he once
made every preparation to cross the Zambesi with his
army and conquer Baroetsiland on the other side. To do
this he entered into an agreement with Wanki, a petty
chief, who lived on the southern bank of the river, to
put him and his army across the river. Wanki took
Salkats and his army in boats (canoes) and landed them
on an island in the middle of the river, with the promise
to come and take them further on the morrow. But he
fled to the Baroetsi and left Salkats and his men on the
island. Many were drowned in their attempts to swim
back, the crocodiles caught many, but Salkats and a
portion of his army succeeded in recrossing the river
and reaching Bulawayo again.

68 RHODESIA

When Salkats returned, he found that his people,
thinking he was dead, had, during his absence, acknow-
ledged Kurumane as his successor. Being very much
annoyed at this, he had the indunas who had taken part
in the matter executed, and sent Kurumane as an exile
to Umbigo, a chief he thought to be loyal to him.

Salkats, as a barbarian, was a Hannibal, or Alexander
the Great. What he founded was, however, not a
nation with tendency for national development and pros-
perity, but a military organisation. The system by which
Bismarck and Von Moltke strengthened the German army,
and in which some European Powers have followed
them, has already, though under different circumstances,
been carried out by Chaka in Zululand and by Salkats
in Matabeleland, with this addition, that they made the
sexual passion, which is very strong among the natives,
co-operate to the attainment of their object. The young
Kaffirs were not allowed to marry before they had
washed their assegais in blood.

This was done in the following manner: As de-
scendants of Ishmael (more of this later on) they are
circumcised upon reaching manhood. This is accom-
panied by many ceremonies and mysteries, called
** school " by them. They are separated from society
for a time, the young men and young women in separate
groups, and instructed in the secrets of married life and
in the whole of the Kaffir morals. When they come
back from this ** school " the Kaffir girls are marriage-
able, and wear as a sign thereof a peculiar head-dress,.

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 69

The young men, however, may not as yet marry,
but are drilled and form a regiment. Then follows
the great annual dance, after which the chief throws
his assegai, and in that direction the young regi-
ment marches to go and wash their assegais in the
blood of weaker tribes. All the aged are killed and
the younger brought home as slaves, and all the cattle
are captured. Thus they return with rich spoil. If
they have made a good raid they get consent to marry,
otherwise they must remain one year longer unmarried
in a military kraal. Only after their marriage they
are allowed to enter society with their families. But
even then they still belong to their regiment, and must
at times take part in the drill and, when called out,
go to war.

All these military kraals are more or less arranged
in the same way. The military kraals of Bulawayo
and of the renowned Imbezi regiment we have seen
already. Of course it is now burned down. The
following description by Maude, in his lecture " Mata-
beleland, the Future Goldfields of the World," gives
us a fair idea of such a kraal :

An immense circular space, about three-quarters of a mile
in circumference, is enclosed by a high and strong fence,
formed of poles planted in the ground. About twenty yards
inside of this there is a similar fence, and between the two
walls of poles the city is built. At four points, north, south,
east, and west, are four public entrances or gates. Within
this double wall of poles is an immense space, quite a quarter
of a mile in diameter, which is used as a parade or drill

70 RHODESIA

ground for the regiment living in the kraal ; and in the
middle, surrounded by another wall of poles, are the quarters
of the king, including the kraal for the cattle belonging to the
tribe, as also the revered goat kraal. Passing into this
through the entrance, you come into a large enclosure, along
the walls of which, if the king is at home, large numbers of
councillors and soldiers are seated. Great heaps of ox-horns
give evidence of the great meat feasts which are from time to
time held here. In the front there is a neat wall of poles
intersecting this space ; passing through the entrance of this
you come to the sanctuary, the private quarters of the king.
This description applies to all military kraals, excepting that
at Bulawayo in the inner circle are two squarely built houses,
the one a waggon house, the other the king's residence. This
inner space in every military kraal is the king's sanctuary,
and no one may enter it excepting the members of the king's
court when he is absent.

The subjects of Salkats and Lobengula are not
all Matabeles or Zulus by descent. The nation is
divided into three classes, very clearly described by
Moffat :

Salkats has shown his genius in the success wherewith he
formed one nation out of the least promising material, and
inspired them with his own martial spirit. There are three
different classes amongst the Matabele: (i) The original
Zulus, who came with him, and their children. Of those who
crossed the Drokensberg with him only a few are left, and
they have very few children, for marriage was not acknow-
ledged under the former military rule of Salkats, when he
fought for his existence. This first or aristocratic class is
small, but naturally very influential. They are known as
the " Bezansif'' i.e., " those coming from the low coastland."
(2) The middle class is large, and consists of men in the zenith
of life, who were taken up in the tribe during the early days of

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 7I

its fbfmaticyn* They are mostly Basutos and Bechuanas, and
can still say to which tribe they belonged, although they were
taken prisoners in their youth. And yet they are quite
different from the members of that tribe. They are physi-
cally better developed, and quite as accustomed to military
rule as the Zulus. Any one who doubts that the charac-
teristics of a race can be altered, or almost totally changed in
one generation, has only to go and compare the Bechuanas
and their families in their huts, with their relations who
were taken prisoners in their youth by Salkats, and brought
up as brave and strong soldiers. This middle class is called
the Beula, or " people of the highlands." They cannot boast
of the distinction which the Bezansi enjoy, but then they are
animated with the national spirit, and look down with great
contempt upon their brethren, the Basholo, (3) The third
and lowest class, known as the Magole or ** bushmen," are the
slaves taken as captives from the Makalakas and Mashonas
in later wars. They now serve their apprenticeship, and
later become warriors like their predecessors. Even these
young men become Matabeles, with heart and soul, after they
have overcome the bitterness of the first months of exile ;
they sing their war songs, and, swinging their knobkieries
behind the cattle, extol the glory of Machobana. This
mysterious personage is the father of Salkats and the national
deity of the Matabeles.

As we have said, Salkats was the founder of a military
organisation, not the founder of a nationality. The
Matabeles ploughed and sowed very little ; in the way
of digging and working of metal they did nothing like
the Mashonas and Makalakas ; they did not breed
cattle like the other Kaffirs. Whilst other Kaffirs love
their cattle and seldom eat meat, the Matabeles lived
mostly on meat, but then it was the meat of captured

7^ RHODESIA

battle. In reality they lived like beasts of prey, robbing
the surrounding tribes in their annual raids.

Consequently, now that their military power is
broken, they are in a worse position than the other
Kaffirs. Their cattle are taken from them as a war
indemnity, their little Kaffir corn and mielies are taken
to feed the horses of their conquerors or to be burnt.
They cannot work, not being accustomed to it. A Mata-
bele being asked to work, showed his hands and said:
" How can I ? My hands are softer than those of a white
woman." We witnessed how they came to exchange
the few cattle that had been left them, or that they
had hidden, giving a big slaughter ox for three-quarters,
and a cow with a calf for half, a bag of Kaffir corn. In
addition to this pitiful state the Makalakas and
Mashonas, who formerly were their slaves, now take
their revenge, mocking and jeering at them wherever
they meet them, especially when working together. So
great is the strain, that when the two races work
together, a separate Kaffir must be kept for each party
as cook ; they do not eat together ; the Matabele does
not eat what the Mashona has cooked, and vice versa.
It is not to be wondered at that the conquered Mata-
beles now hide themselves ; one hardly sees them :
judging from that, you would scarcely think that you are
in Matabeleland. Their great kraals are burned, they
now live in some kraals far away from the roads.
Some seem to think of ** trekking " across the Zambesi,
to seek a new home, as Salkats did. Only they have

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 73

no leader, there is even no successor to the throne.
There is consequently hopeless confusion on this point.
One Matabele told us that they would certainly cross
the Zambesi to found a new kingdom there. To our
remark : " But the Baroetsies are hostile to you, and
you have no weapons," he replied : ** We will go with
only our knobkierris : if the Baroetsies only see us, they
run away." Another Matabele, however, being interro-
gated by us, gave just an opposite reply ; he said :
** Where shall we go ? When the Boers beat us we
came here ; but where shall we go now ? No, we
must just stay here and work for the farmers." When
we remarked that the Boers had not beaten them this
time, he answered : ** Yes, but the Boers are at the
bottom of it, they have only used the English."

In any case the Matabele are now completely sub-
jected ; their power is broken ; the farmer can live
unmolested on his farm, and the digger with pick and
spade can explore the country. The bloodthirsty
dynasty of Salkats and Lobengula lasted for only half
a century. Moreover, as we have seen, their military
organisation had no national foundation.

But let us resume the thread of our history. Salkats,
like another Alexander the Great, has conquered the
world known to him ; northward, from the Limpopo to
the Zambesi; eastward, from Umzila to the lake G*Nami.
When he had firmly established his power he became
fond of ease, he did not accompany the raids person-
ally : he married more wives, who at his death numbered

74 RHODESIA

500. On account of this easy life he became sickly in
his old age, and suffered especially from gout. He
remained on good terms with the Boers, and always
received them kindly on their hunting expeditions, only
he would not allow prospecting for minerals in his
country. He feared the gold, and gold was one of the
causes of the downfall of the dynasty he had estab-
lished.

His influence among his people was so great that,
even in his old age, his power was unlimited : they
crawled before him in the dust as before a god. His
death was kept a secret for some days, and when it
could no longer be hidden and he was buried, people
hardly dared to say that he was dead.

Salkats died in 1868. Kurumane was the heir to
the throne, but as we have seen, he had been exiled by
his father, and hitj uncle, Umbogate, made it known
that he was murdered, and that he himself had taken
part in it. But Umbigo, head of the great military
kraal, Zwangenduba, declared that Salkats had secretly
banished him. Parties were sent out to seek him, but
he was nowhere to be found. Umbogate and his
Council were no longer able to curb such a headstrong
people. Differences arose and revolution and anarchy
were imminent.

Umbogate saw the necessity that a king should be
appointed at once and chose Lobengula (the defender),
as being the best beloved son of Salkats, though not of
the royal wife. At first Lobengula refused, saying :

SALKATS, THE FOUNDER 75

"Try first to find Kurumane. Send messengers to
Natal, write to Shepstone, and then if you do not find
him, I shall consent to be king."

The attempt, however, was futile, and in 1870
Lobengula was anointed king. But Umbigo declared
that he would acknowledge no other king than Kuru-
mane, and several of the strongest regiments joined
him. Lobengula saw that the time for decided action
had come. He decided to allow them no time ; as-
sembled as strong an army as possible ; defeated them,
and so stamped out the revolt.

Lobengula was now king, not on the ground of
succession, but chosen out of the people. He began
his reign with great caution, and gradually established
his rule. One by one and at intervals he removed the
old indunas of his father, mostly on the charge of
witchcraft. In their place he appointed his favourites.
But he never had that power over the people which his
father had. In our next we shall relate more about his
rule and downfall.

LETTER IX

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER OF THE
MATABELE EMPIRE

Contrast between Salkats and Lobengula — The Weak-
nesses of Lobengula — Lobengula the Victim of English
Policy — Downing Street does what Pretoria refused to do
— Not the Boer, but the Englishman acquires the North
— First by Diplomacy, then by Gold Concessions, finally
with the Maxim — The Grobler Murder — ** Bobejaun "
sent to the White Queen — England's Suzerainty acknow-
ledged — " Protection,^' which in Five Years* time annihi-
lated the Empire — His Birthright sold for a Pottage of
Lentils, or Lobengula's Concession Policy — Concession
first towards North-east, then South-west — More and
larger Concessions — The Chartered Company with Rights
on One-eleventh of Africa, or One Million square Miles —
Had Rhodes the Right to make War? — The War com-
menced — Had it been against Salkats! — Assegai or
Rifle — The Entrance Gates not Guarded — What happened
at Manqwe — The Shangani Battle — Two clever Scouts —
Wilson idolised, Forbes censured — The Bembezi Battle —
Night and Dawn in Matabeleland,

As remarked in my previous letter, the Matabele
dynasty remained in existence only for half a century,
under the rule of two tyrants, each of whom governed
for about a quarter of a century. The career of Salkats

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 77

I briefly described in my last sketch ; this time I
must describe the adventures of Lobengula, the de-
stroyer of the Matabele empire. His name means
** Defender," but for the Matabele nation he was the
" Destroyer/'

He continued the military rule of his father, but he
never personally took part in the wars. Those imme-
diately surrounding him, as well as all his people, had
to cringe and crawl before him and honour him as a god,
but this homage was only external ; he never possessed
the respect they had for Salkats ; on the contrary, he
had to kill all the members of the royal family, because
he did not trust his own power, and always feared a
revolution.

On two points especially he showed his weakness.
Salkats had once experienced what the guns of the Boers
could accomplish, and he remained on terms of friend-
ship with the Boers up to the day of his death. But
Lobengula wanted, with double-faced policy, to play off
the Englishman against the Boer. But he was not
enough of a diplomatist for that roky and he became the
victim of English policy. If he had, like his father,
steadfastly adhered to the side of the Boers, he would
probably to-day still have been in possession of his
kingdom.

For — and here is his second weakness — the English
were the first to obtain gold rights in his country, and
afterwards the country itself. And he was the prime
cause of it. Salkats foresaw the danger of the gold,

78 RHODESIA

and would not allow even the friendly Boer to take a
piece of quartz out of his dominions. But Lobengula
gave one concession after the other on the mineral rights
in all parts of the country under the authority of the
Matabele. This was the originating cause of the war
that cost him his country.

Both points are of too great historical worth to pass
them by without comment. Therefore a short expla-
nation.

By the London Convention the Transvaal bound
itself to enter into no treaty with the natives to the east
or west of the Republic without the sanction of England,
the north was, for good reasons, left unmentioned. In
that direction the Transvaal consequently had the right
to extend its borders, and there lay Lobengula*s king-
dom. But how was he disposed towards Boer and English-
man ? Immediately after the London Convention a
dispute arose between England and the Transvaal about
the western boundary, in connection with the two new
Republics, " Stellaland " and " Land Goscn." Sir
Charles Warren, accompanied by the political mis-
sionary McKenzie, was sent out to take Mankoroane,
Montsioa, and other tribes under British " protection^
Well, they came. Mankoroane, Montsioa, Secheli,
Lynchwe, Gasibone, Chama — all kept under the English
wing for protection. But these two Commissioners
were not satisfied ; they wished to take Lobengula and
the Matabele also under their protection. They did not
venture to go to him personally, therefore they sent

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 79

Maund with a deputation to sound Lobengula, as to
whether he would also come under British protection.
Lobengula gave them to understand that he could pro-
tect himself if only England would not continue arm-
ing Chama, whom he looked upon as a disloyal petty
chief. Being asked whether the duumvirate should come
to him to treat, he answered naively (so the story runs)
in true Kaffir style : ** I have long ago heard that a big
snake is coming, with his head to the north, but I am
accustomed to cut off the heads of snakes."

It is needless to say that the two ambitious heroes did
not venture to go to Lobengula, nor did they take him
under the blessed protection of England.

But something quite different might have happened.
Lobengula had inherited from his father respect for the
Boers. He remained amicably disposed towards them.
But when he heard of the heroic deeds and the victories
of the Boers, he sent two of his indunas to Pretoria,
after the war of independence, with an elephant tusk, to
congratulate them upon their success, and to ask Kriiger
and Joubert to come to him and to enter into a treaty of
friendship. Later on, when he saw how Chama was
being armed against him, after the Warren expedition,
he again sent a deputation to the Transvaal with an
elephant tusk, to ask Kriiger " for his hand," now that
Britain had given its hand to Chama, meaning again
that he wished to enter into a treaty of friendship and
alliance with the Boers.

It is not our intention to make &n abu^e of State

8o RHODESIA ^ w

secrets, but simply to mention historical facts, by stating
that Joubert was on both occasions in favour of such a
treaty, and was ready to go in person to Bulawayo with
that object in view. But Kriiger was against it, and it
ended in nothing being done.

Had Joubert gone at that time and concluded a treaty
with Lobengula, the history of Matabeleland would
doubtless have been quite different. Kriiger's policy
was the cause of the Grobler murder and of the foolery
that took place when Lobengula sent Babyaan to
England to kiss the hand of the great Queen, after
Kriiger had refused him his hand.

But this was not all. Krtiger*s hesitation inveigled
Lobengula still further into the nets of the English.
On February ii, 1888, Lobengula signed the following
treaty with the English :

The Chief Lobengula, ruler of the tribe known as the Aman-
debele, together with the Mashona and Makakalaka, tributaries
of the same, hereby agrees to the following articles and con-
ditions :

That peace and amity shall continue for ever between her
Britannic Majesty, her subjects, and the Amandebele people ;
and the contracting Chief Lobengula engages to use his utmost
endeavours to prevent any rupture of the same, to cause the
strict observance of this treaty, and so to carry out the spirit
of the treaty of friendship which was entered into by his late
father, the Chief Umsilagaas, with the then Governor of the
Cape of Good Hope, in the year of our Lord 1836.

It is hereby further agreed by Lobengula, chief in and over
the Amandebele country, with its dependencies as aforesaid,
on behalf of himself and people, that he will refrain from
entering into any correspondence or treaty with any foreign

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 8i

State or Power to sell, alienate, or cede, or permit, or counte-
nance any sale, alienation, or cession of the whole or any part
of the said Amandebele country under his chieftainship, or
upon any other subject without the previous knowledge and
sanction of her Majesty's High Commissioner for South
Africa.

The thin edge of the wedge had been got in. Scarcely
five years had passed and this huge savage empire has
been rent to shreds !

Still more through his concession policy did Loben-
gula dig a grave for himself and for his people; as
regards time he was even in advance of Kriiger in this
respect. May the reward of his Esau's policy — selling
his birthright for a pottage of lentils — be a warning
example to Kriiger, the Transvaal, and the whole of
South Africa I

As we have seen, Salkats feared the gold ; scarcely
had Lobengula got the reins of despotism in his hand
before he began to give concessions for the digging of
gold. This reminds us of a similar contrast in the
Transvaal. In the early days of the Republic, a farmer
was fined 80 rix dollars because he came to show the
" landsvaders " samples of quartz containing visible
gold, and at present the Transvaal government eagerly
proclaims one gold-field after the other.

But to return to Lobengula. In 1870, almost imme-
diately after his succession to the government, he
promised Mr. Baines, on behalf of the South African
Goldfields Exploration Company, Limited, such a
concession on the minerals in a part of his country.

82 RHODESIA

The company, however, wanted to have a written docu-
ment, and Lobengula gave one on August 29, 187 1,
wherein he granted the company the " full right of
exploring, prospecting, and digging for gold in the
whole region lying between the Gwailo River south-
west and the Ganiana north-east, which grant includes
the right to build houses and stores, to put up machinery
for stamping quartz and for other purposes ; the free use
of the roads through his country for conveying machinery,
provisions, material, and other necessaries, and for the
transport of the gold thus obtained, besides all other
little items connected with gold digging." The only
consideration he got for all this was that he ** should
annually receive such a present as seemed to them
suitable and acceptable to him." But Lobengula took
care to add the following stipulation : ** By granting
this concession I do not alienate this or any other part
of my kingdom, but retain the sovereignty of my king-
dom unimpaired."

This concession, after being transferred from one
hand to another, is at present in possession of the
British South Africa Company.

The next concession is that of Tati, granted in 1872,
concerning which we wrote formerly.

The third concession was given to Wood, Francis,
and Chapman, in the "disputed territory," to which
both Lobengula and Chama lay claim, and which is
situated between the Shashi and Macloutsi Rivers, on
condition of the payment of £\QO. This concession

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 83

was afterwards repudiated by Lobengula, when he
heard that those gentlemen had, for the sake of security,
obtained a similar concession from Chama.

Then followed several smaller concessions, mostly
verbal, and some of dubious value. Be it enough to
state that the British South Africa Company took over
all these concessions in a liberal manner, and amalga-
mated them all.

Now about the last concession. Hitherto Lobengula
had given concessions on regions lying outside the
country actually inhabited by his people — /.^., outside
Matabeleland proper. But like a mouse he was enticed
into a trap, and like a bird in a net.

In February 1888, Lobengula signed the agreement
with the British Government, and in October of the
same year he gave the concession which put an end to
his kingdom. This concession he gave to Rhodes,
Rudd and Co., after he had given a similar promise to
Mr. Maund for another company.

This concession was properly sanctioned by the
British Government, and a charter of privileges given to
the British South Africa Company, not only for the
carrying out of the rights therein mentioned, but within
certain limitations also transferring the British power of
administration over the parts of the country situated
within the sphere of British influence, even north of
the Zambesi. Hence it is generally called '* The
Chartered Company." And in order to further establish
the authority of this company other concessions were

84 RHODESIA

taken over and acquired from the chief of the Baroetsi
by means of Mr. Lochner (whom we had met at
Palapye) and from other chiefs, so that the authority of
the company extends from British Bechuanaland and the
Transvaal on the south to the German and Portuguese
territory to the west, the Congo State in Central Africa
to the north, and Portuguese territory to the east ; about
i,ocx),ooo square miles, or one-eleventh part of the
whole of Africa. It is not only a large, but also a rich
country, so that this company, under the administration
of a man like Mr. Rhodes, has a great future.

But let us return to Lobengula and Matabeleland.
According to the concession we have quoted before,
Lobengula gave all the mineral rights, not only of
Matabeleland, but of all his dependencies, viz., Mashona-
land and the parts inhabited by the Makalakas, into
the hands of this company, leaving out only the Tati
territory.

'* But this concession gave rights only with regard to
the minerals. What right, then, had Mr. Rhodes and
the Chartered Company to make war with Lobengula ? "
Thus the opponents of Mr. Rhodes speak. Taken in
the abstract, Mr. Rhodes had no such right ; but then,
taken in the abstract, war is in no case justifiable
according to the strong principles of justice.

We are not writing a history of the late Matabele
war, nor a defence of the Chartered Company. We
only take a practical view of the case. Lobengula
had given the company not only the right to the

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 85

minerals, but also to mine and to do anything that stood
in connection therewith. When the company had
spent ;£"50o,ooo in opening up the country, Lobengula
sent (according to his old custom) his impis to levy
taxes, as he said, but really to murder the Mashonas
and to capture their cattle by force. We were told by
eye-witnesses that they killed Mashonas in the service
of Europeans, even in Fort Victoria, and even in the
Sunday school. Well, then, how is it possible to dig
gold ? What company will spend thousands of pounds
if the barbarous Matabele can at any time come and
murder their labourers ? Then comes the claim of
humanity. How the opponents of Mr. Rhodes would
have cried " shame " if he had allowed the Matabele to
murder the Mashonas under the very eyes of his police
force ? . . . . But, besides that, the cup of the Mata-
bele was full. Vengeance for all the innocent blood
they had shed had to come, and did come.

Hence it is that Lobengula showed his weakness in
the war itself even more than in being the originating
cause of it. " Whom the gods have destined to
destruction they smite with blindness.*' So said the
ancient Greeks ; so it was here.

Lobengula could not avoid the war even if he wanted
to. The whole of his bloodthirsty people and his
rapacious government hurried on his downfall. But he
might have waged the war in a more worthy manner.
Certain it is that, if the company had had to carry on
the war against Salkats, when he was still in his prime,

86 RHODESIA

the victory would, in any case, not have been obtained
so easily.

We have spoken with many of the volunteers who
had taken part in the war (perhaps we shall give an
interview we had with a few) ; what we write is thus
founded not only on what we read in the newspapers
at the time, but on the evidence of trustworthy eye-
witnesses from both sides (for we have also inter-
viewed the Matabeles), and on personal inspection of
the country where the war was waged. Both in the fool-
ishness of the Matabeles and in the good luck which
attended the assailants, we see the avenging hand of
God over all the innocent blood which had been shed
by that tribe.

The first weakness shown by Lobengula was that,
instead of arming his force with the assegai only, he
sought strength in the rifle. Cetchwayo said : " The
man who invented the gun was a coward," and Isandula
and Zlobane have given proof how formidable a Zulu
army is when armed with assegais, even against a
force with guns and cannons. Salkats established this
powerful kingdom with the assegai ; Lobengula de-
stroyed it by the clumsy use of rifles. Just fancy
what folly : a steamboat with cannon on the Zambesi,
and 1000 rifles with 100,000 rounds of ammunition for
his 20,000 warriors I Of course he intended to use
the steamboat against the Baroetsi and the rifles
against Chama, but when he went out to war against
the company he wanted to fight them with the firms

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 87

he had got from her. That was the chief cause of his
defeat. The Transvaal farmer says : ** The Zulu with
his assegai is an enemy to be feared, but with a gun he
is worth nothing. Had Lobengula stuck to the assegai,
and had he attacked the incoming force in the mountain
passes and forests, especially by night, the result would
have been different, at least in the beginning."

This was his second mistake. Instead of stopping
the enemy on his inaccessible borders with his chief
regiments, he presumptuously enticed them into the
open country, and attacked them there at first with
light young regiments, probably thinking that, having
been enticed into the country, he could, easily anni-
hilate them with his veteran regiments.

It is also to be borne in mind that Matabeleland is a
territory with no roads and almost inaccessible borders.
Really there was only one waggon road made by the
hunters, crossing the country in a slanting direction
from Mangwe on the south-west across Bulawayo to
the Hartley Hills on the north-west. The Transvaal
lies to the south, to the south-east and east is the
impenetrable Matopo range, to the north the unhealthy
lowlands of the Zambesi. In fact the country could
only be attacked from two sides, on the east from
Mashonaland and on the south-west from British
Bechuanaland through the impregnable Mangwe pass.
If he had concentrated his forces on these two points,
900 or icxx) volunteers would not so soon and so easily
have conquered the country.

88 RHODESIA

But now see what he did. The Mangwe pass for
twenty miles runs through a mountain range full of
granite koppies and bush. Then Lobengula put only
one regiment at the entrance ; and had Colonel Goold-
Adams marched in there, probably not a single man
would have returned; this all the men who served
with him as volunteers acknowledge. Luckily the
Colonel had Selous and Raaf with him, and these
marched by a detour to the north-west in order to
draw out the Matabele, who were actually presumptu-
ous enough to go six miles out in the open to attack
the Colonel. There they had to be beaten back,
and still had Selous and Raaf not been present the
result might have been fatal to the volunteers. For
the Matabele were beaten off (and this was at the time
not publicly mentioned) only after four waggons with
provisions and ammunition had been taken and burned,
and Selous, by whom chiefly worse results were pre-
vented, had been wounded. We saw some of the
ironwork of the burned waggons at MangA\'e. And
still that regiment held the pass and would have held
it, had not the reports of the defeats sustained by the
Matabeles against the Mashonaland column discouraged
them, and caused them to retreat voluntarily and leave
that pass open to the invaders.

And how did the combined columns of Salisbury and
Victoria, under command of Majors Forbes and Wilson,
fare ? First of all, the Matabele allowed the columns
to combine and enter the country unmolested. Here

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 89

must be mentioned that the two American scouts,
Burnam and Ingram, did excellent service by recon-
noitring the country in advance, and informing the
column by heliograph where the Kaffirs were, whereby
the combined column was able to enter the country
safely, avoiding the forests and ridges occupied by the
Kaffirs. Still there was opportunity enough to attack
the column. But the first attack was made by the
Matabele at Shangani, on a comparatively open space,
early in the morning, just before dawn.

And here also the attack might have been fatal to
the column had it been made by one of Lobengula*s
choice regiments. For Major Forbes had given orders
to the sentries, who were posted 100 yards apart, at
some distance from the lager, to continue parading up
and down till they met each other. The Matabeles,
who came creeping along, could plainly distinguish
the sentries against the sky as they were walking to
and fro, and there were openings enough to crawl
through without being noticed, as every one will under-
stand who knows that a sentry standing still, or lying
down, can more easily notice an approaching enemy in
the dark, than one who walks up and down ; whilst the
moving sentry is easily perceived by the approaching
enemy.

The result was that the Matabele had crawled
through between the sentries, and were already busy
murdering the Mashonas before they were perceived
by a single sentry. The first they heard was the

90 RHODESIA

screaming of the Mashonas, who ran into the lager
followed by the Matabeles. Major Forbes at once
gave the order to fire, though not a single sentry had
yet entered the camp, but Major Wilson waited with
his firing till all his sentries were back in the camp
(they trekked in two rows of waggons during the day
and encamped in a dual camp at night). And wonder-
ful to relate, all the sentries came back into the camp
unhurt by the firing of their comrades.

Here is perhaps the best place to mention that Major
Wilson was the idol of all the volunteers, whilst we did
not meet a single one who spoke well of Major Forbes.
On the contrary, every one seemed to think that
matters would have gone worse had Wilson not been
there, and if Forbes had had his own way in every-
thing, though he was the commander-in-chief.

But thanks to the fright caused amongst the young
Matabele warriors by the shooting of rockets a night
before, thanks to the good work done by the Maxim
guns, and, above all, thanks to a watchful Providence,
the day soon dawned, and the young Matabele were
beaten back.

Then followed one more, and that one the decisive
battle at the Bembezi, in which two of Lobengula's choice
regiments were engaged. This time the Matabeles made
the attack at 3 p.m., after the column had drawn up in
lager. The attack was made in an open space, where
the Maxims had an open range of at least 700 yards.
The Matabele attacked bravely — especially the Imbezi

LOBENGULA, THE DESTROYER 91

Regiment, some of whom fell only eighty yards from
the laager.

This settled the war. The Matabele power was
broken. Lobengula burned Bulawayo, and fled down
the Shangani. Later, more about this important episode
of the war, when we describe our journey through that
part of the country.

LETTER X
FROM BULAWAYO TO THE QUEEN'S REEF

GwELO, September i6, 1894.

You will already have noticed that we do not give you
a journal similar to those you have often seen, men-
tioning day and date and the places where we in- and
out-spanned. Our object is rather to let you participate
as much as possible in our experiences along the road,
so that you may have the same benefit from them that
we have, and that, having come to the end of the book,
you may know as much as we do ; and then if you wish
to know still more, very well.

On the other hand, we do not wish to confine our-
selves to the natural condition, climate, and mineral
wealth of the country, for then you would probably
begin to think that we were giving you an imaginary

FROM BULAWAYO TO QUEEN'S REEF 93

description, like those written by Jules Verne in his
study. No, I assure you that every page was written
on my knee sitting under a tree, or on the riverbank,
or by a stone, and written with a pencil (the poor com-
positors will acknowledge it to be so). That is the
reason we now and again give you extracts out of our
journal, which I wrote with the object of making use of
it now and later on as a source from which to draw
material.

We begin then from the time of our arrival at Bula-
wayo. The plan for our further journey was to travel
thirty miles to the north of Bulawayo, over the Queen's
Reef, to see something of the Bembezi gold-fields ; then
to go north-east past the Inyati Mission Station to the
lower Gwelo gold-fields, about 140 miles from Bulawayo,
and seventy-five miles from the township of Gwelo,
from there up along the Gwelo River, over the village
(where we write this) to the Selukwe gold-diggings, or
about twenty-five miles south from here ; and then to
return to Bulawayo after some round-about excursions.

We left Bulawayo about four o'clock in the after-
noon of August 24. The first thing that struck us was
that you have not to go far to find goldreefs and the
pegs of the claimholders. At Bulawayo we could
already hear the dynamite shots of the diggers, and
there we were also told of the many goldreefs in the
vicinity of the town.

That same night we passed the old city of murder,
the Bulawayo of Salkats and Lobengula, which was

94 RHODESIA

burned down, and is now a ruin. When we describe
the new Bulawayo we shall possibly say something
about this old city of murder. Let it suffice to mention
that we first rode through the military kraal on horse-
back, and then inspected the ruins of the city in the
twilight, especially the ruins of Lobengula's house,
blown up by the explosion of ammunition. It was
already dark when we reached the outspan and found
our friends who had travelled on with the waggon.
We saw no ghosts, but in the closing twilight many
of the dark scenes of the past rose before our imagi-
nation, scenes about which we had so often read and
heard.

Early next morning we passed first Lobengula*s
slaughter kraal, or abattoirs, the scene of those savage
beef orgies, where there are still pyramids of bones piled
up, and afterwards the military kraal of the picked
Imbezi regiment, whose ornament was ostrich plumes,
and who had formerly been the terror of Matabeleland
and the surrounding tribes. The kraal is formed by a
circle of huts (now burned down) similar to those we
have described before, only larger. We could not, even
after climbing on the stem of a tree, see the circular
walls of the burned down huts on the other side. We
should not be surprised if this kraal measured about two
miles in diameter.

And all these warriors have either perished or have
fled away in shame. We were informed that one of the
leaders of this regiment, after the futile attack at the

' FROM BULAWAYO TO QUEEN'S REEF 95

Bembezi, hanged himself, whilst one of the warriors in
his confusion cried : " What shall we say to Lobengula,
after we, who have eaten the fat of the land, allowed
ourselves to be beaten by boys ? "

But then an attack in the open country, with bush
only on one side, and from there still an open space of
700 yards, covered by the Maxims, at three o'clock in
the afternoon, after the waggons had been formed in
lager, was indeed very hazardous. It was simply folly
on their part.

That same day we met two who had fought in that
engagement, at a little kraal along the road, where we
had outspanned. We asked them why they had
attacked the column in broad daylight, whilst Lobengula
had ordered them only to attack in the night. They
acknowledged having acted against orders, but said
that they were sitting eating on a hill six or eight miles
distant when the volunteers threw a bomb among them.
At first they only laughed when they saw the smoke of
the gun at such a distance, but when the bomb burst
among them, wounding and killing some, they decided
to put an end at once to all the whites by charging and
stabbing them. Rut they were grievously mistaken.
They did not know the Maxims yet.

That same day we passed the Umfasi Matiho (preg-
nant woman) mountain, called thus because Lobengula
had all the pregnant wives of a regiment that had not
yet washed their assegais in blood murdered on this
mountain. Perhaps it is not out of place to remark

96 RHODESIA

here the strict morality among the Kaffirs in their
natural state. Adultery is severely punished, even by
death ; it consequently seldom occurs, and then only
after they have been civilised (?) on missionary sta-
tions and in villages and towns. There only you may
see a *' half-caste " Kaffir child, never will you find one
in a Kaffir kraal.

That evening we reached the Queen's Reef, where
we stayed for six days, (i) because it was the first
acquaintance we made with the mining works of
former ages, which were now being re-opened, and (2)
because the Paarl Matabeleland Syndicate has forty
claims on this reef, and we, consequently, stood in the
Paarl Camp, of which Mr. Jan Derksen is the manager.
He had met us at Bulawayo.and guided us hence. He
is assisted by Mr. Isak Minnaar, also from the Paarl,
and Moller, who has taken part in the whole Matabele
expedition, and also in the unfortunate expedition to
catch Lobengula.

Of the old mining works we shall give a more de-
tailed description later on. Let it suffice at present to
state that of the 10,000 claims pegged off in Matabele-
land and Mashonaland, almost all are pegged on the
sites of the old mining works, or on the supposed exten-
sion of the reefs worked by the ancients. These ancients
were undoubtedly good prospectors. Remains of their
mining works are still found in the Transvaal, Zwaziland,
Gazaland, Mashonaland, Matabeleland, and who knows
how much farther on? With the exception of the

FROM BULAWAYO TO QUEEN'S REEF 97

banket formation, on Wit watersrand, nothing has as
yet been discovered excepting on their tracks. What
has up till now been called ** prospecting" in Matabele-
land has been nothing else than hunting up these old
mining places, and eyen then only under the direction
of the Kaffirs. For instance, Sir John Willoughby,
immediately after the war, sent out waggons, laden
with articles for Kaffir trade, to all parts of the
country to hunt up these old mining places, for which
he rewarded the Kaffirs with merchandise ; in this
way he got hundreds of claims pegged off for his
syndicate.

Thus, also, on the Queen's Reef sixty claims were
pegged off for him, as far as the old mining works go.
Later on the Paarl Matabeleland Syndicate pegged off
forty claims on the western extension of the reef, and
the contractors of Willoughby's Syndicate sixty claims
on the eastern extension, and on both sides the reef has
already been found.

This is the first reef which we thoroughly examined.
It has already been opened for about 2000 or 30CX)
yards ; it is from 2 feet to 6 feet broad, and on the whole
yields very well. And the reef becomes broader and
richer the deeper you go. There is at most places a
fair show of visible gold, but good pan washings at every
place ; so that we have here in any case a good payable
reef that will yield at least from i to 2 ounces per ton
on the plates. This reef shows two good signs : (i) it
is solid, not honeycombed ; (2) the visible gold is not in

98 RHODESIA

hollows or cracks, but in the solid quartz ; (3) the gold
is not flaky, but in solid bits. In any case, the first
reef we examined in Matebeleland is good, even
rich, and will doubtless pay well, especially if the
country is opened by a railway. And that must and
will come.

LETTER XI
FROM THE QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI

Burning of the " Veldt,'' and Prospector's Tracks through
Mataheleland — With Donkeys and in Grass Huts — The
Trader follows the Gold-seeker — Prices in Mataheleland
— Bees' heads in Sugar — In a forsaken Orchard — The
Subjection of the Matabele — Missions without Success —
Lions — On the Road by which Lobengula fled — Thirteen
days without Whites — Eight without seeing Kaffirs —
What we saw and found along the Shangani — Books and
Papers thrown away — Fishing amongst Crocodiles — Back
from the wrong Road.

Selukwe Goldfields, September 25, 1894.
In our former sketch we took you only a distance of
thirty miles from Bulawayo. Since then we have
travelled about 300 miles from Bulawayo to where we
are now — viz., on the Sulukwe goldfields, close to the
borders of Mashonaland ; we covered that distance in
about one month's time. We have seen much in that
time, more, at any rate, than we can relate in one or
two sketches. Hence, only a fragment here and there.
Saturday, August 31, we left the Paarl camp on the
Queen's Reef, and arrived at the Bembezi River, after
travelling quite four miles along a prospector's road.

100 RHODESIA

Let me mention here that the whole of Matabeleland is
now under prospection, and for that reason the high
grass is almost everywhere burned, so that both the
traveller and the poor Matebele find it hard to procure
pasture for their cattle, and the country is intersected
with tracks and hardly distinguishable roads. The
prospectors travel either with Scotch carts or with
donkeys carrying their belongings, and where they camp
they get the Kaffirs to build them round huts of poles
covered with grass, and some plastered with clay below.

From the Bembezi to the Inyate mission station we
travelled along the road formerly used by the hunters,
now known as the Hartley Hill road. We now had
occasion to notice how trade follows the gold-digger. At
the Bembezi were two stores, and one at the Inyate,
and so on almost everywhere, where a few months ago
only barbarians were to be found. But you ought to
see in what sort of grass huts these stores are kept,
generally with a flag flying at the top, and with a great
signboard, "Store and Canteen." Let us go inside.
Very primitive 1 Bottles in abundance. The store con-
sists of a lot of tinned provisions, a few bags of meal,
and not much more.

And still such a shop is of so much importance
that you sometimes, at a distance of miles from the
store, at a cross-road, find a board informing you where
such a shop is to be found. Every Kaffir can show you
the way to the store, and you are sometimes only too
glad to reach such a store when you require anything.
We could not resist the temptation to take a few photos

FROM QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI loi

of one of these stores, so important that prospectors
send to it from a distance of fifty miles, and told us that
we would obtain there some coffee and meal.

But now note the prices paid in this country. It may
interest, probably amuse you. Of course, Bulawayo is
an exception now^ though not long ago — say six months
— it was quite different. Then £i per bottle was paid
for liquor of any kind ; one month before it was £2 ; 25.
for a glass of wine, and French brandy 2s. 6d. Milies
fetched £2 1 55., and they were glad to get it at that
price ; paper, which happened to be scarce at the time,
was sold for 1 55. a packet of note paper with fifty enve-
lopes ; cigarettes 15. per packet, &c. We give a list of
the average prices :

Bulawayo.
£ s. d.

»i

>»

»»

Coffee, per lb.

Tea

Sugar

Rice

Meal

Flour „

Boer Tobacco

Butter .

Kaffir Meal, per bag

Milies

Kaffir Corn

Eggs, per doz.

Fowls, each .

Cape Jams, per tin

Cape Brandy, per bottle

Wine, per glass

Whisky and Gin, per glass

French Brandy

3
I

I 17

I
I

6
6
o
o
8

9
o

Country Stores.
£ s. d.

4 o

4
I

I
o

o
o
6

9
o

2
2
2

5 o
o o
o o

2
10

I
I

O
O
O

6
o

102 RHODESIA

Even at that price it is not always to be had, and the
question always is, IVhat do you get ? The fowls of
the Mashonas and Makalakas (the Matabele have no
fowls, they breed only cattle) are almost as small as
bantams, and then cost 25. 6d. / One pound sterling
was offered for four of our usual barn fowls, but was
refused. We paid £i for 20 lb. of sugar at Inyate ; it
was sugar such as we used to see in our youth — so full
of bees' heads and legs that it had to be put in warm
water to remove the dirt before it was fit for use. It
seems as if everything that cannot be sold elsewhere is
sent to the shops on the border. But then, as we have
said, the country is young, far distant, transport is ex-
pensive and takes a long time ; it is surprising that the
country is what it is.

We spent the Sunday at Inyate. About one mile on
the western side of the river, whence we came and
camped, the police camp is situated, about half a
mile on one side of the road, and at the same dis-
tance on the other side the store. We camped close to
the river ; we drew our waggon and pitched our tent
beneath a lane of "sering" trees ("Pride of India,"
just then in full blossom), near the ruins of a former
trading-station, which had been vacated by the trader,
after he had lost his wife and two children through the
fever. Presumably he took his stand too near the river,
for the country seems to be healthy and good. The
remains of the orchard, however, give proof that any
kind of fruit can be cultivated here. There are still

FROM QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI 103

rows of pomegranate and fig, orange and peach trees,
&c., in full blossom and with young shoots, and though
they lie quite unprotected and uncared for, trodden down
by cattle and damaged in every possible way, still they
grow and blossom.

An interview with some of the obliging policemen
showed us how totally the Matabele nation has been
subjected. Just fancy, there are seventeen men here,
and the nearest police camp is at Gwelo, seventy miles
distant ; to the north there is not a single camp, and still
they keep the Matabele in perfect control. All the
national cattle (which formerly belonged to Loben-
gula) are registered by them ; the Kaffirs must herd
them, and must give account of them when they are
fetched.

Mission work here and elsewhere in Matabeleland
was not successful thus far. Just on the opposite side,
about two miles from the river, along a slope, is a mis-
sion station ; it lies quite solitary and separated, and in
twenty-five years no Matabele became a Christian, not
even by the outward sign of baptism. And yet two
missionaries labour here ; one is here at present, the
other has gone to England.

From here we intended to go to the lower Gwelo gold-
fields, situated on the Gwelo River, eighty or ninety miles
below the new village. We inquired after the road, and
the storekeeper told us that about four miles from here
we had to turn out of the old road of the hunters into
a new prospectors' track^ along which sixteen Scotch

104 RHODESIA

carts had already travelled, and then there was only one
road, so that we could not go wrong.

Calmly we travelled on our solitary way, where
during thirteen days we saw no European, and no
Kaffir during eight days, and no one of us knew
the Matabele language (Henry stayed at the Paarl
camp and Derksen accompanied us further), and no
one of us thought of further inquiring about the road.
Thus we travelled on a scarcely perceptible track as
far as the Shangani River. We passed much game of
almost every kind, and here and there we saw splendid
specimens of the baobab tree, some about forty feet in
circumference, and some mahogany trees of gigantic
growth, out of which beautiful planks could be sawn,
and several kinds of wild fruit trees. The fruit of the
wild orange, which was ripe just then, has a very
pleasant taste.

For more than two days we followed our often almost
imperceptible way, down all along the Shangani River,
having only two old waggon tracks sunk deeply in the
wet ground and several lighter tracks of Scotch carts
to guide us, and through grass which in some places
was higher than our oxen. But our road became more
rough and impassable as we went on.

Everywhere we found camping-places, sometimes of
Kaffir commandos with temporary huts, and one pecu-
liarly shaped long hut, and then again the camps of the
volunteer force, till we made the discovery that we were
on the track along which Lobengula fled with his two

FROM QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI 105

waggons, and on the track of his pursuers, Forbes and
Wilson. But at last the rocky ridges along the
Shangani River became so rough that we saw no
chance of going on further. At first we had cut down
trees and rolled stones out of the road, but at last we
could do that no longer. Now it became clearly
apparent that we were on the road followed by the
fugitive king and his pursuers. We now and then
found assegais, then again we found the skeletons of
horses and even human beings. At last we halted.
We had always still hoped that the road would cross
the Shangani and lead on to the Gwelo gold-fields (the
camp of Roos), but now we also gave up that hope,
for we had already almost reached the confluence of
the Shangani and Gwelo Rivers. We decided to halt
with our waggon. Derksen took supplies for three
days, and returned on horseback to obtain information
about the road.

During that time we could look about a little. Close
to us, on a little hill, we found the camp of Forbes
when he retreated to Bulawayo, after Wilson and his
thirty-two braves, who had gone to catch Lobengula,
had been killed.

There still lay the bones of the knocked-up horses,
which they had shot for food. Here they had thrown
away everything they did not absolutely require. We
found many books, much spoiled by the rain, and
whose leaves had been blown about by the wind.
Here is a book of instruction in the Kaffir language,

io6 RHODESIA

the title-page of which we wrote down in our note-
book : " Incwadi Yckukgala Yokufunda I Kcindezelwe
Esikolweni Ngusemkomanziy Enatal. 1870." In the
hour of danger the poor volunteer had lost his inclina-
tion to study the Kaffir language. A little further on
we found an instruction book in the tactics of war, of
which we found the leaf containing the "Contents,"
which we took with us. The contents are : " Con-
tents, Part IV. — Transport, General Regulations,
Laagers and Regulations for the Formation and Move-
ments of the Transport Service ; Outspans. Column
of Sections — Irregular Formations, Night Formations,
Laagers, Sudden Attacks," &c. This handbook pro-
bably belonged to one of the officers. But here he
evidently found that theory fails among the bushes and
rocks along the Shangani River when pursued by
Kaffirs. For, as we were told by eye-witnesses, the
whole company would have come to grief, had not
Commandant Raaf with his practical experience con-
ducted them back. For instance, shifting by night
with his laagers, he continually misled the Kaffir spies.
Of course the object of the Kaffirs was to attack them
during the night. But towards evening Raaf used to
pitch his laager as if for the night, whereupon the
Kaffirs prepared to attack him there. But as soon as
darkness fell the hoofs of the horses were bound up
with bits of hides, and so they quietly in the dark
went on to a place suitable for encamping. That was
decidedly not found in a theoretical handbook.

FROM QUEEN'S REEF TO SHANGANI 107

But whatever they threw away, food they must
have. Here we saw the remains, not of empty
tins, but the bones of horses and the shells of tor-
toises, &c.

During the days we remained at the Shangani, we
could observe a great deal. For miles we walked down
the river, which is full of pools of water in the sand,
large and small, and in the red granite rocks, some-
times very picturesque. In the sandy bed of the river
you can see the footprints of almost every kind of
game and beasts of prey ; especially noticeable were
the numerous footprints of lions and tigers, but mostly
of crocodiles, with the easily distinguished trail of their
tails. Often you can see the places where, lying down
on the sand, they had basked in the sun. Once one of
us came across a young crocodile which jumped into
the water right before him.

It was very warm here, for we had descended more
than 3000 feet, and that the climate is tropical is
proved by the many wild dwarf palms which grow
here, and which are thought to be a sign of an
unhealthy climate. In Spain, however, we noticed that
as soon as you descended the mountains to the beautiful
regions of Andalusia the wild dwarf-palm almost covered
the slopes of the hills. And who can for a moment
think of calling Andalusia unhealthy ?

Fishing in the Shangani was an agreeable change.
White and yellow fish, **bawers" and carps, and a
nice fish curry on Sunday. So one can be amused on

io8 RHODESIA

a lost road and the solitary veldt where not even a
Kaffir is to be seen 1

After three days Mr. Derksen, who had gone back to
inquire after the road, came back with the information
that we had taken the wrong road even before we came
to the Shangani, and we thus had to go back up the
Shangani for two days, along the track we had come,
and then still some distance through the bushy veldt
and over stony ridges without any tracks. Well, then,
we courageously turn back 1 But of our further expe-
riences more later on ; we shall also give a sketch
of the Shangani expedition in pursuance of Lobengula,
and the unfortunate Wilson disaster, of which we saw
and heard so much here.

LETTER XII

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO

Stuck in the Forest — Open Roads with eight Tracks I —
Baobab and Mahogany Trees — Post Pole along the Road
— One Matabele with eight Wives — How the A ncients
crushed the Quartz — Many thousands of Labourers —
Nightly Visitors — A Sunday Dinner — A Wild Boar —
A cheeky Matabele Petty Chief — A Prospector's Camp
destroyed by a Dynamite Explosion — Important Informa-
tion — Gwelo and its Prospects — The Surroundings of
Gwelo.

Selukwe, August 8, 1894.
I WRITE this sketch at the Selukwe gold-fields, on our
return journey to Bulawayo, though in my last sketch I
left you on the road by which Lobengula had fled. I
must therefore hasten on in order not to leave you too
far behind, for since then we have again travelled
1 20 miles with our ox-waggon, over rough roads, and
for a great part without any road at all. We have just
reckoned up the distance we have travelled with the
slow ox. What number of miles do you think?
About 1 175 miles 1 I postpone detailed description,
and give a very short resume of our experiences on the
journey.

lio RHODESIA

In the meantime we turned back along the Shangani
River, then to the Gwelo gold-fields, almost lOO miles
to the north of the village of Gwelo, from there up
along the Gwelo River across another gold belt, twenty-
five miles from the village, from there to the Selukwe
gold-fields ; then to Fort Victoria and Zimbabwe and
back here.

On August II, we commenced our return journey
from the wrong road, on which we had followed the
fleeing Lobengula, across ridges, through forests, down
along the Shangani. We had to travel back quite
forty miles over that rough country. We had now,
however, become wiser, at least so we thought; we
should not follow these tracks across rough ridges and
through thick forests and uneven country alongside the
river ; we should leave the river and find a better road.
At first we were successful. We found an open grass
flat between the bushy ridges, such as is often found
in Matabeleland, and travelled prosperously for about
six miles. But alas ! we speedily found that our grass
valley tended too much in a westerly direction and
took us too much away from the river and out of our
direction, and became gradually narrower.

Halt I We have come to a standstill and cannot go
on ; the open space ends in a wedge-like shape. We
are surrounded by forests on every side ; not shrubs,
but trees; not scattered sparsely, but very dense.
What now? Turn back? No, not that I We shall
outspan and seek or make a road through the forest •

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO iii

straight on is impossible, the wood is too dense. Some
distance back we had noticed a Kaffir footpath, winding
in the direction of the river; for these dense forests
are among the few places where we still met a few real
Matabele.

Three of us went with saw and axe to cut a road
three or four miles through the forest, back to our
former track along the river, and after a delay of a few
hours we could resume our journey. We relate this
incident as an example of the often repeated experience
in a country which has only been entered by vehicles
during the last six months, and where you involuntarily
learn to take notice of every track.

As a reminiscence we took a photo of our waggon
and the forest in which we got stuck. Add to this that
all this road- seeking and road-making happened on a
very warm day and with a burning thirst, and you can
form some idea of the pleasure of travelling in an un-
opened country. And then such a new road winds
through the forest ; here a knock over a trunk of a cut-
down tree, there the scraping of a branch on the tent of
waggon, then hard rocks to the right and left, not to
speak of the crossing of innumerable rivers and brooks
by fords which have not yet been properly made. On
Wednesday we reached the road we had lost after two
days of very hard work. What a deliverance ! Here
again we at last had something of a road. On the
sandy bed of the river we could easily count the tracks,
eight Scotch carts had passed by this road. This is

112 RHODESIA

called here a well-opened way. On that day we en-
countered nothing particular, except the fresh footprints
of a lion, who, however, did not trouble us.

Thursday we crossed the plateau between the
Shangani and Gwelo Rivers. At half-past ten in the
morning we passed the Umvingo River, which a little
lower down flows into the Shangani. The whole region
between the Shangani and Gwelo Rivers forms a healthy,
good plateau, but we crossed it rather low towards the
north. Parts of it are very well adapted for cattle-
farming, but not for agriculture, on account of the
scarcity of water. Here we passed seven baobab trees
in a clump, also a few beautiful specimens of mahogany
trees, real giants, of which we took photos.

The small and large game we saw here would have
thrown every enthusiastic hunter into raptures. A good
thing that we are not hunters, for hunting means loss
of time on a journey. Still we always had sufficient
game for use in our waggon.

Something that drew our attention was a pole we
found at the Umvingo, with a white flag attached to the
top. Upon reaching it we found it to be a postpole,
with an open letter to some one who would come along
this road. We met that person on the lower Gwelo
gold-fields, whilst his letter was all the time waiting for
him. You find more of these postpoles along the road,
and sometimes they are of great service.

On Friday morning we came to a " spruit " with
pools of water, having spent the previous night without

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO 113

water, and after having passed in the morning some
pegged off reefs. Here a Kaffir, with his eight wives,
came to fetch water ; they had basins filled with wild
fruit ; we got some in exchange, and found it very
palatable. This meeting gave us an idea on the present
state of the Matabele. It was plain that this family
came a great distance to this solitary region, where they
are at present in hiding. The eight wives of one man
prove how plenteous the women are at present, after
so many men, who also had full harems, had perished
in the war ; for the Matabele, in their raids, always
brought the women with them as their property. But
here we also see in what a pitiful state they are now.
How emaciated the poor women are I An end has been
put to their robbery, and they must now subsist on the
wild fruit, which at this time of the year is very
scarce.

Towards noon we arrived at the Gwelo River, at an
old prospector's camp, where we outspanned alongside
the river, beneath a clump of high mopani trees. The fol-
lowing day (Saturday) we went to inspect the gold-fields,
six miles lower down, where the Paarl Matabeleland
also has twenty claims. This gold belt lies about ninety-
five miles to the north-west of the village of Gwelo, lower
down the river, and seems to be very rich, especially
the Leopard, Rose, and Van Blerk reefs, all of which
have been pegged off on the old mining works.

What strikes us here is that almost every stone along
the river is hollowed out, showing how many thousands

114 RHODESIA

of workmen were employed here in former ages crush-
ing quartz. Mr. Richard, a prospector, who drew our
attention to this, showed us how in these hollows, made
by the grinding of the quartz with round stones (as
the Kaffirs still grind their corn), grooves had been cut
apparently with some hard metal implements, either to
facilitate the grinding process, or perhaps to retain the
gold, which is heavier ; also how some of these holes
for grinding are deeper than others (about eight inches
deep), probably to grind the quartz more finely, which
in the other holes had been only roughly broken.
Higher up along the Gwelo, at the next goldbelt,
there are ten such mortars, hollowed out regularly in
the rock in two rows of five each. Mr. Richard told us
how he had found 600 of these grinding hollows in the
rocks at a prospecting place a little lower, alongside the
river. He also showed us a very simple iron imple-
ment, found by him in the old mining works, with which
the miners took out the quartz, whilst, as a rule, they
used stone implements ; also that they first crumbled the
quartz by heating the mines with fire, and then suddenly
cooling it down with water. This is the reason why char-
coal is so often found in the mines, and they mined
down to the water level only.

How many thousands of labourers these ancients
must have employed in order to work these extensive
mines in such a primitive manner for hundreds of miles 1
More of this later on.

Here the old works reach a depth of fifty feet, where

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO 115

the reefs are very rich, especially in visible gold, of
which, however, these gentlemen would give us no
samples, presumably because they wish to peg off more
claims for themselves, though one prospecting party
already possesses 200 claims on the old workings in the
vicinity.

These gold-fields are situated about ninety-five miles
to the north-west of the village of Gwelo, and still fifty
miles further north-west extensive old works were dis-
covered, containing very rich quartz. The ancients
sorted their quartz very carefully ; the poor quartz was
left, and only the rich parts carried to the rivers to be
crushed and washed. And even of this quartz, which
they left in heaps at the mines as being not rich enough,
we saw samples full of visible gold, which gave rich
panwashings, up to three ounces per ton.

Of the solid quartz taken out from the Leopard reef
at a depth of fifty feet, we saw big lumps full of visible
gold ; the gold, however, is somewhat flaky, and it is
therefore possible that it appears richer than it is in
reality.

That Saturday evening we came back to our mopani
trees, where we had encamped the previous night, and
spent the Sunday there. We had camped here three
nights, and the result was that the little night apes
began to look upon us as their companions ; at least
the last evening and morning they came and amused us
by jumping from tree to tree, and from branch to
branch. They even came to sit in the low shrubs, close

ii6 RHODESIA

to our fire, as if challenging us to catch them, but as
soon as we attempted to do so they simply flew up the
trees. We also had other nightly visitors. Every night
we could hear the roaring of two lions, coming nearer
every time. But they never molested us.

One more small incident I will mention. On Friday
afternoon, having some time to spare, we went fishing
in a large pool of water close to our waggon; but
instead of catching fish we caught three gigantic turtles,
one of which measured about two feet round the middle
and three feet lengthways. They served for a splendid
Sunday dinner.

We began to be in want of some provisions, and
were informed that the nearest store was fift3'-two miles
distant; we had to go forty-two miles up along the
Gwelo River in a southern direction ; there we should
again come into the Hartley Hills road ; with that road
we had to cross the river, then travel nine or ten miles
in an easterly direction, and so reach the store by
following the Crocodile River; from there ten miles
south again to the Gwelo goldbelt, which lies twenty-
five miles north of the village of Gwelo.

On Monday, travelling along the Gwelo, we saw
many quartz reefs, oftentimes with old mining works
on them, some of which had already been pegged off.
We had no time for prospecting, but in passing we
could see plainly enough that this is a vast unexplored
goldbelt. Besides that, the country here is higher,
healthier, and better, whilst splendid agricultural farms

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO 117

could be laid out here with open veldt and bushy ranges
intermixed. Now we had to travel the whole day on
one Scotch cart track, and when we lost that we got
into an old waggon track, which first led us through
and then over a very rough rocky ridge. This was
followed by a strip of granitic country.

On Tuesday morning we soon passed through the
granite belt and came into a gold formation. Here
we again found a deserted prospector's camp, and from
there a few more tracks and, for us, now an open road.
Our supply of game was running short, and one of our
travelling companions shot a large wild boar, of which
we took the skin of the head, with the famous tusks
with us as a memento.

Wednesday before dawn we reached the Hartley
Hills road.

What a blessing to have an open road once more ! We
reached the important store early in the morning, and
there we bought a little coffee and sugar, which we were
in want of. We were glad to get a pound of coffee at 45.,
and a pound of Boer meal at gd. The building in which
this store was kept was about as large as our spring
waggon. We took a photo of the store to be able to
show in later years with what kind of stores the land
was opened up.

That same evening we went as far as the Black
River, where the Matabele Chief Mavin lives ; he took
no active part in the war because he awaited the in-
coming column, with his regiment, at the Hartley Hills,

ii8 RHODESIA

and they travelled by another route. The consequence
is that he and his people still live here, but are so
impudent that it has already been necessary to give
them a little proof of what the Maxim can do.

The country here is very good ; the cattle and sheep of
the Kaffirs are in good condition ; there is abundance
of water; and splendid agricultural farms can be laid out
along the Black River, with the gold-fields close by.

That evening, between nine and ten o'clock, we heard
a loud dynamite explosion. In the morning we saw
that there were prospectors' camps about. Here we
had to see the prospector Lennock, in order to obtain in-
formation about two goldfarms of the Paarl Matabeleland
Syndicate. Mr. Derksen went on horseback to inquire
after Mr. Lennock, and came back with Mr. Rooke, the
partner of Lennock. He told us that they had both
gone to Bulawayo, that he had returned the previous
evening with a store of provisions and dynamite, &c. ;
that the Kaffir hut wherein the dynamite was placed took
fire in the night, and when he awoke he had to flee for
his life : he was only just out of reach when the explosion
which we had heard, occurred. He said that all their
provisions, &c., had been burned, and that he was now
bereft of everything and quite solitary ; that he expected
Mr. Lennock the following day; that the goldfarms of the
Paarl Syndicate were situated about forty miles to the
north of this ; that both he and his partner had claims
on those farms, and that they were just ready to go
there, as soon as Mr. Lennock was back from Bula-

FROM SHANGANI TO GWELO 119

wayo ; that the farms lay between two rivers, on both
of which were large alluvial diggings, and that the farms
were intersected by old mining works on reefs; also
that those fields here were most promising, and that
the reefs on the other side of the river, especially the
Shamrock, Irene, and Rose of Sharon (in the last of
which the Paarl Syndicate also has a share), were very
rich ; and finally, that there was an important old fort in
the vicinity, although it unluckily lay somewhat out of
our way, &c.

After this important information we decided to go
straight to the village of Gwelo with our waggon, whilst
Mr. Derksen would go on horseback to the claims on
the other side, and bring us a report.

The following day (Friday) we arrived at Gwelo, a
village barely two months old, but with a fair show of
houses, with a healthy and beautiful situation against a
well-wooded slope, just where the Gwelo takes its rise,
though here it has water at present only in pools. This
is the great objection against the village. The pools
might prove unhealthy, and they dry up in the dry sea-
sons. Otherwise the situation is healthy, 4500 feet high,
and the water can be got from the surrounding farms.

We believe that this village has a great future,
situated in one of the best and healthiest parts of Mata-
beleland, with rich gold-fields for twenty-five miles on
both sides (the Selukwe fields are situated about
twenty-five miles south), being besides on the main road
from Bulawayo to Charter and Salisbury, and on the

120 RHODESIA

watershed along which the railway must in future run.
Towards evening Mr. Derksen came back, bringing
highly favourable reports, and also some samples of
rich quartz from the Gwelo gold-fields, where we parted
from him.

That same evening we went to a farm of the Paarl
Syndicate adjoining the commonage of Gwelo. The
farm lies on the plateau of Gwelo, and we found four
** spruits " in the part over which we went, with running
water. The grass is short and sweet, the same as on
the high veldt of the Transvaal, Ermelo, and Standerton,
which are known as the best cattle districts in the
Transvaal. Besides the many kinds of sweet grass,
we also saw several kinds of small shrubs resembling
our " schaapboschjes." It is an open country, with just
sufficient bushy ridges to make it suitable for cattle
farming.

Enough for this time.

LETTER XIII

ANOTHER 350 MILES PER OX-WAGGON

Retrospect — Thirteen hundred Miles per Ox-waggon —
Back by Three Roads — Why we chose the Beira Route —
The Selukwe Gold-fields — The Paarl also here well repre-
sented — Beautiful Scenery — Forests of wild Loquats —
New Roads in a new Land — The Victoria District suit-
able for Agriculture and Cattle farming — Testimonies of
Farmers from the Colony, Free State, the Transvaal,
and Natal — Fort Victoria — The Country surrounding
Zimbabwe — A t the Grave of Wilson and his brave Com-
pany — ** Morgenster,'' the first Mission Station of the
Dutch Reform Church in Rhodesia — Mashona Towns on
Granite Koppies — How the Mashonas cultivate their
lands — Back to Bulawayo,

BuLAWAYO, October 19, 1894.

I WRITE this sketch at Bulawayo, after a tour of eight weeks
through Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Here we take
leave of our ox-waggon, after having travelled 1300
miles with it in three and a half months' time. The
whole journey was very prosperous ; we had no adver-
sity worth mentioning, none of us were seriously ill,
and we lost but one of our oxen, which strayed and
was not recovered. If we compare this with the
difficulties and losses others had to contend with ; if

122 RHODESIA

we think through what impassable regions we passed,
and by what impossible roads, sometimes on one or two
tracks, and sometimes through the veldt and across ridges
without any track at all, through rivers without fords,
through forests and barren regions, where lions, tigers,
&c., roam about, then, indeed, we have cause for grati-
tude. Roughly taken, the way we travelled was as
follows : From Vryburg to Bulawayo (with the circui-
tous road over Tati), 670 miles ; from Bulawayo over
the Bembezi, Shangani, Gwelo, and Selukwe gold-fields
to Victoria and Zimbabwe, and back again to Bulawayo,
about 635 miles.

Now our travelling company separate. Mr. Malherbe
goes from here, per omnibus, to Pretoria, and from
there per rail to the Paarl ; Mr. le Riche goes per mail-
cart to Mafeking, and from there by rail to Kimberley ;
and I go from here per omnibus across Gwelo and
Charter to Salisbury and Umtali ; from there by cart to
Chimoio ; from there, so I am informed, I shall have to
walk some distance (some say fifteen, others twenty-five,
others fifty, and others eighty miles) to the Beira railway,
which brings me to the Pungwe River ; then down the
river to Beira, and then by steamboat to Delagoa Bay,
Durban (Natal), East London, Port Elizabeth, to take
the train from there to the Paarl.

I choose this route, which will take me a longer time,
because it is the more important one, with regard to
the approaching tariff war about the transport to the
interior from the colonial ports, Durban, Delagoa, and

JOURNEY BY OX-WAGGON 123

Beira, and also because I shall then have a better oppor-
tunity of seeing the best part of Mashonaland. Later
on more about this.

We must take you this time over a distance of 350
miles — viz., from the village of Gwelo to the Selukwe
gold-fields, from there to Victoria and Zimbabwe and
back, and from there, by a short roundabout way, via
the Queen^s Reef, to Bulawayo.

From the village of Gwelo to the Selukwe gold-fields
is about twenty-five miles. For the first half of this
distance you remain on the same open, level highland ;
then you enter the Selukwe ranges ; here the country
falls quite i OCX) feet, for the tops of the Selukwe range
are about 5000, and the Intebekwe River about 4000
feet above the sea level. This sudden sinking of
the highland to a lower level has as result a region of
wooded mountain ridges, intersected by deep gullies,
each of which has a beautiful stream of water. On
account of its being so high this mountainous region is
very healthy, and nowhere in South Africa did we see
more beautiful scenery.

The whole region is densely wooded, especially with
the wild loquat, which generally grows as thick as our
pine forests ; it bears a very palatable fruit ; its wood
is excellent for fuel and for timber, which is of great
advantage to the gold-fields. For here is a gold-bearing
region fifty miles long and twenty-five miles broad.

Almost all these mountain ridges are formed of quartz
and intersected by old mining-works, w^ith ruins of forts

124 RHODESIA

on the mountain tops. The prospectors of the present
day have here also followed the lead of the ancients,
and have pegged off almost the whole of this region.
Here you find the largest digging population of Rho-
desia, and here most work is done also. The European
population on these diggings is estimated as between
200 and 300. The prospects of these fields are excep-
tionally good, on account of the extensiveness and the
richness of the reefs, and especially on account of the
mining facilities ; here is a supply of fuel and timber
wood for years (the wood of the wild loquat tree has
been found in the old mines, sufficient proof of its dura-
bility), and also on account of its very favourable
situation. Most of these properties can be opened up
and worked by making tunnels from below the rivers in
the deep " kloofs," and thus two or three levels of from
200 to 300 feet deep can be " stopped " out underneath
the ridges, and in this way the quartz can be worked
out from below and then carried with gravitation force
in "trollies" or "trucks" to the machines at the
water.

Our Paarl friends will be glad to hear that the Paarl
Matabeleland Syndicate has thirty claims on these gold-
fields, also on yet unopened but very promising reefs,
on which old mining works are to be found ; also that a
few young men from the Paarl (two brothers, Malherbe,
Moll, Solomon, and three others) have the most flourish-
ing trading business here, besides farms and claims.

But I must hurry on. Here we decided to make a

JOURNEY BY OX- WAGGON 125

little expedition to Fort Victoria and Zimbabwe. Mr.
McKinnon kindly assisted us with a team of fresh oxen.
This gentleman owns seventy claims on the Intebekwe
reef, with important old mining works, undoubtedly one
of the best properties on this gold-field, besides the Dun-
raven and Bonsor.

From here to Fort Victoria is quite eighty miles.
First of all we had to descend the mountain ridges,
along a new and fearfully rough road, over stones and
the trunks of trees that had been cut down. This descent
lasted about twelve miles and took us almost a whole
day. The surveyor, Fairbridge, accompanied us that
day, and that evening we stood close to his camp, where
he was busy surveying farms. We spent the evening
with him, and as he is well acquainted with Matabele-
land and Mashonaland, he gave us valuable information,
also some articles written by himself, of which we hope
to make use later on.

Now a small incident on this journey. At twilight,
having reached the bottom of the hills, we found our
way blocked up with branches of trees. A square piece
of the bark of a tree along the road had been cut out
and on the bare wood was written, " Road to Victoria
direct through both the Tebekwe Rivers." Here we
stayed for the night, and decided next morning to follow
the new road. We soon noticed there was only one
waggon track before us, and that the trees had only
recently been cut down, and towards noon we met the
brothers Long, who had outspanned in the veldt. They

126 RHODESIA

told us that they were the new road-makers ; that they
thought by taking this direction to shorten the way by
twenty miles, as the other road had been made by fol-
lowing the cart-track of a prospector, and that we could
not now branch off, as we w^ere prevented by a rough
range and a long distance. Nothing remained but to
travel with them and to help them cut and construct the
road till close to Victoria, which caused us a delay of a
few days. Coming back we preferred taking the open
road of the prospector. So you have to travel in a new
country.

The district of Victoria through which we now
travelled is situated in Mashonaland, and though we de-
scended a good bit this region lies more than 4000 feet
above the sea level. And if we consult the experience
of the old " Voortrekkers " this region cannot be un-
healthy, for the '* sugar-bosch " and " waggon-boom "
grow everywhere. And we must say that in the whole
of Matabeleland we did not see any part better adapted
for cattle farming and agriculture than this region. The
country is broken — i.e., open grass country, varied by
wooded ridges. The " veldt " is not rough ; everywhere
you see various kinds of short sweet grass. And then
for agriculture ! The open valleys have fertile soil and
streams of water, whilst the produce in the villages and
gold-fields fetches exorbitant prices ! Really, if you see
this, and think that three years ago farms could be
selected here merely on payment of a fair quit-rent
then you cannot help being amazed and feehng

JOURNEY BY OX-WAGGON 127

sorry that many of our farmers slave, yea, toil them-
selves to death and become poor, on a small patch of
ground, or on the ground belonging to another (for the
high bonds on properties make our colonial farmers in
reality the slaves of the capitalists).

At Victoria we met eight Dutch farmers coming from
the Free State, the Transvaal, Cape Colony, and Natal,
who live between Victoria and Charter. They declared
unanimously that the country was excellently adapted
for cattle farming of any kind and also for agriculture ;
that a certain Mr. Potgieter, amongst others in their
neighbourhood, possessed a flock of merino sheep from
which he had already got a crop of excellent wool, and
that he would not sell a single one of his sheep at any
price ; that they were healthy, prosperous, and happy,
and had no thought of going back ; on the contrary,
they had written to their friends and relatives also to
come there, especially now that Lobengula was out of
the way ; that not one of their families had as yet died
of fever, though some had had slight attacks, as mostly
happens in a new country ; that they were quite satis-
fied with the liberal rule of the Chartered Company, &c.
&c. The unanimous testimony of men from different
parts is of great importance.

Victoria is situated on a hill between two rivers, and
appears to be fairly healthy, though the inhabitants
acknowledge that most of the Europeans are every
year attacked by the fever, but in a mild form, as is
the case in most regions which have been recently

128 RHODESIA

inhabited. In Zoutpansberg, Waterberg, Marico, and
Lydenburg in the Transvaal, the fever was at first much
worse, and now these regions are inhabited and no
more is heard of the fever.

From Victoria to Zimbabwe is about eighteen miles,
over a beautiful country, mostly open grass flats varied
in places with beautiful woods. When you are close
by these interesting remains of the long past, you find
the granite ridges among which these gigantic ruins
are situated. A detailed description of these important
ruins we reserve till later on. Only let us mention
that they are not situated (as we supposed) in a rough
and unapproachable region, but in a beautiful part of
the country, where we can easily imagine a large town
to have stood, with a numerous population, as these
ruins seem to show.

Our stay at Zimbabwe was short, only two days
(Oct. 2 and 3), and yet we count these two days
amongst the most important of our life. For the
present we take leave of this subject, but we promise
later on to give some impressions which we wrote down
that evening at the grave of Major Wilson and his
brave companions who perished whilst pursuing
Lobengula across the Shangani. That grave lies
between the Fort and the ancient Temple, and is
enclosed with barbed wire ; a wreath of ferns and wild
flowers is laid upon it.

During our short stay we embraced the opportunity
to visit the first mission station of the Dutch Reformed

%. ^

JOURNEY BY OX-WAGGON * 129 •

Church in Rhodesia. The Revs. Messrs. Louw and i^*^ -J»
Helm (medical missionary) labour there, whilst the ^

farming is attended to by Mr. Euvrard, They not only
received us kindly, but Mr. Louw and his wife came
also to pay us a visit at Zimbabwe.

The mission station **Morgenster" (Morning Star)
is situated about one and a half hour*s walk from the
Zimbabwe ruins. The station lies high and seems to
be healthy. Up to date no one on the station had
caught the fever. The indefatigable diligence of Mr.
Euvrard gives abundant proof of the suitability of the
country for agriculture. Oak, orange, and blue-gum
trees grow luxuriantly, and the vegetable garden is a
pleasure to the eye. Onions, carrots, tomatoes, beet-
root, sweet potatoes in abundance, and as large as we
seldom before saw them. A plentiful supply was given
us, which we greatly appreciated, the more so as we
had tasted no vegetables for the last three months.
The Rev. Mr. Louw and Mr. Euvrard with their newly
married wives (Mr. Helm is unmarried) appeared to
be very happy. We wish these pioneers in the
mission field of Rhodesia every success.

What struck us in the vicinity of this mission
station and Zimbabwe was the beautiful granite
"koppies," with their fantastic shapes, and the huts
nestled between those boulders, and on their tops,
where the Mashonas, along with their cattle, used to
hide themselves from the Matabele.

Of course we took some photos of such hills, and the

I30 RHODESIA

Kaffirs with their goats and fowls, &c., round about
them, also of the Zimbabwe ruins, the mission
station, &c.

With regard to the Mashonas living on these hills
we noticed two things : (i) How they, by means of a
certain kind of clay, fastened their huts to the rocks, so
that the wind cannot blow them away ; (2) That these
localities were chosen, not only through fear of the
Matabele, but also on account of their healthiness
and to escape the many insects swarming in the lower
parts. Probably, therefore, they will continue this
troublesome way of living even after the power of the
Matabele is broken.

The Mashonas have a peculiar way of cultivating
their lands. In the middle they leave a strip of about
one foot wide which they do not turn over, then they
turn over the soil about half a foot on both sides of the
strip thus left and throw it on the top of it, covering it
with the loosened soil, so that the grass of the turned
up soil lies on the grass of the strip which was left
standing.

This they do in the rainy season when the grass is
about one foot high. Those double layers of grass
with soil on the top rot and fertilise the ground.
When the rainy season comes this ground is turned
over and sown mostly with "manna;" mealies and
Kaffir corn are not sown to any extent. In low,
moist parts they make beds (like our seed-beds) and
sow them with rice.

JOURNEY BY OX-WAGGON 131

But in consequence of not manuring, and thus
exhausting the soil, they continually have to make new
lands and give the old ones rest. This also they do in
a very simple and practical manner. For these lands
they choose the best wooded parts, as being the most
fertile. But do not for a minute think that they uproot
the trees or even cut them down low on the ground.
No ; they have not the implements to do that. With
their small axes, which they make themselves, they
chop away the thin branches (they let thicker ones
remain with the stem), and as soon as these are dry,
they heap them up against the stem of the tree and
set fire to it. The bark of the tree is burned away and
the tree is dead ; the roots no longer draw nutrition
from the ground and the shadow of the bare branches
does no harm, whilst the ground is at the same time
manured. Is this not a very practical way ?

And still they have sufficient grain and vegetables,
&c. ; though everything is smaller with them, even
their cattle and fowls. We took some photos of their
new agricultural lands, over whose unharrowed furrows
we were jolting along, for the Mashonas have no
respect for the new roads of the prospectors, but pick
right across them, and the prospectors on the other hand
make their roads right across the cultivated land of the
Mashonas. We also took some photos showing how
they cut down the branches of the trees and burn
them.

From Zimbabwe and Victoria we returned over the

132 RHODESIA

Selukwe gold-fields across a comparatively open high-
land (where, after travelling three months through a
bush country, we had again to use dung for fuel), and
passed the Shangani battlefield and the Queen's Reef
to Bulawayo, where we close this sketch, after having
had an important interview with the renowned American
scout, Burnham, especially about the tragical expedition
in pursuit of Lobengula, and the sad fate of the brave
Wilson and his company, when Burnham also had a
narrow escape. Of this interview, and thus of the
whole tragic episode, we give in our next sketch a
fuller description than has yet been given.

Here we take a final leave of our ox-waggon, after
travelling in it for three and a half mionths. From here
we return with the omnibus and horses.

LETTER XIV

HOW WILSON AND HIS MEN PERISHED
A Tragical Episode in the Matabele War

First and last Fights at the Shangani — Two renowned
American Scouts and their Wonderful Deeds of Recon-
noitring — Meeting and Interview with Burnham — Chief
Adventures of the Expedition which pursued Lobengula —
Burnham'' s Account of that memorable Night and Morning
—Close on Lobengula' s Heels — " No European shall cross
the Shangani *' — Reconnoitring with Wilson and twelve
men across the Shangani — Through thousands of Kaffirs
in the Night — The whole Matabele Nation and Army with
Lobengula — Almost surrounded by Kaffirs — Three Men
sent to ask Forbes to cross at once with the whole Force, in
order to attack Lobengula at Daybreak — Seeking in the
Night for three men who had strayed amongst the Kaffirs —
Following tracks on a dark and rainy Night — A II out in
the Night as Spies — The Kaffir impisy being misled, march
past to Forbes — Waiting for Forbes — Burrows arrives
with Twenty Men, without a Maxim — Hopeless Condition
— Consultation : ^*How best to Die " — Wilson's Tactics, a
Bold Move — Directly on the King and his Chief Indunas
— The Waggons empty — Attacked and almost surrounded
by Kaffirs — Shoot straight and waste no Ammunition —
Good Shooting in Danger — Behind a great Ant-heap —
Retreating with closed up Ranks — Where does Forbes
Tarry ? — Burnham, Ingram, and Gooding break through
dense masses of Kaffirs towards Forbes — Mislead the

134 RHODESIA

Kaffirs by Detours — A Race for Life — The last they
heard of Wilson — Swimming the River with tired Horses
— Through the midst of the Enemy to the Laager — Dis-
satisfied with Forbes* s behaviour — Why Raaff took the
Command — What the Kaffirs relate — Wilson's heroic
Death— A Magician who could not be killed — A Death
song in the midst of Death — Did they Shoot themselves ? —
The Representation by Forbes and his Distortion of Facts
— Burnham well Rewarded ; an energetic Inhabitant of
the Country,

Zimbabwe, October 2, 1894.

When I related how we lost our road along the
Shangani, and so came to the scene of the last struggles
in the Matabele war, I promised to give you later on a
description of the sad fate that overtook Wilson and
his brave companions. I will now fulfil that promise.

The war began on the Shangani River (higher up)
and ended at the Shangani. On the Shangani the
Matabele made the first attack on the inmarching
column, determined that the white warriors should not
penetrate further, and on the Shangani they made their
last stand, quite as determined that no white man
should pursue their king any farther. The first as
well as the last fight began in the night and lasted till
the morning.

In these respects they were similar, but in others
there was a difference. In the first fight on the Shan-
gani the combined column fought against only a portion
of the Matabele impis ; in. the last fight the whole of
the Matabele army fought against 150 whites. In the

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 13^

first fight Majors Wilson and Forbes were together
and had Maxim guns ; in the last fight Major Wilson
was alone and had no Maxim. At the first fight the
Kaffirs were presumptuous and ventured too much,
the last fight showed presumptuousness on the part of
the hitherto victorious Europeans. In the first fight
the Europeans were completely victorious, in the last
fight victory was on the side of the Kaffirs, for Wilson
with all his men perished, Forbes escaped with the
remainder, his retreat being conducted by Raaff, and
still the vanquished remained victors, and with that
lost battle the war was concluded actually in their
favour.

The closer you view these last scenes of the war,
the more important they become. In order to be able
to give a complete and accurate description of them,
we have interviewed several persons who acted a pro-
minent part in them, and one person who played a
principal part in the whole war, but especially in this
expedition, viz., the American scout, Burnham, known
as ** Yankee Burnham."

We have heard wonderful accounts related about
the two scouts, Burnham and Ingram ; how they led
the combined columns into Matabeleland ; how they
by day and night reconnoitred the country miles and
miles in advance ; how they in day time, miles in
advance, informed the column where water was to be
found, where the Kaffirs were and what they did ; how
in the night they went amongst the Kaffirs to spy out

136 RHODESIA

what they were about ; how everything happened as
they had foretold, &c.

Burnham is especially praised as a scout. As he
accompanied the expedition which pursued Lobengula ;
as he was with Wilson and his gallant band and fought
with them, and only at the very last escaped as it were
out of the jaws of death, and as he as scout was well
informed of everything, we were very glad to meet
him at the office of the Maiabeleland NewSy and to
have an interview with him at his house.

Burnham is small of stature, but of a lively and
energetic appearance, very courteous and free in his
manners, perhaps older than he looks, anyhow below
the forties, and married to a charming wife. After he
had first shown us a valuable collection of antiquities,
collected at Zimbabwe and Fort Regina, and after an
interesting conversation about the ancient mining works
and ruins of the country, upon which we were perfectly
agreed, I brought the conversation to the expedition
sent to catch Lobengula. He was quite willing to
oblige, and gave us as lively a description as even an
eye-witness can give ; we took full notes at the time,
which we now reproduce here. We shall begin his
description from the time that the expedition came
to the Shangani River.

What happened prior to this is not of great import-
ance, and all writers are agreed upon it. The facts of
which we shall give a short resume are mainly as
follows : As we formerly mentioned, the first fight was

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 137

at the Shangani River, but only the light impis of
Lobengula were there.

The decisive battle v,'as fought close to the Bembezi
River, not far from Bulawayo ; then Lobengula's best
impis were defeated. As soon as Lobengula was in-
formed of this, he fled to the mission station Shilo,
taking with him two waggons and as much ammunition
as he could carry, and from there he fled to the north.
The day after his flight the approaching column saw
the smoke of the city, to which the Kaffirs had set fire,
and heard the explosion of the cartridges which had
been left behind and which had also been set on fire.

As soon as the combined column had arrived at
Bulawayo, the town was left in command of Colonel
Goold Adams, and Majors Forbes and Wilson marched
with an expedition to capture Lobengula, if possible,
and so put an end to the war. They were misled by
Kaffirs informing them that Lobengula was at the Inyati
mission station ; they consequently marched thither
first, which caused some delay. Hearing afterwards
that they had been misled, they marched in a slanting
direction towards Shilo, and from there they then
followed his track with 1 50 men. In order to form a
correct estimate of the privations these men had to
undergo, you have to bear in mind that the order at
Bulawayo was to equip themselves for three days, and
the expedition lasted for about six weeks ; so that
towards the latter end the men had to sleep in the rain
on the wet ground, without blankets ; later on they

138 RHODESIA

had no provisions left, and had to eat the knocked
up horses ; some were without boots and had to
go barefoot through bushes and shrubs and over
rocks.

But we cannot describe all the incidents of this
romantic expedition. We shall let Mr. Burnham him-
self give us, in vivid colours, a sketch of what happened
during that memorable night and morning. Here
it is :

" We followed the tracks of Lobengula's two wag-
gons to the Shangani, about forty or fifty miles below
its confluence with the Gwelo. For a few miles the
tracks went down along the river, and there, at a suit-
able place, they crossed the river, at a sandy ford. We
reached the river at about 4 p.m. Judging from the
freshness of the tracks and the ashes of their camp-
fires, which were still warm, we knew that they could
not be far in advance. We were all very anxious to
bring the war to a close by capturing Lobengula, because
our provisions were running very short, our horses
were worn out, and it was already late in the season
for these unhealthy parts. After a short council of war,
Major Wilson was ordered to cross the river imme-
diately and follow up the waggon tracks, to reconnoitre
the country and either to return that same night, or, if
the occasion seemed favourable, to capture Lobengula,
send report to that effect, so that the whole column
could cross that night, in order to attack Lobengula on
the following morning. Forbes asked me to accompany

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 139

the expedition as scout. I told him my horse was
knocked up. He gave me his horse and I went."

" Did you not know that there was a great force of
Matabeles with Lobengula ? "

** Yes, we knew that the Kaffirs had said that they
would not allow one European to cross the Shangani,
and that consequently the last decisive battle would
have to be fought there. This is explained later on by
the fact that Lobengula had sent ;^iocx), with messages
of peace ; two of our men received this money and hid
it without communicating the message, so that the
Kaffirs could not but think that the object of the
expedition was to kill Lobengula ; that is the reason why
they fought so desperately here. I myself proved to
Major Forbes, from the great number of cattle that had
been slaughtered at Lobengula^s camping-places, that
he must be accompanied by a great number of Kaffirs.
Some thought that he had at the outside a few hundreds
with him, and others thought a still smaller number. I
thought that he might have 1000 or 1500; but I had
no idea that his force was so strong.

"We followed the tracks for about five or six miles.
Before reaching his camp, however (it was already
dark), we noticed a koppie full of Kaffirs. We rode up
close to them and called out in Kaffir : * We have not
come to kill you, we only wish to see the king and to
take him with us to Bulawayo, to see and speak with
our induna.*

"One of the Kaffirs then came to us, and upon our

I40 RHODESIA

asking, how many men Lobengula had with him, he
answered : * Only a few.' He offered to guide us to
the waggons. I at once suspected him as a traitor,
who wanted to lead us into an ambush, and rode along-
side of him, as he advanced quickly, determined to shoot
him, as soon as he tried to run away.

"Following the Kaffir guide, we noticed that the
hills and woods were full of Kaffirs; in fact, the
whole Matabele nation, with their women and children,
and that there were 70CX) or 8000 warriors. The
Kaffirs did not fire upon us. They were amazed and
could not understand how such a handful of men dared
venture amongst them. We saw Kaffirs and fires all
around us, but we rode on till we were so close to the
waggons that we could hear them speak. We repeated
the same words we had used at the first koppie, viz. :
* that we did not wish to kill any one, only to see the
king and take him with us to treat with our induna at
Bulawayo.'

" We got no answer ; but we noticed that the Kaffirs
closed their ranks behind us, in order to cut off our
retreat. We did not shoot, because we wished to
avoid a fight, but retreated as quickly and silently as
we could.

"When we were clear of the Kaffirs, we turned
aside into a wood and held a consultation. We
immediately decided to send a report to Major Forbes
by Messrs. Bain, Robertson, and Captain Napier.
Wilson's order was *that Major Forbes should cross

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 141

with the whole force, so that the whole force could
attack Lobengula in the morning and capture him.'"

"Do you think there was any chance of a good
result, if Forbes had done this ? "

"Decidedly, as the Kaffirs so greatly feared the
Maxims."

" Do you think that Wilson^s force could have kept
their position or forced a retreat if Forbes had sent one
Maxim with the reinforcements ? "

" I have not the least doubt, though this might
have been less in accordance with military tactics."

" What had Forbes to do, according to the general
opinion of Wilson and his men ? "

"We were all of opinion that, if he did not
wish to cross the river in the night with his whole
force, he should have sent word to us to return at
once."

"But go on."

" As soon as these three men had left for Forbes we
discovered that three of our men had strayed during our
hasty retreat from Lobengula's waggon. Wilson asked
me whether I could follow the footprints of our horses
in the dark back to Lobengula's waggon, to seek these
three men. (It was a dark, rainy night.) I said I
would try, but he must send some one with me. There-
upon he answered that he himself would go with me.
In order to follow the * spoors ' of the horses I crept
on my knees, as I usually do, every time feeling with
my fingers for the following * spoor,' whilst I kept ray

142 RHODESIA

feet on the last one. The three strayed men were
Hofmeyer, Cahoun, and Bradbourne.

" Thus we crept back on our horses* * spoors/
stealing through the Kaffirs unnoticed, till about forty
yards from Lobengula's waggons, so that we could hear
them speak in the waggons. We went back about
2CXD yards and called out loudly to the three men.
Thereupon the Kaffirs began to yell frightfully. The
young warriors wanted to flee, thinking we were now
going to attack them ; but the older warriors restrained
them, saying : it was only the howling of wolves. The
three lost men answered our call ; we sought them and
brought them back to the tree where we had left the
other men.

" Then Wilson again sent me to find out what the
Kaffirs were about. I went and heard great numbers
of Kaffirs going towards the river in the direction of
Forbes's camp. Apparently they were looking for our
troop, but could not find us, and came to the conclusion
that we had also gone back.

" I came back and reported to Wilson what I had
seen. He then ordered me to go back on the tracks
with which we had come from Forbes, and there to
await the arrival of Forbes with the main force, lest he
should not find us in the dark. I did so, and towards
dawn I heard them advancing, and went back imme-
diately to inform Wilson of this. I found him sleeping
with his head in the mud. I touched him and said :
* Major, the column is advancing.'

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 143

" He at once jumped up and speedily, with his brave
troops, stood awaiting the arrival of Forbes with the
main force. We were very much disappointed when
we found that Captain Burrows with only twenty men
had arrived, guided by my companion and fellow-scout
Ingram ; they had brought no Maxim, and informed us
that Forbes would advance with the main force at the
break of day. (Two of his men had also strayed in
the darkness.) We at once perceived that this meant
certain death to us, as our position was now hopeless ;
for the day dawned, the Kaffirs were in dense masses
between us and the main force, and we had not suffi-
cient ammunition to defend our position till the arrival
of Forbes.

** The officers held a council in our vicinity, so that
we could hear most of what was spoken. I heard
Captain Burrows say : * I did not know that affairs
were in such a state,* proving plainly that Forbes had
not informed him of the true state of affairs before
sending him with his twenty men to certain death. I
also heard Captain Jutt say : * It is all up with us.' All
were agreed that our position was hopeless, and the only
question was how we could most dearly sell our lives,

** Some (and at first I also) were of opinion that we
should try and force our way through the dense masses
of Kaffirs which intervened between us and the main
force, and so try to effect co-operation with Forbes.
Wilson, however, held another opinion, and after he
had spoken we all acknowledged that he was right.

144 RHODESIA

According to his opinion, the main force of the Kaffirs
was not with Lobengula, but between us and Forbes,
and that it consequently was impossible for us to force
our way through them, as we should all perish. But as
the chief impis of the Kaffirs were in the direction of
the Shangani and our headquarters, there would not be
a strong force with Lobengula. We must make a
desperate attack and try to capture Lobengula and his
chief councillors, were it only to keep them as hostages,
in order to save our lives. And if we fell we at least
would sell our lives dearly by also killing the king and
his chief indunas.

"All agreed with this opinion, and we advanced
straight on Lobengula*s waggons. When we reached
the waggons we found them empty, at least we could
see through one waggon and could see no one in it, and
there was no screen in which Lobengula could have hid
himself. We thought that Lobengula, with the indunas
and Kaffirs that were with him, were hiding in the
forest. We called out again as on the preceding
evening : * We did not come to fight or kill any one, we
only came to see the king and to take him with us to
treat with our induna at Bulawayo.' But the Kaffirs
called back from the forest : * If you do not come here
to fight, we do,' and they immediately began charging
us and firing upon us.

" Wilson called out to us : * Shoot carefully and do
not waste your ammunition.' We did so, took only
the best chances and aimed well.

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 145

" We let the Kaffirs come to within sixty yards and
aimed well, so that almost every shot told. Fighting
thus we retreated; first to an open space, and then
further back in the direction of Forbes, as we saw that
we were too greatly outnumbered.

" The Kaffirs, however, continued following us, and
were continually reinforced. We at last took our
position behind a big ant-heap, and Wilson called out :
'Let every man choose his Kaffir.* A great many
Kaffirs fell. I had sometimes three times to choose
another Kaffir, for as soon as I aimed at one he fell
before I could shoot.

"By this good firing we drove the Kaffirs back.
The shooting ceased for a while. But the Kaffirs,
being reinforced, again attacked us. Thereupon we
decided to retreat further in the direction of Forbes.
Five of our horses were killed and three men seriously
wounded at that ant-heap. My own rifle was knocked
out of my hand by a bullet, and a splinter of the bullet
struck my eye.

"We retreated with closed ranks, with the wounded
and infantry in the middle; Wilson, Ingram, and
Burrows in the rear, whilst Captain Jutt, Gooding and
myself formed the vanguard. We knew that Forbes
would march at dawn, and that left us a faint hope
that we might break through the Kaffirs and effect a
joint action with Forbes. The Kaffirs let us march for
about three-quarters of a mile in this way. We as

146 RHODESIA

yet heard no shooting at Forbes ; though he might
have then already have been attacked.

" The Kaffirs kept massing more densely in front of

us. Wilson asked whether I saw no chance of forcing

my way through their ranks in order to inform Forbes

of our situation and to urge him to prompt action and

co-operation. 1 said I did not think so, for before I had

advanced five hundred yards the Kaffirs would attack

me; but if he would send another man with me, I

would try. Captain Borrows hearing this, rode up to

Major Wilson and said : *Let Gooding go with him,

he has a good horse.* Wilson agreed, and ordered

Gooding to accompany me. But I asked to have my

mate Ingram with me. Wilson consented, and we

three left, riding through a densely wooded strip of

country, where we saw no Kaffirs. We had hardly

gone five hundred yards before the Kaffirs opened fire

upon us ; happily they aimed too high, and the bullets

whistled through the branches over our heads. We

rode on as fast as we could, and the Kaffirs chased us

with their assegais. Our way lay through a thick

mopani bush, so the Kaffirs remained close on our

heels, beating their assegais and shouting; they

sometimes were as close as twenty yards. Afterwards

they began to drop in the rear and commenced firing

upon us. But we rode on, without returning their fire,

or allowing ourselves to be detained.

"As soon as we were well away from them, we
heard that the Kaffirs were again attacking Wilson.

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 147

We rode for two hours before we reached Forbes ; we
misled the Kaffirs who were pursuing us by riding in
winding ways. This gave us a quarter of an hour's
time, of which we made good use. We now approached
the river and could hear Forbes and his men fighting ;
more especially we could distinguish the firing of the
Maxims, and from that we could make out that the
attacks of the Kaffirs were made at intervals, and were
not very desperate. Probably they had then already
noticed that Wilson's party was attacked, and their
object was only to prevent Forbes from sending
help.

" We found the river full when we reached it, and
having sought a suitable place, made our horses swim
through in a slanting direction down the stream.
When we reached the opposite bank, we saw the
Kaffirs still fighting with Forbes ; we rode right
through their ranks into the camp, where we came with
the last breath of our horses. Shortly afterwards the
Kaffirs retreated.

" At the time of our arrival there was great dissatis-
faction among the troops, because Forbes would not
allow them to use trees and ant-heaps as a natural
shelter, and the result was that five men had been
wounded and sixteen horses killed. The men openly
refused to obey the commands of Forbes any longer,
upon which Raaf assumed the orders. He led us
back ; had Forbes continued in command, probably not
a single man would have escaped."

148 RHODESIA

*' What was the last you heard about Wilson with
his thirty-two men ? "

" We could hear them fighting all the time ; but just
before we reached the river there was perfect silence
for a time, then a tremendous volley, and then all was
quiet."

*' The rest of course we must learn from the Kaffirs.
But as you know they have so many different stories.
Out of all these what do suggest up as most pro-
bable ? "

"According to the information obtained from the
Kaffirs, Wilson fought for three or four hours, shooting
carefully all through, so that every shot should tell.
The first cessation in the shooting was when they sent
for Gambo's impi as a reinforcement. During that
pause they saw Wilson's men tearing up their shirts ^o
bandage the wounds of their companions.

" Thereupon they began singing. Some Kaffirs say
it was like the singing of the whites which they heard
at the church in Victoria. After the singing of that
song the fighting was resumed with the reinforcements
the Kaffirs had received.

" They give a thrilling description of Wilson's bravery
up to the last. They say : The tall induna with broad-
brimmed hat and the large moustache stood straight up
fighting after all his men had been killed, or were lying
down wounded. One of the wounded kept handing him
the guns which he had loaded. He had many bullet-
wounds, but he remained standing and shooting till he

HOW WILSON AND MEN PERISHED 149

could no longer raise his arms, then a young Matabele
rushed up to him and pierced him with an assegai.
Wilson reeled. The young Kaffir withdrew his assegai
and pierced him a second time, whereupon Wilson fell
down dead 1

"After they had returned, thinking all were now
dead, one of the wounded rose and walked away, with
a revolver in each hand. They repeatedly shot at him,
without being able to hit him, and they consequently
took him for a magician. But a shot from far away in
the valley struck him through the hips, whereupon he
sank down. In this sitting position he kept on firing
over his shoulder, for he could not turn himself. He
was a man with a grey beard (probably Robertson)."

" But we have also heard the Kaffirs say that they
found only one wounded man, whom they brought to
Lobengula and wished to keep alive, but that he died
of his wounds ; also that, after singing of the hymn by
Wilson's men, they heard only one volley and then all
was still ; from that and the fact that almost all had been
shot through the head, they drew the conclusion that
Wilson, after the ammunition had been exhausted, gave
orders to load the guns with the last cartridge, and that
after singing the hymn, every one shot himself through
the head rather than fall into the hands of the Kaffirs.''

" I cannot believe this ; for when the corpses were
fetched, they were found lying in a circle, with one man
at a little distance, and that the last shooting was of
such short duration was, I think, because the Kaffirs

ISO RHODESIA

charged and killed the men with assegais ; hence that
last volley and the succeeding quietness."

Hereupon we took our leave. Our interview lasted
a few hours and was one of the most important we had
during our whole journey. We can add to this that Mr.
Burnham was liberally rewarded for his inestimable
services ; that he intends remaining in Matabeleland,
and takes an energetic part in the development of the
country, so that in all likelihood our readers will again
hear from him.

LETTER XV

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY

How you obtain Travelling Tickets at Bulawayo — Leav-
ing Thirty Hours behind Time — Passing a Night on the
Omnibus between the Baggage — The Twin-Comtnando
Road — How the two Columns formed Laagers — African-
ders as Post Contractors — Discomforts on the Journey,

The last sketch which you read was written and posted
at Bulawayo. It is more than a month since I arrived
at home. I shall now relate the return journey from
Bulawayo across Salisbury, Beira, Delagoa Bay, Durban,
East London, and Port Elizabeth.

We have already told you why we chose this route for
our return journey ; because we wished thoroughly to
study the burning question of transport from the several
ports to the centres of trade in the interior.

This route is not short and easy, but, on the other

hand, it is very important and interesting. We had

to travel

Miles.

Per 'bus from Bulawayo to Chimoio . . 525

„ railway, Chimoio to Fontisvilla . .118

„ boat, Fontisvilla to Port Elizabeth . 1234

„ railway, Port Elizabeth to Paarl . . 839

2716

152 RHODESIA

The whole journey lasted from October 24 to November
24, about a month, whilst by travelling per 'bus across
Mafeking and Pretoria it could have been done in
eight or nine days. From this, however, we have to
deduct a delay of fourteen or fifteen days along the road,
so that in reality the journey itself took no more than
half a month. We shall first give our readers a sketch
of the whole way, then relate some particulars of our
experiences on that journey, and, finally, come to a
conclusion on the probable trade routes of the future.

The distance from Bulawayo to Salisbury is 300
miles, which we covered in four days, partly with mules
and partly with oxen ; but then we travelled day and
night, delays being deducted.

From Salisbury to Chimoio the distance is 225 miles,
which we covered with oxen in three days, travelling
day and night, delays deducted.

From Chimoio to Fontisvilla is a distance of 118
miles, which took us fifteen hours by rail ; but a part
of the road was still being constructed.

The journey with the river boat on the Pungwe,
from Fontisvilla to Beira, seventy-five miles, ought to
have taken from six to eight hours, but it lasted forty-
eight hours, as we were, owing to the ebb, a few times
stranded on sandbanks, and our steam engine was
defective.

From Beira to Delagoa is about 500 miles ; a swift
boat could do it in one day, but the slow Courland
took about sixty hours.

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY 153

The distance from Delagoa to Durban is 303 miles ;
for that the Courland took thirty hours.

At Durban we shipped over into the Hawarden Castle^
which, though not the swiftest boat, took us to East
London, a distance of 253 miles, in sixteen hours, and
from East London to Port Elizabeth, a distance of 131
miles, in six hours. From there to the Paarl, a distance
of 839 miles, the train took two days and two nights.
This route is, therefore, not to be commended for swift
travelling.

The expenses of the journey are : Per omnibus from
Bulawayo to Mafeking ;^20, to Pretoria ;^22 105., the
train expenses every one can calculate for himself.
Along the eastern route the travelling expenses are :
To Salisbury per omnibus £\2 ; from there to
Chimoio £<^ ; the train £2 105. ; the river boat £\ 105. ;
and the voyage to Port Elizabeth £<^ 105. The
travelling tickets amount to ;^33, besides other expenses.
Travelling along this route is thus not very cheap.

But this eastern route is very interesting, as the
reader will readily perceive when we more circum-
stantially relate our travelling experiences.

One thing deserves notice, and that is, that the
northern extension under Mr. Rhodes gives various
opportunities and openings to young Africanders,
even in the Transvaal, where the English took the
lead. Take for instance the passenger transport to and
from Bulawayo. The best line is Zeederberg's to
Pretoria; the second best is Symington's from Salis-

154 RHODESIA

bury to Chimoio ; the third best, Bezuidenhout's from
Bulawayo to Salisbury ; these three are Africanders ;
whilst the worst line is that of Wirsing Bros, to
Mafeking. Compare with this the passenger transport
in the Transvaal, where Gibson Bros, and Geo. Hays
almost monopolised the whole service.

Unhappily we had to commence our journey with the
worst passenger service, which is under the manage-
ment of an Africander, and that for the longest part of
the road. Just think, struggling on to Salisbury for
four days and four nights without sleep ! We use the
word ** struggling " advisedly, for from Bulawayo we
had an old 'bus called " Lobengula," just as unwieldy
and rickety as the gouty old Lobengula himself.

And then we had no white men for drivers, but two
inexperienced coloured boys as coachmen or drivers,
who in turn jumped down and ran alongside the spoiled
mules, beating them with the stambok, to get them to
trot ; but as soon as the driver got on the waggon the
mules began crawling along again. Well, mules
usually do that. The best way to spoil them is to get
down and beat them. They come to the conclusion
that, seated on the waggon, you cannot manage them
and you cannot keep up with them when walking
on the ground.

But still worse. The mules were so spoiled that as
soon as the driver got down, they left the road and
rushed with the 'bus across the veldt. What jolting !
And then, halt ! . . . . Something has broken, either

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY 155

the harness, or something else ; and so there is a delay
at every 200 or 300 yards ; for it is an old and worn
gear.

And still we have not come to the worst. Before we
reached the first outspan we noticed that the tires were
loose ; one of them threatened to come off continually.
Every time we had to stop and knock it into its place
with stones, and wherever we found water the wheels
had to be wetted.

But our troubles and difficulties did not end with
this. Our waggon must be greased. There was
quite a row between the drivers and the grooms at the
stables, as to whose duty it was to do this. After a lot
jawing, interspersed with many a curse, the 'bus was
greased at last and we struggled on again ; the farther
we got away from Bulawayo the worse the mules
became. And this cannot be wondered at, for there is
no grass, everything is burned away, and one of the
grooms at the stables told us that they had no mielies
for several weeks already. On what then had these
poor animals to exist ? And then the stables where
the spans of mules were exchanged were twenty-five
miles apart, so that at last the poor mules could scarcely
go any farther.

Thus we jolted along in an uncomfortable coach.
After going three times I had at last secured my place,
a back corner in the 'bus ; but when we had to leave
I got a corner place in the front of the 'bus ; the prefer-
able back corner seats, where there is a chance of getting

156 RHODESIA

a snooze on the mail-bags, were given to friends who
had arrived at the last moment without tickets. This
is the way things are managed in a new country 1

And still we have not reached the end of the sorrows
of our journey. We had to leave Bulawayo on
Tuesday, October 29, at 6 a.m., for it is the mail
service, and still we only got away on Wednesday morn-
ing at 10 o'clock. So we had to wait for thirty hours.
And why ? We had to wait for the still worse conducted
mail service between Mafeking and Bulawayo ; for the
mails for the whole of Matabeleland are now sent by
rail from Cape Town to Mafeking, and from there per
ox-cart to Bulawayo ; this is a very big cart, or rather
a waggon on two wheels, and is usually behind time.
The arrangement is that the Salisbury 'bus has to wait
no longer than six hours. When, therefore, telegrams
arrived saying that the waggon was broken and was
thirty hours behind time, we received notice from the
agent that we would be able to leave at the proper
time. We had to be ready. At last came a telegram
from the Postmaster-General from Salisbury, stating
that we had to wait for the arrival of the mail from
Mafeking, no matter how long, for the people were
displeased because the mail was always behind time on
that route. We only mention this incident to let you
see what travelling in a new country means.

We may here mention that arrangements have been
made to have two mails per week from next April,
which will make the journey from Mafeking to Bula-

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY 157

wayo in five days (instead of eight days), and from
Bulawayo to Salisbury in three days (instead of four
days). Notice further how Mr. Rhodes encourages the
traffic with the colony. Formerly all the traffic and
also the mails went over Pretoria, Zoutpansberg, and
Tati to Victoria, Charter, and Salisbury. But as soon
as Bulawayo was taken Mr. Rhodes had the mails
carried over Mafeking and Bulawayo to Charter and
Salisbury, with a branch line to Victoria, which arrange-
ment caused delay and no little unpleasantness. Here
is proof that the colony is benefited by the dual position
of Mr. Rhodes. But more of this later on.

The result of our late departure (thirty hours
overdue, and along the road we lost more than we
gained) was that we were late at every station. There
is very scanty accommodation along the road between
Bulawayo and Salisbury (only cars here and there),
and when we came to these places, where we might
have got something to eat, we were always so much
behind time that nothing was ready for us.

And so it became evening — the first day ; '^ Loben-
gula " is a flat *bus. There are no seats on the top, the
baggage of the passengers is placed there, as also the
mail-bags. The writer of this cannot very well do
without sleep, and could not sleep sitting in the 'bus,
so he determined to make an earnest attempt to get a
place to lie down during the night between the baggage
and the mail-bags on top of the *bus, and so to try and
get some sleep. At an outspan, at about 1 1 p.m., we

158 RHODESIA

took our karos (rug of skins) and climbed on the top.
It cost a lot of trouble to get a small opening between
the portmanteaux, boxes, and bags ; and then it was so
small that I was quite cramped. The roads are bad
and the waggon jolted so that I had, after I had
covered myself, to fasten a strap around me to prevent
myself from falling off.

I could not sleep, but still I could in a way lie
down. But another unforeseen misery arises. At
some places the road goes through woods, and every
now and then a branch of a thorn tree sweeps across
the waggon and I have to cover my face with my rug.
The rest the reader can imagine.

The next morning two of my fellow-passengers
climbed on the top to enjoy the fresh morning air.
They looked about ; I was so well hid and lay so still

that one of them called out : ** By he has

fallen off." I then uncovered my head and told them
that I was safe and well. But when they saw how I
had fastened myself, they said that they would not
have ventured it for all the money in the world ; for if
the 'bus capsized there was no chance of escape.

These two gentlemen were Mr. King, who, on behalf
of the Irish Archaeological Society, accompanied Mr.
Bent in his investigations of the old ruins, the other
was the discoverer and owner of the rich Ayrshire
reef. With these two we could have a pleasant con-
versation in the morning air — with the last-named
about the gold-fields of northern Mashonaland, and

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY 159

with the first-named about the investigations, &c.,
which he had made along with Mr. Bent.

From this you see that such a journey has also its
bright side. I venture to say that we had good
travelling companions. I have said that there was
very little accommodation on the four days' journey.
We knew that this would be the case, so each had
provided himself with something for the road, and
soon we lived in community of property. Thus we
had at the outspanning coffee, tea, and cocoa, and
several kinds of tinned provisions. O, yes, you can
make yourself comparatively happy, or unhappy, under
all circumstances.

The road along which we travelled is known as the
** Column road," because this is the road along which
Forbes and Wilson marched to Bulawayo. As we
have said before, formerly there was only one waggon
road in Matabeleland, from Mangwe on the south-west
to the Hartley Hills on the north-east, and these two
entrances were held by the Matabele impis.* The
attacking column took quite a different road.

But this new " Commando road " is not very straight.
For, as we have said before, two American scouts were
always a few miles ahead, and signalled with the
heliograph where the Kaffirs were, and where water
and grass were to be found, for the Kaffirs had burned
all the grass. Thus the column had to march in a
winding manner so as to avoid the Kaffirs, and to find
a good road. The road from Bulawayo to Gwelo could

i6o RHODESIA

be shortened by at least twenty-five miles (or a
quarter of the whole length) if it was made more in a
straight line.

This road is not quite a year old, and when we
passed over it, it was broad and well worn and had
the appearance of having been used quite as much as
the mainroads to Pretoria and Bloemfontein.

Another peculiarity of this road which deserves
notice is, that it is a twin-road — f>., two roads running
parallel at a distance of twenty-five to fifty yards from
each other. Thus the two columns marched in order
not to form such a long train of waggons and to be
able quickly to form a laager when the alarm was
given; they could thus form a laager in about ten
minutes' time.

This was done in the following manner : the waggons
of the two columns travelled parallel at a certain distance
from each other. Immediately the alarm was given the
two hindermost waggons were immediately stopped
and the waggons in front of them came round on the
outside in a circle till the first waggon came to the last
waggon which had stood still, thus forming two circles
or camps, near each other. A thousand Mashonas
accompanied the waggons, each one carrying a branch
of a thorn tree on his back, and as quickly as the
waggons formed the circle they fixed the thorn branches
between the wheels and the poles of the waggons. The
cattle were put in the open space between the two
laagers, whilst the Mashonas made a hedge on both

'■rf

FROM BULAWAYO TO SALISBURY i6i

sides with their thorn bushes from layer to layer. We
herein see, according to our opinion, the prudent tactics
of the brave Wilson, who managed everything with
skill.

You will excuse us from giving further particulars.
The journey from Gwelo further on was much worse.
We had oxen instead of mules and a much smaller
waggon, so that we had not even proper room to sit.
We now had white drivers, but alas ! we were worse
off than before ; for in all my life and during all my
travels, I have not heard so much cursing and profane
language as I heard from these white drivers on the
road from Gwelo to Salisbury.

We arrived at Salisbury on Sunday afternoon, and
left again at ten o'clock the same evening. In our
next we shall speak of Salisbury itself and discuss the
question : Which of the two, Bulawayo or Salisbury,
will ultimately become the capital of Zambesia ?

LETTER XVI
SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO

Self-conceit of the Johannesburgers — What a Digger's
Paper dares to say^-'Full Hotels and Crammed * Buses
— The Contractor gives us his own Seat — A Iready Fifty
prosperous Farmers in the District — Amongst them
Men from the Paarl, now our Fellow-Travellers — Build-
ing, Building, and no ^^To Lets " — A Town Hall costing
£^o,ooo^'Danger and Loss for Church and Nation"
ality — Journalism in Zambesia — The Twin City^-
Salisbury and Bulawayo — Two Dogs for one Bone —
According to which Standard to Judge — A big T and a
big Pear,

In our last communication we promised to tell you
something about Salisbury and her claims to be the
chief town of Zambesia, in opposition to the claims
made by the New Bulawayo, which is being rapidly
built on the ruins of the old " City of Murder."

In Bulawayo we happened to come across a number
of the Standard and Digger^ s News^ of Johannesburg.
Therein it was insolently stated : " The whole of
Matabeleland is a failure, not a single gold reef has as
yet been discovered ; Salisbury is quite forsaken ;
Rhodes must now only praise up Bulawayo and

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO 163

Matabeleland : that is all that now remains for him
to do."

Now, we know well enough that the Johannes-
burgers — and their newspapers only reflect the general
opinion — do not believe that any other place in South
Africa can contain gold, or is capable of development,
excepting the Rand, with Johannesburg at its head!
That is quite natural for such a plutocratic community.
But to say it out so boldly and confidently is very akin
10 absurdity.

We should have been very happy to have had that
gentleman from Johannesburg with us in the crowded
'bus on the road, and during our stay of ten hours in
Salisbury. He might then have seen for himself that
Salisbury is not forsaken, but indeed one of the most
thriving towns in the interior. This will become
apparent when we relate our experiences during our
short stay there.

When the 'bus arrived and we got down, tired and
dusty, we were at once surrounded by an interested
crowd. First of all we inquired after a good hotel ; it
appeared that there were two good hotels besides the
new "Grand," which can compete with any hotel in
Cape Town. We took the nearest, and found it so full
that we could only with difficulty find an unoccupied
room to wash and refresh ourselves.

We then sat down to our meal, but were so tired of
the jolting of those four days and nights that we could
hardly eat anything. We were informed by the pro-

164 RHODESIA

prietor that the 'bus to Umtali was already full, but he
promised to accompany us after dinner to the contractor,
Mr. Symington, to try if we could not manage to secure
a seat. At Bulawayo I asked whether it would not be
safer to wire to Salisbury to be sure of a seat, but was
told that this was not necessary, because there were
very few passengers from there to the coast. This is
accounted for by the jealousy existing between the two
places.

Immediately after dinner we went to see Mr. Syming-
ton. There were only nine seats on the 'bus, and there
had been fourteen applicants before me. If Mr. Syming-
ton had not been such an obliging man we should
have had to stay over for a week, for he had already
two extra coaches on the way, to help others on. Still
he suggested a plan. He could not let us have one of
the seats which had been given to former applicants,
but he had kept a seat for himself on the 'bus, to go to
his farm in order to have some rest from over-exertion ;
this seat he would give to us, and he himself would go
a week later.

Whilst we were still talking, three Africanders who
were farming in the district came in. They were to be
our fellow-travellers, so we were pleased to make their
acquaintance at once. They were Messrs. D. Beyers,*
J. de Villiers, both from the Paarl, and Mr. Smalberger,
from the Knysna. From them we learned that about
fifty farmers had already settled in the district, and that

* One of the murdered in the Mashona revolt.

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO 165

they were doing very well as cattle-farmers or agri-
culturists. But about this we could talk along the
road.

We gratefully accepted Mr. Symington's kind offer to
have a snooze in his room, for at the hotel there was no
room and too much noise.

We were, however, too tired to sleep, and after a rest
of an hour and a half we got up to have a walk and see
something of the town. We were at once struck with
the many large and splendid buildings which were in
the course of erection, among them a town-hall, which
is being built at a cost of ;^40,ckdo.

Truly Salisbury does not seem to be very much for-
saken I We did not see one house which was " To
Let." Now, every one knows that this last is a sure sign
of decline, whilst building is a sign of the prosperity of
a place. In Salisbury there are many houses building,
whilst there is not a single one to let. The reader can
now judge for himself.

Our first visit was paid to Mr. Bezuidenhout, father
of the post-contractor between Bulawayo and Salisbury,
a man who in former years had been a member of the
Volksraad and an elder of the Church in the Orange
Free State ; he is one of the few in this new country
who think of the interests of the Church and of religion.
We had not been long in his company before Mr.
Bezuidenhout, with his manifold experiences, gave a
very favourable report of the country ; but the want of
spiritual care caused him great anxiety. He himself

ir/) RHODESIA

belongs to the Reformed Church, but the few members
of that Church and the few belongings to the Dutch
Reformed Church live so far apart that it is impossible
to form a congregation with its own minister. Mr.
Bczuidcnhout was busy collecting statistics, but that
was no easy task with a population that was so cod-
tinually changing.

After learning the state of affairs we were deeply
impressed with the danger which threatens our people
in this new country, the danger, namely, that they
would be lost not only to our Church, but also to our
nationality.

We asked Mr. Bezuidenhout whether he thought it
would be practicable to send in turn a minister of the
Reformed Church and a minister of the Dutch Reformed
Church to visit the members of both Churches and to
preach and dispense the Sacraments, keeping separate
registers for baptisms, confirmations, and marriages.
He thought it practicable; and Mr. Symington, though
not belonging to the Dutch Reformed Church, pro-
mised to give all possible aid for the transport of the
ministers.

We only point this out because, as far as we know,
no regular work has as yet been commenced amongst
the thousand souls belonging to the two Dutch Churches
in this country, although Mr. Rhodes has offered to give
;f 200 per annum towards that object. We fear that
these people will be gradually lost to our Church and to
our nationality. The Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Wes-

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO 167

leyan, and other Churches are already well represented
— even the Salvation Army — only the Dutch Churches
are not represented. We trust that more zeal will soon
be manifested. Here great watchfulness is required.
We should send men of experience, not too delicate,
and full of courage and enthusiasm. And if anything
is to be done, Mr. Bezuidenhout, sen., Salisbury, should
be first communicated with.*

Leaving Mr. Bezuidenhout we went to the editor of
the Rhodesian Herald^ a fairly edited and neatly printed
newspaper ; in reality it is a branch of the " Argus
Company," like the Bulawayo Chronicle, We were un-
lucky in not finding the editor in, and had to content
ourselves with the last edition of the paper, and to find
out from the cablegrams and telegrams what was
happening in the world, and more especially in Masho-
naland. Each edition of this paper proves that Masho-
naland is no " failure," and Salisbury not a " forsaken "
town.

From there we went to the Fort on the ridge, on the
slopes of which the town is built. From the Fort,
which lies about 1 50 feet higher than the city, we had
a beautiful view over the whole town. At our feet
lay the twin-city built upon two hills, in the valley
between which it is proposed to Jay out a park. The
business places are situated on the side where we
stood and the government buildings on the other side.

* Something on the lines suggested was done later, but,
unfortunately, the revolt soon put a stop to the work.

i68 RHODESIA

The first buildings were placed on the side where the
trade is carried on, and if the object of building
on the other side was to entice the traders across, the
plan did not succeed. Something is to be said against
commencing the building of a town on two opposite
sides. But when the valley has been laid out as a park,
Salisbury will be one of the most beautiful towns in
our country.

Round about the ridge and also at the back of it plots
of ground for villas were sold. One of them, beauti-
fully laid out, belongs to Mr. Bezuidenhout, and another
to Mr. Botha, brother of the Hon. Botha, M.L.C. in the
Cape Colony. We met Mr. Botha on the ridge, and we
accompanied him to his neat dwelling situated at the
back of the ridge among wild trees, which cannot be
surpassed in beauty by any of the trees which we grow.
Mr. Botha also gave a very favourable report of the
country, and^ that portion of his cattle which he kept
there (the greater part was on his farm), and which
we saw, was, considering the time of the year and that
no rain had as yet fallen, in fair condition.

We spent a quiet and happy evening with Messrs.
Symington and Botha, and resumed our journey at lo
P.M. with a full 'bus. But before finally taking leave of
Salisbury, we must first consider the respective claims
of Bulawayo and Salisbury to become the chief town of
Rhodesia.

Coming to Bulawayo, and seeing what confidence
Jews and other speculators must have in the future of

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO 169

the place, when they in one half-year pay upwards of
;^40,0(X) for stands only, and thrice that amount for
buildings ; how within one year's time a population of
50(X) or 6000 has settled, there ; seeing that five news-
papers are printed there and how persons and syndi-
cates, who know the outs and ins, have large shares
in them, then one begins to think that it is not mere
presumption on the part of Bulawayo when she deems
it certain that the future belongs to her. If, on the
other hand, you hear Salisbury pleading its right
as firstborn, as being nearer to the natural haven
(Beira), pleading its gold-fields, its splendid surround-
ings for cattle farming and agriculture, and the assur-
ance given by Mr. Rhodes that she would be the chief
town, then the hope of Bulawayo seems to evaporate
altogether.

But questions like these usually take their natural
course. The real question then is : Which of these
two is best situated to be the future chief town of
Rhodesia? And then the honest conclusion of the
impartial observers is : Neither of the two is suitably
situated, judging from its present state and course of
development ; so that in this case the old Dutch pro-
verb may still be verified : " Two dogs fight over a
bone and the third runs off with it."

The situation of neither of the towns is sufficiently
central to become and to remain the chief town. The
natural development will later on point out the right
place. Up till now Gwelo seems to have far the better

170 RHODESIA

chance to become the centre. Three things must be
kept in view when giving an opinion on this question :
(i) the mineral richness and the probable mining
operations, and in connection therewith the digger
population and markets for trade ; and (2) the adapt-
ability of the surrounding country for cattle farming
and agriculture ; and in connection with these two (3)
the healthiness of the country must be considered.

If any one wishes to know what Rhodesia really is
and will become, it is not necessary merely to find out
how much land lies between the Limpopo and Zambesi
Rivers, the Portuguese boundary and the Kalihari
desert. No, the question is. How far does the healthy
and habitable highland extend ? How far is that
highland adapted for agriculture and cattle farming,
and to what extent is it intersected by paying gold
reefs and other metals ? Everything depends upon
this.

As far as we know, no map has been published up
to now which gives us this information. We shall try
more or less to supply this want in a very simple and
primitive way. Lay a chart of Rhodesia before you.
On this chart draw a T, by drawing a straight line from
Salisbury to Fort Victoria. This line forms the top
line of the T. Then draw a straight line from the
middle of the top line, a little to the south of Charter
down to Bulawayo and you get this : —

SALISBURY VERSUS BULAWAYO 171

Salisbury
O

Charter
O

2*^

4960 ft.
high

4750 ft.
high

Victoria
O

3670 ft.
high

^ 85^

Bulawayo

Now, reader, for your own amusement make this T
into the shape of a pear, with Bulawayo as the stem,
and Salisbury and Victoria as the lower, the thicker end
and two projecting elevations to the east where Mani-
kaland and Gazaland are marked. That is the high-
land of Rhodesia, about 200 miles in width and 300
miles long.

Now you will be able to see that we are justified in
saying that neither Bulawayo nor Salisbury is central
enough to become the chief town. For all the land
represented by this pear is healthy highland, from four
to six thousand feet above the sea level, intersected by
gold reefs and full of fountains and water courses.

Now, reader, give every possible consideration to
these two competing towns ; grant that Salisbury is
situated on a beautiful highland, with rich gold-fields to

172 RHODESIA

the north, and comparatively near the seaport, being
only 225 miles from the railway terminus at Chimoio;
grant to Bulawayo everything to which she rightly or
otherwise lays claim ; grant her even in addition that
the railway from Cape Town will reach her first, and
from there will be extended northward to Baroetsi-
land and the region of the lakes, and if required to
Cairo, even then it would be difficult for either of them
to be the capital of Rhodesia, because their situation is
not central enough.

Gwelo, on the contrary, lies almost in the centre of
the large plateau. Gwelo is situated on a healthy
highland, has rich and extensive gold-fields twenty-five
miles to the south and twenty-five miles to the north,
whilst on the ridge on which the village is situated old
mining works have been discovered, and through the
commonage of the town runs a reef which has been
opened and yields two ounces per ton. So it is possible
that we might here have a repetition of the old Dutch
adage : " Two dogs fighting over one bone, whilst the
third runs away with it."

LETTER XVII

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI

/// through Fatigue — A good way through a beautiful
Country— A recently laid-out Farm in a New Country —
** Here I could live^' — Laurencedale — Umtali in a beau-
tiful Valley — Where the Roads divide — A new Highland
— Old Viaducts discovered— Were these the Grain Fields
of the Ancients? — Are these their Catacombs ?— An
interesting Conversation in the evenings during which
the Fatigue of the Journey is forgotten.

The distance from Salisbury to Umtali is 150 miles.
We ought to have done it in thirty-six hours, but it
took us forty-two hours, travelling night and day. We
had a small 'bus, but the horses and mules were
good. We are now in the hands of an energetic con-
tractor, Mr. Symington. The distances between the
several outspans were not too great, the company was
pleasant, the road beautiful, so that the journey, com-
paratively speaking, was pleasant.

But now we had another trouble. The fatigue of six
days' and six nights' travelling from Bulawayo, drinking
so many different kinds of water along the road, and
probably also the irregular meals of not the very best
food, brought on a disarrangement of the stomach,

174 RHODESIA

which at last, through continued fatigue and the absence
of medicine, threatened to become serious.

The road from Salisbury to Chimoio, where the
train is reached, is really very good. The making and
keeping in repair of this road (mostly through moun-
tainous parts) is really a great credit to the Chartered
Company.

Travelling by 'bus has this great drawback, that
about the half of the road is traversed in the night, so
that, of course, the nature of the country cannot be
judged. But as much of the country as we could see
between Salisbury and Umtali seemed to be well suited
for agriculture and cattle farming.

There is abundance of water, and the grass country
is varied by bushy parts. The soil is sandy in only
some parts — decomposed granite, like the valley between
the Paarl mountain and the Drakensbergen. Coming
near to Umtali, however, the country begins to slope
down and becomes very bushy and mountainous. It
seems suitable for cattle and agriculture, and perhaps
also for goats, but we do not think that sheep would
thrive here. Goats and Kaffir sheep, however, thrive
well at the Kaffir kraals.

Before we began to descend we visited the farm of
Mr. Symington, which lies a short distance out of the
road. It is beautifully situated. Imagine a large
granite rock on the open field ; in circumference it is
about as large as the Britannia rock on the top of the
Paarl mountain, but not quite so high; so that it is

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI 175

easier to climb than the Britannia. At the foot of the
rock the farm is situated, and is well sheltered from the
strong winds. Several good buildings have been
erected, and in front of the door is a large flower-
garden. A clear stream of water, brought a distance of
a few hundred yards from a perennial fountain, flows past
the dwelling-house into a splendid vegetable garden, in
which, though it is only October, you can find nearly
all sorts of summer vegetables, for the vegetables,
sheltered by this huge rock, are not killed in winter by
the frost. Right in front of the garden stood a waggon
loaded with oat-sheaves, the finest we have ever seen.
It was our usual oats. In the garden we saw a piece
of " English oats," about five feet high, the stem and
the ear were exactly the same length. As soon as the
oats have been reaped the ground is turned over again
and planted with summer vegetables. There is also a
young orchard, containing various kinds of fruit trees,
which grow luxuriantly.

How unpleasant it was to be called out of this
splendid garden to come and take our seats again on
the jolting 'bus ! Every one who sees such a place
says : " Here I could live," or, at least : " This begin-
ning shows what can be done in this country."

What a beautiful scene lay before us as we resumed
our journey just at sundown ; the sun had sunk behind
that huge rock, on the top of which, like one of the
Mashona dwellings, stood the covered grave of a Kaffir
chief. The custom of burying their chiefs on the top

176 RHODESIA

of a granite rock, under a heap of stones, shows the

Kaffir's aesthetic feeling.

Before the twilight changed to darkness our travel-
ling companions showed us some other farms in the
vicinity, also " Laurencedale." The energetic Laurens
van der Byl, also from the Paarl, began laying out this
farm, but, alas, was prematurely carried off by death.
We were sorry that we were so much behind time,
otherwise our obliging conductor would doubtless have
taken us there. We should have liked to see the
first vines and fruit trees from the Paarl grow here, and
to have stood for a few moments by the grave of this
brave ** Voortrekker." But it could not be. We had
to bow to the inevitable. Still we had seen enough to
be able to say with confidence that Laurens van der
Byl had chosen a good spot for his settlement at Maren-
dula, between Salisbury and Umtali. Here are still
some fine farms. But what has become of the spirit of
enterprise that animated the old ** Voortrekkers ?"

We arrived at Umtali on October 30, at four o'clock
in the afternoon. This young town is beautifully
situated, surrounded by well-wooded mountains similar
to those by which the Paarl, Drakenstein, and Welling-
ton are surrounded. Out of these mountains brooks
of fresh water, almost the size of rivers, flow down.
Umtali seems destined by nature to become one of
the most beautiful towns of our country. It has a
splendid climate, a fertile soil, rich gold-fields round
about, the surrounding country is very well adapted

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI 177

for agriculture, and towards the north also for cattle
farming. Then the fact must not be lost sight of that
Umtali lies only seventy-five miles from the railway
terminus at Chimoio, and that it is situated on the
main road from the Beira seaport to the interior. This
road branches here in three directions : (i) to Gazaland
in a southerly direction, where there is a flourishing
settlement of Free State farmers ; (2) to Fort Charter
in a westerly direction, which road the railway will
probably follow to Gwelo and Bulawayo ; (3) to Salis-
bury in a north-westerly direction, by which road we
came.

Now, already Umtali has a flourishing and thriving
appearance. The young town has a good show
of houses, and others are continually being built. The
two hotels were so full that we were very glad to
find accommodation in a hut of a friend of one of our
travelling companions, which was kindly. placed at our
disposal for the night. We met several people of
importance that evening, amongst others the editor of
the Umtali Herald^ for Umtali has her own weekly
paper and a fairly well-stocked library.

But what interested us most was meeting Mr. J.
Moodie. He came with his late brother to Gazaland ;
but as that region did not please him, he went farther
north and has taken a farm in a newly discovered
region, about forty miles to the north-east of Umtali ;
he had just come to fetch his family and then to settle
there. Why this meeting was so important to us you

178 RHODESIA

will understand better after reading an article which
has just appeared in the Rhodesia Herald^ and which
we read on the road between Salisbury and this. This
is the article :

THE INYANGOMBI VALLEY.

On account of the influx into Mashonaland of farmers from
Transvaal, Orange Free State, and other parts, it will not be
out of place to give a description of an altogether new and,
according to Mr. Fotheringham and others who collected the
information, a very good district for agriculture.

The Inyangombi Valley, situated between the Dombo and
Inyanga mountains, about fifteen miles from each and about
fifty miles from Umtali, was visited and perhaps discovered
by Messrs. Fotheringham and Rhys Fairbridge, accompanied
by Mr. Webber, to whom the care of the waggon was en-
trusted. After leaving Umtali, they first crossed the Odzani
River, six miles from Umtali, and then reached Umtassa*s
kraal, four miles further on. From Umtassa they rode
along a highland, till they came to the source of the Hondo
River, about five miles from Umtassa's kraal. From the
source of the Hondo, which is about twenty-two miles from
Umtali, they travelled through a level tract of country about
three miles broad, which is followed by a gradual ascent of
about ten miles to two granite " kopjes ; " from there you
come into a valley bounded on the north by the Odzi River
and on the south by a high mountain range. After they had
passed through this valley, which is about three miles long,
they came to the Odzi waterfalls. The Odzi rises in a valley
on the watershed and flows down over broken ground.

After they had ascended a steep road they came to the
watershed, where the '* forty-mile tree " is seen. This tree is
about forty miles from Umtali. After following this watershed
for about 3J miles, they sighted the Pungwe waterfalls.
These are indeed splendid; the river flows down from the

;

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI 179

Inyanga mountains, through a narrow gorge, and then falls
over 1000 feet, over rocks and between bushes- and moun-
tains. Although the watershed itself has no trees, the
" kloofs '* are well wooded and watered.

The road goes in a north-westerly direction, through a
beautiful valley, and then ascends to a plateau 6000 or 7000
feet above the level of the sea. The plateau has almost no
trees or bush, and is covered by short grass, about nine inches
high, mixed with good pasturage for sheep. This plateau, on
which a good many farms have been pegged out, is considered
excellently suited for sheep-farming, and will be a good
source of supply to the rising village of Umtali. Having
crossed the plateau in a north-westerly direction for about
three miles, and having descended about 500 feet, we reached
the Inyangombi Valley about fifty miles from Umtali.

The Inyangombi, or " Valley of Cattle," is thickly populated
by wealthy Kaffirs, who possess great herds of Africander
sheep, cattle, and goats. The natives, who recognise Um-
tassa as their chief, are well disposed towards the whites;
they seem to be laborious, as they have nice huts with
gardens and mielie lands; their kraals are enclosed with
green hedges and surrounded by large trees.

The valley is covered with short sweet grass ; there is very
little high grass. The formation of the country is " trap,"
with a certain quantity of granite. The red ground, which
goes to a great depth, is considered very fertile, suited both
for agriculture and cattle and sheep-farming. The ground is
very dry, in spite of the mass of water that flows towards it
from the surrounding mountains, and consequently no morass
is formed.

After inspecting the Kaffir huts, &c., it became evident
that the country was not infested by the white ant, but there
are ant-heaps of other ants.

In this valley great aqueducts are found, some several miles
in length and five or six feet deep, evidently made by people
who knew more of agriculture than the present inhabitant^.

i8o RHODESIA

Mr. Fotheringham, who has pegged out a farm in this valley,
says that he has followed one aqueduct for more than three
miles ; and these furrows are well made, with strong hanks on
the lower side. The ground is covered with short good grass
and almost quite free from stones and hushes, so that there
is nothing to hinder in ploughing. The Kaffirs say that the
country is very healthy ; they will not go down to the lower
parts, because there the fever attacks them. The rainy
season is the same as in Manika. The Inyanga mountains,
which are 8000 feet high, are covered with snow in the
winter, whilst in summer they are mostly covered with a fog.

Behind these Inyanga mountains is a great highland,
gradually ascending towards Makombo*s mountain in the
north. To the west of the mountain are vast flats, covered
with granite kopjes, which in former times were all fortified
with stone walls, about eight feet high, with a breadth of six
feet at the base and three feet at the top. This whole region
is suited for horses and sheep, and there is small probability
that they will be subjected to any disease, because the situa-
tion is so high and the air so clear. The streams have their
origin in the north and west of thelnyanga mountains and flow
mostly to the Zambesi, whilst those in the south and east
flow to the Sabi and Pungwe.

The country to the east of the Dombo mountain does not
seem to have been visited by any one as yet, though Mr.
Buring passed through it a few months ago. It is a pity that
such a promising region is not opened up by a road from
Umtali. The cost of such a road would be very small, say
;f 300. Many farms have been pegged out and many farmers,
amongst others J. Moodie, intend settling there shortly.

Mr. Abboth, who has travelled through the country, is of
opinion that the same kind of land extends far to the west
and north of the Gamba mountain.

Mr. C. R. Bradley, who has visited this district as far as
Macombie's kraal, 150 miles to north of Umtali, says that
these aqueducts extend as far as he went north. It is the

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI i8i

best country for farming that he has seen anywhere in South
Africa. A gold belt passes through the country, and also a
slate formation, and is bounded by ** trap '* stone and granite.

Thus far the article. Any one who carefully peruses
this will be interested in such a new country. Our
interest was much heightened during our conversation
with Mr. Moodie. He had travelled through almost
all the northern parts, through the Colony, Natal, Free
State, the Transvaal, and Rhodesia, but nowhere had
he found a region in the least resembling this region.
Just fancy a highland 6000 feet high, intersected by
rivers with very low banks, like the Movirivi,
Kliprivies, Sterkstroom, &c., in the Transvaal, so that
they can everywhere be led out for irrigation purposes
— those open grass flats, varied here and there by well
wooded ridges extending for miles; and then the
sudden descent to the east, a descent of 4000 or 5000
feet, those slopes and "kloofs" filled with trees of
tropical growth; trees, plants, wild fruit, lemons,
bananas, &c. &c.

What drew our attention most of all were the great
aqueducts. We had so often seen them in Oriental
countries, for instance around Damascus. We were
firmly convinced that the Kaffirs had not made these
aqueducts. On our travels through Rhodesia we had
seen a hundred places where the ancients had dug
gold, where they had lived in their towns, but now it
became apparent to us that they had also been agricul-
turists. Who were these ancients ? About this later

i82 RHODESIA

on. This, however, became clear to us, and this is of
great importance, that the same ancients who had been
digging gold for hundreds of miles around, had their
grainfields here, as also their gardens and orchards.
These ancients knew what they were about ; they were
good prospectors, for up to the present day the
diggers follow in their tracks. Would not the farmers
do well to follow their lead too ? One thing is certain,
they did not choose the worst part.

And we became still more interested when Mr.
Moodie (and the Government Surveyor and others
endorsed his statement) told us that they had found
two or three entrances to subterranean caves. They
did not seem to have been mines. They had not entered
them and did not know to what use they had been put,
but they were still accessible, &c.

Ah, we thought, then we have here discovered not
only the grainfields of the ancients, but perhaps also
their catacombs ! For nowhere have the burial places
of these ancients yet been discovered.

Oh, how we would have liked to stay over a fort-
night in order to explore this region with Mr. Moodie 1
But we could not spare the time.

You need then feel no surprise that we sat talking
to our friends till eleven o'clock, after having been without
sleep for almost six nights. How could we go to sleep
before we had arranged with Mr. Moodie that he
should peg off ten farms for the Paarl Matabeleland
Syndicate in this newly opened region, which lies

FROM SALISBURY TO UMTALI 183

thirty or forty miles from Umtali and on the north side
has an outlet to the Portuguese trading-place Senna,
on the Zambesi? And now good night and happy
dreams about those old catacombs, the fertile grain-
fields, and those old aqueducts.

LETTER XVIII
FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA

The Descent from Unttali to the Sea coast — The Height
of Salisbury, Utntali, Chimoio and Fontesvilla — Distances
and Time per Ox- waggon — Railway and River-boat —
The Omnibus with Oxen wins — We descend the Moun-
tains — Tropical Vegetation — How far is this Country
habitable ? — Resembles Lower EgyPt — Africa built in
Terraces — Hence no Navigable Rivers, but healthy High-
lands — To be opened by Railways — Open Land for super-
fluous Population of Europe — Railway Terminus not
Bulawayo, but Cairo — Midnight at Chimoio — £i for
every Five Miles per Ox-waggon — This is due to the
Tsetse Fly — Down the Mountains by Rail — Beautiful
Tree growth — Stately Palm Trees — Game on the Flats —
What the Game teaches us — The White Rhinoceros not
yet extirpated — Protection necessary — List of Game —
Fontesvilla a Village on Poles, sometimes a small Venetia
— Two Days without Food on the Pungwe — Subsisting
on Pisangs (Bananas) — Adventures — Railway versus
River-boat,

HouTBAAi, May i6, 1895.

We left you at Umtali and the highlands to the north-
east, which in reality is the boundary of the highland
of Rhodesia. Umtali itself lies a good bit lower than
Salisbury; the country surrounding Salisbury being
about 5000 feet above the sea level, and Umtali only

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 185

3600, although the mountainous flats to the north-east
rise to a level of almost 7000 feet. But from Umtali
you descend rapidly to the sea in an easterly direction.
From Umtali to Chimoio, the railway terminus, is a
distance of only 75 miles, and in that distance you
descend more than 15CX) feet, as Chimoio is only 2140
feet above the sea level. From Chimoio to Fontesvilla
is 118 miles by rail ; there you come to the Pungwe
River, and are carried from there by a small steam-
boat to Beira. There you are on the sea level; for
although the distance from Fontesvilla to Beira, with
all the windings of the river, is variously estimated at
from 50 to 75 miles, still the rising and falling of the
ebb is almost the same here as at the mouth of the
river. Thus in a distance of 193 miles from Umtali to
Fontesvilla the descent is 3600 feet. The distances
are divided thus :

Miles.
Umtali to Chimoio, omnibus, with oxen . . 75
Chimoio to Fontesvilla, by train . .118

Fontesvilla to Beira, by steamboat . . 50

Total 243

And yet it took us from Wednesday, October 31,
8 A.M., to Tuesday, November 6, 5 p.m., to cover that
distance. And strange to say, with Symington^s '* ox-
'bus" we travelled almost faster than by train and
steamboat.

We left Umtali on Wednesday morning at eight
o'clock. From there the 'bus, or rather the little

i86 RHODESIA

horse-waggon has to be drawn by oxen, because lower
down it is unhealthy for horses and mules.

Unfortunately our span of oxen could not be found
that morning, and the experienced driver, who had
gone to look for the oxen, also stayed away. We
could wait no longer ; a span of oxen was borrowed or
hired, and put in the hands of an inexperienced driver.
Helter-skelter we went down the mountain, through
sprints and across bridges. A good thing that the
road is well made, for which the company deserves
praise. But when we had to ascend out of the first
kloof it was halt I The oxen would not proceed and
the driver could not get them on. There we were
stuck for more than an hour, then it was a broken yoke,
then the oxen were spanned about, &c., and if we had
not had a few passengers who knew better how to
handle oxen than the driver, I do not know when we
should have reached Chimoio. Further on, from the
first outspan, we got the usual good span of oxen and
we made up for the delay. Wednesday we sped well ;
that night we had to stay over at Massikessie on
account of storm and rain. We did not, however, get
much rest, for we arrived late in the evening, ate our
piece of bread, and had to spread our blankets in a
shed, where wind and rain had free access ; at mid-,
night we arrived at Chimoio. We covered these 75
miles in 40 hours ; deduct 6 hours forced delay, and
we find that we did about 2| miles per hour.

From Chimoio to Fontesvilla is 118 miles per rail,

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 187

and that took us from Friday 7 a.m. till Saturday
7 P.M. — /.^., 36 hours, or, including several delays,
about 3 miles per hour.

The 50 or 60 miles per steamboat on the Pungwe,
took us from Sunday 6 p.m. till Tuesday 5 p.m. — t,e,,
47 hours, or a little more than one mile per hour. But
further particulars will explain this.

From Umtali you at once notice that you are de-
scending the mountains. The road winds down through
"kloofs," in which the palm trees grow luxuriantly,
and a little lower down bananas, lemons, and other
wild fruits and semi-tropical plants, while everywhere
beautifully clear streams of water gush down.

At more than one place we thought, if one were
sure that this part was healthy, a more beautiful spot
to live in could not be found on earth. And yet the
Portuguese live much lower down and are fairly
healthy. The fever is very bad at Fontesvilla, but
then the situation is very unhealthy, being on the
banks of the Pungwe River, which every year sub-
merges the country for miles around, and forms shallow
lagoons in the rank, rotting grass, which necessarily
must result in unhealthiness. But we believe if this
country is once thoroughly opened up and is no longer
so rough, that it will be inhabited as far as Massi-
kessie, the boundary between the Portuguese posses-
sions and those of the company, and even lower down,"
as far as Chimoio. It is now already inhabited along
the railway line and main road. What really seem

i88 RHODESIA

to be tcx) unhealthy to be inhabited are the last 25 or
30 miles before you come to Fontesvilla. Then you
are at the foot of the mountains and on the same level
with the country which is yearly inundated by the
Pungwe.

And who can tell but even this fertile valley can be
made as habitable and productive as the delta of the
Nile in Egypt, if it is once intersected by canals to
carry off the water of the inundations and leave the
land dry. In any case, here is a country that very
much resembles Lower Egypt.

Allow us a small digression. Have you ever noticed
that Africa forms a highland, built up with terraces ?
Going from Cape Town to the interior you climb a few
thousand feet to the top of the Hex River mountains ;
then from Beaufort west you ascend a second terrace,
bounded by the " Niemoveld " mountains, or more to
the west by the ** Roggeveld " mountains, without de-
scending on the other side. In the same way, going
to the interior from Port Elizabeth you ascend the
Zuurbergen, but do not descend again. From Natal
you have to ascend the Drakensbergen to reach the
first terrace. From Delagoa you ascend the Lebombo
mountains and after that the northerly extension of
the Drakensbergen. Thus from the whole coast of
Africa you gradually ascend with large terraces; for
the whole of the interior is a highland.

This is the reason why Africa has no navigable rivers
(excepting the Nile in the flat northern part), because

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 189

the rivers run too steep, and, flowing over rocks, form
waterfalls or cascades and cataracts. And that is the
reason why Africa has remained so long comparatively
uninhabited and unexplored. If Africa had navigable
rivers like Europe, the country would not have been
allowed to lie fallow up to now. And because we have
no navigable rivers the country must be opened by rail-
ways. That time has now arrived. The elevated situa-
tion of the country has, on the other hand, a great
advantage — viz., that lying in the tropics it is never-
theless habitable and healthy ; even under the line there
are habitable parts, and close to the line are the Moun-
tains of the Moon, covered with everlasting snow.
Years ago we predicted that the whole of Africa, from
the Cape to Cairo, would be intersected by railways
and inhabited. And with the present rapid development
this may happen sooner than we think. For Africa is
the only land that lies open still. Many turn back from
North America; that land can no longer absorb the
stream of European emigration. And then the interior
of Africa appears to be not only habitable, but also rich
in minerals and exceedingly fertile. This makes the
present opening up of the country towards the north of
such great importance to us. Yes, our railway terminus
is not Bulawayo, but Cairo I

But let us return to our '* oxen- 'bus." Down the
mountains we mostly travelled at a trot, and just shaved
by many a tree. So that even in daylight it was not
quite safe travelling. But now it becomes pitch dark

igo RHODESIA

and the weather becomes stormy, and then through
those forests without the light of moon or stars. True,
the driver sometimes trots alongsideihis team, stops them
here and turns them there, but it is clearly evident that
he has very little control over the team.

At midnight we arrive at Chimoio — a pitch dark
night. There had been an old Chimoio, but the village
had been transplanted a few miles nearer to the coast.
Now the railway terminus is again being built on the old
site, and they were just busy coming back to the old
town.

Do not think to find either hotel or boarding-house.
No ; the bar is opened and you can obtain liquor, also
anything you wish to buy out of the shop. But in that
corner you can spread your blanket, lie down and sleep,
if sleep you can. By the kindly exertion of a friend
who was known here, we together got a ** hartebeest-
huisfe " for the night. It was then already two o'clock.

But we could not go to rest before we had made
arrangements for our transport to the train on the fol-
lowing morning. We wanted to catch the Goth at
Beira. We still have to go five or six miles to the place
from where the train starts at lo a.m. We could obtain
carriers and then tramp it through the sand for those
five miles, but the carriers were all at the terminus,
which lay a few miles away. If we had to go and find
them next morning we were in danger of not reach-
ing the train and so losing a whole day. But we could
have a little ox- waggon by each paying ^5 for five miles.

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 191

We decide to engage the waggon, and go to try and
snatch a few hours sleep.

We were up betimes to get something to eat and then
off to the waggon ; it is so small that it can hardly con-
tain our baggage, and only four of the fourteen or fifteen
could wriggle in between the boxes and portmanteaux ;
so that in reality we each had to pay j^"! for the transport
of our portmanteaux and rugs. But you must bear in
mind that from Chimoio you find the tsetse-fly and the
oxen used in that distance are written down as dead as
soon as the rains fall.

Here we are at the railway. The rails have been laid
as far as this. We have to wait for the train. It
is warm. We sit down in the shade of some trees to
eat something. We are now 113 miles from Fontesvilla ;
five miles of rail have still to be laid to Chimoio (that
has since been done). The railway has in reality only
been opened to the seventy-fifth mile. For three hours,
up to the eighty-first mile, we have to sit in an open
truck under a scorching sun. After a delay of an hour
we went from there in a covered waggon, arranged like
a tram waggon, with two long benches on both sides,
to the seventy-fifth mile, where we arrived at 5 p m. and
stayed over for the night Here we met a former
acquaintance from Stellenbosch, Mr. Krige, who kindly
received and entertained us that night and the following
morning till we left. Mr. Krige was just busy trans-
planting his hotel to Chimoio. Any of our readers
who may happen to travel this way and come to

192 RHODESIA

Chimoio can be sure of being better received than we
were.

We left next morning at 7, and arrived at Fontes-
villa at 3 P.M. We had covered these seventy-five
miles in eight hours — ;>., ten miles per hour, including
delays.

The Beira railway, of which we shall hear more later
on, is of great importance for the future development
of Rhodesia. It is a pity that the gauge of the rails is
not the same as those of the other railways in South
Africa (the usual gauge is 3| feet, and this is 2j feet).
Otherwise the railway is well built, and answers its
purpose well. The well-known Mr. Pauling is the
contractor. At the steepest incline the road is made
zigzag. In some parts the road had to be cut through
dense forests of wild trees. The growth of trees and
plants is very luxuriant. There are trees with trunks
of forty or fifty feet in circumference, and from seventy
to eighty feet high. More beautiful natural scenery
than you find here can hardly be imagined. And then
after having struggled on for about four months in an
ox-waggon, what a pleasant sensation to be once more
in a train !

Having reached the foot of the mountain, you have a
level flat of about twenty-five miles before you reach
Chimoio on the Pungwe River. Scenery is not so
beautiful here. The stately palm-tree is replaced by the
shrublike dwarf palm. But now you are better able to
see the big game in the open flats on both sides.

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 193

buffaloes, elands, kwaggas, &c. And they seem to
know the train as a harmless enemy ; at least they
remain standing at a short distance.

One of the things which first strike the stranger at
Chimoio and Beira is the mass of hides and horns of
wild animals, as also the great quantities of ivory
brought from the interior. We also were under the
impression that big game had been almost extirpated.
This, however, is not the case; but if measures for
their protection are not taken there is great danger
that several kinds will soon be extinct. In Europe
and also here it was thought that the white rhinoceros
had been extirpated. On this journey, however, a
white waggon-driver told us that when a few years ago
he was hunting in the low coast regions north of
Delagoa, he had seen amongst large herds of big game,
a few small herds of the white rhinoceros. The details
he gave about this left no doubt as to the truth of the
tale. He could 'not sufficiently praise the fertility and
beauty of those low regions. He spoke especially
about the Pisangberg and Rottingberg, which are
covered by wild fruit trees.

Before we took leave of the game we involuntarily
thought how game was diminishing, if not quite extir-
pated, in the inhabited parts of Africa. The thousands
of antelopes and other game proved how well this
country was adapted for cattle farming. Had this
lesson been learned immediately how many sad experi-
ences would have been spared 1 For instance, when

194 RHODESIA

the *'voortrekkers" entered the Transvaal they found the
highlands swarming with game, and the lower wooded
parts full of wild fruit, with abundance of water. They
chose the latter mentioned parts to live in. But here
they suffered great loss of cattle. Nature had pointed
out to them that this part where wild fruit trees and
shrubs flourished so luxuriantly was suited for agricul-
turCf whilst the thousands of game on the highlands
proved to them that this was the country adapted for
cattle fanning. But it took quite a quarter of a century
to learn by sad experience what nature itself had in
the first instance pointed out to common sense.

The plan so often mooted by us to enclose a few
thousands of morgen and stock it with various kinds of
game, and so to propagate the various species, would
not only afford pleasure, but yield a good gain. Mr.
Rhodes has, only on a small scale, begun to put this
plan in execution on his property on the slopes of the
Table Mountain, and there is some talk that an English
Company intends carrying out this plan on a huge scale
in Rhodesia.

But whilst speaking about game we had reached
Fontesvilla. It was three o'clock in the afternoon of
November 3, and still so hot (ids'* in the shade),
that we first of all sought a cooling drink to slake our
burning thirst, and then took a cold bath. Having
rested a little, we went to see the village and to obtain
some information about the journey by river to Beira.

The first disappointment was : there is no boat, and

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 195

at soonest it can only be here to-morrow (Sunday) ; (i)
because the river is very low, as there had been no rain
for a long time ; (2) because it was the quarter and
consequently low water, so that it was difficult to cross
the sandbanks. Our first idea was to hire a small
canoe, with some of our friends, and to go on in that.
We had soon gone through the whole village, visited
even the omnipresent koelies, but could not find a canoe.
A very good thing for us. For a few of our fellow
travellers who, the following day, succeeded in securing
a canoe, had very hard times.

So we had leisure to have a good look at the village
from Saturday 3 p.m. till Sunday 6 p.m. A few hotels,
half a dozen stores, and half a dozen dwelling-houses,
and the railway station, that is about all. But the
peculiarity of the village is that it is entirely built on
poles or stakes. All the houses are built on poles four
feet above the surface. The river inundates the
country to that height, and the water sometimes
remains standing for several days. Then Fontesvilla
is like a small Venice, and you have to go about in
boats. When the river subsides abundant fish is to
be found in the shallow pools, and these pools gradually
dry up. This explains why the fever is so virulent
here.

On Sunday evening at six o'clock we left in the
Roscj a small tug. Usually it only takes seven or
eight hours to Beira. Four of us "formed a Syndi-
cate," as we did on the 'bus, and bought a tin of

196 RHODESIA

biscuits and two bottles of " vino tinto," the usual red
Portuguese wine, which is sold here at 2s. or 35. per
bottle ; we meant this for a little refreshment on our
moonlight trip that evening, for we had dined just
before leaving.

But instead of seven hours our voyage lasted forty-
seven hours. At nine o'clock we stuck on a sandbank.
There we had to spend the night and await the tide.
The next morning the water was very low, and sand-
banks were seen on all sides. And we had no
provisions on board. We were still waiting for the
tide. We asked the captain for his little boat, and
four of us went rowing on the river. First we saw a
few large river boats riding at anchor; we rowed to
them. They were loaded with wood, and there were
only Kaffirs; we could procure nothing from them.
Afterwards we saw a Kaffir canoe along the bank of
the river. We rowed to it and got two Kaffirs, who
sank up to their waist in the mud, to carry us out ;
from them we bought a bunch of bananas, containing
about 100, for one shilling, which was a good addition
#0 our provisions.

Towards midday the tide set in and preparations
were made for steaming on, but alas I our little steam-
engine was defective and would not work. Oh, what a
bother that whole day and evening. At last the ebb
set in, and there we were stuck again, and we again
had to spend the night there. We really began to feel
the pangs of hunger. Two French fellow-travellers

FROM UMTALI TO BEIRA 197

had a few tins of preserved meat and the captain had
some rice, and this constituted our last meal, of which
all partook.

We will long remember those two days and nights.
The river is beautiful, broad, and continually increasing
in breadth, with well-wooded banks. In the river you
sometimes see seacows at play and the crocodiles
sleeping on the banks. When the boat moves on a
Kaffir is always measuring the depth of the water with
a stick and calls out in Kaffir, the water is ** navigable,"
"too shallow," or "deep." A flat-bottomed boat
drawing two or three feet could always pass up and
down the river. But a steamboat, having a keel, must
necessarily get aground as soon as the water is less
than four feet deep. The truth of this we found to our
sorrow. But we will try and forget this, and only
mention one more incident.

When on Monday at noon we saw that we could not
reach Beira that evening, and indeed did not know
whether we should ever reach it with our defective
machine, bearing in mind that we had no provisions,
and that we had a lady with two sick children aboard,
we proposed to the captain to send a boat on ahead !b
Beira, asking the manager of the company to send
the other tug, the Kimberley^ with some medicine and
provisions, to help us on. Three of us volunteered,
and rowed off with a Kaffir who knew the river.
Unfortunately the boat had to contend with a head
wind, so that they could not reach Beira that night and

198 RHODESIA

they arrived only the following afternoon at 3, tired
and worn out. The Kimberley was got ready to send
to our assistance. But just before she steamed out,
our boat, the Rose^ was sighted. One of our passengers
had some knowledge and experience of steam-engines ;
he assisted the engineer and so at last we got moving
on, and as the second half of the river was deeper we
got on much better.

Lower down the river becomes deeper and broader,
till one can hardly see from one bank to the other.
Beautiful islands lie in the middle of the river, and the
seacows, sometimes six to eight together, playing in
the water, make the scene still more interesting.

The idea, however, seems to be to do away with the
traffic on the river, and to extend the railway from
Fontesvilla, with a bridge over the river, and then on the
east side of the river to Beira.* We fancy that it would
be cheaper and also give cheaper transport, if a few
flat bottomed steamboats were built to be used on the
river.

And so at last we have reached Beira, on the sea
coast. But with all this delay the Goth has left. Now
we have to wait for the slow Courland, About the
voyage along the east coast and the future trade routes
in our next.

* This railway is being constructed now, and its completion
is expected shortly.

LETTER XIX

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS

Beira and Dclagoa the best natural Ports of South Africa
— Contrast with Durban and East London — The calunt"
niated Portuguese Government defended — Advantages of
the two Portuguese Havens — Beira as Town, Trading
Place, and Haven— Sofala, Solomon^s Port — German
Steam Navigation on the East Coast — Delagoa — False
Reports — Durban, including Theatre, ^Ho let'* — A
Model Tram Service — A good Word for the Coolies in
Natal — Fruit Export to the Cape Colony — Natal not
feared as Competitor in the Trade to the Interior — Beira
the Natural Port of Rhodesia, Delagoa of the Transvaal
— Eloquent and Stubborn Figures — Geographical Facts
— Comparison of the Distances by Land and Sea — Pre*
sent Prices of Transport — Future of Eastern, or Suez
Sea Route — Advantage of having Rhodes as our Premier
at present,

HouTBAY, May 17, 1895.

South Africa has only two naturally good seaports,
viz., Delagoa and Beira. The Table Bay has been
made into a safe haven by its docks. Algoa remains
an open, difficult harbour. East London and Durban
cannot even be made good havens on account of the
sand banks. This is apparent from the fact that on
each of these ports a million sterling has already been

206 RHODESIA

spent, and even now it is something quite rare to see a
steamboat, even with a good tide, enter the Port;
whereas the average depth on the bar at Durban is
gradually decreasing; in 1892 it was 13 feet 8 J inches,
in 1893, 13 feet 4 inches; in 1894, 11 feet lof inches.
But Delagoa and Beira are natural havens, so large
and so deep that whole fleets can anchor close to the
coast to load and unload. Should it come to a compe-
tition between the southern and eastern ports of South
Africa, then these two Portuguese ports would have
far away the best of it, not only on account of their
more favourable geographical position, but also on
account of the loading and unloading being safe and
cheap.

Some Cape Colonists comfort themselves with the
idea that these ports are badly managed by the Portu-
guese and that this is in our favour. Later on we shall
give more particulars, but we can state at once, that
this is a poor comfort. In addition to the natural
advantages, these two ports offer sufficient facilities
and conveniences to become dangerous competitors.
At Beira, the harbour works are as yet on a small scale,
but at present nothing more is required. Loading and
unloading are done with the greatest ease and despatch.
And at Delagoa the Pier Concession of Cohen is at
present in the hands of the enterprising firm of Lewis
and Marks, who intend to build a jetty in the shape of
a T, so that (such is the depth of the water) four
steamboats, two large and two small ones, can be

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 201

wharfed at the same time, and can load and unload in
and out of the railway trucks simultaneously. Where
are our landing places that can surpass or even match
this?

As regards Beira itself, it is a young town, built on a
sandy projection, on the broad mouth of the river
Pungwe ; it forms a broad bay, across which, even in
fair weather, you can hardly see. A few years ago
there were only about a dozen houses here ; at present
there is a flourishing city three miles long, with a
population of 30CX) or 4000. Beira is very healthy and
is used as a sanatorium by hunters, prospectors, and
traders, who in unhealthy parts contract the fever ; with
a view to that a large and well arranged hospital has
lately been built. One often hears about the un-
cleanliness of the Portuguese seaports, viz., Beira and
Delagoa. Well, we have made a careful inspection of
both places, and all we can say is, that we sincerely
wish that our seaports could favourably compare in
cleanliness and neatness with these two. But we fear
we should be beaten by a long way in these respects.

Beira is situated on a sandy bottom. The coast is
protected from the encroachment of the sea by poles
being planted in. A tramway runs from the customs
offices, which are situated close to the landing-place,
through the whole town ; there are no public trams, but
the chief hotels and trading stores have their own tram
waggons, which are pushed backward and forward by
Kaffirs, for the transport of passengers and goods.

202 RHODESIA

Along the streets hard side-walks have been made.
We saw no carriages.

At the town a small river runs into the sea, so that
the town is really situated on a projecting strip of land
between the sea and the river, whilst part of the town
lies across the river. A bridge of about two hundred
yards spans it. The barracks of the troops, on the
further side of the river, are a pattern of neatness, as
are the convent, the prison, and the graveyard, the last of
which looks like a flower garden, and is very well kept.
Then there are miles of vegetable gardens, so that there
is a plentiful and cheap supply of vegetables for the town
and the ships. Abundance of fruit is brought in boats
from the farms along the Busi River, which runs into
the sea close to the Pungwe (a little to the west).
Along the Busi, bananas, lemons, and other fruit grow
quite wild. But there are also beautiful farms.

We had to stay over at Beira from Tuesday 6 p.m.
till Saturday (Nov. lo) 2 p.m., waiting for the Cour-
landf as, owing to our delay on the Pungwe, we had
missed the Goth, We very much wished to visit the
Busi and Sofala, but it was not to be ventured in an
ordinary fishing-boat, and the only small steam-tug here
suited for such a trip was just then under repair.
Still, we had the opportunity of interviewing some
people who are well acquainted with the haven of
Sofala, and they all declare that the sea has overflowed
a part of the land, and that at low water the remains of
former buildings, such as forts, tombstones, &c., are

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 203

still to be seen under the water ; that golden ornaments
and such like, similar to those found at Zimbabwe, are
continually being found on the shore, showing that this
was the old haven of the ancient miners of the interior.
With this agrees the conclusion of etymologists who
trace the name Sofala back to Ophir. Of this more
later on.

Beira is an important trading-station. There are
large and well stocked trading-stores. We were sur-
prised to see the quantity of ivory, hides, horns, and
other articles which are brought here from the interior
in exchange. It can readily be seen that the coolies
draw the largest share of the trade. They have
branch businesses and travelling vendors (hawkers),
who go about in the interior selling their wares, and at
the same time procuring products by exchange. We
have never seen so many elephant tusks together as we
saw at one coolie-store in Beira.

The opening up of Rhodesia is doubtless the cause
of the progress Beira has made, for Beira is the natural
haven of Zambesia. Let us only mention here that we
have observed how for passengers and goods the Eastern
route by the German steamers, through the Suez
Canal to Europe, is gradually superseding the far
longer route round the Cape. Of our travelling
company two went, on account of former connections,
via Cape Town to Europe, whilst eight went with the
German steamboat round the east coast.

Before leaving Beira, let us with a single word make

204 RHODESIA

mention of the excellent treatment we received from
Mr. Classerath, the courteous host of the Point Hotel.
He keeps a very good table ; there is always fresh fish
from the Busi River and abundance of fruit ; and, above
all, he was ready and willing at all times to give us any
information. The hotel is situated close to the landing-
place, the terras are moderate, and the treatment is
very good ; for these and other reasons we can safely
recommend the Point Hotel. The buildings leave
much to be desired, but the landlord is not to blame
for that. The whole of Beira belongs to the Portuguese
Government, excepting a few pieces of ground given to
public institutions or corporations. Consequently also
the hotel buildings belong to the Government, which
up to the present time has not carried out its plan to
enlarge the edifice. The Government draws a good
rent from all these buildings.

On Saturday, Nov. lo, at 2 p.m., we left Beira by the
slow Courland and arrived at Delagoa Bay on Tuesday
at 9 A.M., where we remained till one o'clock. It was
just at the time that the troubles with the Kaffirs com-
menced. At Bulawayo and Salisbury we had already
seen disquieting telegrams in connection with this, and
at Beira we got some Natal papers, which gave a very
exaggerated account of these troubles. We used our
time at Delagoa to obtain the best information with
regard to this revolt. Never have we seen a greater
concatenation of inaccurate reports than in some
English papers — at the expense of Delagoa and the

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 205

Portuguese, of course. There was simply nothing of a
war panic ; of the barricaded streets nothing was to be
seen. On the outside, forts had been built against a
possible attack, but inside the town everything went
its usual course, nor was the railway connection with
the interior in any way disturbed.

As regards cleanliness we can here only repeat what
we have said about Beira. But Delagoa is far more
prettily situated, against a high hill, on which pretty
villas are laid out, which reminded us of the Berea at
Durban. If any one wishes to invest money in fixed
property, we know of no safer and better place in the
whole of South Africa than Delagoa. The town has
made great progress in the last years and seems likely
to continue doing so. As Beira is the natural port of
Rhodesia, so Delagoa is the natural port of the Trans-
vaal. To shut our eyes to this stubborn fact, is
nothing else but the policy of the ostrich. The sooner
we properly realise the actual position and act accord-
ingly, the better. But more of this later on.

On Tuesday afternoon at one o'clock we sailed from
Delagoa, and on Wednesday eyening, just before sunset,
we arrived at Durban, where we had to ride at anchor
till next morning before we could cross that troublesome
bar. We had to stay at Durban till 1 1 a.m. on Saturday.
In general Durban has a flourishing appearance. The
only bad sign was that we saw so many houses with
" to let *' on them, even the Theatre Royal was marked
" to let," a clear proof that providing public amusements

2o6 RHODESIA

does not pay over well at Durban. The tram service
seems to be admirably arranged, under the manage-
ment of the Town Council. These trams run to the
top of the beautiful Berea, and every one of those
scattered villas, covering several miles in circumference,
is no more than five minutes' walk from the tram.

But however well the train, tram, and cab services
are arranged, the rickshaw seems to be most in request.
Everywhere you see the Kaffirs trotting about with
these little double shaft carts and one or two passengers
in them.

We shall not trouble you with the strife of the
political parties, which just then was at its height,
though it was not unpleasant to follow the movements
of Mr. Binns, " the uncrowned king of an unformed
opposition." Neither shall we weary you with a
description of a sugar factory, which we suppose is
already quite familiar to our readers.

We must only make one remark before taking leave
of Natal. So much is said against the importation of
coolies into Natal ; but what has been done and is
being done to agriculture and industry in Natal, is done
by the coolie. There the coolie is not only the retail
trader and hawker, but also domestic servant, gardener,
and the labourer who cultivates the sugar planta-
tions and does all the work in the sugar factories. The
English are as little inclined and suited for manual
labour as the Kaffirs, and what would Natal be to-day
and what would become of Natal but for the coolies ?

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 207

As regards the competition for the inland trade, we
do not fear Natal so much as Delagoa and Beira ; her
bar is against her ; her railway has too many and
heavy gradients, too many short curves, and the cost
of construction is too high ; besides that, the distances
are in favour of Delagoa and Beira. This will be seen
later on.

And yet we may learn something of Natal. On our
boat stood three pyramids of boxes for Cape Town,
Port Elizabeth, and East London, containing fresh fruit,
mostly bananas, oranges, and pine apples, exported by
the "Natal Fruit Growers Association." Thus Natal
every year draws thousands of pounds from us for
fruit. An end ought to be put to this.

What, however, goes mostly against Natal is the bar.
On our arrival even the small Courland could not cross
the bar and had to stay outside the bay for one night.
And the big boats must remain outside altogether.
When we left we carefully noted the delay caused by
this. The day before leaving we had to send our
luggage aboard. The following morning we had to be
at the jetty early ; we left at eleven o'clock in the
small tug, and we could only sail at 4 p.m. Thus it
took quite five hours to put passengers and mails on
board.

After steaming sixteen hours we arrived at East
London on Sunday morning at eight o'clock and stayed
there till four o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 20.

Having taken in 1 700 bales of wool and a good many

2o8 RHODESIA

passengers, we steamed on, with a strong south-easter,
which raged the whole night, with a very high sea ;
most of the passengers were very sea-sick. The
following morning we had apparently passed Algoaand
were lying still since one o'clock. Nothing could be
seen. About six it became light and we began steam-
ing again, with many soundings and windings in our
course. At half-past eight we were anchored in the
bay, but it was quite twelve o'clock before we were
landed. What a bother to get out of the ship into the
little boat and again to get out of the boat on the jetty I
No, coming from Delagoa and Beira it is painfully
apparent what poor ports East London and Port
Elizabeth have !

At Port Elizabeth we took leave of the steamboat to
proceed to the Paarl by rail. We shall not weary our
readers with a description of East London and Port
Elizabeth, but rather close this chapter with some
instructive figures, in answer to the question : " What
part will the various ports in future take in the trade
and transport to the interior?" Do not feel fretful
about these figures, for they touch a life question in
the future development of South Africa — a question
which to us was of so much importance that we
took this route for our return in order to subject it
to a special inquiryj the results of which we shall
briefly give.

Take as starting-point and basis that trade always
takes the shortest and cheapest route, unless there are

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 209

other more weighty interests, which there are not in
this case.

Take first Rhodesia and let us see which will be her
probable trading route or routes in the future. This
question is already a grave one, and will probably
become of still greater importance.

The traffic to that lately opened country is already
very considerable. In 1894 no fewer than 2000 trans-
port waggons arrived at Bulawayo from the south
with goods and produce, of which the transport costs
amounted to ;^ 140,000. And these did not include
heavy machinery for the gold-fields. What then will
it be if once the extensive gold-fields are worked ?
And then it is only the transport to Bulawayo from the
south ; not from the east, from Beira to Umtali, Salis-
bury and the eastern villages and gold-fields.

Taken in general, Bulawayo and Matabeleland import
through the ports of the Cape Colony, and Salisbury
and Mashonaland through Beira. Estimated roughly,
transport rates from Port Elizabeth to Bulawayo rule at
present 215. 6d, per 100 pounds, or £22, 13s. per ton,
the transport by rail from the Bay to Mafeking being
8s. per 100 pounds, and from there by waggon 135. 6d.
And from Port Elizabeth the transport by train to
Mafeking is 85., and further by transport waggon 22s.,
thus 305. per 100 pounds to Salisbury.

Transport from Beira to Salisbury is ;^I7 per ton, or
155. 5^. per 100 pounds. The waggon transport from
Chimoio comes to ;£'io per ton, or 9s. per 100 pounds,

210 RHODESIA

whilst the train tariflfis £6 per ton for Ii8 miles, and
the colonial railway cost from the Bay to Mafeking, a
distance of 708 miles, is only £i i6s. But this is to be
attributed to the fact that the railway tariff is still fixed
by the contractor, under which you have to pay 105. to
ride thirty miles in an open truck, and £2 to be con-
veyed further on in an ordinary waggon. But Mr.
Rhodes has promised to introduce the colonial tariff as
soon as the line is taken over, and then the railway
expenses will be reduced to ;£"! ids. or £2, at the
outside, per ton, so that transport from the sea to
Salisbury will be about ;£'i4 per ton, or 135. per 100
pounds.

The merchant at Salisbury, the chief town of
Mashonaland, now pays 15s. $d, per 100 pounds for his
goods from Beira, whilst he has to pay 30s. for goods
coming from Port Elizabeth over Mafeking. The
result is apparent ; who will prefer the longer route,
when he has to pay double for transport, and has to
wait much longer ?

And this difference on the two routes will increase
when both lines are extended, which will certainly
happen, for the distance is too much in favour of the
eastern route. Let us look more closely at this.

Mr. Fairbridge, who for years has been employed as
surveyor in these parts, and with whom we often spoke
on this subject, gives the geographical /acts, the dis-
tances in miles, how far the three chief towns of
Rhodesia are situated from Cape Town and Beira : —

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 211

From Cape Town. From Beira.
Miles. Miles.

Bulawayo . . . 11 50 400

Salisbury .... 1400 270

Umtali .... 14CX) 180

These are the distances in a straight line ; add to this
25 per cent, for the windings of a railway, then you
obtain the following : —

From Cape Town. From Beira.
Miles. Miles.

Bulawayo .... 1450 500

Salisbury . . . . 1750 350

Umtali .... 1750 220

Consequently the advantage of the Beira route over
the Cape Town route is : For Bulawayo as i to 3 ; for
Salisbury as I to 5 ; for Umtali as i to 8.

But these are geographical facts. Let us now take the
actual distances as far as railways are already built, and
then farther on with the waggon roads in the direction
which the railways, which are still to be built later on,
will probably follow. Let us take Bulawayo as ter-
minating point, as being most favourably situated for
Cape Town (although Bulawayo can never become the
chief town, much less the centre of trade, because it
is not situated centrally enough, as we have already
shown), and even then Beira is by far the preferable.
See here :

212 RHODESIA

Miles.
Cape Town to Mafeking (rail) .... 870

Mafeking to Bulawayo (waggon road) . . 500

Total 1370

Miles.
Fontesvilla to Chimoio (rail) . . . .118
Chimoio to Bulawayo (waggon road) . . 460

Total 578

Miles.

Cape Town route 1370

Beira route 578

Beira route shorter .... 792

Thus unfavourably the Cape Town route compares to
its nearest point in Rhodesia and so favourably the
Beira route to its farther point in Rhodesia. But the
comparison is still more unfavourable to the Cape if we
take Salisbury as terminating point. See here :

Miles.

Cape Town to Bulawayo 1370

Bulawayo to Salisbury 300

Total distance 1670

Fontesvilla to Salisbury 343

Beira route shorter .... 1327

If it is contended that the distances of the sea route are
in favour of the Cape, then two things must be borne in
mind : (i) that this makes very little, if any difference,

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 213

in the prices of transport ; (2) that a better steamboat
service along the east coast threatens to decrease our
traffic with Europe. It is especially the last point to
which we wish to draw your attention. As Africa is
being developed northward, the less will ships use the
round about way via Cape Tow^n, and the more will
they follow the shorter route through the Suez Canal.
Let us compare the distances by sea. Take Beira as
terminating point, and compare the sea routes round
the Cape and through the Suez Canal :

Miles.
Beira, via Cape Town to London . . . 7662
„ „ Suez to Naples 4792

Suez route shorter .... 2870

Or take a more distant landing-place, as Marseilles,
then you find as follows :

Miles.
Beira, via Cape Town to London . . . 7662
„ „ Suez to Marseilles .... 5542

Suez route shorter . . . .2120

Even taking Delagoa Bay as starting-point or termina-
ting point, the Suez route is preferable by far. See
here:

Miles.
Delagoa, via Cape Town to London . . .7112
„ „ Suez to Brindisi .... 5292

Suez route shorter . . . 1820

214 RHODESIA

Or take even Marseilles as landing port, and you have :

Miles.
Delagoa, via Cape Town to London . . 71 12

„ „ Suez to Marseilles . . . 6042

Suez route shorter . . . 1070

Now bear in mind that this shorter distance means a
great deal for the transport of goods, and that the
eastern route offers many more advantages to pas-
sengers than the western, as it touches at more ports,
passes Egypt and Palestine, and at the same time pro-
vides for a journey through the Continent (for the
German boats along the east coast also give tickets for
the journey by land, if so wished) ; and that the train
from Naples to London takes only forty-eight hours,
and from Marseilles only twenty-four hours. Thus the
eastern route offers vast advantages. And we should
not be surprised if the Transvaal and the Free State
afterwards gave their mail contracts, &c. &c., to this
route. And what if the French obtain Madagascar* and
extend their navigation along the east coast of Africa to
Delagoa Bay ? We should not be at all surprised if in
a short time the eastern route surpass the western in
importance. For we must not lose sight of the fact
that England is not Europe; England no longer has
the monopoly of our trade, and the competition of the
Continent grows stronger day by day.

There is thus no hope that the Cape will retain the

* As they have since done.

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS 215

•

trade with Rhodesia in the future. It is, of course,
strongly in our favour that Mr. Rhodes is at present
premier of the Colony, and that he energetically carries
on the railway extension to Mafeking, whilst for the
present the Beira railway is stopped at Chimoio. For
if he had the lOO miles to Gaberones and the seventy-
five miles to Umtali simultaneously constructed, then
the natural result would be : (i) that the Beira railway
would reach Bulawayo first; (2) that there would no
longer exist any necessity to carry the western line any
farther, as the eastern takes all the traffic. The build-
ing of the Mafeking line is in our favour, because it is
built with English capital, the material is carried over
our Colonial line and always brings a little more traffic ;
and if not extended before the Beira line, it will never
be built, and then the traffic with Rhodesia is quite lost
to us. Mr. Rhodes has evidently seen this, and that is
the reason that he, even against the wish of the
population of Salisbury, pushes on our line, whilst the
Beira line is left in abeyance. Let us not, however,
flatter ourselves with the hope that we shall retain the
trade of Rhodesia.

If Beira is the natural port of Rhodesia, Delagoa is
the natural port of the Transvaal. Here we do not
require the distances, for the distance by land is
known, and the distance by sea we have already given.
The distance from Delagoa to Pretoria is, in round
numbers, 400 miles, and from Capetown locx) miles.
Then also for half the distance the Delagoa railway

2i6 RHODESIA

runs through coal-fields. The custom dues at Delagoa
are 3 per cent., whilst at the Cape they are 5 per cent,
and more, and, besides, the cost of landing is less.

We do not so much fear the competition of Natal.
True, her distance is also shorter than ours, but (i)
she has a bad port and consequently the costs of
landing are higher ; (2) her custom dues are nearly as
high as ours; (3) the gradients on her railways are
steeper {i.e., i in 30; with us i in 40), and there are
more and shorter curves in the railroad ; (4) the cost of
the construction of her railway is much higher than
ours (;^ 1 5,000 per mile), on which interest has to be
paid ; and (5) if they wish to use heavier engines, they
must necessarily lay heavier rails (weighing seventy
pounds per yard) and that will cost ;^400,ooo. For
these reasons we do not fear the competition of Natal
so much; her fighting power cannot be compared to
ours. But it is equally certain that the Delagoa line
will injure us, and the sooner we take this into con-
sideration the better for us. Beira and Delagoa are
the two ports that will do damage to our trade with
the interior. Let this be borne in mind. We have
given timely warning. Our only favourable prospect
with regard to this state of affairs is twofold : (i) the
McMurdo arbitration still threatens, like the sword of
Damocles, both Portugal and the Netherland Railway
Company ; (2) the fact that the Transvaal, according
to the Concession, can at any time take over the line
and pay out according to the rate of the profit made.

THE COMPETING SEAPORTS

217

results in this, that the Company is more intent on
making quick profits than on thinking of a competition
which can be injurious to both parties.

The following comparison given by the Natal Mercury
is not unimportant, giving the costs of the three com-
peting ports from London to Johannesburg ; we shall
therefore close this chapter with a few figures, though
they are not in our favour. Taking one ton of 2240
pounds weight of rough goods, being ;^50 in value, the
costs are as follow :

VIA DELAGOA BAY.

Shipping expenses and landing .
Import dues 3 per cent, on ;f5o .

Agencies, &c

Railway, at 4s. ^d, per 100 lb.

I s.

I 12

I 10

4 13

8 10 10

VIA NATAL.

Shipping expenses and landing .
Import dues, 5 per cent, on £^0 .

Agencies, &c

Tug fund and wharfage

Railway transport at 4s. S^d, per 100 lb.

9 16 6

2i8 RHODESIA

VIA PORT ELIZABETH.

Shipping expenses and landing .
Import dues, 5 per cent, on ;f5o .

Agencies, &c

Wharfage, f per cent

Railway transport at 6s. 8tf. per 100 lb.

£ s. d.
176

2 10 O
060

039

7 9 4
II 16 7

So you see, reader, our chances compared with
Delagoa do not stand very high. It is no pleasant
task to be the messenger of bad tidings. We feel,
however, the satisfaction of having given a correct
statement of the case, which time will justify.

Printed by Ballantvne, Hanson &• Co.
London 6^ Edinburgh

The Outgoing Turk.

Impressions of a "Journey in the Western Balkans.

By H. C. THOMSON.

With Seventy-six Illustrations from Photographs taken by the Author

and Others, and Three Maps.

In One Volume^ demy Svo, price 14s, net.

This book is a record of a journey through the outlying districts of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a comparison of their present condition with
the condition they were in before the Austrian occupation. The author
has added a brief summary of the causes that have led to the present
situation in Turkey, and a consideration of the effect likely to be produced
upon it by the impending insurrection in Macedonia.

The Chitral Campaign.

A Narrative of Events in Chitral, Swat and Bajour.

By H. C. THOMSON.

With over Fifty Illustrations, Reproduced from Photographs, and

Important Diagrams and Map.

In One Volume, demy Svo, price 145, net.

The STANDARD.—*' The general reader will be glad to find within
the compass of a single volume, not only the history of the war, but also a
digest of the opinions that are held by the advocates and opponents of the
policy which led to it. Mr. Thomson's book may safely be accepted as a
readable and authentic history of a stirring episode in the annals of Indian
warfare. '*

Timbuctoo.

The Mysterious.
By FELIX DUBOIS.

With 155 Illustrations from Photographs and Drawings made on the

spot, and Eleven Maps and Plans.

In One Volume, demy Svo, price 12s, 6d,

The TIMES.— '* Out. does not often meet with a book of travel
in Africa so full of interest and novelty as ' Timbuctoo, the Mysterious.'
M. Dubois does not profess to be more than a tourist, but he is a tourist of
the best class, with many of the characteristics of the cultured explorer.
His narrative affords an excellent picture of the present condition of things
on the Niger, of the character of the river and the country it waters, of the
varied types of people on its banks, of their extensive boat traffic, of their
towns, and of their daily life."

London; WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C.

The New Africa.

A Journey up the Chobe and down the
Okovango Rivers.

By AUREL SCHULZ, M.D.

AND

AUGUSTUS HAMMAR, C.E.

/// One Volume, demy 8vo, with many Illustrations.

Shortly.

Dr. Schulz's work deals with a portion of South Africa hitherto unex-
plored. The interesting description of the ChoW and Okovango rivers,
with a navigable water connection between them, is a feature of much
importance to the future development of the country, while the adventures
with unruly natives and sporting episodes vary the story of his doings in a
pleasant manner.

Actual Africa^

Or^ The Coming Continent.
By FRANK VINCENT.

Author of •' The Land of the White Elephant," etc.
With Map and over loo New Illustrations. Demy <ft/(7, 2p,

Mr. H. M. Stanley writes: — "It is really a wonderful book: It is
not only a book of reference upon almost any subject connected with Africa,
but most admirably illustrated. The pictures are a credit to your skill."

The ACADEMY, — "Mr. Vincent is a shrewd observer of men and
things, and his facile pen is adequate to a faithful reproduction of the
scenes and sights which he describes from personal knowledge. This
volume may safely be consulted by students anxious to inform themselves
on the actual condition of those parts of the African continent and neigh-
bouring islands which were visited by the author during his last expedition,
extending over the years 1891-93."

The PALL MALL GAZETTE.— ^'Th^ reader cannot fail to be
impressed by the author's amazing powers of minute observation, untiring
energy, and thorough mastery of detail. By no means the least pleasing
feature of the book is the excellence of its illustrations, of which there are
over a hundred ; ihey testify very powerfully to the possibilities of the
camera in experienced hands. " /

London : WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C.

"i) 'i 7 7

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