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CONQUEST OF
THE DESERT

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THE CONQUEST
OF THE DESERT

WILLIAM MACDONALD

M.S.Agr., Sc.D., Ph.D., D.Sc.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and The Geological Society
of London; Editor " Agricultural Journal," Union Department
of Agriculture, South Africa; Secretary South African
Dry-Farming Congress, and Corresponding Secre-
tary for the International Dry-Farming
Congress

WITH FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

T. WERNER LAURIE LTD.

CLIFFORD'S INN

THE MILLION SETTLERS OF

TO-MORROW

ON THE DRY AND DESERT LANDS

OF SOUTH AFRICA

WELCOME

PREFACE

This book has been written for the purpose of
calling attention to that wonderful region en-
titled the Kalahari Desert or " Great Thirst
Land." The desert may be roughly divided
into two great divisions — the north and the
south. The northern portion is at present
under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Govern-
ment, while the southern portion falls within
the territory of the Union of South Africa. It
is this latter portion and the surrounding
country which I am about to describe. This is
the most arid portion of the desert, and one of
the driest places in the British Empire.

The Conquest of the Desert opens up a vast
country eminently suited to colonisation, while
it offers to the youth of the Empire a healthful,
profitable and fascinating life in a " Land of
Eternal Sunshine."

Some of the sketches in this volume have
appeared in The Union Agricultural Journal,
in newspapers and periodicals, and are now
collected for publication in a more convenient

vii

Preface

and permanent form. I desire to express my
thanks to the Editor of The Nineteenth Century
and After for permission to republish two articles
which appeared in that magazine (see Chapters
X., XII. and XIII.), and also to the Editor of
The Graphic for allowing me to reprint an illus-
trated account of my journey across the Desert
which appeared in that periodical. The sub-
stance of each article and the summary of all
is that Land Settlement is the most urgent
question before the people of South Africa, as
well as one of the grandest problems of the age.

London, ZOth September 1913.

Vlll

CONTENTS

I. The Advance of the Desert
II. To THE Islands of the Orange

III, The Sand-Dunes of the Desert

IV. The Melon and the Mail
V. Where Two Empires meet

VI. The Shadow of the Great Thirst

VII. The Vision of the Prophet

VIII. What the Brown Earth gave to the
Blue ....

IX. The Poor and the Land .

X. A Rainless Wheat .

XI. What the Dip means to the Desert

XII. The Eye of Kuruman

XIII. The Cataracts of King George .

XIV. The Life Dream of Livingstone .
XV. The Empty Land .

PAGE
I

9
19
31
39
47
57

69
81

93
121

141

149
177
189

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Watchers of the Desert

The Long White Road to the Desert

A Desert Tree ....

The Orange River at Upington (Fig. i)

An Orange Garden at Kakamas (Fig. 2)

The Unknown Islands of the Orange

Bastards — Remnants of a Great Nation (Fig. i

Converts to Christianity (Fig. 2)

A Lesson in Household Science .

The Headquarters of the Cape Mounted

Police (Fig. i) .
Starting out for the Kalahari Desert (Fig. 2
Gert at Home
A Bushman Robber .
Bushman Grass (Fig. i)
A Desert Tree (Fig. 2)
Crossing a Sand-Dune
Breakfast in the Desert
His Majesty's Mails .
The Spoor of a Puff-Adder
The Puff-Adder ....
An Outpost of Empire (Fig. i) .
Diamond Diggers at Rietfontein (Fig. 2)
Where Two Empires meet .
Jacob, the Desert Tracker
Desolation — A Desert Pan.

Frontispiece

TO FACE PAGE

4
10
10

12
14
14
16

20
20
22

24
26
26
28
32
36
38
42

44
44
46

50
52

List of Illustrations

TO FACE PAGE

A Locust Swarm . . . . .

ZWART MODDER — SHOWING THE DrY BeD OF THE

MoLOPO (Fig. i).
A Desert Scene (Fig. 2)
Night on a Sand-Dune (Fig. i)
A Building Boom (Fig. 2) .
Map of Gordonia
The Dry Farmer's Guide (Fig. i)
The Eye of Kuruman (Fig. 2)
A Wind-Break (Fig. i)
Dry-Land Products (Fig. 2)
A Mission Home (Fig. i)
A Settler's Home (Fig. 2) .
The Kakamas Irrigation Canal
The Kalahari Bean .
A Rainless Wheat .
Dry-Farming in Bechuanaland (Fig. i)
A Scientist with a Record Beat (Fig. 2
David Livingstone

Moffat's House at Kuruman (Fig. i)
Mission Institute at Kuruman (Fig. 2)
Soil Examination (Fig. i) .
Selecting the Site of a Dry-Land Experiment

Station (Fig. 2).
A Famous Dry-Farming Region (Fig. 1)
Boring for Water (Fig. 2)
Map showing the Steady Advance of Settlers

144

180

182

192

192
194
194
196

THE CONQUEST OF
THE DESERT

CHAPTER I

THE ADVANCE OF THE DESERT

" Thou shall not destroy the trees ... for the tree of
the field is man's life" (Deuteronomy xx. 19).

The last Romance of Agriculture, the most
daring of its many triumphs, is the Conquest
of the Desert. Ever since the day when the
immortal Pioneer stood on the Mount of
Pisgah, looked backward over the bitter waters
and forward to the utmost sea, the sons of
men have pressed onward to the Promised
Land. What is the loadstone that draws the
peasant and the peer from shieling or stately
home to die a lonely death on the frontiers of
civilisation ? It may be Commerce or Dis-
covery, the Gospel or the Flag, or perchance a
thoughtless woman's wile : these — all these —
have brought men to the Never-Never Country,
and so the trail is blazed for those who care to

A 1

The Conquest of the Desert

follow. For the nameless grave has often been
the Valhalla of the brave.

Call up the spirits of these valiant path-
hewers and put the question to them : "What
would you have us do to commemorate your
deathless deeds ? Shall we build noble monu-
ments to your memory, picture galleries, or
splendid palaces ? " And from across the ether
waves of Eternity comes the answer, clear as a
cloister bell :

" To our resting-places bring your sturdy
settlers. Fling your railroads across the scorch-
ing sands. Fill your sickly, street-bred people
with the ozone of our wastes. Men we want —
not monuments — to perpetuate the glory of our
name."

What is the meaning of the term desert ?
The dictionary defines it as "a barren tract
incapable of supporting population, as the
vast sand plains of Asia and Africa which are
destitute of moisture and vegetation." But
where will you find a region of this description ?
Certainly not in the Kalahari, the Sahara or
the Egyptian Desert. And these are the three
great deserts of Africa. For our purpose we
may think of a desert as a place with less than
ten inches of rain in a normal year. But under

The Advance of the Desert

this definition we must include the pretty
village of Prieska, with an annual rainfall of
eight inches, in the Cape north-west, and
many other spots in South Africa, which may
have desert climates, but are certainly not
desert places. Therefore, while we under-
stand the meaning of the word desert, it is
difficult to define.

The desert is never still. It is always
advancing or receding. To make this clear,
let us imagine an invisible foe — the Demon of
the Desert. He is waging eternal war with us.
He does not want men. He wants desolation.
He orders out his emissaries of destruction —
the hot wind, the noxious weed, the cattle
plague, and the drought. He fears only one
thing. It is population.

Is the Kalahari Desert advancing or receding ?
In other words, is the climate of that part of
South Africa becoming more or less arid ? We
turn to The Journal of the Royal Geographical
Society for the year 1865. In that magazine
an able writer, Mr James Fox Wilson, demon-
strates beyx)nd all doubt that the Kalahari
region is becoming drier. In support of his
argument he shows that vast forests of camel-
thorn and wild olive have been ruthlessly

The Conquest of the Desert

destroyed, and he sums up the reason for this
increasing aridity in the fact that " the natives
have for ages been accustomed to bum the
plains and to destroy the timber and ancient
forests." He urges afforestation as the only
way in which to arrest the country from further
denudation. Half-a-century has come and
gone, and what have we done ? The white
man has joined hands with the native vandal,
and year after year the work of ceaseless
destruction goes on. Not a single tree is ever
planted. Day by day the desert zone is ad-
vancing. Fountains are rapidly diminishing,
rivers are drying up, and life for both man and
beast is becoming more relentless and more
severe.

But why should we vex ourselves about the
desert, some may say. It is nothing to us. In
our province we have no desert. That is wrong.
The conquest of the Kalahari Desert is of vital
importance to every farmer in South Africa.

The other day we stood on the Government
Dry Land Experimental Station at Lichten-
burg in the Transvaal. Suddenly a burning
wind swept over our wheat lands. It was
the desert wind. Hardly a tree to stop it for
200 miles. Where, then, did it go ? Perhaps

A DESERT IREE.

S|)lfii(li(! f()r(>sl> of tlK)se Camol-thorn trees have been ruthlessly destro\ed.
The desert climate is e\er advaiiciiifj. and droughts are becoming more
fre^|ueni and more severe throughout South Africa a> the result of the
destruction of ihese natural forests.

The Advance of the Desert

some Free State farmer can tell ! But, besides
the Kalahari, each part of the union has its
own desert or dry lands. For every vacant
erf ^ is a tiny wilderness ; every treeless farm
a little desert.

Is it possible, then, the reader may ask, to
check the advance of the desert, conquer the
crop-blighting winds of aridity, and ameliorate
the climatic conditions of a vast country such
as the Kalahari ? Yes ; but three things are
essential — Population, Conservation and
Afforestation.

The great droughts of the world are most
frequent, not in the well-peopled centres, but in
the wilderness and the solitary place. South
Africa is paralysed by her huge farms ' and her
vast, vacant spaces. How shall we conquer
drought? — for, assuredly, it will come again.
There is but one remedy. Plant more people
on your desolate lands, and then you will cease
to fear drought.

In a speech recently delivered in London, an
Australian premier remarked that Population
was merely another term for Patriotism, mean-
ing thereby that everyone who had the highest

^ Erf =- A garden plot — usually about half-an-acre.
» The size of average farm in the Transvaal is 5000 acres.

The Conquest of the Desert

interests of the Commonwealth at heart must
labour earnestly and ceaselessly to fill up her
empty spaces with a sturdy race of British
emigrants. The same might be said with equal
truth of South Africa.

• • • • • • •

By the term Conservation I mean the storage
of soil moisture by deep ploughing and thorough
cultivation. Think of the millions of tons of
water which might be retained in the ground
for a year or more if the mile-long desert pans *
were ploughed and planted. Then would come
the Conservation of winter fodder by means of
ensilage.

Lastly, Afforestation. In the desert the
gigantic wave-like sand - dunes are for ever
moving slowly, shifting hither and thither,
throwing out long, restless tongues of burning,
wind-blown sand which, year by year, cover
up large tracts of deep, rich, silty soil in river-
bed or fertile plain. It is lamentable to see
the rapid destruction of magnificent tracts of
land by soil erosion all over South Africa.
Huge dongas, like the Bad Lands of North
Dakota, are already in process of formation.
This can only be checked by a systematic scheme

^ A dried-up depression usually brakish.
6

The Advance of the Desert

of Afforestation. For by trees we shall be able
to fling back the desert zone till the gushing
waters of the Eye of Kuruman will once more
seek the dark canons of the " Great River " *
and sweep outwards to the delta at the sea.

The Kalahari offers an admirable field for
agricultural exploration. Take for example
the vegetation of the desert. Here you find
plants which have been growing for ages upon
a limited rainfall. Think of the excellent
drought-resistant qualities which they must
have developed. Such plants are of special
value to the dry farmer. In this connection
we may single out the bushman grass. During
some years this hardy plant does not receive
four inches of rain. Yet it grows and seeds,
and cattle get fat upon it. Then take the
wonderful tsamma melon, well called the life-
blood of the desert, which thrives merrily on
a scorching sand-dune. Can any dry land be
too dry for it ? And then the dainty desert
flowers : crimson and purple, and purest snow,
fit to adorn an English queen. Pass from the
subject of economic plants to the question of
pure science. What a rich field of discovery
awaits the patient investigator ! We crossed

1 See Chapters XII. and XIII.

The Conquest of the Desert

a dazzling road of shells. It cut to the heart
to crunch under foot those pretty fossils as
we pushed forward over the sand-dunes. And
then the climate 1 We do not suppose that
any place in all the world has more hours of sun-
shine than the Kalahari. How many delicate
lives might be saved by a course of desert
treatment, and what a work lies open to the
settler in the development of those sunlit
lands !

And what of the future ? It belongs to the
dry farmer. He is settling on those desolate
plains. No disaster can break his spirit. No
drought can wither the fruits of his tireless
industry. A new man has arisen — worthy,
indeed, of the New Agriculture.

TO THE ISLANDS OF THE ORANGE

(1.IG. I.)
THP: ORANGli RIVKR A f UPIXGTOX.

A majc'stic Ri\er with Islands of wild olive and willow.

A\ ORANOr: GARDICX Al KAKAMAS.

The \al!ey of the Orange Riser will soon hi' known as one
of ihe grandest citru> centres in the world.

CHAPTER II

TO THE ISLANDS OF THE ORANGE

How few can tell any more than the mere name
of this mighty river ! How little the farmer
dreams that her verdant valley-bed holds the
richest land in Africa ! How strange that no
railroad builder forestalls that chainless rush
of the human tide which ere long must sweep
westward by her splendid, shortest pathway
to the sea.

The best place from which to view the
Islands of the Orange is at Upington, the
capital of Gordonia. It is quite out of the
world, being 120 miles from the nearest rail-
way, and that only a branch line to Prieska.
Its history is lost in antiquity. The story
runs that years ago it was honoured by a visit
from the Cape Attorney-General, Sir Thomas
Upington, and the Prime Minister, Sir Gordon
Sprigg. And these two genial knights left —
not their spurs on the table as in the old Border
tale — but their names on the map to com-
memorate their visit. We are glad Sir Gordon

The Conquest of the Desert

did not suggest his homely surname, for we
fear it might have hampered the progress of
the country. But Gordonia is a pleasing name
— most people associate it with the hero of
Khartoum — and Upington has a ring of real
dignity. And so this immense and desolate
region was duly christened and then forgotten.
Since then, these lost tribes will tell you, in
slow and solemn tones, no Cabinet Minister has
ever deigned to set foot in their dorp or district.
Yet the simple facts are these : Here is a pro-
gressive and highly intelligent community
possessing a river frontage fringing the finest
orange lands in the world, backed by a truly
magnificent ranching country stretching north-
ward for four hundred miles — ^the largest, richest
and grandest district in the Cape province
paralysed and perishing for lack of a railway !

• ••••••

The Civil Commissioner for the District of
Gordonia, who also holds the title of Resident
Magistrate, is Mr Daniel May. To this cour-
teous and scholarly official I am indebted for
much valuable information about this little-
known region. The second son of the late
Staff -Commander May, R.N., the present chief
citizen of Upington was born in the fair county

To the Islands of the Orange

of Devon. At the age of one he emigrated
to South Africa, and at seventeen entered the
Civil Service of the Cape. His eldest brother,
Mr Barry May, is the present Imperial Secretary
for the Bechuanaland Protectorate ; and so it is
of interest to note that the vast territories of
the two brothers are separated, not by the thin
chalk-line across the kitchen floor, as in Steven-
son's story of the quarrelsome sisters, but by
the broad dry bed of the Molopo River.

The district of Gordonia is the largest in the
Cape Province. It has an area of 18,499 square
miles, more than two-thirds of which is unsur-
veyed waterless desert — the southern portion
of the great Kalahari Desert. This part of the
district is inhabited by roving bands of semi-
savage natives who live on the tsamma melon,
extracting the water from it for drinking
purposes, and grinding the pips to make a sort
of coffee. The southern boundary of the dis-
trict is the Orange River, on which there is a
frontage, as it may be called, of 200 miles.
This frontage is occupied by a series of long
narrow farms, averaging a breadth of three
miles on the river and stretching northwards
back from the river for a distance of fifteen to
eighteen miles. They were originally laid out,

The Conquest of the Desert

I believe, on the basis of half-an-hour's ride
along the river and two and a half hours' ride
away from the river into the " back country."
Between these river farms and the actual
desert there is a considerable area surveyed
into large farms, varying in size from 5000 to
50,000 morgen. Topographically, the district
consists of a vast undulating plain, with
mountainous regions at the south-west and
south-east corners. The only feature of any
distinction is the valley of the Molopo River.
This river, by the way, is now non-existent,
and, I am informed, the last occasion on which
water flowed in the bed was in 1894. In that
year the water did not reach the Orange River,
but, diverted by sand-dunes which had been
blown across its course, poured itself to the west
and was lost in the sand. At one time, however,
the river must have been an important stream,
and it has cut a considerable valley in the hard
quart zites of the Zwart Modder series. The
most remarkable feature of the district is
the presence of sand-dunes. Beginning on the
banks of the Orange River, they may be seen
in even greater extent as one travels northward,
till they occupy the entire country and form
the desert itself. The sand is generally of a

-?,

(KIG. ..)

BASTARDS REMNANTS OK A GREAT NATION USED AS A

BUFFER STATE AGAINST THE BUSHMEN.

(fig. 2.)
CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY AT A BORDER MISSION STATION.

To the Islands of the Orange

dark red colour, and these vermilion ridges,
wind-blown into crests and curves, are a wonder-
ful and unforgettable feature of the landscape.
Transport over such country, where the road
seeks out the easiest path over such mountains
of sand, is extremely difficult. In many places
it is quite impossible to believe a waggon cap-
able of being dragged over the sand, unless it
is actually witnessed. The surveyed farms are
occupied chiefly by Europeans. The coloured
people of the district do not differ materially
from those found in other districts, though the
racial characteristics of the Bushman and
Hottentot are more marked in the general type
than elsewhere. Few, if any, pure specimens
of these aboriginal races now exist ; though the
desert-dwellers resemble them,'and still live in a
state of semi-savagery. The coloured people
are the " hewers of wood and drawers of
water."

• • • • • • •

In addition to the Europeans and coloured
folk there exists a race which is met with in no
other part of the country, and which merits
special mention. The persons belonging to this
class are locally known as " Bastards." The
early European pioneers married coloured

The Conquest of the Desert

women — in fact, it is said that under a former
regime such a union was made a condition of
a grant of land. The result of these marriages
has been the creation of a class of person,
coloured, but of a very much higher moral and
intellectual development than is usually found.
In the past they owned most of the land and
administered their own affairs, through magis-
trates and field-comets chosen from amongst
themselves. Several persons of the older genera-
tions of these Bastards are still living on their
own land, and are justly respected and admired
by their European neighbours, who, however,
do not fail to recognise the taint of coloured
blood. The younger generation have not
followed in the footsteps of their fathers, and
the type has much degenerated. The main
cause has probably been in the introduction of
liquor. The great majority of farms, formerly
held by them, have passed, as the price of their
downfall, into the hands of Europeans.

Upington is a strangely English town. The
magistrate was born in England, so was the
mayor, so was the chief of the mounted police,
while the leading merchant is of English descent.
A handsome Dutch church stands out like a
beacon of light to guide the weary traveller

A LESSOX I\ HOUSEHOLD SCIE.N'CE.

'I'akT' thr' core of a ]:)''acli-stonf. Put it into a bottle of

Oranj^c Ri\cr water. In fui- minutc> it i> clear and sweet,

and fit to drink.

To the Islands of the Orange

toiling through the torrid sand. And here, we
are told, a noble-hearted Predikant preaches to
all comers in the Dutch and English tongues.
But where are these Little People — Conies of
Empire — the Scots ? Surely their absence from
a community of this size calls for immediate
investigation by a Royal Commission !

Upington occupies a picturesque and com-
manding site on the north bank of the Orange
River. Be here at sunrise and return at sunset.
A background of purple mountains, a river
sailing in silver, or mirrored in gold, islands of
wild olive and willow, and far away the flaming
desert sand, and far above the blue eternal sky.

THE SAND-DUNES OF THE
DESERT

(fig. I.)

TEIE HEADQUARTERS OF THE CAPE MOUNTED POLICE AT UPINGTON.

(Captain Bridge and family.)

(fig. 2.)
STARTING OUT FOR THE KALAHARI DESERT.

CHAPTER III

THE SAND-DUNES OF THE DESERT

It was my good fortune a short time ago to take
a journey along the southern border of the
Kalahari Desert, across that immense tract of
country which is now known as the district of
Gordonia. And in order that readers may form
a true picture in their own minds of this little-
known portion of the Union of South Africa,
I think it best to give them my diary just as I
wrote it on the spot, feeling sure that they will
pardon any lack of style for the sake of the
simplicity of a traveller's notebook. I hope
that my diary may prove of some use as a guide
and time-table to all who have to traverse this
desolate region. There is an urgent need of a
desert handbook. Not a single season passes
but some brave life is lost on the sand-dunes
of the desert. In this chapter I shall describe
my journey from Upington, on the Orange
River, to Rietfontein, on the German border.
My fellow-trekkers consisted of three men and
six mules, each of whom deserves honourable
mention in the desert " Who's Who."

The Conquest of the Desert

Chief of the party was Captain William S.
Bridge, commanding the " S " Division of the
Cape Mounted PoHce. His bear comprises the
whole of Gordonia, a part of Kenhardt, and a
portion of Namaqualand, or, roughly, 86,000
square miles. In other words, it is much larger
than the whole of Scotland. Inspector Bridge
is responsible for the law and order of this vast
area. He is also the warden of the game reserve
of the Southern Kalahari. His headquarters
are at Upington, with sub-stations at the follow-
ing points : — (1) Ramon's Drift, (2) Pella,

(8) Puff-Adder, (4) Scuit Drift, (5) Kakamas,
(6) Keimoes, (7) Zwart Kop, (8) Zwart Modder,

(9) Warm Vlei, (10) Obobogorop, (11) Witdraai,
and (12) Rietfontein. Born in the fair county
of Devon, Captain Bridge has spent thirty years
of his life in the Cape Mounted Police. He is
still in the prime of his manhood — lion-hearted,
proud of his magnificent corps, and as much
at home in the centre of the Kalahari as he is
in Piccadilly Circus — an Empire builder.

His two native boys are named respectively
William and Jacob. They are the best
" Bastards " in the whole country. The
former, a private in the C.M.R., is the son of
a desert patriarch called Gert Louw. I took a

The Sand-Dunes of the Desert

photograph of Gert beside his hut. He is
one hundred years of age, and is probably the
only coloured man now alive who has had the
honour of shaking hands with the late Queen
Victoria. I showed Gert his photograph in
Farini's book, entitled '* Through the Kalahari
Desert " (page 97) — a photograph taken in
1885 — and he was immensely pleased. Farini
took Gert home to England, and it was there
that he met the Queen. Gert said that you
could put the whole of Upington into one house
in London, that the people were like the locusts
for multitude, and that he greatly missed the
desert sand-dunes in the city !

William is the finest tracker in the Kalahari.
Put him on the spoor of a man or a horse, a
snake or a wild cat — it is all the same. He will
knock the sleeping wild cat on the head, trace
the lost traveller to the thorn bush on the sand-
dune, or summon the flying criminal to surrender
in the King's name.

And Jacob, the other Bastard Hottentot —
what a toiler ! always working from dawn far
into the night ! If work counts for anything
in the Land of the Hereafter, then Jacob will
surely have a high place. His pedigree is some-
what obscure. He also is a child of the sand-

The Conquest of the Desert

dunes — an unveiler of the secrets of the spoor.
He told us at nine o'clock in the morning what
we should meet at four in the afternoon of the
same day — namely, three policemen, a pack-
horse, and a Bushman robber. At four-thirty
P.M. we overtake and photograph the convoy.
His prophecy is correct. He has read the riddle
of the sand, and, Daniel-like, has rendered the
true interpretation thereof. I stand in silent
wonder before this seer of the sand-dunes. But
if only Jacob could be entered for the Mara-
thon race ! How he would laugh for sheer
joy ! For what is a run of 100 miles to him,
by day or night, with the suck of a tsamma
melon !

And those six dumb animals — do they not
also merit a page in my book of travel ? Snug
in my corner, sheltered from the blazing sun,
I used to watch them, hour after hour, toiling
up those terrible dunes. Jacob ran by their
side, with friendly words of encouragement, but
never once did he use his short, stinging whip.
For it is the Captain's order that no mule of
his must ever be whipped during the passage
of the dunes. So Jacob trotted and shouted,
and cracked his whip like a pistol shot ; while
William, perched above, swirled his long lash

The Sand-Dunes of the Desert

till the air around us was a rushing wind, but no
stroke ever struck that wonderful team of six.
Tell me what you think of it ! Six mules, after
three hard days of travel, so eager to gain the
top of these mountains of sand that in the midst
of a steep ascent they start to trot with the sand
up to the hub of the wheels, and the Cape cart
creaking like a Highlander's best Sunday boots.
Let me give you the names of the noble six.
The two leaders were Klein Boy and Flock Bok ;
then came Bonder Bok and Bush Bok; and,
last of all, the two wheelers. Wit Boy and Simon.
I have travelled in many countries, but in none
have I seen such cruelty meted out to the dumb
creation as I have witnessed in South Africa.
Why break the spirit of your animals with the
senseless lash ? Why not try a course of the
Captain's sand-dune cure ?

Days from a Diary

Tuesday, 7th May. — We left Upington at
1.45 A.M. First outspan on the commonage —
a huge tract of municipal land very suitable
for dry-farming experiments and co-operative
small holdings under the auspices of the Town

The Conquest of the Desert

Council. Limestone outcrops recall what
Hilgard says : "A lime-country is a rich
country." Now journeying through heavy
sand. Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson used to
remark when travelling in the north-west :
" Bad roads, good farms ; good roads, bad
farms." Here we traverse a vast stretch of
waving Bushman grass like corn white unto
the harvest. This must be the finest drought-
resistant grass in the world. Think of it !
Found extensively all over Namaqualand,
Kenhardt and Gordonia, the driest districts
in Africa. M. Celliers, a French priest of the
Pella Mission, told me that he had registered
2 J in. of rain one year at that station. We may
say that this grass thrives on a 3 in. to 10 in.
rainfall. Bushman grass grows in tufts, and
seems to be easily injured by too close graz-
ing or overstocking. There are two sorts — one
with a long, lank growth ; the other with a short,
slender stem. Every dry farmer should procure
some seed from the desert and test the carrying
capacity of this wonderful grass. At sunset it
is a sea of silver in a crown of gold.

Our next outspan was at Areachap, where
there was water, and our last at Geluck, at
5.45 P.M. Many travellers make the mistake

(fig. I.)
BUSHMAN GRASS. THE BEST DROUGHT RESISTANT GRASS IN THE WORLD.

(fig. 2.

A DESERT TREE.
(The Kokerboom — Aloe dichotoiua.)

The Sand-Dunes of the Desert

of going on until it is quite dark, thereby tiring
their animals and floundering about in the black-
ness of night. It is far better to give the animals
a good feed, set out your sleeping kit, and sit
down to a well-cooked supper while there is
yet light. The day has been warm, with a cool
wind. Night fell calm and serene.

Wednesday, 8th May. — Sunrise at 7.10 a.m.
We started a few minutes later, and reached
Steenkamps Puts (owner. Christian Leibenberg)
at 9.30 A.M. Here we spent an hour. A
splendid vlei of about three miles in extent.
Beautiful soil, brakish, moist and green with
ganna bush. What a chance for a few enter-
prising lads in the near neighbourhood to put
the whole of this land under corn ! Lucerne,
also, can withstand a fair amount of brak ; but
if the underground water comes too close to the
surface it will soon show signs of wet feet and
take on a yellowish tinge. In speaking of the
brak, I mentioned that sugar beets were excep-
tionally tolerant of brak.

" Well," said a farmer, " I did not know that ;
but I have grown excellent crops of beets on
brak land."

At 11 A.M. we outspanned for breakfast near

The Conquest of the Desert

Blaauwbosch — so called from a tree which is
widely distributed over this desert country. It
grows on the summit of the hottest sand-dunes.
Here I took a photograph of a curious granite
rock, which we named " The Little Sphinx."
Then we returned to the Cape cart to enjoy a
savoury desert stew for which the captain is
justly renowned to the uttermost parts of the
Kalahari.

Starting once more, we passed Grond News,
and noted a well-marked and verdant aar.^
At 2.45 P.M. we outspanned for half-an-hour to
give the mules a bite of bush and a mouthful of
grass. It was a pleasure to see them all rolling
so gratefully in the sand. A prosperous farmer
(Dirk Coetzee) owns this property, and we were
gladdened by the sight of two orange-trees
planted beside the house. What a marvellous
transformation tree-planting would effect in
this desolate region I An hour later we reached
Koegoe Koep, which contains the best water in
the district. The meaning of this word is the
" Place of the Big Trees." Here we found a dry
tributary running into the still drier Molopo.
It seems strange that no word has been invented
to define a dry river. It was here that we had
* Vein of underground water.
28

The Sand-Dunes of the Desert

the first taste of a Kalahari sand-dune. At
Middle Pits we came across some Hottentots
living under a bush. Soon we entered a remark-
able natural basin with terraced ground like the
famous " parallel roads " of Glen Roy, in the
west of Scotland, evidently due to the subsi-
dence of lake water to lower levels. Circling
the ancient lake-bed we passed into the Molopo,
beaconed by a huge hill, which we called " Cone
Kop." At Cone Kop the Molopo turns abruptly
southwards and flows into the Orange River
just below the Cataracts of King George. A
clump of handsome camel- thorn trees, growing
luxuriantly in the bottom of the dry bed of
the Molopo, forms another landmark. Just after
sunset we arrived thankfully at Zwart Modder
(Black Mud), and were glad to put up for the
night in the comfortable winkel^ of Mr Harris.

• • • • • • •

Thursday, 9th May. This morning I spent
some time in studying a remarkable invasion
of a sand-dune which had flowed like a huge lava
stream across the bed of the Molopo. The
bright red of the dune and the grey salt soil of
the river-bed made a striking contrast. We left
Zwart Modder at half-past ten on a bright and

* Small store.
20

The Conquest of the Desert

lovely day. By noon we had i reached Zout
Puts. Still strugghng in the heavy sand of
the Molopo, crossing sand-dunes. Vegetation :
driedoom and bushman grass. Arrived at the
farm Bloemfontein (Goldberg). Kindly enter-
tained. Stopped for an hour, and then pressed
on again till we struck a pan with water. Here
a farmer was busy ploughing and sowing com
around the edge. As the water dries up, more
land is ploughed, until the whole dry pan is
planted with wheat. In such rich and moist
land it is expected that the corn will grow and
ripen without a single drop of rain. This is
surely the severest test of dry farming, and
opens up limitless possibilities for a rainless
durum wheat. Observed ganna bush around
the borders of the pan — evidently a sign of good
dry land soil. Pushed on, and rejoiced in a fine
hard road, till we struck the first of Abeam's
mighty sand-dunes. Then Jacob, our desert
" whip," passed the time picking up broken
yoke-keys, hundreds of which are to be found
lying by the track-side — the toll demanded by
the demons of those terrible dunes. Sunset
and outspan in the dunes.

THE MELON AND THE MAIL

CHAPTER IV

THE MELON AND THE MAIL

Days from a Diary (continued)

Friday, 10th May. — Started before sunrise.
Here we saw the first tsamma melon growing
bravely in the sterile sand. The first question
put by the traveller who proposes to cross the
Kalahari Desert is not " Can I obtain water ? "
but " Can I obtain tsamma ? " With tsamma
he is safe ; without it he may die. And so im-
portant is this economic plant in the conquest
of the desert that it is of interest to recall
what Livingstone wrote as he was crossing the
Kalahari in 1849 :

" But the most surprising plant of the desert
is the water-melon, Kengwe or Keme (Cucumis
caffer). When more than the usual quantity
of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are
literally covered with these melons. This
happens every ten or eleven years. Then
animals of every sort, including man, rejoice in
c 33

The Conquest of the Desert

the rich supply. The elephant, true lord of
the forest, and the different species of rhinoceros
revel in the fruit, although naturally so diverse
in their choice of pasture. The various kinds
of antelopes feed on them with avidity, and
lions, hyenas, jackals and mice all seem to
appreciate the common blessing. These melons
are not, however, all eatable, some being sweet
and others bitter. The natives select them by
striking them with a hatchet and applying the
tongue to the gashes. This peculiarity of one
species of plants bearing both sweet and bitter
fruits occurs also in a cucumber. It is about
four inches long, and about an inch and a half
in diameter, and is of a bright scarlet colour
when ripe. Even melons in a garden may be
made bitter by a few bitter Kengwe in the
vicinity, for the bees convey the pollen from
one to the other " (" Missionary Travels,"
page 35).

• ••••••

Another testimony to the value of the tsamma,
or wild water-melon, appears in a volume
entitled " Through the Kalahari Desert," by
G. A. Farini, who travelled from the Orange
River to Lake Ngami in 1885. Farini writes :
" We gathered some of the largest sama, and

The Melon and the Mail

cooked them. They tasted to me like vege-
table marrow, which they closely resembled in
appearance ; and seeing how popular pumldns
and squashes are in America, it struck me as
strange that no one had ever thought of taking
some of the seeds and trying them in the sandy
wastes of the States." A little further on we
find that Farini has had too much tsamma (page
179) : " We were all getting tired of the ever-
lasting flavour of sama. We ate sama raw ;
we ate sama fried ; we drank sama water ; we
made our coffee with sama water ; we stewed
our meat in sama water ; and altogether we
were sick of the taste of the stuff."

Five years ago an interesting report was
presented to the Cape Parliament on the
Rietfontein Area. Rietfontein lies 510 miles to
the west of Johannesburg, and two miles from
the border of German South- West Africa. In
his report for 1908 the Assistant Resident
Magistrate, Mr J. F. Herbst, speaks of this
wonderful water-melon : " Pride of place must,
of course, be given to the tsamma, the very life-
blood of the Kalahari, without which it would
be an absolute desert, closed to man. The fruit
in its raw state is chiefly remarkable for its
thirst-quenching properties, but cooked it is

The Conquest of the Desert

also a food for man. The bushmen have
various ways of deahng with it, eating it as a
fruit, roasting it under ashes, or stewing it
with game or vermin (jackals, wild cats, etc.).
The seeds are oily and very fattening. They
are groimd between two stones and made into
flour. As a food, the tsamma is, however, not
very strengthening, and cattle fed thereon
soon lose their flesh when worked. To fatten
cattle quickly it has no equal, and it was a
common trick during the recent war in German
South- West Africa, where slaughter stock was
purchased by weight, to put lean cattle on the
tsamma for a few weeks before handing them
over."

Surely few can contemplate this extraordinary
provision of Nature that enables the traveller
to cross the burning sand-dunes of the desert by
the trail of the water-melon without remember-
ing the words of the Psalmist :

" And His hands prepared the dry land."

A little later we came across a moimtain
range of dunes destitute of any sign of vegeta-
tion. Then in the dim morning light loomed
out the Desert Camel Post coming towards us.
We stopped for a few minutes to exchange

The Melon and the Mail

greetings, and to hear the latest news from the
"Farthest North." The Desert Post com-
prised a man, a boy, and three camels — ^two
riding and one pack-camel. The man in
charge of his Majesty's mails — Orrin by name —
had his left arm crushed by the bite of a savage
camel. Nevertheless, he still loves these weird
beasts, and runs to time between Zwart Modder
and Rietfontein with the regularity of a Union
Castle liner. Outspanned for breakfast near
Moutons Puts, by a pool of water. Here we
shot some Namaqualand partridges, which made
a dainty meal. Now on a splendid hard road.
At noon we were close to the Kalahari Game
Reserve, and the long white sand-dunes of the
desert. It is interesting to note that the
colour of the dunes varies from a bright red,
through orange, to white. Not far away were
some wild ostriches.

Our next outspan was at an old store (Rach-
tenbach), which a new and enterprising tenant
was having renovated. It was now fiercely
hot, and I longed for the shade of a solitary
tree. The name of the farm is Witkop, doubt-
less so called from the extensive deposits of
limestone in the vicinity. On examining some
limestone, which was being used for building,

The Conquest of the Desert

I found it full of fresh- water shells. Land here
is very cheap, and sells for about two shillings
per morgen.^ The other day the farms of
Witkop and Springbok Vlei, comprising 63,000
morgen, were sold for £5500.
^ 2l acres.

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:5.

WHERE TWO EMPIRES MEET

CHAPTER V

WHERE TWO EMPIRES MEET

Days from a Diary (continued)

It is curious to find that German money is the
commoner currency in this part of the Union.
Mealies (maize) are 30s. a bag. Witkop is
twelve hours from Rietfontein, and twenty
hours from Upington. Paauw ^ here. I noted a
large amount of excellent agricultural land.
We left at 3 p.m. and raced along a good hard
road. Then into a sand-dune snow-white with
shells ! 2 Where have they come from ? The
German Palaeontologist will tell you that the
same species is to be found in North Africa
in the bed of the mighty Nile. His English
colleague, the Anthropologist, will follow the
spoor of the Kalahari Bushman to the cave of
Altamira in Northern Spain. Bushmen and
shells, both early emigrants from Southern
Europe — crossing the Mediterranean, the one at
Cadiz and the other at Cairo — preaching the
gospel of Closer Settlement in the primitive
days of the Great Thirst Land. Towards

^ Dutch for peacock — species of bustard.
2 Dr Van Hoepen, Government Palaeontologist, Pretoria,
writes: "The small shells you brought me belong to the
sub-genus Corbicula and the large shells to Unio,"

The Conquest of the Desert

evening we traversed splendid farming land — a
soil of river-silt — the overflow of the Molopo.
Vast stretches of bushman grass. Out spanned
at 6 P.M. at the end of Springbok Vlei. Shot
some partridges. Fine night.

Saturday, llth May. — Started at 6.15 a.m.
Crossing sand-dunes. Arrived three hours
after at Obobogorop which, being interpreted,
means " the hole dug out by the ant-bear in
which water was found." We are only now
2 J miles from the German border, and dim
against a red sand-dune can see International
Beacon No. 92. Here we had a chat with Mr
H. C. Botha, who owns 7000 morgen, and has
struck fresh water at 64 feet. Farmer Botha
wants : (1) a Government bore ; (2) a tele-
graph or telephone ; (3) a post office. He
points out that all the German Police Posts are
supplied with telephones. In fact, the whole
country (German South Africa) is now a net-
work of telephone wires, linking with civilisa-
tion the loneliest settler and the most distant
police station.

At Obobogorop the Cape Mounted Police
have a sub-station. The corporal in charge
was out in the desert alone on his camel, so
we did not see him ; but Privates Freeman

THE PUKF-ADDER. A DESERT DANGER.

Where Two Empires meet

and Nicholson entertained us in a kindly
manner.

Here I took a photograph of a handsome
spreading tree growing on a sand-dune. It is
called the Kwa Boom, but seems to be the same
as the Vaal Kameel Doom found at Kuruman.
It thrives best in the desert zone, bears legumes
(pod-forming fruits), and is a lime-lover. Thus
I was not surprised to find a layer of limestone
in an old well dug out in the straate below.
Shortly before we left Obobogorop it became
intensely hot. At noon William noted the
fresh spoor of a snake across our path. We at
once followed and killed a healthy, horrid, puff-
adder of over four feet in length. It is an
unwritten law laid down by the desert dwellers
that all deadly snakes must be instantly
attacked and killed regardless of risk. At
half-past three we outspanned in the Lan Vlei,
where we picked up a curious fur-covered,
burrowing spider, possibly a rare species. Just
as we had begun our afternoon tea I observed
my comrade cutting a piece of cake for me with
the knife with which he had opened the jaws of
the puff-adder. It was a shuddering thought —
a friend's delicious cake flavoured with the

The Conquest of the Desert

poison-sac of a puff-adder ! I fear I am still a
tenderfoot. I say nothing, but noiselessly hide
my cake in a tuft of bushman grass. Outspan
at Narougas (Onderste) in the trough of a huge
sand-dune. A fine calm night.

Sunday, 12th May. — Started at 6.30 a.m.
Stopped at Spannenberg's farm. It is sad to
see the commingling of black and white blood
in so many parts of this country. Passed
Peppler's. Immense dry pan of good soil. Out-
span at Saulstraat at 11 a.m. I am sand-sick,
and tired. 2.15 p.m. — ^the last of the Kalahari
sand-dunes. Render thanks to a kind Provi-
dence. Middle Post and her three Wardens
of the Marches — stern, black kopjes. Now a
fine hard road. Look ! There are the moun-
tains on the German border ! And there a
German settler's home ! See that glorious
fertile plain. What a chance for dry-farming !
Start to plough it early in the morning, and
come back on the return furrow late next day.
Cross the Mooi River — dry, but verdant. Then
we swing along the hard and gleaming veld to
that ribbon of trees green on the nun-grey soil.
Sunset and Rietfontein. Purple mountains,
lights and shadows, and " Good-night " to the
Great Thirst Land. I lie down in the Bastard

This

(KIC,

A\ OUT-POST OV EMPIRE,
the lonely station of the Mounted Police at Obobogorop, two miles

from the German Border. (Privates Freeman and Nicholson, Cape Mounted

Police.)

-iSL-^

(KIG. 2.)

DIAMOND DIGGERS AT RIETFONTEIX, GORIMJMA.

.Should diamonds be discovered the sand dunes of the Desert will soon

disappear before the genius and enterprise of the railroad engineer.

where Two Empires meet

Bandit's (Dirk Vilander's) little cottage, and
go fitfully to sleep dreaming of these awful
dunes.

Next afternoon I drove to the spot, a mile
and a half away, where the two great Empires
meet, and saluted Beacon No. 72. On the sun-
lit west is the German Eagle, with the writing
" Deutsches Schutzgebiet." On the purple
east are the Royal Arms with the writing,
" British Territory."

All round — desolation ! Why should not the
two Empires cease building on the barren sea
for just one year, and set aside the money
saved for dry -land experiment stations —
Desert Dreadnoughts — to reclaim those sun-
washed wastes for their settlers and for
humanity !

" Ah, these," you say, " are idle dreams."
Perhaps ! But what is that speck down there
in the village of Rietfontein ? It is a diamond
digger feverishly at work. He, too, is dreaming.
And — who knows ? A single gem — a wild
rush, and the Pullman sleeper is drawn across
the sand-dunes of the desert. It has happened
before in South Africa. It may happen again.
As for me, I shall continue to dream my dreams,

The Conquest of the Desert

and here in this mud-hut I Hke to repeat those
glorious hnes : " The Last Lands are the Best
Lands. It needs science and great numbers
to cultivate the best lands and in the best
manner " (Emerson).

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THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT
THIRST

CHAPTER VI

THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT THIRST

Most people are aware that the Kalahari is
commonly called " The Great Thirst Land."
But in the midst of the comforts and blessings
of civilisation there must be few indeed who
fully realise the true meaning of this term, or
the perils of a country which, although close up
to our border, and part of which comes under
the jurisdiction of the Union, is less known than
the forests of Aruwimi or the mountains of the
moon. It is not, however, of the heart of the
Kalahari that I wish now to speak, but merely
of that southern portion which overflows into
the district of Gordonia. This particular spot
is the most arid portion of the whole desert,
since northwards the rainfall slowly increases
until you gain the green rushes of Lake Ngami.
Travel anywhere you like throughout the vast
territory of Gordonia, and you will always hear
the same heart-rending tale. Every summer
some death from thirst — every winter the
sudden sinking of some poor woman crying for
D 49

The Conquest of the Desert

a doctor's skill. Isolation — Desolation. No
roads, no railways, no telephones, no telegraphs.
And these people are our fellow-citizens, and
they fall within the Union of South Africa.

I shall now write of a recent tragedy in this
Great Lone Land. No words of mine shall
embellish this simple, moving story. A yoimg
Irish private in the Cape Mounted Police
started out from Zwart Modder to his camp at
Nakob. He lost his water-bottle — that is all.
In the Kalahari, after this, there is nothing
more to be said — just leaden silence. True, no
man saw him die. But that makes no difference :
for his reeling steps, etched on the burning
sands, have been all recorded by the faithful
desert trackers who followed hard on his spoor,
dug his grave at midnight on the dunes, and
fired the last salute. It is their wonderful
record that we shall read. They did their duty,
quickly, travelling day and night. Have we
done ours ?

The history of this tragedy is told by Sub-
Inspector Geary, of the Cape Mounted Police,
from his own observations, and from the
testimony of the native trackers who were sent
out to find the spoor. It is dated Zwart

. Jtt£riiSI9"LT ''^8Qf»7>

«^

, H ,^". 4;

': • ?

The Shadow of the Great Thirst

Modder, 8th January 1912, and runs as
follows ; —

" On Thursday, the 28th of December, Private
Blank arrived at Zwart Modder from Nakob
to report, by a curious coincidence, the finding
of the body of a native woman, who had died
from thirst between Nakob and Zwart Modder.
On the evening of Sunday the 31st, Private
Blank left to return to his station, riding his
troop horse and leading another which the store-
keeper was sending to a friend at Nakob. He
slept that night at a cattle post about four miles
from Zwart Modder and this was the last place
at which he was seen alive. At daybreak on
Monday, the 1st of January, he left the cattle
post and cut across the veld to the Nakob
road, and from this point the story is carried
on by the evidence of the spoor. As soon as
Private Blank reached the road he dismounted,
for some reason or other, and whilst dismounted
the led horse took fright. He endeavoured to
hold it by the stirrup leather, which came off
in his hand. This horse then galloped away
in the direction of his usual grazing-ground,
dragging the reins, which later on became
entangled in some bushes. Meanwhile, Private

The Conquest of the Desert

Blank's horse had taken fright and cleared off
in the direction of Nakob, keeping to the road
through the sand-dunes. The troop horse
carried his water supply, and he evidently
decided to follow it, and set out walking along
the road ; the horse apparently being out of
sight, for on reaching a spot known as Jakhal's
Vlei the horse turned off to the right on an old
road leading to Omdraai Vlei. AVhen Private
Blank reached the junction of the two roads he
failed to notice that the horse had tiirned to the
right, so he kept on the road to Sand Vlei and
Nakob.

" The horse proceeded for about 1 J miles,
then turned out to graze, when the reins fell
over his head and he also became entangled
eventually, with the reins hitched over the
branch of a tree, where the bridle and headstall
were subsequently found by a patrol. Private
Blank proceeded along the road to a spot about
22 miles from here, where he turned off the road
to the right. Monday was a day of terrific heat,
and his object appears to have been to obtain
shade, as he rested under bushes at two places
near this spot. The time was now about midday
(as he had rested on the southerly side of the
tree). In the afternoon he appears to have

f ^ ■>-,

The Shadow of the Great Thirst

made another start and walked through the veld,
still on the right, until he struck the road about
Ij miles farther on, crossed over the road to
the left, and went in the direction of Lang Klip,
and after travelling for some miles he apparently
slept for the night. The following morning,
Tuesday, another day of terrific heat, he still
continued towards Lang Klip, sitting or lying
down occasionally (on the west side of a bush).
In the afternoon he was evidently feeling the
heat and want of water, for he commenced to
rest very frequently and wandered aimlessly in
circles, crossing and recrossing his own spoor,
which led in all directions. On Tuesday after-
noon (again judging by the shade side he
selected) he turned on his tracks and wandered
all over the veld, but generally in the direction
of the point from where he had turned off the
road the previous afternoon. Up to this point
he had been stepping out quite briskly when
walking, but now his spoor showed signs that he
was weakening, his steps were shorter, and his
rests more frequent. Tuesday night found him
still on Lang Klip, and there he slept.

" The following morning, Wednesday, he took
a somewhat straighter course for the point where
he had left the road, though weakening rapidly,

The Conquest of the Desert

until on Wednesday afternoon he was back to
within 600 yards of that particular point. He
was now suffering intensely, rested frequently,
rolled and vomited. Now again he wandered
and circled, crossing and recrossing his own
spoor and an old waggon track — hopelessly lost.
Suddenly a change occurred. He stepped out
more briskly and kept a fairly straight course
towards some dunes about four miles ahead, the
only landmark visible from the spot, and he
made for these on a course running roughly
parallel to the Zwart Modder road, and about
IJ miles south of it. A very slight shower of
rain fell over this vicinity that afternoon, and
this might have refreshed and encouraged him,
but the end was now near. He reached the
first dune, rested part way up, lay do^vn on the
top, then went over to the foot where he turned
to the right, then back over the dune found a
tree, threw away the stirrup iron and leather
he had been carrying from the Monday morning
(on the east side of the tree), lay down quietly
on the west or shady side, and here we found him
yesterday at 4.20 p.m. (7th January 1912). He
died at least peacefully, too utterly worn out to
struggle even in death, for he was fully dressed
in tunic and leggings, and his smasher hat was

A LOCUST-SWARM.

Note the myriads of these insects in the air and on the ground. In the

Voethanger or hopping stage Locusts can now be easily exterminated by

means of poisoned rings on the Veld. The Kalahari Desert is their favourite

breeding place. (Photo by J. M. J. Miiller.)

The Shadow of the Great Thirst

still in position on his head. We dug a grave
by firelight, and at midnight we buried him,
with a parting salute from his comrades. At
2.30 A.M. our task was completed, and we
returned to Zwart Modder. I might add, in
conclusion, that nothing that could be done was
omitted, and nothing could have saved Private
Blank except an accidental meeting with some-
one. The first patrol left here immediately
after the arrival of the led horse on Wednesday
morning, and only reached the spot where the
deceased first left the road nearing sunset, and
by that time Private Blank must have been
dead. The two horses only broke loose when
desperate from want of water."

So ended the Sub-Inspector's report.
• «..•••

It is sometimes said that we must go slowly,
that we must not unduly hasten the progress
of South Africa. Perhaps by the white dumps
of the Rand this statement may carry a little
weight, but by the side of a flaming sand-dune
it is surely the grimmest satire. No one in
South Africa will soon forget those long hot
days that closed the old year and brought in
the new. It was over 100 degrees in the
shade. We grumbled and perspired, and sought

The Conquest of the Desert

some shady corner, and called for an iced drink,
at the self-same hour that poor Blank, delirious
for want of a drop of water, was staggering to
his death on the summit of a blazing sand-dune.
Is the same tragedy to be repeated next
summer ? Down the ages comes the excuse of
Cain, " Am I my brother's keeper ? " only to
be blotted out by the glowing words of the
Apostle to the Romans, " For none of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself." The
remedy is as simple as it is urgent. Let us
spend at once a few thousand pounds in linking
up the water-holes, stores, and police stations
along the pathways of Gordonia by means of
field telephones. If this has been done over all
the comparatively poor Province of German
South-West Africa, it can surely be done also
in the far richer country of British South Africa.
For the telephone will lift the sombre shadow
from the Great Thirst Land, and in the sunshine
of a new era the first message to be transmitted
from the twin capitals ^ to the lonely settlers
along the Kuruman, the Molopo, and the Nosop
must be taken from the Book of the Prophet of
the Wilderness and the solitary place, " And
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the

rose."

^ Cape Town and Pretoria.

THE VISION OF THE PROPHET

CHAPTER VII

THE VISION OF THE PROPHET

" I will make the wilderness a pool of water. ... I will
set in the desert the fir-tree and the pine."

In the forty-first chapter of Isaiah we read the
vision of the Prophet in those matchless Hnes
which appear at the head of this chapter, and
no one who has gazed on the crystal " Eye "
of Kuruman, or has drunk deep from the
translucent wells of Rietfontein, can for a
moment doubt that we are about to witness the
fulfilment of an ancient prophecy. In this final
paper I propose to set down a few facts and
figures gleaned during my recent journey, and
thereafter shall leave the reader to form his own
opinion of the agricultural potentialities and
prospects of the Southern Kalahari and the
district of Gordonia.

The agricultural history of Gordonia may be
said to date from the building of the Upington
Irrigation Furrow by a Dutch missionary, the
Rev. Mr Schroder, with the aid of the Bastards.
It was twenty-two miles long, and in lieu of

The Conquest of the Desert

money the Bastards received the land which
could be placed under the furrow. Since that
time the Bastards have gradually been dis-
placed by European colonists. New furrows
have been built, and every year more and more
land is being watered by the Orange River. An
erf at Upington consists of six morgen. An erf
is valued at the present time at fifty pounds per
morgen, which includes a building plot — viz. a
dry erf above the furrow having an area of
100 by 100 feet. As I have pointed out, the
valley of the Orange River is probably the
grandest citrus region in the world, and both
river banks will one day be studded with
thousands of orange - trees. The two great
needs of this industry at Upington are, firstly,
the Government entomologist to instruct the
growers how to deal with red scale, which has
already made its appearance, and, secondly,
the Government horticulturist to give a practical
demonstration in picking and packing, the best
stocks to use, and the most profitable varieties
to plant for the oversea markets. The fatal
error of the orange farmers about Upington and
Kakamas is the excessive use of water. This
induces the disease known as root-rot, the
symptoms of which are readily recognised in

The Vision of the Prophet

the dying back of the tips of the tree, the
yellowing of the leaves, and the darkening of
the wood of the stem. If orange growers
throughout South Africa would only study the
principles of dry-farming they would have far
healthier trees and far finer fruit.

• ••••••

In former times Upington was famous for
wheat grown under irrigation. Mr M. G.
Holmes, the leading merchant, and a resident
of twenty-two years, told us the story of a
sample taken out of some bags which had been
sent to his flour mill to be ground. This
sample was sent to the Kimberley Exhibition,
where it gained the first prize, and was judged
to be the finest wheat ever seen in South Africa.
It was then forwarded to the Chicago Exhibition,
where it won the premier place in the contest
open to the world. Since then the wheat of
this region has greatly deteriorated. This is
due to several causes, amongst which the
following may be mentioned : continuous wheat-
growing without rotation, or fallowing, shallow
ploughing, lack of cultivation and selection. It
should never be forgotten that the dry farmer
has one great advantage over the irrigation
farmer, which is seldom emphasised, and that

The Conquest of the Desert

is that the fields of the former are always much
cleaner than the fields of the latter. Noxious
weeds are often spread far and wide with the
waters of the irrigation furrow.

Another crop which grows luxuriantly at
Upington is lucerne, and several ostrich farmers
have already taken up land along the Orange
River for the development of this industry.
Formerly a large trade in baled lucerne was done
with the German border, but the line is now
closed owing to live-stock regulations, and the
local market is overstocked. The same is true
of every branch. The agricultural industry is
languishing for lack of a railway. Trade is
paralysed. There is no market for corn or
maize, for fruit or garden produce, for poultry,
eggs or pigs. With suitable market facilities
Upington should be the Paradise of the small
holder.

At Zwart Modder we were hospitably enter-
tained by Mr Harris, who combines the occu-
pations of trader and farmer. He owns a
fair-sized farm even for this part of the country
— namely, 38,500 morgen ; while his twenty
years' connection with the Southern Kalahari
enables him to speak with authority. It may

ZWART MODDER SHOWING THE DRY BED OF THE MOLOPO.

This must once lia\'e been a migluv river.

(l!G. 2.)

A DESERT SCENE.

Note tliat oxen are now inspanned to the C'ape Cart instead

of tmiles, owing to the heavy nature of the sand.

The Vision of the Prophet

be of interest, therefore, to give his answers
to some questions I put to him.

" What are the chief needs of your district ? "
I asked.

" To my mind," said he, " the first great need
is drills, and I am glad to learn that Mr Ire-
land, the Government Boring Engineer, intends
shortly to pay us a visit. Then a railroad from
Prieska to Upington is an absolute necessity.
This part of Gordonia is essentially a live-stock
country. At present we have to drive our
animals through heavy sand from Zwart
Modder to the railhead at Prieska, a distance
of, roughly, 200 miles, and by the time they
reach the trucks they are weak with travelling
and poor in condition. Furthermore, tele-
graphic communication is urgently needed be-
tween Rietfontein, Zwart Modder and Upington,
if only for humanity's sake, so that a doctor
could be wired for in cases of serious illness.
Touching the question of underground streams,
I am of opinion that water will be found all
over the district of Gordonia at depths varying
from 30 to 100 feet."

" Tell me about the Molopo."

" Well, as you see, this store is standing in the
dry bed of the river. Eighteen years ago the

The Conquest of the Desert

Molopo came down in a great flood, and, being
blocked by sand-dunes, it left its old course,
flowed westwards instead of southwards, formed
a huge lake, and finally dried up altogether at
Abiquas Puts, about six miles from the German
border. Now, the extraordinary thing to us
folk living here is that millions of fish swarmed
in the water of Abiquas Pan — mostly barbels.
And what we want to know is, where did these
fish come from ? Farmers from far and wide
came and carted away barrels and barrels of
fish, but they could make no impression, and
when at last the pan dried up the stench of
decaying fish was so terrible that the spot was
impassable for a long time. Another interesting
fact is that, at Vrouwen's Pan, in the bed of the
river, we have found a vast quantity of shells.
Not far from here are to be seen many Bushman
graves, and the decaying stumps of huge camel-
thorn trees — a clear proof of a fine forest that
has since been ruthlessly destroyed. The Boers
in this part of the Union are trek Boers. Now
the first thing that a trek Boer does is to erect
a tent, and he sends out his waggon and his boys
to cut down the nearest native trees for poles
and firewood. And as he never plants, the
work of devastation goes on unchecked year

The Vision of the Prophet

after year. So, too, with the trader trekking
across the Kalahari. But the destruction
wrought by the trek Boer and the trader is
nothing when compared with the constant
migration of these vandals of the desert, the
Bastards and the bushmen, who scour the
country for timber for their fires, their huts and
their weapons. Soon there is nothing to attract
the moisture-bearing clouds, no humus to hold
the rushing rain when it comes, only an iron-
shedding surface or the parched and thirsty
sand. Between Zwart Modder and Upington, a
distance of sixty miles, there are not more than
a dozen planted trees. The first move in the
conquest of the desert must be afforestation,"

" Do sand-dunes grow ? "

" Yes ; even in a month's time we often notice
that a dune has grown a good deal higher — more
especially if there has been little or no traffic.
Just a mile down the river from the store you
may have noticed that a scarlet dune has
thrown an arm across the white alkaline bed of
the Molopo, making a very pretty picture. The
cure for the encroachment of sand-dunes is
population, building, tree-planting, traffic —
anything, in fact, pertaining to civilisation. As
you will have observed, the sand-dunes run east
E 65

The Conquest of the Desert

and west. Besides the tsamma melon and the
bushman grass, both of which thrive upon the
sand-dunes, there is also a desert luxury. This
is what the bushman calls " nabba," and the
Dutch farmer the Kalahari potato, but which is
nothing more or less than the European truffle.
It is found in enormous quantities during winter-
time, when the sand is firm and hard, a few
inches beneath the surface of the ground. It
can be detected by cracks in the sand, and is
greatly relished by the desert- dwellers."

• ••••••

A note concerning the camels used by the
mounted police and to carry the mails may be
of interest. At the present time the police own
twenty-five, some of which have been imported
from Egypt, some from India, and some have
been bred at Rietfontein. The chief value of
the camel is, of course, that it can go for a week
or more without water. It will also travel with
ease in heavy sand, and can endure any amount
of heat. The best Australian camel, " Lalla,"
used to do regularly a journey of 100 miles in
eight hours. A first-class camel can carry a
ton in weight, but the camels of the mounted
police are only weighted to the extent of 500
or 600 lbs. The Post Office authorities possess

(riG. I.)
MGHT OX A SAND DUXE.

The Author with his Jaeger Sleeping-Bag, .Mosquito Net, and Folding Bed.

(fig. 2.)
A BUILDING BOOM IN THE MAIN STREET OF RIETFONTEIN, GORDONIA.

The Vision of the Prophet

six camels. They run from Rietfontein to
Zwart Modder, leaving Zwart Modder on
Wednesday morning and arriving at Rietfontein
on Saturday morning — a distance of 140 miles.
In the Kalahari Desert the favourite food of
these camels is the kaa-boom (Vaal kameel
doom) and mimosa. They much prefer feeding
on trees to grazing on grasses. The desert can
be crossed in five days on a camel. A Govern-
ment camel farm established at Rietfontein
would do much to improve the breed of this
valuable animal.

The future of Gordonia and the Southern
Kalahari is assured. This region is destined to
become famous both as regards ranching and
general agriculture. It is a healthy country for
cattle, horses and sheep. They all wax fat and
multiply exceedingly. A casual survey reveals
three types of excellent agricultural soils — river
silt, sandy loam, and alkaline, or brak-land.
With regard to the first, it is to be found in the
dry bed of the Kuruman, the Molopo, and the
Nosop. It is the best and richest of the three,
and could be made to produce almost any crop.
Next come those vast stretches of sandy loam
which respond amazingly to proper tillage,
and by means of moisture-saving fallows will

The Conquest of the Desert

hold sufficient water to mature a crop even in
the driest seasons. Last of all is the brak-land,
which can also be put under cultivation by the
methods adopted by Professor Hilgard with
such success in the arid regions of California.
Science is never still ; but what we need most
of all is men.

King Geomrl^.

-^ ■'Catiricr

a i

MAP OF GORDONIA SHOWIXG THE KURUMAN. MOLOPO, NOSOP, AND
ORANGE RIVERS.

WHAT THE BUOWN EARTH GAVE
TO THE BLUE

CHAPTER VIII

WHAT THE BROWN EARTH GAVE TO THE BLUE

If you leave Johannesburg any day before noon
you will arrive soon after eight the same evening
at the little town of Christiana. It is worth
while to rise early in the morning as the lights
and shadows flit across the river, touch the
Transvaal, leap into the Free State, and race
madly onward to salute their fairest sister where
the dawn breaks on Fourteen Streams. There
at the gateway of the Golden West you will
hear the call of the desert, and the men are
moving Westward, ever Westward, from
Mafeking to Morokwen, and from Kimberley to
Kenhardt. They are the advance columns of
the great army of colonists who will one day
penetrate into this fertile region. No land for
settlers in South Africa ! Surely men are
dreaming. Northward, westward, southward
for 500 miles you may travel, day after day, on
these sunlit plains, dry as dust, hard as nails
with their priceless treasures — aeons of fertility
— only waiting to be won. But these lands are

The Conquest of the Desert

not for the indolent, the doubter, or the easily
dissuaded, but for the mighty toilers — multi-
tudes of men poured in along the railroads with
constant reinforcements.

In Christiana are furrows of flowing water,
patches of vivid green, a handful of houses, a
fringe of tall blue gums ; and beyond — the in-
finite mirage-streaming, nun-grey, desert. The
district of Bloemhof is the driest in the Trans-
vaal. But it was not always so. Search out
the patient voortrekker, smoke the peace-pipe
and listen to his tale. Thirty years ago this was
a thickly wooded country, and the rain fell so
heavily that two spans of oxen were often needed
to haul the waggons across the drifts. Do you
see that lone tree on the far horizon ? It is
the kameel-doom (camel-thorn). There were
thousands and thousands then, there are none
now. It is slow-growing and deep-rooting,
seems to pause and spurt in cycles of seven years,
bums with intense heat, and makes a first-class
lingering fuel. Wherever it grows there you
will find good deep loamy soil. Over there on
the farms of " Sweet Home," " Just-in-Time,"
and " Never Mind " were thick forests of camel-
thorn. But they were all cut down for the
Kimberley mines at £80 per waggon-load.

o a: — ^

a —

2 u

s " fe '^_

What Brown Earth gave to the Blue

Such was the sad tale of destruction told us
by the old pioneer. So the brown earth was
robbed for the blue, and the forest of Bloemhof
paid tribute to the priceless gems that glitter
on fair fingers in the Avenida, the Bois, Fifth
Avenue and Hyde Park. And like the prophet
Jeremiah, in place of a plentiful country, full
of fruit and goodness, we find a wilderness and
a land of drought.

It is an astonishing fact that the art of
afforestation seems to have synchronised with
the rise and fall of Van der Stel. He encouraged
the early settlers to plant trees. But that was
over two hundred years ago. To-day you may
travel in South Africa by rail or waggon over
measureless spaces of treeless plain. And there
is a sadness rather than a spice of humour in
the story of the townsman who was visiting his
country cousin somewhere in the western Trans-
vaal. The sun-splashed, unhindered veld swept
to the distant horizon. A solitary blue gum
stood out like a lonely sentinel beside the setting
sun. " I planted it," the farmer said. " How
long have you lived here ? " the shopman
asked. " Thirty years," came the proud reply !

The beneficial influence of the forest on the

The Conquest of the Desert

farm is too well known to need any special
emphasis. All over the country those land-
destroying dongas — due to torrential rains
sweeping over the naked veld — could be largely
checked by afforestation. In the United States
it is estimated that about 200 square miles of
fertile soil are annually washed away in the
brooks and rivers. As we stood spellbound
before the rushing Orange River at Kakamas
our guide remarked with a smile of satisfaction :
" Yes, the Transvaal may have her gold, but we
have here her richest soil — ^thirty feet of solid
silt." Then, again, the forest waters the farm.
Local showers are much more frequent in the
neighbourhood of woods than in the open
country. And since the leaves and branches
break the force of the falling drops the rain falls
softly on the soft forest floor and percolates
deep into the soil. There is likewise much less
evaporation around a forest belt, because the
air is cool and still. Springs also are fuller
than in treeless regions. Moreover, the forest
tempers the farm. Hear the testimony of an
Illinois farmer : " My experience is that in cold
and stormy winters fields protected by timber
belts yield full crops, while fields not protected
yield only one-third of a crop. Twenty-five or

What Brown Earth gave to the Blue

thirty years ago we never had any wheat killed
by winter frosts, and every year we had a full
crop of peaches, which is now very rare. At
that time we had plenty of timber around our
fields and orchards ; now cleared away."

That live stock thrive much better when they
are protected from the cold blasts of winter and
the trying heat of summer is common knowledge.
Thus shelter belts are of equal value against
the biting winter winds of the high veld and
the summer heat of the low veld. Lastly, the
forest can be turned into a farmer's savings
bank from which deposits may be drawn from
time to time. Two farmers, Messrs Matthew
and Dreyer, from a single erf in Burgersdorp,
just outside the town of Lichtenburg, cut last
winter seventy pounds worth of timber. These
eucalyptus -trees were planted six years ago, on
dry land, and uncared for. Every farm should
have its own forest. It may be only one acre
or ten thousand. The rural economists of
Europe recommend that 20 per cent, of the
farm should be laid down to forest — that is
to say, on a farm of 1000 acres 200 acres should
be planted with trees. What a wonderful
difference this would make to the climate and
crops of South Africa ! The farmer who plants

The Conquest of the Desert

trees will soon find out that not only does he
save money, but he can also sell his timber at
a profitable figure. For example, some trees
make excellent fence posts, scaffolding and
flooring, while others are suitable for furniture,
mining props, butter and cigar boxes.
• ..•*••

The value of shelter belts is undoubted, but
farmers often find it difficult to get crops to
grow close to the base of trees. In a compre-
hensive bulletin on " Windbreaks " issued by
the United States Department of Agriculture,
Mr Bates, Forest Assistant, gives the results
of several years of investigation. He points
out that crops which are grown principally for
their vegetative parts rather than for their seeds
can stand the shade better. In other words,
whilst a crop of com (maize) which is grown for
its grain might fail entirely on a strip of sunless
ground near to the trees ; yet the same land
might be profitably planted with fodder, corn,
clover, or lucerne. As is well known, fruit
trees on the edge of an orchard are usually small
in size. Thus in California it is customary to
dig trenches to cut off the roots of eucalypti
and other tall trees, planted around orchards,
in order to prevent the forest trees taking

{vn:. I.)
A WIND BREAK.
I'>very settler on the Dry Lands of South Africa sItoliIcI start at once to lav
out a small plantation in order to break the force of the moislurowastinj*
wind, to afford shade for his live-stock, as well as for the beauty of his home.
Captain Heinrich .S. du Toit, Superintendent of the Dry-Land Station at
Lichtcnburg, is shown in this picture.

(fig. 2.)

DRV-LANI) PROni'CTS.

Bcfor(! I)rv-I''arming these lands were a barren waste.

They now vield abimdant crops of Potatoes and Maize;.

what Brown Earth gave to the Blue

moisture from the fruit trees. It may be well
now to give the names of a few varieties which
may be planted, without hesitation, in the more
arid parts of the Union. We shall select seven
which have been tested at the Government
plantation at Lichtenburg. Of these seven the
first two to be mentioned are specially suited
for shelter belts ; whilst the remaining five are
valuable for timber.
For shelter belts —

(1) Eucalyptus viminalis (manna gum). Ex-
cellent for fuel. Can be used for rough farm
work, rafters, scaffolding poles, etc.

(2) Eucalyptus stuartiana (Stuart's gum or
apple-scented gum).

For Timber (quick-growing) —

(3) Eucalyptus rostrata (red gum). Heavy,
hard, durable timber.

(4) Eucalyptus sideroxylon (iron bark). Valu-
able for railroad sleepers.

For Timber (slow-growing) —

(5) Juniperus virginiana (North American
pencil cedar). Cedar of commerce. Makes
durable fence poles.

(6) Callitris robusta (Murray cypress pine).
For furniture and flooring. Resistant to white
ants.

The Conquest of the Desert

(7) Cupressics arizonica. Excellent for tim-
ber. Seems to be quite frost -resistant.

It should be said that the five above-men-
tioned trees may also be utilised for shelter belts
and windbreaks. If any of our readers desire
further information on these and kindred
matters we would refer them to Mr J. Storr
Lister, I.S.O., Chief Conservator of Forests,
Pretoria. We are of opinion that our farmers
do not take the fullest advantage of this
valuable branch of the Government service.
It is worth remembering, however, that this
Department controls some 1,200,000 acres of
natural forest and has set out some 50,000 acres
of plantations, and possesses a staff of 250
foresters with over 5000 labourers. Plantations
and nurseries have been established at forty-
six centres. In any scheme of land settlement
which may ultimately be adopted in South
Africa, it is to be hoped that the planting of trees
will be made a special feature on every Govern-
ment homestead ; and, further, that the little
people in every town and every country school
shall be encouraged to set out their tiny
garden forests and to watch them growing
day by day. And although the great work of
afforestation — nation-building in the noblest

What Brown Earth gave to the Blue

sense — must go steadily forward in all parts of
the Union, yet none but the struggling settler
on the wind-driven desert can fully realise the
cheering welcome of a grove of blue gums,
never-failing guides, in storm and sunshine,
to his helpmate and his home.

THE POOR AND THE LAND

CHAPTER IX

THE POOR AND THE LAND

In this chapter I shall tell the story of the origin
of the Kakamas labour colony, situated on both
sides of the Orange River, in the twin districts
of Kenhardt and Gordonia, and distant 180
miles from the railhead at Prieska. Some
twelve years ago a certain clergyman of the
Dutch Reformed Church, the Rev. B. P. J.
Marchand, of Wellington, became filled with the
desire to do something towards the regenera-
tion of that class now widely known as the
" poor whites." Accordingly, he visited several
labour colonies in Germany, and on his return
recommended that something similar should
be done without delay in South Africa. The
Senate of the Church directed Mr Schroder,
then missionary at Upington, to look out for a
suitable site for the proposed settlement. He
reported that at Kakamas there was a large
tract of land which could be laid under water.
This site was selected. Some farms were
obtained free from the Government, others

The Conquest of the Desert

were purchased, and in the year 1897 the first
settlers arrived.

But it is best to learn the history of this
wonderful colony from the lips of those who are
engaged in the great work. In his hospitable
home the able and scholarly superintendent of
the settlement, Rev. J. G. de Bruyn, was kind
enough to answer my many questions.
" How many families are here now ? "
" Four hundred. You will be surprised to
learn that there are over 3000 souls in this
settlement. We have 5000 acres under the
furrow. The area of the whole settlement
comprises roughly 150,000 morgen. We have
one church and eight schools, with 700 children.
Our settlers come from all over South Africa.
Before being admitted to Kakamas they require
to possess a certificate of good character and of
poverty. Many more applications are received
than we can deal with. When a settler arrives
we set him to work on the canal, for which work
he is paid four shillings per day. All furrows must
be cleaned out at least twice a year, and every
man is compelled to do his share of this work.'*
" What is the size of each holding ? "
" Every settler at Kakamas can obtain an
erf. An erf consists of six morgen, which can

(fig. I.)

A MISSION HOME.

The Superintendent of the Kakamas Labour

Settlement, Rev. J. G. de Bruyn, and family.

(FIG. 2.)

A settler's home IX THE KAKAMAS LABOUR COLONY
Overcrowding.

The Poor and the Land

be laid under water. We consider that six
morgen is sufficient to support a man and his
family. Of course, a colonist may have to
wait for two years, or even longer, before he
can obtain a piece of ground, for the simple
reason that water must be led to each erf and
the trees cut down. The cost of clearing and
levelling an erf of six morgen is £300, and it
takes us about one month. We are spending
£100 per week in labour alone in preparing the
ground for farm crops, or, in other words,
£5200 per annum."

" Do you give freehold to the settler ? "
" No ; that is vested in the colony. It might
happen that a settler did not work his land, and
we must have the power to take it away and to
give it to someone more deserving. Moreover,
a settler must pay a rental of £10 per annum for
his six morgen. But we do not ask any pay-
ment the first year ; the second he pays £2,
and so on each year until he reaches the maxi-
mum sum — namely, £10. As the majority of
the people who come to us are quite destitute, we
advance them a small sum to buy a tent and a
few of the necessaries of life. But the very first
day the head of the family can get work on the
furrow. It may interest you to know that close

The Conquest of the Desert

on 800 men are kept constantly employed in
repairing and extending the various canals."

The Kakamas labour colony is a credit to the
Dutch Reformed Church, and stands a splendid
monument to the greatest thing that life holds
out for any man, or sect, or nation — the up-
lifting of humanity. But, to my mind, the
greatest thing you will find at Kakamas is the
genius that first led out the furrow,^ tunnelled
through those granite walls, laid siphons under
the river-bed, and can, with a child's touch,
hurl a roaring cataract into the Orange, or send
it softly speeding to the fertile lands twenty
miles below. From the far-off leaping Malet-
sunyane comes a thousand miles of the rushing
river, and here you have it met with, played
with, conquered and controlled.

Mr Johann Jacob Lutz, the builder of the
Kakamas irrigation canals, is the son of a Swiss
missionary who was sent out to South Africa
by the Rhenish Society. He was bom at
Williston, Cape Colony, and after a varied
career trekked northwards to Upington. Here
he remained for several years helping Mr
Schroder, the missionary of whom I have spoken,

^ Irrigation canal.
86

K \

mi^-ii;|

The Poor and the Land

to dig the Upington furrow. In 1897 he crossed
over to Kakamas, where he has resided ever
since. To fully understand the material pro-
gress of the colony, you must consult Mr Lutz.

It was as we walked many a mile over the
lucerne lands, across the islands, and along the
furrows that I put these questions to him :

" How do you take the water out of the
Orange River ? "

" By means of two irrigation canals, which
we call the north and south furrows. The
north furrow is 24 miles long, and the south
furrow is 17 miles long, varying in width from
7 feet to 10 feet and carrying 2 feet of water.
The north furrow took nine years to build.
Where our canals have to traverse hollow places
and ravines we employ what is termed " dry
packing " — that is to say, the outside wall is
packed with stone, while the inside wall is
filled with gravel. Now turn on the water, and
you will find that the small holes in the gravel
soon become filled up with silt. This makes
the furrow quite watertight. If, however, we
were to build it entirely of river silt, crabs and
mice would soon make holes in the sides, and
the water stream away."

" Please explain the working of your siphons."

The Conquest of the Desert

" We use siphons to convey water from one
height to another, across low ground, or from
one island to another. These siphons are made
of galvanised steel, sent out in sections from
England. Each section is 4 feet long, and has
a diameter of from 24 inches to 37 inches.
They are then riveted on the spot. Our
longest siphon is over 500 yards, and carries
water from the north furrow."

" Do you intend to generate power ? "

" Oh yes ; we are already busy with several
schemes. I forgot to mention that we have
built two small waterfalls — one in the north
canal, with a drop of 22 feet, and the other in
the south canal, with a drop of 18 feet. With
these falls we shall be able to generate electric
power. We propose to light the settlement,
drive a flour mill, and run workshops and
factories in connection with our industrial
school. The machinery has been purchased
from the Swiss firm of Strelien, of Zurich, and
will be erected by a competent engineer."

" Tell me about your crops."

" Well, as you see, we have magnificent soil.
It is pure river silt, in some places 40 feet deep.
I daresay you will consider it the richest soil
in South Africa. We grow mealies, wheat,

The Poor and the Land

oranges, lucerne, tobacco, potatoes, apricots
and plums, apples, quinces and pears. We
have reaped as much as forty bags of wheat
to the morgen under water. We find that
mealies, wheat and lucerne make a good rotation.
Then we have an excellent soil renovator in the
Kafir bean of the Kalahari Desert, a variety
of cow-pea, which saves us buying expensive
nitrogenous manure. We are just starting an
ostrich industry. We believe that we possess
a finer ostrich country than Oudtshoorn. Our
erf -holders already own 150 ostriches and 36
young chicks, and so far we have had no losses.
The birds seem to thrive in the warm, dry
climate of this back country."

• ••••••

The imperative need of Kakamas is a rail-
way. For want of a market all real progress is
paralysed, the future outlook gloomy. An erf
of six morgen under water is certainly ample for
an industrious settler, but not for his numerous
family of young men and maidens. And what
is their outlook ? Cut off from the rest of
civilisation, their character is warped and their
development arrested, their ambition stunted.
You can never hope to make one-half of
these men farmers, but you may make them

The Conquest of the Desert

all skilled workers. Take wheat. Before it
reaches the railway at Prieska twelve shillings
must be paid on every single bag ! But far more
than that — a railroad via Prieska, Upington
and Kakamas would transform the unknown
Orange Valley into the grandest citrus centre
in the world. This is no exuberant statement.
No one who has seen Riverside can for a
moment doubt that the deep silt of the " Great
River " is far more nourishing than the desert
soil of California.

Let us take a practical problem. The land
now under water owned by the Kakamas
labour colony is roughly 2500 morgen, or over
5000 acres. Take half that amount— 2500
acres — and figure out the potentialities of this
block of ground for orange-growing. If you
plant wide apart, 25 feet by 25 feet, you can
set out 70 trees to the acre. And at the end of
five years you may safely reckon on an average
of £l per tree, or £70 per acre. This is all clear
profit. Therefore we find that 2500 acres,
multiplied by £70, gives the truly enormous
sum of £175,000 per annum. But, apart from
the mere culture of the orange, there must arise
a real industry of packing sheds and factories
for the manufacture of boxes. Packing oranges

The Poor and the Land

would afford a pleasant and profitable occupa-
tion for the daughters of the settlers, and work
in the factory would inspire the inventive genius
of their brothers. The Califomian girls are
paid 10s. a day for wrapping and packing
oranges, and while at Riverside I saw a small
machine, invented by a young mechanic, which
tossed out 3000 boxes in a single day.

But is that all ! Travel down the majestic
river from Prieska to Kakamas. What a
panorama of agricultural possibilities ! Settle
a handful of hard-working colonists — a paltry
thousand from South Africa and oversea — give
to each of them one hundred arces of river silt,
wet or dry. Figure out this sum : 1000 by 100,
or 100,000 acres by £70, or £7,000,000 worth
of oranges per annum. Take two well-grown
Washington navels. Together they weigh one
pound. Reckon 800 on a tree, 56,000 on an
acre, and you have 14 tons of fruit from every
acre. Now remember that the special export
rate for oranges is 15s. per ton, and you will
find that from an orchard of 100,000 acres
under oranges the railway receipts for freight
alone in a single year would amount to a sum
far over £1,000,000. Such are a few of the

The Conquest of the Desert

thoughts that arise in our mind, touching the
larger problem of closer settlement along the
banks of the Orange River.

We have spoken of the noble work of the
founders of the Kakamas Labour Colony. But
the Church must not forget that the searchlights
of modern science and the new agriculture are
now upon her. She holds in trust from the
nation the richest land in South Africa. It is
badly tilled, unused, rank, and foul with noxious
weeds. She owns a bare and treeless square
where her children pass and play in the scorch-
ing heat of noonday. What the Kakamas
Colony needs is instant expert advice.

At the time of our visit there was no com-
petent farm manager, no one to teach the
settlers how to grow tobacco, how to lay down
lucerne, how to prune their orchards, fumigate
their orange-trees, or call a halt to the criminal
waste of water and the consequent ruination
of the land. To-day in many parts of South
Africa men are toiling to win a bare livelihood
on a foot of shallow soil, and when we think of
the deep, rich lands of Kakamas we remember
the parable of the hidden talent set down in
the 25th chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew.

»2

A RAINLESS WHEAT

CHAPTER X

A RAINLESS WHEAT *

" Men, my brothers, men the workers,
Ever reaping something new,
That which they have done but earnest,
Of the things that they shall do."

In our study of the development of a rainless
wheat, it will be necessary at the outset to
sketch the rise and progress of that new branch
of agricultural science now widely known as
Dry-Farming. Dry-farming may be defined as
the conservation of soil-moisture during long
periods of dry weather by means of tillage,
together with the growth of drought-resistant
plants. It differs from ordinary farming in that
the chief object of the dry farmer is to prepare
his lands to receive and retain as much rain as
possible. This is accomplished by the use of
moisture-saving fallows.

" Dry-farming " is a new term which was first
used a few years ago in Western America. In
Utah and some other parts of the United States

^ Reprinted by kind permission from The Nineteenth
Century and After, No. 436, June 191 3.

The Conquest of the Desert

it is called " arid-farming." Still another term
is " scientific soil culture." For the sake of
uniformity, all experiment stations, agricultural
societies, and the rural press would do well to
speak of dry-farming and dry-land agriculture.
It is sometimes said that dry-farming is a new
agricultural practice. But it is not so. Even
in America the farmers of Utah have been raising
crops on their dry lands with a rainfall of less
than fifteen inches for over half-a-century.
More than that, dry-farming has been practised
since the dawn of civilisation in Mesopotamia
in Egypt, and in North-Western India. And, as
Professor Hilgard, of California, remarked to the
writer,^ " the great depth of soil in arid regions
as compared with that of humid climates
undoubtedly explains how the ancient agricul-
turists could remain in the same country for
thousands of years without having any know-
ledge of scientific agriculture." Most farmers
are aware of the fact that the roots of plants go
far deeper in dry regions than in damp climates.
Now, if the roots of plants can penetrate to great
depths, so surely must both moisture and air.
It would thus seem as if an all-wise Providence

^ See " Dry-Farming : Its Principles and Practice," p. lo.
By William Macdonald. London : T. Werner Laurie.

A Rainless Wheat

had amply compensated the agriculturist of the
arid regions by giving him in many parts of
the globe great depth of soil combined with an
almost inexhaustible fertility. Such, at least,
is the lesson of history.

Summing up, we may say that desert regions
are specially adapted to dry-farming, because
as a general rule desert lands are deep lands, in
which the scanty rainfall can be stored for a
long period ; and, though arid soils are usually
poor in humus, they are much richer in nitrogen
than the soils of humid regions. It has been
shown that the nitrogen-fixing germs are actively
present in large numbers in dry soils. Finally,
desert lands are usually free from malaria, and
are thus well suited to colonisation.

The Principles of Dry-Farming

As the writer has elsewhere pointed out,^ the
English agriculturist Jethro Tull is entitled to
be called the " Founder of the Principles of
Dry-Farming." It is true that Tull saw as
through " a glass darkly." To-day we see
more clearly. But the principles which we have
adopted are merely the amplification, nothing

^ Bulletin No. 103, Union Department of Agriculture.
G 97

The Conquest of the Desert

more, of those fundamental methods of tillage
so plainly set forth, one hundred and eighty-two
years ago, by the genius of Jethro Tull.

In his agricultural classic (1731) entitled *' The
New Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, or An Essay on
the Principles of Tillage and Vegetation," the
inventor of the corn drill wrote : " For the finer
land is made by tillage the richer will it become
and the more plants will it maintain." This
axiom has received ample confirmation on the
arid lands of the United States and the British
Empire, where the deep ploughing of the virgin
prairie and the thorough pulverisation of the
stubborn veld sets free aeons of fertility.

It was Tull who first enunciated the three
great principles of the new farming : (1) drilhng ;
(2) reduction of seed ; (3) absence of weed.
And he left a happy epigram which at least is
true for the sunlit lands oversea : " Tillage is
Manure."

The principles which we have adopted in our
experiments on the Government Dry Land
Station at Lichtenburg, in the Transvaal, and
which are now being extended to the other
dry land stations throughout the Union of
South Africa, are eight in number — namely,
(1) deep ploughing ; (2) pure seed ; (3) thin

A Rainless Wheat

seeding ; (4) drilling ; (5) frequent harrow-
ing ; (6) weedless lands ; (7) few varieties ;
(8) moisture-saving fallows.

Moisture Fallows and the Soil-Mulch

We believe that our success has been due
mainly to the use of moisture-saving fallows, in
which the rain is stored up in the soil for the
use of subsequent crops. The supreme need of
South African agriculture is not fertility but
moisture. Consequently, all our cultivation is
directed to establishing a moisture-saving fallow
which may be maintained for periods of three
months, six months, or one year. Such a
fallow is deeply ploughed in the first place, and
then kept constantly tilled to prevent the
formation of a soil-crust which would permit the
moisture to evaporate. This treatment results
in four things : {a) storage of rainfall ; (b) de-
struction of weeds which are moisture-robbers ;
(c) admission of sunshine and air ; (d) encourage-
ment of beneficial soil -germs.

Messrs Russell and Hutchinson, of Rotham-
sted, recently demonstrated that intense sun-
light destroys those harmful soil organisms
which prey on the plant-food making bacteria.

The Conquest of the Desert

The illuminating researches of these scientists
enable us more readily to understand the spon-
taneous and marvellous fertility of the lands
of South Africa which are bathed in sunshine.

The germ life of arid lands is a subject worthy
of the attention of the universities of the Empire.

The well-known term soil-mulch is deserving
of a brief notice. It may be defined as " any
material which is spread upon the soil to shade
the surface from the sun and to break the
connection between the water-bearing subsoil
and the exposed surface." Examples of mulch-
ing are familiar to everyone. Turn over a
board or stone lying on the ground, and you will
find that the soil beneath is moister than the
ground around it, since the pores of the earth,
or capillary channels, have been closed, and
the current of moisture passing upward to the
surface has been stopped. In the garden, leaves,
straw, and manure are commonly used. But
the most practical mulch is made of loose, dry
soil. This is done by frequently stirring the
surface of the ploughed lands mth a harrow
or cultivator. The soil-mulch is also termed
the soil-blanket.

Now the question arises : " How deep should
the soil-blanket be ? " The reply is : From two

100

A Rainless Wheat

to six inches, depending on the state of the
weather, the soil, and the crop. In orchard
cultivation, during a severe drought, the soil-
blanket is often made six inches deep, or even
more. But for cereals the soil-blanket should
seldom be thicker than two to three inches,
as they are surface -feeders. When sowing, the
seed must be drilled into the moist seed-bed
below the dry-blanket ; otherwise it may fail
to germinate.

Summary of Results

It is doubtful if, since the time of Tull, any
soil has had a severer test of his profound but
forgotten principles than the dry lands of
Lichtenburg in the Western Transvaal. Let us
summarise what has been accomplished there.
We have shown :

(1) That by our system of tillage we are able
to keep the soil seed-bed moist for a whole year.
This means that, so far as moisture is concerned,
we can plant a crop at any season — a most
important matter in South Africa. This result
has been attained by the use of moisture-saving
fallows, deeply ploughed, constantly harrowed,

101

The Conquest of the Desert

and kept covered with a dry-soil blanket which
checks evaporation.

(2) That it is possible to grow dry-land winter
wheat and to harvest it before the season of rust.

(3) That drilling, as might be expected, is far
better than broad-casting, saves seed, places the
grain in the moist seed-bed, and gives a more
even growth.

(4) That thin seeding, for wheat 30 to 45
pounds per acre, gives larger returns than more
lavish sowing. This is due to the fact that each
individual plant has more moisture, sunlight,
and food if given ample space.

(5) That the durum wheats have given the
best results. They are the wheats which have
extended the wheat-belt into the most arid
regions of Western America. .

(6) That the durum wheat — Apulia — has
been grown under our dry-farming system with-
out a drop of rain falling upon it from seed-time
until harvest, which proves the efficacy of the
moisture-saving fallow, and is a record in
modern agriculture.

A German Testimony

A short time ago a fair-haired, blue-eyed
Viking was sent from Berlin to Windhuk to

102

A Rainless Wheat

grow two blades of grass where but one grew
before, in the person of Mr Walter Richter, the
Agricultural Adviser to German South-West
Africa. He spent several months in British
South Africa investigating our soils and crops
with the skill, the patience, and the industry
for which his race is so justly renowned. To our
question, " What do you consider the most
instructive part of your tour ? " Mr Richter
replied without hesitation : " The Dry Land
Experiment Station at Lichtenburg. There I
saw durum wheat being harvested which not
only had been grown on a poor shallow soil, but
actually never had a drop of rain upon it from
seed-time until harvest. There, also, I saw dry
land which is never dry the whole year round.
I go back to German South-West Africa filled
with a new hope, for now I am convinced that
dry-farming is destined to revolutionise our
agricultural industry. Truly, as the motto of
your Congress puts it : ' The destiny of South
Africa is on the dry lands.' "

Every great movement is indissolubly linked
up with the personality of a few earnest workers.
So it is with dry-farming in South Africa. The
signal success which we have achieved is due in
large measure to Captain Heinrich du Toit, a

103

The Conquest of the Desert

brave Boer officer of the former Staats Artillerie
who bore a charmed Hfe, as shown by the marks
of twenty-two bullets. Captain du Toit returned
to the peaceful life of a Cape farmer. When the
Government dry land station was established
he was appointed manager — a post which he
still holds. He has since become the tireless
missionary of the new agriculture amongst
the Dutch and the English settlers on the dry
lands of the Union.

Discovery of the Durum Wheats

The most important discovery in connection
with dry-farming is the value of durum wheat
for poor soils and in regions of light rainfall.
The durum wheats were formerly termed
macaroni wheats, because in the past they have
been mainly used in the manufacture of maca-
roni. But the better term is durum, and it
should be employed to describe this class of
wheat. The term durum comes from the Latin
word durus (hard). For more than forty years
there have been shipments into the United States
of these hard, glassy wheats, chiefly from Russia,
but also from Algeria and Chili. It is only
during the last thirteen years, however, that

104

A Rainless Wheat

public attention in America has been directed
to them, and this has been due mainly to the
publications and efforts of the National Depart-
ment at Washington. In the year 1900 Mr
M. A. Carleton, United States Cerealist, was sent
on a mission to Russia. He travelled through
the durum wheat -belt and secured a large num-
ber of varieties ; these were distributed to the
farmers and experimental stations in the Great
Plains region of Western America, in which the
climate and soils are very like those found in
Russia and Algeria, where these particular
wheats are largely grown. Mr Carleton wrote
on p. 16 of his bulletin on " Macaroni (Durum)
Wheats " :

"The normal yearly rainfall of the Great Plains
at the one-hundredth meridian — where wheat-
growing is at present practically non-existent on
account of lack of drought-resistance varieties —
is nearly three inches greater than that for the
entire semi-arid Volga region, which is one of
the principal wheat regions of Russia, and
which produces the finest macaroni wheat in
the world."

At first these wheats were received with but
little favour, in spite of the fact that they gave

105

The Conquest of the Desert

excellent yields and showed remarkable rust-
resistant and drought-enduring qualities. But
the macaroni factories of America were then
using the ordinary bread wheats, and neither
the mills nor the elevators would accept the
durum varieties. Happily, this prejudice has
died down, and special mills are now being
erected with the requisite machinery for grind-
ing this type of wheat.

In blending with the softer varieties, and as a
source of semolina, or " macaroni flour," durum
wheats are now acknowledged to be unrivalled.
But for the dry farmer the drought-resisting
quality of the durum wheat is the most im-
portant point ; and on the arid prairies of
Western America they have surpassed all the
best-known spring varieties, and are easily pre-
eminent in this respect. Their rust-resistance
is also noteworthy. This was first shown in a
striking manner in America during the season
of 1909, when the ravages of rust did so much
damage to the common varieties.

The durum wheats are the best wheats to be
grown where the summers are hot and dry ;
but they do not give satisfactory yields in
humid regions. They first became prominent
in the commercial world of the United States

106

A Rainless Wheat

in the year 1903, when six milHon bushels were
produced. The annual harvest has steadily
risen, until to-day the total crop is over fifty
million bushels.

Their Value in Bread-making

It was formerly supposed that the durum
wheats were adapted solely to the making of
macaroni and were not bread wheats at all.
This is not so. Indeed, the excellent quality
of Russian bread, which has often been praised
by tourists and others, is largely made from
Kubanka, a well-known variety grown in the
Volga region. Furthermore, the French, who
are justly renowned for their bread, invariably
use a mixture of durum wheat. In Eastern
Russia it is customary, for milling purposes,
to mix three parts of macaroni wheat with one
part of the ordinary red varieties. This pro-
portion gives an excellent flour. It is said that
bread made from durum wheat is richer, and
remains fresh longer than that made from
ordinary wheats. A large quantity of Russian
durum wheat finds a ready sale for the macaroni
factories of Southern France and Italy. A few
years ago the United States Department of

107

The Conquest of the Desert

Agriculture made an interesting experiment to
test the relative value of durum wheat for bread-
making. A certain amount of flour from durum
wheat and common wheat was set aside, and
two sets of loaves were baked from the different
flours. These two lots of loaves were marked,
and sent out to over two hundred persons for
inspection and report, accompanied by a circular
letter containing eight questions. The people
to whom the loaves were addressed were care-
fully selected, and included prominent millers,
bakers, chemists, and teachers of domestic
science. The result of their replies was summed
up as follows : — " The general opinion, therefore,
of the relative value of the durum-wheat loaf
as against that made from other flour is 108 to
74 in favour of the durum- wheat loaf."

Before me lies a note on the Russian durum
wheats, by Mr A. Kovenko, taken from a recent
report of the Ministry of Agriculture, and kindly
translated and forwarded by the British Am-
bassador at St Petersburg.

Mr Kovenko writes :

" Numerous as are in Russia the varieties of
soft wheats, the chief place among our wheats
belongs to hard wheats — Triticum durum — the

108

A Rainless Wheat

real pride of Russia, a grain containing a con-
siderable amount of nitrogen, 4 to 5 per cent.
While Western European varieties of soft wheat
contain 6 to 7 per cent, of dry gluten,^ our soft
wheat contains 10 to 11 per cent., and our hard
Russian wheats 15 to 17 per cent. Of hard
Russian wheats there are numerous varieties
which, while completely uniform in the character
of translucent, almost ambery grain, vary some-
times in the colour of the ear, and sometimes in
the velvetiness of the glume (outside leaflet of
each grain). The most important amongst the
hard wheats are the Bieloturka and Kubanka.
In the south and south-west of Russia there is
grown a very valuable wheat named Arnautka,
unrivalled for the manufacture of macaroni,
and much esteemed in Western Europe."

The Durum Wheat Zone

The chief durum wheat countries are Russia,
Turkestan, Italy, and North Africa, and
although these types grow in many other parts

^ Gluten is the principal nitrogenous part of wheat. The
higher the gluten-content of flour the more water will the
dough absorb ; consequently it yields more bread. Hard
wheat produces a strong flour, rich in gluten, which makes
light bread. Soft wheat produces a more attractive-looking
loaf, but it is less nutritious, because it has more starch and
less gluten.

109

The Conquest of the Desert

of the globe, they have one striking feature in
common — viz. they seem to flourish best in
regions of small and irregular rainfall. The
durum wheats belong to the botanical group
Triticum durum, while the common wheats from
which bread is usually made come under the
heading Triticum vulgare.

The principal climatic features which mark
out the durum wheat zone are as follows : —

(1) The low annual rainfall, a large percentage
of which falls during the growing season.
(2) Heavy thunderstorms with but little fog
or mist. (3) A clear, dry atmosphere. (4) Hot
summers with great extremes of temperature.
(5) Typical black loams. The American,
Australian, and South African farmer will
readily recognise that extensive portions of
their respective countries fall under the above
category.

Ripe durum wheat in the field looks like barley,
and one is apt, on seeing it for the first time, to
confuse it with the latter cereal. It is usually
fairly tall, with broad, smooth leaves, the heads
are heavily bearded, the kernels large and very
hard, having less starch than the common types,
and varying in colour from a light to a reddish-

110

A Rainless Wheat

yellow. The grain of the finest durum wheat
is large, very hard, whitish, and slightly trans-
parent. Durum wheats are grown both as
spring and winter wheats. To ensure success
they should be sown on moisture-saving fallows,
and the growing wheat should be lightly har-
rowed to renew the soil-blanket and so retain
the soil-moisture until harvest-time. Of the
Russian varieties introduced and grown on the
Government dry land station at Lichtenburg,
Kubanka has given the best results during the
past three years. It has since been surpassed
by the rainless durum wheat Apulia, which we
introduced from Italy. The word Apulia comes
from the Italian Province of that name. The
soil of the province of Apulia is heavy and fertile,
but the whole district is deemed arid. Never-
theless, it supports a population of over two
million inhabitants and produces a wide range
of agricultural products. As it is probable
that further inquiry may be made regarding
the Apulia durum wheats, we would refer our
readers to the Royal Italian Consul in London,
the Marquis Fa4 di Bruno, who has most
courteously expressed his willingness to furnish
the names of the merchants from whom this
particular wheat can be obtained.

Ill

The Conquest of the Desert

The durum wheats have stood the test of
time. They have proved to be highly resistant
to drought, heat and rust. And so we beHeve
that by the introduction of these varieties into
the Union the wheat problem has been solved.
For with dry-farming and these cereals we shall
be able to extend our agricultural operations to
the driest districts, develop an export oversea
trade, and establish thriving settlements in the
waste places of Africa.

Method of Cultivation

The method of cultivation adopted for wheat
is as follows : — The virgin velt is well ploughed,
varying in depth from eight to fourteen inches.
A disk harrow is then used for the twofold
object of pulverising the clods and stirring the
soil as deeply as possible. For that purpose we
use a 20-inch disk harrow, and it is pleasant to
think that the finest implement of this type
is made by an English firm, Messrs J. and F.
Howard, of Bedford. A steel-tooth harrow is
then passed over the field to form a layer of fine
earth on the surface from two to three inches
deep. This is the soil-mulch or earth-blanket.
The land is then allowed to rest, but should it

112

A Rainless Wheat

begin to get hard and crack on the surface a light
harrow is run over it, which prevents the escape
of moisture and the drying out of the soil.
Also, after every rain, the ground is harrowed,
and the dry soil-blanket restored. A whole
year is devoted to such soil culture, and then in
the month of May the wheat is sown. It is not
necessary to wait for rain, as the soil is then so
moist that the seed can be sown at any time.
The seed is sown with an ordinary drill, which
deposits it underneath the dry soil-blanket.
When the young plants are a few inches above
the ground a light harrow, called a weeder, is run
through them. This treatment, which was at
first viewed with much surprise by the farmers
of South Africa, has proved most successful.
It prevents the evaporation of soil moisture,
renews the soil -blanket, and restores the vitality
of the crop. It may be continued until the
wheat is eight to ten inches high or even more.
Wheat sown in the winter-time — viz. during
the month of May — is reaped in November,
before the season of rust, which usually occurs
in midsummer — that is to say, December,
January, and February. This is, of course, a
point of the utmost importance to the wheat-
grower. Such was the method by which the
H 113

The Conquest of the Desert

Apulia durum wheat was produced on which no
rain fell from seed-time till harvest. Side by
side with the lands bearing crops are the fallow
lands, ploughed and harrowed, waiting for the
rain to be absorbed and held for the next plant-
ing season. Many farmers in South Africa stand
idly waiting for the rains in order to plough and
plant their crops. But the dry farmer, who
prepares his land the year before, can plant
early in the season without fear of drought or
the risk of late frosts. The soil on the Lichten-
burg farm is a light, shallow, sandy loam lying
on a gravel subsoil. It is a poor soil for dry-
farming, but it is a convincing proof of what
can be done by thorough and systematic tillage.

Moisture Bank and Humus Bank

Hardly a season passes but we hear of crops
that have failed because of lack of rain, and this
complaint is not confined to any particular
Dominion, but is more or less common to all
parts of the Empire. Search the pages of the
rural magazines, consult the columns of the
daily Press, and, sooner or later, your eye will
light on that sombre line : *' The crop has
failed this year owing to drought." And the
amazing thing is that no remedy is ever sug-

114

A Rainless Wheat

gested, no preventive is ever proposed. Decade
after decade, year in and year out, drought
finds the farmer unprepared, watching sadly his
withering crop in a sun-scorched, waterless soil.
The Alpha and Omega in the fight against
drought is the moisture-saving fallow. With-
out it all effort is useless. With it all soil-
drought disappears. Suppose we start with the
bare moisture-saving fallow and we conserve
six inches of rain out of a 12-inch annual rain-
fall. We hold the fallow for a year and then
sow our wheat in a moist seed-bed. The
second season another twelve inches may fall
in the field, of which, say, six inches are utilised
by the plants, and so, at the end of the second
year, instead of one or two possible failures,
we reap a 30-bushel ^ (12-inch rainfall) crop
of wheat. The establishment of a moisture
savings bank to pay cash on demand is the
fundamental principle in dealing successfully
with recurrent seasonal droughts. This prac-

^ Widtsoe calculates the crop-producing power of rainfall
as follows : —

One acre inch of water will produce 2^ bushels of wheat.
Ten acres inches of water will produce 25 bushels of

wheat.
Twenty acres inches of water will produce 30 bushels
of wheat.

115

The Conquest of the Desert

tice is strongly advocated by the foremost
Australian authority on dry-farming, Sutton
of New South Wales, who writes :

" In dry districts a proper system of fallowing
is therefore an essential of success, and the
general adoption of a proper system in our
wheat districts is a factor which will do more
than any other to remove wheat-growing from
the area of speculation and place it on a sound
and solid basis. With a proper system in
practice, the rainfall of the previous, or a portion
of the previous, year can be stored, conserved
and utilised for a subsequent crop."

And he closed an instructive address to an
assemblage of farmers with these words : " Go
back home and fallow till harvest-time, and,
when the harvest is over, start to work the
fallow and keep at it until seed-time."

It may be said that the practice of growing
crops on only half of the arable land and main-
taining the other half in clean fallows means a
good deal of extra labour. That is so, but it
also means a certain crop in seasons of drought.
It may be said that the continuous cultivation
of the moisture-saving fallows will eventually
burn out the vegetable matter in the soil. It

116

A Rainless Wheat

may be so ; but the remedy is at hand. On
worn-out fallows you can always grow green
legumes, fill the soil with nitrogen, and so
gradually establish a humus bank. These two
savings banks — the Moisture Bank and the
Humus Bank — will secure the farmer against
the severest drought and make possible a
permanent fertility on the dry lands of South
Africa.

The Year of Drought

The prospect of a year of drought is the
favourite topic of conversation for those luke-
warm Laodiceans who, by idle criticism, vainly
try to check the progress of dry-farming.
Drought to the intelligent dry farmer is no more
than a passing storm to the skilful mariner at
sea. Before us lie two authentic records of
farms where the year of drought brings no
dismay. These records are taken from the
admirable work on dry-farming of the most
eminent American authority, Dr John H.
Widtsoe of Utah. The first farm belongs to
Senator Barnes of Utah, and is situated in the
Salt Lake Valley. The climate is semi-arid,
the summers are dry, and the evaporation large.

117

The Conquest of the Desert

Over a period of nineteen years crop and rainfall
records have been most carefully kept. There
has been only one crop failure, and that was the
first, when the land was not yet properly tilled.
The heaviest crop of wheat, 28*9 bushels, was
harvested in the year 1902, when next to the
lowest rainfall occurred, which varied from
10*33 inches to 18*46 inches. Moisture-saving
fallows followed every crop.

A second and equally instructive record is
furnished by the Government Experimental
Farm at Indian Head in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Here also reliable records have been kept for
the same period — viz. nineteen years. Not a
single crop failure is recorded. The highest
yield was forty-nine bushels to the acre, the
lowest seventeen. During this period the rain-
fall varied from 3*9 to 20*22 inches (snowfall
not included — varying from 1*3 inches to 2*3
inches of water). Here also moisture-saving
fallows followed every crop.

These experiments clearly show that the
year of drought need not be feared when the
principles of dry-farming are properly carried
out. In the conservation of soil-moisture lies
the ultimate conquest of drought. And in
place of the barren desert, abandoned homes,

118

A Rainless Wheat

and dying cattle, we can now paint a new and
glowing picture. There, under a serene and
cloudless sky, lies a panorama of green and
chocolate-brown — mile after mile the growing
wheat and the deep-stirred, water-holding
fallow. No rain may fall for many a day, but
the husbandman is untroubled. For he knows
that his seed has fallen upon good ground, and
that, from far below, those life-streams are
flowing ever upward which will carry his
hundredfold corn white unto the harvest.

119

WHAT THE DIP MEANS TO
THE DESERT

CHAPTER XI

WHAT THE DIP MEANS TO THE DESERT

In describing the early days of South Africa
all travellers speak with astonishment at the
vast herds of game which used to roam over
the velt. Now, in considering the agricultural
potentialities of the country this fact should be
taken into account. For it is evident that a
land which formerly sustained countless herds
of wild buck is likely to be equally well suited
to support domestic animals. For ages the
Buffalo roamed at will over the prairies of
the " Far West," where at present we find the
sleek Shorthorn or the placid Hereford. And
so we find that the grass plains of the Free
State where the graceful Springbok once gam-
bolled undisturbed now nourish the meek-eyed
merino, and pure-bred cattle from the most
famous herds of the British Isles and Holland.
Ten years ago the reclamation and settlement
of the Desert would have seemed an almost
hopeless task ; because although the colonist
might live there contentedly and grow farm

123

The Conquest of the Desert

crops with fair measure of success, the surround-
ing colonies lay desolate in the grip of the cattle
plague. To-day the stockman of the Kalahari
can face the future in a tranquil spirit. True,
the farmers of Bechuanaland and other parts of
South Africa have recently suffered severe losses
owing to that old and still obscure disease
known as "lamziekte." But there can be
little doubt that it too will soon vanish before
veterinary science and closer settlement.

And what does the Dip mean to the Desert?
Simply this : that it will give the same security
to the cattle owner on the dry lands of Western
South Africa that it is now affording to the
dairymen in the more humid climate of the
eastern and coastal districts. It may be said
that the eradication of the tick in South Africa
means the disappearance of live-stock disease.
But how is it possible ever to exterminate
those insects, seemingly innumerable as the
sands of the seashore ?

Yesterday, I stood in a little laboratory * in
rural England and listened to the complaint
of Mr L. E. Robertson, a quiet, keen scientist
" It is most vexing," he said, " that we cannot
obtain any more suitable material from our

^ The Cooper Laboratory for Economic Research,
Watford.

124

What the Dip means to the Desert

farm in South Africa. Seven years ago it was
heavily infested with the bont tick. But we
have killed them all off by persistent dipping."
AVhat a splendid complaint, and what a
tribute to the union of science, industry and
commercial enterprise. It is now widely ack-
nowledged that the dry or desert lands are the
best and healthiest for all kinds of live stock.
And the researches in human, in plant, and in
animal diseases which are now being pursued
in the four Provinces and Rhodesia are all
tending to ameliorate the life and improve the
land of the desert dweller. But of the rich
discoveries which have recently been made in
Agricultural Science, none is so pregnant with
hope as the cleansing dip. To recount how it
came and what it means we must leave, for a
little while, the red sands of the Kalahari, and
t?ke up our residence amongst the farmers of
the midland and coastal regions of Natal.

• •■••••

In that well-known book of successful biog-
raphy, entitled " Self -Help," by Samuel Smiles,
there is no more enthralling tale than the career
of John Hunter, who left his carpenter's bench
to become the greatest anatomist of his genera-
tion. His constant message to his students

125

The Conquest of the Desert

was : " Why think, Try." It is a motto which
should be graven in gold in every homestead of
South Africa. Again and again we hear the
thoughtless statement that this crop will not
grow or that sickness cannot be eradicated.
But have we ever tried ? For a decade and
more the sombre shadow of disease has darkened
this fair land. It paralysed activity and bred
in our people a nerveless fatalism. The
greatest bacteriologist of the age was hurried
from Berlin to Bulawayo. He came armed
with test-tube, microscope and microtome. Yet
he failed, save perhaps for that racy farewell
message : " The disease will sweep to the sea."
But at the other end of the sickness zone a plain
man stood face to face with the same problem.
To him it meant penury or affluence. Around
him the cattle were dying in hundreds. Sud-
denly, on his own farm, he arrested the plague
by a simple experiment. He persevered and
was soon successful beyond his wildest dreams.
By his practical discovery South Africa becomes
at one bound the grandest cattle country in
the British Empire. The conqueror of the tick
by means of dipping is Joseph Baynes, of Nels
Rust, Natal.

During a visit last month to this Province we
126

What the Dip means to the Desert

were amazed at the marvellous progess that has
been made in the eradication of tick-borne
diseases by dipping, and we feel sure that our
readers will welcome a short review of what has
been done. The story of the discovery of the
value of dipping forms a fascinating chapter
in the annals of South African agriculture.

In the year 1901 Mr Baynes despatched an
agent to Queensland to purchase a shipload of
cattle from the tick-infested areas for his dairy
farm at Nels Rust. It was supposed that these
cattle would prove immune to South African
redwater. It was soon seen, however, that
this idea was erroneous. On arrival, the
Australian cattle were found to be suffering
from both redwater and lung-sickness, and
practically all succumbed to these diseases.
Nevertheless, this unprofitable venture proved
to be the most profitable speculation that Mr
Baynes ever undertook, as it turned his atten-
tion to the methods of tick destruction then
in vogue in Queensland. Learning that the
Government of that state were eradicating the
tick by means of dipping, he straightway set to
work, erected a dipping tank, the first in South
Africa, and prepared a dip according to the
Queensland formula. In all this work Mr

127

The Conquest of the Desert

Baynes was ably assisted by his manager, Mr
CD. Alexander, who drew up the plan of the
dipping tank and constructed a perfect model,
which was later exhibited to the farmers in
various parts of the country. The success of
these experiments was instantaneous. There-
upon Messrs Baynes and Alexander informed
the Governor of Natal, and asked him to make
their results widely known to the Governments
of the other South African colonies and to
Rhodesia. But at that time few appreciated
the magnitude of the discovery, while many
freely ridiculed the possibility of stamping out
tick-borne diseases by means of dipping. And
so for a long time their voice was like unto one
crying in a wilderness rendered desolate by
disease.

• ••••••

The first dip used at Nels Rust to combat
redwater was the Queensland dip, but when
East Coast fever broke out in Natal it became
necessary to find a dip which could be used
much more frequently. The Queensland dip
was found to be too severe for dipping at short
intervals. It was liable to burn the skin, and,
indeed, sometimes killed the animal. Another
objection was the time it took in making.

128

What the Dip means to the Desert

Thus arose the urgent need for a simple, short-
interval dip. Accordingly, Baynes and Alex-
ander began to reduce the strength of the
Queensland dip, and were successfully dipping
at intervals varying from seven to fourteen
days. It was evident, however, that entire
success would only be possible with still more
frequent dipping in order to exterminate the
parasites. At this moment there came on the
scene a man who was destined to complete
the trinity of workers, and at the same time to
close the final chapter in the conquest of the
tick. The name of this man is Lieutenant-
Colonel Watkins-Pitchford, F.R.C.V.S., formerly
Government Veterinary Bacteriologist to Natal.
Watkins-Pitchford was a welcome visitor at
Nels Rust, and began his observations there,
which, together with his laboratory experiments
at Maritzburg, three years later, gave him the
key to the problem. In spite of the success-
ful demonstrations at Nels Rust, it was then
stated that as dipping could not be carried out
more frequently than fourteen days, and as
the engorged tick which conveyed East Coast
fever dropped off an infected animal within a
few days, dipping was useless to stop the
disease. But Watkins-Pitchford, like John
I 129

The Conquest of the Desert

Hunter, determined not merely to think but
also to experiment. He did not assume that
cattle could only be dipped once a fortnight,
but set to work to find out how often, without
injury, they might be dipped so as to destroy
all the ticks. He proposed to discover the
correct composition of the dipping fluid so as
to secure (1) safety in the use and (2) destruc-
tive effect. His first task was to test by
practical experiment the action of all the best-
known dips on the market. Finding some of
them injurious, and none entirely satisfactory
when used at short intervals, he evolved the
now well-known laboratory dip, sometimes
called the " short-interval " or " three-day
dip." This dip can be used every seventy-
two hours with no ill effects to the animal,
and with the complete destruction of all ticks.
He further showed that with frequent dipping
the skin of an animal becomes temporarily
impregnated with arsenic so much as to render
the beast poisonous to any ticks which may
become attached to it during the intervals
between the successive dippings. That is to
say, a newly dipped ox may destroy of its own
accord a large number of ticks apart from those
actually killed in the dipping tank. He proved

130

What the Dip means to the Desert

that the three-day dip can be successfully used
for sheep and horses and other animals as
well as for cattle. And, lastly, he demonstrated
that the disease can be carried by man, by
sheep, in hay and bedding, and that fencing
alone does not prevent its spread.
• ...•••

We have never had the pleasure of meeting
this scientist, but no one can peruse his now
classic experiments without being struck by
his modesty, his industry, and his conspicuous
ability. Every cattle owner throughout the
Union should procure a copy of his brochure
entitled " Tick Destruction and the Eradica-
tion of East Coast Fever and other South
African Diseases by Dipping " (Messrs P.
Davis & Sons, Maritzburg, Natal). The
history of the conquest of East Coast fever in
Natal affords a pleasing illustration of un-
selfish co-operation amongst the three workers
we have just mentioned, and forcibly reminds
us of these arresting words spoken by a dis-
tinguished American scholar, Dr Cyrus Northrop :
"It is no longer one man thinking for himself
alone that measures the progress of the race.
It is rather multitudes of men thinking for
humanity — all eager to share their thoughts and

131

The Conquest of the Desert

discoveries with one another and to pubHsh
them to the world."

Some years ago the dairymen of the Dominion
of New Zealand presented a silver salver to the
inventor of the Babcock Test in recognition of
his splendid services to their industry, while the
members of the Legislative Assembly of Wis-
consin caused his name to be inscribed on their
Parliamentary rolls as the man who has made
their state the most famous milk region in the
great republic. But to our mind the eradica-
tion of the devastating tick is a far grander
achievement than the invention of a test for
butter fat. It is the custom of our Empire to
honour those soldiers who have rendered con-
spicuous service to the nation by a vote of
thanks passed in the Imperial Parliament.
But peace has her victories no less renowned
than war ; and we believe that the best reward
which could be given to Baynes, Alexander, and
Watkins-Pitchford would be a vote of thanks
passed by the Union Parliament. Such public
testimony would not only be a graceful tribute
to the Province of Natal, but would plainly
indicate that our legislators recognise the price-
less service that these citizens have rendered to
the Union of South Africa. Be that as it may,

132

what the Dip means to the Desert

we like to recall the words of the late Dr
Hutcheon, set down eight years ago in the
following letter, which is worthy of permanent
record in the pages of this volume.

" Natal Agricultural Union,

*' 12 Timber Street, Pietermaritzburg,

" 28th October 1905

"The Honourable Joseph Baynes, M.L.C,

"Nels Rust.

"Dear Sir, — I am directed by the Union to
forward to you an expression of the feeling of
the Inter-Colonial Agricultural Union, which
met in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday and
Thursday last, regarding your successful work
in dipping for the eradication of ticks.

" The Inter-Colonial Agricultural Union fully
discussed the question of dipping, and at
the conclusion Doctor Hutcheon, Director of
Agriculture at the Cape, moved a vote of
thanks to you, coupling with your name that
of Mr G. D. Alexander, as being the first to
introduce dipping into South Africa, on which
account agriculturists owe you a deep debt of
gratitude.

" The vote of thanks was carried with acclama-

133

The Conquest of the Desert

tion, and I have very great pleasure in forward-
ing this expression of the Union's feehngs in
the matter by this letter.

*' I have the honour to be, yours faithfully,

"Duncan M. Eadie,
" Secretary.''^

• • • • • • •

Before systematic dipping was started in
Natal, had you gone through the cattle of Nels
Rust, or indeed those of any other dairy farm,
and examined their hair you would have seen
myriads of tiny ticks so close together that it
was almost impossible to touch the skin with
a pin without touching a tick. Then the cattle
were listless and emaciated, their hair ruJBled,
their ears bleeding. Then Nels Rust was one of
the most horribly tick-infested spots in Natal.
To-day you may wander amongst hundreds of
cattle and you will find it a hard task to dis-
cover a single tick. The cattle are contented,
sleek and shiny. But the important thing is
that in eradicating the tick the Natal farmer
has not only eliminated East Coast fever and
redwater, but a host of minor diseases, such as
hairball, ophthalmia, ringworm, and mange.
Before dipping the annual loss of calves was
enormous, often over 60 per cent. ; now it has

134

What the Dip means to the Desert

sunk to under 5 per cent. Let us listen to
Mr Baynes on this matter : " Before I began to
dip I used to ask myself the question as I went
amongst my cattle, ' Notwithstanding all your
efforts to improve your herd and your costly
importations are you making any headway ?
Don't you realise that your occupation is
merely feeding ticks ? ' And but for the hope
that sooner or later I would eradicate the tick
I would have abandoned farming in this
country years ago." At Nels Rust once a week
all through the year every animal goes through
the dip, with the exception of the merino sheep,
which are dipped after clipping. Horses are
dipped in the same way as the cattle. Mr
Baynes continued : "At Nels Rust all the cattle
of my natives, over a thousand head, are put
through the dip every week. My natives are
eager to dip their cattle without any form of
compulsion, because they realise that by so
doing they are safeguarding them from the
disease. And I see no reason why all the cattle
of all the natives in the Union of South Africa
should not be dipped in like manner. By
tactful handling and itinerant headmen to
explain matters the Government could soon
persuade the natives to dip their cattle, and so

135

The Conquest of the Desert

the disease would be eradicated from the native
territories. By the simple process of dipping,
millions of pounds sterling might have been
saved to South Africa."

All through the ravages of East Coast fever
out of a herd of 1300 at Nels Rust only five
succumbed to the disease. It is no wonder
that on this farm at least they have ceased
to fear tick-borne diseases. Week after week
the cattle are sent out to collect the ticks.
Together they go into the dip. Unhappy
ticks ! Can anything be more simple ?

Again, where dipping has been systematically
carried out the disease known as redwater has
been virtually eliminated. Take a concrete
example. Before adopting the practice of
dipping, Mr Baynes imported thirty pedigree
bulls from Great Britain at an average price of
£124. All died a few weeks after arrival. Those
bulls were most carefully cared for, yet in spite
of daily attention they contracted the disease.

A short time ago at Nels Rust we saw two
valuable Lincoln red shorthorn bulls running
freely and safely on the veld. Those virulent
diseases, redwater and East Coast fever, are no
longer feared there, and the same is true of
many other farms in Natal.

136

What the Dip means to the Desert

To-day, the weekly dip makes possible the
safe importation from England and Europe
of valuable pedigree animals. In closing this
chapter it may be of interest to place on record
the testimony of two prominent farmers. Mr
W. J. S. Newmarch of Harden Heights stated
that, in his opinion, East Coast fever had been
a blessing in disguise to the stock-owners of
Natal. *' It has taught us," he remarked, " the
lesson of keeping our animals free from ticks
and vermin. The tick is to the cattle breeder
what the scab insect is to the sheep breeder.
Both can be easily eradicated."

Mr A. S. L. Hulett of Kearsney, the son of
the founder of the tea industry, is also an
enthusiastic advocate of dipping. Speaking on
this subject to the author, he said :

" Formerly, on the coast of Natal it was
impossible to acclimatise pure-bred stock. Im-
ported cattle used to die within a week. Since
the year 1906, when systematic weekly dipping
was started, the coastal farmers have cleared
their farms of ticks and their cattle have
increased marvellously. In the early days even
the old Zulu cattle were so eaten up with ticks
that they never gave any milk, and 80 per
cent, of their calves died. Now the coast

137

The Conquest of the Desert

farmer saves more than 95 per cent, of his
calves and is busy introducing pedigree Short-
horns, Ayrshires, and Frieslands. In the good
old days that some people talk of, we had to
live on tinned milk from Europe and butter
from Australia. These were the days of im-
ported produce. Then we fed ticks — not cattle.
I shudder to think of the cruel sufferings of
those poor bleeding animals in the pioneer
transport period. They were literally coated
with masses of ticks. East Coast fever swept
the country for 200 miles from the Portuguese
border to Umzimkulu. All our cattle were
wiped out. We lost 400 herd.

" Nowadays, dipping with us is merely so
much routine work. We dip our animals every
week on Saturday afternoon and let them rest
on Sunday. They are so eager to get rid of
the tiniest ticks that they plunge in of their
own free will. The cost is infinitesimal, and
the dipping fluid lasts for about four months.
Our company have recently erected six dips.
Dipping is worth millions of pounds to South
Africa. I am absolutely and emphatically in
favour of compulsory dipping for two reasons :
(1) it is humane, and (2) it is profitable."

In the study of South African Agriculture it
1.38

What the Dip means to the Desert

is a remarkable fact that Natal has not only
shown us how to eradicate the locust by means
of the arsenical spray, but she has also taught
us how to eradicate the tick by means of the
arsenical dip, a practice which is destined to
play a prominent part in the successful de-
velopment of stock-farming in the uttermost
parts of the desert.

139

THE EYE OF KURUMAN

CHAPTER XII

THE EYE OF KURUMAN

One hundred miles to the west of Vryburg,
right in the heart of Bechuanaland, over a
desolate road of limestone, dolomite and sand,
lies the village of Kuruman. It is best known
to fame as the mission station of Moffat and
the place where Livingstone lay down on a
pillow of stone and dreamt of that shining
ladder which led him to Lake Ngami, to the
Smoke- Sounding Falls, and to the shores of
Tanganyika. Three miles down the Kuruman
River you come to the old mission station,
buried amidst a wealth of seringa and willow.
There is the mission church built by Moffat, as
sound to-day as in 1828. There is the institute
for the teaching of the native children — a
generous gift from the hard earnings of the good
folk in the Homeland, now empty, neglected,
and falling in shameful ruins. There is the
twisted almond -tree, seared with the lightning
stroke and seamed with decay, still bearing
bravely its green fruit, where the great ex-

143

The Conquest of the Desert

plorer wooed and won the missionary's daughter.
But the final chapter of this mission romance
was closed when the weaver of Blantyre was
borne into the abbey. And Livingstone must
have seen a vision in the crystal pool of Kuru-
man when he wrote : " The world is ours. Our
Father made it to be inhabited, and many shall
run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
It will be increased more by emigration than by
missionaries."

The origin of the name Kuruman is obscure.
In an early book it is written Krooman. Some
say it means the " place of the little calabash,"
others the " place of the little tortoise," and yet
others that it is the name of a mighty Bushman
who had his home in the cave of the weep-
ing fountain. The " Eye " of Kuruman is a
perennial stream which issues out of a dark
cavern of dolomite. Its flow has been measured
by the officials of the Geological Survey and
Irrigation Department, and the figures given
vary from four to five million gallons every
twenty-four hours. So far as one can learn, it is
the most remarkable spring in South Africa, and
one of the purest in the whole world. \Vlien all
other springs fail farmers come from afar with
their flocks and herds to the Kuruman River.

144

(fig. I.)
DRY-FARMING IN BECHUANALAND.

The failure of tlie maize crop during the last ])rolonged drought was largely
<lu(; to poor, shallow ])loughing. In this picture the evaporation of soil
moisture is enormous, because the harrow has not followed the plough.

(fig. 2.)

A SCIENTIST WITH A RECORD " BEAT."

'Jhe breakdown of Professor Beattie at Kuruman. Professor Beattie, of

the South African College, is the chief of th(! Magnetic Survey. His "beat"

extends from Capetown to Gondokora on the Nile.

The Eye of Kuruman

Morning, noon and night, cattle, horses, sheep
and goats splash contentedly in these cool, sweet
waters. If Kuruman were in Canada it would
be easy to forecast its rise and progress. Situated
in the centre of the finest stock plains in South
Africa, in the midst of a potential maize region
for grain or silage, on the westward highway
to the sea, in five years it would surpass Saska-
toon, in fifteen Calgary, and in thirty Winnipeg.
But we live in a land where men look for gold
only in the mile-deep mines, and are blind to
the richness of our ten-inch levels. Neverthe-
less, this gem of the desert is destined to have
a great future.

• ••••••

Our earliest record is from the pen of the
Rev. John Campbell, who was sent out by the
London Missionary Society on 24th June 1812,
to inspect the mission stations of Cape Colony.
So that here we have the testimony of a man who
gazed into the eye of Kuruman over the vista
of a hundred years. In his " Travels in South
Africa " (p. 174) Mr Campbell writes :

" After breakfast we walked about three
miles from Steven Fountain to view Krooman
Fountain, whence the river of that name pro-
K 145

The Conquest of the Desert

ceeds. It is the most abundant spring of water
I have ever had an opportunity to examine. I
measured it at about a yard's distance from the
rock whence it flows, and found it three yards
wide and from fourteen to eighteen inches deep,
but after a course of fifty or sixty miles it be-
comes invisible by running into plains of sand.
Perhaps by leading it into another direction, or
cutting a bed for it across the sands, it might
become a more extensive blessing to the country.
The last experiment is likely to be the least
successful, as probably the first storm of wind
would fill up the new bed. We entered the cave
whence it proceeds on purpose to examine it.
The entrance was narrow, but we soon reached
a kind of central room, the roof of which re-
sembled in shape, though not in height, the dome
of St Paul's Cathedral in London, from which
went four passages in different directions, in
all of which streams flowed. Though we had
lighted candles with us, we could discern no end
to any of these passages. Within, the water
was almost lukewarm, but outside it was very
cold. The rock is composed of limestone."

Our next witness is the famous traveller,
George Thompson, who visited Kuruman in

146

The Eye of Kuruman

1823. In his " Travels and Adventures in
Southern Africa " (vol. i., p. 200) Mr Thomp-
son writes :

" We therefore ordered the people with the
waggon to make the best of their way back, while
Mr Moffat and I directed our course towards the
Kuruman Fountain, which we reached after a
ride of about five hours. This is probably the
most abundant spring of water in South Africa.
A considerable river bursts at once from th^e
rock by a number of broken passages in the side
of a hill, forming a sort of cavern. Into this we
penetrated about thirty feet, but without ob-
serving anything remarkable. The water as it
issued from the rock felt at this time rather
warm ; in summer it is said to be cold as ice.
... I could hear nothing of the great serpent,
mentioned by Lichtenstein as residing in this
cavern, and which, he says, was regarded by the
natives with sentiments of veneration. I doubt
not,[however, the truth of the report he mentions,
for some species of the boa certainly exist in
the country."

Further on (see pp. 18 to 23, vol. ii.) Thomp-
son says :

147

The Conquest of the Desert

" I learned from these people (Korannas) that
the Kuruman River, which rises in the Bechuana
country, joins the Gariep (Orange River) a little
below King George's Cataract ; but that in the
lower part of its course it is often dry for years
together, like the Hartebeest torrent, on the
southern side."

At that period the " Eye " of Kuruman flowed
into the Molopo, which in turn, in wet seasons,
poured its waters into the Orange River not
far below " King George's Cataract."

148

THE CATARACTS OF KING
GEORGE

CHAPTER XIII

THE CATARACTS OF KING GEORGE ^

" Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers
have set " (Proverbs xxii. 28).

" It seems surprising that such a wonderful work of God
should be concealed from the inspection of mankind in the
bosom of Wild Africa " (" Travels in South Africa," by
John Campbell, 1813).

Two hundred and forty miles in a straight line
from the mouth of the Orange River, and over
a thousand from the leaping waters of its source
in the far-off mountains of the Basutos are the
Great Falls of that mighty stream. It was well
said by the ancients that out of Africa there
comes always something new. And so once
again we have to record a story of mystery and
romance. If you look at the map of north-
western Cape Colony where the Orange River
is bordered on the north by the district of
Gordonia, and on the south by the district of
Kenhart, you will see marked the Aughrabies
or Great Falls. Now these falls are incorrectly

^ Reprinted by kind permission from The Nineteenth
Century and After, No. 439, September, 1913.

151

The Conquest of the Desert

named, and have been for a period of close on
half-a-century. The name under which these
mighty falls should be known is the name given
to them by their discoverer, George Thompson,
on 15th August 1824.

He called them " King George's Cataract."
And Scotsmen the world over may perhaps be
pardoned if they feel a thrill of pride when they
remember that, as it was one of their race who
first broke through the desert of the Kalahari,
gazed on the Smoke- Sounding Falls of the
Zambesi, and called them the " Falls of
Victoria " : so it was likewise, just thirty-one
years before, another traveller as they believe
of the same race, less eminent, but none the
less brave, that pierced the desolate wastes of
Namaqualand, stood by the rushing waters of
the Orange River, and named them the
*' Cataracts of King George." At any rate
there is here a fascinating field of historic and
geographic research, besides the economic study
of the dry and desert lands of South Africa.

In the previous chapter the reader will have
noted that Thompson states that the Kuruman
River joins the Gariep (Orange River) not far
below King George's Cataract. My attention

152

The Cataracts of King George

was arrested by the animated description of
Thompson's great discovery, almost as much as
by the name he had selected to designate the
glorious waterfall. And I determined to solve
the mystery of the map, and to see for myself
the Great Falls of the Great River.

Now the extraordinary thing is that the name
which was given to this waterfall by the dis-
coverer has mysteriously disappeared from all
the recent maps of South Africa. In his volume
entitled " Travels and Adventures in Southern
Africa," by George Thompson, dedicated to
the Earl of Bathurst, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, and published in 1827, we find the
" King George IV. Cataract " on the author's
map. This name appears also on a map
published in The Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society for 1836 to illustrate an
article entitled : " On the Roads and Kloofs
in the Cape Colony," by Major C. C. Michell,
Royal Engineers, K.H., Surveyor-General at
the Cape of Good Hope ; on a map to illustrate
the volume entitled " Lake Ngami, or Explora-
tions and Discoveries," 1853, by Charles T.
Anderson, and published in 1856 ; on a map

153

The Conquest of the Desert

to illustrate the "Missionary Travels and Re-
searches of the Rev. Dr Livingstone, between
the years 1849 and 1856," prepared by John
Arrowsmith, 1857, and published by Mr John
Murray, London, in 1875. But since that time
the name King (ieorge's Cataract has dis-
appeared, and in its place we find the word
Aughrabies (Auku-rubies or rabies) or Great
Falls, which is probably a Koranna name for
the place or the waterfall which has since been
added.

In the map attached to " Travels in the
Interior of South Africa, 1849-1864," by James
Chapman, F.R.G.S., and published in 1868, the
name " Aukurubies " (waterfall) takes the place
of " King George's Cataract." In a volume
entitled " Through the Kalahari Desert," by
G. H. Farini, published in 1886, a map is given
in which these falls are described as " The
Hundred Falls." I have consulted the volumes
and maps of the early explorers in this region,
such as M. le Vaillant, Burchell, Lichtenstein,
Sparrman, Kolben, Campbell, Moffat, and I
find, beyond all doubt, that the Great Falls on
the Orange River were discovered by George
Thompson and named by him ** King George's
Cataract " ; and that the other names, both

154

The Cataracts of King George

native and European, were inaccurately assigned
by subsequent travellers, by errors of omission
or commission.

At this point we may recall the remarks of
Stanley on map-makers in general, as given in
" Darkest Africa," vol. ii., p. 268 :

" What the chartographers of Homer's time
illustrated of geographical knowledge, succeed-
ing chartographers effaced, and what they in
their turn sketched was expunged by those who
came after them. In vain explorers sweated
under the burning sun and endured the fatigues
and privations of arduous travel ; in vain did
they endeavour to give form to their discoveries ;
for in a few years the ruthless map-maker
obliterated all away. Cast your eyes over these
series of small maps, and witness for yourselves
what this tribe has done to destroy every dis-
covery and to render labour and knowledge
vain."

The Diary of Discovery

We shall now transcribe those glowing lines
taken from the diary of George Thompson which

155

The Conquest of the Desert

tell us of the discovery of the Cataracts of King
George, 15th August 1824.

" As soon as we came to a friendly under-
standing with these people (Korannas), I made
inquiries respecting a great cataract which I had
been informed existed in this vicinity. To my
high satisfaction I soon ascertained that it was
not above seven or eight miles down the river ;
and, as midday was scarcely passed, I deter-
mined to visit it immediately, and return to the
Koranna camp to spend the night. Leaving
our weakest horses, therefore, I set out with
Witteboy and five of the Korannas, whom I
engaged to accompany us on foot. ... As we
approached the fall, the sound began to rise
upon our ears, like distant thunder. It was still,
however, a work of some exertion to reach the
spot, from which we were divided by a part of
the river, and beyond that by a tract of wild
woodland, several miles in extent. The main
and middle branch of the Gariep (Orange River),
which forms the cataract, traverses a sort of
island of large extent, covered with rocks and
thickets, and environed on all sides by streams
of water. Having crossed the southern branch,
which at this season is but an inconsiderable

156

The Cataracts of King George

creek, we continued to follow the Korannas for
several miles through the dense acacia forests,
while the thundering sound of the cataract in-
creased at every step. At length we reached
a ridge of rocks, and found it necessary to
dismount and follow our guides on foot.

• ••••••

" It seemed as if we were now entering the
untrodden vestibules of one of Nature's most
sublime temples, and the untutored savages
who guided us, evinced by the awe and circum-
spection with which they trod, that they were
not altogether uninfluenced by the genius loci.
They repeatedly requested me to keep behind,
and follow them softly, for the precipices were
dangerous for the feet of men, and the sight
and sound of the cataract were so fearful, that
they themselves regarded the place with awe,
and seldom ventured to visit it. At length the
whole of them halted, and desired me to do
the same. One of them stepped forward to
the brink of the precipice, and having looked
cautiously over, beckoned me to advance. I did
so, and witnessed a curious and striking scene,
but it was not yet the waterfall. It was a rapid
formed by almost the whole volume of the river,
compressed into a narrow channel of not more

157

The Conquest of the Desert

than 50 yards in breadth, when it descended
at an angle of nearly 45 degrees, and rushing
tumultuously through a black and crooked
chasm, among the rocks, of frightful depth,
escaped in a torrent of foam. My swarthy
guides, although this was unquestionably the
first time that they had ever led a traveller to
view the remarkable scenery of their country,
evinced a degree of tact as Ciceroni, as well as
natural feeling of the picturesque, that equally
pleased and surprised me. Having forewarned
me that this was not yet the waterfall, they now
pioneered the way for about a mile farther
along the rocks, some of them keeping near
and continually cautioning me to look at my
feet, as a single false step might precipitate me
into the raging abyss of waters — the tumult of
which seemed to shake even the solid rocks
around us.

" At length we halted as before, and the next
moment I was led to a projecting rock, where a
scene burst upon me, far surpassing my most
sanguine expectations. The whole water of
the river (except that which escapes by the
subsidiary channel we had crossed, and by a
similar one on the north side) being previously

158

The Cataracts of King George

confined to a bed of scarcely one hundred feet
in breadth, descends at once in a magnificent
cascade of fully 400 feet in height. I stood
upon a cliff nearly level with the top of the fall,
and directly in front of it. The beams of the
evening sun fell full upon the cascade and
occasioned a most splendid rainbow ; while
the vapoury mists arising from the broken
waters, the bright green woods which hung
from the surrounding cliffs, the astounding roar
of the waterfall, and the tumultuous boiling
and whirling of the stream below, striving to
escape along its deep, dark, and narrow path,
formed altogether a combination of beauty and
grandeur, such as I never before witnessed. As
I gazed on this stupendous scene, I felt as if in
a dream.

" The sublimity of Nature drowned all appre-
hensions of danger ; and, after a short pause, I
hastily left the spot where I stood, to gain a
nearer view from a cliff that more immediately
impended over the foaming gulf. I had just
reached this station, when I felt myself grasped
all at once by four Korannas, who simultane-
ously seized hold of me by the arms and legs.
My first impression was that they were going
to hurl me over the precipice ; but it was a

159

The Conquest of the Desert

momentary thought, and it wronged the
friendly savages. They are themselves a timid
race ; and they were alarmed lest my temerity
should lead me into danger. They hurried me
back from the brink, and then explained their
motive, and asked my forgiveness. I was not
ungrateful for their care, though somewhat
annoyed by their ofiiciousness.
• •••.«■

" I returned to my station to take a sketch of
the scene, but my attempt was far too hurried,
and too unworthy of its object, to please myself,
or to be presented to the reader. The character
of the whole of the surrounding scenery, full of
rocks, caverns, and pathless woods, and the
desolate aspect of the Gariepine mountains
beyond, accorded well with the wild grandeur
of the waterfall, and impressed me with feelings
never to be effaced. . . . The river, after pour-
ing itself out in this beautiful cascade, rushes
along in a narrow chasm or canal, of about two
miles in length, and nearly 500 feet in depth,
apparently worn in the solid rock, in the course
of ages, by the force of the current.

" In the summer season, when the river is in
flood, the fall must be infinitely more magni-
ficent ; but it is probably at that season alto-

160

The Cataracts of King George

gether inaccessible ; for it is evident *^hat the
mass of waters, unable to escape by this passage,
then pour themselves out in mighty streams by
two subsidiary channels, which were now almost
dry, and at the same time overflow nearly the
entire tract of forest land between them —
which forms, at other seasons, a sort of island,
as we now found it. I named this scene ' King
George's Cataract,' in honour of our gracious
Sovereign."

Naturally, it will be asked : " Did any
previous traveller ever try to reach these falls
on the ' Great River ' ? " Yes ; two mission-
aries were almost within sound of the cataract,
and what is more extraordinary, both turned
aside without further exploration. On the 24th
June 1812, the Rev. John Campbell sailed for
England from the Cape of Good Hope. He
was sent out by the directors of the London
Missionary Society to inspect their various
mission stations established throughout the
colony. On 6th September 1813 he was
journeying down the Great River, and writes :

" Having heard of a waterfall at no great
distance, several of us set off at 9 a.m. with our
L 161

The Conquest of the Desert

guide to see it. We soon reached what might
be called the metropolis of rocks, for so extensive
a collection I saw nowhere else. They lay on
the surface of many miles. The most conspicu-
ous is about half-a-mile in length, and five
hundred feet high. It has the appearance of
an iron hill. Many low and high hills are
composed of huge rocks piled above each other,
and thousands of ponderous ones lie scattered
over the ground in every direction, to a great
distance, as if they had been transported thither
by some tremendous eruption. . . . The river
divides itself into several branches, which run
in deep chasms, cut out of solid rock perhaps
five hundred feet deep. As the sides were
perpendicular, it was impossible to get down to
the river. A stone thrown from the top was a
long time before it reached the river. We had
heard of the waterfall from various natives
when we were travelling down the river, but
none of them had seen it. Several had seen the
mist arising from it, but the sound had so
terrified them they were afraid to approach
it. After a search of several hours no water-
fall was either seen or heard " (" Travels in
South Africa," p. 286. By John Campbell,
1815).

162

The Cataracts of King George

Consequently, the writer of the article in the
latest edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica
(Eleventh Edition) is in error when he states
that Campbell discovered the Great Falls on the
Orange River.

The second traveller, who missed by a few
miles the discovery of these illusive falls, was
the Rev. Robert Moffat, the eminent missionary,
who entered South Africa in the year 1816,
and finally left it in 1870. From Capetown he
journeyed northwards to Namaqualand, where
he spent over a year at the kraal of the famous
robber chief Afrikaner. In September 1818,
he started out on a journey to Griquatown, in
the hope of finding a suitable site for a mission
station. He crossed the Great River twice.
How close he came to the falls is best told in
his own words. ^

" The Orange River here presents the appear-
ance of a plain, miles in breadth, entirely covered
with mimosa-trees, among which the many
branches of the river run, and then tumble over
the precipices, raising clouds of mist, when there
is any volume of water. As it was arranged
that we should not start before sunset, I
wandered at noon towards the river ; and

^ " Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa,"
by Robert Moffat, p. 151.

163

The Conquest of the Desert

supposing the falls (from the noise) were not
very far distant, I walked towards them ; but
feeling excessively tired, I sat down under the
shadow of a bush, and was soon fast asleep,
having had little rest the night before. [On
being awakened by his followers, Moffat, hearing
the roaring of lions, left the river and directed
his course to the next turn of the stream.] One
of these we reached at a late hour, and it being
very dark, and the banks precipitous, we heard
the water murmuring below, but dared not go
down, fearing a plunge, and the company of the
hippopotami."

The truth is, Moffat was a missionary before
he was an explorer. Livingstone, on the other
hand, was an explorer before he was a mission-
ary. This is clearly shown by the last note in
Livingstone's diary, as he lay dying : " Knocked
up quite and remain — recover — sent to buy
milch goats. We are on the banks of the
Molilamo."

• ••••••

The best recent description of the Falls is
that given in The State (South Africa) for May
and June 1911, by Mr A. D. Lewis, M.A.,
A.M.I.C.E., an official in the Union Irrigation
Department. Mr Lewis writes : "I have
adopted the name for the falls which you will

164

The Cataracts of King George

find on most maps, and have spelt it as it is
spelt on the map supplied with the Encyclo-
pcedia Britannica. [Mr Lewis refers to the
Ninth Edition.] The correct pronunciation of
the name is not, however, an easy matter. It
probably represents the bushman equivalent
for ' Great Waterfall,' and bushman words are
difficult to pronounce on account of their many
clicks and other strange sounds."

Mr Lewis's article is entitled " The Aughrabies
or Great Falls of the Orange River," and it is
hardly to be wondered at that in his ardour for
the irrigation possibilities of the Orange River
and far removed from historical references, he
should have missed the point that the Great
Falls have already been named by their dis-
coverer. In other maps (Chapman), as we have
just mentioned, the word is spelt " Aukurubies."
That is to say, there is no uniformity ever in the
spelling of the prefix or first syllables of this
word. To saddle the majestic falls of the
longest river in South Africa with such an out-
landish name is unthinkable. The native name
for the Victoria Falls — Mosioatunya — although
equally impossible, is far more musical than the
bushman word. It has been said that in all
cases where a native name is available to use

165

The Conquest of the Desert

for any geographical feature like a river, or
mountain, or falls, it should be preferred. But
no geographer of any standing would dream of
suggesting that the name of the English queen
should be removed from the falls of the Zambesi,
and few will deny an equal and earlier right for
the falls of the Orange River to bear the name
of an English king.

The Great Falls of the Orange River, although
less majestic, are higher than the Victoria Falls
on the Zambesi, and more than double those of
Niagara ; and it does indeed seem strange that
their correct name should be blotted out. But
stranger still is the fact that these noble cataracts
have remained practically a sealed book, alike
to the scientific explorer and to the people of
South Africa. In the space of a century a mere
handful of men have visited these falls — so
hard has been the approach to the southern
gateway of the Great Thirst Land. But the
next few years will witness a marvellous
transformation in the surrounding districts of
Namaqualand, Kenhart, Gordonia, and the
Kalahari. For the sister sciences of dry-farming
and irrigation are destined to make the desert
blossom as the rose. Railways will convey the
sun-seeker from Europe, along the verdant bank

166

The Cataracts of King George

of the Orange River, to the Cataracts of King
George, and the flour mill and the elevator will
bring prosperity to the poorest farmer. Here,
indeed, there is scope enough for a million men,
and a noble work — the conquest of the desert
for the Union, the Empire, and Humanity.

The Restoration of the Rightful Name

" I named this scene King George's Cataract in honour of
our gracious Sovereign " ("Travels in Southern Africa," vol.
ii. p. 23. By George Thompson).

It is just eighty-nine years since these simple
lines were penned, which appear as the super-
scription to this paragraph. I have pointed
how the name given to the Great Falls on the
Orange River has been mysteriously removed
from all recent maps, and replaced by a barbaric
bushman word. But the Great Falls of the
Great River are well worthy of their true and
noble title, and to-day I would ask the kind
reader to stand sponsor with me while we
journey westward to rechristen these mighty
waters after his Imperial Majesty, while we
salute the spirit of the brave explorer, and while
we read the fortune of a land but newly born.

• ••••••

It was one Thursday evening in the month of
March that we left Park Station, Johannesburg,

167

The Conquest of the Desert

by the seven forty -five train, and in the fresh-
ness of the morning were speeding over the
quiet battlefields of Magersfontein and the
Modder River. Soon after eight we crossed
the friendly Orange, fringed with green and flow
silt-laden to the sea. At eleven we reached
De Aar. Do you know what that word means
in the Dutch language ? It is a vein of water.
So when you see a long and verdant ridge in a
dry and thirsty desert, you may be sure that
these trees are following the flow of some under-
ground stream, and that there you are almost
certain to strike water at no great depth. The
veld around De Aar is famed for fat mutton, and
here the railway caterer wisely secures most of
his supplies. About noon we took the branch
line for Prieska. The aspect of the country
was dreary and desolate, for it was still in the
grip of a withering drought. But an all-wise
Providence has planted the grey-green karroo
bush here among the ironstone gravel, hot as
fire, and those round, black, glittering rocks
which seem to smile in sheer malice at the tiny
grass struggling to exist in a rainless, sun-
scorched land. The vital need of this region is
a second Van der Stel who would compel men to
plant trees to check the terrific evaporation, to

168

The Cataracts of King George

temper the wind, and to shade the soil from a
pitiless sun. Trees — trees — trees ; the deep bore
and the deep plough ; and verily you will make
this part of the karroo to blossom as the rose.
Presently we passed Britstown, a pretty, tree-
planted village with its thirteen windmills, and
half-way a veritable oasis of lucerne lands,
ostriches, and orchards at Houw Water, and
in the blackness of night reached Prieska, the
present terminus of the line. Prieska, which,
being interpreted, means the " Place of the Lost
Goat," is a pleasant town on the south loop of
the Orange River. It is the gateway to the
back country, and its future as an important
farming centre is fully assured.

We were now ready to enter the north-west,
that strange land of sunshine, deserts, and
droughts, so little known to the dweller along
the Reef ^ or the surf -splasher of St James. ^
It is a vast, alluring land of infinite silent spaces.
Once you go in, you never come out. Unfold
your map and let us study this " back " or
" up-country." There is Kenhart. It lies one
hundred and ten long miles beyond Prieska,
and you may reach it by motor in seven hours,

1 Gold-mining area of the Transvaal.

" A pleasure resort near Cape Town.

169

The Conquest of the Desert

by Cape cart in two days, or by donkey waggon
in one week. You pass glittering mountains,
to the bare and burning plains, and struggle
through parched sands to follow the telegraph
pole. At Kenhart we crossed the Hartebeest
River, whose towering camel-trees and bright
sand-dunes form a veritable pillar of cloud by
day and fire by night to guide the weary traveller
over seventy miles of wilderness to the banks of
the mighty Orange.

It was toward evening, after four hot hours
in a motor car, that we rose in huge sand-
circles over the ultimate range and gazed in the
soft glow of sunset on the green and fertile
valley of Kakamas — one hundred and four score
miles from Prieska.

At Kakamas the Orange is a majestic river,
flowing swiftly between green islands. The
Great Falls, to which we still were journeying,
are situated twenty-four miles farther down the
stream. For half of the way you are still in the
settlement,^ and constantly pass the white tents
and trim cottages of the colonists. A few miles
farther on we crossed the red sand of the
Hartebeest River, and came to the pretty village

^ The Kakamas Labour Colony for " Poor Whites,"
established by the Dutch Reformed Church (see Chapter
IX., page 83).

170

The Cataracts of King George

of Marchand. Here we received a warm-
hearted welcome from Mr Theodore Sterrenberg,
warden of the irrigation furrows on Paarden
Island. The rest of the road is over a switch-
back country of glittering rocks and glaring
river sand. It was no wonder that we were
glad to rest and refresh ourselves at the lonely
inn at Rhenosterkop, where we left our motor,
which had borne us bravely through two
hundred miles of sand and shrub and stone.
Here the enterprising and patriotic manager,
taking a kindly interest in our trip, stated that
hereafter his winkel would be known as *' King
George's Hotel." From this point we travelled
by Cape cart, passing a little group of Korannas
who had made their home under the branches
of a solitary tree, until at last we reached the
farmhouse of Rooipad.

Here we slept that night, and next morning
shouldered our boat and started for the falls.
The boat was loaned to us through the kindness
of a friend at Kakamas, who rowed it down the
river as far as the village of Marchand, whence
it was conveyed by ox-waggon to Rooipad. It
was the first time that a boat had ever been
employed to reach the Great Falls.

It now devolved upon us to carry the boat

171

The Conquest of the Desert

over heavy sand-dunes and through a veritable
jungle of tangled thorn-trees, and then to row
it across six subsidiary streams. In the midst
of the sAviftest current an oar broke, but,
fortunately, we had one to spare. It was in an
exhausted condition that we gained the main
island. Here we were heartened by the arrival
of Mr Nel, the farmer at Rooipad, who had
kindly left his goats to act as our guide.

We marched rapidly forward. It was blazing
hot. We left the grateful shade of the trees
and tramped over the burning granite rocks.
We had toiled since sunrise. It was now noon.
At last we came in sight of the dark canon.
Nel, far in advance, waved his hand. The roar
of the fall grew louder and louder, and we pressed
eagerly forward. A long range of mountains
rose in a great semicircle and faded to the
German border ; straight up the river was a
forest of sun-splashed green, but all around us
was bare and barren rock. At length we gained
a ledge, high above the roaring river, and gazed
in wonder on the Cataracts of King George.

Away above was the main stream of the
mighty river, which, suddenly dividing, swept
into two narrow channels, while the plunging,
prisoned waters, fighting to be free, fell headlong

172

The Cataracts of King George

into the dark abyss below. Every few minutes
a vast column of vapour rose from the river and
spread far and wide in a soft white mist. The
water of the Orange is chocolate-coloured from
carrying fine particles of silt, and you might
almost imagine that a million men were
shovelling soil into the river, every single second,
where the cataracts leap into the cafion.

With the life-giving juice of a lemon we
solemnly re-christened the Aughrabies, or Great
Falls of the Orange River, as the Cataracts of
King George. And then, having taken a few
photographs, we prepared to return. Except
in the middle of winter, when the tributary
streams are low, it is not possible to reach the
Great Falls without a boat save by swimming.
This method was adopted by two members of
our party, the Hon. Paul Methuen and Mr
Gustave Lutz of Upington, Gordonia.

• ••••••

And now in the quiet comfort of my home
I would like to record a few reflections. The
Union Government owns a large tract of land on
both sides of the waterfall. All citizens of South
Africa will pray that this splendid heritage
may be preserved for all time to come and be
laid out as a National Park, as has been done at

173

The Conquest of the Desert

Niagara by the Governments of the Dominion
and the United States. With a few Hght sus-
pension bridges these wonderful cataracts could
be made easily accessible to all tourists ; while
with the stupendous power of the falls we may
hope to see at no distant date the development
of a vast system of irrigation works and agricul-
tural industries, and the establishment of an
electric railway, running from the cataracts to
Kakamas, and thence via Upington to connect
with the main line at Prieska.

In closing the sketch of our tour, let us turn
for a moment to the pages of William Paterson
and listen to his account of the baptism of the
Orange River. On 17th August 1779, the brave
traveller. Colonel Gordon, with his daring little
band — Jacobus Van Reenen, Pienaar, and
Paterson — reached the Great River . . .
*' which appeared at once to be a new creation
to us, after having passed nine days in crossing
an arid and sultry desert, where no living animal
was to be seen and during which our cattle had
but twice tasted the luxury of a drop of water.
... In the evening we launched Colonel
Gordon's boat, and hoisted the Dutch colours.
Colonel Gordon proposed first to drink the
State's health, and then that of the Prince of

174

The Cataracts of King George

Orange, after which he gave the river the name
of the Orange River, in honour of that Prince."
It has been well said by an immortal writer :
" That man is little to be envied whose patriot-
ism would not gain force upon the plains of
Marathon or whose piety would not grow
warmer among the ruins of lona." And so, in
this day of indissoluble Union, there are surely
few of us who can gaze unmoved on the map of
Southern Africa when we remember that the
Great River ^ was called after a Dutch Prince,
and that the Great Falls again rightly bear the
name of an English King.^

^ In old works of travel the Orange River is termed the
Gariep or " Great River."

* On my return to the Transvaal I forwarded a summary
of the above investigations to Dr J. G. Bartholomew, and
in a courteous letter of acknowledgment the eminent
geographer states that upon receipt of this information
he gave instructions that on the new maps of South Africa
to be issued by his firm, the Great Falls of the Orange
River shall hereafter be described by their true and former
name.

175

THE LIFE DREAM OF
LIVINGSTONE

CHAPTER XIV

THE LIFE DREAM OF LIVINGSTONE

" The end of the Geographical Feat is only the beginning
of the Enterprise."

" I beg to direct your attention to Africa. I know that
in a few years I shall be cut off in that country which is now
open. Do not let it be shut again. I go back to Africa to
try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity.
Do you carry out the work which I have begun. / leave it
with you." — David Livingstone.

If you climb up from the gloom of the Waverley
Station, in the city of Edinburgh, and pass out
into the sunshine along the grandest street in
all the world, you come suddenly on a scene
of matchless beauty. High above is the grim
old castle, down below the gleaming street,
in between the dewy gardens where the mavis
still is singing his love song to the morn. One
packed mile of Scotland — flowing traffic, fairest
women, and four furlongs of those statues to her
splendid sons in the foremost files of time.

There it is! A simple monument to the
great explorer, with Bible, axe, and lion-skin.
Heroic : well worthy of Carlyle. Certainly
the bravest-hearted emigrant that ever left

179

The Conquest of the Desert

the British Isles ; the finest soul that has
lived and died for Africa. Other writers have
dealt with the missionary labours and epoch-
making discoveries of David Livingstone, but
none has so far shown that the dream of this
fearless traveller was not so much the conver-
sion of the savage, nor yet the search for the
fountains of the Nile, nor even the destruction
of the slave trade, but rather that these vast
startled solitudes should become the highways
of a benign civilisation and the happy homes
of industrious colonists.

The father of David Livingstone was a small
tea-dealer, who died in the year 1856, while his
illustrious son was travelling homewards from
Zumbo on the Zambesi. Of his mother his
earliest recollection was an anxious housewife
striving to make both ends meet. Yet on their
tombstone in the cemetery of Hamilton he
thanked God " for Poor and Pious Parents."
In South Africa we are accustomed to hear that
crude and heartless doctrine that a welcome
should be extended only to those immigrants
in possession of £1000. It is indeed a pleasant
theory for the light weights of land settlement,
but so far as common-sense and Scottish emigra-

180

DAVID LIVINGSTONE 18 I 3- I 873.

The Life Dream of Livingstone

tion are concerned not worth a crooked bawbee.
To the very last Livingstone was proud of the
class from which he had sprung. When the
highest in the land were showering their con-
gratulations on the great explorer, he was busy
writing to his old friends of " my own order,
the honest poor," and trying to promote their
welfare by schemes of colonisation.

The child in the cotton factory and his quench-
less thirst for learning are best told in his own
words :

" At the age of ten I went to the factory as a
piecer. With a part of my first week's wages
I purchased Ruddiman's ' Rudiments of Latin,'
and studied that language for many years with
unabated ardour, or at an evening school, which
met between the hours of eight and ten. I con-
tinued my labours when I got home till twelve
o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere
by snatching the books out of my hands. I had
to be back in the factory by six in the morning,
and my work lasted, with intervals for breakfast
and dinner, till eight o'clock at night. I read
in this way many of the classical authors, and
knew Virgil and Horace better at sixteen than
I do now."

181

The Conquest of the Desert

Further on he writes :

" My reading in the factory was carried on by
placing the book on a portion of the spinning
jenny, so that I could catch sentence after
sentence as I passed at my work. I thus kept
up a pretty constant study undisturbed by the
roar of the machinery. To this part of my
education I owe my power of completely ab-
stracting my mind from surrounding noises, so
as to read and write with perfect comfort amidst
the play of children or the dancing and songs of
savages. "

Having qualified in due course as a medical
missionary, Dr Livingstone embarked for Africa
in the year 1840, and after a voyage of three
months reached the Cape. From thence he
proceeded to Algoa Bay and a little later trekked
inland to the Kuruman mission station in
Bechuanaland. Having rested his oxen he next
turned his attention to the north. The chief of
the Bakwains was Sechele, who lived at a place
called Shokuane. When Livingstone stated his
determination to go north, Sechele pointed to
the great Kalahari Desert and replied : " You
can never cross that country to the tribes beyond.

182

(fic. I.)

Moffat's house at kuruman.

The resid(Mice of Robert Moffat, the eminent missionary, and of his

distinguished son-in-law. Dr. Livingstone, the greastest explorer of

modern times.

(fig. 2.)
MISSION INSTITUTE AT KURU.MAN.

These beautiful buildings, erected at a cost of ten thousand pounds, are
falling in shameful ruins.

The Life Dream of Livingstone

It is utterly impossible even for us black men,
except in certain seasons, when more than the
usual supply of rain falls, and an extraordinary
growth of water-melons follows."

We have no space to speak of Livingstone's
explorations in the " Great Thirst Land " ; but
the following note written so long ago must be
of interest to us : —

" The whole of the country adjacent to the
desert, from Kuruman to Kolobeng, Litubaruba
and beyond, up to the latitude of Lake Ngami,
is remarkable for the salubrity of its climate.
Europeans whose constitutions have been im-
paired by an Indian residence, feel its restorative
powers. Mr Oswell thought the climate much
superior to that of Peru, and were it not for the
great expense of such a trip, I should have no
hesitation in recommending the borders of the
Kalahari Desert as admirably suited for pulmon-
ary complaints. It is the complete antipodes
of our raw English atmosphere. The winter,
which begins in May and ends in August, is
perfectly dry. Not a drop of rain falls during
that period, and damp and cold are never com-
bined. During many months there is scarcely
any dew. However hot the day might have

183

The Conquest of the Desert

been at Kolobeng — and the thermometer some-
times rose to ninety-six degrees in the coolest
part of our house — ^yet the atmosphere never
had that steamy feeling and those debilitating
effects which prevail in India and on the coast
of Africa itself. Nothing can exceed the balmi-
ness of the evenings and mornings throughout
the year. You wish for an increase neither of
cold nor heat."

• ••••••

Take up an old map of the Springbok Flats
and you will still see the words " barren, water-
less desert." But the deep bore and the
principles of dry-farming have turned those
arid wastes into the richest arable lands in the
Transvaal. So it shall be with the " Great
Thirst Land ! " Livingstone writes :

" The space from the Orange River in the
south, lat. 29, to Lake Ngami, in the.north, and
from about 24 east long, to near the west coast,
has been called a desert because, though inter-
sected by the bed of ancient rivers, it contains
no running water, and very little in wells. Far
from being destitute of vegetation, it is covered
with grass and creeping plants ; and there are
large patches of bushes and even trees. In

184

The Life Dream of Livingstone

general the soil is light-coloured soft sand, nearly
pure silica. The beds of the former streams
contain much alluvial soil, which being baked
hard by the burning sun, rain-water in some
places stands in pools for several months of the
year. . . . The quantity of grass which grows
in this region is astonishing, even to those who
are familiar with India."

From Kuruman Livingstone started on his
memorable journeys to Lake Ngami, the Zam-
besi, Loanda and Quilimane.

Like all Scotsmen, Livingstone was firmly
convinced of the great value of emigration to
the individual as well as to the Empire at large ;
and to plant British colonies in Africa became
one of his master ideas and favourite schemes.
In one of his letters he advises his own family
to emigrate. He sent home ten pounds to aid
this scheme of emigration, and ten pounds to be
spent on clothes for himself. A little later we find
that he wishes to add the second sum to the first,
so that his help might be more substantial ; and
he would make his old clothes serve for another
year. The emigration scheme which he thought
would have promoted the welfare of his parents
and sister was not, however, carried into effect.

185

The Conquest of the Desert

From the very first Livingstone saw the im-
portance of the Shire Valley and Lake Nyassa
as the key to Central Africa : and he was pre-
pared to spend a great part of his private means
to aid in settling this region. On the 4th of
August 1859, he writes in his journal : " I have
a very strong desire to commence a system of
colonisation of the honest poor ; I would give
£2000 or £3000 for the piu-pose." Livingstone
longed to develop by means of an industrious
peasantry those regions which he had discovered.
He died without being able to put his ideas into
practice. Surely we in South Africa with our
vast wealth, in peace and comfort, might spare
a little to carry forward his life dream I

In his book on " Livingstone and Central
Africa," Sir Harry Johnston, in speaking of the
spot where the explorer's heart lies buried, says
that in the gold rush of the future on the shores
of Lake Bangweolo, the local inhabitants will
probably be too busy or too mean to spend
their money on monuments to his memory.

We do not believe this to be true of South
Africans. But is there a solitary statue to the
immortal traveller in the whole of the Union ?
And if not : why not in Pretoria ?

Livingstone belongs to the whole nation. To
186

The Life Dream of Livingstone

the Dutchman he must ever appeal as the
grandest Voortrekker that has been ; while the
Englishman can never forget that those lion-
mangled bones were fitly laid to rest, amid the
pomp of a mourning Empire, in the peace of
the hallowed Abbey. The last time I crossed
the American Continent I stood before a splen-
did monument in the main square of Salt Lake
City. On it was inscribed the thrilling line :

To Brigham Young

AND

THE Pioneers

How much nobler was the life-work of our
African hero ! Why should not we write on
our statue :

To David Livingstone

AND
THE VOORTREKKERS

He must look towards the Great North. And
on Transvaal granite should be carved in Trans-
vaal gold his prophetic words : " The End of
the Geographical Feat is only the Beginning of
the Enterprise."

It is thirty-nine years since the great traveller
passed away in the lonely rondavel at Ilala.

187

The Conquest of the Desert

Since then we, on the African Continent, have
made marked progress in civilisation, but how
feeble have been our efforts at colonisation !
Down here in the south we hold a vast empty
land, sunlit and healthy ; while both here and
beyond the sea there are multitudes of men —
the honest poor — only waiting for a welcome
and a chance to subdue our deserts and make
them blossom as the rose. And they will not
bring poverty : nay, rather, untold wealth to
our Union. An American statesman, the late
Mr Blaine, used to value every penniless British
emigrant at three hundred pounds to the United
States. The cotton-spinner was poor. He had
no capital, but he carried the richest civilisation
through the pathless jungles of the Dark Con-
tinent, and in the solitude of primeval forests
saw the flash of the ether wave, and heard the
tramp of a million men. And of him a poet
wrote :

" Open the Abbey doors and bear him in

To sleep with King and Statesman, Chief and Sage,
The missionary come of weaver-kin,

But great by work that brooks no lower wage !

" He needs no epitaph to guard a name

Which men shall prize while worthy work is known !
He died and lived for good — be that his fame !
Let marble crumble : this is Livingstone."
188

THE EMPTY LAND

CHAPTER XV

THE EMPTY LAND

" But how can that Land be cultivated when there is
nobody to cultivate it."

" A dense population, a high development of industry,
and a high development of agriculture and horticulture, go
hand in hand ; they are inseparable." — Prince Kropotkin.

In the previous chapters I have dealt with the

most thinly peopled part of the Union — namely,

the southern portion of the Kalahari Desert, and

the surrounding region. And so in this closing

chapter it may be of interest to speak briefly

of the more highly civilised or thickly settled

Provinces. But whether we traverse the great

karroo, the wind-swept plains of the Free State,

the bush veld or the low country, it is all the

same — we see a vast empty land, rich beyond

the dreams of fancy, waiting only for the sturdy

colonist to build his home, to subdue the earth,

and to make the wilderness and the solitary place

rejoice.

^ The Union of South Africa comprises the

^ An address delivered at a meeting of the Royal Colonial
Institute on 21st April 1913, Sir Harry Wilson, K.C.M.G.,
presiding.

191

The Conquest of the Desert

four provinces of the Cape, the Transvaal, the
Free State and Natal with Zululand. It has an
area of 473,954 square miles, and is therefore
more than nine times the size of England.

The population of this vast country, according
to the latest census, is only 1,276,242 whites,
and 4,697,152 coloured people. Broadly speak-
ing, we may think of South Africa as a narrow
coastal region fringing a vast inland plateau
which rises in a series of terraces successively
pierced by the brave path-finders, as they
trekked ever onward and ever upward till they
won the topmost ridge of all where the white
waters leap forth to flow to the opposite seas,
and the gleaming gold revealed the grandest
Eldorado the world has seen.

A study of statistics discloses several interest-
ing lights in connection with the agricultural
industry of South Africa. For example we note
that while the total produce of the mines in
the year 1912 was £49,394,640, the total pro-
duce from the land was only £11,163,506. It is
significant, however, that the produce from the
land has doubled within the past five years.
And there is no doubt that it is only a question
of time when the output of agricultural produce
will surpass, as all desire, the output from the

192

(l-IG. I.)
SOIL EXAMINATION.
The Dry-Farmer should dig a hole ten feet deep at several points of his
farm. The best soil for holding moisture is a deep, rich loam of uniform
texture : the worst is shallow and gravelly, or land broken by layers of
different soil strata. In the illustration the farmer has found limestone
underneath the black surface turf.

(fig. 2.)

SELECTING THE SITE OF A DRY-LAND EXPERIMENT STATION.

Note the Mimosa Tree — a sign of good, deep soil.

The Empty Land

mines. Meanwhile, the best sign of rural pro-
gress is the rise in the price of farm land, which
in many parts throughout the Union within the
past few years has doubled or even trebled in
value. Among the causes of this rise is the
extraordinary success of dry-farming. Dry land,
which a short time ago was utterly useless, is
now producing excellent crops, and this mode
of farming is the cheapest in the world.

The first thing that strikes the stranger in
South Africa is the diversity of its climate.
For example, the rainfall throughout the Union
may vary in a single season from one inch per
annum at Walfish Bay and in Namaqualand,
to one hundred inches on the Wood Bush
Mountains, North-Eastern Transvaal, and Table
Mountain, Cape Town. Moreover, the high
veld of the Transvaal may be bitter cold in
the winter-time, while the temperature of the
coastal regions of Natal, during the summer
months, is, as you know, often tropical. Now
this wide range of climate renders possible a
wide range of crops. In no other country of the
world — not even in the United States of America
— do you find the same amazing wealth of
agricultural products — from oranges to
ostriches, from tea to angora goats, from maize
N 193

The Conquest of the Desert

to merino sheep, from wine to wattles, and
from sisal hemp to sugar-cane. To recognise
these different zones is most important. And
it is here that costly mistakes have been made
in the past. Much money has been wasted in
trying to grow crops in districts for which they
were not suited. And so to the prospective
settler arises the pertinent question : " What
shall I farm ? — for the crop I desire to grow
must determine the province or district in which
I shall reside."

And now as to State aid. Some time ago the
Prime IVIinister of New Zealand stated that his
Dominion spent on agriculture more per head
of population than any other country — namely,
three shillings. I deemed it my duty to point
out politely that the Union, which is spending
per head of the European population eleven
shillings, is entitled to the premier place. The
aid given by the Government to the farmer may
be summed up under three heads : (1) The De-
partment of Agriculture, (2) The Land Bank,
and (3) The Land Settlement Act of 1912. The
Union Department of Agriculture, by means of
a large staff, with its headquarters in Pretoria,
and branches in each of the several provinces,

194

7 °

2 -^

o .=

O o

?: —

(^^ss^r —

tS o j: o

•^ f'::

—

C/5

/_;

—

K
^

—

c»

*""

£ CO 3 ^

Q-5

tr^ - s:

QJ ^

o o £

c « S

0) (U

o C > .

J= § o-

The Empty Land

covers practically the whole field of rural
activity. The success of the Department is
mainly due to the organising power, and patient,
unwearied effort of Mr F. B. Smith, the Secretary
for Agriculture. The Union Land Bank has
been established for the purpose of aiding
deserving farmers in the development of their
farms. Its present capital is £6,000,000 and
the loans vary from £50 to £2000. Advances
are made on improvements, on the purchase of
live stock, on promotion of rural industries,
and on the purchase of land. Special provision
besides is made for advances to settlers up to
the sum of £500 in order to supply them with
stock, implements, and seed necessary to de-
velop their holdings. During the last session of
Parliament a Land Settlement Act was passed
which is destined to have a profound influence
on the future of the country. By this Act the
Minister of Lands is given large powers over any
money voted by Parliament for closer settle-
ment. He may purchase land by auction, or by
private treaty, or he may exchange existing
Crown land for private land; the conditions
required for a Government holding are not
onerous, but they assume a certain amount of
capital on the part of the colonist. Lastly,
N2 195

The Conquest of the Desert

under this Act the Minister may offer holdings
to applicants from oversea through the High
Commissioner in London.

None will deny that here at least is a vast
empty land. But it is often said that South
Africa is not ripe for settlement. It is not so.
Every farmer knows that the maladies which
attack his crops and his herds can best be
checked and conquered by the wire fence of
Closer Settlement, the cleansing dip, and the
poison spray. But, again, it is often said that
South Africa is a hard country in which to farm
in comparison with other lands. It is not so.
For who that knows Western America, from
practical experience, will deny that farming on
the American prairie is a harder task than
farming on the veld? And so, in this fina
chapter, I would appeal to our own people —
the British race — to come to South Africa.

At the same time let us not forget that
although mainly colonised by the Dutch and
the English peoples. South Africa has been
enriched by the blood streams of other European
settlers from the French Huguenot to the
modern German — all of whom the Southern
Mother is slowly moulding in the mills of her
Imperial destiny.

196

GORDONIA.

^^^

KALAHARI

iUMB}<.Pi.OPEO)

SHOWING THE STEADY ADVANCE OF SETTLERS ON THE DESERT,

The Empty Land

A short while ago among a small party I
stood on a high hill overlooking that wonderful
city of industrial enterprise — Johannesburg.
We were met to see a tract of land which was
about to be laid out in Freehold Allotments for
a thousand white workers of the City Deep Mine.
And as we viewed the picturesque and healthful
site, Earl Grey turned to the patriotic capitalist,^
who first in the Transvaal was planning here
a Garden City, and remarked : "I envy you
this magnificent work of development." Lord
Grey's words seemed to carry the promise
of a new era, and the hope of a commonweal
of industry, trade, and agriculture. For what in
life can be a grander work than to create free
homes for men and women, and to hear the
laughter of their happy children, on the garden
lot, the small holding, or the thousand-acre
farm amid the everlasting sunshine of what is
yet an empty land.

^ Mr R. W. Schumacher.

197

THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH

DRY-FARMING

ITS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

By WILLIAM MACDONALD
M.S.Agr., Sc.D., Ph.D.

Second and Revised Edition

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The book discusses :

History of Dry-Farming

Some Points in Practice

The Conservation of Soil Moisture

Rainfall and Evaporation

The Problem of Tillage

The Campbell System

Dry-Farming Zones

Dry-Land Crops

The Traction-Engine in Dry-Farming

Dry-Land Experiments

Dr Macdonald is a man of broad training and ex-
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By WALTER M. GALLICHAN
Crown Sva Illustrated. 6s. net.
Ib this charming rolame are included descriptive and
historical accooats of the more important old Continemal
towns. Sketches of the chief building's of past ages, re-
markable episodes, curiooa old laws regulating the religious
and social life of bygone ages are noticed in scholarly style.
It is shown how cities have risen nnder the protection of
castles, how others have grown under the care of religious
houses, while some have advanced under the patronage of
kings. Old customs linked with the daily life of the people
receive consideration. Sports and pastimes which have
made the inhabitants famous are not forgotten. This is a
volume for the general reader, and also the stadent who
delights in the picturesque past

BOOKS ON PSYCHICAL RESEARCH. Etc.

Spirit and Matter Before the Bar of

Modem Science

By ISAAC W. HBYSINGER. M.A., M.D.

Demy Sto. 15s. nat.

Thli book, written at the end of a lifetime of leimtlle rtwarth,
proves csBcituivdy the existence of the spiritual world and that
spiritiiaUsiB is the basis of all true relifion. As evidence the
author brings forward the testimony of all the freat scientists and
leaders of modem thought, every one of whom, differ as thej may
en other pbints, is forced to the conclusion that in the spiritual world
only the key to the mystery of the universe is to be found. Instances
of extraordinary psychic phenomena have their place hi the work,
and the intense vigour aad lucidity of its ttyle help to mak» it one
of absorbing intvest.

Eusapia Palladino and Her Phenomena

By Hercward Carhngtoa. Fully lUostrated. Net
los. 6d.

Psychical Science and Christianity

By £. Cathariae Bates. 6*.

The Coming Science

By Hereward Carringtee. Net yt. 6d.

The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualiiai

By Hereward Carrington. Net loe. 6d.

Proofs of Life after Death

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Occultism and Common-Sense

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New Ideals in Healing

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Horoscopes and How to Cast Them : A Book of
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The Education of the Will

By T. Sharper Koowlsoa. Net 6s.

Dreams : ScientiHc and Practical InterpretatioBS

By G. H. ViiUer. 6m pp., awwn tvo. Nei 6c

T. WERNER LAURIE'S

"ECLECTIC" LIBRARY

AU b haadywift Unifota BiMlaigi, mmi Ftfly IllMiRit«d.
V«ry suitable for Q^b or
Price 5fl. 6d. net each.

Stories from the Operas

(a volumes sold separately). By Gladys Davidson.
A charnuag seiies oi tales arranged from the Grand
Operas.

Chats on Violins

By Olga Racster. A scries of aleasapt chats t^nf
the early htstory of the violin.

Chats with Music Lovers

By Dr Annie W. Patterson. How to Bajoy Music —
Practise — Sing — Compose — Read Text Books — Pre-
pare for Examinations — Get Engagementa— Appear
m Public, etc, etc

Chats on the Violoncello

By Olga Racster. A history of the 'e«Bo from earliest
times and an account of the great makers and players.

Chats on Astronomy

By H. P. HoUis, o( the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
President of the British Astronomical Assoieiatioa.

Chats on Electricity

By Frank Broadbent« H.I.E.S.

Stories from the Greek Legends

By C. Gasqoome Hartley.

A History of Engraving from its Inception
to the Time ci Thomas Bewick

By Stanley Austin.

Gardens Past and Present

By K. L. Davidson.

The Garden Booklets

Sue 4i by a^.

IS. 6d. net la Vehret Calf, with Colotired Fimitispieae.
Or in Cloth, 6d. net

1. The Rose Garden

2. The Rock Garden

3. The Bulb Garden

4. The Formal Gardea

5. The Fern Garden

6. The Water Garden

The Old Time Booklets

Exquisitely printed with many ilhutrationg specially pre-
pared for these volumes, fplt top and full leather
binding, stamped in gold.
Size 4| by 3. is. 6d. each net, or in doth ii. net

Old English Inns

By G. T. Borrows. 24 Illustrations

The Castles of England

By £. B. d'Aavecgne. 30 Illustrations.

Some Old London Memorials

By W. J. Robexts. With 25 photographs Vy the
Anthor.

Some Old English Abbeys

By Elsie Lang. 17 Illustrations.

The Pocket Cathedral Guide

By W. J. Roberts. 30 lllustratiooa.

Canterbury Cathedral

By T. Fraaeis Bumpus.

Cambridge Colleges

By R. Bfimley Johnson.

Oxford Colleges

By Elsie Lang. Pictures by W. J. RnSftits.

The Literary Pageant.

A Record Volume.

With 20 Illustrations in colour and half-tone. Price t/- net.

Looking down the list of contributors to this volume,
one begins, not to think of who is in it, but to try and
remember the few writers and artists in the front rank
who are not in it. There are a dozen names, any
single one of which would be enough to cause a rush
on an ordinary magazine.

Rudyard Kipling, William dc Morgan, Hall Caine,
W. J. Locke, Conan Doyle, W. W. Jacobs, Gilbert
Parker, Israel Zangwill, Elinor Glyn, De Vere Stacpool,
the Baroness Orczy, Owen Seaman, Mrs. F. A. Steel,
Arthur Morrison, Mrs. C. N. Williamson, Victoria
Cross, Jerome K. Jerome, Robert Hichens — these are
a few out of a list of nearly forty ; whilst the artists
include, amongst many others. Sir Charles Holroyd,
Frank Brangwyn, Shepperson, G. L. Stampa, John
Hassell, Starr Wood.

Moreover, the contributors have given of their
best — stuff worthy of what will undoubtedly be the
record publication of the Coronation Year. To
mention one feature alone, Rudyard Kipling's new
poem, " The Spies' March " — this by itself, the best
thing he has written since " The Recessional," a
return to the old Kipling style, a thing which will
live — would sufi&ce to sell the volume.

Mr. Alfred Praga has arranged and supervised the
illustrations, whilst Mr. Stanley Portal Hyatt, who
suggested the whole scheme, is the general editor.

WERNER LAURIE, CLIFFORD'S INN. LONDON.

The Old Testament Story:
Told to the Young

B7 GLADYS DAVIDSeM.

Aatkn af ** Storiet from tte OpcrM."

Fafly Ulastrated in double tone from eld Ma«t«rpietet.
Demy Sro. 6s. neL

Wturt Rbtiew— Westminster GaMette,

The eutitendlaf feetare of thii ▼•!«•• wUek eetohet a»d
delighu the eje at onoe is the manaer ini which it ia illustrated.
Instead of iatrodacing the ordinary modem drawings, perhaps
extremely correct as to technical detail, but too often found lacking
in dignity and imagination, Miss Dairidson has foae to the Old
Masters, or rather, she hsis let Mr F. HanfstacBgl choose her
Illustrations for her from the enormous number of which he has
published such first-rate re{»odnctioBS. The result is excellent,
and if it were only for the three beautlAil Rembrandts, Poussin's
"Jonah Cast into the Sea," aed Merillo's " Isaac Blessinf Jacob,"
the book would rank among the moct attractirely illustrated of its
kind. Children will also be at once fascinated tj Jaa Brueghel's
" Garden of Eden," with its dreamland atmosphere, aad by Pedre
de Moya's two scenes of the story of Joseph.

But the illustrations, after all, are ef minor importance ia books
ef this type, and we tere to the text with special interest How
has Miss DaridsoB attempted to interest the modem child which is
for cTcr asking "Is it a true story 7 ** and which, ia a scientific
age, is almost " trained te doubt " ? She says ia her preface, " I
hare endeaToured to present the stories sad iaddeats in accord-
ance with the Tiews of those modera scholars who regard aad
teach the Bible from a wide aad rcasoaable standpoint ; and at the
same time ... to prcserre the religious character and beauty
of these wonderful stones ef old time, and te set them forth with
loTC and rcTerencc." To do this is no easy task, for soeh stories
as that of Lot aad the Cities of the Plain, ef Samsoa aad his
deeds ef strength, ef Jonah, and Daniel, aad Nebechadnesaar,
hare to be Tery carefully dealt with, if told by the light ef
modem science, and yet as part ef the iaspirtd writs ia ' ' the
most wonderful Book ia the world." But Miss Daridsoa
has beea snrprisinp;ly successful, and the eembinatioB of sagacity,
reverence, and picturesqueness with which the stories a<e told
should make ne volume acceptable whercTcr parents and
teachers are anxious te guide tbe yoeng ia tbeir religioas
edacatioB ia the dircctiea whick sheaid be acceptable alike Se
wkeae law ia rsee— .* aad te the k— id-miaded

Books for the Household

The Complete Bridge Player

By Kdwju Aathoay (** Cat Caveadisk "). 320 pagec.
Wiik Chkptm oa MiMry Bndfs. a*. 6d. set

My Motor Log Book

A Handy Record for recording dates, runt, times,
distances, weather, roads, entertaiaiaf^, elc. Crown
tvo., detk M. 4d. ; retrct calf, 6e. Ml.

Cookery Up-to-Date

A Practical Handbook of wluit to eat and how te cook
iL By May Little (Firat-OaM Diplonui). aa. 6<L net.

Etiquette Up-to-Date

By Lade H. Axwutimg. M. kd. ML

Gardens : Past and Present

By K. L. Daridaeik Fatty Ittwtmtad m Caloar aad
TeM. sa.M.B«t.

Every Man His Own
Financier

By F. Mig^aoB. A practical haaiMbeek •■ all maMcn
coaccmiac money. 6s. aet.

BOOKS FOR MOTHERS

THE MODERN MOTHER

A Guide f Girlkosd, Motkerkoad, aad lafaacj.

By Dr. H. LAING GORDON.

Fully Illustrated. Demy Sre. 6s. set.

The subjects of keredity, eaviroameat, education and

schools, the hoine-trainiB([ of childrea, the physical de-

relopmeat of the body, aad the position tk woman in

modern life, are amongst the topics of the day which are

touched upon in a aew Keht in this concisely written book ;

each of its three sections — Girlhood, Motherhood, and

Infancy — prorides the mother, the schoolmistress, aad the

intellig^ent nurse with a fasciaatinf and easily understood

guide aad high ideals. The whole subject of the Modem

Mother is treated with peaetratinf obserration from the

sympathetic standpoint of varied experience rather than

from the narrow one of the dogmatic specialist.

Woman in Girlhood, Wifehood, and
Motherhood

Her respensibilittes and her duties at all periods of life.
A guide in the maintenaaca oi her owa health aad
tkat of her children.

By Dr. M. SOLIS-COHEN.
Profusely IHastrated with Plates, Scientific Drawings, and
Half-tone Eagrariags, aad with a Maanikia Chart
printed in Colours.

t^ by 6^. Qotk gilt. los. 6d.

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aa4 ••• wbi«k ahAsld yroT* of laealouUbl* f»iB sod ioUrMt \» maaf
w«aiak. It MM b« — dTitoo4 ky vkj woaua aad womid b* » baly to tSL"

Modem Medicine for the Home

By ERNEST WALKER, M.R.C.S., L.R.aP. (L©nd.).
Crown Svo. Qotk. is. 6d. net

Tkb work is sctentiic aad up-to-date ; all technical aad
■lislcadiag terms are emitted, aad the diseases are classified
alphabetically aad under their popular names.

The treatment is scieatofic aad simple, and ■Oktay is
adrised tkat cannot be carried oat at heate.

** Please M^m tkc Butcher " it • message which
perplexes CTerj housewife every oaorDiDg. This
book will M0« yom all worry.

rr THINKS FOR YOU

A Year 8 Dinners

365 SEASONABLE DINNERS WITH
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COOKING.
A HANDY GUIDE-BOOK FOR
WORRIED HOUSEKEEPERS.

By MAY LITTLE.

(First-Class Diploma, late Staflf Teacher at the National

Society's Training; School of C««kery, London.)

Demy 8vo. 6s. net.

This book is a great help to those upon whom the care
and management of a home devolve. The greatest of
the many perplexing questions which come to all house-
wives is that of providing in variety with due economy
for the chief meal of the day — the dinner. This book
removes all these perplexities. A dinner is arranged for
each day of the year. All things as they come in season
are brought in. Variety is secured, economy is considered,
and not only is the dinner arranged, but full information
is also given as to the cooking and serving of it. There
are also useful chapters on marketing, foods in season,
how to arrange a dinner menu, dinners for invalids,
how to use up cold food, etc., etc. The book is compiled
by a lady who holds a First-Class Diploma in Cookery,
and has had much practical experience, and it may be
implicitly relied upon.

-PI

University of California

SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388

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