brought up to the not inconsiderable sum of 12,000l. a-year BASUTOLAND (of which 10,000l. is hut-tax); and below this amount it is not likely-unless some totally exceptional circumstances arise, such as war or famine-ever to fall again. In conclusion, it remains only to add that outward events have had comparatively little influence upon the current of Basutoland affairs. The annexation of this territory to the colony in 1871 passed almost unnoticed; but, on the other hand, the sitting of a Parliamentary Commission at Maseru in 1872 awakened considerable interest. The Langalibalele affair is perhaps the only recent event which history will chronicle in Basutoland. The progress of events has been of that slow and gradual character which, though scarcely attracting attention at the time, and unattended by incident, yet effects those remarkable changes which, in their final completion, astonish the observer. Ten years of similar progress will cause such an alteration that those who formerly knew Basutoland will fail to recognize it again. It gives me much pleasure to be able to say that I have received every assistance and support from the magistrates; and as a proof of the able manner in which they have performed their duties, and the satisfaction they have given the people over whom they are placed, I may mention that I have only had two cases of appeal brought before me as chief magistrate. I have also much pleasure in mentioning the names of 'George,' "Tsekelo,' and 'Sofonia Moshesh,' who are staunch supporters of the British Government, and continue to give satisfaction in the discharge of their respective duties. CHARLES D. GRIFFITH. THE TRANSKEIAN DISTRICTS. The Transkeian Districts comprise the whole of the General territory extending from the Great Kei and its tributary description. the Indwe to the western boundary of Natal. Until recently they have been known under the name of Kaffirland Proper, a geographical expression used to distinguish the region from British Kaffraria and the localities within the Cape Colony occupied by Kaffirs. At no time has this territory been politically one and undivided, various native tribes under their respective B B TRANSKEIAN chiefs having parcelled it among themselves from the DISTRICTS earliest known period, while within the last ten years Area and shape. Boundaries. Natural features. portions of it have been given out to Fingoes, Basutos, and Griquas. Lying between the Cape and Natal, it has long been subject to British influence, and in 1875 several of its more important parts were annexed to the Cape Colony by a resolution of the local Legislature. This being the case the term Kaffirland Proper is unsuitable and should give way to a designation more in accordance with facts. In the course of a few years the whole of this territory will be included in either the Cape or Natal, and its various portions will be known as so many divisions of one or other of those colonies. The area of the Transkeian Districts taken together is about 16,000 square miles, being almost equal in size to Natal. The shape is that of an irregular parallelogram, the length from east to west being from 150 to 170 miles, and the breadth, from its inland boundary to the sea, varying from 100 to 110 miles. The boundaries are well defined. The Indian Ocean washes the south-eastern base-line, while the Drakensberg and Stormberg mountain ranges unite to form the inland frontier towards the north-west; on the western side are the Great Kei and the Indwe, and on the eastern side are the Umtamvuna and the upper waters of the Umzimkulu. The adjacent regions are the Cape Colony on the west, Natal on the east, and British Basutoland on the north. The entire territory is thus hemmed in by the other South African possessions of England. When all the Transkeian districts are annexed, British South Africa, including them, the Cape, Natal, Griqualand West, and Namaqualand, will form a compact and continuous whole, curving round from Walvisch Bay, on the Atlantic, to the Tugela, on the Indian Ocean, and having an unbroken coast-line of nearly 2,000 miles. This territory is one of the finest in South Africa with respect to natural features and productive capability. The mountain range at its back rises, at its northeastern point, to an elevation of 9,657 feet, and is along its whole length of considerable height. From this grand eminence the land slopes down gradually by a hundred miles of grass, forest, and bush to the sands on which the surf of the Indian Ocean perpetually beats. It is watered by a hundred streams, some of which are : rivers of magnitude. The Kei, the Bashee, the Umtata, TRANSKEIAN the Umzimvubu, the Umtamvuna, and the Umzimkulu are DISTRICTS to be classed with the secondary rivers of South Africa. The most considerable of them is the Umzimvubu, which rises at the Giant Kop, receives numerous tributaries from east and west, and after a course little short in all its wanderings of 250 miles flows into the sea by a mouth which is navigable for small vessels. The gorges of the Stormberg and Drakensberg are full of fine trees, the uplands are rich in grass, the banks of the rivers bear a thick growth of forest and bush, and the warm lowlands and valleys are favourable to almost any kind of fruit, field, and garden cultivation. The country of the Amapondo is singularly fine. There the grasses grow so luxuriantly as to overtop the head of a tall man, and soil and climate are such as to favour the growth of tropical plants. It is there also that copper has been Minerals. found, while indications of coal are met with in several places. In the broken land of the north-eastern angle of this part of South Africa lions find cover, and if game is not plentiful it is not scarce. Where the land is Animals. occupied cattle and sheep are numerous. Some districts are populous, Kaffirs, Fingoes, Basutos, Griquas, Zulus, Hottentots, and Bushmen giving variety and interest to the human element. There are but few white men in any part of the Transkeian districts, and they are mostly officials, missionaries, and traders. At present this region is without bridges and almost without roads. Although it is undergoing important changes, it is still the land of the Kaffirs-wild and strange. It is the most romantic part of South Africa, and is well worthy a visit from those who may wish to have a glimpse at African native life and yet have no ambition to be explorers. A short and agreeable voyage of little more than three weeks in well-appointed steamers would place a traveller at the very threshold of a country in which the natural man and the untamed wilderness are to be seen in any glory that may belong to them. It is somewhat to be wondered at that the home of the Kaffirs has not long ago become a favourite resort for those who can spare three months for a holiday. As no enumeration of the entire population has been Population. made, an estimate can only be given. In the opinion TRANSKEIAN of some the various peoples taken together exceed half Others consider four hundred thousand to be DISTRICTS a million. an over-estimate. official source: Fingoland The following figures are from an Political 45,000 Idutwya Reserve. Gealekas (Kreli). The Pondos, Tambookies, and Gcalekas are credited in this table with the largest numbers, and it is exactly of these three tribes that there is no complete census. Politically the various parts of this territory may be Divisions. arranged under two designations: (1) The Districts annexed to the Cape Colony, and (2) The Independent Districts. Fingoland. The Districts annexed to the Cape are 1. Fingoland. 2. Idutwya Reserve. 3. Emigrant Tambookieland. 4. Tambookieland. 5. Nomansland. 6. Gcalekaland. 7. Bomvaniland. The Independent districts are 1. Pondoland under Damas. THE ANNEXED DISTRICTS. 1. FINGOLAND.-This District is sometimes called 'The Transkeian Territory. It is the most advanced of the whole group to which it belongs, and promises to retain the lead which favourable circumstances have given to it. It is about forty miles square, and projects eastward from the Great Kei a little more than half way to the Bashee. The Great Kei separates it from TRANSKEIAN the Cape Divisions of King Williamstown and Queens- DISTRICTS town; on the north and west it has the Emigrant Tambookies, on the south the country of the Gcalekas under Kreli, and on the east Tambookieland and the Idutwya Reserve. It is a grass country, suitable for pasture and cultivation. It is watered by the Kei and some of its tributaries, especially the Tsomo. This district is now inhabited by Fingoes, a people The having a singular history. In the early part of this Fingoes. century they were driven westward by the Zulus under Chaka, and were enslaved by the Gcalekas, at that time in possession of the whole of the country along the eastern bank of the Kei. Their sufferings were great. Called in contempt 'Fingoes,' or dogs, as the name implies, they were treated as such by their Kaffir masters. In 1834 they appealed to the Colonial authorities, and not long after they were removed by the British Government into the Colony, where they were settled at Peddie and other places. Under protection they flourished and increased until they, their flocks and herds, needed more room. In 1858 their former masters, the Gcalekas, having through misconduct been driven from their territory, there was an area of unoccupied land east of the Kei, and after an unsuccessful attempt to secure it for European occupation it was decided by the British Government that a portion of the vacant land should be awarded to the Fingoes. Accordingly several thousands of that people were removed back again as owners into the land from which twenty-three years before they had marched as liberated slaves. They were placed under the guidance of an English magistrate, and were considered to be British subjects in British territory; but it was only in 1875 that they and their lands were formally annexed by resolution of the Colonial Parliament to the Cape. Under Captain Blyth the Fingoes have thriven well, increased their numbers, and added to their possessions. The Gcalekas, their old owners and taskmasters, are narrowed into a small district immediately to the south, and it is considered that the neighbourhood of these peoples, still animated by the aversion caused by their former relationship, is a defence to the Colony. The Fingoes, it is supposed, are a protection against the Kaffirs. |