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diff --git a/old/67656-0.txt b/old/67656-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0fe6402..0000000 --- a/old/67656-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4638 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of South-West Africa, by William Eveleigh - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: South-West Africa - -Author: William Eveleigh - -Release Date: March 19, 2022 [eBook #67656] - -Language: English - -Produced by: The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH-WEST AFRICA *** - - - - - - SOUTH-WEST - AFRICA - - BY - - WILLIAM EVELEIGH - - AUTHOR OF - “A SHORT HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN METHODISM” - - T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD. - - ADELPHI TERRACE, LONDON - - - - - TO - - GENERAL BOTHA - - - _First Published in 1915_ - - [_All Rights Reserved_] - - - - -FOREWORD - - -“Of making many books there is no end,” said the Preacher, but strange -to say, there is not a single book in the English language that deals -with South-West Africa of modern days. Many references to the country -are found in the older books of South African travel and exploration, -and some good works have been written in later times by German authors; -but, unfortunately, the German publications are not available for the -average reader. In the present volume an attempt has been made to set -before the reader a brief but comprehensive account of the country, -its history, its people, its resources, and its possibilities. It is -impossible in a small book to deal more than briefly with the subject, -and very slight treatment has had to suffice for many matters of -interest. I hope, however, that I have succeeded in conveying a clear -impression of what South-West Africa is, and what it may become. Brief -and unpretentious though the book is, it may serve to dispel the notion -that the country is nothing more than a desert and of very little value -to the Empire. - -My thanks are due to Dr. Rudolf Marloth, of Cape Town; Prof. E. H. -Schwatz, of the Rhodes University College, Grahamstown; Dr. Wm. Flint, -Librarian of the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town; Mr. F. W. Fitzsimons, -Director of the Museum, Port Elizabeth; and Mr. John Ross, of the -Kimberley Public Library, for valuable suggestions. My debt to various -writers I have endeavoured to acknowledge elsewhere. - - W. E. - - Kimberley, South Africa. - 1915. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER. PAGE - - I. THE LAND 13 - - II. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 37 - - III. THE FLORA OF THE COUNTRY 53 - - IV. THE FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY 71 - - V. THE EARLY DAYS 89 - - VI. THE LATER HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 113 - - VII. THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 133 - - VIII. THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY 157 - - IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY 173 - - X. THE DIAMOND FIELDS 197 - - XI. THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY 225 - - - - -SOUTH-WEST AFRICA - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE LAND - - -A glance at the map of Africa shows that the territory now known as -British South-West Africa--formerly German South-West Africa--is a -triangular mass with the abrupt apex resting on the Orange River. It -comprises Ovamboland, in the north; Damaraland, the central portion -of the country; Great Namaqualand, in the south, and a tongue of land -running out from the north-east corner called the Caprivizipfel, and -has a total area of 322,450 square miles. This vast territory, into -which half a dozen Englands could be dropped with ease, is bounded on -the north by the Kunene River, Portuguese West Africa, and Rhodesia; -on the east by British Bechuanaland, and the Gordonia portion of the -Cape Province; on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; and on the south by -the Orange River. Some idea of the length of the eastern boundary, for -instance, may be obtained when it is stated that while the southern -extremity touches the Orange, a distance of only 400 miles from Cape -Town, the far corner of the Caprivi enclave is north-west of the -Victoria Falls. No less than 900 miles of coast-line stretch from the -mouth of the Orange to the Kunene estuary. - - -PHYSICAL FEATURES - -The physical structure of the country is extremely simple. The dominant -physical facts are: a slowly rising sandy coast belt; a high interior -plateau, broken by isolated mountain ranges; and a gently falling -eastern strip of sandy country that merges in the level expanse of the -Kalahari Desert. - - -THE COAST STRIP OR THE NAMIB - -The coast strip is a desert, varying from 15 to 100 miles in width, -stretching from the Kunene to the Orange, in which at only a few places -is fresh water obtainable. To this desert the designation “Namib” has -been applied--a name originally restricted to the middle portion of the -strip. Dr. Stapff divides it into three parts: the stony desert north -of Walvis Bay, the valley of the Kuisip converging on Walvis Bay, and -the long sand dunes that run south from Walvis Bay to the Orange. - -As a picture of dreariness and desolation this desert in places is not -surpassed even by the Sahara. South of Walvis Bay there run from north -to south mile upon mile of yellowish grey sand in long lines of immense -dunes some of them 600 feet in height. Dark, rocky hills, with faces -scarred and scoured into grotesque shapes, cut across the lines here -and there, and heap up the sand at their base on the windward side in -numerous hillocks. In some of the depressions formed by the dunes the -white basins of _vleís_ reflect the burning rays of the sun. Fierce -sandstorms rage over the dunes at intervals, and the dense yellow -clouds sweep along close to the earth at a terrific speed, blotting out -the light of the sun, raining a perfect hurricane of gritty particles -upon the traveller unfortunate enough to be found in the track of the -tornado. - -Seen from the coast the Namib has the general appearance of a vast -plain with a boundless horizon, but the country ascends continually -though almost imperceptibly towards the interior; at a distance of only -60 miles from Walvis Bay, for instance, the traveller finds himself -some 2,000 feet above sea-level. - -The prevailing formations along the coast are: gneiss, granite, -quartzites, mica schists, recent chalks, crystalline limestones. - -“The whole coast, several miles wide,” says Dr. Versfeld, “is a portion -of a vast Titanic pudding, whose ingredients have been well stirred.”[1] - -There is a concensus of opinion among geologists that at some remote -period a tremendous upheaval of the marine bed took place, resulting -in the present coast formation. The disintegration of the gneiss rocks -and the action of the furious trade winds, have since led to the -formation of the sand dunes. - -The natural harbours are surprisingly few for such a lengthy -coast-line. Walvis Bay, which lies almost exactly midway between the -Orange and Kunene estuaries, is the principal inlet. A deep channel -gives access to large steamers, which are able to lie at anchor in a -fine, oval basin some 20 square miles in extent, completely sheltered -from the strong prevailing winds. This Bay, with 450 square miles of -adjoining territory, has been in the possession of Great Britain since -1878, but very little use has been made of it. - -Luderitz Bay, some 250 miles south of Walvis Bay, is the next -considerable inlet. It ramifies to the right and left for about five -miles south of the entrance, and here, too, large steamers find safe -anchorage. Swakop Bay, 25 miles north of Walvis Bay, is merely an open -roadstead with a landing jetty. - - -THE CENTRAL PLATEAU - -We will begin in the north with Ovamboland and follow southward the -line of the main ridge that forms the inner plateau. - -Separated from the highlands of Angola by the gorges traversed by -the Kunene, the rocky heights of Ovamboland rise but slowly at first -above the general level, but south of the Otavi Hills in Damaraland -they gradually ascend until a veritable highland system is developed -with towering masses of table rocks and huge dome-shaped summits. -Mount Omatako, which has an altitude of 8,500 feet, is the highest -peak. Around it, but some distance from it, grouped like satellites, -are numerous other imposing mountains from 5,000 to 6,000 feet in -height. In the clear air of the uplands the granite pinnacles of these -peaks are visible from a great distance. Huge valleys or gorges are a -characteristic of this part of Damaraland. The mountain plateaux are -widely extended. In the region of Windhoek several rivers have their -rise. Further south the ridge falls again to a level of about 3,000 -feet, and in many places is broken into by isolated ranges of manifold -forms, while the lower levels are studded with stony kopjes. - -The country along the eastern border consists of undulating plains and -large areas of sandy land which closely resemble the Kalahari. - -In all these uplands the prevailing formations are granite, or mica -schist. Surface limestone occurs everywhere. - - -GREAT NAMAQUALAND - -Great Namaqualand, the country that stretches from the south of -Damaraland to the Orange River, is a land of rugged hills, stony -kopjes, and boundless plains. In the Karas Mountains, the main ridge -rises again to a height of 6,600 feet above the sea, and the plateaux -have a north to south direction. The boundless plains, really extended -tablelands, are a principal feature of the country, and they are -invariably sandy. - -“Sir,” said a person who knew the country to Dr. Moffat in 1818, “you -will find plenty of sand and stones, a thinly scattered population -always suffering from want of water, on plains and hills roasted like a -burnt loaf under the scorching rays of a cloudless sun.” - -“Of the truth of this description,” says Moffat in his laconic fashion, -“I soon had abundant evidence.”[2] - -Although this portion of South-West Africa is regarded as semi-desert, -at rare intervals after rain the plains are covered with long coarse -grass and then they have to English eyes the appearance of a vast field -of waving oats. - - -THE ORANGE RIVER BASIN - -Trekking south through Great Namaqualand, toiling over the blistering -wastes, the traveller experiences a peculiar sensation of -unexpectedness when on rounding a kopje he sees below him in the near -distance a long, twisted line of vivid green. This is the line of the -Orange River. - -As very little is known about the course of this, the largest river in -South Africa, a brief description may not be without interest. - -The river enters South-West Africa along a deep channel and winds -its sinuous way like a giant snake between towering precipices and -overhanging mountains grey with age along cañons reminiscent of -Colorado. In some of the deep, rocky gorges the stream is inaccessible -on either side, since the overhanging escarpments of the surrounding -plateau rise sheer from the water many hundreds of feet, and a thirsty -traveller might actually perish of thirst as he looked down upon -the tantalising waters from the precipitous banks that offered not a -single practicable way of descent. At intervals the stream broadens to -a considerable distance and takes on the appearance of a quiet lake -reflecting the image of the willow and mimosa trees that fringe its -banks; islands of vivid green dot the waters; flamingos, ibises, and -other wading birds, move leisurely in the shallows, while ever and anon -birds of brilliant plumage dart across the surface. It then presents -a picture of considerable charm. Barred in its approach to the sea by -rocky hills and granite cliffs, in its eager efforts to find the line -of least resistance, the river twists and turns, flowing now north, now -south, and in one place actually doubling back to the east. On emerging -from the mountain ranges it sprawls itself over a wide area as if -reluctant to lose its greatness in the ocean. Its mouth is generally -blocked for a number of years by a continuous narrow sand barrier -formed by the big breakers of the Atlantic, and while the waves pound -the sand with great fierceness on the one side, the cool, fresh waters -of the river gently lap it on the other side. When the river comes down -in strong flood the dam bursts with a crash and a roar heard many miles -distant. Mr. A. D. Lewis, a Government engineer, visited the mouth at -the end of 1912, having made a survey journey along the river valley -from Pella to the Atlantic. He is actually the first scientifically -trained individual to make the journey. His report,[3] together with -plans and reproductions of photographs, is of absorbing interest. - - -THE RIVERS - -The rivers of South-West Africa, like many others in South Africa, are -found, mostly, on the maps. Though the country is trenched by the beds -of many rivers, not a single perennial stream reaches the sea between -the Kunene and the Orange. On account of the great depth of its channel -below the adjacent land, the Orange is of no economic value to the -country. The Swakop, which has a total length of 250 miles, rises to -the east of the Damara highlands in the Waterberg and traverses the -plateau through deep, rocky gorges. Occasionally it flows into the sea -north of Walvis Bay. The Kuisip rises in the mountains beyond Windhoek -and intersects the Namib plain south of the Swakop to a depth of over -600 feet, but it rarely reaches the ocean. The last occasion on which -it pushed its way through to the Atlantic previous to the present year, -was in 1904. South of the Kuisip are other watercourses which are -arrested without even forming channels to the sea. During the greater -part of the year the Swakop and the Kuisip are non-existent as rivers; -a line of stunted willows or acacias, or, perhaps, a few muddy pools, -mark the river courses. After the storms, however, they are raging -torrents for a brief period, and immense volumes of water rush along -their beds. - -The feeble, intermittent streams on the east of the divide fall for the -most part into the saline marshes of the Kalahari. The Fish River flows -south through Great Namaqualand, and sometimes reaches the Orange. -Lake Etosha in the north is a lagoon about sixty miles wide and fifty -miles in length. When full one or two rivers issue from it. - -But water is not the scarce commodity that one might imagine it to be, -except, perhaps, in the Namib, for the springs or _fonteins_ are a -peculiar feature of the inner plateau. The most remarkable of these are -situated in a hill to the north of Windhoek. No less than five springs -issue from the limestone. They are all warm, and lie approximately in -a straight line at intervals of a few hundred yards apart. It is a -somewhat curious phenomenon that the temperatures vary considerably; a -difference of no less than 54°F. has been noted between one and two. -If the streams are all from the same source, as seems likely, they are -probably influenced in their passage to the surface by the geological -formation. Cold springs also exist in the limestone below the hot -springs. The waters of the warm spring at Warmbad, in South Great -Namaqualand, have strong sanative qualities. Centres so far distant -from each other as Bethanien, in the south-west, Omaruru, north-east of -Walvis Bay, and Gobabis, east of Windhoek, on the Kalahari border, also -have their springs. - -Water may generally be obtained even in the dry season by digging -beneath the alluvium of a river bed, especially where a ledge of rocks -crosses the watercourse. In some places, notably on the borders of the -Namib and in the eastern areas, the water found by boring is brackish, -and often unfit for human consumption. After the rainstorms water often -lies for long periods in the natural depressions or _vleís_; these -afford a good supply for cattle and game. - -In some of these depressions, when the water around the edges has dried -up, an incrustation of salt is left, which, as Dr. Moffat found in -Namaqualand nearly a hundred years ago, “crackles under the feet like -hoar-frost.” - - -SCENERY - -The lover of natural scenery will find little to attract him in such -parts of the country as the Namib, Great Namaqualand, or the eastern -steppes, for over large areas the aspects of nature are so consistently -uniform as to become painfully monotonous, and this uniformity, -combined with the absence of foliage and verdure and lakes and running -streams, is very depressing to the traveller. But the country is not -the wilderness many have been led to believe. When once the desert -belt is crossed and the mountain plateaux are reached, some bold and -striking mountain scenery meets the eye. Stupendous masses of naked -rock, on which the light strikes bright and hard, rise into the sky, -while other frowning heights tower aloft, menacing and fearful. In -the Waterberg the numerous rocky summits, with their clear-cut edges -and rifted walls, resemble in places the famous Giant’s Causeway, -and in their boldness and variety of outline they present a scene of -extraordinary rugged grandeur. Here are Cleopatra’s Needles, embattled -castles, lofty pinnacles, and sculptured turrets, all standing out bold -and clear in the amazingly thin, translucent air, and visible from -immense distances. Between Omaruru and Okahandja, where hilly country -is found alternating with level plains, some fine landscape views -may be obtained. The falls on some of the rivers after the rains make -picnic spots and pleasure resorts of rare delight. The voice of running -waters, a sound but rarely heard in South Africa, can then be enjoyed -in some of the deep gorges. - -In certain portions of Ovamboland there are woodlands, glades, and -clearings that present the aspect of a boundless park. Windhoek, set -in a circle of giant mountains on the slope of a hill, has quite a -picturesque situation. - -South-West Africa, too, has all the charm of colour for which southern -Africa is famous the world over. On the uplands the morning and the -evening are times when the eye is filled and completely delighted with -the warmth and richness of tone about the landscape. - -“At last morning broke,” says one new to the country, in a description -of the sunrise, “and delicate rosy stripes of light shot up toward the -zenith. The colours grew rapidly deeper, brighter, and stronger. The -red was glorious in its fullness, and the blue beautiful in its purity. -The light mounted and extended itself, ascending as over a new world a -thousand times more beautiful than the old one. Then came the sun, big -and clear, looking like a great, placid, wide-opened eye.” - -At night the moon and stars shine with a fire and brilliancy that never -fail to amaze the visitor from the northern lands. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] “Notes on the Geological Formation of Portions of German South-West -Africa”--_South African Journal of Science_, June, 1911. - -[2] Moffat’s “Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa,” p. 76. - -[3] Report of Director of Irrigation for period 1st January, 1912, to -March, 1913.--_Cape Times, Ltd._, Cape Town. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -CLIMATE AND RAINFALL - - -From what has been said about the diversity of the physical conditions -of the country it will be readily inferred that there is a considerable -variation of climate. When it is remembered, too, that the land lies -within the tropic of Capricorn and corresponds in latitude to the -central provinces of India, between Bombay and Calcutta, the reader -will be prepared to learn that it is excessively hot in the summer -months and very unhealthy. As a matter of fact the climate as a whole -is healthy and the heat much less trying than the traveller from India -expects to find in such a latitude. Various factors account for this, -as we shall see. - -There are two seasons, summer and winter; summer lasts from October to -April, and winter from April to September. - -The heat is sometimes great on the coast, some little distance from -the sea, where the sea mists do not reach, rising occasionally to 120° -F. in the shade. But at noon the fresh south-west wind blows strongly -from the sea, and the nights are comparatively cool and refreshing. The -sudden fall of temperature at sunset is often a source of danger to -those who have not learned to guard themselves against rapid variations -of temperature. Strangely enough, the hottest day in the year may be -a day in the middle of winter, for it is in the winter that a fierce, -hot, desert wind from the east comes sweeping across the country, -sending up the thermometer with a rush. The winter may thus have the -hottest, as well as the coldest, days of the year. A comparison of the -temperatures of the principal centres of the country with Kenhardt and -Kimberley, two of the hottest districts in the Cape Province, may not -be without interest: - - -------------+---------+---------+----- - |November.|February.|July. - -------------+---------+---------+----- - Windhoek | 86 | 82 | 68 - Swakopmund | 58 62 | 55 - Walvis Bay | 60 | 64 | 57 - Luderitzbucht| 62 | 68 | 55 - Omaruru- | 82 | 82 | 62 - Rehoboth | 86 | 86 | 60 - Kenhardt | 74 | 85 | 57 - Kimberley | 78 | 82 | 55 - -------------+---------+---------+----- - -The feature of the coast climate is the heavy fogs occasioned by the -proximity of the cold waters of the Benguella current to a heated -interior, and the contact of the cool south-west winds with the -north-west air currents. These fogs veil the seaboard in a thick -haze during the night and often last to noon; they supply, however, -a considerable amount of moisture to the coast border of the Namib, -since they are sometimes so heavy that in a single night the sand is -moistened to a depth of one or two inches, and the water flows down -the stems of shrubs into the ground to a depth of six inches. Heavy -rain occurs at very rare intervals. These conditions suggest that -quite a useful supply of water might be obtained by the construction -of dew-ponds, or mist-ponds, as they are now known to be, of which -particulars are given by Mr. E. A. Martin in his recent work, entitled, -“Dew-ponds: History, Observation and Experiment.” A whole year may pass -without a single shower. Walvis Bay has an annual average rainfall -of less than one inch. At such centres as Luderitzbucht, Swakopmund, -and Walvis Bay, water for drinking purposes is condensed from the sea. -Before the condensing plant was erected water had to be brought all the -way up from Cape Town. - -In the north and north-east the climate is almost tropical, but on the -central plateau it is temperate, with great fluctuations of temperature -during the day. The great heat of the sun during the summer months -would make it rather trying for Europeans, were it not for the altitude -and the great dryness of the air. As we have shown, the plateau is -from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level, and this is a factor of -considerable importance in determining climatic conditions. The climate -resembles parts of Rhodesia, and while there are hot days in the -summer, for the most part the air is fresh, clear, and like elixir. - -Great Namaqualand has a very warm summer; the shade temperature of -the Orange River valley is often 110° F., while on the plains great -fluctuations in the day temperature prevail. In the winter severe -frosts and snow may be experienced, and snow may be seen on the Karas -Mountains. There are also occasional frosts in the Windhoek region in -this cold season. - - -THE RAINFALL - -South-West Africa is really a continuation of the Bechuanaland plateau, -a notoriously dry territory, and the rainfall is even less than in -Bechuanaland, if we except the northern territories, since very little -of the vapour from the distant Indian Ocean can reach the country. The -Eastern slope, which faces the Indian Ocean, receives a fair supply -of moisture. The Windhoek region has an average annual rainfall of -15 inches. Whirlwinds often herald the approach of the rain. In the -warmer north and north-east 24 inches is often registered in a year. -Great Namaqualand is much drier, 6 or 7 inches being about the average. -The rain comes almost invariably in the form of violent thunderstorms -which sweep along in a limited area. It is a common experience to -travel over a stretch of dry and barren land to enter suddenly a tract -of vivid green where the vegetation is in full activity, so local -is the distribution of the rain. Severe hailstorms are sometimes -responsible for much damage, since the hailstones are often as big as -marbles. Within half an hour of the passing of one of these storms, -the thermometer has been seen to drop from 110° F. to 68° F. Droughts -of great severity continue for years together in these regions, but as -soon as the rain comes, the country revives as if by magic; grass and -flowers spring up from the steaming ground with amazing rapidity, and -the once bare and blistered plain is transformed into a vast carpet of -vivid green and brilliant hues. - -The Namib has a rainfall of less than an inch, but in places where -the desert borders the inner plateau, three or four inches may be -registered during the year. - -One of the journals of the Royal Meteorological Society has printed the -rainfall record of South-West Africa. Dr. Emil Ottweiler is responsible -for it, and the observations extended over periods varying from one -to twenty-three years. This record is of real value, and we give the -average fall at some of the stations mentioned. - - -------------+--------------+---------- - Stations. | Height above | Rainfall. - | Sea Level. | - -------------+--------------+---------- - | feet. | - Luderitzbucht| 13 | 0·54 - Swakopmund | 23 | 1·16 - Windhoek | 5,350 | 14·07 - Grootfontein | 5,020 | 24·37 - Olukonda | 3,510 | 22·91 - Keetmanshoop | 3,373 | 5·85 - Bethanien | 3,068 | 4·52 - Berseba | 3,490 | 3·11 - Haris | 6,300 | 11·24 - Otjimbinque | 3,084 | 5·38 - Karibib | ---- | 6·01 - Zesfontein | ---- | 2·73 - Gibeon | 3,700 | 6·82 - Rehoboth | 4,700 | 10·45 - Oas | 4,500 | 18·69 - Gobabis | 4,650 | 18·53 - Omaruru | 3,800 | 10·85 - Hatsamas | ---- | 14·06 - -------------+--------------+---------- - -The rainfall, scanty as it is, generally descends in sharp storms and -showers, and as the ground is often baked hard by the heats of the -sun, it quickly runs away to the watercourses, but in recent years dams -have been made in order to store the precious liquid, and a well-filled -dam may hold sufficient water to supply a large farm for the space of a -year or two. - - -HEALTH CONDITIONS - -The physical conditions already described determine the healthfulness -of the country; the sun, the elevation, the dryness, being responsible -for the good climate of the interior. The direct rays of the sun are -very strong during the day, for clouds are infrequent; many weeks may -pass without the smallest cloud being visible; but these rays are not -dangerous, and sunstroke is unusual. In India, as Bryce has shown, one -has always to be mounting guard against the sun. “He is a formidable -and ever-present enemy, and he is the more dangerous the longer you -live in the country. In South Africa it is only because he dries up the -soil so terribly that the traveller wishes to have less of him.”[4] - -The extreme dryness of the air on the plateaux enables Europeans to -endure heat that would be unbearable in London or New York. A shade -temperature of 108 °F. in either of these cities would be responsible -for many a collapse, but it would pass at Windhoek without anyone being -the worse for it. Even on the Namib some compensation would be afforded -by the sea breezes. - -There are people who have lived at Luderitzbucht, one of the driest -parts of the Namib, continuously for eight or ten years, and they are -exceedingly active and healthy, while at Windhoek strong and sturdy -children are developing a splendid physique in the pure, bracing air of -the plateau. Malarial fever, which hangs like a death cloud over many -parts of Africa, is sometimes found in the north and north-west of the -country, but it prevails in a mild form. Last year, for instance, there -were only six deaths from this cause among Europeans, right through -the country. The dreaded black-water fever is occasionally met with -in the tropical north. The diseases common along the coast are mostly -intestinal, due almost entirely to the lack of a good supply of pure -water. Rheumatic troubles are also fairly common on the seaboard. The -death-rate for 1913 was only 11·3 per thousand of the white population, -and 21·75 per thousand among the natives. Inflammation of the lungs, -due largely to unhealthy dwellings and lack of care with clothing, -accounts for the higher mortality among the natives. - -The dryness and purity of the air away from the coast account for the -absence of most forms of chest disease. More than one sufferer from -consumption in its earliest stages, who has come from Europe, has found -a new lease of life on the salubrious uplands. There can be no doubt -that in spite of the abnormal heat sometimes experienced, South-West -Africa is well fitted to afford a pleasant home and to maintain in -vigour people drawn from the cooler regions of Europe. That healthy -children can be reared here has been already demonstrated. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[4] “Impressions of South Africa,” p. 13. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE FLORA OF THE COUNTRY - - -“South-West Africa,” a writer on the flora of the country has recently -stated, “is distinguished neither by a great variety of its flora nor -by the presence of plants or trees of any singular kind.” How far this -is from the truth will be made clear in this chapter. - -For a dry country South-West Africa is fairly rich in vegetation, and -it may be useful to give some slight impression of the part which the -vegetation plays in the landscape and in the economic conditions of the -country, cursory though our examination must be. - - -THE COAST REGIONS - -To begin with the Namib. The general aspect of the vegetation here is -monotonous, since there are but few plants that rise to any appreciable -height from the sandy surface to break the dull level. No tree grows -within a dozen miles of the coast, except in an occasional watercourse -where there is underground moisture. - -The Kokerboom, _Aloe dichotoma_, however, often occurs as a solitary -tree, and occasionally forms little groves on the limestone hills of -the eastern portion of the Namib. In the winter, when they bear large -clusters of bright yellow flowers, they give quite a touch of colour to -the drab landscape. - -The northern Namib has two plants of singular interest in the -Welwitschia and the Naras. The Welwitschia, _Welwitschia Bainesii_, is -in reality a tree with a fairly thick trunk that terminates abruptly -just above the ground. Two thick, leathery leaves are permanent and -grow continuously at their base until they sometimes reach a length of -10 feet, by which time they are frayed into numerous snake-like thongs. -The plant flowers in January and the cones ripen in May. The roots of -the largest plants may be traced to a very great depth in the sand. -“This plant,” says Dr. Marloth,[5] “is of great scientific interest, -being the most highly developed gymnospermous plant known to us either -in the living or the fossil state. It is not a connecting link between -the gymnosperms and the angiosperms, but the final stage of a separate -line of development of the vegetable kingdom, that, as far as is known -to us, led no further.” The Welwitschia was first discovered by Dr. -Welwitsch in Southern Angola in 1865. It has not been found south of -the Kuisip district. - -The curious Naras, _Acanthosicyos horrida_, has been well termed -the “Wonder of the Waste,” for this shrubby, leafless member of the -order _Cucurbitacea_ spreads over the sand dunes in dense straggling -masses, defying all the sandstorms that threaten to bury it. Instead -of tendrils it bears sharp thorns, while the main root may be as thick -as a man’s arm, with a length of 20 to 40 feet. The fruit is about the -size of a very big orange, and the skin encloses a yellow pulp of a -rich flavour and a number of seeds similar in taste to almonds. The -fruit is greatly relished by the natives, and, as it has extraordinary -nutritive value, they almost live on it. The seeds are stored for the -dry season, when no fruit can be obtained. The existence of this plant -always indicates underground moisture. Both the Welwitschia and the -Naras flourish in the vicinity of Walvis Bay, but the Naras has been -found in recent years in several places in the southern Namib. It is -believed that the species does not occur naturally so far south, but -has been introduced by natives. Its true southern limit is not far from -the southern extremity of Walvis Bay.[6] - -In the region described as the Upper Kuisip Zone, which embraces the -valley of the Kuisip, among the fairly abundant vegetation, with -camelthorns, ebony trees, and wild figs, the handsome Ana tree, -_Acacia albida_, is found. The fruit of this remarkable tree is a -legume. The beans, when ripe and dry, are used for fodder for cattle, -and they have extraordinary fattening properties. Cattle also relish -the leaves of the tree. - -The flora of the desert south of Luderitzbucht is much poorer than that -of the northern portion, and, as Schinz points out, the difference is -probably accounted for by the presence of a more copious supply of -underground water in the northern area. But the Namib has a richer -vegetation than is generally supposed. - -“As an illustration,” writes Dr. Marloth, who made a careful -examination of the Lower Namib in 1909, “it may be mentioned that I -have observed over twenty species of _Mesembrianthemum_, five species -of _Pelargonium_ (mostly shrubby), two of _Sarcocaulon_, three of -_Lycium_, two of _Zygophyllum_, two of _Salsola_, three of _Othonna_, -five shrubby Leguminosæ (_Lebeckia_ and _Crotalaria_), five species -of _Euphorbia_, and many other genera represented by one or two -species.”[7] - -He distinguishes four formations according to the nature of the ground: -the seashore, the sandy plains, the rocky hills, and the gravel-covered -flats of the rising plains beyond the coast-belt; and we cannot do -better than adopt his convenient division. - -_The seashore._--The sand dunes are devoid of vegetation on account of -the ever-shifting nature of the sand, and they present an unforgettable -scene of sterility and dreariness. A few plants specially adapted to -salt water, such as _Salicornia natalensis_ and _Bassia diffusa_, are -found in the shallows or around the lagoons. - -_The sandy plains and dunes._--Further inland _Salsola Zeyheri_ is -common. This low, tight-looking shrub, grey in colour, about 2 to 3 -feet in height, has considerable value, since it forms good food for -the camels used for transport purposes. Coarse dune-grasses are found -in sheltered patches. The _Mesembrianthemum_ is a characteristic Namib -plant; it grows on rocks as well as sand. - -_The rocky hills._--Here we find a more varied vegetation. The -well-known Kokerboom (_Aloe dichotoma_) is a conspicuous feature. It -is interesting to notice that the name Koker or Quiver (D. _koker_, a -case sheath; G. _Kocher_, a quiver) was given to this tree because the -Bushmen and Hottentots used the pithy branches to make quivers for -their poisoned arrows. - -Even more numerous than the _Aloe dichotoma_ are several species -of _Euphorbia_. Schinz, it may be noted, has described the eastern -edge of the desert as a Euphorbia-steppe.[8] The _E. gummifera_ is, -perhaps, the most noticeable plant, and in the Garub region this -species abounds. It forms compact bushes, 3 to 6 feet in height, and -its grey twigs have rather an unpleasant scent, while they contain -an unusually rich supply of milk juice. The _E. cervicornis_, the -olifant melkbosch of Little Namaqualand, is found occasionally. A -little plant that crouches behind rocks or isolated stones is the dwarf -shrublet _Pteronia succulenta_, whose main stem is often bent over at -a right angle by the fierce winds as soon as it pushes its head above -the shelter. Other plants, usually forming upright bushes, are here -compelled to bend before the strong winds; notable among these is the -_Pituranthus aphyllus_, a leafless umbellifer. - -A plant of peculiar interest found among the many species of -_Mesembrianthemum_ is the _M. rhopalophyllum_, which is remarkable for -its highly-specialised window-leaves. “The plant grows embedded in the -sand, nothing but the flat, slightly convex apex of each leaf being -visible, and even that is covered with more or less sand according to -locality. While the leaf itself is fresh green with a rather delicate -skin, the exposed part is protected by a thick epidermis and cuticula, -and possesses comparatively few stomata. It is through this portion, -which has the functions of a window, the leaf receives its light, being -thus illuminated from within. There are five to ten, or even more, -leaves to each plant, but nothing appears at the surface except these -windows; they peep out of the sand like the eyes of the sand-lizard or -sand-vipers, which often hide themselves in a similar way.”[9] - -It is very curious to see the short flowers of these plants in the -spring, for they grow, apparently, straight out of the sand. Only -on investigation are the leaves and stem discovered. The leaves are -club-shaped. Nature has evidently chosen this underground mode of -existence for the plant in order to protect it against the herbivorous -animals. These interesting plants are found only in Africa. - -The leaves of the _Augea capensis_ are very strong in sap, but the -plant is so salty that even the camels will turn away from it. This -plant is found in many parts of the Karroo. - -An untidy-looking shrublet, the _Sarcocaulon rigidum_, is fairly -abundant. A peculiarity of its structure is the sharp-pointed spines, -which are specially modified stalks of former leaves. Leaves of vivid -green cover these plants in the spring, and at times they are numerous -enough to influence the colour of the landscape. Pink flowers appear on -them in October. - -_The gravel plains._--The rising plains of the inner Namib, which have -an altitude of 1,800 feet, some fifty miles from the coast, are swept -by furious sand-laden winds for the greater part of the year. The -sea-fogs rarely reach these areas, and, as the rainfall is a negligible -quantity, no sign of life may be encountered for many miles, only a -vast, monotonous waste of gravel and sand meets the eye. Occasionally -one lights upon the typical _Sarcocaulon rigidum_, the Candle-bush or -Bushman’s candle. This plant has been specially adapted to meet the -conditions of the desert, and it is able to defy the hottest sun and -the fiercest sandstorms. Layers of corky tissue, impregnated with a -mixture of fat, wax, and resin, form the bark. This horny casing is the -plant’s armour against the attacks of its enemies. It burns steadily -like a wax candle with a yellow, smoky flame, even when cut fresh from -the ground. - - -THE CENTRAL PLATEAU - -Beginning with Ovamboland, we find considerable forest tracts of -acacia, with giant baobabs, and palms and fig-trees in the more -open park-like spaces. The palm zone is found some distance south of -the Kunene. Grasses cover the extensive plains after rains. On the -uplands of Damaraland the genus Acacia plays an important part in the -composition of the flora; in many places it predominates among the -bushes and also among the trees.[10] With the acacias are found other -notable species, including _Combretum primigenium_, and the large -_Ficus dammarensis_. - -The handsome Ana tree, _Acacia albida_, is frequently met with. The -mountain valleys have a much more luxurious vegetation than the hills, -since they are watered by the many rivulets that abound after rain. - -On the eastern steppes where the country is sandy and poor in -vegetation, that typical product of the Kalahari desert, the tsama -melon, _Citrullus vulgaris_, is found. Both man and beast rejoice in -this juicy melon. In its raw state it has remarkable thirst-quenching -properties, and when cooked it is a satisfying food. The seeds are -oily and very fattening. This fruit often affords the only supply of -water for travellers in this dry and dreary region. That queer little -plant, known as Uyntjes, a kind of sedge, is also found in this region, -and the bulbous roots, not unlike the chestnut in flavour, are used -as food by the natives. In the springtime a species of Brunsvigia, or -Candelabra flower, sometimes covers large areas of the open country. - -Great Namaqualand is not so well wooded or so well watered as -Damaraland. The kokerboom is a conspicuous feature on the hills. -North of Warmbad a bush formation is encountered in the vicinity of -the dry river beds, with _Acacia detinens_, _Cadaba juncea_, shrubby -Zygophyllaceæ, _Parkinsonia Africana_, and trees of _Acacia horrida_. -Camelthorns (_Acacia Giraffæ_) are numerous on the higher levels. The -Twagras, or Bushman grass of the Karroo, _Aristida brevifolia_, is a -characteristic feature of the vast plains. Even when dry this grass -retains its nourishing properties, and a period of two years may pass -before it dies. The grey hills that border the Orange River have only a -few kokerboom and chips of the _Euphorbia virosa_, and some straggling -sickly shrubs of _Bauhinia garipensis_. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[5] “The Flora of South Africa,” Vol. I., by Rudolf Marloth. - -[6] Pearson, “The Travels of a Botanist in South-West Africa”--_The -Geographical Journal_, May, 1910. - -[7] “The Vegetation of the Southern Namib”--_The South African Journal -of Science_, January, 1910. - -[8] Schinz, “South-West Africa,” Leipzig, 1894. - -[9] “The Flora of South Africa,” Vol. I. Rudolf Marloth. - -[10] Pearson, “The Travels of a Botanist in South-West Africa”--_The -Geographical Journal_, May, 1910. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY - - -When first visited by Europeans, South-West Africa was swarmed with -game in unusual number and variety, and the land was a veritable -hunter’s paradise. Lions were a constant source of trouble to -travellers even long after the middle of the last century. Elephants -roamed the country in big herds, and for some years, in the ’seventies -and ’eighties, the trade in ivory from Damaraland was considerable, -many thousands of pounds worth being brought to the coast for export -each year. The black rhinoceros was common. The rare animal known as -the white rhinoceros, _R. simus_, was also found. As stated in a -previous chapter, the first giraffe’s skin ever sent to Europe from -South Africa came from Great Namaqualand in 1763. The buffalo, the -quagga, and the zebra abounded, and the ungainly hippopotamus could -often be seen plunging and splashing in the lower reaches of the -Orange River. But the larger game has been steadily driven to the -north and the north-east, where the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the -hippopotamus may still be found among the nobler South African fauna, -partly as a result of protective measures adopted by the Government -authorities. The Caprivi territory may be regarded as the big game -reserve of the country. - -Among the beasts of prey the lion is still found, but only on the -lonely Kalahari border, in the Kaokoveld, and in the far north. The -leopard, _felis pardus_, commonly called the “tiger,” exists in many -parts of the country, and is not by any means a pleasant beast to -encounter. The beautifully-marked cheetah, _Cynoelurus jubatus_, is -sometimes found on the eastern slopes. The red lynx, _felis caracal_, -the Dutch “rooikat,” with the typical tufted ears and short tail, is -fairly numerous. Among the enemies of the stock farmer are several -species of jackals; the powerful spotted hyena, _H. crocuta_, the Dutch -tiger-wolf; and the destructive African wild dog. The wild dogs hunt in -packs, and, as they will pull down anything from a lamb to an eland, -they do a great deal of damage. - -The antelopes are well represented. The eland, the largest of all -antelopes, roams the eastern border districts, with the noble koodoo, -_strepsicerous kudu_; the sable antelope, _hippotragus niger_; the -roan antelope, _hippotragus equinus_; the fierce blue wildebeest or -brindled gnu, _connochoetes taurinus_; the handsome oryx, or gemsbok, -_oryx gazella_; and occasionally the giraffe. The giraffe and the oryx -have also been observed on the western plains, and the zebra exists in -the Kaokoveld, north of the Namib. - -Large herds of springbuck, _gazella euchore_, roam the inner plains of -the Namib and the open, treeless country to the east. The Waterbuck, -_kobus ellipsiprimnus_, is found in the vicinity of the northern -rivers, while the little Damaraland antelope, _nanotragus damarensis_, -may be seen at rare intervals in the mountain fastnesses near Omaruru. -Among the smaller animals are the fecund steenbuck; the charming little -klipspringer, _oreotragus saltator_, the “chamois of South Africa”; -and the solitude-loving duiker, _cephalolopus grimmi_. - -In the order Rodentia there are several hares. The Cape hare, _lepus -capensis_, an animal a little smaller than the English hare, is found -both in open and forest country; the rock hare, _lepus saxatalis_, -is a little larger, and keeps to the hilly country; the spring -hare, _Pedetes capensis_, is really a rodent, and this peculiar -creature, which lives in burrows, has a queer kangaroo-like method of -progression, using its long bushy tail with great skill. The flesh of -all these hares makes good eating. - -That strange creature, the ant-bear, or Dutch aard vark, _orycteropus -afer_, which lives entirely on ants and termites, is responsible for -a good deal of damage caused by its burrowing habits. This animal is -confined entirely to Africa. Among other typical African animals are -the porcupine; the dassie, or rock rabbit, _hyrax capensis_, which -very much resembles the guinea-pig in shape; and one or two species of -meercats. - - -THE BIRDS - -Game birds are fairly numerous. The largest bird is of course the -ostrich, which runs wild in many parts of the country. A considerable -trade was done in ostrich feathers from Damaraland for many years; -shooting of the birds has been wisely prohibited under the German -administration. Ostrich-farming has been attempted on a small scale. - -There are several species of bustard, notable among them being the big -kori bustard, or Dutch pauuw, _Otis kori_, which sometimes stands as -high as 5 feet and weighs 40 pounds; and one of the lesser bustards -known as knorhaan, _Otis afra_, whose irritating, harsh craak is -all too familiar to the South African sportsman when stalking his -game. The guinea-fowl represents the pheasant tribe, and these fine -sporting birds are very numerous in North Damaraland and parts of -Ovamboland. The so-called Namaqua pheasant is really a francolin -partridge, while the well-known Namaqua partridge is a sand grouse, -_Pteroclurus namaquus_. Soon after sunrise the sand grouse are seen -high in the air in immense flocks, coming from all parts of the compass -to gather around the _vlies_ or pans where they drink. When hunted in -the veld they rise well to the dog and provide excellent sport. It is -a much more difficult matter, however, to flush the bustard or the -guinea-fowl. Several species of snipe and quail are found, but they -are not numerous. - -The wild goose, or Egyptian goose, _Chenalopex aegyptiacus_, one of -the most edible of the South African game birds, with several species -of wild duck, frequent the watercourses. Herons, storks, ibises, -flamingos, and spoonbills are among the wading birds; the flamingos are -often in large numbers in North Damaraland and Ovamboland. - -Eagles and vultures are among the birds of prey, with owls and -several species of the hawk family. The Secretary bird, _Serpentarius -secretarius_, with its curious quill-like crest of feathers, may -sometimes be seen stalking in characteristic solemn fashion among the -low bush in search of a little animal or a young snake. Those queer -birds, the penguins, with their black coats and white waistcoats, -thickly inhabit the islands off the coast. The gannet, the smaller -cormorant, with the penguin, have been protected by the Cape Government -on account of their importance as yielders of guano, and immense flocks -exist to-day. - -Among the smaller birds are the wattled starling, _Dilophus -carunculatus_, two pratincoles, _Glareola melanoptera_ and _G. -pratincola_, all locust birds, which pursue their prey high in the air, -wheeling and darting and turning in wonderfully attractive fashion; -hoopoes, honey-guides, swifts, woodpeckers, hornbills, and weavers. -The honey-guide (_Indicatoridæ_) is a most interesting bird. Its -intelligence is as remarkable as its pertinacity, and it will give the -sportsman no rest until he has followed the twittering creature to the -bees’ nest. The remarkable-looking hornbills, with their huge bills, -very soon attract the attention of the traveller. The social weaver, -_Philetaerus socius_, is famous for its peculiar nest-building habits. -The birds are sociable little creatures and live together in colonies -of several hundreds. The nest, really a bird city, is generally a -huge mass of grass and sticks, cunningly arranged in a camelthorn -tree, and is often as big as a small haystack. A colony of 500 birds -may sometimes be found in the nest. The entrance is from beneath as -a protection against tree snakes, and there are generally several -“doors.” Inside there are a number of “streets” and “compartments,” -with individual nests in rows like little homes on each side of a -street. The nests are added to year by year, and sometimes they become -too heavy for the branches, with the result that the branches give way -and the “city” falls to pieces. - - -THE SNAKES - -The reptile world is represented by a number of exceedingly venomous -snakes, but fortunately they are not numerous, and deaths from -snake-bite are of rare occurrence. There is the ferocious cobra, one -of the most deadly snakes in South Africa, of which there are several -species. Anchietas cobra, _Naia Anchietæ_, attains to an average length -of 5 feet, and the well-known Cape cobra, _Naia Flava_, is about the -same length. These reptiles are as active as they are venomous. - -With the characteristic hood raised and eyes glittering with fierce -anger, an enraged cobra is a fearsome sight. A couple of drops of its -venom are quite sufficient to kill a giant. The Ringhals cobra or -Spitting snake, _Sepedon haemachates_, is not quite so long as its -cousin, but is highly venomous and very ferocious when roused. The name -“ringhals” means “ring-neck,” and has reference to the whitish band or -bands across the throat. - -Not only has this reptile the power to inflict a deadly bite with its -poison fangs--it is able to spit a stream of venom into the eyes of a -person standing some feet away. Dogs and calves are often blinded in -this way. - -The puff-adder, _Bitis arietans_, is an important member of the -viper family. This flat-headed, repulsive-looking creature, with its -thick, dark-brown body, is highly venomous and exceedingly dangerous, -as it coils up and lies quite still in the open until touched or -roused. Although extremely sluggish in nature, it lunges with -amazing rapidity. When its warning hiss is heard a hasty retirement -is expedient. Among the other dangerous adders are the Night adder, -_Causus rhombeatus_, which lays eggs; the small Peringuey’s adder, -_Bitis Peringueyi_; the queer Hornsman or Horned adder, _Bitis -cornuta_, which has two or more erect horn-like scales over each eye, -like little horns; the West African adder, _Bitis gabonica_, which will -bury itself in the sand for hours, with only the head visible; the Berg -adder, _Bitis atropos_, which keeps to the mountain regions; and the -Oviparous adder, _Atractaspis bibronii_, which is rarely found, since -it burrows in the sand after the manner of the blind burrowing reptiles. - -All the snakes mentioned above belong to the front-fanged variety, -which are all poisonous. The back-fanged snakes are more or less -poisonous. These include in South-West Africa the Herald or Red-lipped -snake, _Leptodira hotambaeia_, with a speckled body, glossy head, and -red upper lip; the Whip snake, _Psammophis jurcatus_, a thin brown -reptile with a brittle tail; the Spotted Schaapsteker, _Trimerorhinus -rhombeatus_, well-known, too, on the Karroo; the small Damaraland -many-spotted snake, _Rhamphiophis multimaculatus_; the Dapple-backed -sand-snake, _Psammophis notostictus_; and the Namaqualand sand-snake, -_Psammophis trigrammus_. - -None of these back-fanged reptiles are to be greatly dreaded; they will -rarely attack a person; but it is not wise to take liberties with them. -Even a snake will turn. - -All the solid-toothed snakes are as harmless as worms, and may be -freely handled. Quite a number of these are found in the country. -The remarkable egg-eating snake, _Dasypeltis scabra_, has a -highly-specialised egg-breaking mechanism. A sawing apparatus in the -backbone serves the purpose of teeth. The egg-shell is cast up after -the contents have been sucked down. There are several species of the -small Coppery snake; one or two of the House snake, of the genus -Boodon, often found near dwelling-houses. House snakes can easily be -tamed, and they may become more useful than cats, and much less harmful. - -The non-venomous python is found occasionally in the rocky valleys. -Anchieta’s python, _P. anchietæ_, is the only species. This reptile -has an average length of about 16 feet, and kills all its victims by -constriction. The female python lays her eggs and then hatches them -like a broody hen. - -The dreaded scorpion is also a habitat of the country. Tortoises are -found. Swarms of the migratory locust cause much damage when they -descend upon the vegetation. Among the smaller but not less troublesome -creatures are the many beetles, spiders, ticks, and mites. - -In the coast waters the ungainly seals have their home, and off Cape -Cross they are found in very large numbers. Whales are not so numerous -as in former years, but several whaling stations are in existence along -the shore. Altogether, South-West Africa has an uncommon variety of -individuals in the animal world. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE EARLY DAYS - - -The only use of war, says a cynical writer, is to teach geography. -Certainly there are many people in South Africa who a few months ago -would have been sorely puzzled to locate Luderitz Bay on the map of -Africa. And how many are aware that this islet-studded inlet is a place -of considerable historic importance? It was here, says Theal, that -“for the first time Christian men trod the soil of Africa south of the -tropic.”[11] - -In 1486 Bartholomew Diaz, the famous Portuguese navigator, who -was in search of the way to India, stepped ashore from the little -fifty-ton ship that had brought him from the Tagus, and gave the bay -the name Angra Pequena, the Little Bay. On Serra Parda, or the Grey -Mountain, now Pedestal Point, he set up the first of the three stone -crosses erected on the South African coast. It stood there above the -dreary waste, a striking landmark, well into the nineteenth century, -when vandals from the whaling ships broke it in pieces. Fortunately, -considerable fragments of the monument were recovered and conveyed to -the South African Museum at Cape Town in 1856. - -For some 300 years after the landing of Diaz, South-West Africa -remained an Unknown Land, and no one seemed eager to venture into what -appeared to be a most inhospitable region. Early in the nineteenth -century a few whaling ships might have been seen off the coast taking -heavy toll of the many whales that abounded. Walvis Bay, with its -sheltered harbour, became a base for the seamen, and from the few -Hottentots who lived in the vicinity the men purchased their supplies -of fresh meat. - -The first European to cross the Orange River was one Jacobus Coetsee, -who proceeded northward from his farm at Picketberg in 1760, with -a number of Hottentots, to shoot elephants. He hunted in Great -Namaqualand, and while there heard from the Namaquas of a tribe of -strange, black people living ten days further north, called the -Damrocquas, who had long hair, and wore clothes made of linen cloth. -This was the day when queer tales lost nothing in the telling. On his -return Coetsee related what he had heard to Hendrik Hop, a Captain of -the Burgher Militia; Hop reported to Governor Ryh Tulbagh, and offered -to conduct an exploring expedition in order to seek out these strange -people. Tulbagh had a zeal for knowledge surpassed among the early -Governors of the Cape only by the Van der Stels; he readily acquiesced -in the proposal, and in 1761 Hop set out on his adventurous journey -with a caravan of no less than fifteen wagons. The expedition was -well-equipped, since it included a botanist, a surveyor, a surgeon, -who also acted as a mineralogist, and a number of European volunteers, -with quite a little army of Hottentots. The journey extended from July -16th, 1761, to April 27th, 1762. It deserves to be remembered as one of -the most notable journeys connected with early African exploration. -The result is the “New Accounts of the Cape of Good Hope, etc.”--one of -our earliest books of travel in South-West Africa, an exceedingly rare -octavo, published in Amsterdam, both in Dutch and French, in 1778. A -German edition was published at Leipzig in 1779.[12] The book is the -work of several hands: it contains, among other things, the journal of -C. F. Brink, the surveyor, the reports of T. Roos and P. Marais, two -volunteers, on the native tribes encountered, and some excellent plates -depicting such rare animals, as they were then, as the zebra, the -gemsbuck, the koodoo, and the gnu. - -The party crossed the Orange, passed the hot springs now known as -Warmbad, pushed along the western base of the Karas Mountains; and -penetrated to the borders of Damaraland. Some valuable prizes were -secured in the shape of several giraffes, animals that were among -the rarities at the time. Governor Tulbagh sent the skin of one of -these animals to Leiden, the first of its kind to be sent to Europe -from South Africa. Hop did not succeed in reaching the country of the -Damrocquas, as he was compelled to turn back owing to the loss of -cattle and the failure of water. The Orange River, placed on the map -from hearsay by the elder Van der Stel, was now definitely located, and -a fair knowledge obtained of the sterile wastes of Great Namaqualand, -and the mountainous region that lay to the north. - -Lieutenant William Paterson, a gifted botanist and explorer, next -reached the Orange River; in company with Colonel Gordon, the Scotch -Commanding Officer of the troops of the Dutch East India Company, and -Jacobus van Reenen. “On the 17th of August, 1779,” says Paterson, “we -launched Colonel Gordon’s boat, and hoisted Dutch colours. Colonel -Gordon proposed first to drink the States’ health and then that of the -Prince of Orange and the Company, after which he gave the river the -name of the Orange River, in honour of that Prince.”[13] - -Up to this time the river had been known as the Braragul, the name -given to it by the elder Van der Stel. We owe a debt to the gallant -Gordon, who could hardly have found a more appropriate name for these -yellow muddy waters; and as Pettman points out in his “South African -Place Names,” this is the only royal name in the place names of the -period. - -Le Vaillant next appears upon the scene. This romantic and picturesque -traveller assures us that he journeyed “into the interior parts of -Africa in the years 1783, 1784, and 1785,” leaving the house of his -friend Mr. Slabert, near Saldanha Bay, in the middle of 1783; but, -unfortunately, Le Vaillant was much given to romancing, and doubts have -been thrown on the authenticity of his journeys. That he travelled -somewhere in the regions north of the Orange River, “in search of rare -birds and new hordes,” “suffering much from the reverberations of the -sun,” seems clear from his descriptions of the country and people. His -many adventures make delightful reading, and he was a wonderfully keen -observer of objects of natural history. - -The quest for gold next led a party into the northern wilds. In -1791 Willem van Reenen set out from his farm on the Elephant River, -accompanied by a number of burghers, in the expectation of discovering -gold, about the existence of which rumours had reached him. The party -passed the farthest point reached by Hop thirty years before, and -pushed northward until they probably penetrated into what is now -Damaraland. One Peter Brand travelled fifteen days further than the -main party, and was the first European to come into contact with -the mysterious Damrocquas, the Berg Damaras. These natives had the -appearance of Kaffirs, they spoke the Hottentot language, and they -lived like Bushmen. - -For some months the party remained among the Damaras gleaning -information about the various clans. Game was abundant; they accounted -for no less than sixty-five rhinoceroses, six giraffes, and small game -without number. What was more important to them, they dug up large -quantities of “gold ore,” and transported it with much joy to Cape -Town. Their chagrin can be imagined when they were assured that the -“gold” ore was really copper ore. - -But belief in the existence of gold north of the Orange seemed to -persist, as in 1793 another party left Cape Town, with Chevalier Duminy -as a guide, in the packet _Meermin_, for a bay somewhere up the coast, -where a train of wagons, sent overland, was to meet them on landing. -The wagons, however, were not at the rendezvous, so the _Meermin_ -sailed north until Walvis Bay was reached. Here, in February of 1793, -the prospectors set up a stone beacon, engraved on one side with the -arms of the States, and on the other with the monogram of the Dutch -East India Company. Hottentots were found living along the shore, and -Peter Brand sought their guidance for a trek into the interior. He was -away about a month; during which time he traversed a portion of the -Damara country, and was somewhat surprised to find an abundance of -trees and many rich grazing tracts. Elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceroses, -lions, and giraffes were numerous, but there were no traces of the -desired gold. Pienaar was probably the first European to penetrate into -the country from the west coast. - -The early years of the nineteenth century bring us to the beginning -of the missionary era in South-West Africa, and we now turn to the -missionaries who came to evangelise the heathen inhabitants. These men -have played no small part in the political life of South Africa, and -the dust of the many controversies in which they were concerned ought -not to be allowed to obscure the high value and romance of the early -missionary enterprise. As pioneers, explorers, geographers, no less -than as philanthropists, they have done a great deal for knowledge. - -As early as 1802 the London Missionary Society--that stormy petrel -of African Missionary Societies--had its agents north of the Orange -River. The brothers Christian and Abraham Albrecht were probably the -first Europeans to reside in Great Namaqualand; they founded a mission -station at Warm Bath (now Warmbad) in 1807. Warm Bath was so named -because of the hot springs found there. Another station was established -at Bethany in 1814 by J. Henry Schmelen. Robert Moffat, who was -destined to leave his name indelibly impressed on African history, took -charge of the Warm Bath station in 1818. At this time Titus Africaner, -the outlaw Hottentot Chief, was at the height of his career as a -marauder and desperado; a cloud of dust in the distance was sufficient -to drive the peaceful tribes that lived along the course of the Orange -River frantic with terror, since it might herald the approach of the -ferocious raider. Africaner came under the benign influence of the -missionary, and a complete change of character was effected in him. -Acting on a sudden impulse, Moffat took him to Cape Town when on a -visit. An immense sensation was created. The people at the Cape could -scarcely credit the fact that this man, once the terror of farmers and -natives, was a reformed character. Lord Charles Somerset “expressed -his pleasure at seeing thus before him one who had formerly been the -scourge of the country,” and made him the present of a wagon. Moffat’s -stay in Great Namaqualand, though brief, was certainly notable. - -The agents of the London Missionary Society were withdrawn from the -country by 1821, and the Wesleyans appeared on the scene. With their -early efforts is bound up one of the most tragic stories of missionary -enterprise. William Threlfall, a young minister from Yorkshire, was -seeking an opening for philanthropic labours among the Hottentots in -the region of Warm Bath in the year 1825. He lay down to rest upon -the ground one night after a long trek; while he slept his Bushman -guide drew near with two accomplices, fell upon the defenceless man, -and dealt him blow after blow until he lay dead at their feet.[14] -William Threlfall is thus the missionary martyr of Namaqualand. In -1834 the only European resident in Great Namaqualand was Edward Cook, -who had charge of the Warm Bath station, renamed by Cook Nisbett Bath, -in honour of Mr. James Nisbett, a generous supporter of the Mission. -He laboured among the Bondelswaarts. Cook was the first white man to -take his wife into the wilds of Damaraland. The two people had a most -adventurous journey northward to the Windhoek Valley, to Gobabis, and -then across to Walvis Bay, and they actually had their young children -with them. Lions proved a great source of anxiety to Mrs. Cook. The -following extract from Cook’s journal affords an interesting glimpse of -the amenities of travel in those days. “During the night we came across -a rhinoceros grazing, the snorting of which frightened our servant -girl, who was riding an ox. She threw herself off and ran to take -shelter in the wagon. The oxen, being accustomed to be chased by wild -beasts, took fright at her screaming, and furiously galloped off. Those -who had not heard the rhinoceros thought a lion had attacked us, and -the greatest terror prevailed until an ox, getting his leg entangled in -the harness, fell, and the wagon was stopped.”[15] - -Sir James Alexander was the first traveller to explore the country -who possessed the scientific attainments essential to extensive and -accurate observation. The Scottish knight journeyed slowly through -Great Namaqualand and Damaraland in 1836-7, covering, from the time he -left Cape Town till his return, a distance of 4,000 miles. It is rather -surprising, in view of what we have recorded, to read in more than -one “reliable résumé of the history of the country,” that Sir James -Alexander “was the first European to explore the unknown land.” Even -Francis Galton assumes that Alexander was the pioneer. Doubtless Sir -James was proud to emphasise the fact “that up to this day the whole of -the western region of southern Africa to the north of the Orange River -has hitherto remained a blank on our maps,” but it was hardly the -unknown land he imagined it to be. Sir James did a good deal of hunting -in the country; he spent some time in the vicinity of Walvis Bay; where -the “climate was healthy and good”; he gathered a large number of -zoological and other specimens, many of which were unknown to the world -of science, and he gleaned much useful information about the social -condition of the Bushmen, Namaquas, and Damaras. He was the first white -man to secure an exclusive interview with the headman of the Berg -Damaras, who told the knight that he had never before looked upon a -white man; all his people had run away on hearing that such a fearsome -creature was approaching. At Warm Bath Sir James “set up his staff to -wait for the thunder rains,” and while there “took the waters,” and -thereby “set the natives the example of ablution.”[16] - -For a few years after Alexander’s visit, Wesleyan missionaries occupied -stations in Damaraland, and the Rev. J. Tindall was the first white man -to reside at Gobabis, although the Rev. Edward Cook and his wife had -spent three months there in 1840; but these stations were at length -handed over to the German missionaries who belonged to the Rhenish -Missionary Society. With the entry of these men into the country in the -’forties we note the forging of the first link in the chain of events -which had its end in the establishment of a German Protectorate. - -Francis Galton made a notable journey through, the country in 1850-2, -in company with the Swedish naturalist and trader, Charles J. -Andersson. Galton proceeded from Walvis Bay through regions hitherto -almost unknown into Ovamboland and arrived at a point within seven days -of Lake Ngami. He was much pleased with the fertility of Ovamboland and -the quiet, sociable disposition of the Ovambo people. His “Narrative of -an Explorer in Tropical Central Africa” affords the fullest description -of the land and the people. For many years the career of Charles J. -Andersson was identified with Damaraland and the adjacent countries. -He was the first European to travel across South-West Africa to Lake -Ngami. This feat he accomplished in 1853. He discovered the Okavango -River, and as a result of his many hunting and trading expeditions -added much to our knowledge of the country. His books of travel are -richly instructive and alive with stirring incidents. - -The names of travellers and explorers like James Chapman, Thomas -Baines, Frederick J. Green, bring us to the ’fifties and ’sixties of -the nineteenth century, to what may be termed the closing days of the -No Man’s Land era. The consideration of the events which led up to the -German occupation we leave to another chapter. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[11] Theal’s “History of South Africa” (1486-1691), p. 2. - -[12] Mendellssau’s “South African Bibliography,” Vol. I., p. 185. - -[13] Paterson’s “Narrative of Four Journeys,” 1789, p. 113. - -[14] Cheeseman’s “William Threlfall, the Missionary Martyr of -Namaqualand,” 1911. - -[15] Cook’s “Modern Missionary,” 1849, p. 136. - -[16] Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery,” 1838. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE LATER HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT - - -The red tide of war surged backward and forward over the land in the -’sixties, and deeds of appalling cruelty were perpetrated. The Hereros -fought to secure their independence from the Hottentots, and they -were at length victorious, but a guerilla war again broke out in the -’seventies, and the country was in a state of chronic unsettlement. In -1868 the harassed missionaries connected with the Rhenish Missionary -Society, whose stations were either plundered or destroyed during these -wars, sent an urgent appeal to the British Government for intervention -and requested that the whole of Hereroland should be “declared British -territory, under British protection.” The appeal was backed up by -Bismarck, but the Secretary of State for the Colonies was “unable to -adopt the German views on the subject.” Efforts were made, however, to -restore peace among the tribes by a special commissioner sent up from -the Cape. The matter of annexation was not allowed to rest, and in 1875 -the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the extension -of the limits of the Colony so as to include Walvis Bay and as much -country inland as it was considered expedient to acquire. With a view -to ascertaining the feelings of the native chiefs in Namaqualand and -Damaraland, Mr. W. C. Palgrave was sent on a commission of inquiry. He -was cordially received by the chiefs, with whom he made treaties which -placed the country under British jurisdiction, and he also arranged -that a European magistrate or diplomatic adviser should reside among -the people at Okahandja. The missionaries were in hearty agreement, as -were the German and Swedish traders. Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor -at the Cape, strongly favoured annexation, and urged it upon the Home -Government, but all that they would agree to was the acquisition of -Walvis Bay with some 400 miles of land around it. Formal possession of -this area was taken in 1878. The Guano Islands off the coast, which -had enjoyed an odorous celebrity for some time, had been annexed in -1867. Sir Bartle Frere renewed his representations at a latter time, -but the British Government still adhered to the opinion that it was -inexpedient to encourage any scheme of extension of territory in -South-West Africa. - -When war broke out again in 1880 between the Namaquas and the Damaras, -Palgrave was recalled from the country where he had resided for a -time, and Major Musgrave, who had been acting as diplomatic adviser -at Okahandja, was removed to Walvis Bay. This outbreak of hostilities -led to correspondence between the British Government and Germany. In a -memorandum presented to Earl Granville by the German Ambassador it was -stated (and the admission is significant in view of subsequent events) -that “since there could be no question as to an independent proceeding -on the part of Germany for the protection of life and property of its -subjects in those regions,” it was the wish of the German Government -that “the British Government would direct that any measures ordered or -intended for the protection of life and property of English subjects -might be extended likewise to the German missionaries and traders -living there.” This drew from the British Government the admission that -“Her Majesty’s Government could not be responsible for what might take -place outside British territory, which only included Walvis Bay, and a -very small portion of country immediately surrounding it.” That careful -note was taken of this reply is evident from later events. - -Meanwhile the Berlin _Geographische Nachrichten_, of November 1879, -had printed an article by Ernst von Weber in which the writer had made -a cogent and powerful plea in favour of a plan for a German Colony -in South Africa, and it is not without significance that, early in -1883, the German Embassy politely inquired of the British Foreign -Office whether British protection would be extended to a factory about -to be established by a Bremen merchant north of the Orange River at -Angra Pequena, intimating that if this could not be done they would -do their best to extend to it the same measure of protection which -they gave to their subjects in remote places, but without any design -to establish a footing in South Africa. This was rather a disturbing -inquiry to Earl Derby; probably he called to mind the reply given to a -previous question, in which a definite statement as to the extent of -British territory had been made, so he immediately communicated with -the Cape Government asking if they had any prospect of undertaking -control of Angra Pequena in the event of the place being declared -British. Unfortunately no reply was forthcoming from the Cape for some -months, and the matter dragged on. But it is evident that Germany was -not idle: one Vogelsang, acting as agent for Herr F. A. E. Luderitz, -the Bremen merchant, landed at Angra Pequena, got into touch with the -German missionary at Bethany and Chief Joseph Frederick, produced -treaty forms, and soon had the satisfaction of annexing some 200 miles -of land around the Bay. In a report of an official visit paid to Angra -Pequena in October 1883, on behalf of the British Government, by -Captain Church, of Her Majesty’s Navy, it is definitely asserted that -“it was through the influence of the Rhenish missionary at Bethany that -Herr Luderitz obtained this extraordinary purchase of coast land.” The -cession is dated 25th August, 1883. So Germany obtained a place in the -African sun. - -This action on the part of Luderitz was keenly resented by British -traders, for Captain Sinclair had obtained on behalf of De Pass, Spence -& Co. a cession of the coast territory from Angra Pequena to Baker’s -Cove from the chief of the Bondelswaarts in 1863, and for twenty years -the company had enjoyed undisturbed and undisputed possession of the -area. Luderitz, however, assumed proprietary rights. - -Germany now made another move in the game. In November 1883 the British -Foreign Office was asked by the German Ambassador whether Her Majesty’s -Government claimed any rights of sovereignty over Angra Pequena and -adjacent territory. The reply was made that while Great Britain -only laid claim to certain specified areas, any claim to sovereignty -or jurisdiction by a foreign Power would “infringe their legitimate -rights,” since the country north of the Orange River had been viewed as -a kind of commercial dependency of Cape Colony. But this did not deter -Bismarck, who had evidently resolved on a definite course of action. -Accordingly he instructed the German Consul at Cape Town to announce -that Herr Luderitz and his establishments were under the protection of -the German Empire, and the announcement was made on April 25th, 1884. -Then the Cape Government woke up. In the following month the Governor, -Sir Hercules Robinson, telegraphed to the Home Government that -“Ministers have decided to recommend Parliament to undertake control of -the coast-line from the Orange River to Walvis Bay.” Earl Derby also -seems to have been aroused about this time, for in June he announced -that arrangements would be made for giving protection under the -British flag to any persons, German and English, who had duly acquired -concessions or established commercial enterprises on the coast-line. In -the following month the Cape Parliament passed a resolution in favour -of the annexation of the whole coast-line from the Orange River to the -Portuguese frontier; but the matter had been too long delayed--the -prize had been grasped by other hands; for before the Cape resolutions -could reach England a German gunboat had appeared at Angra Pequena, -the German flag had been hoisted, and a German Protectorate formally -proclaimed. - -This was an act of state on the part of Germany, for the territory -was vacant in the eye of International Law. Britain had done nothing -to enforce her claims over the territory, though she had ample -justification. So early as 1796 Captain Alexander of the _Star_ sloop -landed at Angra Pequena and “took possession in His Majesty’s name by -hoisting the King’s colours, firing three volleys and turning over the -soil.” Unfortunately, Great Britain had persistently neglected all -opportunities to place the matter beyond reasonable doubt, so there -was nothing left for her but to acquiesce in the German expansion -with the best grace possible, and a reluctant recognition was given -to the German claims, although European Colonial opinion in South -Africa recognised the action of Germany as nothing less than an -unnecessary and unwelcome intrusion. An Anglo-German Commission, -consisting of Sir Sidney Shippard and a German representative, was -appointed to investigate the claims of British subjects who had secured -concessions on the coast in the vicinity of Angra Pequena before the -German occupation and to discuss the interests of the various parties -involved in the annexation. Matters were at length adjusted in a -fairly satisfactory manner. The Report of the Commissioners was never -published, twenty-five copies only being printed, of which twelve were -sent to Berlin, twelve to London, and one was retained by the High -Commissioner for South Africa. - -In a statement made to the Reichstag on June 23rd, 1884, Bismarck -said it was the intention of the Government to issue for Angra -Pequena (renamed Luderitz Bay by Herr Luderitz) an Imperial Letter -of protection similar to the Royal Charter granted by England to the -East India Company. When defining his colonial policy at a later -time he affirmed that it was not to found provinces but “mercantile -settlements which would be placed under the protection of the Empire.” -The subsequent history of South-West Africa affords a striking -commentary on what proved to be a characteristic Bismarckian utterance. -Unfortunately, Great Britain took the declaration at its face value. - -Angra Pequena was but a starting point for large extensions of -territory, and German eyes were soon turned in the direction of -Damaraland. When rumours of designs on the country reached Cape Town, -Mr. W. C. Palgrave was sent to Walvis Bay to make inquiries and to -learn what measures, if any, should be taken in order to protect -colonial interests and the rights of Her Majesty’s subjects north of -the Orange River. On arriving at Walvis Bay Mr. Palgrave was requested -by Kamaherero to visit him at Okahandja, and there, without inducement -of any kind, the Herero Chief handed the Commissioner a Deed of -Cession of Damaraland dated December 29th, 1884, giving “our whole -country” over to Great Britain. Mr. Palgrave accepted the cession -for transmission to England, but the British Government subsequently -declined the offer and stated that it would have no objection to the -extension of the German Protectorate “inland as far as the 20th degree -of East longitude.” Was not Germany a “friendly Power”? Kamaherero then -appealed to the Aborigines Protection Society, and stated that he had -given his country to the British in 1876 and in 1884, yet the Germans -threatened to seize it and bring war and destruction upon his people. -But no help was forthcoming from Great Britain, and accordingly in the -following year Germany seized the country. - -These developments were viewed with considerable pride in Germany, for -the early period of colonisation was characterised by immense national -enthusiasm. The perfervid Pan-Germanists and the sword-rattling -Chauvinists fanned the flame, and for a time the whole nation was -“Colony mad.” No consideration whatever was paid to the fact that the -newly acquired possessions in South-West Africa had long been widely -recognised as British commercial dependencies. Small wonder that the -startled colonists in South Africa rubbed their eyes in amazement at -the displays of German high politics. - -Among the events which call for brief notice during this period mention -must be made of a characteristic Boer trek which took place from -the Transvaal into Damaraland in 1873. A party of farmers journeyed -with their families and stock across the waterless wastes of the -Kalahari Desert to seek out a new home. They endured the most horrible -sufferings and their line of march was a line of the graves of their -dead. A relief expedition went up from Cape Town to their assistance -in 1879, and some 300 of them were found in great straits in North -Damaraland. They subsequently trekked into Portuguese territory. - -In 1885 W. W. Jordan, a trader, attempted to establish a Republic in -South Ovamboland. He purchased land from a Chief, cut it up into -farms, secured the co-operation of a few other Europeans, established a -Council and named the area Upingtonia in honour of Sir Thomas Upington, -the Cape politician; but in the following year Jordan was murdered by -natives, and the “Republic” came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE GERMAN OCCUPATION - - -During the early years of the German occupation the seat of Government -was at Otjimbingue, where Dr. Goering, the Imperial Commissioner, had -a handful of soldiers to assist him in the work of administration. In -1890 K. von François was appointed Commissioner and Military Commander, -and as the few troops in the country had been reinforced, he proceeded -to seize the territory around Windhoek, and two years later the first -settlers from Germany arrived to make their homes at Windhoek, destined -to be the new capital. François set about the task of subjugating the -natives in typical Prussian fashion, and apparently adopted a policy -of colonisation by the Mauser. In 1893 he stormed the stronghold of -Hendrik Witbooi, the Hottentot leader, and the country was forthwith -plunged into prolonged and costly wars. Even after Witbooi’s defeat -other tribes carried on a most harassing guerilla campaign. In 1902 the -Bondelswaarts rose, and in the following year the Hereros revolted. -The farms of white settlers were devastated, and men and women were -cruelly murdered, but, significantly enough, British and Boer farmers -were not molested. In 1904, General von Trotha, who had done his -utmost to suppress the rising, greatly exasperated at the failure -of many of his “drives,” entered on a campaign of extermination. He -issued a proclamation in which it was stated that “within the German -border every Herero, with or without a rifle, with or without cattle, -will be shot.” The record of the period which followed is a most -sanguinary one. Thousands of Hereros were destroyed, and thousands -more were driven out into the parched desert wastes, where they died -of thirst, and where for several years after long lines of white bones -lay bleaching in the sun, marking the track the stricken people had -tried to follow across the wilderness. In “Peter Moor,” a narrative of -the campaign written by a German soldier, some significant sidelights -are thrown on the methods adopted in this campaign. Dealing with one -incident the writer describes the foodless, waterless condition of the -country, and how the soldiers stealthily surrounded a party of the -enemy, men, women and children; and he proceeds: “We then led the men -away to one side and shot them. The women and children, who looked -pitiably starved, we hunted into the bush.” It is said that no less -than 40,000 Hereros were destroyed in these wars. - -Probably very few natives would have been left alive in the country -had von Trotha been permitted to continue his work of destruction, but -the repeal of his famous proclamation was ordered by Bismarck, and he -was superseded by Herr von Lindequist in 1905. Von Lindequist issued a -general amnesty to the Hereros, and wisely set aside reserves for those -who surrendered. This conciliatory policy had an instant effect on the -Hereros; but the Hottentots continued the struggle until 1907. The -land of the Hereros was appropriated by the Government and made fiscal -domain. - -The campaign was a costly one for Germany, since it involved the loss -of many hundreds of lives and an expenditure of some £30,000,000. At -the height of the campaign there were 19,000 Germans in the field, -with a large number of Dutch auxiliaries responsible for the transport -arrangements. - -There is no doubt that the main causes of the native risings were the -bureaucratic methods of the colonial administration and the behaviour -of the white traders. “Germany has nothing to learn from England,” -said the colonial party’s official organ in Africa at the beginning of -the enterprise, “or any other colonising nation, having a method of -handling social problems peculiar to the German spirit.” Beginning in -this temper, it is hardly a matter for surprise that their policy in -South-West Africa has been marked by all the defects of the “German -spirit.” - -They failed utterly to appreciate the significance of the fact that -England had achieved her success as a great colonising Power by -adopting the twin principles of liberty and diversity in her dealings -with subject or conquered races. With characteristic arrogance -the Germans proceeded to apply the typical Prussian principles of -compulsion and uniformity to all their methods of administration, and -the “mailed fist” became the most appropriate symbol of German colonial -rule. A ready-made system of Prussian bureaucracy was established; -Berlin and Potsdam had their replicas on a small but exact scale in -the little settlements where officialism flourished, and the cast-iron -rules “made in Germany” were applied to the peculiarly flexible -problems of colonial administration. The “system” was infallible! -It had wrought miracles with home administration. It had only to -be applied in Africa, and it would inevitably work the miracle of -colonisation. Little regard was paid to native customs and traditions -of life. Officialism rode roughshod over the ancient ways of life, -tribal laws, and native susceptibilities in a manner that aroused the -keenest resentment among the people. In a word the attempt was not to -colonise but to Germanise. - -“We started with a wrong conception of colonial possibilities,” said -Professor Bonn, of Munich University, in a striking address before the -Royal Colonial Institute on “German Colonial Policy,” early in 1914. -“We wanted to concentrate on Africa the emigrants we were losing at -the beginning of the colonial enterprise. We wanted to build up on -African soil a new Germany and create daughter states as you have done -in Australia and in Canada. We carried this idea to its bitter end. -We tried it in South-West Africa and produced a huge native rising, -causing the loss of much treasure and many lives. We tried to assume -to ourselves the functions of Providence, and we tried to exterminate -a native race whom our lack of wisdom had goaded into rebellion. -We succeeded in breaking up the native tribes, but we have not yet -succeeded in creating a new Germany.” - -Worse still, some of the officials sent out were guilty of excesses -and crimes which left a most evil odour. There were not wanting, -of course, men who brought to their posts a sense of public duty -and a high standard of personal honour, but “stories of slavery, -violence, cruelty, illegality, and lust, committed both by officials -and planters, were sent home too frequently by missionaries and -clean-handed men in the colonial service, who could not see these -things and be silent, and disciplinary proceedings at home generally -confirmed the imputations of report, and frequently proved that the -half had not been told.”[17] - -Among the traders there was little or no sense of obligation towards -the native races; their policy was entirely one of exploitation. No -stronger words of condemnation of the ill-treatment of the people -have been written than those which have come from German writers. -At the time of the Herero insurrection the _Cross Gazette_ stated: -“Unscrupulous traders have been allowed to exploit the inexperience and -the recklessness of the Hereros. The debts contracted with the white -traders had enormously increased during recent years, while villages -had mortgaged their cattle and their entire land with their creditors.” - -A white resident who wrote home from Outjo did not hesitate to affirm -that “most of the white traders are said to have been murdered, and in -their fate one can only see a not unjustifiable act of vengeance on -the part of the natives, who have avenged the unscrupulous outrages -and plundering of the traders. The traders plundered the natives -systematically. Every one took what he wanted.” - -Pastor Meyer, a missionary, stated that “the traders took from the -Hereros their land, though they had paid their debts four or five -times over, since no receipts were given, and 400 per cent. was -charged.” - -In 1904, Herr Schlettwein, a Government expert who has had the honour -of being called in to instruct the members of the Budget Committee of -the Reichstag on the principles of colonisation, wrote in a pamphlet a -characteristic German exposition of the policy of “frightfulness” as -applied to the colonies. “In colonial politics,” states this disciple -of Nietzsche and Bernhardi, “we stand at the parting of the ways--on -the one side the aim must be healthy egoism and practical colonisation, -and on the other exaggerated humanitarianism, vague idealism, -irrational sentimentality. The Hereros must be compelled to work and, -to work without compensation and in return for their food only. Forced -labour for years is only a just punishment, and at the same time it is -the best method of training them. The feelings of Christianity and -philanthropy with which the missionary works must for the present be -repudiated with all energy.” - -These words are a sufficient commentary on an emphatic statement made -in the Speech from the Throne with which the Reichstag was opened -sixteen years before, when colonial enthusiasm was at fever heat, when -it was affirmed that it must be a solemn duty of the Empire to “win the -Dark Continent for Christian civilisation.” - -The use of force as the method of civilisation has had its inevitable -result on the natives. In some districts it is not safe for a German -to venture to-day, and no German settler who valued his life would -presume to make a home anywhere near these areas without the protection -afforded by the presence of armed soldiers. There has also been a -steady exodus of Hereros into British territory for many years, for, as -one of the Hereros wrote to his kinsmen, “the land of the English is a -good land.” - -The Ovambos were never conquered. As recently as July of 1914, the -Luderitzbucht newspaper, the _Lüderitzbuchter Zeitung_, stated: “If you -were to tell an Ovambo despot in the far north that he was under German -protection, he would laugh himself to death.” The mailed fist is a poor -coloniser. - -Herr Dernburg, the versatile ex-general manager of the Dresden Bank, -who was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1907, made -a determined attempt to cleanse the Augean stables of administrative -irregularity, and initiated many useful measures of reform. In 1908 he -paid a visit of inspection to South-West Africa, and the years which -followed his tour saw considerable progress. There is something more -than irony in the fact that when war broke out Germany was beginning to -profit by the lessons learned in the hard school of experience, and had -peace continued, slow but certain progress would have been witnessed. -On South-West Africa, in annual subsidies, administrative expenses, -and warlike operations, it is estimated that Germany has spent nearly -£50,000,000. - -Officialism has been the bane of the country; the whole system of -government has been altogether too elaborate and costly. At one time -every third male adult was an official, and, apparently, the main -occupation of these men was the compilation of voluminous records -of all that pertained to the life of the civilians. Even the German -settlers have been moved to protest at times against the petty -restrictions imposed upon them by the dominant military caste. Taxes -have been heavy; little encouragement has been given to the prospector; -favouritism has been manifest in the apportioning of land; persistent -attempts have been made to Germanise the non-Germans, notably the Dutch -settlers, and the whole population has been weighed down with a burden -of ordinances and regulations altogether out of proportion to the needs -of a young colony. - -The local government was vested in a Council of forty members, which -had advisory functions only. The Governor, appointed by the Kaiser, had -the supreme authority. Twenty members were elected by the Districts, -and twenty were nominated by the Governor. All bills were first -submitted to the Governor, and only such measures as had been laid -before him, or suggested by him, could be passed into law. - -Protests against such autocratic rule for a young country were -numerous, and many appeals were made for a more representative form of -government, but all were in vain. The “system” could not be weakened, -and the last of the German Governors kept it inviolate to the end. - - -GERMAN INTRIGUE IN AFRICA - -The recent rebellion within the Union of South Africa may be viewed as -the culminating point of forty years of intrigue in South Africa, for -German emissaries have been at work in the country seeking to undermine -British authority since the ’seventies of the last century. - -“Would to God,” exclaimed Karl Mauch, the traveller and explorer, -on his return to Germany from the Transvaal in 1873, “that this -fine country might soon become a German colony.” A year or two later -Bismarck was urged by Germans in the country to send a “steady stream -of Germans through Delagoa Bay to secure future domination over the -Transvaal, and so pave the way for a great German Empire in Africa.” -When in 1884 the German flag was hoisted over Angra Pequena the -perfervid Treitschke went into ecstasies of delight. This was but -a beginning to the advocate of a greater Germany. He postulated a -“natural tendency for a Teutonic population to take over South Africa,” -and painted in rosy colours a picture of a great confederation of -German possessions in Africa. South-West Africa was regarded as a -_point d’appui_; its real value lay in its proximity to the coveted -lands in the possession of the “dis-affected” Boers. With his usual -prescience Sir Bartle Frere saw the danger, and warned the Boers that -“the little finger of Germany might be heavier than the loins of the -British Government.” When the Anglo-Boer war broke out a Press campaign -was inaugurated in Germany in favour of the “downtrodden Boers,” and it -is highly probable that the Kaiser’s famous telegram sent to President -Kruger after the Jameson raid was not the impulsive message it was -thought to be at the time, but part of a carefully planned scheme of -conspiracy against England. - -As far back as July of 1895, _Die Grenzboten_, an important political -weekly published in Berlin, wrote as follows: “For us the Boer States, -with the coasts that are their due, signify a great possibility. Their -absorption in the British Empire would mean a blocking-up of our -last road towards an independent agricultural colony in a temperate -climate.” The same newspaper wrote two years later: “The possession -of South Africa offers greater advantages in every respect than the -possession of Southern Brazil. If we look at the map, our German -colonies appear very good starting points for attack.” In the same year -the following appeared in the _Koloniales Jahrbuch_: “The importance -of South Africa as a land which can receive an unlimited number of -white immigrants must rouse us to the greatest exertions in order to -secure there the supremacy of the Teuton race. The greater part of the -population of South Africa is of Low German descent. We must constantly -lay stress upon the Low German origin of the Boers, and we must, before -all, stimulate their hatred against Anglo-Saxondom.” - -More remarkable still is the speech made in the Reichstag by the -unsentimental Herr Lattman, when discussing the railway line from -Luderitzbucht to Keetmanshoop. “The line,” he boldly stated, “is not -of very great importance for the transport of war material or for -commercial purposes, but it gives us the solution of a much more -important problem, namely, the position of the colony if war should -break out between us and Great Britain. In this case the line would -facilitate considerably our attack on Cape Colony.” - -That a Pan-German propaganda has been carried on in South Africa for -some time is now evident, and, as recent events have made abundantly -clear, the seduction of men of “Low German descent” from their -allegiance to the Union Government, was a main part of the propaganda. -Happily, the majority of the Dutch Africanders were too wise to attach -any importance to the specious promises of a Republic, and with their -fellow citizens of British extraction they have played an honourable -part in the breaking up of the German rule in South-West Africa. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[17] Dawson’s “The Evolution of Modern Germany,” p. 370. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY - - -THE NATIVE RACES - -The native races represented in South-West Africa are the Bushmen, -Hottentots, and Bantu people, and they vary not only in physical -appearance and language, but also in character and habits. - -The Bushmen, so-called because of their preference for places abounding -in bushes, were probably the earliest inhabitants of the land, since -members of this race roamed the entire country south of the Zambesi -at a time of remote antiquity. These people were nomads of a most -primitive type, and lived on wild animals, wild plants and fruits, -the roots of plants, locusts, and even the larvæ of ants. Small in -stature, yellowish brown in colour, with queer, fox-like face, slender -limbs, and a language abounding in strange clicks and deep guttural -sounds, the Bushman did not seem far removed from the animals upon whom -he preyed. The people lived in small societies after a most primitive -fashion, with no religion, and no fixed abode. Though incapable of -protracted labour, they possessed marvellous keenness of vision and -fleetness of foot, and could travel immense distances in pursuit of -game without taking rest. Savages though they were, they had artistic -gifts of no mean order: on the walls of caves and the sheltered sides -of great rocks in various parts of the country there are found to-day -rude but spirited and clever pictures in profile of wild animals, in -red, and yellow and black. But they have been so ruthlessly hunted -down and destroyed by successive intruding races, that these keen-eyed -children of the wilds have almost entirely disappeared from the vast -territory which at one time was their exclusive hunting-ground. Some -of them linger yet on the Kalahari border, and some thousands of -half-breeds are found in the districts of Grootfontein, Outjo, and -Gobabis. - -How and whence the Hottentots came no one can say with certainty. -Some affirm that their origin is to be sought in the intermarriage -of men of light brown or yellow colour with women of Bushmen blood, -while others incline to the view that they came from North Africa -somewhere about the end of the fourteenth century. Compared to the -Bushmen they are but recent dwellers in the land. They called -themselves the Khoi-Khoin, or men of men, and they probably travelled -slowly southward and westward, dispossessing the Bushmen of their -lands here and there, until they covered considerable areas of the -country. They were small men, but greatly superior to the Bushmen -both in physique and intellect. They lived in tribes under hereditary -chiefs, but the chief’s authority was very limited. On the whole they -were a good-natured sort of people, merry, thoughtless, and indolent. -Various tribes of Namaqua Hottentots roamed over the southern portion -of South-West Africa for many years prior to the German occupation. -They had an abundance of horned cattle, sheep, and goats, and most of -their rather frequent tribal conflicts were about flocks and herds. -Their descendants have shown themselves capable of adopting civilised -habits of life, and they have learned to cultivate the soil, and -even to act as rough handicraftsmen. More pure Hottentots are found -in Great Namaqualand to-day than in any other part of South Africa. -When the last census was taken a year or two ago they numbered some -15,000. Until brought under German rule, after the various unsuccessful -conflicts which they waged against the Germans, they enjoyed a life of -independence. - -To the great Bantu family, or Kaffir races, belong the Ovahereros, or -Damaras--better known as Hereros--and the Ovambo people, but there -are well marked distinctions between these two neighbours. The name -Herero, it is said, is an attempt to reproduce the whirring sound of -the broad-bladed assagai used by these people in its flight through -the air. “The meaning of the name Ovaherero,” says G. W. Stow, “is the -men of the whirring assagais.” The Hereros migrated from the north or -north-east, and for some time they occupied the territory north of -the Namaquas, living in communities under the government of chiefs. -Their riches consisted of cattle, and they have always shown a great -reluctance to part with any of their animals. Among early travellers -they won an unenviable notoriety on account of their cruelty, filthy -habits, and degenerate tastes. In their conflicts with the German -forces they revealed remarkable and unexpected powers of resistance. -About 15,000 to 20,000 of these people are found in the country at -present. - -The Ovambo people in the far north were practically unknown until the -’fifties of the last century, when travellers discovered them to be -a rich, industrious, and hospitable tribe, skilled in the working of -metals, and possessed of a real love for agriculture. They live under a -fairly strict tribal government in large communities, and for some time -have carried on trade with the Portuguese; they have even supplied such -articles as knives and iron pearls to their southern neighbours, the -Hereros. It is estimated that there are at least 80,000 of these people -in the northern territory, while the total population of Ovamboland and -the Caprivizipfel may be anything between 150,000 and 200,000. - -The Bergdamaras, who for many years inhabited the mountainous district -of Western Damaraland, constitute a fascinating ethnological problem. -They are Bantu by blood, Hottentot by language, and Bushmen by habit. -Whence these strange affinities? - -It is probable that the Bergdamaras were at one time connected with -the main stream of Bantu people that spread southward over the -country, but who by an eddy in the tide were left stranded in what is -now Damaraland. Enslaved there by the more powerful Hottentots, they -adopted the enemy’s language, and at length escaped from bondage to -make their home in the fastnesses of the mountains, where no other -means of subsistence remained for them but that of the Bushmen. They -number about 18,000 to-day. - -South-West Africa presents then a deeply interesting microcosm of -native life, and affords glimpses of the migratory movements of the -native people in far-off days. There are the Bushmen, the descendants -of the aboriginal hunters who dwelt in the land unknown ages ago; the -Hottentots, who are the sons of the yellow-skinned people that intruded -into the hunting-grounds of the pigmy Bushmen; the Bergdamaras, who -probably represent the pioneer tribes of the virile black-skinned races -that early followed upon the trail of the yellow-skins; while in the -Ovambos are exhibited some of the best traits of the most advanced -native tribes in the whole country. - -The number of natives actually counted when the census was taken in -1913 was 69,003, but the total estimated native population, excluding -Ovamboland and the Caprivizipfel, was 78,810. A few thousands of -the Ovambos have been attracted to the mines, but the Hottentots, -Bergdamaras, and Hereros find employment on the farms and as domestic -servants. About 2,500 natives from the Cape work as labourers at the -diamond fields. - - -THE WHITE PEOPLE - -In the year 1880 the white population of South-West Africa consisted of -300 trek-Boers and 150 Europeans in Damaraland, and a dozen whites at -Walvis Bay: in 1900, that is, six years after the German annexation, -there was a total white population of 3,388, made up of 2,146 men, 452 -women, and 790 children. The last census, taken on January 1st, 1913, -showed a total population of 14,830. Including the 1,819 members of -the military forces, the males numbered 10,147, the females 4,683, and -the children 1,625. There was an increase of 250 women against the -preceding year, and this is a healthy sign, since it goes to show -that existence is becoming more stable in the colony, and that social -conditions are improving. - -The Windhoek district has the largest population, as it claims 2,871 -people; Luderitzbucht is second with 1,616; Swakopmund third with -1,463; Karibib has the fourth place with 1,170; while Keetmanshoop is -not far behind with 1,155. - -The nationality of the population was, of course, largely German; -there were only 272 Englishmen, but there were 1,630 “other British -subjects.” The percentage of other nationalities to the population was -very small. - -There has been a slow but steady increase in population since the close -of the native wars in 1906; but the increase is small in proportion to -the size of the country; it should be noted, however, that the many -native wars have had a most unsettling effect for years, and only a -comparatively brief period has elapsed since they were brought to a -close. There is no doubt that colonists will find their way to the -country in increasing numbers in the near future, for the large areas -in the central region constitute a fine “white man’s country.” - -Up to the present the land has only claimed the labours of 24 per cent. -of the adult males, while the commercial community has been responsible -for 18 per cent., and “other professions” no less than 45 per cent. - -It is evident that mining activities have absorbed the energies of the -great number of whites, and that the farming profession has not yet -been brought into the position of prominence that it must have before -permanent success can be assured to the country. - -It is somewhat surprising to learn that of 2,368 adult females, only -1,761 were married. Boys and girls exist in about equal numbers. - -The majority of the people are Protestants in religion; Roman Catholics -number 17 per cent., while “other religions” claim 2 per cent. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY - - -It must not be concluded from what has been written about the blunders -of the colonial administration in dealing with the native people that -little or nothing has been done in the way of developing the country’s -resources, for many solid achievements stand to the credit of Germany. - -While many and grievous mistakes have been made, it must be remembered -that success in the difficult sphere of colonial enterprise rarely, if -ever, comes save with experience. To provide in South-West Africa a -home for German emigrants and a market for German trade, considerable -effort and large sums of money have been expended, and that success is -not more marked is partly due to the fact that so much energy has been -devoted to warlike operations rather than to the task of colonisation. - -For purposes of administration the country was divided into fifteen -districts (excluding Ovamboland and the Caprivizipfel), Grootfontein, -Omaruru, Outjo, Okahandja, Karibib, Windhoek, Gobabis, Rehoboth, -Gibeon, Maltahoehe, Bethanien, Keetmanshoop, Warmbad, Luderitzbucht, -and Swakopmund. There are no very large towns in existence, but the -few small towns and villages compare very favourably with those -of similar size in the Union of South African, while several of -them are considerably in advance as regards public buildings and -modern improvements. The principal towns are Windhoek, Swakopmund, -Luderitzbucht, and Keetmanshoop. Windhoek has a picturesque situation -in the best part of the territory, 180 miles from Swakopmund in a -direct line. As the seat of Government and the military headquarters, -it has long been the most important town in the country. About a -thousand Europeans resided here, and 800 natives. The principal -thoroughfare is a wide street nearly two miles in length. There are -substantial churches, a park, a public library, a museum, Government -buildings, clubs, fort, barracks, a fine marble monument to the -soldiers who perished in the native wars, and the inevitable brewery. -Houses nestle among the trees in pleasing fashion, and there are many -well-cultivated gardens. - -Swakopmund, at the mouth of the Swakop River, is the principal port, -and for some years it has been the busiest town in the country, but it -has a poor harbour, lying as it does on the open Atlantic seaboard. -Immense sums of money have been spent in order to provide good landing -accommodation, but Swakopmund has too many natural disadvantages to -make it a safe and satisfactory harbour. Thousands of tons of sand -are deposited yearly in the bight by the Benguella current, and the -pounding of the big Atlantic waves would destroy any but the strongest -and most massive jetty. A new jetty was nearing completion when the -war broke out. Some very fine Government buildings have been erected, -as well as hospitals and churches and business establishments; the -streets are wide, with wood-paved footpaths, and the town has an air -of solidity and neatness quite unusual to a young colonial township. - -But the natural entry into the country is the spacious and sheltered -harbour at Walvis Bay, twenty-five miles to the south of Swakopmund, -which though undeveloped has enormous possibilities as a naval base, -and a port for the hinterland. A good railway from Walvis Bay to -Swakopmund will go far to solve the problem of the future of a town -which is a good monument to German industry and enterprise. - -Luderitzbucht was formerly nothing more than a dilapidated trading -station for the interior, but with the discovery of diamonds in the -vicinity the settlement grew into a town with almost magical swiftness. -It had a white population of 800 in 1914. Many substantial and even -handsome buildings have been erected. The town has a fine harbour, an -electric power station, a powerful plant for condensing sea-water, and -a good telephone system, but the roads are merely tracks in the sand, -and when the wind blows; as it often does, the sand is everywhere, -indoors and out. Goggles are a necessity for every one. - -Keetmanshoop was the capital of the southern territory, and was -important on account of its position as a military headquarters. The -town is small, but well laid out, and has a church, a Government -school, a number of hotels, stores, and some neat residences. - -Other centres of population, of more or less importance, are Karibib, -some 125 miles from Swakopmund, a busy railway centre, which has grown -very rapidly since 1901; Omaruru, about 150 miles from Swakopmund, -with rich grazing lands; Okahandja, north of Windhoek, noted for its -good water supply; Gobabis, the chief town on the eastern border; -Grootfontein, in North Damaraland, founded by Boer settlers in the -’eighties of the last century; Tsumeb, the centre of the valuable -copper mining industry; Outjo, a military station in the Kaokoveld; -Bethanien and Warmbad, old mission stations in Great Namaqualand; and -Gibeon, the centre of some good farm lands. - -Recent years have seen marked progress throughout the country, mainly -owing to the extension of the railways. It is true that the railways -have been built with a view to their strategic importance, and -altogether in advance of the population, but they have been a most -important factor in increasing the economical value of the territory. A -line from Swakopmund, managed by the Otavi Mining and Railway Company, -connects the port with the copper mining districts at Otavi and Tsumeb, -and is some 419 miles in length. It is of approximately two-foot -gauge. A branch extends from Otavi to Grootfontein. A second railway, -managed by the State, extends from Swakopmund almost parallel with the -narrow-gauge line to Karibib, then curves south to Windhoek, from which -place it proceeds due south to Keetmanshoop and Kalkfontein. - -From Luderitzbucht a line of the standard South African gauge, 3 feet -6 inches, worked by the Lenz Company, has been laid to Keetmanshoop -via Seeheim, so all the important districts have been linked up. A -branch line, 66 miles in length, runs parallel with the coast, from -Kolmanskuppe to Bogenfels, and intersects diamondiferous country -practically all the way. The locomotives on this line are driven by -electricity generated on the engines. In all there are some 1,400 miles -of railways, 780 of which are narrow gauge, while the rest are of Cape -gauge. - -Kalkfontein is 172½ miles from Upington, in the Cape Province, and -since the war broke out the two places have been linked up by rail as a -result of magnificent record construction work by the engineers and men -of the Union Railways. From De Aar to Windhoek it is now 876 miles by -rail, and 1191 from Luderitzbucht to Johannesburg. - -Roads have been improved between some of the larger centres of -population, but in many places they are nothing more than mere tracks -across the country. In regard to the telegraph and telephone service, -the colony is well in advance of many parts of the Union of South -Africa, since many of the farm settlements are linked up with the -villages and towns, and many of the military stations and police posts -are similarly joined. At Windhoek, a high-power wireless station, -consisting of five towers, 360 feet high, was erected in 1914, to -form a link in the chain of stations between Germany and her overseas -possessions, stretching from Nauen to East Africa. Wireless stations -were also erected at Swakopmund and Luderitzbucht. There are seventy -post offices in the country, and fifty of these are also telegraph -offices. The schools for European children have increased of late, but -the medium has been compulsory German, even for the children of the -Dutch settlers. Numerous wells have been sunk, dams made, irrigation -work undertaken; and it is estimated that in addition to the natural -springs, there are now 1,613 wells, 130 dams, and 59 water-boring -holes. The Windhoek district is favoured with no less than 12 springs, -231 wells, 35 dams, and 20 water-boring holes. - -Trade has shown some advance, and the traffic of the two ports has -steadily increased. In 1913 the imports were valued at £2,171,200, and -they consisted mainly of foodstuffs, liquors, coal, building materials, -textiles, galvanised iron, and rails. No less than 81 per cent. of -the imports came from Germany, while less than 1 per cent. came from -England, and about 12 per cent. from British South Africa. Far more -coal came from Germany than from the coalfields of South Africa. The -exports for 1913 were valued at £3,515,100, but the diamond production -was responsible for no less than £2,945,975. Other exports were -copper, £396,436; tin, £31,568; wool, £5,500; cattle, small stock, -meat, hides, skins, and ostrich feathers. Germany received 83 per cent. -of the articles. - -The finances of the colony show improvement. The revenue, accruing -mostly from railways, harbours, and taxes on minerals, showed a surplus -for 1913; and in budgeting for the year 1915, revenue and expenditure -were estimated to balance at £2,081,157. Public works of some -importance were contemplated for 1914-15. - - -MINERALS - -One of the immediate results of the German occupation was an influx -into the country of mining prospectors who were eager to secure -concessions. Mineral rights over large areas were bought from native -chiefs, and prospecting was actively carried on. The concessions were -in many instances transferred to third and sometimes fourth parties, -until at length the mining rights of the whole country were held by -the following: The Deutsche Kolonial Gesellschaft, the Kaoko Land und -Minen Gesellschaft, the South-West Africa Company, the Otavi Minen und -Eisenbahn Gesellschaft, the Hanseatische Land und Minen Gesellschaft, -the Gibeon Schuerf und Handels Gesellschaft, the South African -Territories Company, and the Government. For some years each of these -parties kept to its own laws, which regulated or prohibited prospecting -operations. The Government recognised the need for greater uniformity, -and in 1913 the various companies, with the exception of the South-West -Africa Company, entered into agreements with the Government. The -royalties payable to the different companies were fixed by these -agreements. - -Next to the valuable diamond fields, the copper mines rank in -importance. The rich deposits in the Otavi district were known to South -Africans some years before the German occupation. They were worked by -the Bushmen, who quarried and smelted the metal, using as a flux the -ash of a tree, and by the Ovambos, who adorned themselves with heavy -copper ornaments. The fine outcrop at Tsumeb was discovered in 1892. -The Otavi Company is a German concern with issued capital which has -been fully paid up in cash, of £1,000,000 in 200,000 £5 shares. The -Company took over from the South-West Africa Company 1,000 square miles -of mining rights and 500 square miles of freehold rights contained -therein, in order to work the group of copper mines in the Otavi area, -but by virtue of its shareholding the South-West Africa Company holds -an interest in the Otavi Company of about 55 per cent. This holding -is the chief asset of the South-West Africa Company. The ore mined is -divided into a high-grade copper product, principally copper glance, -which has been exported to America, and lead ores, largely galena, and -low-grade carbonate copper ores, which have been smelted at the mine. -Since the completion of the Company’s railway from Swakopmund in 1908, -the yearly output has averaged 36,000 tons. Other deposits are found -at Grootfontein, Grossotavi, and Gochab, while recent discoveries -include finds in the Bobos Mountains in the Tsumeb district, and at -Okatumba, north-east of Windhoek. The Khan mine has been opened up -to a considerable depth, and development work was proceeding in other -promising mines when war was declared. - - -TIN - -Large deposits of tin ores have been found, mostly in alluvial -deposits, situated in the neighbourhood of outcrops of pegmatite and -quartz, which occur in the hinterland of Swakopmund. - - -MARBLE - -There are immense layers of good quality marble in the Karibib -district. The quarrying rights are held by the Afrika-Marmor-Kolonial -Gesellschaft. - -Gold has been found at several places in the South-West Africa -Company’s territory, and occasional nuggets have been unearthed in the -Neineis tinfields, but as yet there are no discoveries of the precious -ore in payable quantities. Coal has not been found. - - -AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK - -There is a surprisingly small proportion of the land of the country -under cultivation, since only 13,000 acres have been treated. -Four-tenths of this total is in the well-watered Grootfontein district, -while the Windhoek region has another three-tenths. Mealies, potatoes, -lucerne, vegetables and melons are the principal articles grown, but a -good beginning has been made with fruit and tobacco. - -There are 1,330 farms, and they cover an area of over 32,000,000 acres; -they vary in size from 6,000 to 50,000 acres. In 1913 they carried -205,643 cattle, 53,691 woolled sheep, 17,171 Persian sheep, 472,585 -Afrikander sheep, 485,401 goats, 13,340 Angora goats, 18,163 half-bred -Angoras, 15,916 horses, 13,618 mules and donkeys, 7,772 pigs, 709 -camels, and 1,507 ostriches. All these figures, with the exception -of those relating to the camels, show a considerable increase on the -preceding year, and while they may be of no value in estimating the -quantity of stock in the country at the close of the war, on account -of the inevitable slaughter following on a siege, they serve to show -how much advance has been made in pastoral development, in spite of the -rinderpest of 1896-7, the droughts of more recent years, and diseases -such as anthrax and lamziekte. - -Great improvements have been made in the stock since the German -occupation. The cattle owned by the natives, while hardy and useful, -were of little value as sources of milk, and the meat was of an -inferior quality. Goats and fat-tailed sheep were the other animals -possessed by the natives. But the Germans have imported stock of the -best quality and of every description. - -Cattle and horses have come from Germany and the Argentine, Karakul -sheep from Russia, merino sheep from Australia, and Angora goats from -Cape Colony. Animals purchased abroad by farmers have been imported at -the expense of the Government, and considerable encouragement given -to stock-rearing. Much good work was expected from an Agricultural -Advisory Board organised at the end of 1913, and a staff of Government -experts had been collecting information on such matters as water -laws, fencing rights, and animal diseases; these experts were to have -assisted the members of the Board in drafting useful measures. A Land -Bank with a capital of £500,000 was established in 1913, and some -advances were made to farmers in the following year. The object of -the Bank was to supply the farmer with capital at a reasonable rate -of interest under a bond which could not be called up as long as the -interest and other charges were duly paid, and to provide easy terms -for repayment of the principal. The Bank was also expected to assist -in providing fresh capital for effecting farm improvements, making the -increased value of the farm security for the advances made, to foster -the establishment of co-operative societies for the sale of produce -and the purchase of certain articles in bulk. It would appear that the -first grants were made to the farmers in one particular area, and the -farmers in other parts were highly incensed at what they affirmed to be -favouritism. Shortly before the war broke out the Bank was notified -from Berlin that the proposed remittance of one and a half million -marks for advances had been cancelled. - -Among other industries are those connected with sealing, guano export, -whaling, and brewing. The export value of seal skins has averaged about -£2,000 per year for several years, but in 1913 little profit was made -by the sealers on account of the low price received for the skins. -Whaling has not yet been a great success. The breweries at Windhoek and -Swakopmund have proved highly lucrative; and they have been successful -in driving imported beer out of the market. - -Then it should be remembered that much valuable research work has -been done in the country, and that the characteristic German virtue -of thoroughness has been manifest in the systematic labours of such -men as H. Hahn, Rath, Schenck, G. Hartmann, Lotz, Range, Schinz, -Schultze and Rohrbach, who have done much for knowledge in the realms -of history, ethnology, geology, philology, and economics. The peculiar -problems of the country have been most diligently studied, and maps -dealing with geological features, rainfall, vegetation, distribution -of wild animals, etc., have been compiled with great skill and most -careful attention to detail. - -On the whole Germany is able to give a fairly good account of her -stewardship so far as the development of the colony is concerned. -Thirty years is a short period in which to look for broad and -beneficial results in a land that has many natural disadvantages; that -so much has been achieved is a tribute to the patience and persistence -of the settlers. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE DIAMOND FIELDS - - -The discovery of diamonds near Luderitzbucht in 1908 was an event -of great importance to the country, and in view of the value of the -diamond fields, and the powerful influence they have had on the -economical development of the country, we shall give some account -of their discovery, probable origin, and the nature of the mining -operations connected with them. - -There can hardly be a more dreary place on earth than the strip of -desert land that borders the coast of South-West Africa, and it is -hardly a matter for surprise that geologists tramped leisurely over -the wind-blown sand dunes, making careful note of the geological -features of the country, without for a moment suspecting that the -gravel beneath their feet was thickly studded with the hard and -brilliant little “stones of fire” known as diamonds. Somehow or other -it is not the lot of the geologist to discover gems and gold in South -Africa. A child playing with the pebbles on a river bank; a poor Dutch -farmer lazily sifting gravel through a coarse wire sieve; a prospector -sinking a well in search of water; a kaffir shovelling sand--in such -unromantic ways have Nature’s chiefest treasures come to light in this -land. - -One day in April of 1908, a kaffir working on the Kolmanskuppe railway -line, not far from Luderitzbucht, picked out of a shovelful of coarse -sand a small, rough, whitish stone that sparkled in the sunlight. -Little did the “boss” to whom he showed it dream that in the tiny -stone lay the promise of an increase in the revenue of the country of -nearly seven million sterling in half a dozen years, and the conversion -of the tin-shanty settlement at Luderitzbucht into a substantial and -progressive little town in the same period. But so it proved. - -As luck would have it, the native had worked in the De Beers diamond -mines at Kimberley; he knew the difference between a rough diamond -and a white pebble. Had he not received a substantial bonus from the -compound manager as a reward for his honesty whenever he discovered a -“fire stone” in the blue ground and handed it over to the official? -But his “boss” laughed at him when he said it was a diamond, and told -him to “get out!” The railway contractor, however, a gentleman named -Stauch, laughed after another fashion when the gem came into his hands. -He hurried off to Swakopmund, and there sought an interview with the -owners of the land, the Deutsches Kolonial Gesellschaft. He came back -with half a dozen licences in his pocket which gave him the right to -peg certain extensive areas. It was not long before little parcels of -the gleaming gems were in his possession. The wise Herr Stauch is now a -diamond magnate. - -The news of the wonderful discovery quickly spread, and before many -months had passed companies were exploiting the gravel occurrences. It -is amusing to recall to-day the ridicule heaped on these “discoveries” -by financial and other journals. The gems were “dolls’ diamonds,” -“diamondettes”; it was “financial folly” to pick up these little -glittering, weather-beaten specks. With a characteristic display of -journalistic wit, one well-known weekly affirmed that “he would be an -ass indeed to allow himself to be imposed upon by such ‘carats’ as -these.” But the carats recovered last year, for instance, were valued -at the nice little sum of £2,945,975. - -The diamondiferous area is an extensive one. It is a strip of -sandy country near the coast, from 2 to 12 miles wide, extending -intermittently from Conception Bay (100 miles south of Swakopmund) to -Angra Juntas, some 60 miles north of the Orange River, a total distance -of about 250 miles. The strip is broken by a chain of hills and rocky -ridges running mainly from north to south. In the wide valleys and -depressions thus formed, ranging from 2 to 3 feet above sea-level -to over 500 feet, the diamondiferous gravel is found. The deposits -are by no means uniform. Large stretches of ground may not contain a -single stone, while a rich “pocket” may hold scores of the glittering -gems. The patch, too, that is so rich in diamonds may have a surface -view precisely similar to that of the barren areas around. Such freaks -of deposit seemed to some of the early prospectors to be the work of -whimsical genii. - -The precious stones lie among tiny fragments of banded agate, red -garnet, red jasper, chalcedony, milky quartz, and sand. - -The deposit varies in depth from 6 inches to 15 feet. Over the mixture -the furious trade winds from the south rage for eight or nine months -in the year. A process of natural concentration proceeds apace. The -light particles are caught up and whirled away to the sand dunes, -until in many places nothing is left but the heavy diamonds and a thin -layer of coarse particles. Naturally, the little depressions here and -there, especially those on the windward side of obstacles, have a -good concentration of rich detritus. The gems are never found in any -quantity in the valleys that run from east to west, but in those that -lie in the line of the prevailing wind. - -The diamonds found in this sand are peculiar to the country. They are -wholly unlike any other known African stones. When in 1901 some natives -professed to have found certain small stones in the alluvial diggings -on the Vaal River, the experts knew at once they were not river stones. -The boys had stolen them from German South-West Africa. All shades -of colour are found among them, but the stones of a clear white -appearance, with a barely perceptible yellowish tinge, predominate. -Pale pinks and lemon yellows are fairly common. Impure shades are -remarkably few, and fully 85 per cent. of the gems are fit for cutting. -They are said to resemble the stones derived from Brazil. In size they -are small; it takes six or eight to make a carat as a rule, but a few -large stones have been found. One weighed 34 carats and another 17 -carats. These large stones, however, are very exceptional. - -How did the diamonds get there? That these lustrous gems should -sprinkle the sand so thickly in this dreary region may well give cause -for wonder. Geologists differ as to their probable source of origin. -Dr. Wagner, in his exhaustive work on “The Diamond Mines of Southern -Africa,” summarises the main theories as follows: - - (1) The diamonds were released by weathering from the crystalline - rocks of the basement system. - - (2) The diamonds were derived from the denudation of the primary - deposits of British South Africa, carried down to sea by the Orange - River and distributed along the coast by the agency of the Benguella - current. - - (3) A modification of the second hypothesis, according to which the - diamonds were carried down to the sea from sources believed to exist - within the interior of German South-West Africa. - - (4) The parent rock of the diamonds lies submerged off the present - coast. - -Dr. Wagner dismisses the first three, and advances arguments in -favour of the fourth. He concludes that they have been derived “from -a primary deposit, or from primary deposits, which now lie buried -beneath the sea somewhere off Pomona,” as there is a steady--if not -quite persistent--increase in the average size of the stones as one -proceeds from north to south, until the Pomona area is reached, where -the average weight is greater than anywhere else. On this supposition -the lighter stones have been swept northward by a strong ocean current -when the coast was still submerged. To this we may add the statement of -Dr. Marloth that among “the prospectors who know the country south of -Prince of Wales Bay, the belief is quite common that Pomona diamonds -came from some volcanic fissures that occurred there.” Kimberlite -“pipes” and dykes occur in the Keetmanshoop, Gibeon and Bethany -districts, but they contain no diamonds. - -Dr. Versfeld, however, is of the opinion that the diamond-bearing -gravel is not of marine origin, but debris from diamond “pipes” which -has been concentrated by the strong winds. It is quite possible, he -argues, that the stones may have been transported hundreds of miles, -but he recognises the futility of laying down hard-and-fast theories. -He ventures to affirm, however, that the discovery of diamond-bearing -pipes “much nearer to the Luderitzbucht deposits than those at present -known seems well within the bounds of probability.” And with that -pleasant probability we leave the matter of the origin of the stones. - -All the mineral rights of the diamond fields have been held by the -German Colonial Company, and their “sphere of influence” extends -for over 300 miles along the coast and about 60 miles inland. Six -companies--each with a fifty years’ concession from the Colonial -Company--practically monopolised the industry. These are the Pomona -Diamantminen Gesellschaft, the Koloniale Bergbaugesellschaft, the -Diamanten Pachtgesellschaft, the Deutsche Diamantengesellschaft, the -Vereinigte Diamantminen, Luderitzbucht, and the Kolmanskop Diamond -Mines, Ltd. The Kolmanskop Company is registered in the Cape Province, -and they have a valuable holding of about 10,000 acres, 6 miles from -Luderitzbucht. - -The first stage in exploitation is rather picturesque, from the -spectator’s point of view. You plod up the side of a sand dune and, -on gaining the top, look down into the depression below and see, -perhaps, a dozen natives crawling about the sand on all fours as if -in search of coins or gems which some one has dropped. You watch them. -One man is using the flat of his hand as a scoop, running it slowly -through the sand; another is “harrowing” with his fingers; a third -squats on his haunches native fashion and gazes intently at a little -heap of particles in his hand, while another, by a hoarse exclamation, -draws attention to something in the palm of his hand. These boys are -“sampling” the ground. It is a laborious and most trying task in the -fierce summer sun. The top layer of diamondiferous gravel is invariably -richer than any underlying deposit, so it is possible to get a fairly -accurate idea of the value of the detritus by this primitive picking. -“Washing” tests are sometimes made instead of hand sampling. Should -the boys succeed in finding a fair number of gems, the second stage -is entered upon, This is very prosaic. The deposit is shovelled into -swinging sieves (the “babies” of the Vaal River diggings, slightly -improved), set in a rectangular frame. The sieve is swung backwards -and forwards in order to eliminate the fine sand, which falls to the -ground. The screened gravel is then conveyed to the concentration plant -for further treatment. On some of the claims the deposit is excavated -by dredgers which use large electric shovels. - -The jigging plant--highly specialised machinery--receives the gravel in -capacious hopper mouths, a process of digestion goes on to the sound of -much crunching and groaning, the useless tailings are thrust out, while -the diamonds are ingeniously hustled into a place of security from -which they can be easily removed at intervals. Fully 90 per cent. of -the gems in the gravel are recovered in this way. Immense sums of money -have been spent on machinery. Huge structures have sprung up on the -sandy waste; and it is claimed that on some properties the equipment -is even superior to that of the highly elaborated plant at Kimberley. -Certainly this lavish expenditure on central concentration plant shows -a great faith in the future possibilities of the industry. - -Several of the mining properties are linked up to Luderitzbucht -by light railways, and the companies in the vicinity of the town -draw their electric power for the machinery from the well-equipped -power-station at Luderitz Bay. Oil engines are in use on the distant -claims. The entire coastal belt is practically a desert, and the -little water found here and there in the wells that have been sunk is -too brackish for human consumption; so water, both for drinking and -diamond-washing purposes, is derived from the sea. Large condensers -have been erected on the coast; the water is conveyed along pump lines, -and also transported to the distant claims by water-carts and in tanks -carried by camels. The pump line from Elisabeth Bay to Kolmanskuppe -is no less than 17 miles in length. Some 5,000 natives and coloured -men were in the employ of the various companies before the war; the -majority of the natives were Ovambos, but Cape boys were found in large -numbers. The pay for the Ovambos was at the rate of £1 5s. per month, -with rations, while the more satisfactory Cape boys received £3 per -month, with rations. - -Working costs vary considerably. The factors which determine them are: -the situation of the claims, the richness of the deposit, and the scale -of operations. In the case of five companies, we give the figures for -1913: - - --------------------------------+-------------+--------- - |Average Cost |Average - | Per Carat. | Value. - --------------------------------+-------------+--------- - | s. d. | s. d. - Pomona Diamantminen Gesellschaft| 1 6 | 50 0 - Koloniale Bergbaugesellschaft | 8 0 | 40 0 - Deutsche Diamantengesellschaft | 15 0 | 45 0 - Diamanten Pachtgesellschaft | -- | 40 0 - Kolmanskop Diamond Mines, Ltd. | 10 6 | 23 6 - --------------------------------+-------------+--------- - -These figures compare most favourably with those of the South African -diamond mines. The average cost per carat from the Premier Mine, for -instance, is 11s., while the average value is only 22s. But it must -be remembered that operations begin on these fields at what may be -called the middle stage of the Kimberley activities. Underground -mining, flooring, and washing, in connection with the Kimberley mines, -involve enormous expenditure, so it can readily be understood that the -working costs of exploiting a gravelly surface deposit will be, other -things being equal, considerably less than the mining of underground -diamondiferous rock. - -The German Government derived a good revenue from the fields, as they -imposed a tax of 66 per cent. of the output value, less 70 per cent. -of the working costs. Prior to 1912, the heavy taxation and royalties -absorbed from 45 to 50 per cent. of the gross value of the output, but -the scheme of taxation was amended as above. In addition to the tax the -Government enjoyed a monopoly in the sale of the stones. Producers were -compelled to sell them through a Government organisation in Berlin, -called the Diamant Regie, and a commission of 2 per cent. was charged -on all sales made. On presenting his diamonds to the representative of -the Regie at Luderitzbucht, the producer received 12 marks (a little -less than 12s.) per carat on account. He had to wait until the Regie -had disposed of the gems; then the Government tax and the Regie’s -commission were deducted from the amount paid for them, and the balance -came at length into his hands. Early in 1914 the Regie was reorganised -and came under the management of the parties directly interested in the -revenue derived from the sale of the diamonds. Half the shares were -held by the Government and half by the mining companies. The Government -also had large interests in the Fiskus block of claims, which during -1913 produced an average of about 12,000 carats per month, so even if -the Government should make no change in the present law in South-West -Africa, they stand to reap a rich harvest from the fields. The areas -owned by private companies cannot, of course, be confiscated. - -In view of the fact that South-West Africa may now be regarded as -a part of the British Empire, the probable life of the fields is a -matter of very real interest and importance. The experts differ, but -there is reason to believe that they will yield diamonds in good -number for many years. There are some who fix the limit at fifteen -years. Writing in 1913, Dr. Wagner states that “a long and prosperous -career may confidently be predicted” for the industry. Probably they -will last another twenty years. It is true that certain rich claims -have already been worked out, but vast areas of low-grade gravel yet -remain to be exploited. It is estimated that no less than £20,000,000 -sterling worth of gems are in sight on the 10,000 acres held by the -Kolmanskop Company. During 1913 areas considered unworkable were dealt -with at a good profit owing to the introduction of modern plant; the -northern fields in the neighbourhood of Conception Bay and Spencer -Bay, which had been neglected for some time, were added to the list -of profitable propositions. It is not at all unlikely that new -deposits will be discovered. It is believed that diamonds were found -off Pomona as a result of dredging operations, but these activities -were abruptly terminated by an Imperial Decree. Diamonds have been -found on Possession Island and Halifax Island (British possessions -for many years), but the cost of the prospecting operations, which -was considerably in excess of the value of the stones found, did not -encourage the Union Government to follow up the discoveries. As the -gems are found along the coast and on the islands off the coast, it is -not unreasonable to infer that they lie in the sand of the sea-bed, -unless they have been dropped from the clouds. Here is an opportunity -for an enterprising syndicate. Then it must be remembered that the war -has seriously affected the diamond trade. The market will take years -to recover. Even when conditions swing back to normal it will be some -time before the market will be able to absorb the existing stock of -stones. To continue working these fields at the rate of output shown -by the figures for 1914, for instance, would be worse than folly. -Wisdom will dictate a considerable lessening of the output, and this, -of course, will have the effect of prolonging the life of the fields, -an altogether desirable state of affairs, since the revenue may then be -used to develop the agricultural resources of the hinterland. Whether -the many German shareholders will consider this wise or pleasant is -another matter. Up to the present the main portion of the profits has -gone into Government revenue to pay for the civil administration of the -country, but the bulk of the dividends paid to shareholders has gone -into the pockets of men who reside out of the country. The investors, -except in a few instances, have had the satisfaction of drawing some -fat dividends. The Koloniale Bergbaugesellschaft paid out in 1912 the -nice little dividend of 3,800 per cent.; the year before it was 2,500. -The Pomona Company paid out at the rate of 175 per cent. in 1913, while -the Kolmanskop Company paid 30 per cent. in 1912. - - DIAMONDS PRODUCED IN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA SINCE 1908. - ----------+------------+------------+------------ - Year. | Carats. | Value. | Value - | | | per Carat. - ----------+------------+------------+------------ - | | £ | s. d. - 1908 | 39,762 | 53,842 | 27 1 - 1909 | 519,190 | 704,123 | 29 0·5 - 1910 | 792,642 | 1,015,779 | 25 7 - 1911 | 766,465 | 968,418 | 25 3·1 - 1912 | 992,380 | 1,408,738 | 28 4·7 - 1913[18] | 1,470,000 | 2,953,500 | 40 1·9 - ----------+------------+------------+------------ - TOTAL | 4,580,439 | £7,104,400 | - ----------+------------+------------+------------ - - -The figures given in the last Consular Report (1913) differ slightly -from the above, which are from Dr. Wagner’s volume, “The Diamond Mines -of Southern Africa.” The Consul’s figures are as follows: - - Carats. - 1908 39,375 - 1909 483,268 - 1910 867,296 - 1911 747,152 - 1912 985,882 - 1913 1,570,000 - -The Consul also appends a statement showing the output of diamonds -during the last three years from mines in the Union of South Africa, -and the sales of German South-West African stones during the same -period. These figures are deeply significant, and serve to show how -important a factor in the diamond market these stones have become. - - -----+---------------------+-----------+----------- - Year.| Country. | Carats. | Value. - -----+---------------------+-----------+----------- - | | | £ - 1911 |Union of S. Africa - | 4,891,998 | 8,746,724 - ” | German S.W. Africa | 816,296 | 1,019,444 - -----+---------------------+-----------+----------- - 1912 |Union of S. Africa - | 5,071,882 | 10,061,489 - ” | German S.W. Africa | 902,157 | 1,303,092 - -----+---------------------+-----------+----------- - 1913 |Union of S. Africa - | 5,163,546 | 11,389,807 - ” | German S.W. Africa | 1,284,727 | 2,153,230 - -----+---------------------+-----------+----------- - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[18] Of the 1913 production only 1,284,727 carats were sold. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY - - -After a visit paid to South Africa in 1895, Mr. (now Viscount) Bryce -published a volume of “Impressions,” in which he made the following -reference to South-West Africa: “Great Namaqualand and Damaraland -constitute an enormous wilderness, very thinly peopled, because the -means of life are very scanty ... the country taken all in all, and -excepting the little explored districts to the north-east, towards the -Upper Zambesi--districts whose resources are still very imperfectly -known--is a dreary and desolate region, which seems likely to prove of -little value.”[19] - -That this was the prevailing opinion of the country for many years -there can be no doubt to the student of South African history, but with -the development of the territory by the Germans opinion has undergone -a radical change, and it is now recognised that South-West Africa is a -valuable mineral and agricultural country. - -What is the future of the country to be under British rule? Herr -Dernburg had no doubt what it would be under German rule. He regarded -it as the most promising of the German overseas possessions, and saw -in it a “potential Argentina or Canada,” and anticipated the day -when the “tide of immigration will turn thither from the channels -which in the past depleted the home country, without helping towards -the consolidation of a new Germany abroad,” and he points to the day -when “3,000,000 cattle and 10,000,000 sheep will pasture upon its -vast inland prairies.” But according to his critics Herr Dernburg -was a colonial enthusiast who “juggled with millions and balanced -himself with percentages.” One has more than a suspicion that he was -in the habit of holding out to his countrymen brilliant pictures of -a prosperous colonial empire in the effort to keep warm the colonial -breast. His favourite story is “of a box of dates that was lost several -years ago on the way, and now offers to the sight of the wandering -traveller date palms 10 feet high bearing fruit.” - -Dr. Karl Peters, on the other hand, roundly affirms that South-West -Africa “does not equal the poorest part of South Africa.” But while -Herr Dernburg is probably guilty of over-adulation, Dr. Karl Peters is -certainly at the opposite extreme of undue depreciation. South-West -Africa is not a land of milk and honey; and there is no immediate -prospect that it will become a Canada or a second edition of the -Rand. The many German Commissioners who have carefully investigated -the natural conditions of the colony have held out no brilliant hopes -of a colonial Atlanta; they have simply described a possible land of -settlement in which some thousands of white settlers may live in health -and comparative prosperity, and this is an eminently reasonable view of -the country. - -The three great natural sources of wealth in the country are: minerals, -pasture land, and agricultural land. - -The mineral wealth is the most considerable source of prosperity, and -is likely to exercise a most important influence on the immediate -future of the colony. The diamond fields will not be exhausted, -perhaps, for another twenty years; and should there be a considerable -restriction of the output on resuming operations, as is likely, the -fields may be a source of wealth for a much longer period. Development -work in the existing copper mines has greatly improved the prospects -of the mining companies, since the continuity of the ore to greater -depths has been definitely proved. It has also been ascertained that -the copper ores in the Otavi Valley belong to the same formation as -the rich Tsumeb occurrence, and there is reason to hope that the Otavi -Valley mines will prove payable to greater depths and that fresh mines -may be opened up between the Otavi Valley and Tsumeb. The Khan mine, -which is now connected to the Otavi railway by a branch line, has -lately been equipped with up-to-date machinery, including a powerful -concentration plant, and this mine is certain to be a factor of -importance in the industry. Other discoveries go to show that for many -years to come South-West Africa will export copper in large quantities. - -“The copper-bearing ‘quartz mica diorite’ of O’okiep (Little -Namaqualand) has not yet been discovered,” says Dr. Versfeld, who has -made a close study of the geology of Southern Namaqualand, “but the -possibilities are very much in favour of this rock being found.” - -Increase in the tin and marble production may be anticipated, while -the galena and wolfram deposits in the area of the South African -Territories Company, and the iron ore deposits in Kaokoland, still -await development. Mica will probably be a payable proposition in -Southern Namaqualand before long. Hopes are entertained by prospectors -that gold will be found in payable quantities, but a dearth of capital -and official restrictions have prevented the thorough investigation -of many promising deposits. Dr. Versfeld is of the opinion that it is -not likely that gold will be found in the primary formation in Great -Namaqualand, as he had examined numerous quartz reefs and conglomerates -and found them particularly poor in that metal, but, he writes, “there -is every possibility of valuable deposits of minerals being discovered, -particularly in the Great and Little Karas Mountains, which are the -contact zones between intrusive plutonic and volcanic rocks and -sedimentary rocks.”[20] The possibility of finding coal, however, seems -to grow more remote, though the formation of the country is analogous -to that of the Cape Province. - -The concessions system does not seem to have been the success it was -anticipated to be, since of the eight companies with an original total -capital of about £4,300,000, six companies appear to have spent about -£400,000, half of which represented a loss from which no benefit -accrued to the colony. With an efficient and sympathetic administration -capital should be attracted to the country; a rich mineral treasure -house may then be unlocked. There are vast areas in Ovamboland which -have not even been prospected in the most cursory fashion. - -Dr. Paul Rohrbach, the Imperial Emigration Commissioner, in “Die -Deutschen Kolonien” (1914), expects much from the mineral wealth of the -country. With only the diamond fields and the copper mines of Otavi and -Tsumeb in operation, he finds the prospect distinctly encouraging, and -in the likely event of other large deposits of valuable minerals being -discovered, he anticipates that a strong development would set in. Even -if no extraordinary discoveries are made he is convinced that the total -value of the imports will be easily doubled in the course of the next -decade. - -Herr Grotefeld, in “Unser Kolonialwesen,” describes the trackless -wildernesses of sand in the coastal regions, and the desolate nature -of some parts of the country, but he states that the colony will be -able to support a large mining population, and he admits that the -mountains are “rich mineral treasure houses.” - -As a stock-raising country South-West Africa has great possibilities. -Dr. Rohrbach writes: “In spite of the varied nature of the land, from -the Orange River in the south to the Kunene in the north, and from -the Namib in the west to the Kalahari in the east, its vegetation -and conformation are those of a sub-tropical steppe and grazing -country, which is marked out by Nature herself for cattle raising.” -Herr Hermann, in “Viehzucht und Bodenkultur in Deutsch Süd-West Africa” -(1914), confirms this estimate, and states that “the whole country -is open to cattle breeders. Every blade of grass, every leaf, every -shoot possesses unusual nourishing properties. This is proved by the -fat, good condition and strength of cattle, mules, horses, etc., fed -on this dry but extraordinarily nourishing fodder, even after a ten -months’ drought. One district is best for cattle breeding, another for -small stock, and yet another for horse raising, but cattle can be bred -everywhere, and even the most desolate, desert-like districts can be -turned to account by grazing the cattle over a large area.” - -After thorough examination of the territory Dr. Rohrbach estimated that -the grazing land was equal in area to that of the German Empire in -Europe, and capable of carrying 3,000,000 head of cattle and 2,000,000 -sheep and goats. - -But although large areas may be suitable for live stock it must be -remembered that this does not by any means imply a large population. -The pasturage is thin, droughts are frequent, and small farms are -practically useless. A farm capable of giving any adequate return -should be at least 20,000 acres in extent. Two or three white men on -such a farm would be quite able to attend to the stock with the help of -a few natives. South-West Africa is not a country for close settlement, -and the efforts made to start settlers near the towns with small -farms have not been attended with much success. An inquiring would-be -colonist was told by the emigration department of the German Colonial -Society that “in South-West Africa, which is chiefly suited for cattle -breeding, at least £1,000 or £1,250 has hitherto been regarded as -necessary.” It may be urged that Boer settlers with considerably less -than £1,000 have found it profitable to take up farming in the country, -but none the less the small farmer is not likely to find much success -in the colony. When “carefully developed,” Dr. Rohrbach estimates that -the country will be able to maintain a population of several hundred -thousand European settlers, but in making this estimate Dr. Rohrbach -would appear to be slightly infected with the rosy optimism of Herr -Dernburg. - -The Karakul fur industry is likely to prove an asset of increasing -value. Karakul sheep, which supply the “Persian” lamb fur, or the curly -black Karakul, were first imported into the country from Bokhara in -1907, and they have been bred on a Government farm near Windhoek with -most satisfactory results. - -The Karakul has been crossed with the Afrikander, and many thousands -of the half-bred animals are now in existence. On the heights of -Damaraland and Namaqualand the Karakuls find most congenial climatic -conditions, and they seem to thrive on the pasturage of the country. -Sample skins sent to Europe have sold for as much as £2; but it is -stated that the industry can be carried on at a profit if the skins -realise from 10s. to 15s. each. The mutton of these animals is of a -superior kind. - -It may be predicted with safety that frozen meat will be one of the -chief exports in the coming years. Walvis Bay is comparatively near to -Europe, and with a direct steamship service to British ports, it will -be possible to establish a lucrative industry in slaughtered cattle and -sheep. Germany was hoping to profit considerably by the development -of the pastoral lands of the territory, but the stream will now be -diverted to Great Britain and the Union of South Africa. - -The third source of wealth is the agricultural lands. As already -stated, there are only 13,000 acres under cultivation, and this fact is -explained by the dryness of the climate. The rainfall is too scanty, -and the soil of too sandy a nature, to permit of extensive cultivation -without artificial aids. Much might be done by the introduction of -improved methods of farming and by means of irrigation, since the soil -is amazingly fertile. Dr. Rohrbach maintains that the land is much -better and more fertile than most parts of Cape Colony. - -The rich silt lands of the Kuisip River, and the alluvial loams of the -Kuisip Valley, for instance, wait for exploitation by the man who will -tap the underground stores of water and send them out over the fertile -tracts. A good start has been made in this connection by some of the -farmers in the northern districts, and further developments may be -anticipated. - -It is significant that owing to drought the crops of 1913 were a total -failure, with the exception--and the exception is important--of those -under irrigation. There should be no great difficulty in the way of -developing the water supply, since the country seems to have a good -supply of underground water. Even in the Kalahari nine artesian wells -were struck last year by boring in the valley of the Auob River. Fresh -boreholes have developed an ample supply for the town of Windhoek, -with more than sufficient to meet the need for an underground drainage -system. The two perennial streams of the country--the Kunene and the -Orange--are of little economic value, since the channels are too deep -to serve the purposes of extensive irrigation. According to the report -made in 1913 of the irrigation possibilities along the banks of the -Orange, by Mr. A. D. Lewis, the Government engineer, the irrigable -patches found here and there on the northern bank are less than 3,000 -morgen; there are about 4,000 morgen on the south bank. Until wells -are dug, dams made, large irrigation works executed, and markets for -produce opened up, agriculture will play only a subordinate part in -South-West African industry, and the energies of the whites will be -devoted to the exploitation of the mineral wealth and the raising of -cattle and sheep. - -The progress of the country has been retarded by a shortage of native -labour. Some farmers affirm that they can make no progress whatever -owing to the scarcity and unreliability of native workmen, but, as the -ex-Consul shrewdly observes in his last Report on the Trade of German -South-West Africa (1913), “As a rule a farmer who knows how to manage -his servants and understands their limitations has no difficulty in -getting his work done. On some farms there are sufficient labourers for -every emergency, while on others there are a few dissatisfied servants, -who take the first opportunity they can of changing their master.” - -The difficulty of obtaining labour has hampered the exploitation of the -mineral resources of the colony, and during recent years Cape boys have -been imported in considerable numbers. The Germans, however, have only -themselves to blame for this shortage, as in decimating the Hereros -they destroyed the best material for developing the resources of the -country. Forced labour was tried with the Herero and Hottentot captives -after the wars, and even in 1913 the police were kept busy collecting -stray natives and apportioning them to masters in need of servants. - -Efforts have been made by the mining authorities lately to attract more -labourers from Ovamboland by effecting improvements in respect to the -feeding, clothing, housing, and transport of men, and in the hospital -arrangements, and the standard wage has been raised 25 per cent. -With a more sympathetic administration and an influx of settlers who -understand the native, the problem of the native labour supply might -find a partial solution, but it will probably continue to be a source -of anxiety for some time to come. In many parts of the Union of South -Africa the farmers are confronted with a similar difficulty. - -Will South-West Africa ever become a manufacturing country? Certainly -there is no prospect of it at present. The requisites for producing -manufactured articles, such as a big market, cheap sources of -mechanical power, and cheap and efficient labour, are all wanting, -and they are not likely to be available, at any rate in the present -generation. Such demand for manufactured goods as there is can easily -be met by importation from Europe. The lack of a good port has been a -drawback to German enterprise, but Walvis Bay will now take its proper -place as the natural harbour of the country, and its importance is -certain to grow. - -In regard to the immediate future of the country, Mr. A. Wyatt Tilby -has suggested recently in the _Nineteenth Century_ that the land -required by the Union Government of South Africa for the _bijwoners_ or -“poor whites” lies now at the very door of the Union in Namaqualand and -Damaraland. But as we have shown, this is not the country for the small -farmer. Very substantial help would have to be forthcoming from the -Government before the unenterprising _bijwoners_ could make a living -out of the soil. Many parts of South Africa are far more suitable for -close settlement schemes than Namaqualand and Damaraland. Germany made -many efforts to get the right kind of settler into the country. To the -22,000 soldiers who took part in the native wars the Government made an -offer of £300 to each man who wished to establish himself as a farmer -in the colony. Only 5 per cent. remained. - -Experience has shown that no scheme of colonisation has much chance -of success by which men are bribed to become settlers: it is only by -making it worth their while to settle, by affording encouragement -to energy, initiative and resource, that the right stamp of men are -attracted. - -To sum up the facts then and state our conclusions; South-West Africa -is a country rich in mineral wealth, that needs exploitation; it is a -fine grazing country that will carry hundreds of thousands of cattle; -it is a comparatively poor agricultural land, whose principal need is -irrigation; and it shows no sign of becoming a manufacturing country -even on a small scale. The white population will remain scanty in -proportion to the area of the country. - -That in the course of the next twenty-five years it will become the -home of 25,000 white families is as much as a reasoned optimism can -expect. The intrusion of the unexpected in the shape of a discovery -of valuable minerals in payable quantities would, of course, upset -our calculations, but all that we can do is to point out the probable -result of present conditions. - -A word may be added about the disposal of the country. Sir Harry H. -Johnston has raised the question in a recent article contributed to -the _Edinburgh Review_. He expresses the opinion that “at the present -time it would not be advisable unduly to increase the area under the -Union Government of South Africa where it embraces a large native -population,” since “the British and Dutch colonists of temperate -South Africa are unwilling to concede to their black and brown -fellow-countrymen that equality before the law which England with her -larger imperial experience regards as the necessary basis of peaceful -government”; so he suggests that the “more negro portions of which -are Ovamboland and northern Damaraland,” should, “at any rate for the -present, either be governed by the Administrator of Rhodesia or by some -other British official appointed from London.” - -Without going into the matter of the fitness of the people to govern -the natives, it can hardly be expected that South Africans would view -such a proposal with equanimity should it be made with any seriousness. -To South Africa was given the task of conquering the territory, and in -addition to the fact that the country will appropriately “round off -the Union,” powerful sentimental considerations will have to be taken -into account. A country in which Afrikanders have fallen in war and -have been buried will have more than a material value in the eyes of -Africa’s sons. For the first time in history British and Dutch have -fought side by side on African soil to overthrow the common enemy, and -the land won amid such conditions will always have peculiar value to -those who have made sacrifices to secure it. No: South-West Africa must -drop into its natural place as an integral part of the Union of South -Africa. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[19] Bryce, “Impressions of South Africa,” p. 37. - -[20] _South African Journal of Science_, March, 1915. - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -HISTORY AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION - - History of South Africa. _Theal, Dr._ - - 1796. Second Voyage. _Le Vaillant, François._ - - 1838. Expedition of Discovery. _Alexander, Sir James._ - - 1840. Memorials of South Africa. _Shaw, Barnabas._ - - 1849. The Modern Missionary. _Cook, Edward._ - Missionary Labours and Scenes - in South Africa. _Moffat, Robt._ - - 1852. Interior of South Africa. _Galton, Francis._ - - 1853. Tropical South Africa. _Galton, Francis._ - - 1855. Explorations in South Africa. _Andersson, C. J._ - - 1856. Great Namaqualand. _Tindall, Henry._ - - 1858. Travel and Adventure in - Ovampoland. _Andersson, C. J._ - - 1860. Travels in the Interior of South - Africa. _Chapman, James._ - - 1860. Journey to Ovampoland. _Green, Fred. J._ - - 1883. Great Namaqualand. _Ridsdale, Benj._ - - 1891. Deutsch-Südwest Afrika. _Schinz, Hans._ - - 1896. Nama and Damara. _François, Hugo von._ - - 1903. Deutsch-Südwest Afrika. _Dove, Karl._ - - 1905. Between Cape Town and - Loanda. _Gibson, Alan._ - - 1907. Südwestafrika. _Rohrbach, P._ - - 1908. Deutsch-Südwestafrika. _Leutwin, T._ - - 1914. Süd-West Afrika. _Schultze, L._ - - British Foreign Office Yearly - Consular Reports, and publications - of the German - Colonial Society. - - Imperial Blue Books. - - Blue Books of the Cape of Good - Hope. - - -PHILOLOGY - - 1854. Namaqua Sprache. _Wallman, J. C._ - 1856. Great Namaqualand. _Tindall, H._ - 1857. Grammatik des Herero. _Hahn, C. Hugo._ - 1857. Namaquasprache. _Wallman, J. C._ - 1870. Sprache des Nama. _Hahn, Theo._ - 1883. Herero and Bantu Dictionary. _Kolbe, F. W._ - - -BOTANY, &C. - - 1891. Geography of South-West - Africa. _Schlichter, Henry._ - - 1896. Nama and Damara. _François, Hugo von._ - - 1900. Pflanzenwelt. Deutsch-Südwest - Afrika. _Schinz, Hans._ - - 1910. Travels of a Botanist in South-West - Africa. _Pearson, H. W._ - - 1910. Vegetation of the Southern - Namib. _Marloth, R._ - - 1914. The Flora of South Africa, - Vol. I. _Marloth, R._ - - -ANNEX D.--EXPORTS DURING THE YEARS 1911-13. - - -----+----------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------- - Item.| Articles. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913.[21] - -----+----------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------- - I. | Products of agriculture | Marks. | Marks. | Marks. - | and forestry and articles | | | - | pertaining to these | 4,345 | 28,368 | 3,662 - | +-----------+-----------+----------- - II. |Animals and animal products:| | | - | (_a_) Livestock | 45,515 | 53,414 | 112,632 - | (_b_) Animal products | 525,795 | 739,515 | 419,288 - | +-----------+-----------+----------- - | Total, Item II. | 571,310 | 792,929 | 531,920 - | +-----------+-----------+----------- - III.|Raw minerals and fossils |27,173,079 |37,215,380 |28,238,263 - IV. |Manufactures, curios, etc. | 824,510 | 998,663 | 394,462 - | +-----------+-----------+----------- - | Total Exports |28,573,244 |39,035,340 |29,168,307 - -----+----------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------- - - -CHIEF ARTICLES OF EXPORT DURING THE YEARS 1911-13. - - ------------------+-----------+-----------+------------ - Articles. | 1911. | 1912. | 1913.[22] - ------------------+-----------+-----------+------------ - | Marks. | Marks. | Marks. - Cattle | 21,600 | 16,519 | 6,300 - Small Stock | 1,890 | 18,345 | 28,882 - Meat | 14,544 | 28,974 | 73,850 - Horns | 24,536 | 24,003 | 20,695 - Hides, goat and | | | - sheepskins | 246,417 | 297,787 | 195,318 - Skins of wild | | | - animals | 34,051 | 29,575 | 12,550 - Sealskins | 43,543 | 41,569 | 3,330 - Ostrich feathers | 79,804 | 97,012 | 40,769 - Wool | 74,172 | 149,658 | 46,944 - Marble | 1,232 | 19,968 | 10,214 - Other earths and | | | - stones | 9,184 | 5,485 | 5,821 - Rough diamonds |23,034,146 |30,414,078 |24,620,968 - Copper | 325,000 | 229,850 | 200,040 - Copper ores | 1,428,703 | 6,293,408 | 2,975,022 - Other ores | 28,946 | 15,064 | 33,545 - Lead | 345,868 | 228,127 | -- - Leather and | | | - leatherware | 14,863 | 18,535 | 5,020 - Photographs | 27,158 | 8,671 | 3,913 - Curios and | | | - miscellaneous | | | - articles | 115,378 | 154,397 | 33,249 - Packing cases and | | | - materials and | | | - such-like | | | - articles | | | - re-exported | 667,111 | 807,060 | 352,280 - Mohair | -- | 17,617 | 8,785 - Wood and forestry | | | - products | 779 | 14,154 | 330 - Tin ore | -- | 9,400 | 332,350 - ------------------+-----------+-----------+------------ - - - - -ANNEX E.--STATEMENT SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION OF -GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA. - -RESULT OF CENSUS TAKEN JANUARY 1, 1913, AS COMPARED WITH CENSUS TAKEN -JANUARY 1, 1912. - - -------------+------------------------------------------ - | 1912. - +------+-----------+---------------+------- - | |Natives of | Natives and | - |White.| Protec- |Coloured People|Total. - | |torate.[23]| from Abroad. | - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------- - Grootfontein | 811| 14,996 | 70 | 15,877 - Outjo | 356| 7,902 | 6 | 8,264 - Omaruru | 832| 6,563 | 2 | 7,397 - Karibib | 1,197| 5,610 | 73 | 6,880 - Okahandja | 573| 3,723 | 187 | 4,483 - Gobabis | 342| 5,840 | 21 | 6,203 - Windhoek | 2,895| 8,784 | 192 | 11,871 - Rehoboth | 605| 9,808 | 361 | 10,774 - Gibeon | 993| 2,285 | 1,116 | 4,394 - Maltahœhe | 337| 1,153 | 3 | 1,493 - Keetmanshoop | 1,559| 6,467 | 360 | 8,386 - Hasuur | -- | -- | -- | -- - Warmbad | 851| 2,024 | 118 | 2,993 - Bethanien | 395| 1,417 | 91 | 1,903 - Luderitzbucht| 1,676| 3,356 | 1,326 | 6,358 - Swakopmund | 1,394| 2,021 | 247 | 3,662 - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------- - Total |14,816| 81,949 | 4,173 |100,938 - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------- - - -------------+----------------------------------------- - | 1913. - +------+-----------+---------------+------ - | |Natives of | Natives and | - |White.| Protec- |Coloured People|Total. - | |torate.[23]| from Abroad. | - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------ - Grootfontein | 988| 11,409 | 57 |12,454 - Outjo | 269| 7,392 | 1 | 7,662 - Omaruru | 926| 6,907 | 7 | 7,840 - Karibib | 1,170| 5,628 | 23 | 6,821 - Okahandja | 648| 3,933 | 47 | 4,628 - Gobabis | 409| 3,645 | 7 | 4,061 - Windhoek | 2,871| 11,098 | 140 |14,109 - Rehoboth | 453| 9,295 | 20 | 9,768 - Gibeon | 922| 2,680 | 33 | 3,635 - Maltahœhe | 304| 1,372 | 4 | 1,680 - Keetmanshoop | 1,115| 5,910 | 231 | 7,296 - Hasuur | 351| 752 | 14 | 1,117 - Warmbad | 912| 1,999 | 68 | 2,979 - Bethanien | 373| 1,446 | 71 | 1,890 - Luderitzbucht| 1,616| 3,268 | 1,706 | 6,590 - Swakopmund | 1,463| 2,076 | 219 | 3,758 - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------ - Total |14,830| 78,810 | 2,648 |96,288 - -------------+------+-----------+---------------+------- - -IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. - - -------+------------+----------- - Year. | Imports. | Exports. - -------+------------+----------- - | £ | £ - 1908 | 1,619,800 | 80,800 - 1909 | 1,735,650 | 1,103,550 - 1910 | 2,217,200 | 1,734,550 - 1911 | 2,265,100 | 1,428,650 - 1912 | 1,624,900 | 1,951,750 - 1913 | 2,171,200 | 3,515,100 - -------+------------+----------- - - -MINERALS EXPORTED IN 1913. - - £ - Diamonds 2,945,975 - Copper 396,436 - Tin 31,568 - Marble 1,452 - Other Ores 2,956 - Base Minerals 360 - __________ - Total 3,378,747 - - -CULTIVATED LAND IN 1913. - - acres. - Windhoek District 4,535 - Grootfontein District 3,702 - Omaruru District 1,567 - Okahandja District 1,267 - Small areas in other districts. - - -THE WATER SUPPLIES. - - -------------+-------+--------+------+------+------ - Districts. |Land in|Springs.|Wells.|Water |Dams. - |acres. | | |Holes.| - -------------+-------+--------+------+------+------ - Windhoek | 11,445| 12 | 231 | 20 | 35 - Luderitzbucht| 34,750| 1 | 13 | 4 | -- - Swakopmund | 25,000| -- | 1 | 2 | -- - Gibeon | 16,945| 19 | 128 | -- | 17 - Rehoboth | 13,473| 30 | 119 | 1 | 18 - Maltahohe | 12,832| 13 | 139 | 8 | 6 - Outjo | 11,930| 16 | 52 | -- | 1 - Okahandja | 11,855| 2 | 125 | 4 | 8 - Gobabis | 11,445| 1 | 155 | -- | 3 - Omaruru | 6,757| 6 | 216 | 9 | 13 - Bethanien | 28,035| -- | 31 | -- | 5 - Warmbad | 32,130| 1 | 63 | 4 | 4 - -------------+-------+--------+------+------+----- - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[21] January 1 to June 30. - -[22] January 1 to June 30. - -[23] Estimated. - - - - -INDEX - - - Aard vark, 75. - - Aborigines Protection Society, 126. - - Acacia, forests of, 65, 66, 68. - - Adder, varieties of, 82-84. - - Administrative divisions, 174. - - Agricultural Advisory Board, 191. - - Agriculture, 189-192; future of, 239. - - Ana tree (_Acacia albida_), 57, 58; - beans of, 58, 66. - - Andersson, C. J., explorer and author, 108. - - Anglo-German Commission, 124. - - Angola, 19. - - Angra Pequena, correspondence concerning, 118, 119; - secured by Luderitz, 119; - German Protectorate formally proclaimed, 122, 123; - known as Luderitz Bay, 124, 149. - - Ant-bear, _see_ Aard vark. - - Antelopes, 73-75. - - Albrecht Bros., missionaries, 100. - - Alexander, Captain, takes formal possession of Angra Pequena in 1796, - 123. - - Alexander, Sir James, explorer, 105-107. - - Artesian wells, 240. - - - Bantu races, 161, 164. - - Baobab trees, 65. - - Benguella current, 39. - - Berg Damaras, 106, 163-165. - - Bethanien, springs at, 29, - - Bibliography, 250, 251. - - _Bijwoners_, 245. - - Birds, 76-81. - - Bismarck, appeals to Great Britain to annex Hereroland, 114; - declares Luderitz under Imperial protection, 121; - his policy, 124, 125, 136; - is urged to swamp South Africa with German settlers, 149. - - Boer War, the, 150. - - Boer trek to Damaraland, 128. - - Boers as “Low Germans,” 151, 152. - - Bondelswaarts, cede territory to Sinclair, 120; - rise against the Germans, 134. - - Bonn, Professor, on Germany’s Colonial policy, 139, 140. - - Brand, Peter, explorer, 97. - - Braragul, old name of Orange River, 95. - - Brewing, 193. - - British South-West Africa, position of, 13; - boundaries, 14; - a “white man’s country,” 49; - a “potential Canada,” 226; - future of, 246-249. - - British Government, _see_ Great Britain. - - Budget for 1915, the, 189. - - Buffalo, 72. - - Bushman grass, 68. - - Bushmen, the, 157-159, 165. - - Bustard, great and lesser, 76, 77. - - Bryce, Lord, his “Impressions,” 225, 226. - - - Camelthorn tree, 57, 68. - - Candelabra flower, 67. - - Candle-bush, 65. - - Cape Government acquires Walvis Bay, 115; - negotiations with a view to further annexations, 118-121; - in favour of annexation, 122. - - Capital required by settler, 236. - - Caprivizipfel, the, 13, 14; - a great game reserve, 72, 163, 165. - - Cattle, 189, 234-237. - - Census of 1913, 166. - - Central Plateau, the, 19-21; - vegetation of, 65-68. - - Cheetahs, 73. - - Chest diseases, climate favourable to, 49. - - Christian feelings, to be energetically repudiated by German - officials, 164. - - Climate, 37-49; - healthy nature of, 37; - seasonal, 38; - in the north, 41; - on the plateau, 41. - - Coal, improbability of finding, 183, 232. - - Coast, the, 15-19; - temperature of, 39. - - Cobras, 81, 82. - - Coetsee, Jacobus, crosses the Orange River, 91. - - Colonial methods of England and of Germany, 138-140. - - Colonial methods “peculiar to the German spirit,” 134-137. - - Concessions system, 232. - - Cook, Mr. and Mrs., missionaries, 103, 104; - Cook’s “Modern Missionary,” 104, 107. - - Copper mines, 186, 229. - - Coppery snake, 85. - - Cormorants, protected, 79. - - _Cross Gazette_, quoted, 142. - - Crosses erected by Diaz, 90. - - Cultivated land, 255. - - - Dam, at mouth of the Orange River, the, 25. - - Damara antelope, 74. - - Damara many-spotted snake, 84. - - Damaraland, 13, 19, 20, 71, 76, 78; - ceded to Great Britain and refused, 126; - seized by Germany, 127; - Boers trek to, 128. - - Damaras, first seen, 98, 116. - - Damrocquas, 91, 99; - men, 97. - - Dams, use of, 46, 183. - - Dassie, the (rock-rabbit), 76. - - Dawson’s “Evolution of Modern Germany,” 141. - - Death-rate, the, 48. - - Derby, Lord, 118-122. - - Dernberg, Herr, 145, 220-227. - - Desert, the coastal, _see_ Namib. - - Deutsches Kolonial Gesellschaft, 200, 207, 208. - - Development of the country, 173-194. - - Dew-ponds, 40. - - Diaz, lands and erects crosses, 89, 90. - - Diamond fields, 197-221; - great extent of, 201; - methods of working, 208-211; - cost of working, 213; - life of, 216, 217; - value of, 217. - - Diamonds, exports of, 183, 186; - discovery by a native, 198, 199; - character of, 203; - theories of origin, 205; - tax on, 214; - Government monopoly of sale, 214, 215; - production of, 220, 221, 229. - - Diamant Regie, 215. - - Diseases, prevailing, 48. - - Dogs, wild, 73. - - Drinking water, condensed, 41, 212. - - Droughts, 44, 240. - - Dryness of climate, 47. - - Duiker, 75. - - Duminy, Chevalier, early explorer, 98. - - Dunes, 15, 16; - formation of, 18; - vegetation, 60. - - - Eagles, 78. - - Ebony trees, 97. - - Economic future of the country, 225-249. - - Egg-eating snake, 85. - - Eland, 73. - - Electric power at Luderitz Bay, 178. - - Elephants, 71, 72. - - Etosha, Lake, 28. - - _Euphorbiae_ in desert, 61, 68. - - Exports, 184; - tables of, 252, 253. - - - Farming, _see_ Agriculture. - - Farms, size of, 189. - - Fauna, 71-86. - - Female population, white, 169. - - Figs, wild, 57, 65. - - Finances, 184. - - Fish River, 27. - - Flamingos, 78. - - Flora, 53-68; - of the coast, 54-63; - of the plateau, 63-68. - - Fogs, on coast, 40. - - _Fonteins_ or springs, 28, 29. - - Force as a civilising method, results of, 144, 145. - - Forced labour, 243. - - Foreign Office, _see_ Great Britain. - - François, K. von, 133. - - Frederick Joseph, chief, 119. - - Frere, Sir Bartle, favours annexation, 115; - warns Boers against Germany, 150. - - Frosts, 42. - - Fruit, 184. - - - Galena, 230. - - Galton, Francis, 105-108. - - Game, early abundance of, 98, 99; - _see_ Mammals, Birds. - - Gannet, protected, 79. - - Gemsbok, 74, 93. - - _Geographische Nachrichten_, proposes German annexation, 117. - - German South-West Africa, position of, 13; - Government of, 147, 148. - - German occupation, the, 133-153; - native risings under and their suppression, 134, 135; - atrocities committed during, 140, 141; - cost of, 146; - effort to attract settlers during, 245, 246. - - Germans, first missionary efforts, of, 107. - - Germany begs Great Britain to annex the country, 114, 116, 117; - further negotiations, 120, 121; - takes formal possession, 122, 133; - casts eyes on Damaraland, 125. - - Giraffe, 74, 74, 94. - - Gnu, the, 74, 93. - - Goats, 189, 190. - - Gobabis, springs at, 29, 179. - - Goering, Dr., 133. - - Gold, early search for, 97, 98; - scanty, 188, 231. - - Goose, Egyptian, the, 74, 93. - - Gordon, Colonel, early explorer, 95. - - Gravel plains, vegetation of, 64. - - Great Britain, refuses to annex the country, 114-117; - but objects to the German annexation, 121; - refuses Damaraland, 126. - - _Grenzboten, Die_, advises German penetration of all South Africa, - 150-152. - - Grootfontein, farming in, 189. - - Grotefeld, Herr, on mineral wealth, 234. - - Grouse, sand, 77. - - Guano, 79. - - Guano Islands, 115, 193. - - - Hailstones, 43. - - Halifax Island, 218. - - Harbours, natural, 18. - - Hares, various species, 75. - - Hawks, 78. - - Hereros, their wars against the Hottentots, 113; - revolt against Germany, 134; - destruction of, 134-136; - their land taken, 136; - exploited by traders, 142, 143; - Schlettwein’s policy, 143, 144; - exodus into British territory, 145; - origin of the name, 161. - - Hermann, Herr, on stock-raising, 234, 235. - - Herons, 78. - - Hills, vegetation of the, 60-64. - - Hippopotamus, 72. - - History, early, 89-109; - later, 113-129; - of the German occupation, 137-153. - - Honey-guide, the, 79, 80. - - Hoopoe, the, 79. - - Hop, Hendrik, early explorer, 93, 93. - - Hornbill, 79. - - Horses, 190. - - Hottentots, 113; - rebel against German rule, 134-136, 159-161, 165. - - House-snakes, 85. - - Hyena, the, 73. - - Hyrax, the (rock-rabbit), 76. - - - Ibis, the, 78. - - Imports, 183, 255. - - Insect pests, 86. - - Intrigue, German, in South Africa, 150-153. - - Iron, 231. - - Irrigation, 182, 183, 240, 241. - - Ivory, 71. - - - Jackals, 73. - - Johnston, Sir Harry, opposed to annexation by the Union, 247, 248. - - Jordan, W. W., attempts to found a Republic, 128, 129. - - - Kaiser’s Telegram to Kruger, 150. - - Kalahari Desert, the, 15, 21; - marshes of the, 27; - lions in, 72, 128; - artesian wells, 240. - - Kalkfontein, 181. - - Kamaherero, cedes Damaraland to Mr. Palgrave, 126. - - Kaokoland, iron in, 231. - - Kaokoveld, 72, 74. - - Karibib, 167, 168. - - Karakul fur industry, 237, 238. - - Karas Mountains, 21, 94; - possibly gold in, 231, 232. - - Keetmanshoop, 167, 168. - - Khan copper mine, 230. - - Kimberley, 39. - - Klipspringer, the, 74. - - Kokerboom tree (_Aloe dichotoma_), 54, 60. - - Koodoo, the, 73, 93. - - _Koloniale Bergbaugesellschaft_, 219, 220. - - Kruger, President, telegram to, 150. - - Kuisip River, 26, 27; - flora of, 57, 58; - silts of, 239. - - Kuisip Valley, 239, 240. - - Kunene River, 15, 19. - - - Labour, shortage of, due to massacres of natives, 242, 243. - - Land Bank, 191-193. - - Lattman, Herr, on strategic value of railway, 152. - - Le Vaillant, explorer, 96, 97. - - Lead, 187. - - Leopards, 73. - - Lewis, A. D., on the Orange River, 25, 241. - - Lindequist, von, Governor, 136. - - Lions, 71, 72, 104. - - Live stock, 189-191, 234, 235. - - Locusts, 86. - - Locust-birds, 79. - - London Missionary Society, 100, 102. - - Lucerne, 189. - - Luderitz, Herr, 119, 121, 124. - - Luderitz Bay, 18, 19, 59, 124. - - Luderitzbucht, temperature of, 47, 48; - description of, 177, 178; - railway from, 180, 181; - wireless station at, 182; - diamonds discovered near, 197. - - Lynx, the red, 73. - - - Malaria, rarity of, 48. - - Mammals, 71-76, 86. - - Manufactures, no future for, 244. - - Marble, 188. - - Marloth, Dr., on the “Flora of South Africa,” 55, 58, 59. - - Martin, E. A., on “Dewponds,” 40. - - Mauch, Karl, 148. - - Mealies, 189. - - Meercats, 76. - - Melons, 189. - - Minerals, 184-189, 229; - exports of 255. - - Mining royalties, 186. - - Mist-ponds, 40. - - Missionaries, 100. - - Moffat, Dr., 21, 22, 30, 101; - converts Titus, 101, 102. - - Mountains, 20, 31, 66. - - Musgrave, Major, 116. - - - Namib, the, 15-19, 29; - rainfall, 44; - flora, 54-57. - - Namaqua pheasant, the, 77. - - Namaquas, the, 116. - - Namaqualand, Great, 13, 21-23; - climate of, 42; - rainfall, 43; - vegetation, 67, 68. - - Naras, the (_Acanthosicyos horrida_), 56; - fruit and seeds of, 56, 57. - - Native races, 157-166. - - “New Accounts of the Cape of Good Hope,” 93. - - - Officialism, rampant, 146, 147. - - Okahandja, 31, 178. - - Omataho, Mount, 20. - - Omaruru, springs at, 29, 31; - temperature of, 39, 178. - - Orange River, 13-15; - basin of, 22-26; - course of, 23; - fauna, 24; - bar at mouth, 25; - no economic value, 26; - temperature of valley, 42; - hippo in, 72; - first crossed, 91, 94; - irrigation possibilities of, 241. - - Oryx, the, 74. - - Ostrich, the, 76. - - Otavi, copper mines, 186, 229. - - Otavi Hills, 19. - - Otavi Railway, 180. - - Otjimbingue, 133. - - Ottweiler, Dr., 44. - - Ovambos, the, 161-163, 165. - - Ovamboland, 13, 19, 32, 65, 78, 108; - never conquered, 145. - - Owls, 78. - - - Palgrave, W. C., 114-116, 125. - - Palms, 65, 66. - - Partridges, 77. - - Paterson, William, explorer, 94, 95. - - Pedestal Point, 90. - - Penguins, 78, 79. - - “Peter Moor,” 135. - - Peters, Dr. Karl, 227, 228. - - Pettman’s “South African Place Names,” 95, 96. - - Physical features, 14-33. - - Pienaar, early explorer, 99. - - Plateau, the, 19-21; - formation of, 21; - climate, 41. - - Pomona, diamonds in, 206, 217; - Diamond Co., 220. - - Population, _see_ Native Races, White People; - possible European, 237, 246, 247; - distribution of, 254. - - Porcupines, 76. - - Possession Island, 217. - - Post Offices, 182. - - Potatoes, 189. - - Pratincoles, 79. - - Prussian civilising methods, 134, 138, 139. - - Puff-adder, the, 82, 83. - - Pump-line on coast, 212. - - Pythons, 85. - - - Quagga, 72. - - Quail, 78. - - - Railways, 179-181. - - Rainfall, 42-49; - table of, 45. - - Red-lipped snake, 84. - - Reenen, Jacobus van, 95. - - Reenen, William van, 97. - - Rehoboth, temperature of, 39. - - Religious creeds, 169. - - Revenue, 184. - - Rhenish Missionary Society, 107, 113, 129. - - Rhinoceros, 71, 72. - - Rinderpest, 190. - - Rivers, 26-30. - - Roan antelope, 73. - - Robinson, Sir Hercules, 121. - - Rock-rabbit (_dassie_), the, 76. - - Rohrbach, Dr., 237; - on stock-raising prospects, 234, 235, 237. - - - Sable Antelope, the, 73. - - Salt, 30. - - Sand-snakes, 84. - - Sandstorms, 16. - - Scenery, 30-33. - - Schaapsteker, the, 84. - - Schlettwein, on civilising natives, 143, 144. - - Schmelen, missionary, 101, - - Schools, 182. - - Scientific research, 194. - - Scorpions, 86. - - Sealing, 193. - - Seals, 86. - - Seashore, vegetation of, 59, 60. - - Secretary birds, 78. - - Sheep, 189. - - Sinclair, Captain, 120. - - Snakes, 81-83. - - Snipe, 78. - - Snow, 42. - - South African Territories Co., 231. - - South-West African Co., 187. - - Somerset, Lord Charles, 102. - - Spoonbill, 78. - - Springbuck, 74. - - Stapff, Dr., 15. - - Starling, wattled, 79. - - Stauch, Herr, 200. - - Steenbuck, 74. - - Stel, Van der, 94, 95. - - Storks, 78. - - Sun, not dangerous, 46. - - Swakop Boy, 19. - - Swakop River, 26, 27. - - Swakopmund, temperature of, 39; - population, 167; - description, 176, 177; - railways from, 179-180; - wireless station at, 182. - - Swifts, 179. - - - Telegraph service, 181, 182. - - Telegraph, wireless, 182. - - Telephone service, 181, 182. - - Temperature, _see_ Climate. - - Theal’s “History,” 89. - - Threlfall, murdered, 102, 103. - - Thunderstorms, 43. - - Ticks, 86. - - Tilby, A. Wyatt, in the _Nineteenth Century_, 245. - - Tin, 188. - - Titus Africaner, conversion of, 101, 102. - - Tobacco, 159. - - Tortoises, 86. - - Towns, 175. - - Traders, German, 141, 142. - - Treitschke, prophesies a German South Africa, 149. - - Trotha, von, General, issues infamous proclamation, 134-136. - - Tsama melon, 67. - - Tsumeb, copper at, 186. - - Tulbagh, Governor, 92. - - - Union of South Africa, rebellion in, work of Germany, 148, 149. - - Upingtonia, rise and fall of, 129. - - Uyntjes, edible root, 67. - - - Valleys, 20. - - Vermin, 86. - - Versfeld, Dr., 17, 207, 230. - - Vleís, 16, 29. - - Vogelsang, procures treaties, 119. - - Vultures, 78. - - - Wagner, Dr., on diamond-fields, 205, 206, 220. - - Walvis Bay, 15, 17, 18; - temperature of, 39; - rainfall, 41. - - Warmbad, 29, 65, 93, 179. - - Warm springs, 28, 29. - - Water, where found, 29, 31, 32, 183, 255. - - Waterberg, 31. - - Waterbuck, 74. - - Weaver-birds, 79, 80; - nest of social weaver, 80, 81. - - Weber, Ernst von, suggests annexation, 117, 118. - - Welwitsch, Dr., 56. - - _Welwitschia Bainesii_, 54-56. - - Wesleyans, 102, 103, 107. - - Whales, 86. - - Whaling-trade, 86, 91, 193. - - Whip-snake, 84. - - Whirlwinds, 43. - - White inhabitants, 166-169. - - Wild dogs, 73. - - Wildebeest, 74. - - Windhoek, 20, 26, 28, 32; - temperature, 39; - rainfall, 43; - health of, 47, 48; - first settlers at, 133; - population, 167; - description, 175; - wireless station at, 182. - - Witbooi, Hottentot leader, 134. - - Wolfram, 231. - - Woodpeckers, 79. - - - Zebras, 72, 74, 93. - - -_Printed in Great Britain by Wyman & Sons Ltd., London and Reading._ - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -A few minor errors in punctuation and accentuation have been fixed. - -Page 78: “Chenalopex agyptiacus” changed to “Chenalopex aegyptiacus” - -Page 79: “honey-guide (_Indicatoridoe_)” changed to “honey-guide -(_Indicatoridæ_)” - -Page 145: “the _Luderítzbuchter Zeitung_” changed to “the -_Lüderitzbuchter Zeitung_” - -Page 233: “in Under Kolonialwesen” changed to “in Unser Kolonialwesen” - -Page 234: “Viehacht und Bodenkultur” changed to “Viehzucht und -Bodenkultur” - -The spelling of “Francois” throughout was changed to “François”. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH-WEST AFRICA *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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