Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/253

NATAL 241 bullata), black iron wood (Olca laurifolia), white ironwood (Vepris lanccolata), and the mangrove (Rhizophora) ; all are very useful woods, and the yellow wood, sneezewood, stinkwood, and ironwood when polished have grain and colour equal to maple, walnut, and ebony. The "rooibesje," red pear, and milk wood trees are used for boatbuilding. The Australian Eucalyptus and Casuarina in great variety, and many other imported trees, including syringas, wattles, acacias, willows, pines, cypress, cork, and oak all thrive when properly planted and protected from grass fires. fauna. The herds of elephants which roamed in the coast bushes in 1837 have disappeared, and the roar of the lion is no longer to be heard in the uplands. The hippopotamus is very scarce, and nearly all, if not all, the buffalo and quagga have crossed over into Zululand. Leopards or tigers and tiger cats (all called by the natives "ingwe"), and hyaenas and wild dogs (Canis pictus) of different species, are still found in or about bush jungles and forest clumps ; elands (Antilope areas) are preserved on some estates, and there are at least ten distinct species of antelope. Ant-eaters (Orycteropus capensis), porcupines, rock rabbits, hares, and cane rats are common in different localities. Baboons (Cynocephalus por- carius) and monkeys of different kinds frequent the mountains and rocky kloofs and bush and timber lands. The birds of Natal are of many species ; some have beautiful plumage, but none of them, with the exception of the canary, are to be considered as songsters. The crocodile is to be found at the mouths of all rivers, and for a certain distance inland from the sea. Of snakes there are about forty dis tinct species or varieties. The most dreaded by the natives are called " imamba," of which there are at least eight different kinds ; these snakes elevate and throw themselves forward, and have been known to pursue a horseman. One sort of imamba, named by the natives " indhlondhlo," is crested, and its body is of a bright flame colour. The sluggish puff-adder (Clotho arietans) is common and very dangerous. A hooded snake (Naja hiemachates), the "iinfezi" of the natives, is dangerous, and spits or ejects its poison ; and besides this there are a few other varieties of the cobra species. The largest of the serpent tribe, however, is the python (Hortulia nata- lensis), called "iuhlwati" by the natives; its usual haunts are by streams amongst rocky boulders and in jungles, and instances are recorded of its strangling and crushing adult natives. Insects abound in great numbers, the most troublesome and destructive being the tick (Ixodes natalensis), which infests the pasturage, and the white ant (Termes mordax). Occasionally vast armies of cater pillars make a sudden appearance and advance over large tracts of country, devouring all vegetation in their line of march. The fish moth, a steel-grey slimy active fish-shaped insect, is found in every house, and is very destructive in the wardrobe and library. Fish of excellent quality and in great quantities abound on the coast. Prawns, crayfish, and oysters are also obtainable, and turtle (Chelonia my das) are frequently captured. Little attention, how ever, has been given to deep-sea fishing, and the only fishermen are the coolies, who use nets along the beach. The natives (Zulus) as a rule will not touch fish. Freshwater scale-fish are mostly full of bones, but fine eels and barbel are plentiful in the rivers. Agriculture. The chief crop is maize, known in South Africa as " meallies," its grain constituting the principal food of about seven- eighths of the population. Maize, indeed, and Kaffre corn (Sor ghum Caffrorum), with pumpkins and sweet potatoes (Convolvulus Batatas), "imphee" or "imfi" (Sorghum saccharatum), and tobacco are about the only crops raised by the natives. The European farmers in the uplands, by irrigating the land in the winter months, produce wheat of very fair quality, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the demands of the colony. Oats, barley, and other grains grow readily ; and nearly all European vegetables yield fair crops in suitable localities. Arrowroot succeeds well on the coast, and is an article of export. Some years ago coffee and cotton had the attention of the planter, but both are now neglected. Rice has been cultivated by some farmers, but not to any great extent. Tobacco flourishes luxuriantly wherever there is good soil, but the difficulties in the way of curing and manufacturing it prevent its being at present an article of export. The cultivation and manufacture of sugar have attracted most attention of late ; sugar, indeed, with its products is the principal staple produced in and exported from Natal. The capsicum for cayenne pepper, and ground-nuts (Arachis hypog&a) for oil, are also grown for exportation. Tea has been cul tivated of late by some few planters on the coast, and promises ere long to be grown on a much larger scale. There are but few indigenous fruits, the principal being the Natal orange (a species of Strychnos), the Natal plum or " amatungula " (Arduinia grandi- flora), the Kei apple (Aberia caffra), Cape gooseberry (Physalis 2mbescens), and the Kaffre fig, the fruit of the Urostigma natalensis. Many subtropical fruits, however, and fruits of European culture thrive well in Natal. Stock. Previous to 1855 large and numerous herds of cattle pas tured over the whole country, but in that year "lung-sickness," an epidemic of the nature of pleuro-pneumonia, broke out with great virulence, and scarcely 4 per cent, of the animals attacked recovered. Lung-sickness and "red water" still claim many victims annually, and are the constant dread of the stock farmer. " Horse sickness," a form of anthrax, is very fatal to horses, especially in wet summers. The following figures give approximately the number of the several kinds of stock belonging to Europeans and natives respectively in 1880: Stock. Europeans. Natives. Horned cattle 140 716 379 569 Horses 17 261 15 915 Mules and donkeys 1 121 nit Angora goats 70 589 nil Other goats 6 159 166 477 Pigs 10 809 410 i(53 Sheep (not wool-bearing) 1 821 24 509 The cattle consist principally of the Zulu, Africander, and Father land breeds, but recently some English shorthorns and other improved stock have been introduced. Ostriches also are farmed for the sake of their feathers, but as yet this industry has not succeeded so well in Natal as in the Cape Colony. Commerce. The staple productions of Natal have increased with the introduction of the sugar-cane, and sugar and rum are the principal articles of native produce exported. Wool, arrowroot, and feathers are also the outcome of local industry, but the exports of greatest value and importance are the wool and hides of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and feathers, ivory, and skins from the interior, which are shipped at Durban. The value of Natal sugar produced in 1856 was stated at 483, and in 1881 at 172,237. The principal imports in 1882 (total value 2,213,538) were clothing, cotton and woollen goods, haberdashery, leather manufactures, iron and ironmongery, spirits, oilman s stores, and flour, and the chief exports (731,809) were wool, sugar, hides, ostrich feathers, and Angora hair, by far the greater part of the imports (1,784,345) and exports (595,744) being received from and shipped for the United Kingdom. Revenue and Expenditure. The increase in the revenue and expenditure in thirty years is shown as follows : Year. Revenue. Expenditure. 1852 1862 1872 1882 27,158 98,086 180,498 496,783 24,876 83,886 132,978 489,113 The revenue is principally derived from customs duties, native hut taxes, transfer dues on land sales, and excise. The public debt of the colony on the 31st December 1882 was 2,101,500, with a sinking fund towards its redemption of 153,597. Roads and Telegraphs. Until very recently all goods and produce were conveyed in ox-waggons carrying from 3 to 5 tons weight. These had to travel on roads sometimes little better than tracks worn by traffic, and frequently impassable during wet weather ; and for some years before the breaking out of the Zulu War (1879) the average cost of carriage was as high as eighteen- pence per ton per mile. Now, however, three lines of railway have been opened, one of 78 miles from the port at Durban to Pieter- maritzburg, another from Durban 20 miles north to Verulam through the sugar lands in that district, and a third 7 miles south ward to the sugar estates by the Isipiugo river. These alone have cost the colony about 1,250,000. An additional line, of 118 miles, to cost about 1,180,000, is in process of construction from Pietermaritzburg to Ladysmith, and will no doubt be at once carried on to connect with the railways of the Orange Free State. The telegraph between Natal and the Cape Colony was opened in 1878, and in the following year telegraphic communication by way of Lorenzo Marques was extended to England. Branches of telegraph are also carried direct from Natal into the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Government. The colony was annexed as a district to the Cape Colony in August 1845, but in November of the same year it was made a separate government, to be administered by a lieutenant- governor under the general control of the governor of the Cape Colony. At first the lieutenant-governor and an assistant council of four chief officials formed the executive, while the legislative council consisted of the lieutenant-governor and three principal officers. In 1856 Natal became wholly independent of the Cape, and the legislative council was made to consist of sixteen members, twelve elective and four non-elective. In 1869 the lieutenant-governor was empowered to nominate two elective members of the legislative council as members of the executive council. In 1873 the number of members was increased to twenty, fifteen being elective and five non-elective, and in 1875 eight nominee members were added. The colony is now administered by a governor, the promotion from lieutenant-governor being made 28th January 1882 ; and by law No. 1, 1883, the legislative council consists of thirty members, twenty-three of whom are elective and seven non-elective, two of the latter holding office during the royal pleasure. The executive XVII. - 31