The World and Its People Part 32

Thus far the natives have had no trouble with the authorities, except that when one clan refused to acknowledge the German rule, war was imminent; but it was happily averted before the country became involved in a struggle which would have been ruinous to both sides.

Early in the sixteenth century the Portuguese established forts along the princ.i.p.al harbors of the southeastern coast of Africa, but did not attempt to plant colonies.

They at one time occupied a small fort in the magnificent harbor of Delagoa Bay; but, as little trade could be commanded on that part of the coast, the fort was often left abandoned for many years at a time.

Mozambique became a resting place for the royal fleets to and from the east, and was of considerable importance. The other Portuguese stations were mere outlying trading posts.

The Portuguese never had any well-defined boundary to their territory; in fact, none was needed, since they had no European rival.

Though they planted no colonies during their days of glory and prosperity, they exerted themselves to open the country to the missionaries, who were zealous to convert the natives. These worthy men penetrated far into the interior, and even established themselves in the deadly localities along the coast.

The traders who crossed the continent from Angola to Mozambique brought vast quant.i.ties of gold and ivory and many slaves to the chief ports, to be shipped to Brazil and Europe.

When the Dutch wrested India from Portugal, they cared little for its possessions along the East African coast. True, they occupied Delagoa Bay for some years in the eighteenth century, but did not remain long.

The Portuguese continued to hold their old stations in a state of decay, and had a slight claim over the interior lands.

Some years after the South African Republic was established, the Lebombo Mountains became the boundary line between it and the Portuguese possessions. The British Chartered Company took possession of the interior plateau farther north. A dispute arose, but the boundary finally agreed upon is not yet marked off.

Many improvements are noticeable. From Delagoa Bay a railroad is being constructed to Pretoria. From Port Beira at the Pungwe River a railway is being constructed inland, which will reach a large portion of the British Chartered Company's possessions. Thus all these apparently inaccessible portions of the continent are being rapidly brought into easy communication with one another. Swaziland is a tract of country inclosed on three sides by the South African Republic, and on the remaining side by the Lebombo mountain ranges.

The country contains valuable gold fields, and is characterized by fertile, well-watered sections. The climate is generally healthy.

The Swazis are regarded as the bravest of all the Bantu tribes, and were the stanch friends of the early emigrant farmers.

They number at the present time about sixty or seventy thousand. Their chief, who died a number of years ago, granted to different white men so many concessions of all kinds--to extract metals, to till ground, to graze cattle--that he left few possessions or rights to his followers.

This state of affairs led to the establishment of a mixed government, whereby the Europeans, acting under the approval of the chief, were to rule the country.

At the present time the reigning chief of the Swazis, acting in harmony with the ruling powers in Great Britain and in the South African Republic, has established a form of government which is recognized and upheld by the Europeans of the territory.

CHAPTER XLVI.

RETROSPECTIVE VIEWS.

It will be remembered that the country east of Cape Colony, extending along the slope of the Drachenberg Mountains to the Indian Ocean, as far as the southern border of the province of Natal, bears the name of British Kaffraria, or Kaffirland.

Doubtless, the European colonists, as they gradually extended their settlements eastward, gave this name to the home of the people whom they found inhabiting this maritime slope and the country beyond it. The term "Kaffir," or infidel, was first given to this people by the Moors or by the Arabs.

We must make a broad distinction between the coast Kaffirs and the Kaffirs of the plateau. Those of the coast are high-spirited and warlike, while those of the plateau are of a milder and more quiet temperament.

Early in the present century, the Zulus, a clan of the coast Kaffirs, began to imitate the military discipline and system of the Europeans.

Forming themselves into well-organized and severely disciplined bands, they soon had all Kaffirland south of the Limpopo to the borders of Cape Colony under their sway.

These fierce warriors gave the Boers serious trouble when they first migrated to Natal.

Some of these bands of warriors marched to the north and conquered all that lay in their pathway. Their leaders not unfrequently founded extensive kingdoms in the range of country lying north of the Zambesi.

Most of these kingdoms have remained strong military despotisms until the present time.

Zululand may be called the home of the Zulu Kaffirs. It comprises that portion of Southeast Africa which extends from the northern boundary stream of Natal towards Delagoa Bay. Until 1879 it was under the rule of a strong, warlike chief, and was well peopled. All men of adult age were placed under military discipline, so that the armies of the tribe were estimated at from thirty-five to forty thousand men.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ZULUS (NATIVES OF SOUTH AFRICA).]

So strong a military power as this on the frontier made it imperative to place the Transvaal, or South African Republic, under more effective rule than that of the Boers. The British have succeeded in breaking up this military power and have divided the country into districts. Each district is governed by its own chief, subject to the supervision of British magistrates.

The Gasa country stretches north from Delagoa Bay to the Lower Zambesi, and is under the rule of a powerful Zulu chief. He has power over all this vast territory, with the exception of a few places on the coast under the protection of the Portuguese.

Inland from the Gasa country extends the kingdom of the Matabele Kaffirs. It is a complete military despotism.

The land of this kingdom rises higher than that of the Gasa country. The picturesque granite hills of the Matoppo and Mashona ranges often attain an elevation of forty-five hundred feet.

The king of this country has his residence at the kraal, or village, on the southern slope of the Matoppo hills.

A plateau Kaffir tribe, named the Makololo, having adopted the military system of government, marched northward, early in the present century, through the Transvaal to the central valley of the Zambesi, in search of conquest.

Having enslaved the natives of the river valleys, they established a powerful kingdom, which extended south and north across the Zambesi.

Disputes arose in the kingdom as to the right of succession. Those who had been conquered took up arms against their conquerors, and having revenged themselves for the years of servitude they had had to endure, completely destroyed the Makololo tribe.

The Kalahari Desert represents that portion of the interior of South Africa which has the greatest deficiency in moisture. It may be termed the heart of Bechua.n.a.land.

It reaches away in a northerly direction from the Orange River as far as Lake N'gami.

The change from the fertile, verdant plains of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to the arid desert is a very gradual one, corresponding to the change from the Soudan to the Sahara in the north.

The Kalahari, as we know, has no running water. It is, for the most part, a dry, sandy region. It is not wholly lacking in vegetation, for it has tufty gra.s.s and creeping plants, together with deeply buried bulbous roots, except in the most central section.

The Bushmen are the nomads, or wandering tribes of the desert. They are of low figure, very thin and wiry. They make no attempt to cultivate the land and have no regular homes. Their chief occupation is to chase the herds of antelopes from place to place, and to lie in wait for them with their bows and poisoned arrows, in readiness to shoot them.

The Bushmen are sallow rather than black in color, and in their features and coloring are said to resemble the Chinese more than any other people. They may in reality be termed the children of the desert; for, owing to the march of civilization and colonization, they have sought refuge from the haunts of white men in the wastes and barren mountain ravines.

The locusts, which may well be looked upon as a scourge to any land, are hailed with joy by the Bushmen, for they form an important article of food with them.

The wild Bushman, happy in his nomadic life, sings a song, the words of which may thus be interpreted:--

"I plant no herb, nor pleasant fruits, I toil not for my cheer, The desert yields me juicy roots, And herds of bounding deer.

"Yea, even the wasting locusts' swarm, Which mighty nations dread, To me nor terror brings nor harm, I make of them my bread."

The Bushmen are not fastidious in their tastes; for they eat many plants and bulbs which other people would despise as food. Gra.s.shoppers and other insects, and even serpents, are eaten by them with much relish.

Their huts are very inferior to those of other tribes. They are usually mere holes in the ground. They sometimes serve the purpose of a bed.

They are only a few inches deep, of rather an oval form, and no more than five or six feet wide.

In extremely cold weather these people gather twigs and earth, till they have a mound heaped up as a protection on the windward side of the hole.

In summer they seek the beds of rivers and, lying under the shade of the mimosas, they draw down the branches to shield themselves from the glare of the sun.