The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-22 00:00:00

Enlargement of Natal.

On the 13th of September a great colonial change
was consummated. Quietly, and unknown to many,
on that day the frontiers of this colony underwent a
most material modification. Our southern border is
no more the Umzinkulu. A proclamation which
appeared in the Gazette declared that on and after
the day we have named the Umtamfuna would,
" for all purposes whatever, be annexed to and be-
come a port of" Natal. This new province, there-
fore, is now our southern borderland. Its use as an
Alsatia—a convenient hiding place for rogues and
ruffians—has passed away. British rule is estab-
lished there. Law and order are to prevail there.
An English magistrate will exercise jurisdiction in
it. Its twenty miles of seaboard will impart to us a
more respectable appearance on the map. Its
10,000 native residents are transformed from noble
and independent savages into obedient subjects of
her Majesty. Another large slice is taken off the
quickly diminishing proportions of Kaffir-
land, and the day is hastening when the whole
South African seaboard will bask under the
British flag. This last acquired of the Queen's
possessions is in a material sense no mean acquisi-
tion to this colony. It adds about a million acres,
or something more than a twelfth part of our pre-
sent acreage, to our territory. Bounded on the
north by the Umzinkulu river as far as its junction
with the Ibisi, and thence by the ridge dividing
these streams to the Tugela mountains, following
the water-shed of that lofty, crescent-shaped, and
forest-skirted range to the nearest source of the
Umtamfuna, which is now our southern boundary,
it embraces a region very varied in its capabilities
when compared with its size, and very well fitted
for the settlement of European colonists. We can
only hope that the available Crown lands thus se-
cured will be made the most of, and not heedlessly
squandered for the behoof of none but jobbers
or natives. Let the precise claims and position
of the latter be at once ascertained or fixed,
so that no question concerning them arise to
vex the public mind in after years. Let
the residue of the lands be studiously pre-
served for the legitimate purpose of drawing
population thither. Round all our borders we
ought to have a strong and well-organised band of
settlers. The plan is easy enough. If the Govern-
ment were to lay out village settlements on a mili-
tary tenure, we believe they would soon be filled
up. The mode of action would be this :--Thirty-
five thousand acres are set apart for such a location.
In the centre of this tract, conveniently situated, a
village is laid out. Sixty settlers are located here.
There is ample commonage for the flocks and herds
of all, but, what is more, there is the great charm of
social neighbourhood, and there is the great boon
of combined security. Such locations scattered
along our borders--communities of some sixty
settlers with their dependents—would surround us
with a wall of fire which few savage enemies would
attempt to break through. There are men now iu
the colony who would relinquish their present ex-
posed, remote, isolated farms to join such locations;
and young hardy farmers in the Cape Colony, tired
of its incessant droughts and other drawbacks,
would do the same. There is reason to believe that
settlers might easily be secured.—Natal Mercury.