The Portland daily press., 1893-06-26
CAPE TOWN AND TABLE MOUNTAIN.

But this condition Of affairs is not Of
particular interest to tourists, as South
Africa is out of the itinerary of the globe
trotters. The ships of the American
and African Steamship line are design
ed especially for freight traffic, and the
sailing of the first steamer of the line,
the Worcester, from New York short
time ago marks an epoch in the CONNER
cial relations of North America and
South Africa. These relations may be
said to have begun practically about 10
years ago, when three or four cargoes q
year were sent in sailing ships from New
York to Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
Although q majority of the whites Of
South Africa are natives Of England,
they have an exalted opinion Of Yam
kee ingenuity and are less suspicious Of
American products than Englishmen usu-
ally are. They are progressive and free
from prejudice and are ever ready to
adopt new ideas and improved machin-
cry. When visited the colonies, I found
that American agricultural implements
were used almost exclusively, and that
American mining machinery was in
great demand at the goldfelds. Canned
meats from Chicago were imported in
large quantities, and paraffin from Phil
adelphia was at q premium. American
pine, too, was largely used, and hard
ware, tobacco and Yankee notions made
up the miscellaneous cargoes of the sail
ing craft that found their way from
American to South African harbors.
In 1888 American wares were in great
demand and hard to get, and it seemed
then that lack of enterprise would de-
prive our merchants of what will even
tually develop into one of the finest mar
kets in the world. Nevertheless our com
MERGE has grown steadily until in 1899
leading New York firm Of shipping
agents exported $1,000 tons to South
African ports This amount Of bust
ness seemed to warrant steam transport
tation, and hereafter stanch steamers Of
from 5000 to 1000 tons will leave New
York regularly each month for Cape
Town, proceeding thence up the east
coast to Mossel bay, Port Elizabeth,
East London, Durham (sometimes called
Port NataD and occasionally to Delagoa
bay, Mauritius and Zanzibar. The prin-
oipal exports Of South Africa are wool
and hides. diamonds, gold and ostrich
feathers, and as there is no market in
the United States for these products the
steamers will proceed to the East Indies
for return cargoes.
! Those,readers who have derived their
impressions of Africa from Du Chaillu's
tales Of adventure in the jungle and
Stanley's stories of explorations in the
dense forests Of the Congo country and
I the malarial swamps of the west coast
are prone to accept .Stanley's term
darkest Africa" as a proper designation
OF the entire continent. It may interest
these readers to learn that the vast ter
ritory south Of the Zambesi river en-
braces one of the richest and most beau
tiful regions on the globe-a land of per-
petual sunshine, Of lofty mountains and
verdant valleys, of mighty rivers and
vast plains, with soil rich in mineral
wealth and unexampled fertility, land
of romance and Of mystery, replete in
relics Of lost civilization and support
ing the teeming tribes of a superior race
Of black men, a race whose origin is lost
in the nists Of antiquity. This region
should be known as brightest Africa,