The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-01-16
FONTS As0UT SOUTH AFRICA.

Allen Sangree contributes to Aims
lees for January an article on South
Africa. This is how the country ap-
peared TO him:
You land i'm South Africa at the foot
OF a mountain 5000 feet high. They cali
il Table Mountain, and the veil of mist
that excepting on very clear days, over
hangs It, South Africans are pleased to
term the 'Tabecloth." Presenting
front of solid rock 1000 feet in height.
perpendicular as a wall, and for half a
mile on top quite level, this mountain
offers the best natural signboard on
earth Time and time again have Eng
lish firms attempted with fabulous
sums TO secure it for advertising pur-
poses. but as yet there has been no such
DETACHMENT.
Table Mountain marks the tip end
of the Dark Continent. Below IL nes-
ties the city Of Cape Town, "a beautiful
bay stretching out i'm the foreground.
ON the west the mountain breaks off
abruptly and the TdTtrOad skirts
about il to the interior. ON the east ii
slopes off into "a hilly. picturesque for
nation known as the Lions Back, and
then gradually rises into the Drakens-
burg Mountains. This is the only great
mountain range south Of the Zambesi,
and by noting its location one may un-
derstand I'm a trice just what South AZ
rica is geographically.
"Steaming along the East Coast from
Cape Colony northward YOU have the
prakensburg in view nearly all the
way TO Beira. 81 distance of 2000 miles.
In Cane Colony and Natal the noun
tains in many places din to the waters
edge. and with a good field glass one
may see on their Crags and peaks
smoke curling up from the native VIII
lagos In Portuguese territory the
mountains recede slightly from the
coast. and at Delagoa Bay there is an
intervening stretch OF lowand twenty
miles wide. At Beira this hqs increased
To sixty miles. At the Zambesi the
Drakensburg ends.
ITO get into the interior Of South AZ
rica from any Of the five East Coast
landing places. Port Elizabeth. East
London. Durham Delagoa Bay and
Beira. one must first cross a short ex-
tent or lowlandN and then ascend steep
mountains. Having arrived there. the
traveller is conscious OF little or no de-
scent five-siXths Of the whole interior
being a vast plateau that extends to
the Zambesi on the north. the Allan
tic ocean on the west. and varies in al
titude from 5000 to 5000 feet above the
sea level
"A fringe of tropical country. where
bloom the magnolia and the rose. where
flourish the orange. pineapple.
lemon guano grape. banana. the cot
ton and the tea plant; a long stretch of
| mountains running parallel with the
Indian ocean, the highest peaks Of
which are capped with snow, and in
whose valleys have tracts Of wheat and
corn: "a vast prairie. dotted here and
there with patches of scrub Woodland
mission stations and immense farms
with millions al sheen and -rattte graz
ing thereon: a few thousand hamlets
scattered like GASES over a great land
scape. made black bv the native Afri-
| cans Who lived In thatchea huts and
wear mt a breech clout: a dozen large
towns where is Heard the caug OF the
American trolley car. anil the clatter
OF the police patrol. and about which
men cluster as flies gather To Jar of
sweets: the remnants of = once mighty
geological garden. including mans
| leonards, beautiful and 1.-the: balloons
antelope inclyels and crocodlles less
number ~ hipnonotami and n few
/ herds or buffalo clephants and giraffes:
Some IRON ore some coal, some copper
and little silver, forty nules ~ gold
/ ord one hundred acres OF diamonds.
.rh,t is South Africa