Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-01-29
SUCH is SOUTH AFRICA.
Vivid Picture of tho Lower Part of
the Dark Continent.

the Dark Continent.
You land in South Africa at the foot
Of mountain 33,600 feet high. They
call 1t Table mountain, and the veil of
mist that, excepting on very clear days,
overhangs 1t South Africans are pleas
ed to term the "tablecloth." Present.
ing front of solid rock 1000 In height.
perpendicular as wall AMI for half
mile on top level, this mountain offers
the best natural signboard on earth.
Time and again have British firms at
tempted with fabulous sums to secure
1t for advertising purposes, but as yet
there has been no such DETACHMENT.
Table mountain marks the tip end Of
the dark continent. Below It nestles
the city Of Cape Town, a beautiful bay
stretching out In the foreground. On
the west the mountain breaks off alb
ruptly, and the railroad skirts about 1t
to the interior. On the east It slopes
off into billy, picturesque formation
known as the "Lion's Back" and then
gradually rises into the Drakenberg
mountains. This is the only great
mountain range south Of the Zambezi.
and by noting its location one may un-
derstand In trice just what South AZ
rica is geographically. Steaming along
the east coast from Cape Colony north
ward. you have the Drakenberg In
view nearly all the way to Beira. a dis
tance of 1000 miles. In Cape Colony
and Natal the mountains In many
places dip the waters edge. and with 4
6eldglass one may see on their crags
and peaks smoke curling up from the
native villages. In Portuguese terri
tory the mountains recede slightly
from the coast. and at Delagoa Bay
there is an intervening stretch of low
land 20 miles wide. At Beira this has
increased to 60 miles. At the Zambez
the Drakenberg ends.
To get into the interior of South Afri-.
ca from any of the Eve east coast
landing places-Port Elizabeth. East
Beira-one must cross short extent
Of low land and then ascend steep
mountains. Having arrived there. the
traveller Is conscious of little or no de.
scent. flve-siSths of the whole interior
being n vast plateau that extends to
the Zambezi on the north. the Atlantic
ocean on the west and varies In alti-
tude from 5000 to 6,O00 feet above the
sea.
A fringe Of tropical country, where
bloom the magnolia and the rose.
where flourish the orange, pineapple
lemon, guava. grape. banana. the cot
ton and the tea plant; long stretch
Of mountains running parallel with the
Indian ocean, the highest peaks Of
which are capped with snow, and In
whose valleys wave tracts of wheat
and corn; vast prairie. dotted here
and there with patches of scrub wood
land. mission stations and immense
farms with millions of sheep and cat
tie grazing thereon; few thousand
hamlets scattered like oases over q
great landscape, made black By the
native Africans who live in thatched
huts and wear but breech clout; u
dozen large towns where are heard the
clang of the American trolley car and
the clatter Of the police patrol and
about which men cluster as flies gather
to n jar of sweets: the remnants of n
once mighty geological garden. includ-
Ing many lcopards, beautiful and 1.-the,
balloons, antelopes. jackals and croco-
dies, less number of hlppopotamuses
and few herds OF buffalo, elephants
and giraffes; some iron ore. some coal,
some copper and little silver; 10
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