Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-01-04
JUST WHAT SOUTH AFRICA IS.
A Vast Plateau 5000 Feet Above the
Sea-A Bird's-Eye View.


sea-A Bird Eye View.
Allen Sangree contributes to Ainslees
Tor January an article on South Africa
This is how the country appeared to him.
} GU land in South Africa at the loot of
a mountain $500 fet high. They cab II Ia.
bic Mountain, and the veil of mist that,
excepting on very clear days, overhangS
1t, South Africans are pleased to term the
"Tablecloth. representing a front OF solid
rock 1909 feet in height, perpendicular as a
wall, and for half u mile on top quite level
this mountain offers the best natural sign.
board on earth. Time and again have
English firms attempted with fabulous
sums to secure 1t for advertising purposes,
but as yet there has been no such deface-
ment.
Table Mountain marks the tip end of
the Dark Continent. Below 1t nestles the
city of Cape Town. a beautiful bay
stretching out In the foreground On the
west the mountain breaks of abruptly,
and the railroad skirts about 1t to the in
terror. On the east it slopes off into
hilly, picturesque formation known as the
Lions Back. and then gradually rises
into the Drakensburg Mountains. This
IL the only great mountain range south
of the XanSb"si and by noting its location.
one may understand in a trice Just what
Africa is geographically
"Steamiug along the east coast from
Drakcnsburg in view nearly all the way
to Bera, n distance OF 20) miles. In Cape
Colony and Naial the mountains in many
places dip to the waters edge and with
field glass one may SEQ on their crags
and peaks smoke curling up from the MAJ
tive villages. In Portuguese territory the
mountains recede slightly from the coast
and at Dclagoa Bay there is an interven-
ing stretch of lowland twenty miles wide.
At Ieira this tas increased TO sixty miles
At the Zambesi the Drakersburg ends
THE PLATEAU.
"'To get into the interior of South Africa
from any of the five East coast landing
places, Port Elizabeth, East London. Dur
ban, Delagoa Bay and Boira, one must
first cross Il short eXtent of lowland. and
then ascend steep mountains Having ar
rived there. the traveller Is conscious Of
little or no descent, nve-sixths of the
whole interior being a vast plateau that
extends to the Zambesi on the north, the
Atlantic ocean on the west and varies iu
altitude from 1900 to 600 feet above the
sea level
"A fringe of tropical country. where
bloom the magnolia and the rose, where
flourish the orange. pineapple, lemon
euano, grape, banana the cotton and tho
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 wave
tracts of wheat and corn; vast prairie
dotted here and there with patches of
scrub woodland, mission stations and I'M
mense farms with millions of sheep and
cattle grazing thereon. few Thousand
hamlets scattered like GASES over great
landscape, made black by the native Afri-
cans who live in matched huts and wear
but a breech clout a dozen large towns
where is heard the clang Of the American
trolley car and the clatter of the lrolice
patrol, and about which men cluster as
flies gather to a jar of sweets; the remain
ants of a once mighty geological garden.
Including many leopards, beautiful and
1.-the. baboopS, antelope jackals and croCo-
dies, less number of hipqopotami, and
a few herds of buffalo. elephants and
giraffes; some Iron ore. some coal, some
copper, and little silver; +6 miles of gold
and 100 acres of diamonds That Is South
Africa"
4 Kimberly proper Is built around a hole
big enough to hold the entire white popu-
latioN of South Africa" This is the ex-
cavation above the Kimberly mine made
| when almonds were misIed from the sur
| face. Nowadays shafts are sunk and
! Levels formed whence the Blue ground Is
blasted out and hauled to the surface in
elevators. The diamond Is different from
| other precious stones isl that II is found
in soft clay, while the amethyst, ruby and
emerald are embedded in quartz. This
makes the diamond easy to conceal in the
mouth. rose, ard by swallowing and
every year the De Beers company gets
from the workmen 5000 900 worth Of
stolen goods. The inclination to plfer
these precious stones is so intense that the
crime is severely punished. In South Az
RIGA the first commandment is Thou
shalt not steal diamoNds." What rape is
to Georgia is !. y. Il. Qlicit diamond
| brigand) to South Africa For murder a
| fnl
m~ld found ca his person thai is not reg
| istered. % years. At Cape Town Is a grea I
| convict station called the "Breakwater -
/ where sons Of prominent American fami-
lies and English aristocrats join in lock
step with Lascars and Kafilrs. They have
ali violated the First Comman dment. In
Kimberly 1000 negro convicts sort the dia-
monds under the muzzle of Martini rifes
They are kept in separate place. The
other black boys live in a fve-acrc en-
closure known the Compound"
/ THE De Beers company controls the
diamond market of the world OF the five
! mCes Kimberly, De Beers, Du Torts,
Pan. Bullfontein and Premier the first
two are situated in Kimberly, and are
the only ones worked now. The diamonds
produced in other parts of the world would
not supply the city of Philadelphia. Tho
value of the South African product thus
far has been $500 40 co. The supply seems
| iGeXhaustible.
! Two other localities are rich in dia-
monds-Joegersfontein and Koffytontein-
both In Orange Free State At the former
the famous Joegersfontein Excelsior,
weighing 800 cara,s was found in Nav.
lS'5' and the output Of that field last Jam
uary was L. lS carats, valued at $50 600
The corresponding output at Koffyfonten
was sll,0p worth. The proportion Of dia-
n.chds TO earth extracted Is greater at
Joesersfontein than at Kimberly"
WHEN EGGS GO UP.