Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-02-02
SUCH is SOUTH AFRICA.
Vivid Picture OF the Lower Fart OF
the Dark Continent.

vivid Picture of the Lower Part OF
the Dark Continent.
You land In South Africa at the foot
of mountain $4,000 feet high. They
call II Table mountain. and the veil of
mist that. excepting on very clear days,
overhangs IL South Africans are pleas
ed to term the ''tablecloth." Present
Ing front of solid rock 1000 In height.
perpendicular as a wall and for half n
mile on top level. this mountain offers
the best natural signboard or earth.
Time and again have British firms at
tempted with fabulous sums to secure
1t for advertising pxrpcses. but as yet
there hns been no such DETACHMENT.
Table mountain marks the tip end of
the dark continent Below II nestles
the city of Cape Town. beautiful bay
stretching out in the foreground. ON
the west the mountain breaks OFF alb
ruptly. and the railroad skirts about II
to the interior. On the east Il slopes
of into billy, picturesque formation
known as the Lions Back" aud then
gradually rises into the Drakenbere
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
RIGA is geographically. Steaming along
the east coast from Cape Colony north.
ward. you. have the Drakenberg In
view nearly all the way to Beira. dis.
lance OF 1000 miles. In Cape Colony
and Natal the mountains In many
places dip the waters edge. and with n
heldglass 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 Zambezi
the Drakenberg ends.
To get into the interior of South Afri-
ca from any of the FIVE east coast
landing places-Port Elizabeth. East
London. Durham. Delagoa Bay and
Beira-one must cross short extent
Of low land and then ascend steep
mountains. Having arrived there. the
traveller is conscious of little or ne de-
scent. five-sixths of the whole interior
being vast plateau that extends to
the Zambezi on the north, the Atlantic
ocean on the west and varies In alti.
tude from 5000 to 6.0O0 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; n few thousand
hamlets scattered like cases over a
great landscape, made black by the
native Africans who live in matched
huts and wear but n breech clout: q
dozen large towns where are heard the
claug Of the American trolley car and
the clatter Of the police patrol and
about which men cluster as flies gather
TO jar OF sweets; the remnants OF n
once mighty geological garden. includ.
ing many leopards, beautiful and 1.-the,
balloons, antelopes. jackals aud croco-
dies. less number of Appropriateness
and few herds OF buffalo. elephants
and CRATES: some iron ore, some coal,
some copper and n little silver; 90
miles OF gold and 100 acres OF dia-
monds. That is South Africa.-Ains-
lees Magazine