LEADING CITIES IN CAPE COLONY.
By S. N. H.
The cities of this portion of South Africa are not large, neither are they numerous. Cape Town and its suburbs is and ever will be the principal seaport town, and it is the largest city in South Africa. Its inhabitants number about ninety thousand, only about half of whom are Europeans. About one-quarter are Malays, and the rest Kaffirs of the various tribes. Cape Town is the seat of government of Cape Colony. It has admirable and picturesque surroundings. Table Mountain, occasionally covered with its “tablecloth” of fleecy vapor, towers behind it to a height of 3,500 feet, presenting striking features both of grandeur and beauty. The dimensions of the city are mostly in length around the borders of the mountain. There are from eight to ten suburban municipalities, extending ten miles or more. In many of these are well-made roads through planted groves, furnishing as pleasant drives as any in the world. Around the mountain is also a beautiful drive. Cape Town is not large, yet large vessels come to the docks. A vast amount of money is expended yearly on the breakwater and the docks by the government. The labor is principally done by convicts, both white and colored, who are sentenced to hard labor from six months to seven years. Port Elizabeth has only an open bay, but East London has a harbor. All these harbors in South Africa are obstructed by bars, excepting Delagoa Bay, on the east coast. Even when the tide and circumstances are favorable, large boats can not enter the docks of the other harbors. However, strenuous efforts are being put forth to improve these harbors. A large number of the latest-style buildings have been erected in Cape Town, and others are in process of erection, while splendid residences grace the suburbs. There are also a large number of buildings of the old Dutch style, low and plastered outside. Electric lights have lately been introduced, and an electric railway to extend through the suburbs is about to be built by an American company. In Claremont, one of these suburbs, eight miles from the city, a sanitarium is in process of erection, on an elevation of ground which is said to be the healthiest place in all of this vicinity. It is on what is called Claremont Flats. The population is rapidly increasing in the suburbs and also in the city. From this point a railroad extends to all parts of the country north, as also from East London and Port Elizabeth, connecting at Duar Junction, 500 miles north of here. One peculiar feature of the towns of South Africa is a large market in the center of each, where “spans” of oxen bring in articles for sale each Monday morning, and in some instances every morning. A variety of articles are on exhibition at stated times for sale. Cape Town at the present has less of the “span”-of-oxen feature than other towns in South Africa. The farther from this place the more numerous are such scenes. A “span” is usually eight yoke or pair. But I have seen them with fifteen pair to one wagon, a boy leading them, and a driver on either side with a long pole and a lash of equal length used dexterously. Cape Colony has an area of 221,311 square miles. After Cape Town the most populous towns, according to the “Official Handbook” of 1893, are as follows: Kimberley, the diamond mining town, numbers 28,913 persons, and, with the adjacent township of Beaconsfield, a total of over 39,000. Port Elizabeth comes next, with a population of 23,266, and Graham’s Town follows, with a population of 10,498. The other chief towns are Paarl, with a population of 7,668 persons; King William’s Town, 7,266; East London, 6,924; Graaf-reinet, 5,946; Worcester, 5,044; Uitenhage, 5,331; Crad(d)ock, 4,389; Oudtshoorn, 4,386; Queens-town, 4,094; Stellenbosch, 3,462; Beaufort West, 2,791; Malmsbury, 2,461; Aliwal North, 2,057, and Swellendam, 1,727. The entire population of the colony in 1891 was 1,527,224. These are divided as follows: European, or white (Dutch, English, etc.), 376,978; Malay (these are principally in Cape Town), 13,907; Hottentot, 50,338; Fingo, 229,680; Kaffir and Bechuana, 608,456; mixed and others, 227,806. The average to the square mile is about 7. The cape district, which is the most densely populated, has about 147 to the square mile. Port Elizabeth district has 144. In all the other districts the colored races predominate, and in some parts forty-nine-fiftieths of the people are colored. The white people represent only about one-fourth of the entire population; the remaining three-fourths are colored or mixed. About one-fifth of the population live in towns and villages, and here it is nearly one-half European. The remaining four-fifths live in the rural districts, and less than one-fifth of these are Europeans. This will give the reader something of an idea of the nature and character of the cities as to population and size, and of the country as a missionary field. There is quite a difference in the cities. Space will only permit mention of one or two. King William’s Town is a live town, and there is carried on a large manufacture of “trek wagons.” A few years ago, knowing they could be manufactured much cheaper in America, a sample was sent over with order to duplicate it and return sample. The Yankees improved on it, making it lighter and equally strong. This stood around for years unsalable, and King William’s Town saved its life in the manufacture of “trek wagons.” The route from there to Graham’s Town by train is 489 miles, but across by cart it is only 94 miles, through a most interesting country. The Kaffir kraals can be seen in their original condition, and here the natives live as securely in their native simplicity as though the white man had never seen South Africa. About twenty miles before reaching Graham’s Town (City of Saints), which is very pleasantly situated, we pass through Pluto’s Vale, where the scenery is perfectly grand. Baboons from rocky ledge, high cliff, or overtopping rock or tree, will sit and look at you with the greatest complacency. Graham’s Town is lighted by paraffine lamps, which appear about as sleepy as its inhabitants. Many of the towns are dependent on the moon and stars. This is an educational center for the Methodists. Stereotyped and crystallized are its people to all outward appearance. They are a church-going people, and to attend their meetings and hear them talk you would think them as creed bound as was necessary to save them from any delusion of the devil, providing their very condition were not in itself a delusion. Stellenbosch, a Dutch town, 31 miles from Cape Town, is a government educational center. It is a beautiful place, with trees in the streets and gardens. The town of Paarl received its name from a rock situated on the top of the mountain, which is said to resemble a pearl when the sun strikes it. And you must believe it if you please the Paarl people. But, like the Southern Cross fancy, it is a great help. There are skeptics who believe because they see, while there are others who see because they believe. Paarl has one long street running at the foot of the mountains. It is a pretty Dutch town, with vineyards yielding precious fruit; and, in this respect, the place in grape season is very desirable. Stellenbosch is embowered with oaks brought from Europe, which flourish in that locality like the green bay tree. But in either town there are not many people seen in the streets until the afternoon, when they move around “slow but sure.” Every street is an avenue, a cathedral nave of green leafiness which the sun scarcely penetrates. Along the streets on either side run streams of water, in which the housewives do the family washing. The snow-white houses, with their orange-colored shutters, are quite picturesque. In all of these cities our publications have been sold, in both the Dutch and the English, and the way is now opened for the work to go, with the outpouring of the Spirit of God.