+----------+----------------+----------+------------------+--------------+

[A] These figures are for a period of fifteen months. Add
10 per cent. for other products.

CHAPTER VI

THE TRANSVAAL OF TO-DAY

We have dealt with the exodus of the trekkers, and with the land
that subsequently became the Transvaal. It behoves us now to discuss
the difference between that primitive pastoral region of the early
century and the busy country that may, for distinction sake, be
styled the Transvaal of to-day.

Modern geographers apply the name of the Transvaal to the tract of
country between the Limpopo River on the north, and the Vaal River
on the south. It is bounded on the east by the Lobombo, and the
Drakenberg Mountains, which run parallel to the Natal coast, and on
the west by British Bechuanaland. On the east lie Portuguese
Territory and British Zululand, on the north Rhodesia, on the west
British Bechuanaland, and on the south the Orange Free State and
Natal. The important rivers are the Limpopo or Crocodile River, so
named in compliment to its reptile inhabitants, and the Vaal, a
tributary of the Orange River. This rises among the Drakenberg
Mountains, and, curving, flows west as a boundary between the Orange
Free State and the Transvaal. The Limpopo rises between Johannesburg
and Pretoria, and sprays out north-east, north-west, east, and
south-east, reaching the sea in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay.
After leaving the Transvaal, owing to the presence of a cataract, it
is however unsuitable for purposes of navigation. The district of
the Transvaal varies in height from 2000 to 8000 feet above the
level of the sea. The Hooge Veld, the uplands of the Drakenberg
Mountains, rises from 4000 to 8000 feet above the sea, and between
them and the outer slopes of the Lobombo range is a vast tract of
some 20,000 square miles of arable land, called the Banken Veld. It
furnishes a splendid grazing ground, and corn grows in profusion.
The Bosch Veld or Bush Country comprises the centre of the country,
and runs west into Bechuanaland. This district is largely infested
with the tsetse fly, an insect whose sting means death to almost all
domestic animals. Besides this, it is the home of malaria and other
fevers. The Hooge Veld, which has a drier, colder, and more healthy
climate, is largely used for breeding cattle, and as a grazing
ground for sheep and oxen. It is here that, in later days, the
gold-mining activity procee