tory at the mouth of the
Kongo, the western part of the Sahara, and the islands of Madagascar and
Reunion. In German East Africa the commercial development has been
substantial, and large plantations for the cultivation of tropical
products are in operation. A railway from the coast to the lake-district
is under construction. _Mombasa_ is its commercial outlet.

The Italians have nominal possession of a territory facing the Strait of
Bab-el-Mandeb, and also of the peninsula of Guardafui. Their actual
possession, however, is restricted to the island and trading-post of
_Massawa_. Their attempts to conquer Abyssinia have been unsuccessful.

=Cape of Good Hope and the South African Colonies.=--Up to the time of the
Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope was a sort of half-way house between
British ports and India, and this position made it commercially
important. Even at the present time more than fifteen hundred vessels,
many of them in the Indian Ocean trade, call at the chief port of the
colony every year.

Agriculture is the chief industry of these colonies, though not the one
yielding the greatest returns. Enough wheat, maize (or "mealies"), and
fruit are grown for home consumption, but the climate is too arid for
any excess of bread-stuffs. The aridity is a resource, however, in the
matter of wool, the superior quality of which is due largely to the
deficient rainfall. As a matter of fact the whole country is a great
grazing veldt; wool, a very fine quality of Angora mohair, hides, and
cattle products are exports.

From December to March the fruits ripen, and these, especially the
grapes, are carried in cold-storage vessels to British and other
European ports. The wine is likewise of excellent quality and is
becoming an export of great value. Both the fruit and the wine are
similar to those of Australia and California.

The business of ostrich farming is in the hands of several large
companies, and, next to the wool-crop, ostrich plumes are the leading
product. There are about a quarter of a million birds, and each produces
about one pound of feathers. The ordinary quality of plumes varies from
five to ten dollars a pound; very choice plumes command as much as two
hundred dollars a pound. London is the chief market for them, but most
of them sooner or later find their way to the milliners of the great
cities.

The diamond-mines of Griqualand West furnish practically the whole of
the world's supply. The mines are operat