, except the narrow and sandy coast
strip, a high country (3000 to 4500 feet above sea-level) and a dry
country, drier even than the Karroo, and far too dry for any kind of
cultivation. Some parts, especially those in the south-west, are
hopelessly parched and barren; others have small bushes or grass; while
on the higher grounds and generally in the far northern parts, where the
Ovampo tribe dwell, grass is abundant, and as cattle can thrive there is
also population. Copper has been discovered in considerable quantities,
and other minerals (including coal) are believed to exist. But the
country, taken all in all, and excepting the little explored districts
of the north-east, toward the Upper Zambesi,--districts whose resources
are still very imperfectly known,--is a dreary and desolate region,
which seems likely to prove of little value. Germany now owns the whole
of it, save the port of Walfish Bay, which has been retained for and is
administered by Cape Colony.

PORTUGUESE SOUTH-EAST AFRICA

On the opposite side of the continent Portugal holds the country which
lies along the Indian Ocean from British Tongaland northward to the
Zambesi. Close to the sea it is level, rising gently westward in hills,
and in some places extending to the crest of the Quathlamba Mountains.
Thus it has considerable variety of aspect and climate, and as the rain
falls chiefly on the slopes of the mountains, the interior is generally
better watered than the flat seaboard, which is often sandy and
worthless. Much of this region is of great fertility, capable of
producing all the fruits of the tropics. But much of it, including some
of the most fertile parts, is also very malarious, while the heat is far
too great for European labour. When plantations are established
throughout it, as they have been in a few--but only a few--spots by the
Portuguese, it will be by natives that they will be cultivated. The
Kafir population is now comparatively small, but this may be due rather
to the desolating native wars than to the conditions of the soil.

So much for the four maritime countries. There remain the two Dutch
republics and the British territories which have not yet been formed
into colonies.

THE ORANGE FREE STATE

The Orange Free State (48,000 square miles) lies entirely on the great
plateau, between 4000 and 5000 feet above sea-level. It is in the main a
level country, though hills are scattered over it, sometimes reaching a
height o