ony of
Natal into the South African Customs Union, an event which created one
uniform tariff system for the whole of British and Dutch South Africa
except the Transvaal. Another is the extension of the two great lines of
railway from the coast into the interior. This extension has given
Bulawayo and Matabililand a swift and easy communication with Cape Town,
thereby strengthening immensely the hold of Britain upon the interior,
and lessening any risk that might be feared of future native risings. It
has also opened up a new and quick route from the coast of the Indian
Ocean at Beira into the heart of Mashonaland, and brought the
construction of a railway from Mashonaland across the Zambesi to Lake
Tanganyika within the horizon of practicable enterprises. A scheme of
government has been settled for the territories of the British South
Africa Company south of the Zambesi (Southern Rhodesia), which is now
at work. The prospects of gold mining in that region are believed to
have improved, and the increase of gold production in the mines of the
Witwatersrand has proved even more rapid than was expected in 1896. An
agreement has been concluded between Britain and the German Empire
relating to their interests on the coast of the Indian Ocean, which,
though its terms have not been disclosed, is generally understood to
have removed an obstacle which might have been feared to the acquisition
by Britain of such rights at Delagoa Bay as she may be able to obtain
from Portugal, and to have withdrawn from the South African Republic any
hope that State might have cherished of support from Germany in the
event of a breach with Britain.

These events, however, great as is their bearing on the future, are of
less present moment than those which have sprung from Dr. Jameson's
expedition into the Transvaal in December, 1895, and the internal
troubles in that State which caused and accompanied his enterprise. It
rekindled race feeling all over South Africa, and has had the most
disastrous effects upon every part of the country. To understand these
effects it is necessary to understand the state of opinion in the
British Colonies and in the two Republics before it took place. Let us
examine these communities separately.

In Cape Colony and Natal there was before December, 1895, no hostility
at all between the British and the Dutch elements. Political parties in
Cape Colony were, in a broad sense, British and Dutch, but the
distinction was