s of cannon--that rise above the suburbs are
pleasing. But it has neither the superb panoramic prospect nor the sense
of abounding wealth and strenuous life that make Johannesburg striking.
The streets are wide, and after rain so muddy as to be almost
impassable; the houses irregular, yet seldom picturesque. Nothing could
be less beautiful than the big Dutch church, which occupies the best
situation, in the middle of the market square. There is, however, one
stately and even sumptuous building, that which contains the Government
Offices and chambers of the legislature. It is said to have cost
L200,000. The room in which the Volksraad (_i.e._, the First or chief
Volksraad) meets is spacious and handsome. It interests the visitor to
note that on the right hand of the chair of the presiding officer there
is another chair, on the same level, for the President of the Republic,
while to the right there are seats for the five members of the Executive
Council, and to the left five others for the heads of the administrative
departments, though none of these eleven is a member of the Raad.

We had expected to find Pretoria as Dutch as Johannesburg is English.
But although there is a considerable Boer and Hollander population, and
one hears Dutch largely spoken, the general aspect of the town is
British colonial; and the British-colonial element is conspicuous and
influential. Having little trade and no industry, Pretoria exists
chiefly as the seat of the administration and of the courts of law. Now
the majority of the bar are British-colonials from Cape Colony or
England. The large interests involved in the goldfields, and the
questions that arise between the companies formed to work them, give
abundant scope for litigation, and one whole street, commonly known as
the Aasvogelsnest (Vulture's Nest), is filled with their offices. They
and the judges, the most distinguished of whom are also either colonial
Dutchmen or of British origin, are the most cultivated and (except as
regards political power) the leading section of society. It is a real
pleasure to the European traveller to meet so many able and well-read
men as the bench and bar of Pretoria contain; and he finds it odd that
many of them should be excluded from the franchise and most of them
regarded with suspicion by the ruling powers. Johannesburg (with its
mining environs) has nearly all the industry and wealth, and half the
whole white population of the Transvaal--a count