save under the single head of 'race.'" In fact, our authority asserts that nowhere can be found a healthier, shrewder, or friendlier set of men. He believes in them, and in the discipline that has toughened them to meet the real needs of life, and kept them alive to a sense of their political and social importance. He says—
"Buluwayo now possesses a population of 5000, a mayor and corporation, daily and weekly papers, and several public buildings, including banks, clubs, and an hospital built as a memorial to Major Wilson.
"The rapid increase in the value of land at Buluwayo is shown by the fact that whilst in 1894 the average price of a town stand was £103, in 1897 it had advanced to £345. By the opening of the railway, in November 1897, it is placed in direct communication with Cape Town, and a still greater increase in value may be anticipated."
"TO THE MEMORY OF BRAVE MEN."
THE LAST STAND OF MAJOR WILSON ON THE SHANGANI RIVER, 1893.
Painting by Allan Stewart.
Reproduced by special arrangement with the Fine Art Society, London.
Things in Rhodesia are as yet expensive, but Mr. Boyd thinks that railroads will have a cheapening influence. He quotes some present prices, which would make the hair of a Londoner stand on end! Imagine the feelings of the comfortable cockney who found himself face to face with a breakfast bill for nine shillings! For this modest sum Mr. Boyd was supplied with tea, ham, eggs, marmalade, and toast, in fact, the little commonplace things that we have come to consider as the natural fixtures of the metropolitan table!
Of the library, whose foundation-stone was laid by Sir Alfred Milner, he speaks in highly favourable terms. He says that in laying the foundation-stone no one seemed more keenly impressed than the High Commissioner himself. He prophesied the foundation of a rich university at Buluwayo to replace that other and easy one which a library is avowed to supply. At this some one smiled. But Sir Alfred rebuked him for the frivolity. He had seen enough, Sir Alfred declared, of the temper of this place, to believe a university at Buluwayo to be a consummation neither fanciful nor impossible. In regard to the agrestic qualities of this new district, Mr. H. Marshall Hole has spoken at some length in an article which appeared in an issue of Colonia, a magazine published by the Colonial College, Hollesley Bay, Suffolk. He declares that "the great advantage of Rhodesia as an agricultural country is the facility with which irrigation can be carried on; the conformation of the land is undulating, and even the so-called 'flats' are intersected in all directions by valleys, each of which possesses its watercourse, so that by the simple expedient of throwing a dam across these valleys, water may be stored and led on to the adjacent fields as required. The soil is in all parts naturally fertile, but the farmer sometimes has great difficulty in reducing it to a proper state for cultivation, owing to the roots and growth which must be exterminated before the seed is sown. The strongest ploughs and the most careful harrowing are required for this work, otherwise the settler will have to face the annoyance and delay of broken ploughshares, and the disaster of a crop choked by tangle-grass and weeds. The crops to which farmers have hitherto most devoted themselves in Rhodesia are mealies (maize) and forage (oat hay). These find a ready market at all times, as they form the staple food of horses. The next most popular crop is potatoes, which do well, are not liable to disease, and are in so great request that they sometimes fetch 1s. 6d., and seldom fall below 3d. per pound in the market. All kinds of English vegetables prosper with very little trouble, beyond careful watering in dry weather, and weeding during the rains; but, for some unexplained reason, vegetable culture is left almost entirely to the coolies or Indians, who, despite their very primitive methods of irrigation and tillage, make immense profits thereby."
Further on he says that farms of about 3000 acres may be bought at from £250 to £2000, according to their situation as regards neighbouring towns, or the extent of cultivation done on them; and while the farmer will not derive much more than a bare subsistence for the first year or two, he may, by combining dairy-farming and timber-cutting with his more extensive operations, make both ends meet at any rate, and enhance the value of his land without being out of pocket. One with a small capital has, of course, a better chance of immediate profit, and such an one would do well to join some established and experienced man in partnership, or as a pupil, in order to learn something of the business before entering it finally. His advice to adventurous youth is, "By all means go, if you can manage to put together enough money to pay your passage and to keep yourself for two or three months after your arrival."
Of the towns he speaks appreciatively. "We have buildings of a very substantial type, built for the most part of brick. There are blocks of rooms which form bachelor 'diggings' for single men, and small but comfortable suburban houses for families, while the railways on the east and west afford facilities for the importation of excellent furniture. Eight years ago it was so difficult to obtain furniture that every little packing case was carefully treasured, its nails drawn out and straightened, and its boards converted into tables, stools, and shelves. To-day it is no uncommon thing to find pianos and billiard tables in private houses in Buluwayo, and even in Salisbury, which has not yet been reached by the railway, while the club-houses at both places are models of comfort and luxury."
A writer, who signs himself "W. E. L.," in British Africa says of Rhodesia, "That the soil is mostly very fertile; in Matabeleland alone 6000 square miles are suitable for cultivation without any artificial irrigation, or other extensive preliminary work. In 1891, a commission of Cape Colony farmers visited the country, and reported favourably on the land from an agricultural standpoint. Mr. Lionel Decle said, 'I am the first traveller who has crossed Africa from the Cape to Uganda, and I must say the British South Africa Company may certainly boast of possessing the pick of Central Africa on both sides of the Zambesi.'
"Teak forests cover 2000 square miles in North-West Matabeleland; and Mashonaland is very well timbered, mostly with trees of the acacia family.
"The native crops are rice, tobacco, cotton, and india-rubber. All European vegetables can be grown to perfection, especially cabbages, lettuces, beetroot, turnips, carrots, and onions. There were in 1897 over eighty market gardens in the neighbourhood of Buluwayo, and for the half-year ending September 1897, the value of the produce sold was £9630.
"Fruit orchards are being planted, and nearly all fruit appears to flourish, especially grapes, figs, oranges, peaches, almonds, walnuts, lemons, bananas, quinces, apricots, pomegranates, and apples. All kinds of European cereals can be grown, and maize does well.
"The average rainfall is 30 to 35 inches, 90 per cent. of which falls during the wet season—November to March.
"The temperature rarely touches freezing point, except on the highlands round Salisbury and Fort Charter, and owing to the great elevation (4000 to 5000 feet) of most of the country, rarely exceeds 90° in the shade. In the low-lying Zambesi valley, however, it is very hot from December to March."
Of the mineral wealth, it seems as yet dangerous to prognosticate. Prophecies are many, and there is every reason to believe that the mines will be prolific as those of the Transvaal. In regard to this matter, however, time alone can show.
GOLD
It may be remembered that in and after 1854, the Boers commenced to block up the path of travellers, and in some cases to cause expulsion of visitors across the Vaal. Doubtless this policy of expulsion originated in the nefarious traffic in "apprentices," which they wished to carry on uninterruptedly, but there was also another reason for their precautions. Stray discoveries of gold had been made from time to time, and gold prospectors began to take an uncomfortable interest in the district. Now the Boers had no desire to open up their country to the mining population, or to run any risks which might interfere with their hardly won independence. After the discoveries of the German explorer Manch, however, they were unable entirely to resist invasion. The ears of the public were tickled. The hint of nuggets in the Transvaal naturally drew