the highest recorded range in one day being 74° (from 20° to 94°). Rain falls on from sixty to seventy days during the year, chiefly in the summer (December-April). Rain is generally preceded by thunder and lightning and falls heavily for a short period. Most of the water runs off the surface into the spruits and in a little while the veld is again dry. The western part of the province is driest, as the rain clouds often pass over the lower levels but are caught by the eastern hills. The average annual rainfall varies from 18 in. or less in the west to 24 in. in the central regions and 30 in the eastern highlands.
Flora and Fauna.—The flora is typical of a region of scanty rainfall. Over the greater part of the plains little now grows save veld, the coarse long grass of South Africa. Formerly, much of the country was covered with mimosa bush, but the trees were to a large extent cut down by the early white immigrants. Thorny acacias, euphorbias and aloes are still, however, found in patches on the plains. Timber trees are almost confined to the river valleys, where willows, yellow wood, iron wood, red wood, mimosas and, in deep gorges, the wild fig are found. The tobacco plant also grows wild. In moist regions ferns and mosses, the arum and other broad flat-leaved plants are found. The characteristic plants are thorny and small leaved, or else bulbous. Among veld plants the elandsboontje provides tanning material equal to oak bark. European fruit trees and vines flourish in certain localities, while in the drier regions the Australian wattle, gum trees and pepper trees have been introduced with success.
The fauna has undergone a great alteration since the first white settlers entered the country. Big game was then abundant. The elephant, giraffe, lion, leopard, hyena, zebra, buffalo, gnu, quagga, kudu, eland and many other kinds of antelope roamed the plains; the rhinoceros, hippopotamus and crocodile lived in or frequented the rivers, and ostriches and baboons were numerous. The immigrant farmers ruthlessly shot down game of all kinds and most of the animals named were exterminated, so far as the province was concerned. Of animals still found may be mentioned baboons and monkeys, the leopard, red lynx (Felis caracal), spotted hyena, aard wolf, wild cat, long-eared fox, jackals of various kinds, the dassie or rock rabbit, the scaly anteater, the ant bear (aardvark), the mongoose and the spring haas, a rodent of the jerboa family. Antelope of any kind are now scarce; a few white-tailed gnu are preserved. None of the dangerous wild beasts is common, but there are several varieties of poisonous snakes. Scorpions and tarantulas are numerous, and lizards, frogs, beetles, ants, butterflies, moths and flies are abundant. Locusts are an intermittent plague. There are few earthworms or snails. The birds include eagles—some are called lammervangers from their occasional attacks on young lambs—vultures, hawks, kites, owls, crows, ravens, the secretary bird, cranes, a small white heron, quails, partridges, korhaans, wild geese, duck, and guineafowl, swallows, finches, starlings, the mossie or Cape sparrow, and the widow bird, noted for the length of its tail in summer. Barbel and yellow mudfish are found in the rivers.
Inhabitants.—The Bushmen (q.v.) are, presumably, the oldest inhabitants of this, as of many other parts of South Africa. Next came the Hottenots (q.v.), and in the 16th century Bantu negroes of the Bechuana tribes appear to have established themselves in the country. The Barolong, one of the oldest Bechuana tribes, are believed to have entered the country subsequently to the Bakuena, the particular tribe from which the general name of the race is derived (see Bechuana; and Transvaal: Inhabitants). Clans representing the southern Bakuena were welded together into one tribe in the 19th century, and are now known as Basuto (see Basutoland). The Basuto were already a strong force when the first white settlers, Dutch farmers from the Cape, entered the country in 1824; the white element has since been reinforced by a considerable strain of British, particularly Scottish, blood. Since the advent of the whites there has also been a considerable immigration of Zulus. The majority of the inhabitants live in the eastern part of the country; the arid regions west of the main railway line containing a scanty pastoral population and no towns of any size. The first census, taken in 1880, showed a total population of 133,518; in 1890 there were 207,503 inhabitants—an increase in ten years of 55·41%—and at the census of 1904 there were 387,315 inhabitants, a further increase of 85·56%. The density in 1904 was under 8 persons per sq. m. The inhabitants are officially divided into “Europeans or white,” “aboriginal natives” and “mixed and other coloured races.” Between 1880 and 1904 the proportion of whites dropped from 45·70% to 36·84%. Of the 142,679 white inhabitants in 1904, 85,036 were born in the province; 29,727 in the Cape; 3116 in the Transvaal; 1835 in Natal; and 18,487 in the United Kingdom. Of the 2726 European immigrants born in non-British states 1025 came from Russian Poland.
According to the 1904 census classification the “aboriginal inhabitants” numbered in that year 229,149. In this term are included, however, Zulu-Kaffir immigrants. The tribe most largely represented was the Basuto (130,213 persons), former owners of considerable tracts in the eastern part of the country, now known as “The Conquered Territory.” In the eastern districts of Harrismith, Bethlehem, Ficksburg and Ladybrand the Basutos are largely concentrated. Barolong numbered 37,998 and other Bechuana 5115. Of the Zulu-Kaffir tribes Zulus proper numbered 35,275, Fingoes 6275, and Ama Xosa 5376 (see Kaffirs; and Zululand: Inhabitants). The Bushmen numbered 4048 persons. Of these 1131 were in the Bloemfontein district. The Bushmen have left in drawings on caves and in rocks traces of their habitation in regions where they are no longer to be found. In Thaba’nchu a petty Barolong state enjoyed autonomy up to 1884, and the majority of the Barolong are found in that district and the adjoining district of Bloemfontein. The Zulus are mostly found in that part of the country nearest Zululand. In 1904 the number of persons belonging to “mixed and other coloured races” was 15,487. The proportion between the sexes was, for all races, 84·35 females to 100 males; for white inhabitants only 74·91 females to 100 males; for aboriginal inhabitants only 90·86 females to 100 males. Of the population above fifteen years old 55·87% of the men and 33·69% of the women were unmarried. Among whites for every 100 unmarried men there were 65·33 unmarried women; there were 93·04 married women for every 100 married men, and 173·81 widows for every 100 widowers.
Classified by occupations the census of 1904 gave the following results: dependants, mainly young children, 28·53%; agriculture, 39·51 %; commercial and industrial pursuits, 7·62%; professional, 3·18%, ; domestic (including women living at home other than those helping in farm work), 15·75%). Divided by races 8·19% of the whites were engaged in professional work and only 0·26% of the coloured classes.
Chief Towns.—The capital, Bloemfontein (pop. in 1904, 33,883), is fairly centrally situated on the trunk railway to Johannesburg. Kroonstad (pop. 7191) lies 127 m. N.N.E. of Bloemfontein on the same railway line. Harrismith, 8300, is in the N.E. of the colony, 60 m. by rail from Ladysmith, Natal. Jagersfontein, 5657, is in the S.W. of the province and owes its importance to the existence there of a diamond mine. Ladybrand, 3862, Ficksburg, 1954, and Wepener, 1366, lie in the valley of the Caledon near the Basutoland frontier. Winburg, 2762, lies between Bloemfontein and Kroonstad. All these towns are separately noticed. Other towns on the trunk railway, going from south to north, are Springfontein, 1000, an important railway junction; Trompsburg, 1378; Edenburg, 1562, and Brandfort, 1977. In the S.E. Thaba'nchu, 1134, Zastron, 1157, Dewetsdorp, 971 (named after the father of Christian De Wet), Reddersburg, 750, Smithfield, 999, and Rouxville, 990. These are all centres of fine agricultural regions. Bethulie, 1686, on the Orange river, in the “Conquered Territory,” has been the scene of the labours of French Protestant missionaries since 1832, and possesses a fine park. Through it passes the main line from East London. In the N.E. are: Bethlehem, 1777, on the railway, 57 m. W. of Harrismith, an agricultural and coal-mining centre; Senekal, 1039; Heilbron, 1544; Vrede, 1543; Frankfort, 747; Lindley, 646; and Reitz, 526. In the north-west of the trunk railway are; Parijs, 1732, finely situated on the Vaal, and Vredefort, 759. Farther west and south are: Hoopstad, 452, on the Vet river; Boshof, 1308, a fruit and vegetable centre, 30 m. N.E. of Kimberley; and Jacobsdal, 764. In the S.W. are: Philippolis, 809, at one time capital of the Griqua chief Adam Kok and named after the Rev. John Philip (q.v.), Fauresmith, 1363, a mining centre, 6 m. W. of Jagersfontein, and Koffyfontein, 1657, where is a diamond mine. Many of the towns were the scenes of encounters between the Boers and British, March 1900-May 1902. At Boshof fell the leader of the Boers' European Legion, Colonel de Villebois Mareuil, on the 5th of April 1900. At the census of 1904 Harrismith and Kroonstad were the only towns where the white inhabitants outnumbered the coloured population. Nine towns contained more than 1000 white inhabitants, the total white population of these towns being 31,505, of whom 15,501 lived in Bloemfontein.
Communications.—Largely owing to its situation—being on the direct route between the Cape ports and the Transvaal, and between Durban and Kimberley—the province possesses an extensive network of railways. The railways are state owned and of the standard South African gauge—3 ft. 6 in. They may be divided into two
