Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/56

of northern and southern Europe have been introduced, and grow in abundance. It is doubtful whether or not a species of vine is indigenous to the Cape, but the cuttings of French vines introduced by the Huguenots who emigrated to the colony on the. revocation of the Edict of Nantes, between 1685 and 1688, have given rise to an extensive culture in the south-western divisions of the colony, the grapes being among the finest in the world. The Cape wines, the export of which has revived of late years, are chiefly those known as Constantia, Pontac, Steen, and Hanepoot. Of the cereals, wheat is grown throughout the colony, but chiefly in the low marginal division of the south-west and in the eastern midland districts ; barley and oats are general. Rye gives its name to the Roggeveld in the west, and is chiefly grown there and in the lower hills of Namaqua Laud ; maize and millet are cultivated in all moist situations of the north-east of the colony. Rice might be extensively cultivated, and flourishes on the inundated banks of the Olifants River in the west ; the growth of potatoes has been much extended ; melons, cucumbers, beans, and pease are grown universally where there is water. Cotton has been introduced experimentally in some districts , the cultivation of tobacco is wide spread, that of the division of George, grown in the valley of the

eastern Olifants River, being most reputed.

The larger and more important of the wild animals which once gave the Cape Colony the character of the great hunting ground of the world Lave retreated before advancing civilization, and few are now found within the frontier. The lion is only to be met with now in the northern districts of Bushmanland and in the extreme north-eastern portion of the colony, and rarely in British Kaffraria. The elephant, which also abounded at the time of the first Dutch settlement, is now almost extinct in the colony, a few only existing in the forests between K;iysna and the Zondag River in the extreme south. The rhino ceros and giraffe have been driven far outside the fron tier. Hippopotami are only found in the coast rivers of British Kaffraria and in the lower Orange River. The buffalo remains only perhaps in the Knysna forests and in the thickets of Great Fish River. The Cape leopard, the hyena, the aard wolf or Proteles, and the jackal alone keep their ground, and are still common in the colony. Quaggas and zebras are met with in large herds in the plains of the Vaal, and sometimes extend into the colony as far as the divisions of Cradnek and Graaf Reinet, where the gnu, hartsbeeste, and brindled gnu are also seen. Of the many varieties of South African antelope the larger kinds the eland, koodoo, and sable and roan antelopes are now banished from the colony, though the smaller varieties are found along the coast region, and migratory herds of springbok invade the plains of Bushmanland and Little Namaqua Land at certain seasons. Ostriches, once numerous, are still thinly scattered over the colony, though the supply of feathers is now mainly derived from regions north of the Orange River. Ostrich farming and artificial incubation, carried on in the northern, western, and eastern divisions, have, however, become of late years one of the most profitable industries of the Cape, the feathers beinf worth from 30 to 60 per Ik

Birds of prey, including the bearded vulture, aasvogel, and several varieties of eagles, hawks, and falcons, are nume rous ; cranes, stocks, flamingoes, and pelicans are in large variety ; partridges and pheasants, guinea fowl, and quails abound. The bustard is found in several kinds, as well as ducks, wild geese, and plovers.

Upwards of forty varieties of edible fishes are caught in the seas surrounding the Cape Colony, the waters of which also teem with whales, seals, and sharks. Reptiles are exceedingly numerous ; among the venomous snakes are the cobra di capello and the puff adder ; large toads and frog.s are also common, as are scorpions, tarantula spiders, hornets, and stinging ants.

Sheep, cattle, and dogs of an inferior breed were possessed by the natives on the discovery of the country. Horses, asses, goats, and cattle, introduced by the earlier colonists, were found to thrive well. The merino breed of sheep is now rapidly taking the place of the big-tailed sheep of the Dutch settlers ; and some of the central divisions have immense sheep farms, producing the wool which is the great staple of the country s export trade. The angora goat is now extensively farmed, the hair being largely exported. Cows of the finest breeds have also been imported ; the introduction of the English horse does not, however, appear to have been successful, the older, heavier Spanish breed being better adapted to the wants of the country.

The numbers of live stock in the Cape Colony and its native districts are estimated thus for 1875 :

Sheep... 11,500,000 Draught Oxen 500,000 Other horned Cattle 900,000 Horses 257,000 Mules and Asses 29,500 Angora Goats 1,000,000 Common Goats 2,300,000 Pigs 120,000 Ostriches 22,250

The Cape of Good Hope was discoveied by Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese navigator, in 1486. lie first landed at Algoa Bay, having, after exploring the west coast, been driven out to sea by a storm. Thus accidentally doubling the Cape, he saw it on his way back, and gave it the name of the Cape of Storms (Cabo Tormentoso).

The king of Portugal, however, gave it the more auspicious name it now bears, as its discovery afforded a hope of a new and easier way of reaching India, the great object of all the maritime expeditions of that ago.

The great navigator Vasco de Gama doubled the Capo in 1497, and carried the Portuguese flag into the Indian seas. His countrymen, however, attracted by the riches of the East, made no permanent settlement at the Cape, although they frequently touched there on the voyage to India. But the Dutch, who, on the decline of the Portu guese power, established themselves in the East, early saw the importance of the place as a station where their vessels might take in water and provisions. They did not, how ever, colonize it till 1652, vhen the Dutch East India Company directed Jan Van Riebeeck, with a small party of colonists, to form a settlement there. The country was at that time inhabited by a people called Quaequae, but to whom the Dutch seem to have given the name of Hottentots. The Riebeeck settlers had at first great difficulties and hardships to endure, and their territory did not extend beyond a few miles round the site of the present Cape Town, where they first fixed their abode. They gradually, however, extended their limits, by driving the natives back or reducing them to serfdom. These colonists, although under Dutch authority, were not wholly of that nation, but consisted partly of persons of various nations, especially Germans and Flemings, with a few Poles and Portuguese. They were for the most part people of low station or indifferent character ; there was, however, a small number of a higher class, from whom was selected a council to assist the governor. About the year 1686 the European population was increased by a number of the French refugees who left their country on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Our limits forbid our attempting to trace the history of the Cape Colony during the lengthened period it remained under the Dutch Government. We may, however, mention some of its prominent incidents, the effects of which are visible in the colony to this hour.