from the sea would render an export trade impossible under existing railway rates, and it will probably be some years before local consumption will justify the large outlay necessary for the erection of blast-furnaces and all the equipment connected with the production of iron, which is one of the most delicate and difficult of the metallurgical industries. Copper, silver, lead, cobalt, nickel, and other minerals have been found in various parts of South Africa, and taking the huge area of the country into account, and the extremely limited number of white men it contains, the field for the prospector is by no means exhausted.
The white population is practically confined to a few industrial centres. The last thirty years have witnessed a marvellous change: a network of railways from all the principal ports to the towns of the interior affords facilities for mining operations, and furnishes the means by which the other and permanent resources of the country may be developed. Agricultural and pastoral pursuits may be said to be in their infancy for a great variety of reasons. Prior to the development of the mines there were no markets for the products of husbandry, in addition to which pests, blights, droughts, and hail-storms have stood in the way. Under a progressive administration the counsels of science are now being taken, and indications are not wanting of increasing activity and success in rural industries. The rainfall over a large portion of the country is by no means inadequate, but it comes usually in heavy, fitful storms, and no attempt to impound it to any extent has yet been made. The invaluable supply of water is allowed to flow to the sea, doing much damage in its course in washing away rich alluvial soil. In years to come the skill of the civil engineer will doubtless do much to remedy this evil, and the staff of bacteriologists, chemists, and highly-trained agriculturists will minimize where they do not entirely overcome the physical disadvantages.
To what extent and in what direction the surface of
