form its boundaries. Its area is estimated at 10,293 | This request received due attention from the square miles. It lies between 29 and 30 degrees South Lat., and between 27 and 28 degrees East Long. Description and Climate. The territory, which is well watered, and enjoys a delicious climate, is the finest grain producing country in South Africa, and the abundant grass enables the Basutos to rear immense herds of cattle. The scenery is grand, and in many parts extremely beautiful. The Maluti Mountains, forming a part of the great Drakensberg chain, occupy most of the country, which is really one continuous elevated plateau, though broken and rugged. The extension of arable culture has tended to drive the cattle more and more into the high grounds. The mean temperature during the year 1888 was 62° Fahr., the mean maximum being 103° and the mean mini. mum 20°. The rainfall in 1888 was 36 inches. Stock, etc.-35,257 horses, draught cattle 28,626, other 188,791, sheep, wooled, 240,270, other 49,537, goats, angora, 13,592, other 147,162, pigs 15,237, ploughs 2,770, harrows 269. Maseru, the capital, and largest town, has a population of 600, of whom 30 are Europeans. Since 1875 the native population has probably increased over 30 per cent., and now numbers about 175,000. As European settlement is prohibited, the white population will remain more or less limited to the few engaged in trade, Govern ment, and Missionary work. Its productions are wool, wheat, mealies, and Kaffir corn. There are indications of iron and copper, and coal has been found and is used in some parts, two mines being actively worked for local supply. History. The Basutos appear to have been composed of the remnants of several tribes which were broken up in the wars waged by Moselikatze, the king of the Matabele, in the early years of the present century. These remnants were united in about 1818 under Moshesh, a chief of great ability, who ruled for many years. In 1852 war broke out between Moshesh and the British Government; the Basutos were defeated by Sir G. Cathcart at the battle of the Berea Mountain, and Moshesh sent in his submission, and made peace. A few years later, in 1856, disputes arose between Moshesh and the Orange Free State respecting boundary questions, and hostilities resulted. The conflict lasted from 1856 to 1858, with indecisive results, and was concluded by the Treaty of Aliwal, 1858. Even then peace was not established on any firm basis, outbreaks of hostilities frequently occurring. In December, 1861, Moshesh invoked the protection of the Queen, and prayed to be recognised as a sort of tributary chief. Ho likewise prayed for the appointment of a British Resident, and grounded his petition on the treaty concluded with Sir George Cathcart after the action of the Berea. Colonial Office, but the arrangement fell through, owing to difficulties raised by the Orange Free State In 1865 the war broke out afresh, and Moshesh again claimed the protection of the Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse. The latter declined to interpose actively, but despatched a British Commissioner, Mr. J. Burnett, to Thaba Bosigo, the capital of Basutoland, with a view to settling difficulties. This measure met with little success, and the war continued. The war dragged for some time; but in the end the Boers were everywhere successful, and Moshesh, under the pressure of reverses, and in face of prospective famine, sued for peace. At the treaty of Thaba Bosigo, April 1866, he recognised the permanent cession of a portion of his district and acknowledged himself a subject of the Orange Free State. The peace was of short duration, the war was renewed, and the Basutos, pressed by the Boers, were on the brink of destruction, when they again appealed to be taken under the authority of the Queen, and in January, 1868, Sir Philip Wodehouse received authority to recognise Moshesh and his tribe as British subjects, and for the incorporation of their territory. This was carried into effect by a proclamation dated 12th March, 1868. Though further danger from the Boers was thus averted, the country remained in a very unsettled condition, until it was annexed to the Cape by an Act of the Cape Legislature, No. 12 of 1871. In consideration of the peculiar circumstances of the pressly declared that Basutoland was not to be Basuto community, the Act of Incorporation exsubject to the general law of the Colony, that the Governor should have power to legislate for it by proclamation, and to extend to it by proclamation any Cape Act not otherwise in force therein. The subsequent history of Basutoland was one of much trouble and disturbance. In March, 1879, Moirosi, the chief of the Quithing district, in the south-east of Basutoland, rescued from justice his son Doda, who had been arrested for horse-stealing; and, on the Colonial authorities demanding his surrender, broke out into open defiance of its authority. Owing to the great natural strength of his country and stronghold, considerable difficulty was experienced in subduing him; but in December of that year, his stronghold was carried by storm, and he himself fell in the assault. The proposals of the Colonial Government to divide the territory occupied by the adherents of this chief into lots for occupation by European settlers gave rise to great discontent among the Basutos who had remained loyal. Basutoland, they said, was already too small for its population, and the scheme of the Colonial Government was a breach of the promise which Sir P. Wodehouse made to Moshesh when the Basutos came under British rule, that Basutoland should always remain a native reserve. discontent was further increased by the extension of the Cape Peace Preservation Act of 1878, providing for a general disarmament, to Basutoland by Proclamation dated the 6th of April, 1880, and culminated in the revolt of almost the whole tribe This when an attempt was made to put the Act in force. The rebellion spread to the native territories east, and south of Basutoland, East Griqualand, Tambookieland, and the Pondomisi, where the rising was signalized by the treacherous murder of Mr. Hope, the magistrate, and other Europeans. Strenuous efforts were made by the Colony to reduce the Basutos to submission by force of arms, but without decisive success. The loss of their cattle, however, and the interruption of cultivation caused great distress amongst them. Early in 1881 overtures for an arrangement were made by the leading chiefs, and, at the instance of Her Majesty's Government, the High Commissioner acted as arbiter between the Colonial Government and the Basutos. immediate authority of the Crown, from the 13th March, 1884. Masupha tendered his submission in 1886, and asked for a magistrate to be resident in his district. Constitution. The territory is now governed by a Resident Commissioner under the direction of the High Commissioner for South Africa, the latter possessing the legislative authority, which is exercised by proclamation. The Chiefs adjudicate on cases between natives, with a right of appeal to the Magistrates' Courts, where all cases between European and natives are brought. For fiscal and other purposes the country is divided into six districts, namely, Maseru, Leribe, Cornet Spruit, Berea, Mafeteng, and Quithing. Each of the districts is sub-divided into wards, presided over by hereditary chiefs allied to the Moshesh family. The revenue arises from the Cape contribution, the post office, native hut-tax, and the sale of licences. The latest reports describe a great improvement in the state of the country. Law and order have been restored, serious crime is rare, and the drinking habits, which threatened to destroy the Basuto people, have been practically abandoned owing to the influence of the leading chiefs, the Missionaries, and the Government. There is now not a single canteen in the country. The area under arable cultivation steadily increases, and there is less and less tendency to stock-thieving and petty warfare. The terms of his award were, the registration of arms, the payment of compensation to those natives who had remained loyal by the tribe, and also the payment of a fine of 5,000 head of cattle. The award was accepted by the Basutos and the fine paid, but little was done towards fulfilling the other conditions. Finding that a full compliance with the award was not to be hoped for, the Colonial Ministry, with a view to facilitate a settlement, cancelled the award and induced the Cape Parliament to assume the burden of compensating the loyals. The Disarmament Proclamation was also repealed, and at a Pitso held on the 24th of April, 1883, a very liberal constitution was offered to the Basutos. Masupha, however, the chief of the Berea district, who was the leader of the revolt, and though he had accepted the award had taken no steps to comply with it, with several other chiefs of influence, held aloof, and practically declared their intention to have no further connexion with the Colonial Government, and the tribe generally were understood to wish to be under the direct authority of the Imperial Government. In the meantine a strong feeling in favour of the entire abandonment of Basutoland had grown up in the Colony, and the Colonial Ministry feeling themselves unable to effect a settlement, sent Mr. Merriman, the Minister for Public Works, to England to confer with Her Majesty's Government as to the future of the territory. In view of the disastrous effects which the abandonment would have produced, not only in Basutoland itself, but throughout South Africa, the Imperial Government decided to undertake provisionally and for a time the adminis-grants in aid of the others are made to the extent tration of the country on condition that satisfactory evidence was given by the Basutos of their desire to remain under the British Crown, that the Orange Free State should undertake to cause the frontier to be respected by its subjects, and that the colony should pay over towards the cost of administration the customs duties received on goods imported into Basutoland. This offer was accepted by the Colony, and provision was made in the Basutoland Disannexation Act of 1883 for the payment of 20,000l. a-year, and the Free State also intimated its willingness to comply with the conditions so far as it was concerned. A great national Pitso of the Basutos was held on the 29th of November, 1883, attended by the representatives of more than two-thirds of the whole tribe. These unanimously expressed their desire to remain under British rule, and their willingness to pay hut tax and comply with the other conditions on which the Imperial Government was prepared to assume the responsibility of the administration of the country. Several important chiefs who were not at the Pitso subsequently expressed their concurrence in this resolution, Masupha alone refusing to accept the offers of the Government and desiring to remain independent. Her Majesty's Government upon this decided that their conditions were sufficiently complied with, advised the Queen to sanction the Dis-annexation Act, and immediately took steps for carrying on the government under the Education. Excellent work is being carried on in the country by Missionaries, in whose hands the labour of education is almost exclusively vested. There are in the schools of the French Protestant Mission. 100 schools, with 5,042 scholars, nine-tenths being There are two small Government schools, and of 4,6341. Means of Communication. There are no navigable waterways, the rivers being low in winter and flooded generally in summer. The usual mode of conveyance is by ox-waggon or light cart. The roads in the country are now in good condition for any kind of transport, but the periodical rains draining down from the high watersheds seriously damage them. There are no railways or telegraphs in the country. The line of postal communication is through the Cape Colony and Orange Free State. There is a weekly mail service by carts, and letters to and from Europe take about 26 days, to Cape Town 6 days. Postal rates are similar to those of the Cape Colony, viz., internal 1d., foreign 4d. parcels post and money order systems have been extended to Basutoland. The nearest telegraph station is Ladybrand, Orange Free State, whence there is direct communication with Cape Town. Trade. The In consequence of the hitherto unsettled state of the country, and the general depression of trade in South Africa, it has not been found practicable to gather any reliable statistics of exports. The imports consist chiefly of blankets, ploughs, saddlery, clothing, iron and tin ware, and groceries. The exports consist chiefly of grain, cattle, and Resident Commissioner, Colonel Sir Marshall James 2501. each. Accounting Clerk, C. E. Boyes, 250%. Sir George Somers died in Bermuda the following year, and his companions, ignorant possibly of the prior claims of Juan Bermudes, called the group after him, "The Somers' Islands." The reports of the beauty and fertility of the land. taken home by Somers' nephew, Captain Mathew Somers, induced the Virginia Company to seek an islands within their dominion, and this extenextension of their Charter, so as to include the sion was readily granted by King James I; but shortly afterwards the Virginia Company sold the islands for the sum of 2,000l. to a new body of adventurers, called "The Company of the City of London for the Plantation of the Somers' Islands," and thenceforward, for a considerable time, the islands bore the name of the Admiral who had led thither the first body of settlers. General Description. The Bermudas may be described as a singular agglomeration of small islands and submarine sand hills and coral reefs, forming together an irregular oval ring, measuring about 22 miles in length from N E. to S. W., and about 10 miles in width from N.W. to S.E. The external ring-whether composed of islands or of sunken banks or reefs-is seldom more than a mile in width, and generally considerably less. At present the southern portion only of the encircling ring is formed of islands, the northern, eastern, and western sides being composed of almost continuous reefs of coral. The largest island, Quartermaster and Chief Constable, John Mackay, generally known as The Main Island, is about 1507. Medical Officer, Dr. S. R. Savage. Ditto, Leribe, George Casalis, M.B. There are no Foreign Consuls. BERMUDA. Situation and Area. The "Bermudas" or "Somers' Islands" form a group or cluster of about 300 small islands, situated in the Western Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 32° 15′ N, and long. 64° 51' W., about 580 miles to the eastward of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the nearest point of the neighbouring American Continent. The distance from Liverpool is about 2,900 miles, from Halifax in Nova Scotia 730, from New York 677, and from the nearest of the West Indian Islands about 800 miles. The total area is estimated at 18 square miles. History. These islands were discovered in the year 1515, by a Spanish mariner, Juan Bermudes, after whom they were called The Bermudas. The Spaniards however took no steps to form a settlement on the islands, and they were still entirely uninhabited when, in 1609, Admiral Sir George Somers' ship, "The Sea Venture," while on a voyage with a fleet of eight other vessels, conveying a party of colonists to the new plantations then being formed in Virginia, was wrecked upon one of the numerous sunken reefs which surround the islands on every side. The reef is still called after the name of the Admiral's ship, The Sea Venture Flat. * In 1887 the grant from the Cape was reduced to 18,0007., fourteen miles in length, and about a mile in average width; it contains about 9,000 acres of land, the highest point being only 240 feet above the sea. All the other islands taken together measure about 3,000 acres. The town of Hamilton, now the seat of Government, is situated about the centre of the main island, where a deep inlet running up for two or three miles into the land from the sheltered waters, enclosed between the encircling reef, forms a safe and convenient harbour for the small vessels which suffice to carry on the island trade. Next in importance to the main island is the island of St. George, on which stands the town of St. George, so named after Admiral Sir George Somers, whose heart is buried there This town was formerly the capital of the colony, and though now shorn of much of its importance by the transfer of the seat of Government to Hamilton, is still a town of considerable trade, and its narbour is much frequented as a harbour of refuge. The other principal islands of the group areIreland Island, standing by itself in the centre of the inland waters, and entirely given up for the accommodation of Her Majesty's Dockyard and a number of other naval establishments. Boaz and Watford Islands, intervening between Ireland Isand and the rest of the group, are now exclusively occupied by military depôts and garrisons; Somerset, Smith's, St. David's, Cooper's. Nonsuch, Rivers, Ports, and Godets, are all inhabited by a civil population. The islands form an almost continuous chain: and with the exception of one break between Somerset and Watford Islands, there is uninterrupted communication by roads and bridges and causeways from St. George over the main island and Somerset-Watford and Boaz to Ireland Island-a distance of about 22 miles. Nearly half the inhabitants are of English and the expenditure for that year includes a refund of descent, the remainder belonging to the negro 1,500l. to the Cape Government. race. English is universally spoken. |