There have been many wars and droughts and disasters of various kinds in South Africa since 1873, yet the country has advanced with rapid strides in population, in commerce, and in many other respects. The Europeans were then only about 325,000 in number, namely in the Cape Colony 235,000, in the South African Republic 35,000, in the Orange Free State 27,000, in Natal 18,000, in Griqualand West 9,000, and scattered over territory occupied by independent Bantu tribes 1,000. The only railways, exclusive of the one in Namaqualand belonging to the Cape Copper Mining Company which was constructed and used solely for the purpose of transporting ore through the desert to Port Nolloth, were a line from Capetown through Stellenbosch and the Paarl to Wellington with a branch from Salt River to Wynberg in the Cape Colony, and one from the Point to Durban and on to the Umgeni in Natal, only about eleven kilometres or seven English miles in length. On the other hand the whole pubHc debt of the colonies and republics combined did not exceed £1,750,000.
Of the great Bantu military tribes that sprang into existence during the wars of Tshaka, only the Makololo had disappeared. The Zulus under Ketshwayo, the Matshangana under Umzila, and the Matabele under Lobengula were still threatening the peace of wide sections of the country and keeping their neighbours in a constant state of unrest. The various tribes between the rivers Kei and Umzimkulu, living under independent chiefs, were almost perpetually quarrelling with each other, and were far less subject to missionary and civilising influence than they have since become.
To those living uninterruptedly in the country the rapid change in its condition has not been so apparent as to those who have gone abroad for a few years and then returned; such persons often found themselves in a new and strange environment.
